Cheiro's Mysteries Romances World Greatest Occultists

MYSTERIES AND ROMANCES OF THEWORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

CONTENTS

PART I

PREFACE II

I. THE ROMANCE OF CAGLIOSTRO, ASTROLOGER,MYSTIC AND MAGICIAN 17

II. CAGLIOSTRO APPEARS BEFORE THE SECRETCOUNCIL OF THE ROSE-CROIX - 31

III. CAGLIOSTRO ESTABLISHES "THE EGYPTIANRITE" IN PARIS 37

IV. CAGLIOSTRO BEFORE THE INQUISITION. HISLAST YEARS IN THE DUNGEON OF SAN LEO 44

V. DOCTOR DEE: QUEEN ELIZABETH'S FAVOURITESEER AND ASTROLOGER 53

VI. DOCTOR DEE AND HIS "FAMILIAR SPIRIT,"EDWARD KELLEY 68

VII. ELIAS ASHMOLE, THE MYSTIC RECLUSE OFOXFORD 84

VIII. PIERRE LE CLERC, BENEDICTINE MONK, ANDHIS PREDICTIONS OF NAPOLEON'S DESTINY 98

IX. VAN GALGEBROK, THE DUTCH MYSTIC, ANDHIS LIFE IN LONDON - ItO

X. PAULO PHIM, THE MAN OF MYSTERY, WHOCLAIMED TO BE AN "IMMORTAL" - - 127

PART II

AN ACCOUNT OF MY OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCES WITHSOME OF THE OCCULT CELEBRITIES OF RECENT YEARS

XI. THE PRINCESS ZISKY OF VIENNA: HERRZUNKLEHORN, THE GERMAN MYSTIC - ...

5

6O....PTaR

CONTENTSP401

XII. MADAME GUTJEN SUND, THE SWEDISHMEDIUM, AND RASPUTIN - - 158

XIII. A STRANGE EXPERIENCE WITH EUSAPIAPALLADINO OF ITALY - 164

XIV. SOME MODERN OCCULTISTS, MADAMEBLAVATSKY - 170

XV. MRS. ANNIE BESANT, WILLIAM Q. JUDGE, MRS.KATHERINE TINGLEY AND KRISHNAMURTI - 181

XVI. SIR OLIVER LODGE AND CAMILLE FLAMMARION 190

XVII. HINDU MYSTICS: THE FAKIR WHO WASBURIED ALIVE AND A TIGER KILLED BYHYPNOTISM - 197

XVIII. THE STRANGE CLAIRVOYANCE OF POPE PIUS IX 217

XIX. AN ASTROLOGER WHO PREDICTED HIS OWNDEATH - 223

XX. A MODERN WIZARD: THE " KEELY MOTOR "AND ITS INVENTOR - - 237

XXI. PREDICTIONS VERIFIED - 252

XXII. CAN THE FUTURE BE FORESEEN ? - 268An Account of Predictions fulfilled: Death

of Queen Victoria-King Edward VIIThe Czar of Russia-Field Marshal LordKitchener-Pope Pius X-King Humbert of Italy-The Shah of PersiaJoseph Chamberlain and Sir AustenChamberlain-Sir Lionel Phillips-LordPirie, etc. etc.

PART III

THE STORY OF ALCHEMY

XXIII. SOME OF THE FAMOUS ALCHEMISTS AND THEIRSEARCH FOR THE " ELIXIR OF LIFE " - zSs

CIIAPftR

CONTENTS 7.AO&

XXIV. MORE ABOUT ALCHEMISTS WHO MADE GOLD 292

xxv. STRANGE STORIES FROM THE ALCHEMISTS - 299

XXVI. THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF GILLESDE LAVAL, THE MAN WHO MADE A COMPACTWITH THE DEVIL - 303

PART I

PREFACE

IN every age people have been interest~d inthe researches of Alchemists, Chemists and

thinkers of all classes in their pursuit of themysteries of nature; mankind has always dreamtthat some day a discovery would be made ofI< The Elixir of Life," or if not that, someformula to conquer disease and add a few moreyears to life's short span.

Subconsciously, humanity has felt that insome past age inventions and discoveries weremade that in later times became lost in the ebband flow of various civilizations as they sweptacross this earth.

The recent discovery in modem times ofchanges caused by the "precession of theEquinox It has proved that in past reonsancient races, such as the Chinese, Hindus,Hebrews or Chaldeans, had in some mysteriousway known that the length of time for theI< precess" to accomplish its cycle was a periodof 25,800 years, at the end of which allcivilization would be completely altered orswept away and a new era begun.

Ancient philosophers and thinkers had insome extraordinary way divined, that what isknown as the " points of the Equinox " entered

12 MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULnsI'S

a different constellation of the Zodiac every2,150 years. Multiplying this period by twelve,the number of the Signs of the Zodiac, theyarrived at the complete cycle of the "precession" namely, 25,800 years.

Further to this, they demonstrated thateach Zodiacal period of 2,150 years producedchanges in nations and races that could beaccounted for in no other way than by the factthat each different section of the heavensappeared to influence some one race more thananother. Working from this thesis they placedcountries and vast portions of the world asgoverned by certain Signs of the Zodiac andnot by others.

How these ancient students of the heavensdiscovered such things, or what ages of timewere consumed in such researches, has neverbeen known-and perhaps never will be. Inany case it must be admitted that the sameidea is distinctly conveyed in the pages of HolyWrit, in which it is said :-

"When thou seest the sun and the moon and thestars even all the host of heaven . . . which the Lord thyGod hath divided unto all nations under the wholeheaven."-Deut. iv, 19.

"Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice (theLord of Hosts-or heavens) that he might instruct thee."-Deut. iv, 36.

PREFACE 13

In another part, dealing with the descendantsof the three sons of Noah, it says:-

II By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided intheir lands, everyone after his tongue after their familiesin their nations."-Gen. x, 5.

It has long been the idea among many modemwriters that in some past age, when men wereperhaps closer to nature, that God the Creatorof all, by inspiration or other means, revealedsecrets to man that in following centuriesbecame lost.

In Genesis, chapter v, 22, one reads :-

.. And Enoch walked with God."

Following this in the next chapter, describingNoah, it says:-

.. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generationand Noah walked with God."

It is therefore not incompatible with reasonto follow the idea that those ancient philosophersand astrologers fathomed great secrets of natureby some system or method of study superiorto our mechanical minds.

We know for an absolute fact that theydiscovered II the precession of the equinoxes,"and that it is only in very recent years, withall the scientific instruments at our disposal,

14 MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

that we have proved they were correct in thei,;statements.

If, therefore, those ancient "Wise Men"were so exact in their calculations about oneof the greatest marvels of nature, may theynot be as equally correct in their divisions ofthe Zodiac to influence, or as they termed it,to .. govern .. different countries of the world ?

Ages before Mercator had planned out hisMap of the Globe, these old students of theheavens had laid down that II the Isles of theNorth," otherwise England, was governed byAries-the Sign of the Ram, and House of Mars,that the portion of Europe now designated asGermany was under the same Sign.

To France and Italy they gave the Sign ofLeo, the Lion. They laid down the interestingand instructive axiom that countries under" animal signs" of the Zodiac should combinefor self-preservation 0'1' else they must fight oneanother to the death.

Russia they placed under the Sign of Aquarius,ruled by the planet Saturn, the symbol of whichwas the figure of an old man bowed down byTime, crushed by experience, yet in the endpouring out water on the earth to bring back itsfruitfulness.

To the far-off continent of America, thenunknown, except in the minds of those ancient

PREFACE 15students, they placed the northern part, including the portion now known as the United States,under the Sign of Gemini-the Twins, whoseruler is Mercury in its positive aspect. Astime went on this definition became mostapplicable to the northern part of the Americancontinent, as the planet Mercury representsScience. Invention, Business, Commerce andsuch like qualities. Gemini is the first houseof the Air Triplicity. The eagle, the King ofthe Air, was chosen as the symbolic sign ofthe United States, a nation that was destinedto be the birthplace of the Wright Brothers.the inventors of the aeroplane.

The United States has not only constructedthe largest airship the world has yet seen, butit possesses the greatest natural supply ofHelium, a non-inflammable gas that ensures thesafety of lighter-than-air ships.

It would be out of place here to give furtherdetails of the divisions of the heavens affectingother nations; readers can, if they wish, find afull description regarding countries and citiesruled by the Zodiacal Signs in my work calledIf World Predictions," published in Englandand the United States in 1926.

In dealing with the" Mysteries and Romancesof the World's Greatest Occultists," I have, asfar as possible, resurrected from histories and

16 KYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

manuscripts available the facts that are onrecord regarding the more outstanding of theseremarkable characters.

In the second part of this book I have dealtwith modem Occultists, or those whom I believewere influenced by such studies, and werepersonally known to me, such as MadameBlavatsky; Annie Besant; William Q. Judge;Katherine Tingley; Krishnamurti; Sir OliverLodge; Camille Flammarion; Alfred Minchin,an astrologer who predicted his own death;Hindu Mystics; Cardinal Sarto, afterwardsPope Pius X; and John W. Keely, the inventorof the" Keely Motor."

In this way, I hope my readers will find thatI have, as far as in my power, brought thesubject-matter up to date, making it of useto that ever-widening circle of the public thatin the present age are taking more and moreinterest in occult subjects.

.. CHEIRO"

CHAPTER I

THE ROMANCE OF CAGLIOSTRO.

ASTROLOGER, MYSTIC AND MAGICIAN

A s many may wish to know something aboutCagliostro, who was one of the out

standing figures in the records of occultism,I feel I cannot do better than commence thisbook by giving an account of some of theremarkable incidents that I have collected fromarchives and other sources regarding hisastounding career.

There is no doubt that few men in the courseof their lives ever experienced such calumnies asfell to the lot of Cagliostro. The reason for thiswill, however, be apparent to any unbiasedmind, especially when one considers the timeand conditions under which he lived.

His remarkable cures, effected chiefly bypotions made from the distillation of herbs,brought down on him the enmity of doctors andphysicians wherever he lived.

That he did cure the sick and ailing there canbe no question; further, that he gave his timeand remedies to the poor without price or any

B 11

CHAPTER I

THE ROMANCE OF CAGLIOSTRO.

ASTROLOGER, MYSTIC AND MAGICIAN

A s many may wish to know something aboutCagliostro, who was one of the out

standing figures in the records of occultism,I feel I cannot do better than commence thisbook by giving an account of some of theremarkable incidents that I have collected fromarchives and other sources regarding hisastounding career.

There is no doubt that few men in the courseof their lives ever experienced such calumnies asfell to the lot of Cagliostro. The reason for thiswill, however, be apparent to any unbiasedmind, especially when one considers the timeand conditions under which he lived.

His remarkable cures, effected chiefly bypotions made from the distillation of herbs,brought down on him the enmity of doctors andphysicians wherever he lived.

That he did cure the sick and ailing there canbe no question; further, that he gave his timeand remedies to the poor without price or any

B 11


hope of reward has been equally agreed on,even by his most bitter detractors.

That he was a master of hypnotism is alsoaccorded, but as the term U healer" was notunderstood in the period in which he lived, themarvellous cures he performed were, it isperhaps natural, put down to magic or theagency of the Devil or any other power notunderstood at that moment.

That he did not belong to any recognizedprofession also acted in his disfavour. In hisday there were only two classes-the very richor the very poor. The aristocrat of wealthor breeding could hardly breathe the same atmosphere with the tradesman or the unfortunatebeing who had to work in order to live.

Cagliostro came in between these two millstones. Who can wonder, then, if in the endhe was ground U exceeding small."

Who Cagliostro was, where he was born andwhere he came from are questions that havenever been clearly answered.

For many reasons, this extraordinary manattracted antagonism. In some cases it wasbred from jealousy of his success, in others itcame from political propaganda, especially byhis "Lettre au Peuple Fran~ais" after hisbanishment from France, which letter soexposed both Royalty and the Government

THE ROMANCE OF CAGLIOSTRO 19

that it is said it helped to bring on the FrenchRevolution.

The organ of the French Government, Cou"ierde L'Europe," published in England, was paidto circulate the story that Count CagliostID andthe infamous Joseph Balsamo, a man born inthe lowest circumstances in Palermo, were oneand the same person.

As Mr. W. R. Trowbridge, in his book," Cagliostro," points out, this infamy " rests onthe word of the editor of the Courrier del'Europe, a man of the lowest and most profligatehabits, and upon an anonymous letter from someone in Palermo to the Chief of the Paris police."

The victim had no means of defending himselfagainst these lying stories. At the momentwhen such libels were being most activelycirculated with the object of discrediting him inFrance, he was under banishment in England,with every organ of the press against him.

Mr. Trowbridge also very justly points out that" nobody who had known Balsamo ever sawCagliostro," further, that Balsamo, who hadbeen in England in 1771, was" wanted" by theLondon police. .. How then was it," he asks,"that six months afterward they did notrecognize him in Count Cagliostro,who spent fourmonths in a debtors' prison in London for nofault of his own ? "


The Inquisition at Rome, being naturallyCagliostro's most avowed enemy, in an effort toappease the public after his supposed death atits hands, circulated his so-called confessionunder torture, in an attempt to prove that heand the forger Joseph Balsamo were one and thesame.

The It Life of Joseph Balsamo," by ananonymous writer, published in Rome by orderof the Apostolic Court in 1791, was apparentlywritten by one of the judges who officiated athis trial, but if one remembers the usual methodsof the Inquisition one could hardly be surprisedat anything said in such a publication.

It must further be held in mind that Cagliostrowas condemned to death by the Inquisitionon the sole charge of his Masonic activities andfor the propagation of his It Egyptian Rite."

At the time of his trial Masonry of anydescription was peculiarly abhorrent to theChurch of Rome, and was prosecuted underpenalty of death.

Taking these circumstances into consideration, it is only natural to surmise, that the morearrant a scoundrel Cagliostro, under the guiseof Joseph Balsamo, was depicted, the better theInquisition would appear in the eyes of theworld.

It would be impossible for anyone of an


unbiased mind to believe that a man of suchprofound knowledge as is admitted he had evenby his enemies-a man who spoke so manylanguages, as Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Arabic,French, German, Italian and English--whoseknowledge of medicine was far in advance ofthe professors of that time, could be the sameas the uneducated Joseph Balsamo.

Such is, however, the power of propagandaof Church, State and Press that the greatestwonder is Cagliostro existed at all in spite ofsuch opposition. '

Although his own account of his origin andearly career, as he gaye it before his judges inParis at the time of the famous affair of « TheQueen's Necklace," may appear on the surfaceas more or less fantastic, yet the axiom must beborne in mind « that men who lead unusual livesmust have unusual experiences." It mustfurther be borne in mind that with all theforces of the law arrayed against him in thatsensational trial, he was acquitted by his judges.No mention of the name of Joseph Balsamo wasbrought into the case. He was simply banishedfrom France by order of Louis XVI, who hadto do something to appease the anger of hisQueen. And yet a few months later the Kinghimself rescinded the order of exile andCagliostro was invited to return to France.


In Cagliostro's own statement before theFrench Court, he said: .. I am unable to bedefinite about either the place of my birth ormy parentage. I have made exhaustiveenquiries, but these have brought me no morethan vague though certainly exalted suspicionsas to the rank of my family. My earliestrecollections are of the city' of Medina in Arabia.

.. Here I passed my childhood, being known asAcharat, a name which I continued to uselater during my travels through Africa andAsia.

.. At Medina I lived in the palace of the MuftiSalahaym, who was the head of the Mohammedan religion. There were four personsdevoted to my care; a tutor aged about sixty,whose name was Althotas, and three servants,one a white man who acted as my valet, andtwo blacks who kept me in their sight nightand day. .

.. According to my tutor I had been orphanedat three months. My parents, he told me, wereChristians and of noble birth. More than thishe would not disclose.

.. Althotas, whose name I cannot speak evennow without emotion, was more than a father tome. He instructed me in all the sciences, inevery one of which he was profoundly adept.I made most progress in botany and chemistry.

THE ROMANCE OF CAGLIOSTRO .23

He taught me to fear God, love my neighbourand respect the law.

II My tutor also instructed me in most of theEastern languages. He would talk to me aboutthe Pyramids of Egypt and their wonders untilmy desire to see these things for myself grewso strong that life in Medina began to pall.At last, in my twelfth year, Althotas informedme we were setting out on our travels. Webade farewell to the Mufti, who was loath to seeus go, and joined a caravan for Mecca."

Cagliostro then went on to describe his stayin the palace of the Cherif of Mecca, until hisfinal arrival at Malta.

I< Here," he proceeded, I< Pinto, the GrandMaster of the Knights of Malta, invited me tohis palace and lodged me near his laboratory.I have reason to believe that the Grand MasterPinto knew the secret of my birth. He oftenspoke of the CherH and mentioned the city ofTrebizond, but never in detail, but he alwaystreated me with every honour and promisedme rapid preferment if I would take the cross.I was too fond of travelling and the practice ofmedicine to accept his generous offer.

I< After the death on the island of my teacherand best friend, Althotas, I begged the GrandMaster to allow me to leave in order to travel.He reluctantly consented and on his instructions

24 MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULnSTS

the Chevalier d'Aguino accompanied me firstto Sicily, then to Greece and finally to Naplesand Rome.

.. Here I met His Eminence the CardinalOrsini, who had me frequently to dine with himand introduced me to many Cardinals andRoman Princes, notably Cardinal Ganganelli,who afterward became Pope Clement XIV. Ihad several times the honour of a private interview with the Pope Razzonico, who filled thePapal Throne at that time.

.. In 1770, in my twenty-second year, I meta young lady of good birth, Lorenza SeraphinaFeliciani, whose beauty kindled in me a flamewhich sixteen years of marriage have failed toextinguish.' ,

Cagliostro ended his defence by refuting eachslanderous statement the Countess de Lamottehad hurled against him, as:

.. Empiric is a word I have often heardwithout precisely understanding its meaning.If it means one who, though not professing tobe a doctor, can yet cure both rich and poorwithout fee or reward, then I confess I am anempiric.

" Mean Alchemist? Whether I am alchemistor not, the term I mean' can be applied onlyto beggars and sycophants. No one can sayCagliostro has begged of any man. •

THE ROMANCE OF CAGLIOSTRO 25tI Dreamer about the Philosopher's Stone?

Whatever my opinion about the Stone may be,I have kept it to myself and never obtruded iton the public.

It False prophet? Not always. I warned theCardinal de Rohan that the Countess deLamotte-Valois was a deceitful, dangerouswoman. Had he taken my advice, he wouldnot be in his present position.

tI A Jew? I never was either a Jew orMohammedan."

As I am not attempting to write the life ofCount Cagliostro I need not go into furtherdetails, but will proceed with incidents of perhapsgreater interest to my readers.

Cagliostro was a mystery to all who methim. Here was a man who attracted moneyand yet despised it, a man who squandered richesas they never had been squandered before orsince.

Where did he get his wealth? That mysteryalone was sufficient for his damnation.

Cagliostro had, however, two incentives forhis pursuit of gold. One the sense of powerit gave-the other the greatest incentive of allthe love of a woman.

No matter how Cagliostro may be criticizedor censured by self-appointed judges, throughall the many vicissitudes of his eventful career,


like a golden thread that may at times have ledto Heaven, his love for his beautiful Lorenza,"wife before God," stands out more like adream than a reality.

For her he amassed wealth-for her he soldlove philtres or the H Elixir of Life:' Her pearlshad to be the finest, her diamonds the whitest,her gowns the richest of any woman in the land.

He forgave her sins-and she had many,if one is to believe one-half of the rumoursconcerning her-but in spite of all the beautifulwomen who threw themselves at his feet,Cagliostro remained her devoted lover up tothe last moment of his life.

Where did he meet Lorenza Feliciani? Thatis one of the many mysteries surrounding theevents of his early career.

It may be noticed that in his statementbefore the Court in Paris, he only said: H Inmy twenty-second year I met a young ladyof good birth "; he did not mention underwhat circumstances he met her.

There is one intensely romantic story whichmay be as true as any other, but which wasborne out later on in Lorenza's confession tothe Mother Superior of the Convent at Versailles, the sister of Louis XVI.

This story bears out Cagliostro's extraordinarypowers of hypnotism.


One afternoon in the autumn of 1770 acarriage containing a young girl and hermother was proceeding on one of the roadsoutside of Rome towards an isolated Conventsituated on one of the loneliest hills in -thatpart of the country. For some reason thehorses suddenly became unmanageable, torethe reins from the hands of the coachman,and rushed in a headlong fury down the roadtowards a narrow bridge that lay across oneof the mountain torrents.

In a few seconds disaster and perhaps tragedylay waiting.

Suddenly a young man sprang out of a wood,and at the risk of his life seized the bridle ofone of the horses and quieted the terror-strickenanimals.

The mother, loud in her protestations ofthanks and fearful of a similar recurrence,begged the young man to remain with themuntil the safety of the Convent was reached.

Little was said during the rest of the journey,the mother was still unnerved, the young girlsat back in the depths of the carriage withher expressive dark eyes every now and thenmeeting those of the handsome stranger.

At the Convent the mother insisted in presenting him to the Revered Abbess.

She was old, austere in her manner. She


received them in an ante-chamber, outside ofthe main building. «Men were never permitted to enter the Convent/' she explained.

The young girl was about to enter her yearof initiation; a few moments and the youngman must say good-bye to her for ever.

The moments flew past, he rose to go, hiseyes met hers, the Convent gates opened andclosed, and he went out into the night.

Cagliostro, for it was none other, refused theoffer of the carriage, and started on his long,lonely walk towards Rome.

He knew he had met his companion-soul;he knew also that those walls of stone stoodbetween them as an impassable barrier.

Under such conditions, most men wouldhave bowed their head to Fate. Cagliostrowas, however, not like other men. He glancedupward at the stars, and resolved to fight Fatefor that young girl who had so unexpectedlyentered into his life.

The year of her initiation had nearly passed.Night after night Cagliostro might have beenseen wending his way from Rome and postinghimself as a sentinel outside those lonelyConvent walls.

He had learned that the Feliciani familyone of the proudest in Rome-were devoutCatholics, and happy in the fact that their


only child, Lorenza, was about to take "theVeil."

As the days and nights and months rolledby Cagliostro's love grew more and more intense.It had burned up his heart and consume<1- hisvery soul.

He knew Lorenza loved him; her eyes hadtold him so at that last meeting. Love, whenit is real, has no need of vows or words-itfeeds on itself, and goes on for ever increasing.

But what was to be done? In a few moredays the ceremony would be over, .. the Veil "taken, and Lorenza the Beautiful would nolonger be of this world.

A plan was forming in his brain, a daringplan. If it failed his life would pay the penalty.Better that, he thought, than a living deathwithout love.

The morning of the ceremony dawned, coldand grey across the horizon. The" eternalhills of Rome " that had seen so many tragediesseemed brooding in the distance. Fate hadshuffied her cards and was waiting in silence" to call his hand."

The candles had been lighted on the altar;monks and priests had trooped into theirstalls, deep tones of the organ vibrated throughthe chancel, the Feliciani family were alreadyon their knees-owing to the strict rules of


the Convent they were the only strangersthat could be present.

The ceremony commenced, the solemn wordsof the Bishop echoed through the silence; theGates of Heaven were being opened to admitits child.

A trembling form in white was about torenounce the world for ever.

Supported by the Revered Abbess, Lorenzalooked more beautiful than any saint; herpale cheeks, flushed with fever, were like thepetals of a new-born rose. Again the organpealed, and sweet voices of nuns intoned aresponse.

The tall figure of a monk in black enteredat the side, and took a position by one of thepillars.

The moment had arrived when the vow wasabout to be given. All heads were bowedall hearts stilled to listen.

The figure of the monk moved, noiselesslyhe glided to Lorenza's side-a piercing shriekhe had seized her in his arms and was alreadypassing through the side door out into the open.

A marriage ceremony took place in a smallvillage beyond Rome, and before night fellthe carriage containing Cagliostro and Lorenzawas speeding on its way towards the Italianfrontier.

CHAPTER II

CAGLIOSTRO APPEARS BEFORE THE SECRETCOUNCIL OF THE ROSE-CROIX

MANY books about Cagliostro relate histravels with Lorenza as pilgrims through

Spain and France. During this time muchevidence may be collected that in Lorenza,Cagliostro had discovered a remarkable mediumwho could be of great assistance to him inhis mystical operations.

In some records she is described, when ina state of trance, affording him exact descriptions of persons about to visit him, and even tothe propositions that would be placed beforehim.

Before, however, he made use of her powersin some of the extraordinary manifestationsof occultism he gave in France and England,we must accompany him in his appearancebefore the Secret Council of the Rose-Croixor Order of the Rosicrucians, which at thatmoment were a Society yielding great powerand influence in Germany.

In such narrow-minded times, all secret31


societies had to observe the greatest precautionsthat their members were not known or theirmeeting places discovered.

The It Brothers of the Rosy Cross"-or asthey were also called, the It Illuminati "traced their origin back to about I422, buttheir great rise to power did not occur beforeI537. From that date out their secret lodgesattracted some of the most educated menof the day, including members of royalty,princes, nobles and even prelates of high rankin the church.

In Germany the <l Bretheren of the RosyCross" were especially powerful. FrederickWilliam II, King of Prussia, joined the Orderin I78I. He was then in his thirty-seventhyear, and his position did much to furtherthe interests of the Society. It also numberedamong its members the reigning Dukes ofGotha and Weimar.

Somewhere prior to this date Cagliostrosuddenly made his appearance before the SecretCouncil of the Rose-Croix at their head-quartersin the heart of the Black Forest in Germany.

Leaving Lorenza comfortably settled in an innin charge of a faithful servant, he set off alone tofind the secret meeting-place of the " Brethren:'

Such a quest would have been a hopelessone to any man not well versed in the rules

CAGLIOSTRO BEFORE THE SECRET COUNCIL 33

and regulations of the Order, and meant deathto any intruder not conversant with the passwords, signs, etc., that would give entranceto the assembly.

Cagliostro had nothing to fear; he hadbeen well versed by his teacher, AIthotas, inall such mysteries.

He had never been near the Black Forest,or in fact in the heart of Germany, before.Some secret knowledge seemed to guide him.At a certain point on the main road he calledthe inn carriage to a halt and, telling thedriver to wait there for him till dawn, withouthesitation he plunged into a dark alley ofpines that led up to an old ruined castlecompletely hidden in the forest.

There was no indication of life about theplace; the moat looked dark and forbidding;there was no sign of a drawbridge or anymeans of entrance to the broken gateway onthe other side.

A rising wind moaned through the trees,black clouds swept across the sky and coveredthe moon. Cagliostro stood irresolute; for afew moments he seemed like a man who hadlost his way.

He paced up and down as if trying to collecthis thoughts. Suddenly he put his fingers tohis lips and made a peculiar whistle that


sounded like three distinct notes. He repeatedthis three times. As the echo of the last tonedied away a tall figure in armour appearedto rise from a pile of stones by his side, a swordflashed, a sepulchral voice said in German:

H Who art thou that disturbest the dead? "Cagliostro, in the same language, replied:

.. I come not here to disturb the dead-butto speak with the living." ,

Figure in armour: .. Give me the name ofhe who sent you."

Cagliostro: .. The name of my Master isAlthotas."

Figure in armour: .. Give me the passwords."Cagliostro: .. Lilia, Pedibus, Destrue."Figure in armour (putting back his sword) :

.. Follow me."Passing through an archway they descended

some steps, then a subterranean passage beneaththe moat which led to a vaulted crypt underthe centre of the castle.

The figure in armour advanced, knockedthree times on the panel of a heavy oak door.

A voice: .. Who demands admittance? "Figure in armour: .. A Brother who seeks

the Light."Voice: .. Do you vouch for him as a

Brother? "Figure in armour: .. I do."

CAGLIOSTRO BEFORE THE SECRET COUNCIL 35

The doors are thrown open. Cagliostroenters. Seated round a table in the centreare twelve men dressed in mantles of differentcolours according to the Sign of the Zodiacunder which they were born. They are ben9ingover a large map of Europe. As Cagliostrocomes in they draw the cowls of their mantlesover their faces.

The President, at the head of the table,rises. With sword drawn he advances towardsCagliostro: II Who are you? " he demands. I( Doyou know the danger you run in entering here? "

Cagliostro, with a smile, replies: I( There isno danger in the heart of the Rose-Croix forone who belongs to the Order."

President: I( Who is here who can provethat you have the right to enter? "

Cagliostro: I( The man who is behind yonderscreen, the Grand Master of our Order."

The screen at the back opens, the two sidesrolling back slowly. The Grand Master isdisclosed sitting on a throne of gold, dressedin a long white robe. On his breast lies alarge cross of diamonds with a red rose ofrubies in the centre.

The Master, an old, majestic-looking figure,rises. Speaking in a deep, impressive voice,he says: II In the name of the Brethren of theWest, I greet Cagliostro. the envoy of the East."

J6 :MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

All rise.Cagliostro bends on one knee before the

throne.The Grand Master, placing his hand on his

head, says: «Cagliostro, my Brother, I havewilled you to come here. I am growing old,the days of my life are numbered. Knowingyour knowledge and the powers you possess,I have chosen you to carryon my mission onearth. Are you ready to take my place ? "

Cagliostro: «I am, Master."The Grand Master opens a metal box shaped

like a scroll. Taking out a parchment he handsit to Cagliostro. «You will find here, myBrother, all you need to know, together withthe names of those who can best serve youand our Order. Guard it with your life.The loss of this parchment would mean deathto many of our brethren. Go now, my Brother,back into the world; sow the seeds of theRose-Croix wherever your feet may linger.Use your secrets to make men and women seethe t Light of Truth.' Lift the fallen-humblethe mighty-spread the only true religionthe Brotherhood of Man across the earth.

« Good-bye, Cagliostro, my blessing goes withyou."

The twelve knights surround Cagliostro andlead him back to the outer world.

CHAPTER III

CAGLIOSTRO ESTABLISHES If THE EGYPTIANRITE" IN PARIS

A FTER passing through Germany and stopping for some time in Strasburg as

the guest of the Prince Cardinal de Rohan,Cagliostro reached Paris in the year 1781, andat once proceeded to establish If The EgyptianRite," founded on ancient Masonic laws whichhe claimed to have discovered during hissojourn in the Orient.

In order to do this with proper effect,Cagliostro erected in the rue de la Sourdierea magnificent temple of which he was theGrand Master.*

In opposition to the rules of the FrenchFreemasons who, up to then, had been closelyallied with the English and Scottish Riteestablished by Elias Ashmole of Oxford,Cagliostro announced that the feminine sexshould be no longer debarred from participatingin Masonic ceremonies.

• When Cagliostro was banished from France, his house andtemple remained unopened until after the Revolution. In 1855repairs were made and the temple demolished. Its doors wereplaced on a house in the rue Sainte Claude, where they may stillbe~. .

37

38 MYSTElUES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

This was a master stroke of diplomacy, forby this means he obtained the direct patronageof the brilliant Court of Louis XVI.

Through the intervention of the Duke ofLuxemburg, the Princess de Lambelle, theclosest friend of Marie Antoinette, was offeredthe position of Grand Mistress of Honour,which she graciously accepted. She was received into the Order on the evening of 20thMarch, 1785, attended by the most distinguishedpersonages of the Court.

She made an imposing figure dressed in arobe of white silk, carrying the decoration ofthe Order in the form of a sash suspendedfrom her right shoulder of rich blue satinfringed with silver, while on her left shoulderwas a white rosette with three bars of gold.At the end of the sash was suspended a circleof gold enclosing a sceptre, the Hand of Justiceand an ancient crown all constructed of preciousjewels. She was led by Cagliostro to a whiteand gold throne placed on seven steps of goldupon a dias of silver stars.

Cagliostro was seated on another thronelevel with her feet.

The Queen, Marie Antoinette herself, assistedat the ceremony.

The vast Temple built by Cagli~stro wastransformed into II a salon of Paradise."

U THE EGYPTIAN RITE" IN PARIS 39

Following the ceremony a banquet was givenby Cagliostro, the like of which had never beenexcelled even in those days of royal extravagance.

This regal launching of U The EgyptianRite" naturally excited a considerable amountof jealousy on the part of the Grand Councilof the regular Freemasons of Paris. In theend they passed a resolution to invite Cagliostroto attend a meeting of their Order in theirown Temple.

The resolution was sent in the name of themost distinguished men of the day, the principalAmbassadors of the Courts of Europe beingalso invited.

Cagliostro accepted, and the historic meetingtook place on the evening of loth May, 1785.

The Grand Master of " The Egyptian Rite"was received with all the honours that couldbe accorded to him by the Duke de la Rochefoucauld, Cour de Gebelin and other membersof the royal party.

Cagliostro was asked to speak on the mysteriesof Freemasonry in general.

To the surprise and horror of everyonepresent, with burning and almost brutal eloquence, Cagliostro. proceeded to show the distinguished assembly that they were 'absolutelyignorant of the real secrets underlying trueMasonry.


At last, in desperation, Cour de Gebelindemanded that Cagliostro would give proofs ofthe superior knowledge he had obtained from" The Egyptian Rite."

Speaking in tones of decision and authority,Cagliostro took up the challenge.

He proceeded to show the Cabalistic meaningof Names and Numbers. He put before hisaudience the letters of the" Sacred Alphabet."He then asked them to apply a question andwork out the answer for themselves.

The question they selected was: "LOUISXVI, KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. WILLHE BE HAPPY TO THE END OF HIS LIFE, ANDWILL HE BEQUEATH THE THRONE TO HIS SON? "

The answer that worked out before the eyesof the assembly was: "LOUIS XVI WILLRUIN THE THRONE OF HIS ANCESTORS. HEWILL DIE ON THE SCAFFOLD IN THE THIRTYNINTH YEAR OF HIS AGE."

Taking the number XVI as that of hisdynasty, Cagliostro went on to explain thatit corresponded to the sixteenth arcane, whichwas symbolized as a tower broken by a boltof lightning from which a man was falling,a crown toppling from his head.*

• See .. Cheiro's Book of Numbers" for further explanation ofthis number. (Herbert Jenkins, Ltd., 3, York Street, Saint James's,London, S.W.I.)

II THE EGYPTIAN RITE" IN PARIS 41

A gasp of horror and astonishment burstfrom the assembly.

The next name submitted was: "MARIEANTOINETTE, ARCHDUCHESSE OF AUSTRIA,QUEEN OF FRANCE."

The answer that worked itself out was:II UNHAPPY IN FRANCE, SHE WILL BE IMPRISONED AND BEHEADED."

Cagliostro ceased speaking for a moment.Cour de Gebelin, learned scientist that he was,appeared stupefied like the other persons aroundhim.

"Sir," he said, turning to Cagliostro. II IfGod permits one to see the future, cannot ourprayers prevent the threatened catastrophe?Countess de Lambe1le, the friend of the Queen,is Grand Mistress of Honour in your ' EgyptianRite.' Why not convey these messages toher so she may warn the Queen."

"No, Monsieur," replied Cagliostro, II shewould not believe. I w~uld only commit animprudence at once dangerous and useless.Let us apply her name and see what it willgive."

He wrote out her name and title. II MARIETHERESE-LoUISE DE SAVOIE, PRINCESS DELAMBELLE."

The answer came: I' SHE WILL BE MASSACREDIN PARIS BY FOUR RUFFIANS AT THE CORNER


OF THE RUE DES BALLETS IN THE REVOLUTION

THAT DESTROYS THE KING AND QUEEN."·

In the silence that followed, Cagliostro said:" If now we should ask what will be the endof the Revolution? the reply that is 'givenis: • A MAN FROM THE ISLAND OF CORSICA

WILL BE ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE, UNDER A

NEW TITLE HE WILL RESTORE THE POWER

FALLEN FROM THE HANDS OF LOUIS XVI.' "" Now, Messieurs, I will stop," said Cagliostro.

" I do not fear having said too much. Beinggentlemen you cannot be treacherous to me.You asked the proof of the superiority of theknowledge given by •The Egyptian Rite.' Ihave given you the proofs-history will showthe truth of my words."

" One moment more," cried Jacques Cazotte,the celebrated writer. "Can you give us thename of the Corsican who is predestined tothe Throne of France ? "

" Monsieur," Cagliostro replied, " the answeris contained in the words of your own question.THE MAN FROM THE ISLAND OF CORSICA WILL

BE CALLED NAPOLEON BONAPARTE; HE WILL

BE ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE; HE WILL CONQUER

• Seven years later Countess de Lambelle was arrested with theRoyal Family -on the lOth August, 1792. Her father-in-law paida hundred thousand ecus for her liberty. As she left the prisonand was passing the last house at the comer of the rue de!! Ballets,she was attacked by four men, who hacked her to eieces with theirswords. her head was cut 011 and carried on a pike through thestreets of Paris.

II THE EGYPTIAN RITE JI IN PARIS 43

NATIONS AND DOMINATE THRONES, BUT IN THEEND RUINED, HE WILL FINISH AS A PRISONERON A LONELY ISLE."

• • • • •It would take too much space in a bogk of

this kind to tell more of Cagliostro's remarkable predictions. To-day they are a matter ofhistory, and many of them may be found inthe National Library in Paris.

H would not, however, be right if I didnot relate perhaps the last one he made, andone that was vouched for by no less a personagethan the Marquis de Launay, the Governorof the Bastille where Cagliostro, during theaffair of II The Queen's Necklace," had beena prisoner for over eight months.

On the day of his release the Governor'sattention was called by the warders to aninscription made by Cagliostro with the aidof an iron nail on the wall of his cell.

