rt, in a few moments the magician has produced that which
Nature require years to do--that is he apparently does this. What he
really does is to produce a wonderful thought-form in the astral, from
seed stage to tree and fruit stage; the astral picture reproducing
perfectly the picture in his own mind. It is as if he were creating a
moving picture film-roll in his mind, and then projecting this upon the
screen of the air. There is no mango tree there, and never was, outside
of the mind of the magician and the minds of his audience.

In the same way, the magician will seem to throw the end of a rope up into
the air. It travels far up until the end is lost sight of. Then he sends a
boy climbing up after it, until he too disappears from sight. Then he
causes the whole thing to disappear, and lo! the boy is seen standing
among the audience. The boy is real, of course, but he never left the
spot--the rest was all an appearance caused by the mind and will of the
magician, pictured in the astral as a thought-form. In the same way the
magician will seem to cut the boy into bits, and then cause the severed
parts to spring together and reassemble themselves. These feats may be
varied indefinitely but the principle is ever the same--thought-form
projection.

Western visitors have sought to obtain photographs of these feats of the
Hindu magicians, but their plates and films invariably show nothing
whatever except the old fakir sitting quietly in the centre, with a
peculiar expression in his eyes. This is as might be expected, for the
picture exists only in the astral, and is perceived only by the awakened
astral senses of those present, which have been stimulated into activity
by the power of the magician--by sympathetic vibration, to be exact.
Moreover, in certain instances it has been found that the vision is
confined to a limited area; persons outside of the limit-ring see nothing,
and those moving nearer to the magician lose sight of what they had
previously seen. There are scientific reasons for this last fact, which
need not be gone into at this place. The main point I am seeking to bring
out is that these wonderful scenes are simply and wholly thought-form
pictures in the astral, perceived by the awakened astral vision of those
present. This to be sure is wonderful enough--but still no miracle has
been worked!

I may mention here that these magicians begin their training from early
youth. In addition to certain instruction