Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1891-05-15
MIRROR OF MYSTERY.
Some Curious Instances of Events
Fo-etold by Use of the Magic
Glass.
Singular Visions Which Show Double
Consciousness and Marvellous
Recollection of Events.
Some Flick of Truth Must be in the
Strange Sights of Patient
Investigators.
ST. Louis Post Dispatch.

Everybody has heard of the magic mir
ror, and everybody has taken it for grant
81 that it was an instrument of fraud
made possible by eredulity an, supersti-
ton. The Old Testament ab ,;lnds with
stories of divinltion by means of reflect
ing surfaces, such as shining metal,
crystals, water and glass. The high
priests sometimes received revelations
fron Jehovah in an ornament of six bright
and six dark stones
Divination rings were also in use. The
cup which Joseph put In Benjamin's sack
was the cup from which he was wont to
divine. The thumb nail has also been used,
and has proved of marvellous power and
faithfulness. While a favorite method in
some places is to pour into the palm of the
bent hand and in its depths read the mes
sages from the unknown. Mirror gazing
was always popular in the Orient. and as a
superstitious practice still prevails.
In Egypt in 1884 magician conjured up
the figure of Lord Nelson, which he de-
scrlbed to the by-standers with perfect
fidelity. The most successful of all these
was DR.. Dee, who lived III the latter part
of the 10Th century. He used a crystal
called the holy stone, which was large and
round. The regency of the Duke of Or
leans through the death of the prince was
predicted by means of the mirror.
This is the last historical case of proph-
ecy by this means. American spiritd-
alists have used the mirror and pretended
to have good results and acute informa-
ton from it. 1t is imp 1ssible to suppose
that all the numerous instances of vision
are wholly fraudulent. Some flick of truth
III dst be in them; for there is too much
unanimity of testimony and close agree
ment in the evidence to permit the belief
of pure superstition.
Nevertheless, no attempt was ever made
until the past 10 years to study the sub
ject, and by sensible people all the stories
were rejected as so many fables. q
But few years ago a number of scien-
fists in Germany and England lookup the
subject, and have gagged persistently into
the mirror, and patiently awaited for the
sights they hoped might reward them
They maintained that the tales of magi-
clans could not all be sheer lies, and even
though no prophecies were made on the
strength of the merror, something real
must in some instance have appeared in
the magic glass.
Only the old-time magicians probably
erred in attributing the images to an ex-
ternal influence. Whatever they saw in
the mirror was put into it by the mind of
the gazer, was projection from the I'M
conscious depths of the seer's own.Ssoul,
not reflection of any actual object pres
mt before the glass. With this assump-
ton they began the experiments.
The Berlin Society of Experimental Psy-
chology laid in stock of mirrors, crystals
and other refecUing surfaces, and the
members waited for developments. But
after series of experiments extending
over several years they had nothing to re-
port. The mirrors gave forth no visions.
In England, however, better luck has at
tended the efforts of the society of Psy-
chical Research,
A lady reports to the society a series of
70 experiments of which she made careful
notes. She is said to be clear headed, and
fully alive to the fact that whatever is
seen is simply subjective illusion, as it is
called. Coored bright balls, the back of a
gold watch, mirrors and rock crystal were
all used, the last mentioned producing the
best results. The simplest case reported
Is this:
II find in the crystal bit of dark wall
covered with white jessamine. and ask
myself where have | walked today? have
no recollection of such a sight not COM
mon one in the London streets, but tomOr-
row | will repeat my walk of this morn
ing with a careful regard for creepcr-cov-
erlng walls.
Tomorrow solves the mystery. | find
the very spot, and the sight brings with it
the further recollection that at the moment
we passed this spot | was engaged in
absorbing conversation with my com
panion, and my volu- larry attention was
preoccupied. ------ :.
This was simple case of double con-
sGousLess. When the lady passed the
spot she d. not know that a fact
had passed into Der Consciousness, and
she would never have known it had it
not emerged and been reflected from the
crystal.
The next case is a curious one: 81 ad
carclessly destroyed letter without IT, 90
serving the address of my correspondent.
| knew the county, and, searching in a
map, recognized the name of the town,
one unfamiliar to me, but which ! was
sure | should know when | saw IT, But
had no clue to the name of the house or
street, till at last it struck me to test the
value of the crystal as means of recalling
forgotten knowledge.
"A very short suspicion supplied me
with 'Hibbs house in gray letters on
white ground, and having nothing better
to suggest from any other source, | risked
posting my letter to the address so strange
ly supplied. A day or two brought me an
answer headed 'Hibbs House in gray let
tiers on a white ground"
This was a trick of memory. The lady
had the impression 'Hibbs House" i'm
bedded in her consciousness, and it is not
mysterious that it came forth when tempt
ed by the magic mirror, but it is myster
ious that it should appear in white back
ground. That seems to be prophecy.
Here is a case of mere memory, but it is
marvellous: and increditable. ION March
20 happened to want the date of Ptolemy
Philadelphus, which | could not recall,
though feeling sure that | knew it, and
that associated it with some event of i'm
portance. When looking into the crystal
some hours later | found picture of an
old man with long white hair and beard,
dressed like Lyceum Shylock, and busy
writing in large book with furnished
massive clasps | wondered much who he
was, and what he could be possibly doing,
and Thoughtful good opportunity of ear
rying out a suggestion which has been
made to me of examIring objects IN the
crystal with magnifying glass.
The glass revealed to me that my old
gentleman was writing in Greek, though
the lines faded away as | looked, all but
the characters he had last traced, the
Latin numerals, Xxx. Then it flashed
into my mind that he was one of the Jew
ish elders at work on the Septuagent, and
that its date, 277 B. c., would serve
equally well for Ptolemy Philadelphus.
1t may be worth while to add that the
fact was not in my conscious memory at
the moment that had once learnt chro-
nology on a mnemonic system which sub
stituted letters for figures, ard that the
memoria technica for this date was how
Jewish elders indite Greek copy"
The use of the magnifying glass in this