The translation of it is as follows :II PEACE I PEOPLE OF FRANCE. ON THE

14TH OF JULY, 1789, THIS BASTILLE WILL BEDESTROYED BY YOU, AND GRASS WILL GROWWHERE IT NOW STANDS."

As history records, the people besieged thisfamous prison; it fell after a desperate fighton 14th July, 1789. Grass now covers, asCagliostro predicted, the place where it oncestood, as may be seen to-day by visitors to Paris.

CHAPTER IV

CAGLIOSTRO BEFORE THE INQUISITION: HIS

LAST YEARS IN THE DUNGEON OF SAN LEO

CAGLIOSTRO'S star was now falling; hewas afraid to take advantage of

Louis XVI's cancellation of the order ofbanishment; he refused to return from hisexile in England.

His attempts to establish "The EgyptianRite" in London were not successful: theEnglish Freemasons had turned against him.Lorenza persuaded him to return to Italy.

Against his better judgment and the warninggiven him by the Count de Saint Germainand Casanova, he crossed the Continent, andafter stopping in various cities on his way,finally arrived in Rome. Like so many otherSeers, who although able to warn others ofdisaster, he was not apparently able to avertthe fatality of the closing days of his own career.

Perhaps it may have been that Fate provedtoo strong for him; that the combination ofhis birth and name numbers-making the totalof sixteen-which he has demonstrated in the

44

CAGLIOSTRO BEFORE THE INQUISITION 45

case of Louis XVI by the Cabalistic arcaneproducing the symbol of " a Tower struck bylightning from which a man appeared fallingwith a crown toppling from his head " had tobe fulfilled in his case as it had been even witha King.

It may have been brought on by pridethat greatest weakness of all great menthat tempted him to defy the power of theChurch of Rome. It may also have been thatout of his passionate love for the still beautifulLorenza, he could not refuse her smallestrequest.

How little one can know of the inner workingsof such a man's mind.

From whatever reason it may have been, inMay of 1789 he committed the unpardonableimprudence of arriving in Rome.

After nearly eighteen months' wanderingacross the Continent and attempting to establishseveral Lodges of the Egyptian Rite withoutmeeting with success, he had dissipated hisremaining money so that on reaching Romeck...cumstances obliged him. to accept an offerma'tle by a Masonic Lodge called "Les VraisAmis" (the True Friends).

At a dinner of this lodge he explained thesuperior wisdom of Egyptian and OrientalMasonry in the hope of obtaining converts.


This was a dangerous proceeding on accountof the edicts issued against all meetings ofFreemasons in Rome by Clement XII andBenedict XIV. The reigning Pope, Pius VI,was equally hostile to all secret societies.

At the end of the dinner he was somewhatencouraged by two members of the Lodge of"les Vrais Amis " offering to join his EgyptianRite.

Imprudently; but pushed on by the badfinancial conditions in which he was placed,he initiated the two candidates, passing themthrough the first three grades in one operation,and hastened home to tell Lorenza the goodnews, and paint for her a glowing picture ofhis returning power and wealth.

.. Lorenza, my own," he said, as he tookher in his arms, It your vanished pearls andjewels will soon be restored; you will reignagain as a queen above all other women."

But Lorenza would not allow herself to befed on dreams. With that clairvoyant visionthat had so often been used in Cagliostro'splans, she shuddered with horror at theapproaching fatality she felt drawing so close.

Holding his face in her hands close to herown, It Acharat," she sobbed, using the oldname she knew so well in their happier days,II I feel in my heart those new converts were

CAGLIOSTRO BEFORE THE INQUISITION 47set as a trap; they are spies, Acharat, spiesfrom the Holy Office. I see at this verymoment you are being denounced. For God'ssake destroy all your papers, especially thesecret manuscript of the Egyptian Rite. Thereis no time to be lost." -

With a long embrace, he tore himself fromher arms. It was the last kiss he was ever tohave. Staggering to a desk at the end of theroom he threw it open. Too late! Footstepswere already on the stairs, murmuring voicesalready at the door.

Like a lion at bay, Cagliostro, with Lorenzaclinging to him, turned to face the danger.

Four men robed in black with cowls drawnover their faces entered, advancing with thewhite wands of the Holy Office pointed towardtheir victim; they tore the weeping womanfrom his arms, and forced him to the door.

Once more the II lion " made a stand.Shaking himself free for a moment from hiscaptors, with outstretched hands he imploredto be allowed to say good-bye to the womanhe had loved so long.

With a sneer a hard voice answered, II Youwill meet again before the Inquisition."

They never met again. That night she wastaken to the Convent of Santa Apollonia,he to the fortress of Saint Ange.


What passed behind the closed doors of theInquisition no one knows. It is said that underthe horrors of torture Cagliostro confessed tobeing born Guiseppe Balsamo. His trial draggedon for fifteen months.

His one continuous supplication to be allowedto see Lorenza for even a brief moment wasnever granted.

At last sentence was pronounced on 21stMarch, 1791, as follows:

"Guiseppe Balsamo, so-called Count Cagliostro, accused and convicted of many crimes,and of having defied the censures and penaltiespronounced against heretics, dogmatics, mastersand disciples of magic and superstition, hasbeen found guilty and condemned to thepenalties decreed by the Apostolic laws ofClement XII and Benedict XIV, against thosewho in any way whatsoever support or formgatherings and societies of Freemasonry.

"Notwithstanding, by special grace andfavour, the sentence of death which this crimeentails, is hereby commuted to imprisonmentfor life in a fortress where the prisoner shallbe closely confined without hope of pardon.

"In addition, the manuscript entitledt Egyptian Masonry' is hereby condemned ascontaining rites, doctrines and a system superstitious, heretical and blasphemous. This book

CAGLIOSTRO BEFORE THE INQUISITION 49

is ordered to be burned by the executioner.together with any other documents relatingto this secret society."

On 16th April, 1791, the prisoner, heavilyguarded by troops, was, after a five gays'journey through the rugged mountains of theApennines, finally placed in the dungeons ofthe Castle of San Leo, near Montefeltro. Thiscastle was on the edge of a deep precipice,his cell cut out of the living rock had onlyone heavily barred window looking upwardto the sky. The prisoner's only relation withany other human being was when his jailerraised the bars to lower some food to himtwice a day.

By the aid of pieces of wood that at timeshe tore from his couch, he traced rough designson the walls of his cell; the last of these bearsthe date of 6th March, 1795. How or whenhe died is not known.

History tells us that when the French troopsinvaded the Papal States in 1797 the Castle ofSan Leo was stormed and taken by them andthe soldiers demanded if Cagliostro was stillalive. It is probable that they regarded himas one of the authors of the revolution; theyhad not forgotten his remarkable predictioncarved on the walls of his cell in the Bastillelong before the revolution. "Peace, people of


France. On the 14th of July, 1789, thisBastille will be destroyed by you and grass willgrow where it now stands."

They also had not forgotten his famous letterto the French people written during his exilein England.

It is probable that these soldiers of the newRepublic of France wanted to bring Cagliostroback in triumph.

Whatever their plan was, it came too late.They were briefly informed by officers of th~

Inquisition that the man they sought had diedin prison; his supposed skull was handed tothem-the soldiers filled it with wine and dranka toast to the Revolution.

There are many persons who believe that thestory told to the French soldiers was false andthat Caglistro did not die in the prison of SanLeo; they say that after many years of sufferinghe threw himself into a trance, feigned death,that his body was carried down the mountainside and thrown into the Tiber. This rumourrelates that he swam to the other side andlived for many years under an assumed nameas a broken-down old man practising medicineamong the poor in various cities on theContinent.

A story came to my own ears when I wasliving in Rome that may be equally true as

CAGLIOSTRO BEFORE THE INQUISITION 51any of the others. I give it here for what it isworth.

It runs to the effect that after three years ofsolitary confinement in his dungeon, brokenhearted without getting any news of Lotenza,he put into execution a daring plan of escape.

It is on record that a monk-confessor wasallowed to visit him once a month to urge hisrepentance and bring him back into the Church

,of Rome.One day, to the astonishment of the monk,

he found Cagliostro apparently broken in spiritand ready to beg for absolution. The monkhardly believing such a thing possible, askedCagliostro : H How tie could be sure of his changeof heart? "

Cagliostro, with tears streaming from hiseyes, ordered the monk to undo his rope girdlefrom his waist and Hay him with it till the bloodcame.

The monk, a powerfully built man, was onlytoo willing to act as he was told, and in order.to do his work better, threw off his monk'srobe and Hung it on the floor.

At the first blow across his back, Cagliostroturned like a tiger who had tasted blood;taking the confessor off his guard, he forced himto the wooden couch, twisted the girdle roundhis throat and strangled him till he was dead.

52 MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST oCcULTISTS

The rest was easy. Wrapping himself in themonk's robe, girding his waist with the ropeand hanging the crucifix on his breast, heknocked for the jailer-as the door opened hewalked out into the night.

Knowing that his beloved Lorenza had beensent to the Convent of Saint Apollonia for life,he made his way there in the coming dawn.

Tremblingly he pulled the convent bell-anun's face appeared at the iron grille.

It Holy father," she asked, .. what is it youwant at this hour of the morning? "

.. I have a message for Lorenza Feliciani, andmust see her at once."

The iron grille closed with a rasp as the nunreplied: It Lorenza Feliciani is dead."

Some hours later the body of a lifeless monkwas found lying at the convent door.

CHAPTER V

DOCTOR DEE: QUEEN ELIZABETH'S

FAVOURITE SEER AND ASTROLOGER

The Life of Doctor Dee, the Mortlake Philosopher, a mostfascinating study. Queen Elizabeth referred to him instate policy and for advice in her numerou.~ love affairs.He lived under five Sovereigns at home and was respectfully consulted by Princes and Kings upon the Continent.He died in starvation at the age 01 eighty years. Withhim was associated the mysterious Edward Kelly, hisadept.

DOCTOR JOHN DEE has been muchmisunderstood and even slandered by

posterity. For half a century of his careeras an Occultist, Astrologer and Palmist, heenjoyed the favour of Queen Elizabeth.

When his Queen died, with the accession ofKing James I upon the throne, there came arevulsion of feeling against Astrology andOccultism. Doctor Dee was driven abroad.Of his later career upon the Continent a melancholy record could be compiled. Finally, in1608, he returned to his old home at Mortlake,

53


Surrey, to die. He passed out practically incircumstances of starvation.

That Doctor Dee was cruelly misunderstoodI have no doubt. His transcendent gifts werebeyond his times; his contacts with psychicphenomena can now perhaps be better understood. Always dreamy and kindly, the mundane affairs of life passed him by. His wholelife may be said to have been a tragedy ofgenteel poverty.

John Dee sprang from a Welsh family longrooted in the county of Radnorshire. Hisfather, Rowland, held an appointment in theCourt of Henry VIII, so he was able to givehis son John a good education. After being atChelmsford Grammar School, he was sent at theage of fifteen to St. John's College, Cambridge,where he became a devoted and successfulstudent.

But although proficient in the dead languagesand general learning, it was quickly apparentthat the bent of John Dee's mind was towardsa study of Occultism and Astrology.

In May, 1547, he took his first journeyabroad, conferring with the learned men ofthe Dutch Universities. They were all struckwith the sapience and good sense of the youngcollegian. Among famous philosophers he wasbrought into contact with, and which greatly

DOCTOR DEE 55influenced his expanding mind, were GerardMercartor, Gemma Frissius, and the Orientalist,Antonius Gogava.

A little later he entered as a student of thefamous University of Louvain. Here he a-bodetwo years, and obtained a reputation quitein advance of his age. He graduated with adegree, and henceforth he was to be knownby the title of Doctor Dee.

At Brussels assembled the brilliant Courtof Charles V. Here came mathematicians,doctors, alchemists, and other wise men, allanxious to put to the test this English prodigy.Among the Englishmen were Sir WilliamPickering, who II humbly placed himself as apupil beneath the care of Dr. Dee to studyastronomy by the light of Mercator's globes,the astrolabe, and the astronomer's ring ofbrass invented by Frisius."

He was but twenty-three years of age whenhe arrived in a Paris already agog to see him experiment and hear his discourses. Very quickly.. for the honour of his country and the gloryof the sciences," he was asked to lecture onOccultism. His audience consisted of criticalscholars and men of refinement and education.So great was the throng that some climbed upat the windows and were content if they couldsee Dr. Dee's face even though they could

SAlAR JUNG LJBRApV_


not catch his words. -<\t these discourses hegave practical experiments. His fame wasfirmly established, but in spite of glory, honourand riches offered to him on every side, histhoughts turned again to his native land.

Upon the Throne of England at this timesat the Royal boy, Edward VI, a prodigy oflearning and steeped in the fanaticism ofultra-Protestantism. Through the good officesof Sir John Cheke, the King's tutor, DoctorDee was introduced to the youthful monarch.He had already dedicated two manuscripts tothe U Royal Solomon," and as a reward wasgiven an annual pension of one hundred crowns.

This allowance, with his characteristic disregard for his own interests, Dr. Dee immediately exchanged for the rectorial living ofUpton-upon-Severn in Worcestershire. He himself was not in Holy orders, and he found itnecessary to place a minister in the living,which ate up his allowance and more.

Dee was now an accredited magician andadept in the predicatory art. Upon the deathof the youthful King, he was called to Courtto calculate the nativity of Mary, the youngQueen. It was at this auspicious time he firstopened a correspondence with her sister, the

DOCTOR DEE 57Princess Elizabeth-an act destined to bearmuch fruit.

But the gloomy religious persecution of theProtestants that now rose to its zenith castalso its shade over the career of Dr. -Dee.So disturbed were the times that all sorts ofaccusations were made by informers, and onthe wildest charges individuals were committedto prison.

A man named George Ferrys alleged one ofhis children had been struck blind, and anotherwasted to death by Dee's II magic." Further,the informant declared the magician wasdirecting his enchantments against the Queenherself. Dr. Dee's house was surrounded bysoldiers, he himself arrested, and his roomssealed up. He was examined before the Secretary of State upon eighteen articles of accusation, but was unanimously acquitted.

Having escaped this peril, a more sinisterone awaited him. A charge of dealing withvarious spirits and employing wizardry followed.He was arraigned before the formidable BishopBonner; but such was his subtlety and skillin answering the interrogation that he escapedfrom the snare.

It was now that Dee devoted himself wholeheartedly to astrology and the occult arts.In the sixteenth century the belief in the

58 HYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

controlling power of the stars over the Destinyof Mankind was universal. As one of theforemost mathematicians of his day, the magician was easily in the front rank of men whoprofessed a knowledge of occultism. Thereopened up for him a path that seemed spangledwith human glory and high distinction.

In 1558 Queen Mary died, and her sisterElizabeth commenced her long and gloriousreign. She remembered with interest and affection II my good and learned Dr. Dee," and hewas quickly called upon to divine an auspiciousday for the Coronation of II the Virgin Queen."He selected the 14th January, 1559, and inevery way the ceremony passed off well.

• • • • •It was expressly the wish of the Queen that

Dr. Dee should appear continuously at herCourt. Gone was the gloom of the late reign,when the fires of Smithfield proved a constantreminder of intolerance in religion. The bravest,wisest and most beautiful flocked around thenew Queen, and there dawned a new era ofanimated Court life.

The Doctor was introduced to the Court atGreenwich by the Queen's favourite, the Earlof Dudley. Referring to the late King's generosity to the magician, Elizabeth said, as Dr.Dee bowed before her: II Where my brother

DOCTOR DEE 59

hath given you a crown, I will bestow a noble"-the first of a long series of vague promisesthat were destined to embitter the life of thefamous Court astrologer.

The reversion of the mastership of St.Catherine's Hospital was promised him, -buthe never received it.

And now there occurred an event whichflung the whole Court into a flutter, and convulsed the nation with excitement. Incidentally it made the lustre of Dr. Dee's fame shinethe brighter.

A wayfarer one early morning, passing acrossLincoln's Inn Fields, found a waxen imageof the Queen with a great pin thrust throughthe breast. In those days there was a profound belief in sympathetic magic, or the'power to kill by an incantation pronouncedover an effigy. The man tremblingly broughtthe image to the Privy Council, and consternation prevailed.

There was but one man could grapple withthe situation. Doctor Dee! He must be summoned immediately, was the opinion of theCouncil, and messengers were despatched urginghim to come at once.

He gravely examined the effigy, listened to arecital of the circumstances of its finding,and then sought the Queen. Her Majesty had


departed post haste from the Tower to Richmond, II awaiting the coming of good DoctorDee that he might ease her mind."

The magician found the Queen in that partof her private garden that sloped down to thethen silvery Thames. Dudley, now Earl ofLeicester, was in attendance, gorgeously apparelled, and bearing himself with studied importance.

Surrounded by a company of courtiers,Doctor Dee expounded to Her Majesty thatshe need have no dread; that he had nullifiedthe evil by a charm uttered under auspiciouscircumstances; and to make doubly sure hehad brought her a small amulet which hebesought her to wear. Her Majesty graciouslyconsented, and it quickly spread throughoutthe country that the good Doctor had savedthe Queen from an evil spell of wasting death.

But though the Queen was gracious inpromises, again nothing tangible came of it.He was promised the rich Deanery of Gloucester;but he did not get it, probably because theChurch party were beginning to look askanceat his cleverness and contact with strangeforces. He was mentioned as Provost of Eton,and the Queen answered his prayer with"much favour"; but once more he wasdoomed to disappointment. Again, he was

DOCTOR DEE 61vaguely promised the Mastership of SaintCross at Winchester, but this also faded intonothingness.

Dee had now taken up his abode in an oldrambling house at Mortlake, on the banks ofthe Thames. Here he first lived with hismother, building for himself in the garden alaboratory, probably the only one of its kindin England at that age. To this abode wouldcome favoured courtiers to watch him delvingafter the Great Secret (the transmutation ofbase metal into gold); Court beauties anxiousfor a love potion or a beauty philtre; andvarious learned travellers to discourse on theheavenly bodies and their influence upon thedestinies of mankind.

The house of Dee has now disappeared.Up to 1860 it was used as a girls' school. Dee'sWalk and Dee's Arbour have, however, perpetuated his memory.

That he was high in the estimation of theQueen was evidenced by the many visits shepaid him at Mortlake. He fell very ill in1571, and the Queen despatched two of herphysicians to see him. Lady Sidney was alsosent down to II comfort the sufferer with manypithy sayings from Her Majesty, together withdivers delicacies from the Royal table."

About this time a curious idea occurred to

'62 MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

Dee, doubtless with the object of warding offhis poverty and getting money for the daringexperiments he had in mind.

On 3rd October, 1574, he sent to LordBurleigh a letter (I of four and a half foliopages, so fairly writ there could be no excusefor skipping." In this document he drewattention to the fact that there was much secrettreasure hid in various parts of the Queen'sdomain; for in those days when banks wereunknown many people buried their treasurewhen there was an alarm of war. Dee pointedout that such treasure-trove mainly belongedto the Queen. He asked that he might beallowed to find treasure-trove by magical means,keeping half for himself and rendering half toHer Majesty.

Nothing for the time being carne of hisrequest, though it is now lmown that privatelythe Queen told Burleigh to use more diligencein seeking for treasure-trove. That this musthave been enormous cannot be doubted, formany Monasteries had buried rich gold andsilver treasures, and other persons who hadsuffered in the Marian persecution.

A fresh preoccupation now carne upon Dee.He decided to marry, but knowing the Queen'sfoibles on this subject, took care to informher of his intentions, and asked her gracious

DOCTOR DEE 63perrmsslon. In return Her Majesty gave U akind letter of credit for my marriage," andthe bride was brought down to the ramblingold house at Mortlake to commence a verybrief matrimonial experience.

The Queen had a fondness for riding out inRichmond Park with her favourite courtier,and with a bevy of ladies. She would sometimes stop at the house of the astrologer. Onan afternoon of March, 1576, she thus unexpectedly arrived-an inauspicious moment,as young Mrs. Dee had died but an hourbefore.

Her Majesty brushed aside the sad eventwith some haste, and commanded Dee to bring.out his famous telescope, and explain itsproperties. She summoned Leicester to herside and the twain, with much laughter,examined the church clock and other distantobjects. But of the young wife lying dead,nothing, it appears, was said.

* * * * *That October, in the same year, the whole

Court and country was much disturbed andterrified by the appearance of a great cometthat flamed nightly in the heavens. It wasthis fiery body that Tycho Brahe, the Swedishastronomer, had predicted would coincide withthe appearance i:l. the North of Europe of a


Prince who would lay waste all Germanyand disappear from the scene in 1632. It wasan extremely accurate prediction for PrinceGustavus Adolphus entangled Europe in aThirty Years' War, and died in 1632.

The blazing star seemed to hang menacinglyover London. The Queen was vexed andapprehensive, and nothing would do but Deemust be summoned. He came to the Tower byboat from MortIake, and expounded to HerMajesty and courtiers divers reasons why therewas no need for alarm. The Queen was pacified, and the magician used the opportunity tourge his suit for some concrete mark of Royalfavour. For in truth Dr. Dee was much atthe beck and call of his Royal mistress, who,while profuse in promises, had really done butlittle for her It humble servant."

The time now came again when his thoughtsturned to matrimony. He married Jane Fromond, of East Cheam, Surrey. Jane had beena lady-in-waiting to Lady Howard of Effingham, wife of that famous Lord High Admiralwho commanded the Fleet that met andscattered the II invincible" Armada. LadyHoward extended much patronage to Deeafter the marriage, and took a warm interestin the somewhat tangled affairs of the husbandof U my sweet Jane."

DOCTOR DEE 65But now Dr. Dee grew in importance, taking

upon himself the prestige of a super-physician.For about this time the Queen fell into anailing condition, suffering cruelly with rheumatism and toothache. One morning Dr. Bayley,the Queen's most favoured medical adviser,came posting to Mortlake with the news thatthe Queen's Grace desired Dr. Dee to waitupon her and give her alchemic advice. Hehurried to Hampton Court and found theQueen in a paroxysm of anguish, with Leicesterand Walsingham standing helplessly by. Deebrought her immediate relief, and the Queencommanded he should go abroad to consultvarious famous Continental physicians uponher condition. He travelled to Hamburg, Berlinand Frankfoct-upon-Odor, returning in sometwenty days. After this the Queen rapidlyrecovered.

It was now that Elizabeth began to secretlyconsult her favoured magician on the delicatesubject of matrimony.

The brother of the King of France, theDuc d'Alenc;on, had already sent an ambassadorto plead his suit, and on 16th August, 1580,this advance pleader was in London. Dee washurriedly called in for a consultation, and hepronounced favourably. But the deformed andugly little Prince made no headway with the

E

66 MYSTERIES OF woRLi>'s GREATEST OCCULTISTS

Queen, and soon a fresh distraction held thefield.

On 17th September, without warning, theQueen came riding down from Richmond inher coach. Dee was called to the door of thecarriage, and Her Majesty pulled off her glovethat he might read her hand. She willed himto resort oftener to the Court, and spokemany gracious words. At this time theQueen was in the plenitude of her imposingbeauty. Her dress glistened with thousandsof small pearls; her fingers and wristssparkled witn diamonds, while her neck wasencircled with the famous ruff stiff with goldlace and precious stones. In the sunshineher wonderful auburn hair must have shonelike fire.

In the midst of the gay throng of courtiers,Dr. Dee would have presented no mean appearance. He was tall and shapely; his blackpointed beard contrasted with his pale andthoughtful countenance and brilliant eyes. Heusually wore a long black velvet cloak, andcarried an ebony staff.

Soon after this, Dee's mother died, and theQueen instantly came down to Mortlake, and" taking me by the hand did condole with mein my great affliction." After the Royal cortegehad departed a haunch of Royal venison

DOCTOR DEE 67appeared, and, what was doubtless more acceptable, ,a purse of gold.

The astrologer was at this period in thehighest favour with his Queen. She regardedhim as her guide in all matters of my~tery.

In health disturbances, affairs of the heart,strange national occurrences and other matters,she invariably summoned 1/ good Doctor Dee II

from Mortlake. True, no very practical helphad come from the Royal patronage, and theDoctor was rapidly sinking into debt.

And then, without warning, he became en·grossed upon a new pursuit while at the sametime anew disciple entered his life. HenceforthEdward Kelley and the search for spirits provedto be the grand engrossment of the Doctor'slife-a pursuit destined to bring many strangeadventures and to finally end only with thegrave.

CHAPTER VI

DOCTOR DEE AND HIS <I FAMILIAR SPIRIT"

EDWARD KELLEY

Ther8 now comes into th8 life of Doctor Dee a mysteriousindividual destined to have a profound etJect upon hiscareer. This man, Edward Kelley, professed to havecommunion with departed spirits, and under his influenceDoctor Dee began to himself search for the grand mystery-the rending of the veil that hides the beyond. But the8nd of the association was dark and unsatisfactory.

D EPRESSED by the many disappointments he had in Queen Elizabeth's

promises of assistance, Doctor Dee became restless and dissatisfied. He longed for some greatrevelation-what, perhaps he could hardly explain himself. His search for the Philosopher'sStone went on, and he still engrossed himselfin many scientific affairs, in which he was farahead of all other students of science in that age.

It was during this period of perplexity therecame into his life a man destined to have atremendous effect upon his career.

A Mr. Clarkson came to Mortlake one day,bringing with him a <I dear friend." He was

68

DOCTOR DEE. AND HIS II FAMILIAR SPIRIT" 69introduced under the name of " Mr. Talbot,'"but, as events proved, this was but an assumeddesignation.

It was not long before the new-found friendwas closely united in common interests with theMagician of Mortlake. He said confidentlythat he had communion with departed spiritsand could call them up at will. Dee was muchstruck with this statement, for he himself hadfor some time been toying with the idea ofusing a " medium " to converse with the dead.

Thus there soon took place at Mortlake thefirst " mirror-gazing " seance.

The results appeared to be marvellous. Information was given that they should jointly haveknowledge of the angels, the design of God,providing their mind and will joined as one.

Next, Ariel, the Spirit of Light, appeared,.while later the Archangel Michael came andgave Doctor Dee a ring with a seal. Dee wasoverjoyed at this manifestation and, followinginstructions from Ariel, a "table of practice"was made. This curious piece of workmanshipand a crystal globe are all preserved in theBritish Museum, having been brought from thelibrary of Sir Thomas Cotton.

One may picture the curious scene in thelow, dark apartment at Mortlake that lookedout upon the river. Dee asks the questions,

'JO MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

sitting at his desk and noting down theanswers; while" Mr. Talbot," thrown into atrance by gazing into " the mirror," describedthe various spirits for Dee to interrogate.

These daily communions with the visitantsfrom" the Beyond" went forward with greatzeal and were already being whispered aboutin the neighbourhood. But who was this" Mr.Talbot" who now began to entirely dominateDr. Dee and his household?

" Talbot " was a feigned name he used forthe best of reasons. His real name was EdwardKelley, but in those troublesome days if a manpretended to any dealings with the supernaturalit was well for him to have an assumed alias.

This Kelley was a Worcester City man whohad commenced his career as an apothecary'sassistant. He showed skill in this calling and,with money he had saved, went to Oxford.But he left the great College rather hastily, andvery much under a cloud, which was never fullyexplained.

He departed to Lancaster, and joining himself with two desperate characters, was arrestedand charged with being implicated in a plot forpassing base money. For this offence he stoodin the pillory.

Leaving Lancaster, he arrived at Birmingham, then practically a village, and was soon

DOCTOR DEE AND HIS" FAMILIAR SPIRIT" 71mixed up in a particularly unsavoury affair.He was accused of digging up a corpse fromthe churchyard. His defence, that he wishedto see if he could communicate with the dead,seemed to aggravate his crime, and he narrowlyescaped being tried for wizardry as well.

After a sentence of imprisonment, he wandered into Wales, where he went from onevillage to another giving counsel and advice,and saying he could commune with the dead.

While travelling in Wales he made an accidentaldiscovery of some alchemical manuscript andtwo phials of mysterious powder. Accordingto him, this powder was nothing more or lessthan the long-sought-for substance that couldchange base metal into gold, but, being poorand unlolOwn, he could get no scientificphilosopher to take up and exploit his discovery.

* * * * *Kelley had heard, of course, of the famous

Doctor Dee, the foremost English scientistand wizard, and his object was doubtless toingratiate himself with the favourite of QueenElizabeth. But perhaps, not being sure of hisreception if he presented himself at Mortlake,he had first used his feigned name and haddiverted suspicion by a pretence that communion with the dead was his sole concern.

Kelley was twenty-seven years old when he


became an established member of the Dee household. In due course he confessed the milddeception he had played on his patron, but thatwas soon forgiven. And then gradually herevealed to the Doctor the story of the manuscript and the phials containing the powders.The Doctor was overjoyed. He felt that atlast the Grand Secret would be revealed to him.

Not many days had passed after his settlement, "with Ariel approving," before he alsointroduced his young wife. This was a blowto Mrs. Dee, who was annoyed at seeing theprivacy of the household thus disturbed; butshe had to put up with it, and in due coursebecame reconciled to the idea. Yet, with awoman's intuition, she disliked Edward Kelleyand told her husband that no good would comeof the connection. And she was right, asevents proved later.

As the days passed, the house at MortIakewas peopled with unearthly forms called up byEdward Kelley, while Dr. Dee gravely noteddown all they said. The grand hope of themagician was that perfect wisdom might bevouchsafed to him; at times it seemed aboutto be fulfilled, for St. Michael appeared andsaid: U Wilt thou have perfect wisdom? II

And upon humbly replying in the affirmative,Michael pointed out that the govemment of all

DOCTOR DEE AND HIS" FAMILIAR SPIRIT" 73Kings and Princes was in his hand, that heprevailed in counsel and in gain and trade,and all riches, concluding: tt These shall allbe thine if thy faith fail not."

Now, more than ever, Dee was puzzling overthe papers Edward Kelley had brought Withhim. He came to the conclusion, finally, thatthey did not conceal the Great Secret of transmutation, but referred to ten places in Englandwhere vast treasures had been concealed in theearth by monks during the inquisition directedby Henry VIII.

But unfortunately a rift appeared betweenDee and Kelley. The latter was hot and uncontrollable in temper; he was also avaricious.He was dissatisfied with the pecuniary rewardthat was coming into the household, for suchhad been Dee's engrossment with the calling ofthe spirits that he had neglected his sale ofbeauty potions and love enchantments thatwere the stock-in-trade of all ancient tt WiseMen." Kelley declared MortIake was but aprison; that he must be up and away into theopen country, where he could earn much gold:he was wasting his time.

Dr. Dee replied, temperately, that he shouldwait God's own time. As to the pecuniaryposition, did not he (Dr. Dee) owe three hundredpounds and knew not where it was coming


from? But, It Though I lose all, EdwardKelley, and have to beg my bread while wrappedin a blanket, yet will I not give up my searchafter the Mysteries."

It was at this time Dr. Dee had a remarkableclairvoyant vision, which he recorded in hisdiary, concerning the Queen of Scots. It I sawa beautiful woman having her head cut off bya tall man"; and further, It I saw the seacovered with many ships ready to make waragainst· England." With regard to the firstvision, he made a prediction that Mary Queenof Scots would be executed, and this occurredtwo years later, while he told Queen Elizabethto beware of a naval invasion from Spain.

* • • • •Dr. Dee maintained a somewhat expensive

hO\).5ehold, and had many entertainments provided for friends and the patrons who camefrom a distance to see him. He was constantlyin debt, and the vague promises of his Royalpatron grew no more substantial as the monthsrolled along. But suddenly a bright gleam ofhope gilded his path.

His quarrel with Kelley had been patched up.One evening the twain were sitting-the oneat It the mirror" and the other noting dQwnwhat was going on-when It a merrie little spirit,skipping very lively about the room, and being

DOCTOR DEE AND HIS If FAMILIAR SPIRIT" 7Sclad in red and blue with a cap like a fool's,"brought tidings of great joy. A great Count wassoon to help them in their researches; moneywouldbe asplentiful as buttercups in theThamesside fields; all that was needed was faith.

Three weeks later, on 18th March, 1583, aMr. North came to Mortlake bringing a lettersealed with many huge crests in red. It wasfrom The High and Powerful Laski, CountPalantine of Siradia, Poland, who was comingto London to bring presents to Queen Elizabeth.He had made a study of magic and wished toconsult the sage of Mortlake.

The Count Palantine of Siradia was a candidate for the crown of Old Poland that had beenworn for a few months by the Duc d'Alen~on,the suitor of Elizabeth. There was not inEurope a more dashing adventurer than he, whileat the same time his ruling passion was magic.

During his stay in London he was lodged atWinchester House, Southwark, and was rightroyally entertained. Dr. Dee was introducedto the Prince in the apartments of the Earl ofLeicester, while the Court was at Greenwich.On seeing the Doctor, Prince Laski bowed lowthree times, saying: "You are the only manI would stoop my crest to."

Five days later the Prince came to Mortlakewith but three.men in his train, arriving in the

76 MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OccULTISTS

afternoon. He was courteous and merry, asking that he might be bid to an English supper.Cold meats and sausages were put before him,which he consumed with much gusto. Withhim were Sir Philip Sidney and Lord Russell,with a detachment of the Queen's trumpetersin the Royal barge.

A few days afterwards the Prince sent wordthat he and his suite would come to dinner thefollowing day. This meant a ceremonial visit,and thegoodDoctor was much perturbed, as thesevisits were a great tax on his burdened resources.

While he was ruefully wondering how <I yefeaste should be worthy of his greatness," amessenger came from Sion House from theQueen bearing forty angels of gold (abouttwenty pounds), the magician's need havingbeen explained most ardently to the Queen bythe favoured Leicester.

The Prince desired that Dr. Dee should gazeinto <I the mirror" that he might know hisfuture fortune. Laski's guardian spirit, whohad appeared through the mediumship of Kelley,an angel named Jubandalee, announced thateverything was propitious for the Prince andthat he should be helped miraculously. Aprivate tip was added that the Prince shouldbeware of the wily Minister, Cecil, but that" the Queen loveth Laski with all her heart."

DOCTOR DEE AND HIS II FAMILIAR SPIRIT" 77And now the good fortune promised by the

spirits seemed likely to materialize. First, theQueen, attended by her train in many Royalbarges, came down from the Tower to Mortlake.Disembarking, she called loudly for" my deareand righte honest Wise Man, Master Dee,"-andwould not be at ease until the magician appeared.After this there was song and music, thecourtiers vying with each other, while HerMajesty gave a short love trill on a French flute.

Next day, Leicester called with letters fromthe Queen expressing approbation of theDoctor's advice he had given concerning herrheumatism, and sending a much-welcomedgift of money.

Following this came Prince Laski with anoverpowering suggestion.

Nothing would satisfy him, he said, but thatthe Doctor and his household should return withhim to the Continent. Perhaps he had visionsof his wise friend discovering the Great Secret ;for he said he would bujld him the finestlaboratory that money could procure and allinstruments that were needful. Kelley was togo as well; for the Prince had been muchimpressed by the fac,ility with which thismedium called various spirits at his bidding.

Doctor Dee disposed of his house at Mortlake,but with his usual unbusinesslike carelessness


he appointed no receiver for the rents ofhis two livings, which when he returned sixyears later were owing.

At three o'clock in the afternoon of a fineSaturday, 2Ist September, I583, he met thePrince, and the pair took barge for London.From thence they descended the river by wherryto Greenwich. At Gravesend the rest of theMortlake household were waiting, having startedearlier. Two vessels had been chartered forthis memorable exodus.

After an adventurous voyage they landed atBrill, and travelled forward on barges downthe sluggish canals of Holland. Passing throughTergowd and Haarlem to Amsterdam, the partydisembarked I< to stretch their cramped limbs."

By way of Enkjuisen they sailed up theZuyder Zee to Harlingen. There they took tothe canals again, being conveyed in small scutsto Leewarden, Doklum, and on to West Friesland. After a short delay, they sailed up theWestern Ems to Embden and then on toBremen, where they disembarked.

After a week's rest the party travelled byOsterholtz to Harburg on the left bank of theElbe. Finally they reached Liibeck.

They had not been long at this place beforeDee had a clairvoyant vision sho\\-ing him hishouse:" had been broken into by a mob, furniture

DOCTOR DEE AND HIS" FAMILIAR SPIRIT" 79

burned, and his instruments destroyed. Monthslater a letter from his brother-in-law confirmedthis dire intelligence. Superstitious fear hadrun riot.

After a delay of some weeks the party pushedon again, eventually reaching Lask, the Prince'sown domain. They were lodged in the houseof the Lord Provost and surrounded withluxury.

Alas, it soon became apparent that thePrince, however well disposed his heart, had nomoney to waste on mysteries. He was deeplyin debt; his estates were mortgaged; and hespent large sums of money in building a castlethat was incomplete. Realizing that nothingcould be done for the present in Lask, DoctorDee determined to push forward to the ancientcity of Cracow, the Polish capital, then at theheight of its fame and prosperity.

He found a house in Saint Stephen's Street,and as soon as it was known the great EnglishMystic was in the city he had many curiousand thoughtful callers. Soon, too, the PrinceLaski came with many flattering promises.He had to go to the Emperor of Austria,Rudolph II, and he wished Dee to accompanyhim.

Eventually the party arrived in Prague, whereDee and his company were lodged in the house


of Doctor Hageck, in the Alstadt. At this timePrague was the great haunt of alchemists andstudents of occultism, and even the melancholyEmperor relieved cares of state by poring overold parchments and documents dealing withalchemy.

