e mental plane
dawned in its turn.

In real life, however, development so regular as this is hardly ever
known, and many a man has occasional flashes of astral consciousness
without any awakening of etheric vision at all. And this irregularity
of development is one of the principal causes of man's extraordinary
liability to error in matters of clairvoyance--a liability from which
there is no escape except by a long course of careful training under a
qualified teacher.

Students of Theosophical literature are well aware that there are such
teachers to be found--that even in this materialistic nineteenth
century the old saying is still true, that "when the pupil is ready,
the Master is ready also," and that "in the hall of learning, when he
is capable of entering there, the disciple will always find his
Master." They are well aware also that only under such guidance can a
man develop his latent powers in safety and with certainty, since they
know how fatally easy it is for the untrained clairvoyant to deceive
himself as to the meaning and value of what he sees, or even
absolutely to distort his vision completely in bringing it down into
his physical consciousness.

It does not follow that even the pupil who is receiving regular
instruction in the use of occult powers will find them unfolding
themselves exactly in the regular order which was suggested above as
probably ideal. His previous progress may not have been such as to
make this for him the easiest or most desirable road; but at any rate
he is in the hands of one who is perfectly competent to be his guide
in spiritual development, and he rests in perfect contentment that the
way along which he is taken will be that which is the best way for
him.

Another great advantage which he gains is that whatever faculties he
may acquire are definitely under his command and can be used fully and
constantly when he needs them for his Theosophical work; whereas in
the case of the untrained man such powers often manifest themselves
only very partially and spasmodically, and appear to come and go, as
it were, at their own sweet will.

It may reasonably be objected that if clairvoyant faculty is, as
stated, a part of the occult development of man, and so a sign of a
certain amount of progress along that line, it seems strange that it
should often be possessed by primitive peoples, or by the ignorant and
uncultured among our own race--persons who are obviously quite
undevelop