i.e., arts based on the knowledge of the ultimate essence of all things
in the Kingdom of Nature--such as minerals, plants, and animals--hence
of things pertaining to the realm of _material_ Nature, however
invisible that essence may be, and howsoever much it has hitherto eluded
the grasp of Science. Alchemy, Astrology, Occult Physiology, Chiromancy
exist in Nature, and the _exact_ Sciences--perhaps so called because
they are found in this age of paradoxical philosophies the reverse--have
already discovered not a few of the secrets of the above _arts_. But
clairvoyance, symbolized in India as the "Eye of Siva," called in
Japan, "Infinite Vision," is _not_ Hypnotism, the illegitimate son of
Mesmerism, and is not to be acquired by such arts. All the others may be
mastered and results obtained, whether good, bad, or indifferent; but
_Âtma-Vidyâ_ sets small value on them. It includes them all, and may
even use them occasionally, but it does so after purifying them of their
dross, for beneficent purposes, and taking care to deprive them of every
element of selfish motive. Let us explain: Any man or woman can set
himself or herself to study one or all of the above specified "Occult
Arts" without any great previous preparation, and even without adopting
any too restraining mode of life. One could even dispense with any lofty
standard of morality. In the last case, of course, ten to one the
student would blossom into a very decent kind of sorcerer, and tumble
down headlong into black magic. But what can this matter? The _Voodoos_
and the _Dugpas_ eat, drink and are merry over hecatombs of victims of
their infernal arts. And so do the amiable gentlemen vivisectionists and
the _diploma-ed_ "Hypnotizers" of the Faculties of Medicine; the only
difference between the two classes being that the Voodoos and the Dugpas
are _conscious_, and the Charcot-Richet crew _unconscious_ Sorcerers.
Thus, since both have to reap the fruits of their labors and
achievements in the black art, the Western practitioners should not have
the punishment and reputation without the profits and enjoyments they