In due course Doctor Dee stood before theEmperor, who desired he should recount hislife story, which the Magician did at greatlength. He then branched off into an accountof his visions, but was alarmed by seeing theEmperor falling off into a doze. On ceasingto speak the Emperor opened his eyes andsaid what he had heard was marvellous andinteresting, and he would see the Doctoragain.

Through an intermediary, Dee now informedthe Emperor cautiously of his powers, providinghe had money, to make the Philosopher'sStone. There was no reply. He then sent aflorid letter offering to show the Emperor hismagic crystal. Neither was there any replyto this; and to make matters worse EdwardKelley became mutinous and declared theContinental journey was all a mistake andnever ought to have been undertaken. Dr. Deewas sorely tried.

* * * * *There came a point when, sorrowfully enough

DOCTOR DEE AND HIS" FAMILIAR SPIRIT" 81so far as the Doctor was concerned, the partnership must be broken.

Kelley had filled the ears of the EmperorRudolf with stories that he could make gold,and was often closely shut up with the Emp"erorin a laboratory constructed in Prague. ButDoctor Dee, more simple and far more honest,repudiated this, although he still hoped thatthe spirit Ariel would grant him the knowledge.

Kelley, now acting entirely on his own, hadwritten to Lord Walsingham in England, hintingthat the Great Secret had been discovered.Walsingham wrote back cautiously enoughasking for a specimen, but Kelley was tooartful to respond to the pressing invitationto return to England to show his alleged skill.He sent long epistles, but none of the goldWalsingham craved for.

While these negotiations were going on, Kelleywas suddenly arrested by the orders of theEmperor who had listened to a rumour thatthe alchemist was a poisoner, and had designson his life. Finally endeavouring to escapefrom prison, he fell and sustained injuries fromwhich he died. Thus ended the varied careerof this cunning charlatan who played upon thesincerity of Dee with consummate effect.

Mter a tempestuous journey Dee and hisfamily arrived again in England. and on..

82 IIYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULnsTS

Christmas Day he first slept again in his ownhouse. It was in a ruinous condition; mostof the furniture had been destroyed; andworse, his instruments had been broken. Fortunately he found friends who assisted him.

At last in his despair, the Mystic prepareda petition to the Queen setting forth his miserably impoverished condition. In reply two commissioners were appointed to visit him atMortlake to report upon the facts. In duecourse he received help from various sources,and this to some extent mitigated his miserablecondition.

Further, he received the appointment ofWarden of Manchester College, and took uphis abode there. He carried out his dutieswith energy, and was universally beloved.He was now able to bring about the classificationof his wonderful library, probably the best inEngland, and roughly valued at some twothousand pounds. People came from all partsof England to borrow books and, as he laments,II many I ne'er saw again."

For Doctor Dee, deeply versed as he waswith occult science, it was a grievous blowwhen Elizabeth was succeeded by James I.From this Monarch he could expect nothingbut censure, and so events turned out. TheKing conducted a campaign against witches,

DOCTOR DEE AND HIS "FAMILIAR SPIRIT" 83wizards and all II who traffick with the devil,"and a stringent act against those who practisedastrology, palmistry or witchcraft was passedthrough Parliament, which is still in force.

Right down to the end, the II Dreamer"had hopes of some golden stroke of fortune.The day before he died he said the II spirits"had told him there was a sum of money comingto him from the Emperor Rudolf. The following day he sank into insensibility, his lastwords being: "Into Thy hands ..." provingconclusively that he still maintained his passionate faith in the Christian religion.

He was buried in the churchyard of OldMortlake Church, Surrey, with scarce enoughmoney to give him a decent funeral. But hisreputation as a student of deep occult mysteriesgrows brighter each year as the clouds ofmisconception roll away.

CHAPTER VII

ELIAS ASHMOLE, THE MYSTIC RECLUSE

OF OXFORD

This is the enthralling story of a famous Occultist whose truehistory has always been obscured by mystery. That hewas an adept of the occult art there can be no question.There is a further speculation that has long persisted inthe legends clustering around Elias Ashmole. Was he inreality King Charles I saved from the ordeal of thescaffold?

FIRST, the drama as History records it.The 30th of January, 1649, dawned

cruelly cold. A low, complaining wind broughta powdering of snow. So icy had been theweather since Christmastide that the Thameswas frozen over, and the citizens of Londoncomplained sorely of the dearness of wood.

While the bitter cold seemed to freeze upall joyousness, there was, too, in the rulersof the nation, a stem coldness of purpose thatcentred that January morning upon old Whitehall. There stood the ancient Palace, rearingits Italian front upon the wide, open street.Immediately in front a platform covered with

84

THE MYSTIC RECLUSE OF OXFORD 85

black cloth had been erected. On three sidesof the ominous scaffold stood a troop of horsemen. They were Cromwell's Ironsides--silent,immovable, ready to obey their leader evenunto this last terrible act, "the killing of theLQrd's Anointed." -

Behind them, spread out as far as the eyecould see, to the village of Charing on oneside and the flats of Westminster on the other,were "the People." For there was to beginsuch a scene as England had never witnessedbefore.

Within the old Palace itself all was warmthand human kindliness in strange contrast tothe austere scene without.

The golden rays of lamps of curious workmanship lit up the long corridors and illuminatedthe royal apartments. Splendid portraits ofkings and princes adorned the walls; theheavy chairs bore gold crowns embossed uponthe dull scarlet leather. It was a King'sPalace. And in a tiny room hastily fitted fora last prayer, Charles I fortified himself fordeath.

That morning he had walked from old St.James's Palace to Whitehall, bidding the guardin pleasant tones "to step apace, for it isbitter cold." The day previously he had biddenfarewell to his younger children-Elizabeth,


and Henry the young Duke of Gloucester.He had finished with the world, its turmoilsand strife, and now he was to earn his enduringhalo: .. For nothing so became him in thisworld as his manner of leaving it."

With him was Bishop Juxon, large, portlyand swollen by his gorgeous Episcopal vestments. By his side the King appeared insignificant, except that His Majesty wore akingly air of dignity. The face seemed waxen,almost unearthly; he had put off all ornaments.He would eat nothing, for he was absolved andblessed.

Time passed slowly. Still the workmen fumbled and worried at the scaffold, while Cromwell,.. more set than ever to do the full purpose ofmy God," muttered and chafed. Heavier fellthe snow; the horses and soldiers were powderedwhite.

Two o'clock was striking from the turretclock of the Palace when some Parliamentaryofficers came to bid King Charles to the scaffold.He passed down a corridor and across a nobleapartment in which he had often banqueted.The middle window had been removed, andthrough this space the cold wind drove the snow.Outside, the scaffold floor had been built upto the level of the balcony.

It is said that as the King passed out upon

THE MYSTIC RECLUSE OF OXFORD 87the black-draped scaffold, the iron disciplineof Cromwell's guards thrilled for one moment.Arms clashed uneasily; a horse neighed; whilea trooper fell senseless from the saddle. Butquickly silence settled, broken only by thelow murmur of the prayers uttered by BishopJuxon.

When the prayers were finished, the Kingopened his lips. Cromwell half gave the secretsignal to the officer in command of the scaffoldguard, whom he could see from his hiddenvantage, to let the drums roll to drown thevoice of the martyr. But he faltered; nosignal was given; and the King's voice wasfaintly heard:

.. I have desired the Liberty and Freedomof the People as much as any. But a subjectand a Sovereign are different things. I diethis day for the Church of England." Then,turning to Bishop J uxon, he said impressively:.. Remember! "

The silence grew heavier. Charles now divested himself of his coat, placed a smallsilk cap over his greying hair, and kneelingdown, stretched out his hands towards theblock. At this moment the sinister figure ofthe executioner, up to then hidden behindthe soldiery, approached and dominated thescene.


The head was bowed. The axe uplifted.It fell, and as the royal head was severeda universal groan burst from the silent spectators who up to that instant had seemed frozenby the spectacle of a monarch dying at thehands of his people. No sooner had the actbeen accomplished than the officer of theguard wheeled round, commands rang out likea trumpet blast, and soon the crowds weredispersing before the prancing steeds. The actwas done. Cromwell, wiping his face, summedup the deed: "Let God arise I So shall hisenemies be undone."

• • • • *Dusk was fast falling that evening upon the

ancient and Royal Borough of Windsor whena little cavalcade entered the town. Theywere' cloaked and muffled, partly against thepiercing blasts, but also against too closescrutiny. For their mission was a dangerous one.

Upon a hand bier they bore a body-it wasthe corpse of their King. In the Chapel ofSt. George, Windsor, in the hastily openedtomb of Henry VIII, they laid the corpsewith nothing but a muttered prayer for thefled soul. Cromwell had spoken: " Thereshall be no funeral, no Papist prayers for theman. Let him be even as Ahab was whosecarcass the dogs spumed."

THE MYSTIC RECLUSE OF OXFORD 89

But no sooner had the drama of Whitehall'sscaffold been enacted than the King assumedthe place of a martyr in the estimation of hispeople. Handkerchiefs that had been dippedin his blood beneath the spurning hoofs ofthe troopers, were declared to work mirades ;his saintly private life was recalled; his fatewas compared to the Crucifixion; his trialsand sufferings to those of the Saviour.

It may be that the tender emotions evokedby the extraordinary spectacle of his death;the halo of sanctity that invested his life asa man and a father; and, above all, themysterious dying injunction he gave to BishopJuxon were accountable for the strange legendwe shall now explore.

Dying words are treasured. Much more sothe last injunctory admonition of a King.The word passed from lip to lip as the storyof Whitehall was related among the people.tI Remember!" The mourning Cavaliers embroidered it on their vests, and repeated it asa desperate resolve never to forget theirKing.

But what was Bishop Juxon to " remember" ?Was it some last injunction to some dea.r one?Or a reminder that the dying man had faithfullycarried out a promise? These and a hundredother suppositions passed among the King's


adherents and among the common people whostill believed that King Charles was a martyr.

In 1644, five years before this tragedy ofWhitehall, Parliament sat at Oxford, or atleast that body of Royalist gentlemen whostill called themselves " The Commons of England." Captain Sir George Wharton, a staunchmember of the King's party, one day broughtin a gentleman to the King's presence, havingrecommended him for a commission in HisMajesty's Troop of Guards.

The commission was granted. The new officerbore the name of Elias Ashmole, at that timetwenty-six years of age.

He had always been a studious youth, andhad been admitted as a solicitor in London.In his house in High Holborn he had lived asa recluse; it was freely whispered that hewas an earnest student of astrology andoccultism.

His pale face, thin aristocratic features, andpeaked beard worn in Royalist style, markedAshmole as a deep student and thinker. Butthose who saw him when he first presentedhimself to the Court at Oxford remarked onhis amazing likeness to the King.

His advance at Court was rapid. First acaptain of a troop of horse, he next becamecommissioner of ordnance. The following year

THE MYSTIC RECLt!SE OF OXFORD 91he was initiated as a Freemason. It shouldbe noted he was the first gentleman or H amateur" to be admitted to the jealously-guardedranks of the Freemasons, in the Royal Lodge,and through this he acquired great influenceand power. -

In I649, two months before the executionof Charles, he married his second wife, LadyMainwaring, twenty years his senior. Themoney this marriage brought enabled him todevote the whole of his time to the study ofastrology and occultism. His interest in thesesciences had largely been stimulated by hisfriendship with Sir George Wharton, WilliamLilly, and other antiquarians and students ofoccultism whom he met in London.

On 8th May, I660, all England was deliriouswith delight at the Restoration wherebyCharles the fugitive became Charles II. Andnow that it was possible to breathe the nameof H king" without danger of penal punishment, there burst out afresh the mysteriousstories and legends that circulated round thedeath of the Martyr.

H He was not dead," it was declared confidently. H During all the dismal years of theCommonwealth he had been alive. When theaxe fell on the scaffold of Whitehall it severedthe head of a noble substitute who had indeed

92 JrfYSlERIES OF W0R;LD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

been faithful unto death. The substitute, soran the story, "was Elias Ashmole, whoseamazing likeness to the King had often beencommented upon." And finally it was urged,the last dying injunction of the substitute," Remember I" was to remind Charles andhis descendants of his promise to provide forthe family of the man who had died in hisplace.

But if this were true, where was the Kingwho had thus been preserved from destruction? That question, it was said. could befully answered. Charles was a recluse. Hehad renounced the throne in favour of his son;he had realized he could not again governhis people; all he asked was a quiet retreatand the pursuit of those absorbing studieswhich it is known King Charles dabbled inwhen reigning at Whitehall.

After" The Merrie Monarch," Charles II, satfirmly upon his throne, Oxford was in highcourt favour. But none in that fair cityappeared more to bask in the Royal favourthan Elias Ashmole, or, as it was whisperedby the few who claimed to hold the GreatSecret, Charles I living as a recluse.

In an ancient building set aside for his use,If the recluse" devoted himself unremittinglyto the study of occultism. He commenced the

THE MYSTIC RECLUSE OF OXFORD .93

collection of ancient tomes, gathered from allcomers of the world, devoted to astrologyand other occult sciences. He correspondedwith mystics in Europe, and exchanged withthem the fruits of his wisdom. He cast horoscopes, drew charts, and revealed strikinglythe powerful wisdom that he had gathered.To-day the Ashmolean Library of Oxford containsthe rare volumes he collected.

But visible he was not, except to a favouredfew who came at stated times to see "therecluse." And yet, though invisible, Courtfavour continued to be showered upon him.He was made successively Windsor herald,commissioner, controller, accountant-general ofexcise, and commissioner of the White Office.The salaries of these offices were enormous,and greater still the perquisites. Finally," therecluse" was offered the coveted office ofGarter-King-at-Arms, the highest post in chivalry. This he refused in favour of his sonin-law, Sir William Dugdale.

In 1672 there appeared a choice and rarework entitled: "Laws and Ceremonies of theOrder of the Garter." This work remains to-daythe great standard volume upon occultism asapplied to this most noble order of chivalry.It explains in minute details the meaning ofthe various stones that form the collars and


badges; how they were not selected haphazard, but were designed to exercise an occultinfluence upon the happy wearers.

But we need not be surprised if occultknowledge gleamed like the gems he describes.For whoever this mysterious recluse washumble subject or monarch snatched from thescaffold-his knOWledge was prodigious. Inearly youth he had wandered into the wildregions of Persia; he had met Ra Scoth, theMystic, whose uncanny powers had paled thecheeks of Emperors and Princes. It must notbe forgotten that Elias Ashmole first publisheda treatise on the lines of the hand, this workbeing found in the Ashmolean Library to-day.

Nor can the fact be overlooked that Ashmolehad linked himself with at least one brother ofthe arts he professed. However much he deniedhimself to the world-and it is recorded howthe stately Duke of Ormond was repulsed fromhis door-he was knit in a fond fellowship withjolm Tradescant, another student of the occultarts.

We cannot say much of the famous peoplewho visited Elias Ashmole the Recluse, for thesimple reason that he rarely revealed himself,and such visits as there were. were conductedunder circumstances of the greatest privacy.Sir Robert Throngmorton, who visited U the

THE MYSTIC RECLUSE OF OXFORD 95recluse " on two occasions, said: Ie I did visitye greate alchemist and magician, whose nameis known but who is not mentioned. There inthe catacombs I did see ye marvels of greatwonder, and was told of my dolorous end whichGod forfend. Amen." -

From this it is quite clear that Elias Ashmole,or U the recluse" whichever one may call him,was very much a man of mystery. He received,as has been stated, splendid prizes from theCourt, yet he did nothing in return ; for all hisoffices were managed by deputies. He kneweverybody, and some very highly-placedindividuals from the Continent visited him.His fame in occult studies spread all overEurope.

When in due season John Tradescant died,it was found he had bequeathed to his friendhis wonderful collection of antiquities, probablywithout equal in the country. Again mysteriousinfluences seemed to be at work, and moneywas forthcoming to erect a building for thehousing of the collection. This collection isknown to-day as the Elias Ashmole Museum,for at the death of U the recluse" it was foundhe had bequeathed it in trust to the Universityof Oxford.

The visitor to this Museum must be struckon entering by seeing two portraits close

96 llYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

together. One is that of King Charles the First;the other that of Elias Ashmole, founder of theMuseum. The resemblance is uncanny. A closeexamination of the lineaments, arrangement ofhair and beard, etc., discloses no divergence.Those who believe in the Ashmolean theorythat II the recluse" was in fact King Charles theFirst-point to these portraits and to theextraordinary fact that Ashmole bore a royalcoat of arms.

In 1692 " the recluse" was on his death bed.Before this (for he had predicted the day, hourand minute of his demise) he had sent out asummons to some of the most celebratedoccultists of the age. Some could not comethrough infirmity; others, taking staff in hand,set out over mountains and dales, continentsand oceans, until they reached the bedside ofthe expiring mystic.

This II Parliament of Wise Men," as it wascalled, a veritable congress of the adepts ofoccultism, were in session for two days. Whattook place around the bedside of the dying seerwe do not know; a record was taken, but ElihuTalmutz, a Jewish magician (and an adept inKabalistic cyphers) destroyed it in Prague asII containing secrets too dangerous for a mortalman to know."

In his black, haunted house in the ancient

THE MYSTIC RECLUSE OF OXFORD 97city of Prague, this man kindled a fire and withhis own hands dropped the parchment recordinto the flames that glowed on the brazier.As the flames shot upwards, bathing the roomin its red light, he uttered the funeral henediction upon Elias Ashmole: «0 Enigma,Revered and Beloved I Let thy spirit companywith the Great Gods! Bear thy secret with theeto the Beyond! Farewell, until my spirit meetswith thine I" A few weeks later Elihu Tulmutzwas arrested for sorcery and burned at the stake.

CHAPTER VIII

PIERRE LE CLERC, BENEDICTINE MONK ANDHIS PREDICTIONS OF NAPOLEON'S DESTINY

In the middle of the French Revolution, in the year 1790,there appeared in Paris a strange and mysterious figure.His name was Pierre Ie Clerc, by profession a Benedictinemonk. But his great passion was a study of the occultarts. His many wonderful predictions, especially thoseconcerning the great Napoleon Bonaparte, were accuratelyfulfilled.

"THE SCAFFOLD YOU VOTED FOR YOUR

KING, AWAITS YOU ALSO t"

THESE ominous words, pronounced inaccents in which conviction strove with

pity, were pronounced by one of the mostinteresting and mystifying figures living in Parisduring the French Revolution.

Pierre Ie Clerc, who thus boldly pronouncedsentence of death upon the client who had cometo have the curtain rolled up from his ultimateFate, was simply attired in the cassock-robe of aBenedictine. And whether he was at homein his simple apartment on the top floor of anold house in the Rue Puits de l'Ermite, leading

98

PIERRE LE CLERC, BENEDICTINE :MONK 99

out of the stately Faubourg Saint Marceau,or walking with abstracted face through thebusy streets, he still garbed himself in the blackrobe that legally, in those days, meant death.

By this time the Revolution in France hadsuppressed all religion, and II reason_ wasenthroned." For a priest to be seen in thestreets, and doubly so were he bold enough towear II the garb of superstition," meant thespringing up of a howling mob ready to leadthe offender to the Committee of Public Safety.And the penalty would certainly be " The RedWidow "-in other words, the guillotine thatdaily claimed its victims.

Yet Pierre Ie Clerc seemed to bear a charmedlife. He himself, deeply versed in occultismand able to calculate his own destiny, assuredthose who warned him of danger that he hadnothing to fear. II I shall live long enough toserve under an Emperor here in Paris," he wouldsay, and when his hearers gaped withincredulity, would add: II Yes, and see thatEmperor for a time dominate Europe."

Certainly in 1793 that seemed a bold prediction. For on January 2Ist of that yearLouis XVI had died on the scaffold; theRevolution appeared firmly planted, and citizenship was declared to be the religion of thepeople.

IOO MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

But Pierre Ie Clerc possessed a reputationthat set at defiance enactments others werebound by. His reputation in Paris, in the dayswhen the Monarchy was tottering to itsdisastrous close, had already surrounded himwith a halo of mystery. While the magnificentcourt of Louis XVI and the alluring MarieAntoinette waltzed gaily to the abyss, fortunetellers, crystal-gazers and II wise men" enjoyedmarvellous popularity. It was an age whenCagliostro had dominated the Gay City withhis luminous apartments, glorious lily-like., medium," and soft voice that spoke of loveand life and fortune and the brooding death.

But of all those who ventured to unveil fate,there was none quite like Pierre Ie Clerc. Forone reason, he courted no luxury nor surroundedhimself with the exotic setting of Cagliostro,Phillipi the Greek Mystique, or Yougi theIndian Fakir. He was first and foremost aBenedictine monk. But early in his life he haddiscovered his overwhelming gift of clairvoyanceand had found, too, that his mind was fascinatedwith occultism and a study of the heavenlyplanets.

Fortunately for Pierre, his superior, theAbbot of Tours Abbey, had realized theuncommon gift that had been bestowed uponthis brother. So, therefore, he had bidden him

PIERRE LE CLERC, BENEDICTINE MONK 101

go forth into the world, charging him that heconsecrate his gift. I< Use it not for profit,"he said, " save as you need money to exist,but beware how you peer into the future."With these words ringing in his ears, Pierre IeClerc had wandered throughout France, a- holymystique, conscious of his gift, and using it,so far as possible, for the relief of the troubledand the comforting of the afflicted.

* * * * *.. The scaffold you voted for you, King, awaits you also I "

These death-dealing words fell with overpowering sensation upon the ears of a courtlyvisitor, who, though he conformed to the plaindress of I< a citizen," and wore the tricolouredcockade in his three-cornered hat, could notwell disguise his aristocratic breeding.

The keen eye of the occultist has pierced atonce through the disguise of his visitor.

" A humble citizen," pleaded the stranger," asks the opinion of the great Pierre Ie Clercupon the Future. Will these terrible days ofthe Terror pass? Will the Monarchy againreturn? "

Then, to his secret amazement, the occultist,after consulting the mystic alphabet in whichhe was an adept, replied:

" Philippe, Duc d'Orleans, head of the RoyalHouse of Orleans, out of the Terror shall come


a new Order. But in that you shall have neitherpart nor lot." And to this he added thatsolemn condemnation, destined to be absolutelyfulfilled before many months had passed.

His visitor, the Duc d'Orleans, had for themoment purchased the right to live throughthe sacrifice of convictions. He was execratedby the scattered noble and aristocratic partybecause he had cast a vote for the executionof Louis XVI. How that had come aboutfew realized, but now Pierre Ie Clerc, unveilingthe past by his mysterious clairvoyant knowledge, said soothingly:

" I know how thou wast tempted. Danton theTerrible came into your apartments in thePalais Royale and with flaming eyes cried out:, Will you live or die? ' "

It was true, and the Duke admitted it. Forin order to try and save the remnant of hisfamily, he-the proud aristocrat-had consented to serve the Republic as a Deputy inthe National Convention and had stained hiswhite hands with the blood of Louis XVI.

Tormented with many speculations, the Dukehad come climbing up the steep stairs to thehumble apartment of Pierre Ie Clerc to knowwhat Fate had in store for him.

The occultist had worked out this fatefusentence by writing down the names and titles


of his distinguished visitor. The words thatbecame evolved from the mystic alphabetformed the death sentence he had been compelledto pronounce.

Suddenly an idea, born of pity, passed throughthe mind of the monk.

II Monseigneur," he cried, II since God hasallowed us to meet and for you to hear yourfate, He may also allow you to profit by thewarning. Why not attempt to escape fromFrance before it is too late! "

" No," came the fatalistic response. II I willawait what is in store for me. Men may takemy life, but God alone will judge my soul."

They parted. A few weeks later, by an Orderof the Committee of Public Safety, the Dukewas arrested. On the 6th November that sameyear that his King had perished, he ascendedthe scaffold and amid the hootings of the mobhis head rolled into the basket.

• * * * •In the July of that same fatal year, when

blood was daily shed, there arrived a simplecountry girl in Paris. Simple, although hersoul was aflame with a determination that madeher irresistible.

She, too, had heard much of Pierre Ie Clerc,and she determined to seek his advice. Onthe 13th of July she climbed the steep stairs


and timidly presented herself before this mysteri·ous monk of whom she had heard so manywonderful stories of his predicatory powers.

II Reverend Father," she questioned him in alow voice, II I want you to tell me if a younggirl of my acquaintance who is going to-dayto meet a very powerful member of the NationalConvention, will be successful in her interviewwith him I "

He looked at her with his keen eyes thatseemed able to pierce the soul.

II Write the date and what you wish to ask,"he said, II one word on each card, mix themup together, and hand them to me when youhave finished."

The girl wrote: II Date: The I3th July, I793.Charlotte Corday d'Armont wishes to kill inParis with a dagger, Jean Paul Marat, Deputyof the National Convention of the FrenchRepublic." Having done this she mixed thecards and handed them to the monk.

Without paying any attention to the girl,Pierre Ie Clerc spread out the cards in twocircles, one within the other. The answerformed by the Mystic Alphabet from the lettersran as follows:

II A dagger planted in his breast will kill M aratin his bath. The conventional scaffold will bethe pedestal upon which a martyr will be crowned."

PIERRE LE CLERC, BENEDICTINE MONK lOS

Charlotte glanced hurriedly at the answer anddarted from the room. That same evening shearrived at the lodgings of Marat, who was asusual seated in a warm bath to obtain relieffrom the skin disease from which he suffered.

She was repulsed, but hearing her importUnatedemands for admission, Marat called out sheshould be admitted.

Charlotte feigned some charges against thedeputies of Caen.

.. They shall all be guillotined," he cried, andas he uttered these words she stabbed himin the neck with the knife she had drawn fromher bosom.

Thus ended the days of the It Friend of thePeople. II He was given a ceremonial intermentin the Pantheon, but later his remains werecast out by the decree of 1795.

• • • • •In 1795 the Convention vanished into chaos

and the Directory appeared. And, as yetunknown, or merely regarded as a pallid andemaciated soldier of fortune, there was livingin a state of semi-starvation in Paris a manupon whom Destiny had cast a favourable eye.

Through jealousy on the part of his superiors,who were already impressed by his gluttonyfor official detail of military operatious, theyoung man was out of employment. He, too,


had heard many wonderful stories of PierreIe Clerc, and at last he determined to call uponhim to learn what the future had in store.

Climbing the stairs, he discovered the monkseated at a table engrossed in some astrologicalcalculations.

Mathematics being a strong point with theyoung man, he sat down quietly by the monkand watched hini working out his figures.Finally the caller jotted down his date of birthand pushed it under the eyes of Pierre Ie Clerc.

The monk looked at the paper and thenrequested his caller to write down his name.

This information was refused, and the callerrose as if to leave.

II You are wrong to be so impatient," said theold man. <I It takes time to work out a horoscope, but if you give me your name and anyquestion you would like to ask, I may perhapsbe able to give you an answer at once. Thefact that you were born on the date you havewritten on the paper and at Corsica, bringsto my mind a prediction made by Cagliostroten years ago, before any Revolution wasthought of. He said it would be a Corsicanwho would bring it to an end. Judging fromyour birth date, I think you are the manCagliostro indicated."

However, Bonaparte-for this was his name


-was in no mood to listen to the words of onehe believed to be a madman, so tossing a silverpiece on the table he went off.

Four years later, on 8th November, 1799,he again found himself in Paris. He_ hadreturned from his great Egyptian campaign andhad covered himself with glory. But he hadmany bitter enemies in the capital and ,thetimes were uncertain and threatening.

On this particular evening he shut himselfup in his study in the Rue Chantereine, afterwards renamed in his honour, Rue de la Victoire,and paced up and down deep in meditation.The streets were filled with soldiers demonstrating against the Government. All seemedconfusion.

Suddenly through the mind of Bonaparte,sounded the words uttered by Pierre Ie Clerc:" A Corsican will bring the Revolution to anend. Judging from the date of your birth,you are THE MAN."

Silently he 'left his house and made his wayto the habitation of the Monk. As he openedthe door he found him again seated at the tableengaged in, calculations that seemed neverending.

The Monk, whose eyesight was failing, didnot recognize his visitor. But as usual withcallers, he said, "Write out your name with

loB MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULnSTS

the question you wish to ask, each word on aseparate piece of paper. Mix them up, givethem to me, and I will give you an answer."

The stranger wrote:"What will happen to the Corsician, General

Napoleon Bonaparte, if he risks a coup d'etatin Paris to-morrow? "

Forming words out of the" mystic alphabet,"Pierre Ie Clerc read out slowly :

" IN 1804 HE WILL BE SEATED ON A THRONE

SURROUNDED BY MILITARY STANDARDS. IN

1815 HE WILL BE OVERTHROWN BY THE CANNON

OF ENGLISH SOLDIERS."

"There are still," continued the Monk," some letters left over. Their interpretationis: I HE WILL RAISE HIMSELF TWICE AS PRINCE

OVER THE PEOPLE, BUT HIS FATALITY WILL

COME FROM THE PEOPLE.' "

Napoleon went back into the night and soughthis study. The next day he made himselfMilitary Dictator. In 1804 he crowned himselfEmperor of the French, while in 1815 he was aprisoner in the hands of the English. Hisfadic numbers had foretold his Hour of Destiny.

* * * * *It is on record that one of the first acts

Napoleon did on becoming Emperor was tohave the aged Abbe sought out and given a

PIERRE LE CLERC, BENEDICTINE MONK 109home to live in, in the Royal Park of Versailles,and a pension for the remainder of his days.

The last scene of the Abbe's life is a tragicand pathetic one. While working out a horoscope for Napoleon in 1814 he foresaw hisdownfall in the month of June of the followingyear.

In spite of his years, he immediately set outto try and warn the master to whom he owed somuch in his latter days. On foot he followedNapoleon's army through the various campaignsof 1814, hoping against hope that he would bepermitted to give him his last warning.

He reached his Emperor on the evening beforeWaterloo, June 14th, but was prevented byNapoleon's bodyguard from approaching, anddriven out of the camp as a madman.

Some days after Napoleon's flight to Paris,the corpse of the aged Abbe was found in aditch close to the battlefield, his hand stillclutching in death the last horoscope he hadmade for his master and benefactor.

CHAPTER IX

VAN GALGEBROK, THE DUTCH MYSTIC, AND HISLIFE IN LONDON

TM history of occult adepts contains perhaps tlO moreinteresting figure than Van Galgebrok, known as theDutch Mystic. He settled in London during the reignof William the Third, and successively through the reignsof Queen Anne and George the First, and was in highfavour with Co.urt and Society people. Many 0/ hisremarkable prophecies were accurately fulfilled.

WILLIAM III, the Dutch King, who cameto the English Throne conjointly with

his consort, Mary, daughter of James II, thedeposed monarch, was of a cold and sullendisposition. But beneath his icy demeanourthat too often chilled his British subjects, hecherished a curious affection for occultism.Were it not so it is unlikely that London wouldhave witnessed the advent in 1690 of anastrologer and mystic, named Van Galgebrok,who had already gained much fame in Holland.

During his sojourn in Amsterdam, where allthe society people flocked to him for advice onlove, health and the future, this Dutch astrologer

no

VAN GALGEBROK, THE DUTCH MYSTIC III

had put forth a number of wonderful predictions, many of which had been signallyfulfilled.

He was no mean physician, and when thePrince of Orange, afterwards King of England,was at death's door with the asthma that hadtormented him from childhood, he was restoredby the Mystic to a better state of health thanhe had ever enjoyed before. In accomplishingthis, Van Galgebrok earned the deepest gratitudefrom the Prince. It was at this time theastrologer drew a chart of the astrologicalinfluences at work upon the life of his illustriouspatron.

Among other items of information, he said,II the Prince would wear a Monarch's crown in aforeign land." At the time the prophecyseemed most unlikely of fulfilment; but thePrince cherished remarkable ambitions littlesuspected by the Dutch. He carefully noteddown the prediction that Van Galgebrok hadproduced by studying the birthdate of thePrince, 4th November, 164o-a time of mourning and depression, for only eight days beforehis wise and beloved father had sunk into thegrave, leaving the affairs of Holland in soreconfusion.

The day came when the Prince was askedby certain British noblemen to come from The

112 MvsmRms OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

Hague to England to seize the crown from hisfather-in-law, James II. Once again the Princeconsulted Van Galgebrok. The interview tookplace in a strange old house in The Hague wherethe astrologer lived. William of Orange cameto him disguised, asking if a certain day wouldbe propitious for a great adventure; Van

.Galgebrok, penetrating the disguise of thecaller, said :

II To-morrow is your birthday, noble Prince.It is an auspicious day. Sail upon that momentand you will wear a crown."

Therefore upon his natal day, 4th November,William set out with his adherents, beingdetermined II to restore the infringed libertiesof England."

So highly did he think of the Dutch astrologerthat he begged him to come with him andpromised him his protection and patronage ifhe would settle in London. Van Galgebrokagreed, and this remarkable occultist, whosefame was spread over all civilized countries,sailed in the Lion which was the flag-ship of thesmall armada that headed for the English coast.

The following day, 5th November, the shipscame into Torbay Harbour and disembarked.

As it is well known, James II fled hastilywhen he heard his brilliant young son-in-lawhad landed, and the progress of William through

VAN GALGEBROK, THE DUTCH MYSTIC 113

the West of England to the capital was atriumph. On 13th February, 1669, Williamand Mary, his consort, were jointly proclaimedKing and Queen, the first time in history thattwo Sovereigns reigned jointly. _

Van Galgebrok was well received in London.He took a fine old mansion in Tyburn Road,now known as Oxford Street.

One of the first actions of William III, as hewas now designated, was to send for Van Galgebrok to come to Kensington. Here the Monarchcommended the occultist to Mary, his gentleconsort.

The kingly husband was extremely anxiousto know if the new dynasty would take firmroot in English soil; for although James IIhad made himself unpopular by his bigotedactions, still the majority of the Roman Catholicclergy and noblemen looked upon him withfavour and maintained correspondence withhim at his mimic court at St. Germains, France.

Through his study of the horoscope of theKing, Van Galgebrok was able to write downupon a paper a statement to the effect that thedays of the King would be crowned with muchglory and honour. He predicted a shatteringsorrow, through the loss of his consort, theamiable Mary. And though William was notinsensible to the charms of other ladies, it was

B


true the death of Mary of smallpox at Kensington Palace on 28th December, 1694, causedhim the deepest grief. Finally Van Galgebrokpredicted William's death would arise through atrifling accident. This again proved accurate,for while riding his favourite horse, the animalstumbled over a mole hill, throwing the Kingand breaking his collar-bone. This trifling hurtbrought on a low fever and bronchitis fromwhich he expired.

• • • • •On 8th March, 1702, William drew his last

breath and Anne, his sister-in-law, becameQueen of England.

There was now ushered in what might bedescribed as a Golden Age, not merely onaccount of the glorious victories won by GeneralChurchill and his captains against the French,but also through the immense improvement insocial life and habits owing to the increasedopening up of foreign commerce. The middleclass grew more rich; stark poverty decreased;while in art and literature an extraordinarygalaxy of talent appeared.

In the world where the wealthy moved,there was a fashion, one might write, almost acraze, to consult astrologers, hand-readers,crystal-gazers, and others who professed to besearching for the secret of the Philosopher's

VAN GALGEBROK, THE DUTCH MYSTIC

Stone, that should transmute base metal intogold. Moreover, London was intrigued by thepresence of Jasper Morgan, a wild and visionaryWelsh mystic who claimed to have discoveredthe Elixir of Life. All those who professed thepossession of love pptions and powders- thatwould restore beauty, drove a thriving trade.Probably there was no time when both realstudents of the occult science and charlatanswere so much in vogue as during the days ofthe (t Good Queen Anne.»

Amid these, Van Galgebrok shone withsupreme pre-eminence. He despised, andrightly, the crowd of imitators of his gifts,and would rarely stoop to reveal fate to thecurious who flocked to his splendid house. Butmathematicians, men of science, and searchersafter hidden wisdom who came to him from allparts of Europe, were courteously received,shown his flawless crystal he had received froma holy fakir of Benares, and also some of therelics he had purchased that once belonged toDoctor Dee.

Indeed, it is no exaggeration to write that atthis period, when a new century was opening,Van Galgebrok was one of the most trusted andrespected (t Wise Men» of his age. The gayand gallant Louis XIV sent a messenger to thefamous Dutch astrologer in London seeking

1m MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

information concerning the tangled progress ofEuropean events; particularly asking whetherit was probable the Stuarts would again beseated on the Throne of England. The replyof Van Galgebrok was an emphatic, H No I "and it was noticeable that, after receiving thisinformation Louis slackened in the efforts hemade on behalf of the Royal refugees at St.Germains.

But the greater glory came to the astrologer,as he was generally called, from the openpatronage bestowed upon him by Queen Anne.

The Queen, stout, good-natured, and voluble,had her secret sorrows despite her exaltedposition. In Fate she had implicit belief.

She had been married to Prince George ofDenmark, brother of King Christian the Fifth.Of all her children only one survived, a sonwho had been created Duke of Gloucester, andhe was failing in health. His physician, thecelebrated Doctor Arbuthnot, gave an opinionthe young Prince was H moonstruck," a delicateway of explaining that his wits were notoverstrong.

I t was under these circumstances that VanGalgebrok received a summons to KensingtonPalace. One of the Royal coaches was sent tofetch him. He was a tall and portly man, fairof complexion and wearing a long blond beard

VAN GALGEBROK, THE DUTCH MYSnC 117

that fell to his girdle. A conspicuous point inhis appearance was his pair of brilliant blueeyes.

