Telepathy and the Subliminal Self: an Account of Recent Investigations Regarding Hypnotism, Automatism, Dreams, Phantasms, and Related Phenomena

Telepathy And The Subliminal Self: An Account Of Recent Investigations Regarding Hypnotism, Automatism, Dreams, Phantasms, And Related Phenomena by Rufus Osgood Mason surveys the burgeoning field of psychical research in the late 19th century. The work assembles experiments and observations on telepathy, hypnotism, clairvoyance, dreaming, automatism (including Planchette writing and automatic drawing), crystal-gazing, and phantasms, arguing for a subliminal self that can perceive, remember, and even act beyond ordinary consciousness. Mason details the historical arc from Mesmerism to Bernheim and Charcot, and presents a wide range of case studies—children’s telepathic card- and name-guesses, post-hypnotic suggestions, clairvoyant visions, veridical dreams, and collective apparitions—intended to show that mind-to-mind communication and hidden mental faculties are legitimate subjects for scientific inquiry. The book advocates cautious, methodical study to salvage valuable facts from superstition and to illuminate the mind’s hidden capacities.