THE RIDDLE OF THE FUTURE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 3684, 20 November 1912, Page 8

THE RIDDLE OF THE FUTURE.

CURIOUS FACTS ABOUT FOR-TUNE-TELLING. / The latest attempt of the police to suppress fortune-tailing gives point to the following article by Mr. Julius Zancig, who, it will be remembered, in conjunction with Mrs Zancig, nearly six years ago amazed the scientists and the general public alike by extraordinary feats of thought-reading. Let mo tell vour fortune! Tho invitation has always proved’ an irresistible attraction. The most sceptical, the least imaginative, the utterly unsuperstitious person is as curiously fascinated by the jrossible revelation of tho UNKNOWN as the credulous girl who imagines she may obtain some ocmilt glimpse of future events by consulting a “fortune-tel-ler,” whether -gipsy, palmist, or tho aspiring amateur whose efforts are so greatly in demand at every bazaar or charity fete.

Humanity has ever been credulous, and to the end of time the fortuneteller. whether charlatan or expert, will continue to attract the multitude. A great deal has been written lately us to the l-ona (ides or otherwise of the hundreds of so-called jrrofessors of palmistry and of crystal-gazers, sandgazers, phrenologists, clairvoyants, and’ tlm like. One great dailv journal within the last few weeks organised a systematic inquiry into tho methods of these diviners of the future, hut it seemed t‘o the writer a. half-hearted enterprise since it left the matter much as it was and achieved no definite result, except to prove that a few made nlansihle puo«sos at the- past and signally failed in foro'-asting the future.

We ore told that “fortune-telling” is Illegal, and we have seen that some of its professors have lately been haled before* the maie-st.y of +he hiw. It is therefore souiowhat difficult to understand bow it is that so many alluring advertisements continue to appear in magazines and newspapers, and that , on anv d«v in He week one mav count as many ns forty or fifty samhvichlioards nnnnnncjnix tlio mysterious nowm\s nt Professor or Madame P.kmk. or the fact that.l nekv ebanns. whatever thev mav bo. are distributer! free to all who desire to possess them. Now Ris tolerably obvious that most of these people are charlatans pure and simple, but it does not follow that tlmre are no genuine mediums. Granted 1 there are. how is one to discover the fact? You may consult profeocior Blank and obtain a i -st, interestnm 1 reading. He mav f II von nemi’-ateh- of events that have r-.(-.ent.lv bnnppnod to vop. He mav even inform yep that something is about, to own r in your life whi'-h you have reason for believin'- will lm the C-asp. Dees this or eve him to bo a rrenpinh medium a ( Vrt ■> ntv not To ,in of f , nnr)*' i v:!nv PI tlio ]Y»ffn|vn-i* 1> ,rr>volf r'‘Vi-fiN mil'*!) r.?!f»Rlo<a +lv* <loi»io r,^t » wi l or fr> of + P’V'- I pAvt "]’-"1 i- : i fVo Avill f-*1 11+t-nrlv. Tlio tMu rh+ml Vuo'inv v-Pl c*nor TH«; T)rn N’oq r]jspni)pM*fofl floTioinur.* Inin. nnd so til o joimo ,<tpoq on •

TS THE PUBLIC TO BLAME? , Who is to blame for all this charlatanism? The public itself is certainly not free from reproach. So long as there are gullible people who arc ready with half-crowns or guineas in their packets as the case may be, the o-tepus tonta' les of the “FdrtunetMler” will he spread to receive them. There are mediums, however, whose clairvoyant powers enable them in discover much in the temperament of their consultants, and this, wisely interpreted enables them to offer advice of definite and sometimes of inestimable value. Even a lie has its foundation in truth. So if one will trace hack the present-day fortune-telling iniquity to its source one will find the prophets of old among its earliest delineators. From their profound wisdom, whether we rail it prophecy or divination, the spurious pretences of to-day are the degenerate offspring. In the Bible there are many references to fortune-telling, witchcraft, and seorship. and no fewer than 1.433 times does it speak of the human hand. Who can tell what forgotten arts may have been employed in those ancient days? Who knows but that the recent discovery of the human Aura may have been anticipated by the high intelligence of those remote ages? f ihc subtleties of thought transmission, the physical marvels of modern science, so new to us. and to so many still incomprehensible, may well have been included in the storehouse of their wisdom, and that which has been in the past exists to-day. Mind and matter are alike imperishable, hut wo live in an age of materialism and our eyes are blind to the -deeper mysteries of nature. Because the charlatan dominates and degrades a once occult art we condemn without discrimination or distinction the whole idea. There is, however, another side to the picture, hut to regard it from_ the right point of view one must divest oneself of preiudim' and survc'- it w : th an open mind. We must fov r, -ai the lures’ and triekew of' tlm .-><lveftn-ng specialist and the harm les wiles H Hie young lady of the charity bazaar, who. with an enthusisatic acrompli-e_to advise her of the intending visitors, manages to astonish them with great success. Wo can condemn or laugh mb those examples of harmful and harmless pretence and yet find iu lof-tuuo-tolMng much food for inquiry, spec n 1 a t ion an d astonish men t.

T ItUE FO RT iTNE-TELLIN G A BOON. An intelligent palmist or elairvoyont can confer incalculable benefits on mankind. No minister or spiritual guide lias greater power in influencing for good than. lie. _ Invested with power to road unmistakably the temperamental characteristics of another lie can warn and advise and olton avert sorrow and disaster. This, of course, only applies to the true clairvoyant. feuch a gift cannot be acquired by anyone. Though we all possess in a certain measure a crude instinct of divination, which under cultivation may be developed 1 to an astonishing' degree, the true psychic clairvoyant is a rarity. Doubtless there are many who possess tho gift in *a high degree, but who, not '.suspecting their power, have failed to mature it. There is another surprising factor which aids the clairvoyant in making liis mental diagnosis. This is the n,tmosphereie envelope surrounding each human body, which, although invisible to all but tho true clairvoyant, lias both color and density varying with tho individual temperamental qualities of its possessor. Space does not permit me to enlarge on thislatost wonder of scientific investigation which lias been authenticated and accepted 1 by the highest medical exponents of modern research. I mention it merely

to show how easily the little band of true clairvoyants can bo separated from the army of precautions imposters. ' TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC. Let the legitimate demonstrator ho examined by :i scientific committee and licensed, and an Act passed making it illegal for an unqualified person to practice, and the fortune-telling scandal would be at an end. As the matter stands now, the gullible will cc-rtainly he gulled. You can no more prevent a man or woman spending so many shillings on a Bond Street wizard than you can deny them the right to eat lobster and Welsh rarebit for supper. That is, so loyjg as the wizard is allowed to remain in Bond Street. Why not end him for good and ill ? The inquisitive instinct of men and women make it impossible that it should bo otherwise. Curiosity is, and always has been, a dominating influence. If there wore only a dozen people left on earth, ten of them would consult the two other.