Like most astrologers of his time, he wore aconical cap bearing the Zodiac signs in gold.In his hand he carried a short rod of ivory: andin his breast a small crystal that he used forthe purpose of concentration.

There is still pointed out in KensingtonPalace the small reception-room where QueenAnne was accustomed to receive favouredvisitors. Her constant companion was herConsort, Prince George, now grown very unwieldly. He still bore the witty stigma appliedto him by Charles II: II I have tried Georgedrunk and tried him sober, and he is a fool inboth conditions."

The Queen herself at this time suffered muchfrom corpulency and difficulty in walking.Abigail Hill and Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough,the two female inseparables who constitutedthe Power behind the Throne, were present inaddition to the Prince when Van Galgebrokwas introduced.

At this interview Van Galgebrok producedthe celebrated prediction, worked out from thebirth-date of the little Duke, that showed alltoo clearly the Stuart dynasty was nearing itsend. He predicted the coming of yet another

118 MYSTERIES OF WORLDtS GREATEST OCCULTISTS

dynasty that should reign generation aftergeneration-an accurate forecast of the succession after Anne's decease, of the presentHouse of Hanover, or as now called since theGreat War the House of Windsor.

With regard to national events, the astrologerpredicted the great victories of Ramillies,Blenheim, and other immortal fights gained byMarlborough.

On the question of health, the astrologerdelivered a long homily, warning against certainphases of the moon and (as usual in these cases)sweepingly condemning the treatment of theyoung Duke by Arbuthnot. He presented a" reviving elixir" to the Queen who receivedit reverently. It may be noted that some shorttime later the only son of the Queen died, andit would appear that his fatal illness was anaffection of the brain.

This visit to Kensington Palace was quicklyknown to the Court and high society. As aresult Van Galgebrok's house was besieged bycallers of rank, most of whom desired to havetheir fate revealed. This mystic was one of themost reputed astrologers to practise palmistry,and a manuscript volume that he wrote on theStudy of Hands was found after his death and

VAN GALGEBROK, THE DUTCH MYSTIC II9passed into the possession of the Museum ofPrague.

The reading of Fate by the mysterious lineson the palms of the hand, although an extremelyancient science, was at this time practicallyunknOWD in England. Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, left a record in her journal of a visitshe and Lady Masham paid to the « Wise Man,"both having disguised themselves. However,their disguise was easily penetrated and in thecase of the impetuous Duchess she was toldplainly that her golden good fortune would notendure much longer. Her fall from Royalfavour occurred soon afterwards.

The great Duke of Marlborough, after thevictory of Blenheim, became very interestedin the studies of the Dutch astrologer. Weariedof domestic bickering, and sated with theadulation of place-seeking friends, in the intervals of watching the erection of the statelypalace of Blenheim, he often sat and listenedto the wisdom of Van Galgebrok. There isgood reason to believe that it was through thegood offices of the Duke the way was pavedfor the memorable visit of Prince George ofHanover, whom few thought was destined towear a croWD.

Of this fateful interview, some facts are gleanedfrom the amazingly historical manuscripts


discovered one hundred and eighty yearslater in a secret chamber in a Rhine castle.It appeared to be a diary kept by Van Galgebrokin some form of cypher or shorthand. LikePepys, the memorable diarist of an earlier age,the astrologer realized the danger of committingcertain facts in a form that could be read byanyone. For this reason he adopted a cypherthat was after much labour deciphered by Dr.Luther Hertog, the celebrated antiquarian ofHeidelberg.

Prince George Louis, ruler of the Duchy ofCalenberg, and by marriage to his cousinDorothea, possessor of the Duchy of ZeU, wasthe next Protestant heir after Anne. But therewas a strong intrigue afoot among the Torylords to bring over the son of the deposedJames II. The whole question of the succession was one of burning interest, and wecannot wonder that Marlborough, who wasadamant against the Stuart dynasty, was mostanxious to have a prediction from Van Galgebrok concerning the fate of the Crown.

Prince George therefore made a secret journeyto London, disguised as a merchant. He wasmet by the Duke of Marlborough who conductedhim to the house of the astrologer.

It is easy to understand how impressed PrinceGeorge must have been when he was introduced

VAN GALGEBROK, THE DUTCH MYSTIC 121

into the dimly-lit chamber, where Van Ga]gebrok sat on a high ebony chair that had beengifted to him by a Swedish Prince and was saidto have come from the Doges Palace of Venice.He sat dressed in the gorgeous ceremonial robesthat corresponded to his nativity. On a couch,illuminated by a faint light, reclined ElihuMuntzer, the famed "medium" whom hebrought over from Prague. In front of VanGalgebrok was a huge crystal supported upon agolden table covered with black velvet.

This table was fashioned according to thedesign of Muma Goetz, the great wanderingMystic, who claimed to have discovered theElixir of Eternal Life. A skull, some portionsof a serpent's skin, phials containing variouspowders, and some scrolls of parchment, layheaped upon the table. From an inner room,at intervals, sounded out bursts of stringedmusic that the mystic might be en rapport withharmonious conditions.

• • • • •The Duke of Marlborough cowered in the

background overpressed by the mysteriousinfluences he felt were at work. Prince George,of more sturdy stuff, knelt humbly before themystic whom he was convinced could revealthe secrets of the human heart and perhapsunroll the future.


The music died-in absolute silence VanGalgebrok fixed his brilliant eyes upon the plainface of the Prince.

It Would thou know all, Prince? " he inquiredat length.

It What does the future hold for me ? "The brilliant eyes seemed to grow opaque as

one who sees beyond mortal ken. Then slowlystretching out his hand towards Elihu Muntzerthe astrologer cried loudly:

It Speak, spirits, that hover round thoseentrusted with great destinies."

Now the still form of the It medium" becameanimated. His mouth opened and shut withgasping sounds. His features convulsed as ifwrestling with mortal agony. Then graduallythe contortions and distress passed and he layagain inert, his opened eyes gazing upwards atthe lamp suspended above his head.

Van Galgebrok took up his carved staff andwaved it thrice in the air.

It We await thee, 0 spirits," he saidimperiously.

From the lips of Elihu Muntzer issued a thin,unearthly voice:

U I see lovers I Oh, how they kiss and clingand twine I He is a goodly man dressed infine raiment. A noble lord. And she too is asthe spring flowers for freshness. A lady of high

VAN GALGEBROK. THE DUTCH MYSTIC 123

birth. Their hearts are bound together. Butthey meet in secret and a Shade glides betweenthem. His face is cold and his form heavy.The greenish flames of jealousy burn in hisheart. It is the unwanted husband.

If There are whisperers who come to -theShade and tell him things concerning the lovers.They separate, these lovers, she goes to herPrincely husband in the Castle and the lovergoes away. But she sendeth forth her trustymessenger and he returneth.

It It is night. The moon shines on thebattlements and turrets, and black are theshadows. I see ruffians lurk and crouch inthe darkness. She cometh forth by stealthwrapped in her cloak; her lover meets andkisses her. Ah! The ruffians steal forth andthrow themselves upon the man."

The Prince wiped his face with his lacehandkerchief.

If What fearful necromancy is this?" hemuttered.

Implacably the voice poured from the lipsof the If medium ., :

C< The ruffians plunge their swords into hisbody. I see the blood-there is blood everywhere. Now the Shade comes and looks downupon the lover that lies so still. He spurnshim with his foot. He crieth: • Die. foul hog I '


The woman is borne away. She weepeth andwringeth her hand."

If Stop I" cried the Prince, dropping hishead on his breast. If No more, for the sakeof Christ. Let the dead bury their dead. Tellme of the Future."

By now the If medium " had relapsed into atrance-like condition. Van Galgebrok took upa sheet of parchment from the table by his side.

If Prince George," he said solemnly, If Thouhas heard from the lips of the spirit how CountKonigsmark stole away thy wife, the high-bornDorothea. He is dead, and lies where no eyeshall see him until the secret recess falls beforethe touch of Time's hand.· I have studied thyhoroscope. Rest content, 0 Prince, for thereis reserved for thee a glorious destiny thoughthere be mingled with it a crown of thorns."

If Is there a crown ? " asked the Prince, againmastering himself.

If Yes! That of England, and thy generationshall reign for many years. But thy fair youngwife whom thou hast shut up shall summonsthee to appear before the Most High Judge ofMankind. Woe to thee in thy last hours."

It is, of course, a well-known historical factthat Prince George kept his wife Dorothea in

• Later the skeleton was discovered in a eecret room behincla nre·placo and identified by a ring.

yAN GALGEBROK, THE DUTCH MYSTIC 125

captivity for thirty years in the Castle of Zell,until she died in 1726. Van Galgebrok hadpredicted that Prince George would die one yearand a day after her death. He returned toHanover with the intention of visiting theCastle of Zell. He was successful in reachingthis gloomy feudal stronghold where his discarded wife had died in captivity, and followedher in death to the exact time that had beenpredicted. She died loth June, 1726, andGeorge the First of England expired in hiscarriage on entering his Hanoverian domainon June 11th, 1727.

II Dorothea! Dorothea!" were the lastwords that left his lips. Who can say whataccusing and ghostly forms menaced his dyingmoments?

• • • • •The years passed and the frost of extreme

age silvered the hair and beard of the DutchAstrologer. Through the active patronage ofthe dashing Duchess of Kendal, he was resortedto by many ladies of the Court and amassedgreat wealth. Oftentimes he was called in bythe fashionable sick; he was able to establishthat planetary influences worked potently uponthe human frame. His remarkable knowledgeof herbs led to a cult in their use; so much so,in fact, that the surgeons and apothecaries


presented a petition to the King praying thatVan Galgebrok might be restrained.

Through the powerful· influence of theDuchess, the King returned a stiff answer tohis petitioners. He himself had never forgotten the interview he had had with theastrologer and how remarkably the predictionhad been fulfilled that he should wear the crownof England. To the end of his days, VanGalgebrok continued to be respected andrevered.

Before he died he called into consultation ayoung man of the adopted name of Paulo Phim.It would seem that the mantle of Elijah fellupon this new Elisha; for very soon after thedeath of Van Galgebrok, London rang with theextraordinary deeds performed by a new mystic.

CHAPTER X

PAULO PHIM, THE MAN OF MYSTERY,

WHO CLAIMED TO BE AN "IMMORTAL"

After the death of Van Galgebrok, London was dominatedby an exceedingly clever occult student who called himselfPaulo Phim. His real name had always been shroudedi'J mystery. He was consulted by Royalty and membersof the fashionable world, while one ot his most remarkableexploits was when he predicted the death ot Admiral Byng,who was shot tor cowardice.

W HEN Van Galgebrok felt Death creepingupon him he cast about in his mind for

some worthy disciple upon whom his mantlemight fall.

He had the more reason to be thus exercisedbecause there is evidence that during the yearprevious to his death, the Dutch Astrologer andstudent of occult mysteries had been engagedupon a search for the Elixir of Life.

This, indeed, was one of the grand aims ofthese II Wise Men " who flourished in an agewhen science was but faintly developed. Dr. Deewas ever striving for the Philosopher's Stone,

potent substance that should transmute


base metal into gold. How rooted was thisbelief is seen by the correspondence of men ofripe understanding and diplomacy.. Walsingham, adviser of Queen Elizabeth in her old age,believed in the possibility of the discovery.Philip of Spain, while Consort of Mary theFirst, paid large sums of money to the ItalianSeer, Paulus Rombusti, who dwelt in PuddingLane, London, and who claimed to have discovered the Grand Secret. He did indeedproduce several pieces of gold, but there wasno evidence they were transmuted from leadas he claimed.

The Elixir of Life, too, was another neverfailing search. Doctor Dee had dabbled inthis profound mystery, and while visiting theEmperor of Austria had been allowed to carryout experL'11ents in one of the vaults of theCastle of Althus. Van Galgebrok also had atone time thought he was in possession of theElixir and actually carried out experiments onthree aged people.

In the end he came to the conclusion, thediscovery could only be made after very prolonged and costly experiments. For this reason.knowing that old age was fast creeping on, hetook into his service a willing disciple. Thisyoung man had come from that City of Mystery,Prague, and had a reputation vouched for by

PAULO PHIM,ITHE MAN OF MYSTERY 129

Theodore Gruber, himself one of the mostremarkable astrologers and famous for his experiments in chemistry.

What the real name of the disciple was, willnever be known. When he came to VanGalgebrok he introduced himself thus: "Whilein a trance the Angel Ariel called to me, • PauloPhim, depart unto the house of Van Galgebrokin London.''' It is curious to observe thatwhen Doctor Dee was carrying out his patientsearch after spirit communion through themedium of Edward Kelley, the Angel Ariel wasone of the chief guides that gave messages ofwisdom.

Certainly this made a great impression onVan Galgebrok. He received Paulo as a"friend and brother in the great mysteries."At this time the Dutchman was engrossedupon his experiments connected with the Elixir,and the new-comer was fully and freely initiatedinto all that was afoot in the laboratory.

In his secret cypher record, Van Galgebrokhas given us a fair picture of his new disciple.

" At this time there came to me a young man,very dark and swarthy as an Italian, thoughhe was of Austria. He was gentle and pleasing,though his tongue could be sharp withal. Thespirits were much subject to him. He helpedme in the Great Secret."

I

130 MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATBST OCCULTISTS

We can easily imagine the old astrologer,now somewhat shrivelled and bent with age,and with his beard a floss of silver, potteringabout in the laboratory, peering into retorts,stirring various concoctions, and delving intothe action of potent drugs. And all this toomust be done at auspicious times and seasonscalculated according to the rules of planetaryinfluence, etc.

In between, there would be visits to variousfashionable houses, for the reputation of VanGalgebrok was never higher than at his death.He was consulted by those who had the palsy,the Evil Eye, the kindling sores, the sweatingdeath, and other diseases and complaints. Hewould be attended by Paulo, the rapt youngdisciple, anxious to learn, but already consciousthat he himself possessed remarkable gifts. Asthey passed through the streets the pair receivedthe homage of the mob; for Van Galgebrokwas always regarded as a healer and a " WiseMan:'

• • • • •Van Galgebrok was dead. His end had

come with startling suddenness. One night hewas in the laboratory, his face flushed by thered flames that heated his crucible. Whendawn came he had passed away.

Profound was the sensation when the news

PApLO PRIll, THE MAN OF MYSTERY

spread that the Dutch Mystic was no more.At the same time a rumour was circulated 'andmultiplied that he had left the whole of hissecrets and mechanism to his disciple, PauloPhim. And gradually, too, it was confiqentlyasserted that just before his death, VanGalgebrok had bequeathed to the disciple,II The Great Secret." Excitement ran high.

At the time George the Second had notlong ascended the Throne. Previously he hadbeen maintaining a mimic court at LeicesterHouse, having been so far estranged from hisRoyal father that the latter had comparedhim to " disobedient Absalom." At one time,indeed, he had actually been under arrest andwas commanded to leave St. james's Palaceand to absent himself from all ceremonies. Itwas true, as Van Galgebrok had told Georgethe First that he wore the crown, but there wasa diadem of thorns entwined about it, for inlove and his family he had endless troubles andsorrows.

When the hour came for the crown to beplaced upon the brow of the Prince who hadsuffered so cruelly through his father's harshness, he did not forget to consult the occultart as to whether his reign would be auspicious.Paulo Phim was summoned to the Royalpresence.


With his characteristic pedantic and methodical habit, George the Second noted down allthat was told him concerning the future. Fromthe lips of Paulo Phim he leamed that the curseof domestic sorrow was also in store for him.This proved singularly accurate; for his heir,Frederick Prince of Wales, openly rebelledagainst his father, the King, and set up a rivalCourt at Leicester House. But this son, aspredicted, was never destined to wear thecrown of England, though his son becameGeorge the Third, whose reign lasted for sixtyyears.

This visit of Paulo to the new King arousedtremendous interest, and public attention beganto concentrate upon the young and personablemystic whose connection with Van Galgebrokhad endowed him with· a halo of occultreputation. So large, indeed, became thenumbers of his patrons, that Paulo moved toan ancient house in Staple Inn, and set up alarge establishment.

Here Paulo immured himself, and his housequickly became the resort of the famous andthe fashionable. He had studied palmistryunder his revered Master, and more and moreit became the fashion to have the mysteriouslines of the hand read. Among those whovisited him for this purpose was the Princess

PAULO PHIM, THE MAN OF MYSTERY 133

Frederick of Wales who learned from Paulothat death would soon claim her Royal husband.

But during all these comings and goings thereal engrossment of the Sage of Staple Inn, wasthe discovery of the .. Grand Secret"-.::-theElixir of Life. In this he had the help. andprobably the pecuniary assistance of GeorgeCateret, afterwards Lord Granville.

This courtly and subtle politician, who for along time ruled the political mind of Georgethe Second, was an intense student of the occultarts. When a young man he did the GrandTour, and while in Vienna met several notedalchemists and astrologers. Indeed, this courtlypolitician often protested that .. had Heavennot entangled his feet in politics he would haveimmurred himself in a laboratory and assistedto lay bare the Grand Secret."

Through his friendship with Walpole, thisastute statesman was also a frequent visitor toStaple Inn. It must have been a remarkablesight to see the young occult student busy withhis phials and retorts while two such courtlystatesmen as Lord Granville and Walpole,looked on. Their patronage did much to makePaulo popular. During the zenith of his career,his receiving chamber was daily thronged, andit is computed he made as much as ten thousandpounds a year in fees.

1,34 MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

There were not wanting those among the richand aged nobility who frequently inquiredwhether the Elixir of Life had been discovered;and if so whether they could test its revivingpowers. It was freely rumoured that the Dukeof Newcastle It implored" Paulo to give him aphial of the Elixir, as he all too consciously felthis powers failing.

The honest refusal brought another urgentapplication, and at last Paulo admits he senta bottle containing some red coloured" balm."The nobleman swallowed it with reverent thankfulness, and such being the power of faith,was persuaded he was growing younger.Tempus jugit, however, soon told its chill story.

Paulo also revealed the future by means ofthe" Mystic Alphabet," and one of his mostinteresting experiences was with the unhappyAdmiral Byng. He was a son of Lord Torringtion, a nobleman who had distinguished himselfby his interest in astrology and whose travelson the Continent were famous for the many callshe made upon noted astrologers. Perhaps itwas through this that his son, the Admiral,became a friend of Paulo's, and frequentlyvisited the queer old house in Staple Inn.

On one of these visits Byng mentioned he hadbeen ordered to the Mediterranean owing tohostilities commencing against the French.

PAULO PRIM, THE MAN OF MYSTERY 135

U If it is possible to know one's fate," saidthe Admiral, "let me know what the futureholds for me ? JJ

Paulo asked him to write down his birth dateand a specific question upon a piece of paper.He did so, and the question related to whetheror not he would receive fresh promotion. Thesequestions having been written down on separatecards for each letter, Paulo shuffied them upand then arranged them in an outer and innercircle.

Before giving the result he asked to see thehand of the Admiral. He found, as he expected,a broken fate line.

He said gravely:" You will die by the muskets of your own

countrymen. Your real fame will only begin afteryour death. JJ

Admiral Byng was nonplussed by this messageand affected to laugh it off. It was not longafterwards that Byng's ship met a Frenchvessel of about equal strength. An 'engagementwas fought in which the British got the worstof it. But no attempt was made to againengage the French. Eventually Byng sailedaway for Gibraltar, leaving Fort St. Philip toits fate.

On the Admiralty despatches being publishedin London there was a savage outburst against


Admiral Byng, he being taunted as a traitorand coward. He was ordered home, tried bycourt-martial, and sentenced to be shot" by themuskets of his own marines" on the quarterdeck he had been accustomed to walk.

The sentence was carried into effect, despitea petition to the King. Mter the death of theAdmiral, public opinion turned in his favour,and his kindliness and humanity as a commanderwere recalled. It proved literally true that" hisfame began with his death," as had been predicted by Paulo.

* * * * *A contemporary journal, the "Glass of

Fashion," gives an interesting picture of thehold Paulo had upon the fashionable world in1770. Discoursing in a gossipy style of II Eventsin London," we have this picture of the Sage ofStaple Inn:

., Mrs. Cartwright, the wealthy widow of aLondon brewer, hath it is said, derived muchgood from a series of visits paid to a WiseAstrologer, whose name is now on every lip.She hath visited Staple Inn a number of timesand it is rumoured, hath received emperics thathave restored the gloss of youth to her complexion and made her appear at least twenfyfive years younger. Mr. Pitt, the PrimeMinister, met her in a salon by chance and

PAULO PRIM, THE MAN OF MYSTERY 137

was confounded. She smiled at him. II Pon mysoul, Madame,' he said, , but I know not whomyou are from Eve herself.' On her mentioningher name, and seeing that her late husbandhad been one of Mr. Pitt's chief supporters inthe North of London, he was almost abashed.However, she was much gratified by the incident.It is reported credibly she hath paid five hundredguineas for salves and powders."

It must be remembered that practically allalchemists, etc., existed in somewhat precariousfashion and they were compelled to keep themselves in funds by pandering, to a certain extent,to the female faith in their power to ward offthe effects of time. By this means they wereable to carry on the "Grand Experiments"that were expensive, and doubtless they justifiedthemselves by thinking that whatever salves andpowders they sold did not do any harm.

The end of Paulo was exceedingly mysterious.At the age of sixty he announced he had beensummoned to the Continent to visit a wealthymerchant in Berlin. After this, he travelled intoRussia, and was certainly in attendance at theCourt of the Emperor of that country. Heleft there and proceeded to Prague, and afterthis all record concerning him is lost.

But it is established that about this timea young and amazingly clever astrologer

IJ8~ OF WORLD'S GR]!:Al'EST OCCULTISTS

commenced to attract attention, and there werenot wanting those who declared that the newcomer was none other than Paulo, who hadrejuvenated himself by a discovery of thelong-sought Elixir. There his story must end,for mysteriously and entirely shrouded inobscurity ends the recorded life of Paulo Phim.

Indeed, years after, an ancient astrologer wasfound wandering in Paris. Asked for his namehe uttered two words: "Paulo Phim." Almostimmediately afterwards he expired. He maybe said to have been the last of the old line ofastrologers and students of occult wisdom, whosearched so diligently for the Philosophers'Stone or the Elixir of Life.

PART II

CHAPTER XI

THE PRINCESS ZISKY. OF VIENNA: HERR

ZUNKLEHORN, THE GERMAN MYSTIC

I HAVE related in my volume of .. True GhostStories" published recently· of my meeting

with the Princess Zisky of Vienna and of anextraordinary seance I had with her in theRoyal Mausoleum of the Hapsburg dynastyunder the Cathedral of St. Stephen.

At this seance the spirit of the murderedEmpress, Elizabeth of Austria, appeared andspeaking very clearly in French, gave anunmistakable forewarning of the coming GreatWar.

As I have given in .. True Ghost Stories" a fullaccount of this strange experience, I will onlyrepeat here, the words of the late Empresswhich made such a lasting impression on mymind.

The Princess Zisky a few hours before in herapartment in the Leopoldstadt district, hadbeen giving me some details of the terrible

• .. True Ghost Stories," by Cheiro, Publishers, Herbert JenkiDa.Ltd., 3, York Street, St. James'., London. .

141


sorrow that had overshadowed the Empress,whom she knew well, by the tragedy of theCh8teau of Meyerling which robbed her of herson Rudolph, Crown Prince of Austria, and aswe entered the royal vaults she whispered tome that in that very chapel that opened beforeus the body of the dead Rudolph had lain instate. After the Empress was murdered beforeshe was finally interred in her tomb in thecrypts of the Capuchin church by a wishexpressed in her will she also was brought tothis same chapel.

The Princess had just whispered this information to me when the apparition of the deadEmpress appeared and the words I have alludedto seemed to float through the dread stillnessof the vault.

" Sorrow of sorrows, was ever sorrow like tomy sorrow! 0 bleeding heart of Motherhoodtransfixed by Death's arrow! "

After a short pause that seemed to me likean eternity, the voice continued:

" Woe to the world! Woe to the Mothers!For they shall weep like Rachel and refuse tobe comforted. The time cometh quickly whenthe earth shall be drenched in blood and thenations shall destroy each other. The Houseof Hapsburg shall fall and mighty shall be itSruin I "

PRINCESS ZISKY: HERR ZUNKLEHORN 143

It should be borne in mind that this tookplace in the early part of 1913 when the possibility of war between the Great Powers was noteven considered a probability.

The Princess Zisky was a very interestingpersonality. She claimed to be a direct descendant of the father of the late Czar Nicholasof Russia, her imperial aspirations were frownedupon by the Russian Court and in consequenceshe had taken up her residence in Vienna whereshe had been well received by the EmpressElizabeth.

As I had personally met the late Empressduring her many visits to England I can vouchfor the fact that the apparition we saw bore astriking resemblance to that unhappy womanwho had been so cruelly done to death by theItalian anarchist at Geneva in 1897.

The Princess Zisky was a very remarkablemedium, who on no occasion had ever beenknown to use her extraordinary gift to gainmoney_ She was wealthy in her own right andso independent in character that she refusedthe most valuable presents from the exaltedpersonages that consulted her from time to time.

When living in Petrograd she had beenassociated with Heliodor, the mystic Monkwhom I also met on one of my visits to Russia.She had also attended on many occasions some


of the extraordinary seances given by Rasputinbefore the late Czar and Czarina in the WinterPalace, but she deplored the influence that thisman exercised over the Imperial Family. Inher clairvoyant vision she saw clearly thecoming downfall of the Russian Empire, butlike so many others she could not believe thatsuch a catastrophe could happen to the Czaras Head of the Orthodox Church of the mightyRussian Empire.

She always travelled with her pet snakeTanitha, in a basket, a full grown cobra fromIndia, which had some years before been givento her by a Hindu fakir when she visited thatcountry. She called it her II familiar" andbelieved it was the reincarnation of Ra-set theHindu God of Wisdom who lived at Benares athousand years ago.

It was a weird pet and obeyed every command she gave. In passing the Custom Houseofficials at various frontiers she never had anydifficulty in getting it through, she seemed tohypnotize the officers so they would not openthe basket.. She promised me that when she came to dieshe would send the spirit of Tanitha to informme of her death. Such a thing actually happened as I have related in (( True GhostStories."


HERR ZUNKLEHORN, THE GERMAN MYSTIC

This remarkable mystic was well known inBerlin. When and where he was born hadalways been a mystery. He was a very oldman when the ex-Kaiser ascended the Throneof Germany. He died in Berlin in 1917, undermysterious conditions, being one morning founddead on the floor of his laboratory.

Before the coronation of the ex-Kaiser asWilliam the Second of Germany, he had sent awarning to the then Crown Prince against hisbeing crowned with the famous Iron Crown ofPrussia with what he called the II Eye ofBuddha" in the centre.

Zunklehom, when he visited me in London,had told me the history of this celebrateddiamond with its record of disaster behind it.It had been raped by a French soldier from agolden statue of Buddha in a temple in Ceylon,a curse had been put on it by its custodian, anaged priest, as he was being hacked to deathby the soldier. It was to the effect that anyone who possessed the stone would come to ruin.

For a time it had adorned the royal turbanof Din Nur, the Sultan of Turkey; his favouritewife murdered him in order to get it into herpossession; she was herself murdered and itpasSed into the hands of the next Caliph. who a

K


year later was killed in battle. The gem wasnext found in Tibet, where a Kurdish soldierstole it from the palace of the Priest-King.After many other adventures it finally reachedAmsterdam, where it was sold by a merchantto a Jewish diamond dealer.

Passing through Silesia this man was arrestedby the police of Frederick the Great. Onfinding the gem in the prisoner's baggage itwas taken to the King, who with swift decisionhanged the dealer for the simple crime of beinga Jew. On his way to the scaffold the Jewrepeated the curse and with prophetic visionannounced that if a descendant of Frederickwore the gem in his crown, he would loseGermany and be forced into exile.

It was on account of this knowledge thatZunklehorn addressed a memorandum of protestand warning to the Crown Prince before hesucceeded to the throne, urging that the IronCrown bearing this fatal gem should not be usedat his coronation.

For this he was rewarded with disgrace andinformed that his presence near or about theCourt for the future would not be desired.

On the occasion of Zunklehorn's visit heurged me to come to Berlin and see him at hislaboratory as soon as possible.

About ten days later the opportunity


presented itself, exploration in the realms ofoccultism had such an appeal to something inmy nature I could not resist, that one afternoonfound me making my way up to the attic of theold house in a street off the FrederickstrasSewhere the mystic lived.

Zunklehorn welcomed me very warmly,telling me I had arrived at an opportune momentwhen he was about to carry out an importantexperiment at which he would be glad to haveme assist.

If ever a man in the present age looked likeone of the alchemists of ancient times, ZunkIehom certainly did so on this occasion.

He wore a robe of purple embroidered in goldwith the twelve signs of the Zodiac, on his headwas a skullcap made from the fur of a wildcat,while on every side of the laboratory werecrucibles and retorts with evidence of the artof the alchemists as handed down to us fromfar distant ages.

After talking about his visit to England andof a mysterious interview he had had withKing Edward VII, he proceeded to explain theresults he hoped to attain by his comingexperiment.

" Cheiro," he went on, .. I have read of yourexperiences in investigating the phenomena ofspiritism especially those in the house of Sir

148 lIIYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

William Crookes with that remarkable mediumMiss Fanny Cooke.

II I am not satisfied, however, with simplyconversing with spirits who come as and whenthey wish. My desire is to have the power tocommand those I want to come and those only.I have long passed the point of knowing thatlife goes on after so-called death and thatcommunication can be set up between theliving and their loved ones who have passedaway.

.. I have worked to obtain more importantresults than these. My ambition has been tobe able to receive messages from the really greatwho have filled high positions on this earth.At one time I believed that such persons shouldfrom their past experiences be able to judgethe trend of events in the coming years and sobe able to give some light on the future .

.. The difficulty, however, is, and this I havefound almost impossible to overcome, thatmany of those whom we call t great,' have hadin this life so little knowledge of spiritual thingsthat when they have passed into the next stagethey are as infants beginning all over again.

It In fact, I have found that it is only thosewho have led simple lives, those who haveremained close to nature, those who withoutpomp and ceremony have worshipped Nature's


God with child-like faith, are the ones whoadvance the most in the world of spirit.

II Perhaps in all this the great law of balancemay be seen or the still greater one of c0!.Dpensation.

" It may be that those who have had muchgiven them in this life-in the next stage havemuch taken away.

"It may be that those who have sufferedafBiction, poverty and distress, may havedeveloped a spirituality that is unknown tothose who have never met care.

"I wasted many years in wading throughvolumes of philosophy, books of dogmas, andvapourings of priests, to stumble across onesentence of Christ that taught me more than alltheir so-called wisdom-< Except a man be asa little child he cannot hope to enter theKingdom of Heaven.'

" And yet in spite of all this I still cling tomy idea of endeavouring to get into contactwith some of the great rulers who held highpositions on the earth plane.

" For many years I have been hoping to learnsomething of the destiny that lies beyond formy own beloved country-Germany. I havereceived many warnings that a trend ofcause and effect is shaping that will bringGermany into a terrible conflict that will

ISO MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

set back her tide of prosperity for manyyears.

" At the present moment these warnings seemvague and uncertain but for to-night I havereceived assurance that some personage in whomI can have confidence will come from the spiritplane and give me a definite message.

" Who that personage is I do not know, butI have been told to employ the simplest of mymediums, a young girl hardly more than achild, one who knows nothing of the worldor political affairs, to aid me in my experiment.

" None of us investigators yet understand thesecret laws governing manifestations from theworld of spirits, it seems hard to realize thatI from the mouths of babes' there oft comeththe greatest wisdom. It is difficult to understand that the trained mind of the investigatoris generally the last to see visions or get themessages they so much desire. In my owncase I am considered a master of spells andincantations, it is true that I have the powerto call up devils and evil spirits who mock mewith their promises of the I Philosopher's Stone'or their gift of the I Elixir of Life.' It is truethat in some of these experiments I have succeeded beyond the lot of ordinary men, but thatis not what I want. I am too old to care for

PRINCESS ZISKY: HERR ZUNKLEHORN lSI

riches and too tired of life to seek to prolong it.What I want to know, is something definiteabout the formation of the Future and itsquickening in the womb of Time.

II As nothing happens by chance, it standsto reason there must be a creative process thathas existed from the beginning of things and isin itself eternal.

II What the purpose of it is, I cannot solve,but that there is a purpose I have not theslightest doubt.

"History tells us of nations who out offeebleness have grown to strength, who havepassed through infancy, manhood, old age andleft behind them little but a memory and aname. It is true they have left lessons on thecopybooks of Time, but war and plague andfamine come on just the same and I doubt ifpresent races or coming ones ever profit by theexamples of the past.

II To-night you may be surprised to see thatin spite of what I have said I still employspells and incantations to aid me in obtainingthe results I wish to attain. I do this to getmore quickly the conditions necessary for myexperiments, in other words I prepare the stageand set the lights for the unseen actors to moreeasily play their roles."

U But this child whom you say is to be your


medium to-night, is she not frightened by 5Uchpreparations? " I asked.

<I No! No I " the old man replied quickly,<I she knows nothing of them, I put her into atrance, she sees nothing, knows nothing, until Icall her back to life.

<I The young girl who is coming here to-nightwas a few years ago dying of consumption.I healed her lungs and restored her back toyouth and strength. She worships me as herdoctor, her saviour, after each trance she feelsbetter. She is only too willing to come, youwill see that for yourself."

<I But out of your great store of knowledge,is there no other means that you could employ,"I questioned.

<I Not to get the same results," Zunklehomanswered quickly. 14 I have not got the powerto materialize the voice as some mediums do.I have to employ an instrument-a livinginstrument with lungs and voice chords for thespirits to use. . . . I must stop now, the girlis at the door."

A timid knock and the girl entered. PerhapsI should not have called her a girl for the figurethat came in looked little more than a child often, yet Zunklehom had informed me earlierin his conversation she had reached the age offourteen.


It would be difficult to describe her, she lookedthe most ethereal little creature I had everseen. She had beautiful features, a head likea Greek cameo poised over graceful shoulders,fair hair that clung like a crown of gold and apair of eyes like bits of a rain-washed sky atearly dawn.

Rushing over to Zunklehom she climbed upinto the old man's arms like a child would whohad been away from home for a long time.

It was a sight not easily forgotten, the oldmagician with his purple robe covered withsigns of the Zodiac with his wrinkled face yellowwith age pressed to the pale cheek of the littlevisitor.

.. Mein Herr Docktor," she said as she kissedhim, .. I am so glad to come. I thought youwere never going to send for me again. I havenot felt strong lately-you will make me feelbetter, won't you, Mein Herr? I want to growup like other big girls and go out into the worldand work and do great things:'

There was a tone of sadness in the old man'svoice as he said, .. Yes I little Fraulein musthave a good sleep to-night, she will then feelbetter, but she has not noticed I have a visitor;a friend from the great City of London."

Without the slightest sign of timidity thelittle Fraulein came over and taking both my


hands in hers, looked up wistfully into myeyes.

"Oh, kind gentleman," she said quaintly,"do tell me about London. I have picturesof it, books about it, I learned English so thatI might one day go there. Will you take mewith you when you go back ? "

"I am afraid, little Fraulein, your DoctorZunklehorn would never consent to that."

" Oh yes, he would. He would teach you howto put me to sleep-and perhaps he would cometoo-would you not, Mein Herr? "

"Perhaps later on it may be arranged, butin the meanwhile, little Fraulein, I want youto concentrate your mind on going to sleepnow." The old man took her gently by thehand and laid her on a couch.

I had often at seances watched mediumsgoing into a trance, but never before had I seenone who slipped so easily into a trance condition. Zunklehorn had only to make a fewpasses of his hands over her head when the fraillittle figure relaxed into a state of most absoluteunconsciousness.

Then, and not before, the old magician drewaside the black curtains that concealed theupper part of the large studio. I saw he hadmade his preparations in advance for some unusual mystic ceremony, several braziers burning

PRINCESS ZISKY: HERR ZUNKLERORN 155incense were already lighted. He traced a largecircle of chalk which encompassed the low stoolon which I was seated, turning out the lampsthat illuminated the room he took his place_inthe centre of the circle and in a sing-songmonotonous voice commenced an incantationin some language I could not understand, theonly words I could grasp were "Adonai,Adonai," which seemed to finish each sentence.

At first the darkness appeared to be oppressive, then a gleam of pale greenish light appearedin the far corner of the room close to the sleeping girl. It grew stronger and stronger until itdeveloped into a kind of pillar about the heightof a man.

In a few moments it assumed a near approachto a human figure with an immense head outof proportion to the outlined body. As it grewcloser and closer to the couch the body of thegirl became convulsed and as suddenly a torrentof broken sentences seemed to burst from hermouth. She was speaking rapidly in German,but the only words I could catch were" Lord"and "Master," and then a murmured" I amat your service."

Zunklehorn ceased his incantations. In adeep sonorous voice he cried, "Speak, 0.Mighty Soull Who art thou that comethfrom the silent Beyond ? "


Through the lips of the medium issued a deepauthoritative voice:

" I am Frederick, called the Great, King ofPrussia and Margrave of Brandenburg. Whycallest thou me ? "

I confess a strange thrilling sensation ranthrough my nerves as I now saw the etherealform shaping more strongly. It was easy torecognize the resemblance to the classic figureof Frederick the Great, well known to everyonewho has seen his portrait in the Berlin NationalGallery.

Then followed a long interrogation betweenZunklehorn and the apparition, the answersbeing delivered through the entranced medium,every word of which Zunklehorn wrote rapidlydown.

