International photographer (Jan-Dec 1934)

Ten The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER November, 1934 The Mechanism of Vision In an article entitled, "The Cinematography of Nature," which appeared in the June, 1933, issue of this magazine, the author made the following statement: "As a result of following the practices enjoined" (upon students of occult science) "he (the author) has succeeded in developing within certain limits, powers of extended vision and hearing. These have enabled him to test for himself the truth or otherwise of many of the teachings of occult science, among them, those concerning the existence of the Akashic Records. "At the risk of straining the credulity of the practical minded readers of this magazine, he ventures to state that he has succeeded in seeing clairvoyantly events both of the near and distant past and in hearing the sounds which accompanied them. He has even demonstrated this power under the strictest scientific tests." |JJS an example of the scientific possibilities of A clairvoyance, some results of its employment in archeological research followed the statement quoted above. In this article the author, with some hesitation, because of the limitations of his power and the incompleteness of his researches, offers the result of attempted clairvoyant investigation into the mechanism of physical vision. Before presenting them, however, he desires to make it clear that the clairvoyance of the occult investigator has little or no relation to the passive and sporadic psychism of the medium, crystal gazer or fortune teller. True clairvoyance is a positive power of seeing on superphysical wave lengths ; it implies an extended range of vibratory response to light waves, for it enables its possessor to see not only on those physical light vibrations beyond the visible spectrum, but also on octave after octave of superphysical wave frequencies. Professor Hans Dreisch, philosopher and embryologist, proclaims his belief in clairvoyance in his "Crisis in Psychology", from which is quoted his definition of this faculty: "By clairvoyance we understand the abnormal acquisition of knowledge and facts other than another person's knowledge, i.e., about material states or conditions. Clairvoyance may relate to the past, the present and probably also to the future. There are two theories before the scientific world concerning the nature of light, known as the corpuscular and the vibratory theories. There has been a tendency to combine them in the word "wavicle" applied to electrically charged particles moving on varying frequencies. As readers of this magazine are doubtless well aware, white light received direct from the sun consists of the small portion of the energy radiated by the sun to which our eyes are sensitive. When passed through a prism this white light is divided into the seven colors of the spectrum ; the proportionate strength of the red and blue rays depends upon the temperature at the source of the light radiations. This radiated energy is thought by physicists to be due to collisions between the bodies — electrons — within the atom. Such collisions may cause the electron to follow a new path, and on this change surplus energy of the electron is released ; this surplus is called "aquantum", and the color of the resultant light depends upon the amount of energy emitted. If relatively small, then the vibrations of the "ray" will be slow and the color red ; if great, with high wave frequency, then the color will be blue or violet. Attempted clairvoyant investigation of the nature of light and the sense of sight would seem to suggest hitherto unrecognized phenomena complementary to those already known, which are admittedly insufficient to explain the operation of the sense of physical vision. In addition to this vibration, the light energy also moves forward at the supposed known speed of 186,000 miles per second. The forward progress made in one complete vibration in its turn depends upon the speed of that vibration ; thus, in the relatively slow vibration of red the forward motion is considerable ; in blue and violet it is less. Thus the scientist speaks of color in terms of wave length, giving three one hundred thousandths part of an inch for red and half that for violet. When the author attempted to study light rays clairvoyantly, they appeared to consist of particles of electromagnetic energy continually emitted from and returning to the source of light. The outflowing power seemed to form the sheath, and the returning the core, of the light ray. This "pulse" of power from the sun would seem to be a manifestation of the continuous triple process of the creation, preservation and transformation of the universe. Sir James Jeans, in his recent book, "The Mysterious Universe," shows that this conclusion is not scientifically inacceptable concerning the origin of the nebulae, from which the suns and planets rise. He says: "The type of conjecture which presents itself somewhat consistently is that the centers of the nebulae are of the nature of 'singular points' at which matter is passed into one universe from some other and entirely extraneous spatial dimension, so that to a denizen of our universe they appear as points at which matter is being continually created." In this "guess" he comes very near to the occult doctrine of continuous creation. Sir James Jeans elsewhere says: "The tendency of modern physics is to resolve the whole material universe into waves and nothing but waves. These waves are of two kinds : Bottled up waves, which we call matter, and unbottled waves, which we call radiation or light." Occult investigation would seem to agree with the modern physicist that the material universe and all it contains is built of light. Both of the scientific theories — the corpuscular and the vibratory — are apparently necessary in order fully to explain the phenomenon of vision. The psysiologist is not yet able to give a complete explanation of the mechanism of vision. The breaking up of the light ray into colors and its perception as color by the consciousness are not yet understood. The secret of the "cones" and "rods" of the retina has not yet been revealed, though an electrochemical process is suspected ; the rods being thought to function chiefly as receivers of the intensity of light, whilst the cones make possible differentiation between the colors of the spectrum. Clairvoyantly, the light which impinges upon the retina, and particularly upon the macula or sensitive spot, is seen to consist of a continuous series of particles of electro-magnetic energy, flowing between the seer and the object seen at differing frequencies. The retina appears Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers.