Clairvoyance and Thought Transference: Now Available!

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The notable L W deLaurence returns to this blog with another excellent work, this time compiling a laundry list of phenomena together (telepathy, spiritualism, somnambulism, mesmerism, and clairvoyance) to analyze them and draw them together while explaining, basically, their function and use. As usual, the notable (notorious?) author manages to remain collected enough to sometimes express skepticism, or at least to denote his opposition to others' theories within each subtopic. It should be noted that this work references several secondary texts which can be consulted for further reading on these topics.

112 pages.

Hypnotism: Magnetism, Mesmerism, Suggestive Therapeutics: Now Available!

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This work is one of the better things that LW DeLaurence wrote. Containing fewer self-advertizements and a lot more how-to content, it dispels some myths about mesmerism and hypnotism, and proposes about a dozen methods by which various suggestive states can be induced- including the famous trick of hypnotizing a chicken using a chalk line or a finger (it apparently does indeed work.)

While some of the methods are now known not to function (at the time this was written- and it alludes to it explicitly!- the French were experimenting with spinning wheels and lights to induce anesthesia- one of the earliest- maybe THE earliest literary reference to this trope!) others are accepted even today. Some of its content would later be adapted into the 20s and 30s era "how to hypnotize your friends" style pulp works.

112 pages.

Mystic Test Book of the Hindu Occult Chambers: Now Available!

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This is one of the stranger works of the early 20th century. Written by the famous DeLaurence, it seeks to teach the reader how to use crystal gazing to contact spirits and help people with various issues, and to impart the secret of telepathy. It also covers the use of the seance to contact spirits, among other tricks within the spirit realm (while considering these spirits to be very much hermetic in form; that is, the sylphs, undines, etc.)

While some of the practices here are related predominantly to DeLaurence advertizing his own goods and services, it is true that some of them remain in use, and are of occult interest to this day.

126 pages.