In effect it was a solemn warning that theKaiser and Germany were rushing headlong todisaster, that war was barely a year ahead,that it would come at the end of July, 1914,that the War-Lord would be overthrown in1918, would go into exile ~nd his dynasty fall inruins. His fatal period was foreshadowed tocommence in 1913, but the plunge towarddestruction would not come till 1914.

The voice ceased, the apparation slowly fadedaway. Zunklehorn lit the lamps, pulled backthe black curtains across the room as they had

PRINCESS ZISKY: HERR ZUNKLEHORN IS7been before, taking the young girl tenderly inhis arms he carried her into an adjoiningchamber and left her there still in a deep sleep.

It was one of the most impressive manifestations 1,had ever attended. As I walked outinto the night and was jostled by the crowdsin the street on my way to my hotel, I couldnot help but marvel at the thinness of the veilthat lies between the seen-and the unseen.

It is known to many that Zunklehom endeavoured to get a warning through to theKaiser, but being exiled from the Court hefailed in his purpose. Germany was at thezenith of her power, Germany would conquerthe world, was the cry on every side. Zunklehom, who died in Berlin in 1917, just lived longenough to see his beloved Fatherland slippingnearer and nearer to the ruin that had beenforetold him in that calm summer of 1913.

The little Fraulien never visited London; likeso many other young German girls, frail as shewas, she was drafted into Red Cross work andmet her death by the bursting of an enemyshell on a base hospital in Belgium.

CHAPTER XII

MADAME GUTJEN SUND, THE SWEDISH MEDIUM,

AND RASPUTIN

M ADAME GUTJEN SUND was for manyyears famous as a medium in St. Peters

burg. She had a large following in Courtcircles, and before the coming of Rasputin heldseances daily with the Czar and Czarina. Itwas rumoured that it was Madame Sund whohad been responsible for introducing Rasputinto the notice of the Czar. Another story isthat it was Anna Vyronbova, the favouriteMaid of Honour of the Czarina, who firstbrought II the Monk " to the Palace.

Madame Sund impressed me as being asimple kind-hearted woman who exercised agood influence on all those who came under hersway. She had undoubtedly remarkable powersin receiving messages from the so-called dead.In a trance condition she appeared to be just asimple instrument used by spirit after spirit tospeak through.

Although only conversant with German andRussian, and her own language, Swedish, I

158

MADAME GUTJEN Sl1ND AND RASPUTIN 159

often heard spirits sPeak through her in almostevery other known tongue. On one occasion ata seance she gave to my friend the Foreign.Minister, Monsieur Isvolsky, in his apartmentoverlooking the Winter Palace, a spirit speakingEnglish insisted on talking to me. It was thewell known .. john King," famous in allspiritualistic circles.

This spirit in his earth life was William deMorgan, whom the English made Governor ofBermuda in order to prevent his ships raidingBritish merchantmen in the West Indies, as hehad done Spanish treasure ships on their wayhome from Mexico and Peru.

From some reason I cannot explain .. johnKing" appeared to take a deep interest in me,I could never attend a seance at which he didnot make his presence manifest. He alwaysaddressed me as .. Cheiro, my boy.""

His deep voice at times became so loud thatone could hear every word he said far beyondthe seance room. On the occasion in questionin the Minister Isvolsky's apartment, he spokewith extraordinary clearness on the Russiansituation in the Russo-japanese War. He foresaw that the japanese would be victorious, andadvised that peace should be concluded asquickly as possible. He foretold the comingII in a few years of a still more disastrous war in

160 MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULnsTS

which the Romanoff dynasty would be completely destroyed."

At this prediction all laughed scornfullysuch a thing could not possibly happen, everyone said.

.. John King's" answer to this was, " Fate isalready weaving her design to bring this about.Ten years from now the fatal period will commence." Then turning to the medium, he saidin a very authoritative manner, .. I warn you,Madame, that your hour is nearly up. Youhave met the man who will bring this about."

No one at the seance had the slightest ideathat Madame Sund had met Rasputin only afew days before and had already brought himto the Palace of Peterhof.

One of Madame Sund's predictions was thatu the little Czarevitch would not live to reachthe throne."

Knowing how the minds of the Czar andCzarina had been influenced by her prediction,Rasputin, owing to his extraordinary hypnoticpower, prevailed on her to go to the Empressand say that she had been mistaken, that shehad been converted by a saintly Father whocould work miracles and whom she believedcould save the life of the Czarevitch.

The Czarina ordered her to bring Rasputin tothe Palace at once. He came arrogant and

:MADAME GUTJEN SUND AND RASPUTIN 161

impressive; striding into the presence, he criedin his deep sonorous voice, "Repent ye whowear the purple; repent ye who are clothed ingarments of gold and silver." _

The Empress was so impressed that she fellupon her knees and the Court entouragewitnessed the amazing sight of the Consort ofthe Emperor of all the Russias kneeling beforea wild-looking man in a monk's garb.

A few days later Rasputin's opportunitycame. The Czarevitch had fallen ill with afever that the Court physicians failed in theirefforts to abate.

The Empress sent for Rasputin. He camemore arrogant than ever. It was one of thedoctors in attendance who described the sceneto me. He said, "I was with the otherphysicians of the Court grouped around the bedof the heir to the throne who was gasping forbreath. Suddenly Rasputin strode in. He madeno sign that he saw the Czarina, but shoutedI Away unbelievers! Away! This is the workof faith I'

"The startled physicians drew back as theEmpress came forward. Kneeling before Rasputin, she cried, ' My Father-save my child! '

" I Tum out these dogs,' roared the Monk,sweeping his fiery glances round their outragedfaces.

162 MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCUL'nSTS

" At a sign from the Empress nearly all thedoctors left the room, even Imperial etiquettehardly restraining them from shrugging theirshoulders with disgust.

"Then, like Elisha who raised the widow'sson, Rasputin bent his huge form over the littleCzarevitch. He stretched himself in the position of a cross upon the Hope of ImperialRussia. The Empress, her hair falling abouther shoulders, knelt at the foot of the bed, hermother's tears falling like rain.

" Then, the miracle happened." The physicians had said that natural sleep

alone could save the child." Rasputin suddenly rose from the bed and

stood before the Empress. 'Behold thy son! 'he cried, his voice booming through the greatapartment.

"The little Czarevitch was sleeping peacefully, his hands relaxed upon the gorgeouscoverlet, the fiery flush of fever dying awayupon his cheeks.

" In a burst of gratitude the Czar presentedRasputin with a million roubles; the Czarinaloaded him with gifts, but even more his influence was fixed-nothing could shake it now.

" Once in power he threw off. Madame Sund.She died shortly after from some mysteriousillness.

MADAME GUTJEN SUN AND RASPUTIN 163

" Rasputin pronounced her epitaph, I She hadfinished-my work has commenced.' "

As I have gone very fully in my recentlypublished Memoirs· into details of Rasputin~

career and his own extraordinary death at thehands of Prince Youssoupoff, I will not proceedfurther with the life of a man who played suchan important role on the stage of Russianaffairs when the dynasty of the long line of theRomanoffs was rushing to its doom.

• Of ConfessioDs: Memoirs of a Modem Seer." Jarrolds, Ltd.,LondoD.

CHAPTER XIII

A STRANGE EXPERIENCE WITH EUSAPIA

PALLADINO OF ITALY

woman, who was considered the most1. famous physical medium of recent years,

was a Neapolitan peasant, who from earlychildhood had shown herself possessed of extraordinary mediumistic powers.

Her phenomena was investigated by manyof the most distinguished scientists of Italy,France, England and Germany, who came tothe conclusion that her demonstrations weregenuine manifestations from the spirit world ordue to the working of some, up to now, unknownforce.

In 1892, a group of scientists, including theProfessors Schiaparelli, Brofferio, Gerso and M.Aksakoff, together with Professors Richet andLombroso, held a series of investigations inMilan as to the manifestations of Palladinounder the severest conditions imaginable.

The phenomena consisted of materializationof spirit hands, levitation of heavy tables andpieces of furniture within a radius of three ·to

164

A STRANGE EXPERIENCE 165four feet and the fluctuation of the medium'sweight of some seventeen pounds attested bya balance erected in the seance room.

A few years later, and especially in 1908 and1909, her demonstrations were investigated gotCambridge, England, by Sir Oliver Lodge, Dr.Ochoroweiz, Professor Sidgwick, and in Paris byCamille Flammarion, Professor Morselli andMonsieur and Madame Curie, who all came tothe conclusion that they were in the presenceof some mysterious unknown force.

My own personal experience with Palladinowas somewhat unusual. When staying as aguest at the Villa La Florideana at Naples, theproperty of a rich American, Major AlexanderHenry Davis, one Sunday afternoon our hostasked his guests to decide cc what amusement heshould provide them ? "

As Palladino's name was in everyone's mindat that moment (1903-4) it was suggested thathe would have her brought to the villa.

Nothing loath, Major Davis sent a carriage tofetch her, and in less than an hour she arrived.

We were seated in a library at the foot of aflight of white marble steps, a large handsomeroom with many windows giving a superb viewover the famed Bay of Naples, when a footmanannounced Signora Eusapia Palladino.

All turned toward the entrance and saw a

166 :MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

small, timid looking woman standing on thetop of the marble steps.

Major Davis, speaking in Italian, bid herwelcome and then, I am sorry to say, in arather sneering way, said: I< Signora, we haveheard of your powers as t a furniture mover,'so I have sent for you to show my guests someof your tricks. I suppose you will desire thecurtains drawn and the place made as black aspossible."

Very timidly the little woman said, It No,Signor, I sometimes get results equally well inthe light as in the darkness, but I can promisenothing. I can only do the best I can to getyou results."

Major Davis lit an unusually long cigar andwithdrew to a position with his back againsta heavy oak chest between two windows at theend of the room.

Palladino slowly descended the steps and inrather a frightened way, I thought, looked atthe half a dozen spectators seated in variousparts of the room.

I could not help feeling sorry for her, nomatter what her powers of levitation might be,it seemed a rather cold-blooded ordeal for herto face that brilliantly lighted room with MajorDavis at the far end with his piercing eyeswatching every move she made, whilst the smoke

A STRANGE EXPERIENCE 167from his big cigar seemed to form itself into ahuge question mark above his head.

Major Davis was a very rich man who didnot care what he paid for his amusements. butthe sarcastic look in his eyes showed plainlythat this time he considered he had lost hismoney and that nothing could possibly happen.

Palladino came a little nearer the centre ofthe room. her mouth was slightly open, her lipsmoving rapidly. To my mind she was silentlypraying. and perhaps she was.

Suddenly her eyes seemed attracted to a verylarge marble table that stood right before her.She stretched her hands in its direction. herwhole appearance changed, instead of the timidlittle woman who had stood irresolute on thetop of the steps a moment before. she was nowdrawn up to her full height with every memberof her frail body at tension.

Then the extraordinary happened-in broaddaylight everyone in the room saw two longlines of whitish matter proceed from herstretched out hands and reach the table.

I had of course had some experience of whatis c~ed It ectoplasm " especially in connectionwith experiments made by Sir William Crookesin London. It had been accorded by the manyscientists who had witnessed demonstrationsgiven by Palladino that she in some way


possessed the power of producing " ectoplasm "to an extraordinary degree, but this was thefirst time I had ever seen the phenomena in fulldaylight.

But to resume, the moment the lines ofwhitish force touched the table it commencedto move. It was an unusually large weightytable, the entire top being formed of a solidpiece of Carrara marble. At first it movedslowly, then more quickly, and to the astonishment of all it appeared to be impelled by someirresistible force in the direction of where MajorDavis stood.

Palladino did not move from the positionshe had taken in the centre of the room, shestood still like a statue, her hands outstretchedin the direction of the table but with a vacantexpression in her eyes as if not interested inwhat was taking place.

The table was rapidly approaching MajorDavis. He was still puffing his enormous cigarwith an incredulous expression spreading overhis face.

The end of the table finally reached his waistline and began steadily pressing him backagainst the oak table at his back. Major Daviswas not a man to give in easily; it was onlywhen he found his will-power was unavailingthat at last he cried for help. Sir Fletcher

A STRANGE EXPERIENCE I6g

Moulton, the eminent barrister, and I went tohis assistance. We endeavoured to force thetable back, but our united efforts were useless.We rang for the men-servants, four of themstrong, hefty men; they bent themselves tothe task, but the pressure against the Majorkept on increasing. What might have happenedI do not know if I had not seized Palladino anddragged her frail form in between the end ofthe table and Major Davis. She appeared tobe in a state of trance and did not seem torealize what was taking place, but the momentshe put her hands against the table a reverseaction commenced, and it slowly moved backand kept moving until it reached the centreof the room from where it had started.

Major Davis did not wish any further demonstration of It furniture moving" after that oneexperience.

CHAPTER XIV

SOME MODERN OCCULTISTS:

MADAME BLAVATSKY, FOUNDER OF THE

THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

H ELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY wasborn at Ekalerinoslav on the 31st July

(O.S.), 1831. She was the daughter of ColonelPeter Hahn, a member of a Mecklenburg familywho had settled in Russia.

In her seventeenth year she married NicephoreBlavatsky, a man very much her senior, aRussian official of Caucasia, from whom sheseparated after a few months of married life.In her later years she described the marriageas a nominal one, whatever that may havemeant.

During the following twenty years shetravelled extensively in Canada, Mexico andIndia, making two attempts to enter Tibet.

She spoke vaguely of a seven years' sojournin tl Little and Great Tibet" and in a" Himalayan retreat." In 1858, when she wastwenty-seven years of age, she returned to

170

SOME MODERN OCCULTISTS 171

RUsst~ where she created a good deal of sensation as a spiritualistic medium.

In her thirty-ninth year she became prominentamol1§,' the spir~tuaJ:sts of the United States,where she resid~d j r six years, becoming anaturalized Am~lr

Five years la~"~75, she conceived theidea of combining tt ~iritualistic control " withBuddistic legends about Tibetan sages. Fromthat date she determined to exclude all controlexcept that of Tibetan adepts or It Mahatmas."

She stated that these tt Mahatmas" showedtheir astral bodies to her and It precipitated "messages which reached her in New York in aninstant of time and enabled her to bring aboutthe conversion of sceptics.

In New York on the 17th November, 1875.with the assistance of Colonel Henry Olcott,she founded the It Theosophical Society " withthe object of forming a universal Brotherhoodof Man to develop the divine powers latent inman.

From New York she retired to India for sometime, then proceeded to London, where shefounded the English branch of the TheosophicalSociety, and where she died on May 8th, 1891.

At her death she was the acknowledged headof a community of not less than 150,000 personsspread over all parts of the world.


Madame Blavatsky was one of the mostremarkable women of modem times.

When I first met her at the TheosophicalHeadquarters in Avenue Road, where she lived,I was having my first seaso '\ in London in 1889.

One afternoon, towarm the end of Marchr

in that year, I received a message sayingMadame Blavatsky would like me to call onher that evening at nine o'clock.

Without a moment's hesitation, I accepted.I considered myself highly honoured in beingasked to meet such a remarkable woman, of whosedoings the papers had been full for many years.

Punctually at the hour appointed, I arrived,and was immediately shown into a large salonby an elderly woman servant.

After a wait of perhaps ten minutes, heavyvelvet curtains at the end of the room weredrawn and disclosed the celebrated woman Ihad called to see, half reclining on a couch atthe farther end of the inner salon.

" Cheiro," she said, in a soft melodious voice," I am happy to receive you. I have heard ofyour success from many quarters, but as youare so young I fear your head will be turnedby so much adulation. Do you realize from whatsource you derive your powers of prediction? "

" No, Madame," I answered, Ie I fear I canonly give the credit to long years of study and

SOME MODERN OCCULTISTS 173my most earnest desire to help those who cometo consult me."

II Very well answered," she smiled, it but itdoes not cover the main issue. Do you notrealize that you are nothing more or less than an, incarnation ' forced back to this existence- toaccomplish a work that you did not completewhen you lived here before ? "

it I am completely ignorant of such things,Madame," I replied. .. I am a very humbleseeker after knowledge of any form and shallbe most happy for any enlightenment you willbe good enough to give me."

it Sit down here," she said, and motioned meto a low chair by the side of her couch.

Then commenced a strange conversation, toocomplicated to give word by word, but one Ihave never forgotten.

Briefly, it was that she had received a communication that I was a reincarnation of thefamous Cagliostro of the time of Louis XVI ;that my career would be in a general wayexactly similar to his; that I would influenceKings and Queens and the common people tobelieve in occultism as they would a religion,but that owing to the different age in which Ilived I would travel farther afield than Cagliostrodid and that the end of my life would be a verydifferent one from his.

174 MYS'I'ERlES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

If I am glad of that," I smiled, If for from whatI have read Cagliostro ended his days in adungeon in Rome, or some say, committedsuicide in his prison."

If Both suppositions are wrong, my friend,"she said, with almost a sneer at my ignorance.If Cagliostro escaped from his captors, thanksto an elixir he carried secretly on his person.He used it at an appointed moment to simulatea state of death. His supposed dead body wascarried from its cell and thrown into the Tiberby his guards of the San Leo Prison. He swamto the other side of the river and lived for a-great many years after."

" But, Madame," I questioned, " if the greatCagliostro escaped he surely would not havebeen contented to live a life of oblivion fromthen to the end of his days."

.. My friend," she replied, in a sad tone ofvoice, U you are too young to know what lovemeans-you do not realize that Lorenza, thewoman Cagliostro loved more than life itself,had died while he was in prison. It was for heralone he had lived-for her he had gainedrenown-for her he had won riches that shemight have jewels. With her gone, nothingremained for him but oblivion; he did notfinish his duty to mankind. It is for thatreason his spirit reincarnated in you."


14 But, Madame," I said, H I could not in mywildest dreams imagine for one moment thatI could follow in the footsteps of a man whoreckoned kings as his friends, amassed greatwealth, cured the sick and passed like somebrilliant meteor across Europe. No, MadaI!1e,such a dream is too great."

H Listen," she smiled, H I can also makepredictions. You are only half way throughyou/first season in London and yet you havealready made your name. You will also makefriends of kings; you will also become rich;you will also cure the sick. In my vision I seeyou later on bending over crucibles, not tofind the so-called • elixir of life' for yourselfas Cagliostro did, but to extract from herbsand plants life-saving and curative remedies.

H When this will come about I do not know,but that it will come I am absolutely certain."

She spoke with such conviction in every toneof her voice that I felt it would be useless tobring up arguments against her views. I couldonly sit still and listen.

Like someone inspired, she went on with herpredictions as to my future, but from fear ofbeing thought egotistical I must refrain fromquoting her words.

The part she had told me about Cagliostro

·116 :MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

made no influence on my mind; I simply couldnot believe it.

As I rose to go she said: I< Come againto-morrow and we will have a longer chat."

As I walked back to my rooms the samethoughts passed through my mind that I had aftermy first interview with the Right HonourableArthur James Balfour, and others. A feelingof deep gratitude towards the study that broughtme into contact with such remarkable people.

Up to then I had not read any of MadameBlavatsky's works such as I< Isis Unveiled,"the I< Secret Doctrine," etc. I had simplyheard of her through many of my clients andI marvelled at the kind interest she had showntowards me and looked forward with delight tomeeting her again the following evening.

Punctually at nine o'clock I presented myselfagain at the house in Avenue Road. Thefamous woman welcomed me very warmly.Seated in a large arm-chair, she motioned meto a low seat at her side.

Pushing aside a mass of papers on a smalltable beside her, to my astonishment she heldout both her hands. "Cheiro," she said, "Ihave heard so much of your accuracy in beingable to foreshadow the end of one's life thatI want you to tell me how much longer I mustwait for my release."


.. Madame," I stammered, " I would not dare.Besides you must know such things far betterthan I could tell you."

.. I want to have some of my own theoriesconfirmed," she answered. "Nothing you cansay will be of any shock to me. Perhaps it Willbe of help to me. Under such conditions willyou not make the effort ? "

I looked up-our eyes met. What wonderfuleyes she had. They were both gentle andcommanding at the same moment; they seemedto look through me to my very soul.

Picking up a pencil she pointed to where theLine of Health appeared to cut through theLine of Life. "That is the end," she said,.. but give me the exact year, or at least as nearas you can. My date of birth was the lateevening of July 31, 1831, at Ekalerinoslav,South Russia. In my seventeenth year Imarried in the beginning of 1849. What doesyour system of (Fadic Numbers' tell you fromthose figures ? "

« That the series of fours and eights holdthe secrets of your life, Madame," I replied... Let me explain."

Taking her pencil I jotted down 31st July.II Add the 3 and I, you will find the final digitof four. Add the year of your birth-I83I13 or again 4 for the last figure. The opposition


in the Zodiac to 31st July is the House ofSaturn, called the 'House of the 8.' Yourmarriage in your seventeenth year also produced an 8, a most unhappy indication. Theyear 1849, if added together, makes 22, withits final digit of 4.

" On your hand the Line of Fate runs fromthe wrist to the base of the second finger, calledthe Mount of Saturn. The Line of Health cutsthe Line of Life about your sixty-second year,but in your fifty-eighth year, governed by thenumber 4, you will have reached the fadicnumber of your birth sign, but your indomitablewill power may carry you a little beyond thatage, esPecially as at your date of birth yourSun, the Giver of Life, was then entering theHouse of Mercury negative."

Looking me straight in the eyes, she said,"Thank you, Cheiro, you have told me exactlywhat I want to know. For your own satisfaction I may tell you that since I passed intomy fifty-eighth year last July, my strength hasbeen rapidly failing. My heart has caused meconsiderable anxiety. Your warning will dome good, for I will now put my papers in orderand prepare in earnest for the short time thatlies before me."

Branching away from the subject we haddiscussed, just as if she had turned over the


pages of a book, she entered into a short clearexposition of the doctrine of Theosophy, andexplained many of the tenets of Hindu philosophy" I had come in contact with while I wasin India."

Then, rather abruptly, she turned and said,"My friend, I would like you to become amember of the Theosophical Society. Thereis no time to be lost. Will you join now? "

I was completely at a loss for a few momentsfor an answer. I knew well and deeply appreciated that this wonderful woman wanted to dome good, and yet I was not able to accept herkind proposition.

" Madame," I answered, "it may appearstrange, but I made a resolve many years agothat I would keep independent of all sects,religions or communities, no matter how helpfulthey might be. I deeply appreciate your offer,but I cannot join any society whatever. I feelthat in the interest of my particular line ofwork I must remain a ' lone wolf' to the end."

Madame Blavatsky remained silent for a fewmoments, then very quietly said, "Perhapsyou are right. Perhaps by remaining independent, you may escape the petty jealousiesthat underlie all societies and organizations.A ' lone wolf' may have its compensation, afterall."


I never met this remarkable woman again.The following year I went to America and whilethere read in the papers of her death two yearslater.

Before she passed away she did me one morekindness. She sent me a card of introductionto Mrs. Annie Besant, who was destined someyears later to take her place as head of theTheosophical Society.

CHAPTER XV

MRS. ANN~E BESANT, WILLIAM Q. JUDGE,

MRS. KATHERINE TINGLEY AND KRISHNAMURTI

THERE is perhaps no woman in the annalsof modern occultism, outside of Madame

Blavatsky, more well known than Annie Besant,who from her election in 1907 was for twentysix years the acknowledged head of the Theosophical Society of Great Britain and India,until her death in September, 1933.

I met Mrs. Besant by an introduction fromMadame Blavatsky and took impressions of hercuriously interesting hands on 22nd July, 1894,which I published in my well-known work" Cheiro's Language of the Hand." the followingyear.

The commencement of this remarkablewoman's life was not one that would have ledmost people to imagine that she was destinedby Fate to become a leader of an occult community that under her guidance would exercisean enormous influence in all parts of the world.At the commencement of her presidency in1907 there were only eleven sections, or national

181


societies, representing Theosophy. By the timeof her death, in 1933, she had added no lessthan thirty-six branches to the original society.

Annie Besant was born in London on themorning of October 1st, 1847, in the ZodiacalSign of Libra, the Balance, negative House ofSaturn and Venus, with an opposition of Marsin Aries from the other side of the Zodiac. Herfather, Mr. Wm. Pagewood, although Englishby birth, had a good deal of Irish blood in hisveins. Mrs. Besant's mother was Irish and shealways referred to her Irish descent with a greatdeal of pride.

In her twentieth year in 1867, she marriedthe Reverend Frank Besant, who later becamethe vicar of a country parish in the North ofEngland. Six years later in 1873, she obtaineda separation by order of the Courts, but themarriage continued in name until the death ofher husband in 1917. This marriage ended indiscord owing to her challenging tenets of theChurch of England and becoming a H freethinker." One of the most sensational episodesof her early life was her association with thefamous Charles Bradlaugh, a H free thinker,"whom she met for the first time in 1874, whichassociation resulted in the sensational prosecution before the Law Courts two years laterwhen both were convicted and sentenced to a


heavy fine and imprisonment for the publicationof a pamphlet advocating the Ie MalthusDoctrine" of birth control.

This severe sentence was ultimately set asideon a technical point, after one of the mostbrilliant pleadings of justification by Bradlaughand Annie Besant that was ever heard in aCourt of Law.

Mrs. Besant's alliance with the famous" freethinker," Charles Bradlaugh, lasted for thefollowing ten years and was only terminatedwhen, to the astonishment of thousands, shebecame a member of the Theosophica.l Societyand a pupil of Madame Blavatsky.

From this on, she employed her gift ofeloquence as a public speaker and her manyother talents in the interests of furthering thetenets of her new religion. After the death ofher teacher, Madame Blavatsky, ~he wasunanimously elected President of the Theosophical Society in 1907.

Mrs. Besant travelled extensively, doing considerable lecture work in the United States,Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India.

The unfortunate conditions of India attractedher sympathies, so much so that in 1893 shepractically made her home in Adyar, Madras,where she passed away on 20th September,1933, within a few days of her eighty-sixth year.


She went through a curious experience shortlybefore her death, being for some days in anunconscious condition from which she was attimes aroused by the power of a Theosophicalcircle of friends who sat in a circle around her,transmitting their life forces to her until shedied.

Mrs. Besant's interest in India and the Hindurace in general became so great, that shefounded the Central Hindu College at Benares,established the Indian Home Rule League, andbecame its leader in 1916. In 1917 she wasmade president of the Indian National Congress.

In her latter years, her influence over thenative population became so powerful that hadshe been twenty years younger she would haveproved a serious menace to the EnglishAdministration of India.

Mrs. Besant was a reformer and a " fighter"in every sense of the term. She did not knowwhat fear meant. She courted opposition andin many ways encouraged it.

. She was attacked by calumny and scandal asfew other women have been, but such thingsnever seemed to effect her or cause her todeviate one iota from her purpose.

At times she encountered great oppositioneven among her co-Theosophists. At about theperiod of her coming into prominence, the split

SOME .MODERN OCCULTISTS 185

between the American and English Societiesbegan. After the death of Madame Blavatsky,William Q. Judge, an important lawyer in NewYork, claimed the leadership and attempted toback up his claim by the production of a document which bore the imprint of a mystic "$eaIof one of the Master Mahatmas in India. Theoriginal of this seal was supposed to be kept in asteel safe at the head-quarters of the Society inLondon, and the document was denounced asa forgery.

William Q. Judge in New York met theattack on his reputation by the statement thatthe seal on his document, although exactlysimilar to the one in London, had been placed onit by means of mystical transference from India.

The truth of the matter, as far as I know wasnever cleared up, but Mr. Judge became leaderof the Society in New York.

At about the time of this dispute, I wasliving in New York, when, one afternoonWilliam Q. Judge, accompanied by a remarkablyhandsome woman appeared in my waiting roomand requested an interview.

As no names of my consultants were everasked or given, I had no means of knowing thatthe man who entered was even then the dulyappointed head of the Theosophical Society ofAmerica.


I was, however, much struck by his magneticdominant personality and pleased him bystating that at that period of his life he hadreached the climax of whatever his ambitionwas; but I added whatever the honour mightbe it would be of short duration, as " you havealready reached the last chapter of your life."

The effect of my words on the heavily builtman before me was decidedly startling. Hefell back in his chair in a dead swoon.

Helped by my secretary and the lady whoaccompanied him, after five or ten minutes wegot him back to himself, and then to my amazement, instead of leaving at once he insisted onmy examining the lady's hands.

If She is a year younger than I am," he said.If What do you see for her future? "

If The year we are in (1896) will be one of themost important in her life," I answered. If Ifit should be "that this lady is in any way associated with whatever your work is, she will takeyour place and carry on that work to evengreater success than you could do. She willalso live to a very great age."

I was so much struck by the woman's strongpersonality that I asked if I might make someimpressions of her hands. She willingly assented and signed the copies If Katherine A.Tingley, 30th May, 1896."

SOME MODERN OCCULTISTS 187It was then the man said, " It may interest

you, I Cheir~' to know that I am WilliamQ. Judge and that you have predicted for thislady that she is destined to follow me as the headof the Theosophical Society of New York.I congratulate our Society on your choice, buthope that your prediction regarding me may bewrong."

A few months later William Q. Judge diedsuddenly from a heart attack, and in the sameyear Katherine A. Tingley succeeded him asPresident of the Society.

Mrs. Tingley became a great power in Theosophical circles. In 1900 she established acolony on a large estate she bought at PointLorna, California, where she built the RajaYoga College and Theosophical Universitytogether with an open-air Greek Theatre, whichis one of the most beautiful in the United States.

The last time I saw Mrs. Tingley was whenshe came to lecture in London in the winter of1927-28. She was then in her seventy-fifthyear and apparently in excellent health. Shedied two years later in Sweden, from the effectsof an automobile accident.

We will now return to where I left off in mystory of Mrs. Annie Besant.

Mrs. Besant's last visit to America took placein 1926. At the fiftieth anniversary of the


founding of the Theosophical Society she statedat Madras, India, that it had been revealed toher that another reincarnation of the Christ wasabout to be made manifest, and that reincarnation, she believed, would be her protegeKrishnamurti.

On their arrival together in New York thefollowing year, newspaper reporters asked Krishnamurti, "Do you believe that you are thesecond Christ ? "

He replied, " No, but I believe that I am thenew vehicle for the world teacher."

Five years later Krishnamurti broke awayfrom Mrs. Besant and began teaching on hisown. There are some who assert that this wasa blow from which she never quite recovered.I cannot agree with this idea, for to my ownpersonal knowledge they remained the best offriends to the end.

I had the good fortune to meet Mrs. Besanton the many occasions on which she revisitedLondon. On one of these visits we spoke on thesame platform at the Psychic Club in RegentStreet. • Like Madame Blavatsky she alwaysurged me to become a member of the Theosophical Society, but rightly or wrongly, Ialways stuck to my idea of the II lone wolf."

At Mrs. Besant's death the Society of whichshe was the head, received a severe blow. Who


will be her successor is a question that onlyFate can answer.

Krishnamurti I do not think has any desireto take on such a responsibility. I have hadthe pleasure of meeting him in California andtaking impressions of his hands for mycollection.

He is a remarkable personality, endowed withan intelligence beyond ordinary mortals and yetso simple and gentle a nature that one wondersat the enormous influence he exercises over thethrongs that drive long distances to hear himevery Sunday.

He has pitched his camp, for the present atleast, in a beautiful place called Ojai, abouttwenty miles north of Los Angeles. Here, amidthe solitude of the Californian Hills where perpetual summer covers them with flowers all theyear round, this young Hindu teacher preacheshis philosophy to the hundreds of tired men andwomen who come out from the surroundingcities to hear him.

By nature, young Jeddu Krishnamurti is soindependent in spirit that he will not permithimself to be shackled by creeds, dogmas orsocieties. He is a law unto himself-a strangebeing preaching the Gospel of Love to all, " avoice in the wilderness," perhaps, but one whoseechoes may spread very far and very wide. .

CHAPTER XVI

SIR OLIVER LODGE AND CAMILLE FLAMMARIONA

SIR OLIVER LODGE was born at Penkhull,Staffordshire, England, on 12th June,

1851. In his twenty-first year he enteredUniversity College, London, graduating asDoctor of Science five years later.

From that out he rapidly gained recognitionas one of the great scientific men of the day.

It is not as generally known as it should be,that Sir Oliver Lodge was the inventor of the" coherer II which later made wireless telegraphypossible.

He was elected President of the Society forPsychical Research in Ig01, which position heheld for three years.

In Ig02 he was knighted by King Edward VII.For nineteen years he held the position ofPrincipal of the Birmingham University untilhis resignation in Ig1g. He was the author ofnumerous works on electricity and scientificsubjects, but his publications immediately afterthe Great War were more devoted to psychicalresearch than to anything else.

Ipl)

SOME MODERN OCCULTISTS

The book that brought him the greatestamount of publicity, and also criticism, was" Raymond," published in 1916, on account ofits revealing spirit communications between SirOliver and his son Raymond, killed in the earlyyears of the War. -

I had the honour of meeting this remarkablygreat man in the spring of 1913. At that timehe was only interested in a general way inpsychic matters, brought under his noticeduring his tenn as President of the Society forPsychical Research. He was, however, deeplyinterested in my study of hands, and many longtalks we had at different times on the subject.

Then came the Great War with its terribletoll of death to so many families. Sir Oliver'swas not spared, and the son he loved intensely,Raymond, was killed during 1915.

The effect of Raymond's death was remarkable. This great scientist whose brain for longyears had been trained to only accept the mostsolid evidence of material facts, found himselfsuddenly brought face to face with manifestations, apparently from the spirit world,that at first appeared incompatible with hisscientific beliefs.

I shall never forget how he explained to me,how simply and quietly these manifestationscommenced; how one evening sitting with his

MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

wife, Lady Lodge, in the library of his homejust outside of Birmingham, some very faintraps commenced on a piece of furniture at theother end of the room.

By the simple means of calling out the lettersof the alphabet, a name was spelt out-it wasthat of Raymond.

From that evening out a long series of communications commenced, which Sir Oliver, withhis scientific training, jotted down in orderlyfashion. Clear cut information from time totime was given as to the circumstances ofRaymond's death and matters regarding hisprivate affairs, all of which Sir Oliver took painsto verify.

Then one evening came the most importantmessage of all. It was the name and addressof a medium in London through which Raymondsaid he could more easily communicate.

Sir Oliver obeyed the wish of his dead son,and for months had regular appointments withthe medium, Mrs. Leonard, the result being thepublication of the book" Raymond" in 1916.

The issue of this book made a world-widesensation. It was quoted and commented on,in perhaps every language. Coming as it didfrom the pen of England's most justly celebrated scientific man, it appeared as a bombshellto scientists and sceptics alike.


Sir Oliver's action in publishing such a bookwas fiercely criticized. Many writers in thepress who knew nothing about such a subject,but who believed themselves called on to advisetheir befuddled readers, were loudest in theirhostility. Some went so far as to claim thatthe death of his son had turned the great man'sbrain; some even demanded that such a bookbe suppressed, but Sir Oliver .. stood by hisguns" and did not retract one word. Hefollowed this publication by others; .. Evolutionand Creation" (1927), .. Science and HumanProgress" (1928), and .. Beyond Physics"

Sir Oliver had many other interests outsideof his psychic investigations, one of which washis belief in harnessing the power of the atom.

I shall never forget a memorable afternoonI passed with him in the gardens of his home atEdgbaston, on the outskirts of Birmingham. Wehad just returned from a visit to his privatelaboratory at the University, when in tellingme of some of his recent experiments, he madethe positive statement; .. My friend, beforemany years will pass the 'atom' by someinvestigator will be exploded by a high voltageof electricity and its enormous power releasedfor the benefit of mankind."

This prediction in the last few years has beenN


fulfilled by a demonstration made by ProfessorMiliken of the California Technical University.

Sir Oliver is to-day in his eighty-third year,but his faculties are as full of energy and activityas ever.

CAMILLE FLAMMARION

THE CELEBRATED FRENCH ASTRONOMER

Camille Flammarion, the famous Frenchastronomer's name, is too world renowned torequire any introduction from me.

This remarkable man, the author of numerousscientific works on the heavens, was born inHaute-Marne, France, in 1842. He reachedthe good age of eighty-three, passing to hi:; longrest in 1925.

One of his first books published in 1862,when he was only in his twentieth year, causeda .considerable sensation. It was called "LaPluralite des Mondes Habites " (The Number ofInhabited Worlds) and in a few years reachedits thirty-fourth edition.

The list of books to his credit would be toolong to give in these pages, but in his advancingyears it is noticeable that all of them aretinged with mysticism, of which he was asincere and devoted disciple.

In 1904 there came from his pen II The

SOME MODERN OCCULTISTS 195Unknown and Psychic Problems"; in 1907,

" Mysterious Psychic Forces," and in 1920, 1921

and 1922, his most startling book" Death andits Mystery," and" At the Moment of Death,"running into three parts. Later still he pyblished, in 1923, " Dreams of an astronomer," andhis last book, the year before he died, H HauntedHouses," in 1924.

While I was living in Paris in 1900, I wasintroduced by myoId friend, the MarquisD'Oyley, to the famous astronomer, and a fewdays later I received an invitation to go anddine with him and Madame Flammarionen jamille in their apartment close to the celebrated Observatory in Juvisy close to Paris.

After dinner both my host and hostess wereanxious for me to examine their hands, and itwas long past midnight before I left.

As a souvenir of that evening, the famousastronomer gave me a copy of one of his bookscalled "Uranie," which had just been published, on the front page of which he wrote"Au Savant Cheiromancien • Cheiro' sympathique homage, Flammarion."

