trance are of the deepest
interest, as offering (among other things) a possibility of proof of
the fact of clairvoyance to the sceptic, yet except under such
conditions as I have just mentioned--conditions, I quite admit, almost
impossible to realize--I should never counsel anyone to submit himself
as a subject for them.

Curative mesmerism (in which, without putting the patient into the
trance state at all, an effort is made to relieve his pain, to remove
his disease, or to pour vitality into him by magnetic passes) stands
on an entirely different footing; and if the mesmerizer, even though
quite untrained, is himself in good health and animated by pure
intentions, no harm is likely to be done to the subject. In so extreme
a case as that of a surgical operation, a man might reasonably submit
himself even to the mesmeric trance, but it is certainly not a
condition with which one ought lightly to experiment. Indeed, I should
most strongly advise any one who did me the honour to ask for my
opinion on the subject, not to attempt any kind of experimental
investigation into what are still to him the abnormal forces of
nature, until he has first of all read carefully everything that has
been written on the subject, or--which is by far the best of
all--until he is under the guidance of a qualified teacher.

But where, it will be said, is the qualified teacher to be found? Not,
most assuredly, among any who advertise themselves as teachers, who
offer to impart for so many guineas or dollars the sacred mysteries of
the ages, or hold "developing circles" to which casual applicants are
admitted at so much per head.

Much has been said in this treatise of the necessity for careful
training--of the immense advantages of the trained over the untrained
clairvoyant; but that again brings us back to the same question--where
is this definite training to be had?

The answer is, that the training may be had precisely where it has
always been to be found since the world's history began--at the hands
of the Great White Brotherhood of Adepts, which stands now, as it has
always stood, at the back of human evolution, guiding and helping it
under the sway of the great cosmic laws which represent to us the Will
of the Eternal.

But how, it may be asked, is access to be gained to them? How is the
aspirant thirsting for knowledge to signify to them his wish for
instruction?

Once more, by the time-honoured methods only. There is no new pat