he Divine are _at-one_ in the Individual.

This at-one-ment is the exact opposite of "vicarious." It is the result of
personal effort and self-mastery.

The dogma of the church has so completely sophisticated it as to turn
normal evolution into _devolution_; and, so far as it has any effect, or
is operative at all, to turn man backward toward the animal, instead of
upward toward the Divine.

Seership and Spiritual powers, therefore, as the result of "Living the
Life," are _Evolutionary_. Mediumship, subjective control, and obsession
in any form, or in whatsoever degree, are _Devolutionary_.

Progress along either line may be very slow, but the trend is as opposite
as is the East from the West, as Light from Darkness, as Good from Evil.

By classifying these powers of man and psychical phenomena to which they
give rise, whether in the conscious, inner realm, in functions of the
bodily organism, or observable to others, we are able to assign each to
its proper class with considerable accuracy.

Both evolutionary and devolutionary progress, with the ordinary
individual, are slow processes. Seldom is either process a designed and
straightforward climbing, or a quick descent "into the dark abyss."

Consequently, as the human race evolves as a whole, relatively more and
more individuals are found who "get flashes" of sight or sound, more or
less from the subjective or spiritual plane of being. There are
intuitions, "warnings," and premonitions of coming events. Some seek and
cultivate, others fear and avoid them.

They are mostly on the "border-land," if not on the "ragged-edge" of
insanity. It is only necessary to further weaken the will, or to indulge
the passions and emotions, in order to decide the matter, derange the
mind, and send the individual to an asylum.

On the other hand, with individuals who lead a clean, cheerful,
well-ordered life, these experiences may mean encouragement, confirmation,
and progress toward the spiritual realm of being. They should be observed
carefully, but not _cultivated_. They may serve as guide-posts and as mere
incidents of a day's journey.

The average popular cult to-day, as often in the past, where psychical
phenomena are involved, results in converting the normal mental realm, the
realm of normal self-consciousness, into a vaudeville performance; a mere
"Variety Show," where all due sense of proportion and relation is lost.

In place of the normal Individual Intelligence, s