A few weeks later he invited me to pass anevening with him in the Observatory at Juvisyand see through, what was then, one of the mostpowerful telescopes, some of those planets andouter worlds we had talked over at the dinner.


It was a memorable evening for me; for hoursI had one of the greatest astronomers of theworld at my side explaining to me the mysteriesof the heavens as he alone was able to do.

Finally from the wonders of Nature, our conversation turned to the question of " Life afterDeath," and my host listened with rapt attention to some of my experiences in spirit manifestations and experiments I had witnessed atthe house of Sir William Crookes in London.

He paid me the compliment of saying thatI had focused his attention on a subject ofuniversal interest to all classes which wouldinfluence him when he came to write his nextbook. His next work was "Unknown andPsychic Problems," followed by "MysteriousPsychic Forces." As these volumes deal withmany of the subjects we discussed at varioustimes together, I have the hope that I waseven in a small way instrumental in influencinghis views.

CHAPTER XVII

HINDU MYSTICS: THE FAKIR WHO WAS BURIEDALIVE AND A TIGER KILLED BY HYPNOTISM

THERE was published in histories of Indiafor the nineteenth century, an account

of a "wonder worker" called Sadhu Haridaswho allowed himself to be buried undergroundin the earth for a period of forty days in theyear 1837, in order to demonstrate his domination over the life forces of his body.

This extraordinary demonstration took placeat the Palace of the Maharajah Ranjeet Singhat Lahore.

The account runs as follows: "The mystic,Sadhu Haridas, was buried in the ground inthe presence of the Maharajah, his entire courtand before a number of English and Frenchdoctors, who were invited for the occasion.The mystic placed himself in a sitting positionand was covered over and sewn up in cerecloth,rather like the way Egyptian mummies wereprepared for burial.

II After this, the body was placed inside of alarge wooden case which was strongly riveted

197


down, the Maharajah's own private seal beingplaced on the lid. The case was next loweredinto a brick vault previously built for thepurpose, and filled over with earth, as is themanner of a regular grave.

I< Corn was sown on the earth which later grewand sprang up during the period of the mystic'sinterment.

A battalion of troops was placed in charge,four sentries mounting guard over the graveday and night.

" At the end of the forty days, the grave wasopened and the Sadhu disinterred in the presenceof the Maharajah, his court and the English andFrench doctors who had been previously presentat his interment."

An Englishman who attended on bothoccasions, took notes of the extraordinarydemonstration, which were published in amagazine called The Word in May, I9II.

He says, " On the approach of the appointedtime for the disinterment, and according toinvitation, I accompanied the Maharajah Ranjeet Singh to the spot where the Fakir had beenburied. It was in a square building called a• barra-durra' in the middle of one of thegardens adjoining the Palace at Lahore, withan open veranda all around having an enclosedspace in the centre.

HINDU MYSTICS I99If On aniving there, Ranjeet Singh, who was

attended by the whole of his court, dismountingfrom his elephant, asked me to join him inexamining the place to satisfy himself that itwas closed as he had left it. We did so. Therehad been a door on each of the four sides of theenclosed space, three of which were perfectlyclosed with brick and mortar. The fourth hada strong door, which had also been closed upand sealed with the private seal of the Maharajahin his own presence when the Fakir was interred.The exterior of the tomb presented no apertureby which air could be admitted nor any communication held, or by which food could beconveyed to the Fakir. The walls also roundthe enclosed space bore no mark whatever ofhaving been recently disturbed.

" Ranjeet Singh recognized the seal as the onewhich he had affixed, and as he was as sceptical,as any European could be, of the success ofsuch an experiment, to guard as far as possibleagainst any collusion, he had placed two companies of his own escort to guard the place.from which four sentries were furnished andrelieved every two hours. night and day.

" At the same time, he ordered one of theprincipal officers of his court to visit the placeoccasionally and to report the result of hisinspection to him. while he himself kept the


seal which closed the padlock, and received areport, morning and evening, from the officeron guard.

" After our examination, we seated ourselvesopposite the entrance, while some of RanjeetSingh's people dug away the walls, and one ofhis officers broke the seal and opened thepadlock.

" When the door was thrown open, nothingbut a dark vault was to be seen. RanjeetSingh and myself entered it, in company withthe servant of the Fakir; and, a light beingbrought, we descended about three feet belowthe floor of the vault into a sort of cell, where awooden box, about four feet long by three feetbroad, containing the Fakir, was placed upright,the door of which had also a padlock and sealsimilar to that on the outside wall.

II On opening it, we saw a figure enclosed in abag of white linen, fastened by a string over thehead, on the exposure of which a grand salutewas fired and the surrounding multitude camecrowding to see the spectacle.

" After they had gratified their curiosity, theFakir's servant, putting his arms into the box,took the figure out, and closing the door, placedit with its back against it, exactly as the Fakirhad been squatted (like a Hindu idol) in the boxitself.

HINDU MYSTICS 201

"Ranjeet Singh and myself then descendedinto the cell, which was so small that we wereonly able to sit on the ground in front of thebody, and so close to it as to touch it with ourhands and lmees.

II The servant then began pouring warm waterover the figure; but as my object was to seeif any fraudulent practices could be detected,I proposed to the Maharajah to tear open thebag and have a perfect view of the body beforeany means of resuscitation were employed. Iaccordingly did so, and may here remark, thatthe bag, when first seen by us, looked mildewed,as if it had been buried some time. The legsand arms of the body were shrivelled and stiff,the face full, the head reclining on the shoulder,like that of a corpse. I then called to themedical gentleman who was attending me, tocome down and inspect the body, which he did,but could discover no pulsation of the heart,the temples or the arm. There was, however,a heat about the region of the brain, which noother part of the body exhibited.

" The servant then commenced bathing thefigure in hot water, and gradually, relaxing hisarms and legs from the rigid state in which theywere contracted, Ranjeet Singh taking his rightand I his left leg, to aid by friction in restoringthem to proper action; during which time the


servant placed a hot wheaten cake, about aninch thick, on the top of the head, a processwhich he twice or thrice renewed. He thenpulled out of his (the Mystic's) nostrils and ears,the wax and cotton with which they werestopped, and after great exertion opened hismouth by inserting the point of a knife betweenthe teeth, and while holding the jaws open withhis left hand, drew the tongue forward with hisright, in the course of which the tongue flewback several times to its curved position upward,in which it had originally been, so as to closethe gullet.

" The servant next rubbed the eyelids withghee (or clarified butter) for some seconds,until he succeeded in opening them, when theeyes appeared quite motionless and glazed.After the hot cakes had been applied for thethird time to the top of the head, the body wasviolently convulsed, the nostrils became inflated,respiration ensued and the limbs began to assumea natural fulness; but the pulsation was stillbut faintly perceptible. The servant then putsome of the 'ghee' on his tongue and madehim swallow it. A few minutes afterwards theeyeballs became dilated, and recovered theirnatural colour.

"When the Fakir, recognizing Ranjeet Singhsitting close to him, articulated, in a low

HINDU MYSTICS 203sepulchral tone, scarcely audible, "Do youbelieve me now?' The Maharajah replied inthe affirmative, and invested the Fakir with apearl necklace, a superb pair of gold bracelets,and pieces of silk and muslin forming what istermed a • Khelat,' such as is usually conferredby the Princes of India on persons of distinction.

" From the time of the box being opened tothe recovery of the voice, not more than half anhour could have elapsed; and in another halfhour, the Fakir talked with myself and thoseabout him freely, though feebly, like a sickperson. Then we left him, convinced that therehad been no fraud or collusion in the exhibitionwe had witnessed.

" I share entirely in the apparent incredulityof the fact of a man's being buried alive andsurviving the trial for various periods of duration, but, however incompatible with ourknowledge of physiology, in the absence of anyvisible proof to the contrary, I was bound todeclare my belief in the facts which I havepresented, however impossible their existencemay appear to others."

This published account encourages me to relatea very .similar demonstration which I witnessedmyself during my stay in India.

At the place I was stopping, about eightymiles north of Bombay, it was the custom every

204 MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULnsTS

few months for passing Fakirs and Yogis torest for a few days, and on some occasions giveexhibitions of their power. .

One morning a Yogi, a very old man, regardedwith almost sacred reverence by the natives.came on a self-appointed mission from somefar off part of North India.

In return for kindness shown him, he proposedto give an exhibition of his power to suspendthe life of the body, only in his case he fixedthe length of time of his burial by the periodmeasured from the new moon to the rise of thenext, or twenty-nine days and twelve hours.

In nearly every other way the proceedingstook place as told in the Englishman's publishedaccount, except that the experiment I am aboutto relate happened in the open country on theside of one of the Western Ghats.

For twenty-four hours previous to the" burial" the Yogi took no food of any kindwhatever, but appeared to be absorbed in deepmeditation. He gave instruction for smallpieces of cotton to be placed in his nostril~,

his ears, on his eyes and across his lips. Thebody was not bound up in any way, but wasnaked with only a loin cloth over the hips.

When all was ready a grave, which I measuredas four feet deep, was dug in the earth, and thebody of the man, apparently in a state of coma

HINDU MYSTICS

or trance condition, was carefully lowered andplaced lengthwise in the grave.

His last words were instructions to a Brahminpriest, who had taken charge of the operation,to see that the burial place would be opened-ona night when the first rays of the next new moonappeared shining on the ridge of a mountainon the other side of the valley.

It was a weird sight, that burial near midnight under a sky brilliant with stars, with thecrescent of the new moon just appearing overthe hills on the opposite side of the mountain.

It affected me deeply, for I must confess Ihonestly did not believe the old man would comeback to life again, so much so that I could notresist the feeling to gather some wild flowersand throw them in as the first shovelful of earthwas dropped on the body.

In my hearts of hearts I had come to theconclusion that the old man was simply committing suicide and had chosen a sentimentalway of carrying it out.

When the grave was closed in, some partiesof men took it on themselves to keep guardover it night and day. To satisfy myself thatit would not be disturbed, I planted some rootsof Bowers down the centre; just hardy wildBowers that were growing in profusion on theopen hill-side.


Long before the end of the twenty-nine daysthe grave had become covered with vegetation.

Finally the night arrived when, from calculations made by the Brahmin priest, the newmoon would shine over the ridge of hills andthe moment would have arrived for the opening of the tomb.

All was in readiness. Just as the crescentappeared for the first time, several willinghelpers rapidly opened the grave and gentlylifted the body out and laid it on the side insuch a way that the light of the steadily increasing new moon would fall on the face of the oldman.

With the help of the Brahmin I picked thepieces of cotton out of the nostrils, ears and eyesand moistened the lips with cold water fromtime to time.

For quite a long period there was no sign whatever of life, yet the limbs had not in any waystiffened and there was no evidence of putrefaction having set in.

The Brahmin and a helper commenced slowlymoving the arms up and down and massagingthe spine between the shoulders and the baseof the head.

Suddenly the lids of the eyes opened, thenthe teeth were unclenched and a slight tremorpassed through the body from the feet upwards

HINDU MYSTICS 207to the head. Equally suddenly I detected amovement in the heart and a faint pulse throb atthe wrists. Another tremor passed through thebody, much stronger than the first, then anotherand another, followed by a violent convulsion;the eyes became filled with light; the lips madean effort to speak and in a few moments, asif coming out of a trance, the old mystic satup and looked round.

To me it was a most impressive spectacle,one that words cannot possibly describe. Theearly dawn was breaking over the hills as theold man came back to life.

On many other occasions, while I was inIndia, I was permitted to witness examples ofthe occult powers possessed by what should berightly called It the Mystics of India."

The word fakir, as applied by Westerners,does not give a fair or just description of theseIt wonder workers," in that almost unknownland to foreigners.

The It Encyclopredia Britannica," in itsthirteenth edition, gives the definition of theword Fakir as a derivation from the ArabicIt faqir," meaning It poor," and goes on bystating that it has come to be especially appliedto the Hindu devotees and ascetics of India.It describes two classes of Indian Fakirs, thereligious orders and the nomads who infest the

208 MYSnnuES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

country. It proceeds to say, "The asceticorders resemble the Franciscans of Christianity.The bulk lead really excellent lives inMonasteries, which are centres of education andpoor relief, while others go out to visit thepoor as " Gurus " or teachers.

"These orders are of a very ancient date,owing their establishment to the ancient Hindurule, followed by the Buddhists, that each• twice born ' man should lead the life of anascetic."

I t was this latter class I had the privilege ofmeeting during my sojourn in India, althoughI also met at times the "nomads" who alsoperformed marvellous feats of "mind overmatter " in their exhibitions of indifference topain in passing through fire, sleeping on bedsof sharp nails, holding their arms above theirheads until the muscles atrophied, starvingthemselves almost to death, and such like testsof will power.

These" nomad-Fakirs" are a much malignedclass by foreigners, who employ the word todenote "fakes" of every description. Of thereligious orders I came into contact with Icannot speak too highly; their members leadstrictly moral lives, a brilliant example to priestsof all countries.

Many of these mystics wander through the

HINDU MYSTICS 209

land as missionaries, receiving no payment foranything they do, healing the sick by theirknowledge of herbs, nursing the poor and showing an example of high spiritual lives that cannotbe equalled. _

On account of my sympathy with the Hindusas a race, and my deep appreciation of manypoints of the Brahman religion, I was privilegedto witness some of their ceremonies, as a ruleprohibited to foreigners.

On one occasion I was allowed to remain in anunderground temple to see an unusual occultexperiment being carried out.

To put it briefly, without wasting time indescription, a number of high-caste Brahmanswere gathered at midnight in one of thoseancient cave temples that are found in so manyparts of India.

The ceremony took place at the foot of ahuge carved image of Siva the Destroyer, whoin another of his attributes is also called " theGiver of Life."

Twelve men formed a circle, lying at fulllength on the floor of the temple. The onlylight illuminating the place came from a shaftpierced in the dome of solid rock immediatelyover the head of the god. This shaft permittedthe light of the skies both day and night to fallon the polished marble image and from it to be

o


defused by reflection to all sides of the temple.Even at seasons when there is no moon inthe heavens, the brilliancy of the stars in Indiais so great that a considerable amount of lightmay thus be reckoned on.

On the night in question a full moon directlyoverhead rendered the darkest corners of theimmense temple clearly discernible.

At the commencement of the ceremony theoutstretched hands of the twelve men werelightly joined by the finger tips touching oneanother. A curious chant in a low-pitched keyswung round the circle, alternating from onebody to the other. To describe this more clearly,I would say every second man gave vent to anote which on reaching the point where it hadbegan was taken up and repeated by anotheralternate man, and so on, but changing eachtime into a higher key. At the end of everyseventh round the note was sounded by alltogether in one harmonious unison followed bya moment of the most intense silence.

After this had proceeded for some time thetwelve men appeared listening, as it were, forsome answer.

Outside, in the brilliant moonlight, I couldsee the wide shelf of rock at the entrance tothe temple, brilliant with light. Fartheraway on the hill-side stretched a dark forest

HINDU MYSTICS 2II

of trees that seemed to cover the entiremountain.

Can it be, I thought, that an answer isexpected to come out of that impenetrablejungle? but that was exactly what happened.

At the end of one of those chants that swunground in a circle, and in the middle of one ofthose pauses of silence, came the cry of a tiger,

Again the chant swung round; again thepause, and again the cry of the tiger.

Time after time the same thing was repeated,but each time the tiger seemed to have beendrawn nearer and still nearer.

Suddenly, without warning, on the wideledge of rock at the entrance, the form of atiger appeared.

He was a magnificent specimen, the largestI had ever seen. He stood out on the shelfin the brilliant moonlight without movingexcept for the angry lash of his tail from sideto side.

Again the chant broke out louder than ever,again the pause, a low growl and the animalmoved a few paces nearer.

Is it possible, I thought, that the intentionis to draw that mountain tiger, the fiercest ofits kind, into the temple? I was petrified withfear and crept back under the huge image forprotection.


The head of the tiger was now inside theentrance. In the semi-darkness its eyes glaredlike balls of fire.

Again the chant, again the silence, and theanimal drew a few steps nearer.

In a short time his approach grew slower andslower; he seemed to be dragged forward by someirresistible force over which he had no control.

For the first time I now noticed that thenaked body of a Hindu boy lay on the stonefloor within the wide circle of human forms.He appeared dead or in a state of trance, Icould not tell which. He was very slight andyoung, about five years of age, I judged.

Again I wondered what could the meaningof it all be.

To cut matters short, after each repetitionof the chant, the tiger seemed drawn nearer thecircle, but now his forward movements couldalmost be measured by inches.

Another change had taken place, the ballsof fire which had been his eyes were no longerglowing with anger. From time to time theyappeared to close, while his large head slunkdownward as if he wanted to sleep.

Foot by foot the irresistible force dragged himcloser to his human enemies. He was soonbetween the feet of the nearest man, and stiUhe went forward.

HINDU MYSTICS 213

The chant continued; it had now grown lowand subdued, almost like a long drawn-out moanor wail.

The tiger appeared drawn nearer and nearerto the body of the boy lying motionless in thecentre of the circle.

Then the amazing thing happened. Theanimal, apparently stupefied, dazed, or in ahypnotic state, dragged itself over the form ofthe boy and slowly crouched down on top ofhim.

And still the monotonous chant went on andon.

How long this went on I cannot say, the moonhad gone down, its last rays sinking in thewest, when one of the Brahmins suddenlysprang up and in an instant had rolled thetiger off the boy and threw him over on his back.The animal did not move; the Brahmin forcedopen his jaws; it gave no sign of life; in someextraordinary way the beast was dead.

The other Brahmins now crowded round.With one stroke of a knife they ripped the bodyopen, the entrails were taken out and, carefullylifting the boy, they placed him inside the tigerand left him there until the dawn stole in overthe entrance and flooded the place with light.

Hours perhaps passed. A movement appearedin the carcass of the tiger; it became stronger


and stronger; the boy forced his way Qutand stood up wiping the blood of the animalfrom his naked form.

The older Brahmin of the group, speakingin the lad's own language, explained to himthat he had been born again in the tiger's body,and from henceforth he would dominate thesemountain beasts wherever they might be found.

And still I did not understand.Some hours later I noticed the Brahmins

had dressed themselves in their best robes. Myfriend, the older man, came to me and saidI could accompany them if I wished.

It was still very early in the morning whenwe arrived at a nearby village, where a largeconcourse of people had assembled. Someimportant feast to various gods was in progress.The great throng was composed of all kindsof sects and representatives of many religions.I knew by the different head-dress and castemarks that followers of Buddha, Brahma, Jains,Sikhs and devotees of Siva and Vishnu werewell represented.

In a large hollow at the outside of the villagethe crowds were especially dense.

Taking the little boy by the hand, the olderBrahmin of our group forced his way to thecentre.

Speaking in Hindu (which he later translated to

HINDU xysncsme), in a loud, commanding voice he addressedthe multitude.

After an introductory preamble he announcedthat he, as a representative of the religion ofBrahma, had come to give an exhibition of thepower of his god.

To put it briefly, he said, the greatest enemyof the people was the fierce mountain tiger.In the last few months many hundreds of liveshad been sacrified to them, and a short distanceaway an entire village had been abandoned onaccount of their raids.

He then called on the natives to go out asII beaters" in the surrounding jungle and drivein as many tigers as they could find.

Some hundred men obeyed the command,forming a wide circle through the forest andjungle. In a short time they had driven intothe enclosure about six or eight savage lookingbeasts.

The crowds fled before them in terror. At anopportune moment the Brahmin led the boyforward and bending down, said a few words tohim.

Without the slightest semblance of fear thelad advanced towards an extra large tiger whohad approached nearest to the people. Thebeast, with an ugly growl, crouched down as ifabout to spring. Then, as the boy came nearer


the beast tossed back his head and appeared tosniff the air. The boy went still nearer, the tigeradvanced to meet him.

The huge crowd grew silent, they seemedtense, with dread. The other tigers camecloser and still closer, till the lad stood in themidst of them, and nothing happened.

Perhaps it was they sensed in the aura of theboy the aura of their dead companion; perhapsit was some form of hypnotism; perhaps it wasthe lack of fear on the part of the boy. Onecould keep on with conjecture after conjecturewithout reaching a solution of the miracle.

I can only say I left that scene with a deepadmiration for the wonders performed by .. t1;l.eholy men of India."

I t was a victory for Brahma and the religionhis devotees represented.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE STRANGE CLAIRVOYANCE OF POPE PIUS lX

D URING the ceremony in Rome for thebeatification and canonization of Pope

Pius IX during April, 1928, considerable discussion was excited over the prophecies andclairvoyant powers of this very remarkablePope who occupied the " Throne of St. Peter"from 1846 to 1878.

Continuing the researches of MonseigneurCani, His Eminence Cardinal Ragonesi collecteda great quantity of relative documents whichhe presented to the Congregation of Rites andwere studiously examined. These documentscontained numerous testimonies to the fact thatPope Pius IX possessed the gift of clairvoyance,and was able at will to fall into profoundtrances and further, that he had at his commandan incontestable gift of prophecy.

Several times during the last years of his life,he had announced to Cardinal Pieci that hewould be his successor, which was borne out bythe election of the Cardinal to Pope on February20th. 1878.

217


Another of Pope Pius IX prophecies was oftenrecalled during the Great War. In 1863 in aletter to the Bishop of Vigevano he wrote:" There will one day be a terrible conflict amongmen. The good and the evil will pitilesslydestroy each other in a monstrous cataclysm,but when the tempest of the human sea hasbecome calm again the barque of St. Peter'swill be seen continuing its voyage in full security,more beautiful than ever. For what now constitutes great navies and many kingdoms andrepublics will become no more than an accumulation of formless debris, only good at best forbeing cast into the fire."

Many stories are narrated in Rome aboutPope Pius IX which demonstrates his extraordinary clairvoyant powers. On one occasion,while a religious ceremony was being celebratedin the Pontiff's private chapel before a statueof the Madonna, a large candle was lit. Suddenly the Pope rose from his chair and gave anorder to extinguish the candle at once.

No one understood the reason for such aperemptory order, but after the ceremony thecandle was examined and it was found that anexplosive cartridge had been concealed in itby which some criminal had planned an outragewhich would certainly have destroyed manylives.

THE CLAIRVOYANCE OF POPE PIUS IX 219

On another occasion a lady presented herselfin the pontificial anti-chamber. She presentedher credentials to the Chamberlain on duty,soliciting an audience on a most urgent matter.The Pope was informed of her request andiJnmediately replied: U No, I do not speak withthe dead."

The Chamberlain, astonished by this strangeresponse, and thinking the Pope might nothave understood the request, repeated it.Again the Pope replied, U I do not speak with thedead."

When the Chamberlain returned to the antichamber he was told that in his absence thevisitor had suddenly dropped dead from heartfailure, but the most extraordinary part was thatthis lady was discovered to be a disguisedassassin and that the object of her visit was tokill the Pope.

Another instance was recorded of two ladieswho were admitted into the presence of PopePius IX who told him of a deaf and dumb childand begged him to give his blessing to heal itsinfirmity. The Pope replied: U Why ask mefor this favour, the child is already cured."On returning to the outer chapel they found thechild talking to an attendant and perfectly wellin every way.

It was also on record that Princess Odescalchi,


when very ill, sent to the Pope a request for hisbenediction "in articulo mortis." Pope Piusat once accorded his benediction at the sametime sending a message to the Princess thatII he saw she was not near death and would livefor many years." The Princess immediatelyrecovered, and in a few days presented herself atthe Vatican and was received by the Pope.

Pope Pius IX was succeeded on the PapalThrone by His Holiness Leo XIII whom, Irecounted in my recent memoirs" Confessionsof a Modem Seer," received me in privateaudience at the request of Prince Marco diColonna. At this interview he sent for CardinalSarto, whom he said was also deeply interestedin the influence of Numbers on human lives.

I found His Eminence Cardinal GiuseppiSarto not only deeply interested in such studies,but also well versed in the science of astrology.After that he had many meetings with me,and when I worked out that his horoscopeindicated that within three years from ourmeeting (December, 1900) he would followLeo XIII on the Throne of St. Peter, he did notcavil at my prediction, but very gravely said:" If such is God's Will, 50 be it:'

He was elected Pope by the College ofCardinals on the 8th August, 1903.

It is rather a strange coincidence that in

THE CLAIRVOYANCE OF POPE PIUS IX 221

choosing his name as Pope he took that ofPius X. He had explained to me that thenumber nine had played a most important partin his life. To confirm this he made me copyout the following list of events.

For nine years he was at school at St. Riese. For nine years a religious student at Padna.For nine years a senate at Tombolo.For nine years a priest at Salzano.For nine years a canon at Treviso.For nine years a bishop at Mantua.For nine years Cardinal-Patriarch of Venice.It may be only what one calls coincidence, but

perhaps for an occult reason he chose the numberof ten for his Pontificial title of Pius X.Curiously enough he reigned as Pope for aperiod of eleven years, dying in his eightiethyear on 21st August, 1914.

During one of our conversations he called myattention to the interesting fact that in fargone times the Sacred College, who has the soleright to elect a Pope, was from A.D. 769 onlycomposed of seven Cardinals and that thisMystic Number ruled the Conclave for somehundreds of years. It was subsequentlychanged to the number of twelve in accordancewith the law of the Zodiac as represented by itstwelve Houses.

The name and title given to a Pope. he also


told me, is not chosen by the Conclave ofCardinals, but is absolutely at the discretionof the one elected. Cardinal Sarto was therefore in his right in selecting the name and.number of Pius X, thus breaking the order ofperiodicity of the number nine that had playedsuch an important role in his life up to themoment of his becoming Pope.

It was owing to His Eminence Cardinal Sarto,that I had the inestimable privilege while I wasin Rome, of being allowed to browse among thevolumes of the famous Vatican Library as andwhen I wished, and to make extracts from thepriceless manuscripts, in what is admitted to be,the greatest storehouse of knowledge in theworld.

CHAPTER XIX

AN ASTROLOGER WHO PREDICTED HIS OWNDEATH

A LFRED MINCHIN lived in an attic onthe top story of an old-fashioned house

in Berners Street, London. He was one ofthose rare individuals who hated money, andperhaps for that very reason money never camenear him. He had a small income, left by hisfather who had been a doctor in a town inthe South of England. It was just enoughfor his very primitive needs and nothingmore.

Whatever was left over at the end of themonth he bought books with. He never wastedmoney on food as far as I knew, an occasionalbasket of apples or a bunch of grapes were theonly luxuries he allowed himself.

And yet this man was perfectly happy; infact he was the happiest individual I ever met.He had no cares of any material kind, no wife,no children, no taxes to pay, nothing to thinkabout except to continually increase his collection of books, and once in a while to buy new

223


strings for a rare old violin on which he playedwith the gift of a master.

I came in contact with him in rather anunusual way. I was attending an auction in avillage just outside of London. Some astrological works had been advertised for sale andI had gone down to see if I could pick upanything of value.

Among the small crowd who attended theauction only another man and myself paid anyattention to the books in question.

The other man was a tall gaunt-lookingindividual, very shabbily dressed in a rustyfaded black suit that seemed many sizes toolarge for him. Yet there was the air of agentleman about this odd-looking stranger thatattracted my attention, that inexpressibleII something" one cannot define.

We had both stretched out our hands at thesame time for a badly worn leather coveredvolume that the auctioneer was about to putup. He apologized to me, I apologized to him,and the book was left between us on the auctiontable.

The man II of the hammer" took in thesituation at a glance; he had two men beforehim who wanted that same book, he determinedto run one against the other.

The volume in question was II Culpepers

AN ASTROLOGER PREDICTS HIS OWN DEATH 225

Arcana of Astrology" which, according to thebook-plate, had been "printed in the year ofour Lord, 1602."

The auctioneer commenced with the usualpreamble. "This wonderful volume, ladies andgentlemen," he rattled on, II is unique in-itshistory. It was written by one of the greateststudents of astrology that ever lived. It contains all you will ever want to know of thescience of the stars. It is bound in cow-hidemade by hand. Give me an opening bid forthis wonderful book."

No one spoke; the stranger's deep-set eyesmet mine across the table. We both wanted it,but we had mentally resolved not to bid againstone another.

Again the auctioneer gave vent to a wonderfulspeech in which he laid stress on the cow-hidebinding. At last, in desperation, he got out thewonderful idea that if no one wanted the bookfor its contents, its leather covering would atleast be useful in making soles for one's boots.

Still no one spoke. The II man of thehammer" finally knocked it down to himselffor the small sum of five shillings. The auctionwas over and we all went out into thenight.

There were only two seats vacant on the topof the only bus that went to London. I found

p


the stranger seated next me and the. journeycommenced.

Neither of us spoke for some time, finally theman next me, in a half-apologetic way said," Sir, I am sure you wanted that book and Ifeel I prevented you bidding for it. I havemany such old works in my possession. I willbe happy to lend you any of them if you willbe good enough to come back with me to myrooms."

I gladly accepted the offer. The bus finallyrolled down Oxford Street; we got off at BemersStreet, and were quickly climbing up a longflight of creaking stairs to my new-foundfriend's rooms.

As he fished in his pockets for a key to openthe door, he hesitated for a moment and said," You will excuse I hope, sir, the untidy stateof my flat. I hate to waste time in clearing itup. I never have any visitors, but believe meyou are most welcome."

I thanked him and we entered.After groping about for a box of matches, he

finally found it on the floor, and with the airof a II grand duke" he bowed me into an oldleather seat and I glanced round.

Never in all my life have I seen such a litterof books or such confusion. On a table in thecentre old volumes bound in leather were piled

4N ASTROLOGER PREDICTS HIS OWN DEATH 227

up as high as the ceiling. In a comer a mountain of faded newspapers nearly closed up oneof the windows. Books were everywhere, somein shelves round the place, while numbers ofthem lay strewn on the floor.

H What a student, what a reader you mustbe," I exclaimed.

H I do not pretend to be worthy of the nameof a student," he replied, with a grim smile." I am only a ' book worm,' books are the onlypleasure I have. You are welcome to use anyof my collection, if, indeed, I can call it such."

At my side on the table I noticed several oldworks on astrology of priceless value.

To test the genuineness of his offer I pickedup a book nearest me, saying, "Would it bepossible for you to let me take away this volumefor about a week? "

Without an instant's hesitation he said,H Certainly, my dear sir, take all those threeif you wish and keep them as long as youlike."

If But," I smiled, If you don't know me.You do not even know my name or where I live.How is it possible that you are willing to trust astranger with such valuable books that youcould never replace? II

For answer, he took a large sheet of brownpaper and some string, and before I could protest,


had wrapped them up and placed them in myhands.

H Men like us," he said quietly, .. have noneed to go about with credentials in their pockets.We are brothers in the study of astrology; wefollow the same faith, worshippers of the sameGod. Why should we not trust one another?You are welcome to whatever books I have,just as I know I would be welcome to any ofyours."

The ice was indeed broken between us. Wesat on talking far into the night. Then suddenly remembering I had had nothing to eatall the evening, he fished out of a cupboardsome biscuits, a carafe of water with two glasses,and apologizing for not having anything betterto offer, he pulled a chair over to the table andwe supped together for the first time.

It was under these conditions that I metArthur Minchin, and the friendship thus beganlasted even up to his death.

One evening, some months after our firstmeeting, he called at my rooms. He seemedstrangely excited, his eyes shone as if under theinfluence of some drug.

.. Good Heavens I are you ill, Arthur? " Icould not help but exclaim.

.. Ill," he laughed. .. No, my good friend,I never felt better in my life. Illness for me


can never exist. I conquered that bug-bearyears ago in my life. Illness is a mentaldelusion and nothing more. I am just a bitexcited because I stumbled across a secret ofnature that I have been working on for someyears." -

" The Elixir of Life," I laughed." Not quite," he nodded, "but perhaps the

antidote to all disease. Come back with me tomy rooms. I want to show you what I havediscovered.' ,

We walked down Oxford Street togetherthrough busy crowds rushing home, or crowding to theatres or restaurants. They pushedand jostled us to get out of their way. Tothem we were nothing more than two fragmentsof humanity that impeded their rush.

The muddy torrent of life bore on its tidefaces and forms of all kinds and descriptions.Some had mocking smiles on their lips, somewere pale with pain, some again crippled bydisease, and many with the stamp of deathalready written across their foreheads.

How little they thought that the man by myside believed he had wrung a secret from naturethat had the power to redeem them from theirtorment.

We turned from the main thoroughfare intothe quiet of Berners Street.

~30 lIYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

Minchin had hardly spoken all the way; hewalked rapidly, his one desire seemed to be toshow me what he had discovered as quickly aspossible.

He unlocked a door at the end of the attic.We entered a long, low room which, to myamazement, had been turned into a well-fittedout chemist's laboratory. On a bench by theside of the wall stood a retort connected byglass tubes to a condensing apparatus of a mostmodern type. From this, tubes led to a largeglass reservoir and from it again to a vacuumglobe standing on a tripod at the end of thebench.

II Why, Minchin," I said, " I never knew youwere a chemist."

II Of course not," he smiled. "I was toomuch afraid that my idea was only that of amadman's dream. I will light up the retortand let you see if my discovery is a reality ornot."

The retort was already charged, gas burnerswere turned on one after the other, a pyrometerby its side registered the rapidly risingtemperature.

One thousand Fahrenheit, then fifteen hundred, then two thousand, a mixture of oil andgas poured through the condensing tubes, thenseparated, the heavy part remaining in a con-


tainer, the gas passing on to the glass reservoir,the colour changing to a pale violet hue.

Minchin's face had grown deadly white, heseemed like a man entranced-the moment hadcome for the great experiment.

By some clever arrangement of three-waystop cocks and glass tubes, he connected thereservoir of gas with the vacuum globe at theend of the bench-and we waited.

Every moment to me seemed like an eternity,especially as I did not know for what we werewaiting.

The retorts had been turned off, the silencewas like death.

Suddenly Minchin made me a sign to comenearer. His face was pressed close to thevacuum globe, his eyes blazing like coals of fire.

Could I believe my senses? Something wasforming in the centre of the globe. But what?that was the question.

A few moments more of tense waiting, thenslowly and steadily a fiower-a beautiful rosein all the glory of its perfection, appeared as ifsuspended in the vacuum.

Minchin looked me straight in the eyes." Well ? " he questioned.

" I do not understand," I answered. "Whatdoes it all mean ? "

" It means, my friend, that behind all things

2,32 MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

is spirit, in the organic world as in the material ;furthermore that the spirit of things is absoluteperfection. Did you not notice in that ether oressence it was not only a rose that formed, butone of the most perfect of its kind ?

I< I had placed in the retort a quantity ofbroken roses, but the soul of all was perfect inform, and so manifested itself in that vacuumglobe.

I< This is just one of the many examples wecould find in nature that the • thought-mind'of the Creator holds the picture of absoluteperfection in all domains of the organic, mineraland animal kingdoms.

II In vegetable life, no matter where the seedmay fall or be sown, it will sooner or laterstrive to produce its highest form. It is thesame in the mineral world, no matter how itscrystals may be broken or distorted, eventhough it may take reons of years, they willin the end become the most perfect of their kind.

I< In the animal kingdom, to which humanbeings belong, the same law is shown throughoutthe ages; namely, the striving upward towardsperfection. Of man, the highest developmentof all, it was said' God breathed into his nostrilsthe breath of life and man became a living soul.'

I< , In the image and likeness of God ' was mancreated, therefore all the other kingdoms of the

AN ASTROLOGER PREDICTS ms OWN DEATH 233world are subject unto him to be used for hisgood and for his advancement.

"The vegetable world is at hand to give himhealth and food; the mineral world to give himiron and steel to lighten his labours, and theanimal world, to which he belongs, to give liimcompanionship and help at all times.

"Man, being made in the image of God, asGod is eternal, must also be eternal; his soulnature being on a higher plane to that of theother kingdoms can have no limitations; to himis continual advancement both in this worldand the next until in the end ' man sees God.'

" The wonder of those three words has neverbeen fully grasped. To' see God' is to understand all; to understand all is to realize thewhy and the wherefore of things that are, thescourge of poverty, the death of those we lovethe most.

"Broken hearts, like broken crystals, obeythe same law. In the mineral world jewelsbecome more flawless. In the world of man,souls become more perfect.

"But I must not waste time by words,"Minchin went on. "My anxiety now, myfriend, is the fact that my own end draws sonear that I will not be able to continue myexperiments much longer. Too late I havelearned that disease may be conquered by


knowledge of the secrets of the vegetable king~

dom; too late I have stumbled across the truththat in the essence of plants there is a life~

renewing quality in their salts, but alas, it is toolate for me to attempt to teach how they may beextracted."

" Why do you say < too late' ? " I interrupted." With such knowledge as you have, you surelycould baffle death for many, many years."

" My good friend," he answered sadly, "1made the mistake in my early years of being asceptic on such subjects. I wasted my earlydays in doubts. I pursued the question • why'until it led me into the quicksands of despair.I lost the footsteps of God in the quagmire ofnon-belief. When a man loses faith, he haslost the sheet anchor of his soul.

"1 was old in the following of lies when Ifound the truth."

"But, Minchin," I said impulsively, "nowthat you have found the truth you must live soas to give it to the world."

"That is not good reasoning," he quietlyreplied. "Because I wasted my early years,why should I be given another chance to makegood. There are many other better men tofollow me, men better equipped, perhaps withbetter education, men who willieam the secretsof the organic world earlier than I did.


" In fact, it was for this reason that I wantedyou here to-night. You are a writer and havejotted down notes of what you saw. One dayyou will publish these things, they will perhapsattract the attention of some younger man whowill have the time before him to tabulate thelife-giving essence of plants.

It Perhaps the world is not ready for thislmowledge yet; it may need some great war, orterrible famine, to call attention to the inexhaustible supply of food stuffs that awaitdiscovery in the vegetable kingdom.

It When I go my way I will leave you mynotes. Make whatever use of them you wish.Above all things, my friend, try and teach yourfellow beings to have faith in the everlastingpurpose of God, in the Creator of Divine Designand in the ultimate perfection of things tocome."

* * * * *It was quite some time before I could arrange

my plans to get around to Minchin's roomsagain. In the weeks that passed I had oftenpondered over his words, but in spite of mydesire I had not been able to get away from mymany engagements.

One morning, about dawn, I woke up witha strange feeling, the presence of my friendseemed to pervade my rooms. With a curious

2,36 KYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

presentiment tugging at my heart, I hastilydressed and made my way to Berners Street.

I knocked at the attic. There was noresponse. I turned the handle and to my surprise the door was unlocked-it flew open.

I entered the familiar room, the oil lamp overthe desk was still lighted, but burning very low.A weird silence seemed to hang about the place.

There was some light in his little laboratory.I knocked on the door, there was no reply. Ipushed it open. Before me stood the retortwith the gas full on. My eyes ran quicklyalong the condenser to the vacuum globe. Hehad evidently finished another experiment, Ithought. Suspended in the vacuum, hung nota rose this time, but the apparition of a whitelily, the purest and most beautiful I had ever seen.

" But where is Minchin ? " I asked.For answer I saw a form lying huddled across

the writing table in the comer, its head restingon some sheets of paper, the top one being acarefully drawn horoscope. Very gently Itouched him, but he did not move. I lifted hishead, under it his hand still grasped a pencil,the point of it fixed on a group of planets in theeighth house, the If House of Death."

CHAPTER XX

A MODERN WIZARD :THE " KEELY MOTOR" AND ITS INVENTOR

ONE of the leading scientists of America,Dr. joseph Leidy, LL.Dofthe University

of Pennsylvania, surprised the thinking worldin 1889 by coming forward publicly as a supporter of the inventor of the famous If KeelyMotor."

Dr. Leidy's published statement was:It Having had the opportunity of seeing

Mr. john Keely's experiments, it has appeared to me that he has command of someunknown force of most wonderful mechanicalpower.

(Signed) JOSEPH LEIDY."Coming from a scientist of such repute, these

words caused a considerable sensation in bothfinancial and scientific quarters.

A further statement from Dr. Leidy appearedin The Inquirer (Philadelphia) as follows:

If April 8th, 1890.If After having had the opportunity of wit

nessing a series of experiments made by Mr.IS1


John Keely, illustrative of a reputed newmotor power, it has appeared to me that hehas fairly demonstrated the discovery of aforce previously unknown to science. I haveno theory to account for the phenomenaobserved, but I believe Mr. Keely to be honestin his attempt to explain them. His demonstrations appear to indicate great mechanicalpower, which when applied to appropriatemachinery, must supersede all ordinaryappliances.

(Signed) JOSEPH LEIDY."

Previous to this announcement, for upwardsof twenty years a completely unknown man,John Worrell Keely of Philadelphia, had beenworking patiently and secretly to demonstratethat he had discovered a new force in naturethat would eclipse electricity and all otherknown mechanical forces.

An extremely big order, all must admit.Keely had been working on his idea long beforescientists had begun to discuss the probabilityof U bursting the atom " to release the enormousforce contained in it, which experiment has inrecent years been partially carried out byscientists in England, Germany and Americaduring 1932-33.

Keely's principal work for years previous toits becoming talked about, had been his efforts

A MODERN vnzARD 239

to demonstrate, to put it in his own words" thatall corpuscles of matter can be subdivided bycertain orders of vibration, thus showing upnew elements." It was not however, until bywhat men call t< mere chance" that Macvicars'" Sketch of a Philosophy" fell into his hands,together with a work entitled" Harmonies ofTones and Colours, Developed by Evolution,"written by a Mrs. F. J. Hughes, a niece ofDarwin's, that caused him to turn his attentionto the structure of ether and he learned that"the same laws which develop harmoniesdevelop the universe."

This recalls to one's mind that beautifulprophetic verse by Coleridge:

"What if all of animated natureBe but organic harps diversely formed,That tremble into thought as o'er them sweeps,Plastic and vast, one intellectual breeze.At once the soul of each and God of all? "

From this moment Keely turned his attentionto etheric vibration and the flow of the magneticcurrent of the earth from pole to pole, with theastonishing result that he so perfected a motorto make use of these forces that between 1889and 1890 he was in a position to show to scientists, in his laboratory in Philadelphia, a machinethat ran by some mysterious power, or to quotethe words of Dr. Leidy, t< he demonstrated the

240 :MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

discovery of a force previously unknown toscience."

One might have imagined that such an extraordinary discovery would have been hailed byscientists and the press as great a revolution asthat caused by the stearn engine and later bythe production of electricity.

The contrary was, however, the case. Nearlyall men of science, with a few exceptions,together with the press, ridiculed the idea asimpossible, and did not hesitate to call Keely acharlatan and a fraud. Prejudice against theunfortunate inventor ran so high that whateverfinancial sources he had became dried up, andfor some years he was often reduced to the pointof starvation.

Whatever help or encouragement he receivedduring this period came from two women, whoperhaps in their intuition, foresaw the possibilities of such a discovery long before it couldpenetrate the more dense minds of men.

One of these ladies, Mrs. Bloomfield Moore ofPhiladelphia, suffered cruelly for her loyaltyand generosity to the inventor. Some of herrelations attempted in the Courts to prove herinsane. An injunction was obtained againsther making use of her property, and she was inthe end reduced to almost a state of completelimitation. -

\

A MODERN WIZARD 241

I t was at her house in London that I firstheard of the " Keely Motor."

Sitting next me at the luncheon table was thewell-known scientific engineer, Major J. RicardeSeaver, a man well known in London circleswho for services rendered in some engineeringproject had been made a " grandee" of Spain.

The conversation had turned on the prospectsof the" Keely Motor," a subject that on accountof hostile criticism about the same time in thepress was being much discussed.

To the surprise of everyone present, MajorRicarde Seaver said:

"I have only heard of John Keely's discoveries in the press. All projectors of newideas are at first subjected to calumny, criticismand ridicule. James Watts, the inventor of thesteam engine, took over thirty years to develophis plans. In the meantime he was oftenlaughed at.

" When the idea was first mooted of runningan electric cable to America, it was consideredabsurd. It is the same with many other inventions that in the end prove of use andbenefit to humanity.

" Judging from articles I have read, Mr. Keelyhas demonstrated to many eminent men hisneutralizing or overcoming of the law of gravityand the separation of metallic plates by a new

Q


means of employing the Law of Vibration.Such men as Dr. Joseph Leidy of the Universityof Philadelphia and Dr. James M. Wilcox, theauthor of <t Elemental Philosophy" have testified that they have witnessed Keely's experiments and were satisfied that he has mademanifest the existence of some, up to now,unknown power that cannot be explained byordinary physical laws.

"The opinions of such men cannot be lightlythrown aside. I only wish that the opportunitymay some day come my way to be sent toPhiladelphia to investigate Keely's discoveriesmyself."

As Major Seaver had only met Mrs. BloomfieldMoore for the first time that day, he was latersurprised to hear that our hostess had for yearsbeen deeply interested in the progress of the,. Keely Motor."

Six months later, Major Seaver dropped in tosee me in my rooms in New York City.

<t Yes," he said, as he held out his hand, ,. mywish became realized. Bamato Brothers, thefirm to which I am advisory engineer, have sentme over to investigate and report on the < KeelyMotor.' I am going to Philadelphia to-morrowand I propose that you come with me. Giveyourself a holiday for a few days and comealong."

A MODERN WIZARD 243

The next day found Major Seaver and myselfon the train together.

During the journey I got the Major to tell mesomething of his plans.

" I have no preconceived ideas about Keely,one way or the other," he said. "I am justgoing. with an open mind commissioned to report to my employers if there is any commercialpossibilities in his 'Motor.' Its supposed weakpoint is, that it can only be set in motion byKeely striking a chord of vibration on a violin,which is the key to unlock a similiar vibrationin the machine. If this is really the case, thena man of Keely's attainments may any dayinvent an instrument to take the place of theviolin, and if such a thing should happen, itwould be worth while for such a firm as BamatoBrothers to pay many millions of pounds to havean interest in such an epoch-making discovery."

The next morning Major Seaver presentedhis credentials at Keely's workshop.

The inventor received us without any formality. He was in fact in his shirt-sleeves anddid not even make a pretence of putting on hiscoat. He was a most unassuming man, verysimple and direct in his words and expressions.

He had no pretensions of being taken for anengineer or a scientist or anything out of theway_


In answer to one of Major Seaver's questionsas to what had first led him to believe that an,up to then, unknown force existed beyond thepower of steam and electricity, he very simplysaid, " The idea came into my mind from whereI cannot tell. Perhaps it first came from acraze I had to study the magnet to attempt tosolve what the mysterious power was thatenabled it to attract steel and iron to itself.

"For a long time I wondered over the indisputable fact that a horseshoe of iron couldbe magnetized in a few seconds by the currentof a few amperes from a battery, and that sucha magnet could lift many pounds weight ofmetal. Further, that every second of timewithout end while the magnet is expandingenergy it totals up an almost inconceivableamount of actual power, not alone that, butthe magnet of one pound lifting power to-day,may and in fact will be stronger to-morrow.

II Where does this really tremendous amountof energy come from? By what inscrutable process does the mere magnetization of a bar of ironmake of it a machine for the transformation ofenergy, even more, a perpetual creator of force?

" It came into my mind that there was a hiddenprocess going on of some kind, energy goinginto the magnet and flowing out of it all thetime it was doing work-energy in some form.

A MODERN WIZARD 245.. Where did it come from-gravity? atmo

sphere? solar rays? earth currents? Whocan say?

" The mere fact of the magnet carrying its loadproves conclusively the constant flow or positiveaction of a sympathetic force, the velocity el'ceeding millions of vibrations per second.

" In the course of many years of experiments,I believe I have discovered a means of harnessing what may be called (etheric' force andof overcoming gravity.

.. I want you, Sir," Keely went on, turningto Major Seaver, .. to examine my machinesfrom the standpoint of the sceptic. Calumnyhas asserted that I have them connected by ahollow steel wire by which I employ compressedair.

« I want you to satisfy yourself especially onthis point. You are entitled to lift the motoroff the bench, to place it where you like and itwill still function.

I( The first demonstration I will give you isthat of starting the motor by a note of music,otherwise vibration. I want you to do thisyourself. You will take this violin, pass thebow across the strings. At first you may notsucceed, but you will eventually."

Major Seaver took the violin. He was fullyten feet away from the machine he was

246 MYSlERIES OF WORLD'S GREAlEST OCCULTISTS

supposed to start. For fully five minutes he triednote after note, but nothing happened. Hehanded the violin over to Keely.

Perhaps it was due to his long years ofpractice, or it may have been owing to hisunusually keen musical hearing, but the factremained that in one stroke of the bow animmediate response was heard in the machine.The buzz from it grew louder every second untilits speed became so great that, although boltedfirmly on the bench, it rocked the whole place.

t< Can you stop it?" Seaver asked. Foranswer Keely drew a discordant note from theviolin. The machine immediately began toslow down and finally stopped.

II Now, Major," Keely said, t< you should beable to start it up yourself. Be patient, trytone after tone and chord after chord. Sooneror later you must strike the right one."

Major Seaver, with a very patient look on hisface, again took the violin. This time he drewlonger notes from the instrument. Suddenlyan answering buzz was heard in the machine.It started off as before, its speed rapidly increasing every moment.

Again the Major lifted the violin. He drewa sharp discord from the strings. Instantly themotor slowed down and became silent again.

II Remarkable," was all Seaver said. Then

A MODERN WIZARD 241

taking up a wrench lying near at hand, he verydeliberately undid the bolts and lifted themotor off the bench.

As no connecting wires of any kind were tobe seen he rebolted the machine and handing methe violin, told me to try.

Perhaps it was what is called II beginners' luck."I had barely drawn a sharp clear note from theII A " string, when again the motor started.

This time the II stopping" was the difficultpart. Though I struck discord after discord,still the motor went on rapidly increasing itsvelocity. I appealed to Keely to help me. Hetook the violin, struck one discord and immediately the motor slowed down and stoppedas before.

II That is the one weak point that up to nowprevents its commercial value," Keely said.II My efforts now are being concentrated tomake an instrument that will give off an exactnote to start and stop the machine at will. Thedifficulty is not an easy one to get over owingto the variation in the magnetic and ethericcurrents which are changing continually, but Ibelieve that one of these days I will get theinspiration how to solve the problem."

Keely next showed us his revolving globe ofglass that had caused much comment in hostilenewspapers.


,It was of very simple construction, merelya large glass globe balanced on a pivot ofplatinum that, when spinning, kept its equilibrium by centrifugal action exactly as a boy'stop keeps itself in position by the same law.

This globe was also started by a vibrationfrom the violin. When it had attained considerable velocity, Keely made me lift it offthe table and carry the whole thing, woodenstand and all, several times round the room.As its revolutions became more and more rapidI grew alarmed, believing it might any momentfly to pieces. Again a discord from the violinand in a few minutes it stopped.

The next day Keely showed Major Seaverand myself another of his inventions equallystartling. I t was nothing more or less than ameans of overcoming the law of gravitation asapplied to airships.

Before going into this demonstration theinventor showed as a remarkable experimentin connection with this idea.

Three glass chambers, forty inches in height,filled with water, were placed on a slab of glass.In each of these cylinders were three metalspheres weighing six ounces each. When a wirecomposed of silver and platina connected theseglass chambers with tPJ sympathic transmitter,the metal spheres rose or descended in them or

A MODERN WIZARD 249

remained stationary at any point with a motionas gentle as that of a thistledown floating inair.

In demonstrating what appeared to be theovercoming of gravity for aerial navigation,Mr. Keely next showed us a model of an- airship weighing about eight pounds. When thedifferential wire was attached to it, it also rose,floated, or remained stationary, at whateverheight he wished it to be.

This remarkable demonstration of this modelairship, it must be remembered, was shown usat the Keely Laboratories in 1890, some thirteenyears before the brothers, Orville and WilburWright, flew the first aeroplane in Francein 1903.

Keely allowed Major Seaver to make, without hindrance or opposition, whatever investigations he wished. The Major in the endfreely confessed that he could find no evidence ofIt hollow wires," compressed air or electric powerused in any way in Keely's demonstrations.

As we returned to New York on the train thenext day he summed up his meeting with theinventor by saying: It I can only come to thesame conclusion as Professor Leidy and Dr. J. M.Wilcox ' that Keely has command of someunknown force of most .wonderful mechanicalpower.' "


In spite of this, this really great inventor, oras Keely preferred to be called, "discoverer,"was no nearer to financial success than before.Major Seaver had to report to his company,Bamato Brothers of London, that until themoment arrived when Keely produced amechanical device to take the place of hisviolin there could be no prospect of success of"the Keely Motor," from a commercial pointof view.

And so things went on until Mrs. BloomfieldMoore, under opposition from her family, couldno longer remain as Keely's backer. Bills andwrits for money came pouring in on theinventor's head, the press lost patience, papersdenounced " the Keely Motor" as a failure andKeely as "one of the greatest swindlers thatever lived."

Perhaps it is that inventors, like poets.painters and writers, belong to an unusuallysensitive class. They can only create by beingencouraged in their visions and dreams.

So few realize that" dreams" have been sooften the forerunners of reality that it is tofI dreamers" that the world owes so much.

Poor Keely became literally hounded todeath by the press, under-paid reporters insearch of copy made" wonderful revelations,"editors in easy chairs wrote sarcastic comments.

A MODERN ~ZARD 251

It Man's inhumanity to man" crushed onemore over-sensitive soul, and so a great diS4covery became lost, at least for the time being.

Alone, one night in the winter of r8g8, afterdestroying all his papers, the records ofover twenty years research, together with hismachines, John Worrell Keely put an end tohis own life.

* * * * *Copy of final report of the investigations of

W. Lascelles-Scott of the Physical and ChemicalLaboratories, Forest Gate, England.

May 1st, 1896.(( From a lengthened personal examination

of Mr. Keely's appliances, I am distinctly ofthe opinion that he has discovered a forcehitherto absolutely unknown to science, andthat he holds within his grasp a driving power,or means of performing mechanical work,which might be called illimitable.

(Signed) W. Lascelles-Scott."

CHAPTER XXI

PREDICTIONS VERIFIED

The G,eaJ Plague and Fi,e of London; The Revolution inEngland under C,omwell; Airships,' Goethe's predictions regarding himself; Dryden foretold his son'slate,. and other predictions that were verified.

A s many critics in the press think they aredemonstrating their superior intelligence (?)

by cavilling at the idea that the future can inany way be foreseen, it may be instructive ifI call attention to at least some remarkablepredictions that have been verified and established beyond all question.

I will only take the more striking examples,as otherwise they would be far too numerousfor a book of this nature.

THE GREAT PLAGUE AND

FIRE OF LONDON PREDICTED

The celebrated Seer, Nostradamus, publishedhis prediction a hundred years before the eventof the destruction of the City of London by fire.He even gave the exact year of 1666.

252

PREDICTIONS VERIFIED 253

In 1648, William Lilly, the famous Astrologer,predicted the death of Charles I, and the revolution under Oliver Cromwell, which took placetwo years later. In 1651, he published inIt Monarchy or no Monarchy," the Great Plagueof 1665, and the Fire of London to take -placein the year 1666.

For this he was called before the Committeeof the House of Commons on the 25th Octoberof the same year, to answer questions as tohow he made his predictions.

Sir Robert Brooke, as Speaker for theCommittee, addressed the Astrologer asfollows:

It Mr. Lilly, this Committee thought fit tosummon you to appear before them this day,to know if you can say anything as to the causeof the late fire, or whether there might be anydesign therein. You are called hither, becausein a book of yours long since printed, youhinted some such thing by one of yourhieroglyphics."

Lilly replied he had come to the conclusionII that it was the finger of God only; but whatinstruments He used thereunto I am ignorant."He then went on to say: II The Committeeseemed well pleased with what I spoke, anddismissed me with great civility." -


THE PROPHECIES OF ROGER BACON

In Bacon's" Essay of Prophecies" he writes:If When I was in France I heard from oneDr. Pena that the Queen-Mother caused theKing's (Henry II, her husband's) nativity to becalculated under a false name, and the astrologergave a judgment that he would be killed in aduel; at which the Queen laughed, thinkingher husband to be above challenges and duels;but he was slain upon a course at tilt, thesplinters of the lance of Montgomery going inat his bever."-(From the "EncyclopcediaBritannica," Vol. II, page 799.)

Roger Bacon, who lived between 1214-1296,the greatest English philosopher on record, wasa sincere believer in astrology, and made manyremarkable predictions, which may be foundin his work, " De Secretis." It is claimed hewas the inventor of gunpowder and was a manwho lived far in advance of his times.

TYCHO BRAHE, THE FAMOUS ROYAL ASTROLOGEROF DENMARK

Tycho Brahe was not only a celebratedastronomer, but he was also a confirmedbeliever in astrology.

He was the son of a Danish Privy Councillorgovernor of the Castle of Helsingborg. He

PREDICTIONS VERIFIED 255came into the world in 1546. Educated at theUniversity of Copenhagen, he early showed adesire to study astrology and astronomy inpreference to all other work.

An eclipse of the sun, which was partly visibleat Copenhagen on October 21st, 1560, broughthim prominence among the observers. Heobtained a copy of the great Ptolemy's work onthe heavens, and devoted much of his timestudying its pages. These he carefully annotated with his remarks, and this book is still tobe found as one of the great treasures in thelibrary of the University of Prague, in whichcity he passed the last years of his life.

With the hope of divesting his mind fromsuch studies, his uncle sent him with a tutor toLeipzig, but instead of making any change hespent all his allowance in obtaining books tocarry on his favourite study, and invented hisIC cross-staff " by which he carried out his plansto calculate the places of the stars.

On the death of his uncle, Tycho Brahe wentto Roslock, where he had a duel with a Danishnobleman in the dead of night. During thefight his opponent cut off a piece of his nosewhich would have caused much disfigurement,but the astrologer with great ingenuity set towork to make an artificial organ of some alloyof gold and silver. This is the first time there


is any mention in history of what now wouldbe called " plastic surgery."

Tycho Brahe's first great achievement was thediscovery of a new star in the constellation ofCassiopeia in 1572. The news of his successreached Frederick II in Denmark, who summoned him to return to his native country.The monarch offered him the Island of Hveenin the Sound, and gave him the funds necessaryto build the greatest observatory which up tothen had been constructed in Europe.

It is a matter of history that Tycho Brahe,the Astronomer-Royal of Denmark, after studying the famous comet of 1577, made the extraordinary prediction that in Finland there shouldbe born a Prince who would lay waste Germanyand vanish in 1632. Gustavus Adolphus, it iswell known, was born in Finland, overranGermany and, when he was killed in theBattle of Leutzen, his dead body was neverfound.

It was Tycho Brahe who wrote: "We cannot deny the influence of the stars, withoutdisbelieving in the wisdom of God."

He gave the name of Uraniborg to his wellequipped observatory. Students flocked to itfrom all parts of Europe to have the privilegeof studying under such a master.

During 1577, when a son was born to King

PREDICTIONS VERIFIED 257Frederick, the King summoned him to Copenhagen to cast the nativity for the infant. OnJuly 1st of that year he presented the King witha very full horoscope foretelling the future ofthe new Prince, which in all its details provedlater to be very accurate.

On the death of King Frederick in 1585, thesubsidy to keep up the observatory at Uraniborg ceased. Very disheartened, Tycho left theisland where he had lived so long, abandonedhis native land and settled at Prague, wherehe died in 1601.

During his life Tycho Brahe made a considerable study of medicine in combination withastrology. He did not believe absolutely thatman's fate was decided by his planets, but thatthe Creator had so ordained that man was in aposition to conquer bad aspects and rise superiorto them. One of his statements in his writingwas: "Forewarning of threatened evils giveus the opportunity of averting them." In thisway he declared astrology was of great valueto humanity.

He gave his medical advice free to all thosewho sought his help. He prepared many ofhis prescriptions himself and gave them to hispatients.

The Danish Pharmacopreia of 1658 hold aconsiderable number of his formulas and several


of his t< Elixirs," but his name is more remembered by his remarkable prediction of the overrunning of Germany by Gustavus Adolphus.

PREDICTIONS RE AIRSHIPS FULFILLED

Writing in 1741, the celebrated philosopher,the Marquis d'Argens, made a remarkable prediction about airships. In his Memoirs whichwere issued in that year, he wrote:

" This is another idea that will be consideredridiculous, yet one of the first discoverieswhich will be made, perhaps in our century,will be the discovery of the art of flying in theair.

t< In this way men will travel swiftly andcomfortably, and even merchandise will becarried on great flying ships. There will beaerial armies; our present fortifications will become useless; but the artillery will learn toaim in the air. It will be necessary for a newpost to be created in the Kingdom (France)that of Secretary of State for Air Forces."

GOETHE'S PREDICTIONS FROM HIS OWN HOROSCOPE

Goethe begins his Autobiography with thesewords: t< On the 28th of August, 1749, atmidday, as the clock struck twelve, I cameinto the world at Frankfort-on-the-Main. My


horoscope was propitious; the Sun stood inthe Sign of Virgo and had culminated for theday; Jupiter and Venus were friendly andMercury not adverse, while Saturn and Marswere indifferent. The Moon alone just full,exerted the power of her reflection all the-moreas she had then reached her planetary hour,she opposed herself to my birth, which therefore could not be accomplished until the hourwas passed. These good aspects which astrologers reckoned very auspicious for me may havebeen the cause of my preservation; for, throughthe unskillfulness of the midwife, I came intothe world as dead and only after various effortswas I enabled to see the light."

DRYDEN'S PREDICTIONS AS TO HIS SON

The great Dryden, with all his wisdom andprofound learning, did not disdain the aid ofastrology in working out the horoscopes of hisown children.

" At the birth of his son Charles, he laid hiswatch on the table, begging the ladies thenpresent in the most solemn manner, to takeexact note of the very minute the child wasborn, which they did and acquainted himwith it.

" About a week later he took occasion to tellhis wife that he had been calculating the boy's


nativity, and observed with grief that he hadbeen born in an evil hour, for Jupiter, Venusand the Sun were all under the Earth, and thelord of his ascendant afflicted with a bad squareof Mars and Saturn.

II He announced: • If the boy lives to arriveat his eighth year, he will go near to die a violentdeath on his very birthday; but if he shouldescape that, then the twenty-third year will bedangerous, and if he escapes that, the thirtyfourth year will I fear . . .' Here he wasinterrupted by the grief of his wife, who couldno longer patiently hear the calamity prophesiedto befall her son.

II The time at last came, and August was theinauspicious month in which young Drydenwas to enter into the eighth year.

"The Court being in progress and Mr.Dryden at leisure, he was invited to the countryseat of the Earl of Berkshire, his brother-in-law,to keep the long vacation with him at Charltonin Wiltshire, while his wife was invited to heruncle's, to pass the remainder of the summer.

II When they came to divide the children,his wife asked him to take John and suffer herto take Charles, but Mr. Dryden was absolutelyagainst this. They parted in anger and hetook Charles with him.

II When the fatal day came, the anxiety of


his wife brought on a violent fever and her lifewas despaired of, till a letter came from herhusband reproving her for her womanishcredulity and assuring her the boy was wellwhich recovered her spirits, but six weeks latershe received an explanation of the whole affair.

It Mr. Dryden, either through fear of beingreckoned superstitious, or people thinking it ascience beneath his study, was extremelycautiousof letting anyone know that he was a believerin astrology, could not excuse his absence onhis son's anniversary from a hunting meetingLord Berkshire had made, to which all theadjacent gentlemen were invited.

It However, before he went he took care toset the boy a double exercise in Latin, whichhe taught his children himself, with a strictcharge not to stir out of his room till his return,well knowing the task he had set him wouldtake up much longer time.

It Charles was performing his duty in obedience to his father, but as ill-fate would haveit, the stag made towards the house, and thenoise alarming the servants they hastened outto see the sport. One of them took youngDryden by the hand and led him out to see italso.

It Just as they came to the gate, the stag beingat bay with the dogs, made a leap over the


court wall, which being very old and the dogsfollowing, threw down a part of the wall tenyards in length, under which Charles layburied. He was immediately dug out, andafter languishing six weeks in a dangerouscondition he recovered.

In his twenty-third year, Charles fell fromthe top of a tower of the Vatican at Rome. Heagain recovered, but was forever after this ina languishing state.

II In the thirty-third year of his age, beingreturned to England, he was unhappily drownedin the Thames at Windsor. Thus his father'scalculations proved but too prophetical."

-(Extract from Bohn's II ScientificLibrary," Vol. II.)

THE DUKE OF FRIEDLAND, KEPLER ANDCARDEN, THE MAGICIAN

The Duke of Friedland, Albert Von Wallenstein, was a sincere believer in astrology andstudied it under Argoli at Padua.

The great Kepler cast many horoscopes forhim, and it is related that when a deputationarrived to relieve him of his Commandership,before he allowed the members of it to discussthe subject, he produced a horoscope fromwhich he told them, II he already knew thepurpose of their visit and the nature of the


message they had for him." In his subsequentretirement, he continued the study of theheavens, and an astrologer named Senni, ofGenoa, became part of his household.

JEROME CARDEN, THE MAGICIAN

The celebrated Carden lived about the beginning of the sixteenth century, and was a contemporary of Faustus and Paracelsus. He alsopractised astrology. He foretold some years inadvance the exact date of his death at the ageof seventy-five.

He abjured the critics of his day in thefollowing verse :

" Hence fiery zealots, you I dare to tellAstrology's from Heaven, not from Hell;'Tis no black art; no damned Necromancy,No witchcraft neither, as some please to fancy;For shallow brains think all that's hard or high,Unlawful or impossibility."

MOTHER SHIPTON AND HER PROPHECIES

This extraordinary woman was born atKnaresborough, Yorkshire, during the reign ofHenry VIII (1485).

Rumour has it that her father was a necromancer, but she got the name under whichshe became famous by her marriage with oneToby Shipton, a carpenter by trade.

The first printed reference about her was


contained in a tract entitled: " THE PROPHECIES

OF MOTHER SHIPTON IN THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII,

FORETELLING THE DEATH OF CARDINAL WOLSEY,

THE LORD PERCY AND OTHERS, AS ALSO WHAT

iHOULD HAPPEN IN ENSUING TIMES."

Some reprints were made of this tract, forwhich many astrologers made additions. WilliamLilly quoted no less than eighteen of her prophecies, and is reported to have said:

II All I can say is that I fear they will provetrue, more true than most men imagine, asMother Shipton's prophecies were never yetquestioned either for their verity or antiquity,so look to them to read the future with· acertainty and act accordingly."

In her first tract, much prominence is givento her prophecy regarding Cardinal Wolsey.It is related that on hearing that the Cardinalintended to come and reside in the· town ofYork, Mother Shipton declared publicly that hewould never enter that city.

Hearing of this, the Cardinal sent the Dukeof Suffolk, Lord Percy and Lord Darey indisguise to see her.

When they reached where she lived, sheknew them each by their own names, and setbefore them some ale and cakes. They informedher of the reason of their visit, and she atonce replied :


U I said he might see it, but never cometo it:'

The gentlemen quietly informed her that ifthe great Cardinal did come he most certainlywould have her burnt at the stake as a witch.

On hearing this her chronicler states: ''-Shetook her linen handkerchief off her head andsaid, I If this bup1, so shall I,' and then castit unto the fire. After letting it lie on the firefor a quarter of an hour, and taking it outagain they saw it was not as much as singed."

When Cardinal Wolsey came to Cawood, aplace of about eight miles distant from theCIty of York, he ascended the castle tower andlooked across the intervening landscape towardsYork. While on the tower a messenger arrivedfrom the King demanding his presence at once.The Cardinal was obliged to return. He was.taken ill at Leicester, and dying on the journeyback, the prophecy was fulfilled.

Many of Mother Shipton's further propheciesshe put in a quaint form of mystical verse, whichshe put in the hands of the Abbot of Beverley.

She foretold the destruction of the SpanishArmada as follows:

II A maiden Queen full many a yearShall England's warlike scepter bear.The Western Monarch's Wooden HorsesShall be destroyed by the Drake's forces."


Also the execution of King Charles I, as :.. But tell what next, Oh I Cruel fate,

A King made martyr at his gate."

The Revolution by Cromwell and the restoration of royalty were foreshown in the followingverse, written nearly two hundred years beforethe events:

The just King dead, the woolfe shall thenWith blood usurp the Lyon's Den.But death shall hurry him away,Confusion shall a while bear sway,Till Fate to England shall restoreA King to reign as heretofore,Who mercy and justice likewiseShall in his Empire exercise."

In another of her predictions she wrote:.. Carriages without horses shall go

And accidents fill the world with woe.Around the earth thoughts shall fly,In the twinkling of an eye.Through deepest hills men shall rideAnd no horse or ass be by their side.Under water men shall walkShall ride and sleep and talk,In the air men shall be seenIn white, in black and also green.Three times three shall lovely FranceBe led to play a bloody dance IBefore her people shall be freeThree tyrant rulers shall she seeThree times the people's hope is gone;

l»REDICTIONS VERIFIED 26']

Three rulers in succession seeEach from a different dynasty.Then shall the worser fight be doneEngland and France shall be as one.The British olive next shall twineIn marriage with the German vine."

The popularity of Mother Shipton's propheciesis proved by the fact that fifty-one differenteditions were published between the years 1641and 1881.

It is supposed she lived to a very old agebefore she died at Clifton, in Yorkshire. Atombstone marks her grave, bearing the following epitaph:

Here lyes she who never ly'dWhose skill often has been try'dHer Prophecies shall still surviveAnd ever keep her name alive."

CHAPTER XXII

CAN THE FUTURE BE FORESEEN?

An account oj predictions fulfilled. Death of Queen Victoria,King Edward VII, the Czar of Russia, Field MarshalLord Kitchener, Pope Pius X, King Humbert of Italy,the Shah 01 Persia, Joseph Chamberlain and Sir AustenChamberlain, Sir Lionel Phillips, Lord Pirie, etc. etc.

As many reviewers of my recently publishedMemoirs have in some articles asserted

that some of my predictions were not certifiedto before the events took place, I think it isin keeping with the trend of the present bookif I defend the study I have so long been associated with, by giving in these concluding pagessome account of predictions which refute theidea that they were not universally known beforethe events.

As I have retired from professional life, Icannot be accused of having II an axe to grind II

in making such matters public.I know that at least, in the majority of

cases, it is the general policy of reviewers todiscredit the idea that the II future" can betold in any way whatever. They seem to

268

CAN THE FUTURE BE FORESEEN? 269regard it as a sign of mental weakness to allowany admission of the truth underlying any formof occult studies to get into the columns theycontrol.

In their superior knowledge (?) they believethemselves to be the sole arbitrators of what thepublic who read their articles should believe.

If the proprietors of their journals shouldhappen to have some conventional idea ofreligion they take their clue from his, or her,views, and criticize in accordance.

It is rare indeed to come in contact with areally independent reviewer, a man or womanwho has the strength of his or her convictions,one who can afford to state plainly and honestlyfacts as they are, without giving them sometwist or bias tinged by their own ideas.

It would not be reasonable to expect that aneditor-say a zealous Churchman brought upin a narrow school of thought, let us supposeone antagonistic to spiritualism-eould allowthe columns of his paper to give an unbiasedreport of some account of spiritualistic phenomena. It would be contrary to humannature to expect such a thing.

Yet such an editor would not think it amissto publish some highly improbable story ofcures wrought by It holy relics" sent in bysome fanatical correspondent.


Knowing the prejudice that has existed forhundreds of years against the work that forthe past fifty years I have been associated with,it has been a surprise to me that my bookshave been so well reviewed by the press in allparts of the world.

In the name of my work I am deeply gratefulfor the way it has been received. It encouragesme to place on record in these pages an accountof how and when my various forecasts fornations and individuals have been borne out.

DEATH OF QUEEN VICTORIA

In the issue of the A merican Register andAnglo-Colonial World, published on July 26th,1900, which may be seen in the newspaperfiles of the British Museum, an account is givenof my prediction six months before the eventof Queen Victoria's illness in the followingDecember and her death in the early part of190 1.

KING EDWARD VII

As regards my predictions about KingEdward VII. My first interview with himtook place, as I have related in my Memoirs,·at the house of Lady Arthur Paget, when hewas Prince of Wales.

• .. Confessions: Memoirs of a Moderu Seer" (Jarrolds. Ltd.,Loudon).

CAN THE FUTURE BE FORESEEN? 271

At this interview I foretold that the end ofhis life would not come before his sixty-ninthyear, the Prince being then in his fifty-secondyear. This statement was therefore madeseventeen years before the event.

The Prince of Wales corroborated this hitnselfto the Princess de Montylyon in August, 1900.

When King Edward lay seriously ill inBuckingham Palace, in June, 1902, and hiscoronation fixed for June 26th postponed,Queen Alexandra sent for me to impress onthe King's mind that I had predicted yearspreviously that he would live to see his sixtyninth year. This interview was well known inLondon. King Edward was then in his sixtyfirst year when Queen Alexandra sent for meto come to Buckingham Palace.

THE LATE CZAR OF RUSSIA

In 1902 a London paper called M. A. P.(Mainly About People), published an accountsaying that: "On one of the Czar's visits toEngland he had learned from • Cheiro' thatwar would be fatal to him and his immediatefamily; hence his famous Peace Rescript."

In 1904, during one of my visits to St. Petersburg, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, MonsieurIsvolsky, arranged for me to dine with the Czarand himself at the Summer Palace at Peterhof.


On this occasion the Czar showed the Ministerand myself calculations I had made for himwhen he had visited me in London.

These calculations foretold that the mostfatal war Russia had ever been engaged inwould break out during the summer of 1914,ending in revolution and the fall of the Romanoffdynasty, etc.

These predictions were made, it will beobserved, many years before Russia's declarationof war with Germany in July, 1914.

LORD KITCHENER OF KHARTOUM

On July 21st, 1894, Lord Kitchener, or ashe was then Major-General Kitchener, receivedme at the War Office, and gave me the autographed impression of his hands that havesince been published in many of my books onthe study of the hand.

To my amazement, Major-General Kitchenerat that interview, told me that he had alreadyconsulted me several years before and that myprediction then II that he would be drownedat sea" had influenced him so much that hehad made himself an expert swimmer so thathe would escape being drowned if that couldbe possible.

He was then in his forty-fourth year, and aswe sat there in the War Office I mapped out

CAN TJlE FUTURE BE FORESEEN ? 273

for him the still higher positions that lay beforehim in his military career. At that momenthe had returned to England to tender hisresignation as Sirdar of the Egyptian Army onaccount of some hostile criticism from theBritish Government over what was called ''-TheAbbas Affair."

His strong-willed action a few weeks later wascompletely vindicated; his resignation was notaccepted; instead he was made a R.C.M.G. andreturned to Egypt with more authority thanbefore, and shortly after brought the EgyptianCampaign to a successful finish.

As we talked that afternoon of July 21st,1894, I showed him, by my calculations basedon astrology, that he would take on his shouldersin his sixty-fourth year (1914) a position ofresponsibility the greatest in all his career, buthow little either of us thought at that momentthat the position I indicated would be that ofCommander-in-Chief in the most terrible warthat England had ever been engaged in.

The part of the prediction that appeared tointerest him most was that I repeated my prevision that he would not meet with a soldier'sdeath, but would be drowned at sea in his sixtysixth year.

That this prediction made a deep impressionon his mind is borne out by an Exchange Tele

B


graph Company's message published in EnglishpaPers on June 19th, 1915, as follows:

" When Lord Kitchener arrived at the BritishFront he was met by Commandant de Balancourt, to whom he mentioned that a t JackJohnson' had dropped pretty close to him.t It did not alarm me,' said the Field-Marshal,t because I know I shall die at sea.' "

As everyone knows, Lord Kitchener wasdrowned in the disaster to the H.M.S. Hampshire off the coast of Scotland on the night ofJune 5th, 1916.

As Lord Kitchener was born on June 16th,1850, he was at his death within a few days ofentering his sixty-sixth year.

POPE PIUS X

I have already related in Chapter XVIII myprediction to His Eminence Cardinal Sartothat he was destined to occupy the Throne ofSt. Peter within two years of the date of ourmeeting.

KING HUMBERT OF ITALY

On April 29th, 1900, I was presented to KingHumbert of Italy, at the Quirinal Palace inRome, by Prince Borghase. In brief, theKing's only question to me was! "If it is

CAN THE FUTURE BE FORESEEN? ' 275possible, I Cheiro,' tell me the date of mydeath? "

The few months that lay between him andthe fatal day stood out clear and distinct in myoccult consciousness as I examined his chartof birth.

"Your Majesty," I answered, "in threemonths from now all the signs point to theend of your life."

He turned pale for a moment, then with asmile said: "eke sara sara" (" What is to bewill be ").

King Humbert was assassinated three monthslater by the anarchist Bresci at Monza, onJuly 29th, 1900.

Both of these predictions were circulated inRome by Prince Borghase and Prince Marco diColomna, who were present with me at theinterview mentioned.

THE ATTEMPT ON THE LIFE OF THE SHAH OF

PERSIA

While working out" danger years" of variouscrowned heads, I had noted that the fatal periodfor King Humbert of Italy coincided within afew days of one for Muzaffer-ed-Din, the Shahof Persia, at that moment the guest of the FrenchGovernment during the great Exhibition of 1900.

I had made the statement that if my system


of prediction proved correct in the case of KingHumbert, that about the same date the life ofthe Shah of Persia would also be in danger.

This was brought to the attention of Amines-Sultan, the Grand Vizier, who took up thematter so seriously that the moment the newsreached Paris of the assassination of the Kingof Italy, he went at once to Monsieur Lepine,the Chief of the Paris police, and on account ofmy prediction insisted on having a double guardof detectives to " shadow " his master whereverhe went.

It is a well-known fact, this extra guard savedlthe Shah's life when a few days later (August 4th)

son, the anarchist, attempted to breakthrough the guard and fire on the Shah.

The following day His Majesty Muzaffered-Din had me brought to the Palais desSouverains and rewarded me by the Order ofthe Lion and the Sun of Persia.

JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN AND HIS SON, SIR AUSTEN

The great " Joe" Chamberlain, one of themost famous statesmen in English politics, hadme meet him in his private room in the Houseof Commons on the morning of June 23rd,1894, to explain to him the meaning of the linesin his son Austen's hands. He wanted thisdone on account of the remarkable similarity

CAN THE FUTURE BE FORESEEN? 277of the lines on his own hands and those of hisson.

I explained to him that it was an exampleof heredity; that his son Austen would bedestined to follow a career parallel to his_ownin every way.

I predicted to him that his son would in hisParliamentary career even fill the same positionsthat he (Joseph Chamberlain) had occupied,such as Postmaster-General, Chancellor of theExchequer, Secretary of State and Leader of theHouse of Commons, but that as the lines on hishands, although lying in the same position,were not as heavily marked his personali~:

would not be as strong as his father's, but, ftall that, he would fill some of the highest'positions in Parliamentary life and reach thezenith of his career during the run of 1925.•

The hands of the father and son, as a remarkable example of heredity, were published in mywork, " Cheiro's Language of the Hand," as farback as 1894.

SIR LIONEL PHILLIPS AND A REMARKABLEPREDICTION

Toward the end of 1896, Sir Lionel Phillips,

• In 1925 he was unanimously elected Chairman of the International Conference at Geneva and received Knighthood from theKiDg.-(Eo.)


the South African millionaire, wrote in myvisitor's book the following words:

" Until I visited C Cheiro ' I had no conception that the secrets of one's life were imprinted on one's hands. To those who wouldconceal their history from the gaze of anyfellow-creature, I would say-avoid an interview with • Cheiro ' !

(Signed) LIONEL PHILLIPS."

In recent years, on one of his many visits toLondon, Sir Lionel asked me to come and see himat his house in Wilton Place. He wanted toshow me, he said, something of unusual interest.It was the notes he had jotted down of hisinterview in 1896. In these notes in his ownhandwriting was the prediction that he would,during the years 1899 and 1900, find the wholeof his financial interests in jeopardy owing toa war. (This was fulfilled by the outbreak ofthe Boer War in October, 1899, which closeddown the gold mines in Johannesburg.) Butthe prediction he had underlined was If a hairbreadth escape from death to occur in the springof 1914." Accompanying this note he hadwritten: H In April, 1914, as I left the Club inJohannesburg I was attacked in the streetwithout warning, by a man who fired a revolverthree times directly at me. I was badly


wounded; for nearly three weeks my life wasdespaired of. During conscious moments Ialways remembered ( Cheiro's' statement thatI would live to a ripe old age,"

A LETTER FROM LORD PIRIE

The man who built up the great shipbuildingfirm of Harland & Wolff's, Belfast, who becameits head, and later for his services to the Empirewas made a Peer of England, would naturallybe classed as a hard-headed, practical man, yetit was from such a man lone morning receivedthe following letter :

« Queen's Island,Belfast.

August 14th, 1899.« DEAR ( CHEIRO "

« I really feel constrained to tell you howmuch I enjoyed my interview with you onFriday last, and to hear so many facts respecting my past career from the lips of a perfectstranger was perfectly amazing.

« I was sceptical on the subject of theStudy of the Hand when I went to you, butyour sketch of my life from childhood untilnow was so wonderfully accurate, that I ambound to say I was thoroughly convinced Iwas wrong in my estimation of your work.


It In view of your having ~o distinctly statedon Friday that I was about to receive a greathonour, it is remarkable that I should havereceived a private intimation this morningthat I am to have the honorary degree ofLL.D. conferred on me by the Royal University of Ireland (Dublin)-a distinctionthat I shall regard as the greatest that hasbeen bestowed upon me.

It If you are passing through Belfast, Ihope you will give me the pleasure of showingyou round our works.

It Yours very truly,(Signed) W. J. PIRIE."

The following year I accepted his invitation.For over an hour he personally conducted meto every point of interest in those great shipyards of Harland & Wolff's with which he hadgrown up and which are famous the world over.

A few years later he was created Lord Pirie,and during his remarkable career he receivedsome of the highest honours that the King ornation could bestow.

In my recently published Memoirs * I havegiven many other examples of my predictionsbeing fulfilled to such well-known persons as

• •• ConfessiOD8: Memoirs of a Modern Seer" (Jarrold8, Ltd.,LondoD).


Oscar Wilde, the Duke of Newcastle, SarahBernhardt, Lord Russell of Killowen (Lord ChiefJustice of England), H.R.H. Princess Eulalie ofSpain, Prince Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleansand Pretender to the Throne of France, PrinceAlexis Karageorgevitch, Sir Ernest Shac:KJ.eton(the Antarctic explorer), Sir Edward MarshallHall, K.C., "Mark Twain," Mrs. Langtry,Melba, Calve, W. T. Stead, Mata Hari (thefamous woman spy), and others too numerousto mention here.

In my book entitled" Cheiro's World Predictions," published in 1926,* many statementswere made in print long before the events tookplace affecting nations in different parts of theglobe. This book is still in circulation, and thepredictions made in it are being fulfilled as theyears roll past.

As I have retired from professional work,these examples of predictions fulfilled are notgiven here to in any way advertise myself, butare in answer to reviewers of my books whothink "it is clever" to cavil at the idea thatthe future may be foreseen.

It would be impossible in a book of thisnature to quote from the thousands of lettersI have received of predictions being equallyfulfilled in the lives of more private individuals.

• Of Cheiro'. World Pnldictiona .. (Herbert Jenkins, Ltd., LondOll.).

282 :MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULnsTS

I, however, take this opportunity of thanking mynumerous correspondents for having gone to thetrouble of sending me accounts of their owncases.

Camille Flammarion has boldly stated, insome of his recent works, U the future can beforeseen and foretold by those who have aspecial gift in that direction." In his volumeentitled U Death and Its Mystery" he givesexamples he had collected from priests, doctors,lawyers and eminent people to prove thatII future events can undoubtedly be seen inadvance."

My own theory is that we have little if any,eal conception of the latent powers of themind. It is a side of study, as a rule neglectedon account of the prejudice against all suchthings as the development of intuition, instinctor clairvoyance. _

If therefore, after long practice, concentration and study I was able to develop anyone ofthese peculiar gifts, I think it only fair to givethe results of my experience to the public atlarge.

PART III

CHAPTER XXIII

-SOME OF THE FAMOUS ALCHEMISTS AND THEIR

SEARCH FOR THE /I ELIXIR OF LIFE" AND

TRANSMUTATION OF BASE METALS INTO GOLD

As Astrology is the Father of Astronomy, soAlchemy is the Mother of Chemistry.

The word /I Alchemy" is extremely ancient.It is derived from the Arabic at = the, andKimya = Chemistry. It may also be a derivation of the old Egyptian word Khemia, whichmeans /I the preparation of the black ore,"which was regarded as the active principal inthe transmutation of metals.

From a very distant period of time theEgyptians had the reputation of being skilledworkers in metals and from Greek writers weknow that they were well versed in the theoriesof transmutation, employing quicksilver in theprocess of separating gold and silver from thenative matrix, and they declared that the resulting oxide possessed marvellous powers containing within it the individualities of thevarious metals.

There grew up in Egypt the idea that magical285


powers existed in fluxes and alloys and sucha belief spread throughout Europe in connectionwith the bronze-working castes of its variousraces.

It is evident from researches that thisEgyptian tradition coming down through Alexandrian and Greek sources was the foundationon which the science of Alchemy became built.When the Mohammedans conquered Egypt theycarried on the researches left over by theirEgyptian predecessors, and through them theart was brought to Morocco and in the eighthcentury to Spain, where it took root in fertilesoil.

From the ninth century to the eleventh Spainb'ecame the chief centre of alchemical sciencefrom which it radiated to all parts of thecontinent of Europe.

The first practical alchemist is said to beGeber, the Arabian-who existed about A.D. 7207so-but from his writings it is safe toconclude that he drew from the sources of astill more ancient unbroken line of adepts wellversed in the art of alchemy.

One finds very little alterations in the formulasof the period between the seventh and seventeenth centuries which latter became the zenithof the theory and practice of the art. Awonderful unanimity of all searchers of the

SOME OF THE FAMOUS ALCHEMISTS 287

" great science " is shown by hermetic studentsof all past ages, even up to the presenttime.

The real object of alchemy was first and foremost the discovery of a process by which ba.c;emetals might be transmuted into silver andgold; secondly, the finding of the •• Elixir ofLife," and lastly the production of an artificialprocess for creating human life.

This later stage of research is mentioned inthe work of Parace1sus, who speaks of " Homunculas," an artificial man made by alchemistsand by himself. He states that " the needfulspagyric substances should be taken and shutup in a glass phial and afterwards placed todigest in a warm emulsion for a space of fortydays. At the end of this time there will besomething which will begin to move and livein the bottle. This something is a man, buta man who has no body and is transparent.Nevertheless, he exists, and nothing remainsbut to bring him up-which is not more difficultto do than to make him. You may accomplishit by daily feeding him, during forty weeks,with the arcanum of human blood. At theend of this time you shall have a veritableliving child, having every member as well proportioned as any infant born of a woman. Hewill only be much smaller than an ordinary


child and his physical education will requiremore care and attention."

The " Elixir of Life " was the pursuit of allalchemists, both the most ancient and the mostmodem. Resistance to the ravages of age andthe warding off of death has been the universalstudy common to all men and found in allnations.

Centuries before radium was discovered whoseemanations go on for thousands of years, thealchemists believed in the emanations of metalsin the mineral kingdom and from vegetablesin the vegetable kingdom.

As gold is the most perfect metallic substancethat exists and cannot be destroyed even byfire, one of their greatest searches was to producethe highest and purest form of the preciousmetal, and from it form a tincture or solutionthat would purify the blood from all microbesof disease.

There is considerable evidence that the ancientalchemists of Egypt were able to produce thistincture. The great Cagliostro, who studiedmagic among the Pyramids, was credited withthe power of making an .. Elixir of Life" bywhich he performed many of his miraculouscures. In some of his memoirs it is stated thatthe elixir he employed was made out of thetincture of gold with some essences of vegetables


added to it of which he alone knew the secret.This potion he himself called "The Wine ofEgypt."

Many medical men in the present day admitthat if pure gold in solution could be introduc..edinto the blood it would be a cure for all diseasebut, alas! how to make such a tincture of goldappears to be a lost art.

In spite of the great advances made by medicalscience in recent years, there are still manysecrets of life that remain unsolved. It maybe that the present run of doctors are so hedgedaround by the rules and regulations of theuniversities to which they owe their trainingthat they are forced to follow a beaten tractfor fear of being deemed unconventional anddamned by what is called " medical etiquette."

During my career in London I knew veryintimately a Greek doctor who. although thepossessor of high Continental degrees, wouldnever take out an English one, for the reasonthat if he did he would be obliged to conformto such strict "medical etiquette" that hewould not be at liberty to carry out the experiments he had at heart.

This man was not a believer in ordinarymedical formulas; his chief aids in the manyremarkable cures he made was the employmentof gold and the electric current. I have seen

T ~


him by the use of enormously high voltagedissolve gold into a gas and pass it into anypart of the body he willed.

In hundreds of cases he arrested hremorrhageof the lungs by, practically speaking, plating

, the bleeding cells with gold converted into agas and carried by the electric current into thelungs.

He was a master of electricity; he employedalmost unheard-of high voltage, but for fear ofany accident from some unforeseen cause takingplace he always intervened his own body insuch a way that he would lose his life and notthe patient.

And yet this remarkable man was called aII charlatan" by all the medical faculty inEngland, and he would have been run out ofthe country if his wellnigh miraculous cureshad not brought him the protection of themighty.

But to return to our middle century alchemists. It is conceded by all unbiased historiansthat as a class they represented the mostdeveloped intellects of whatever age in whichthey lived.

Many of their names stand out as stars oflight in the black firmament of superstition andreligious intolerance.

I need only quote a few. The Great Hermes


Trismegistus of Egypt; Geber the Arabian;on the Continent: Alain of Lisle; Arnold deVillanova; Nicholas Flamel; Van Helmont;Martini; Richthausen; Jacob Bohme; Paracelsus; Casanova; Benvenuto Cellini; AlbertusMagnus; Roger Bacon; Cagliostro; Agrippavon NettesheIm; Alexandre Akcakof; Countde Saint Germain; St. Thomas Aquinas;Eliphas Levi; Thomas Charnock; Dr. JohnDee; Elias Ashmole, founder of the famouslibrary at Oxford, and many others toonumerous to mention.

It is due to the patient researches of thesehighly intellectual men that our present scienceof Chemistry owes its origin.

CHAPTER XXIV

MORE ABOUT ALCHEMISTS WHO MADE GOLD

A LBERTUS MAGNUS was an intellectualgiant of the twelfth century. No less

than twenty-one folio volumes are accreditedto this famous alchemist. He is also consideredto have been the inventor of pistols and cannons,and his scientific attainments were acknowledged by the greatest men of his own time.

Michael Maier, the author of numerous workson alchemy, has declared that Albertus Magnussucceeded in making the Philosopher's Stonewhich before his death he gave to his distinguished pupil, St. Thomas Aquinas, whodestroyed the precious gift, believing its powerto come from the devil. Albertus Magnus himself declared in his work on Metals and Mineralsthat he had" personally tested some gold whichhad been made by an alchemist which resistedmany searching fusions."

A correspondent writing to the Liverpool Postof November 28th, 1907, gives an interestingaccount of an Egyptian alchemist he had metin Cairo. He goes on to say: "This man

292

ALCHEMISTS WHO MADB GOLD 293received me in his private house in the nativequarter. Clad in the flowing robes of a graduateof AI Azhar, his long grey beard giving him atruly venerable aspect, the sage by the far-awayexpression of his eyes, betrayed the mind ofthe dreamer, of the man lost to the meanercomforts of the world in his devotion to thesecret mysteries of the universe.

" After the customary salaams, the learnedman informed me that he was seeking threethings-the Philosopher's Stone at whose touchall metal should become gold, the Elixir of Life,and the Universal Solvent which would dissolveall substances as water dissolves sugar; thelast, he assured me, had indeed been discovereda short time before.

" I was well aware of the reluctance of themedieval alchemists to divulge their secretsbelieving as they did that the possession ofthem by the vulgar would bring about ruin ofstates and the fall of kingdoms, and I fearedthat the reluctance of the modem alchemistto divulge any secrets to a stranger and aforeigner would be no less.

" However, I drew from my pocket SirWilliam Crookes's spinthariscope, a small boxcontaining a particle of radium highly magnified, and showed it to the Sheikh.

H When he beheld the wonderful phenomenon

294 MYSTERIES OF WORLD·S GREATEST OCCULTISTS

of this dark speck flashing out its fiery needleson all sides, he was in wonder, and when Iassured him that it would retain this propertyfor a thousand years he hailed me as a' fellowworker and as one who had indeed penetratedinto the secrets of the world. His reticencedisapPeared at once. and he began to tell me theaims and methods of alchemical research whichwas the same as those of the ancient alchemistsof yore.

II The next day I was granted the unusualprivilege of inspecting the Sheikh's laboratory,and I duly presented myself at the appointedtime.

II My highest expectations were fulfilled;everything was exactly what an alchemisfslaboratory should be, the sage surrounded byhis retorts. alembics, crucibles. furnace andbellows, and. best of all, supported by assistantsof gnome-like appearance squatting on theground. one blowing the fire (a task to be performed daily for six hours continuously), onepounding substances in a mortar and anotherseemingly engaged in doing odd jobs.

II After satisfying my curiosity in a generalway, I asked the sage to explain the principlesof his researches and to tell me on what histheories were based.

If He explained that all metals are debased

ALCHEMISTS WHO MADE GOLD 295forms of the original gold, which is the onlypure, non-composite metal; that all naturestrives to return to its original purity, and allmetals would return to gold if they could.

U 'Nature is simple" he said, 'and ..notcomplex, and works upon one principle, namely,that of sexual reproduction.' "

M. Figuier, in his work, U L'Achimie et lesAlchimistes," relates a remarkable meeting hehad with a modem young alchemist whoseviews he considered were worth quoting atlength.

" Gold," this modem alchemist said, "hasthree distinct properties. First, that of resolving the baser metals into itself and interchanging and metamorphosing all metals intoone another.

"Second, the curing of affiictions and theprolongation of life.

" Third, as a spiritus mundi to bring mankindinto rapport with the supermundane spheres."

Continuing, the young man went on to say:U The object of modem alchemy might bereduced to the search for a substance havingthe power to transform and transmute allother substances one into another-in short,to discover that medium so well known to thealchemists of old and lost to us.

" In the four principal substances of oxygen,


hydrogen, carbon and azote, we have thetet1'actus of Pythagoras and the tet1'ag1'am of theChaldeans and Egyptians. All the sixty elements are referable to these original four.

It The ancient alchemical theory establishedthe fact that all the metals are the same intheir composition, that all are formed fromsulphur and mercury, and that the differencebetween them is according to the proportionof thei>e substances in their composition.

C( Further, all the products of minerals presentin their composition complete identity withthose substances most opposed to them. Thus,fulminating acids contains precisely the samequantity of carbon, oxygen and azote ascyanic acid, and I cyanhydic' acid does notdiffer from formate ammoniac. This newproperty of matter is known as I isomerism.' "

He went on to say: C( If the theory of isomerism can apply to such bodies, the transmutation of metals ceases to be a wild impracticaldream and becomes a scientific possibility, thetransformation being brought about by a molecular rearrangement.

It Isomerism can be established in the caseof compound substances by chemical analysis,showing the identity of their constituent parts.~ Il In the case of metals, it can be proved

.by the comparison of the properties of isomeric

ALCHEMISTS WHO MADE GOLD 297bodies with the properties of metals in orderto discover whether they have any commoncharacteristics.

It Such experiments." he went on to say.II had been conducted by M. Dumas. a wellknown French chemist, with the result thatisomeric substances were found to have equalequivalents. or equivalents which were exactmultiples one of another. This characteristicis also a feature of metals. Gold and osmiumhave identical equivalents, as have platinumand iridium.

II The equivalent of cobalt is almost the sameas that of nickel, and the semi-equivalent oftin is equal to the equivalent of the two preceding metals. JJ

In my recently published Memoirs, It Confessions of a Modern Seer."· I have related atsome considerable length my own experienceswith a chemist who actually made gold froma mixture of various clays, and who receivedfrom the United States Government Mint inWashington as high a price for the gold he sentin as any that had ever been paid for the preciousmetal from the famous gold mines of California.

In the same chapter in that book I gave anaccount of an interview in the World Magazine

• "Memoirs: Confessions of a Modern Seer." By .. Cheiro."Jarrolds. Ltd.• London.

29S MYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULTI!?TS

of June 26th, 1916, with Rudolph M. Hunter,of Philadelphia-a man who ranks third afterEdison among the great patentees of the world,a recognized scientist, with a world-wide reputation, who declared: II I can manufacturegold not only from baser metals, but fromcommon mineral substances, such as stone:'

CHAPTER XXV

STRANGE STORIES FROM THE ALCHEMISTS

THERE are many strange stories to befound in the records of Thomas' Aquinas.

who after his death was canonized by Romeand whose name has since descended to posterityas St. Thomas Aquinas.

This man was undoubtedly one of the greatestscholars of his age. He received the foundationof his education from the monks of MonteCassino and later in the University of Naples.

Against the wishes of his family, who wereof high noble descent, he joined the Societyof Preaching Friars, or Dominicans, when onlyseventeen years of age.

His mother, being indignant at his takinga vow of poverty, did everything in her powerto alter his decision, but to no purpose. TheFriars, in order to get him away from herappeals, took him to various cities in Italy,and finally to Rome. His devoted motherfollowed him through all these changes ofresidence. but was never permitted to see himagain.

3ot> KYSTERIES OF WORLD'S GREATEST OCCULnSTS

His two elder brothers on one occasionw~wdmmonmsro~toP~,~~e~

was going to complete his education, andconfined him for two years in the castle ofAguino, where he had been born. In someway, however, he managed to send a communication to the superiors of his order, andfinally escaped from a window in the castle.

Later on he became a pupil of the greatalchemist, Albertus Magnus, and learned manysecrets of magic from him, the most importantbeing the secret of making gold from the basermetals.

It is also related that he broke to pieces aman made of brass that Albertus Magnus hadspent thirty years in perfecting. He smashedit, it is said, .. Because the image would notcease talking and interrupted his studies."

On another occasion, when his laboratorywas situated in a large thoroughfare wheregrooms exercised their horses, he determinedto put an end to their continual noise. Forthis purpose he made use of his knowledge ofmagic to construct a small horse of brass,which he buried in the centre of the highway.From the moment he did this, it is stated, nohorse would pass down the road. It was invain the grooms tried by whip, spur, or coaxingto force the animals to conquer their reluctance ;

STRANGE STORIES FROM THE ALCHEMISTS 301

in the end they had to give in and leave thethoroughfare to St. Thomas.

THE LEGEND OF KING ARTHUR

The history of King Arthur is closely associated with the occult. We find him connectedwith one of the greatest names of magiciansof early English times, namely, that of Merlinthe Enchanter.

From Merlin, King Arthur is credited withhaving received excellent counsel, both magicaland otherwise. It was supposed he was withthe King when he received his magic swordExcalibur, which endowed him with power andinvulnerability.

Glastonbury, in Somerset, even in the earliestdays, became famous for its association withKing Arthur's Court and the Round Table.

The ruins of the famous Abbey are the mostpicturesque and largest in England, and dateback to the reported arrival of Joseph of Arimathcea, who was sent to Britain by St. Philip.It is said that Joseph received a small islandin Somersetshire, where he "constructed withtwisted twigs" the first Christian church inEngland, which afterwards became the greatAbbey of Glastonbury.

A legend states that Joseph of Arimathcea


planted his staff in the ground, which becamea thorn flowering twice a year, at Christmasand on Good Friday, the reason given for thisbeing that Joseph's staff had originally beenpart of the thorn bush from which the II Crownof Thoms" had been made.

In the New Testament it is stated thatJoseph of Arimathrea was a wealthy Jew whohad been converted by the Christ, and whoafter the Crucifixion went to Pilate and askedfor the body of Jesus, that he subsequentlyprepared it for burial, and placed it in his owntomb. In the Gospel of Peter he is describedas a II friend of Pilate and of the Lord."

It is from the annals of Glastonbury Abbeythat comes the beautiful story of II The Questof the Holy Grail," a chalice of the Last Supper,in which Joseph of Arlmathrea put the bloodfrom the wounds of the crucified Saviour andcarried it with him to Glastonbury.

CHAPTER XXVI

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF GILLES DE LAVAL,

THE MAN WHO MADE A COMPACT WITH THE DEVIL

DE LAVAL, Lord of Raiz andU Marshal of France, was born about theyear 1420 of one of the richest and noblestfamilies of Brittany.

In his twentieth year his father died and hebecame possessed of unlimited power and greatwealth.

At his father's death he inherited no less thanfifteen domains worthy of any prince, whichbrought him in an income of three hundredthousand pounds per year.

Everything promised for him a brilliant andillustrious career instead of the terrible historyof crime which enveloped him before theend.

At the outset of his life he did nothing tojustify an evil augury. He served with gallantryand success in the wars of Charles VI againstthe English and fought under Joan of Arc inthe never-to-be-forgotten Siege of Orleans. Hiscourage on the field of battle was so great that

30J


he received from the King himself the highposition of Marshal of France.

From this point his destiny tended downwarduntil it ended in an ignominous death at thehands of the public executioner.

Retiring from the Court at an early age, hewent back to his Chateau of Champtoce inProvence and immediately indulged in a life ofsumptuous luxury and extravagance almostimpossible to describe.

Two hundred horsemen accompanied himwherever he went, while his train of followersin his hunting expeditions exceeded in magnificence even that of the King himself.

His retainers were dressed in the richestapparel embroidered with pure gold, while hishorses were caprisoned with the most elaboratetrappings that could be obtained.

Day and night the gates of his castle stoodopen to all comers, an ox, a sheep and a pigwere roasted whole each day, together withpoultry, sufficient to feed five hundred persons,together with a sumptuous allowance of wineand beer.

He carried the same love of pomp into hisreligious devotions, he had a bishop for hispersonal chaplain, a dean, a chanter, two archdeacons, four vicars, twelve assistant chaplainsand eight choristers in his ecclesiastical

THE STORY OF GILLES DE LAVAL 3Q5

establishment" all of them being provided withhorses and servants and dressed in the mostcostly garments of scarlet velvet and richfurs.

Every vessel or crucifix in his chapel wasmade of gold and had to be transported withhim wherever he went, together with manyorgans, each carried by six men.

In his chateau he maintained a choir oftwenty-five young children of both sexes andcaused them to be taught music by the bestmasters of the day. He also supported fiftycomedians, fifty dancers and fifty jugglers, andevery hour was filled with some sensualgratification or voluptuous amusement.

Such was the life of the young lord of Raizwhen he took for his wife Catherine, the heiressof the noble family of Thouars, which eventgave him a fresh occasion of displaying hisinsane passion for luxurious pomp and ceremony.

As Lord of Raiz he gave the most sumptuousbanquets in all France, guests came from allparts of Europe to witness his tournaments,and it is said they did not know which to admiremost, his skill in knightly games or his profounderudition.

A few months after his marriage he lockedup his beautiful young wife in one of the towersof the castle where not even her closest relations

u


were allowed to see her or hold communicationwith her in any way whatsoever.

At last his enormous income began to feelthe strain of his extravagance, and in orderto obtain money for his expenditures he wascompelled to sell one domain after the otheruntil the King passed an edict forbidding himto sell the remainder of his estates.

Gilles de Laval could not retrench, he couldnot live in diminished splendour. Money therefore became the one necessity of his life, and toobtain it he set himself out to become analchemist and produce gold from the basermetals.

Messengers were sent by him to Italy, Austria,Germany and Spain to the principal adepts ofAlchemy to come as soon as possible to theChateau of Champtoce.

Among those who came was an alchemist ofPadua named Prelati who remained with himto the end. On the advice of this man, Gillesde Laval built a magnificent laboratory fittedup with every apparatus necessary for researchwork.

Joined by other adepts, for more than twelvemonths the search went on for the " Philosopher's Stone," more than a thousand chemicalcombinations were tried, one after the other, acertain amount of gold it appears was made,

THE STORY OF' GILLES DE LAVAL 307

but in such small quantities that the expensewas helping to exhaust the Marshal's alreadydepleted treasury.

The Lord of Raiz became impatient; hewanted wealth but he wanted it immediately.At this stage Prelati, who had completelygained his confidence, whispered to him ofquicker and bolder methods of obtaining resultsdesired if he had the daring to follow Prelati'splans.

Gilles de Laval agreed, he immediately dismissed all the inferior adepts and put himselfin the hands of his tempter to do with him ashe wished.

Prelati's suggestion was that if his masterwould sign a contract in his own blood withthe Devil, his Supreme Majesty would grantall his wishes and show him where treasures ofgold were concealed.

That very night, in the now deserted laboratory, Prelati conducted a pretended seance, atwhich he caused the Devil to appear in theform of a handsome youth of about twenty-oneyears of age.

In this guise, the Devil reproached the Lordof Raiz with having squandered his fortune onsumptuous entertainments for the enjoymentof others and to satisfy his own vanity, whenhe might have employed his money in more


sinful ways. In fact, the Devil told himplainly that wicked as he was, he had not yetreached the state of depravity that would makehim eligible as a suitable companion for theLord of the lower world.

U I will place you in a stage of probation forseven months," his Majesty haughtily said.Ie If at the end of that period you have fulfilledall my desires I will lead you to a treasure cavethat is filled from floor to ceiling with ingots ofgold."

The Lord of Raiz pleaded that seven monthswas a long time to wait, that he was already indebt and at the end of his resources.

The Devil only laughed and answered, " Thathe could get still deeper in debt," and suggested" that he should ignore the King's edict andmortgage the remainder of his land."

u You will want riches," the Devil sneered,.. if you are to prove yourself a fit companionfor me-virtue costs money, you will have tobuy it at any price. Parents sell their daughtersat the highest figure they can get. My Kingdomhas plenty of old hags, most of them harlots,but I want the souls of young girls and as manyvirgins as possible. With your lordly appearance you can be extremely useful to my plans,but you must have no scruples in carryingthem out.

THE STORY OF GILLES DE LAVAL 309H Think of the voluptuous pleasures lying

ahead of you for the next seven months, theraiding of some village at the head of yourhorsemen every night, the seizing of a virgin,the bearing of her in triumph to your castleand the breaking of her in to do your bidding.

H Do not fear that you will become satiated,I promise I will put into your mind ideas oflust, cruelty and crime that have never yetbeen conceived. Seven months will be all tooshort for you and at the end of that time thinkof the ingots of gold I have promised to giveyou."

The Lord of Raiz did think, it was perhapsthe gold that tempted him the most, to thosewho have had wealth and lost it, the madnessto regain it is the worst hell of all.

Gilles de Laval signed the contract that nightwith his own blood, taken from his left breast.

The next night the Devil again appeared inthe guise of a young man, horses were broughtround, he rode the most spirited one by the sideof his slave.

A village was raided, a dozen girls wereseized, thrown across the backs of the horsesthey were carried into the Castle; they passedthrough every indignity that was possible;ten of them committed suicide and the Devillaughed at a good night's work.


From that out the iniquities committed inthe Chateau de Champtoce became indescribable.Gilles de Laval became a madman in the pursuitof cruelty and vice. One of his favouritepastimes was to suspend a naked girl by a cordof silk round her neck, her feet resting on thetop of wooden steps to which he attached arope. He placed a sharp sword in the girl'sright hand, telling her that at a given momentwhen he jerked the steps from her feet, shecould, if she was quick enough by a swing of thesword over her head, cut the silken cord andsave her life.

Some girls succeeded in passing this ordeal,but many failed, as was proved by the numberof their corpses found in the dungeons of thecastle when Gilles de Laval was in the endarrested.

Reports say that towards the end of theseventh month, the Devil became more andmore exigent. He insisted that the It BlackMass II had to be performed every night attwelve and that more and more victims, bothboys and girls, be brought into the castle neverto leave it again.

The last week of the seventh month wascoming to a close when the Devil demandedfrom the Lord of Raiz the greatest test of all, afew nights previously he had brought him to

THE STORY OF GILLES DE LAVAL 311

the centre of the forest about a mile from thechateau and showed him a cave made of slabsof stone which he promised would tum intoingots of gold on the last hour of his probation,provided he passed the supreme test of faith.

Briefly, it was that he should find a womanabout to be delivered of a child, that he wouldkill the mother, take the living child from herwomb and sacrifice it at the end of the (I BlackMass" at the climax of his probation.

Circumstances favoured this diabolical planbeing brought to completion in the followingway:

His beautiful wife, Catherine, was comingto the last stages of her pregnancy when herlord and master informed her that with Prelatihe was leaving for a pilgrimage to Rome, buthe would allow her sister Anne to come to hertower-prison and remain with her until hisreturn.

That night, alone in the castle, the two ladiesbegan talking of the strange rumours that werebeing circulated, of girls having been stolenfrom villages and boys and girls seen to enterthe chateau never to be heard of again.

As the Lord of Raiz was absent, their woman'scuriosity prompted the two sisters to explorethe underground chambers of the castle towhich they had been forbidden to enter. In


doing this they came across an inner towerbuilt in such a way that it had no entrance fromthe outside walls.

Descending some steps, they came face toface with a heavy oak door which would havebarred their progress if the Lady of Raiz hadnot noticed a copper button in the centre thatseemed highly polished by constant use.

Pressing on this button the door swung backand they entered into what was apparently anunderground chapel.

To their horror they beheld all the objectsof sacred worship in a reverse position to whatthey would be in a regular chapel. The HolyCross stood upside down with the naked bodyof a woman nailed to it head downwards, whileon the slab of black marble that did duty forthe High Altar the body of a boy lay stretchedwith the left side open and the heart cut out.

The Lady of Raiz would have fallen in aswoon, if at that moment she had not heard theclang of the outer bell announcing that herhusband had returned and was entering thegates.

Her sister Anne, in indescribable fright.rushed out of the chapel and fled up the stairsuntil she reached the roof of the outer terrace.Once there she tore off her white robe andwaved it in the moonlight. hoping to attract


the attention of some horsemen riding past.As fate should have it the two cavaliers at thehead of the troop, happened to be her ownbrothers who hearing that the Lord of Raizhad gone on a pilgrimage to Rome were comingto visit her and Madame de Raiz.

Meanwhile downstairs in the chapel a terriblescene was taking place. Gilles de Laval withPrelati had entered.

Dragging Madame de Raiz out of a mockconfessional box in which she had hidden,Prelati whispered in his master's ear, "TheDevil's last order to you was, find a pregnantwoman about to be delivered of a child, takethe living child from her womb and sacrifice itunder the Cross. Behold he has sent you thewoman, it is the last hour of the seventh monthof your probation - do not hesitate - butact."

The Lord of Raiz drew his sword; he wasabout to kill the unfortunate woman beforehim, when her brothers rushed in and knockedthe sword from his hand.

Gilles de Laval and his accomplice Prelatiwere brought to trial before a commission composed of the Bishop of Nantes, Chancellor ofBrittany, the Vicar of the Inquisition andPierre l'Hopital, President of the Provenc;alParliament.


De Raiz was accused of sorcery, black magicand murder. At first he displayed the mostabsolute coolness and disdain of the court, butthe overwhelming evidence brought againsthim, together with the revelations made byPrelati and his servants of his sacrifices of youngchildren for the supposed gratification of theDevil, this horrible tale as it unfolded day byday of the black record of his enormities shookeven his courage so that in the end he confessedeverything.

The blood-stained chronicle showed thatover one hundred children had fallen victimsto this madman and his insane greed forgold.

Both De Raiz and Prelati were sentenced tobe burned alive, but in consideration of hisrank as Marshal of France, De Raiz wasstrangled before he was given over to theflames.

As he mounted the scaffold with a hideousassumption of religious faith, he called toPrelati, II Farewell, dear friend, in this worldwe shall never meet again, but let us rest ourhopes in God-that we shall see each other inParadise."

The ChAteau de Champtoce stands to-.day inruins in its beautiful valley. As women passin the distance they cross themselves in dread-


as men pass they curse the Lord of Raiz forthe grief and sorrow he brought to so manyhomes.

So ends the story of Gilles de Laval.

FINIS

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