Another theory concerning talismans which commended itself to many of the old occult philosophers, PARACELSUS for instance, is what may be called the "occult force" theory. This theory assumes the existence of an occult mental force, a force capable of being exerted by the human will, apart from its usual mode of operation by means of the body. It was believed to be possible to concentrate this mental energy and infuse it into some suitable medium, with the production of a talisman, which was thus regarded as a sort of accumulator for mental energy.
The theory seems a fantastic one to modern thought, though, in view of the many startling phenomena brought to light by psychical research, it is not advisable to be too positive regarding the limitations of the powers of the human mind. However, I think we shall find the element of truth in the otherwise absurd belief in talismans by means of what may be called, not altogether fancifully perhaps, a transcendental interpretation of this "occult force" theory.
I suggest, that is, that when a believer makes a talisman, the transference of the occult energy is ideal, not actual;that the power, believed to reside in the talisman itself, is the power due to the reflex action of the believer's mind.
The power of what transcendentalists call "the imagination"cannot be denied; for example, no one can deny that a man with a firm conviction that such a success will be achieved by him, or such a danger avoided, will be far more likely to gain his desire, other conditions being equal, than one of a pessimistic turn of mind.
The mere conviction itself is a factor in success, or a factor in failure, according to its nature; and it seems likely that herein will be found a true explanation of the effects believed to be due to the power of the talisman.
On the other hand, however, we must beware of the exaggerations into which certain schools of thought have fallen in their estimates of the powers of the imagination. These exaggerations are particularly marked in the views which are held by many nowadays with regard to "faith-healing," although the "Christian Scientists"get out of the difficulty--at least to their own satisfaction--by ascribing their alleged cures to the Power of the Divine Mind, and not to the power of the individual mind.
Of course the real question involved in this "transcendental theory of talismans" as I may, perhaps, call it, is that of the operation of incarnate spirit on the plane of matter.
This operation takes place only through the medium of the nervous system, and it has been suggested,[1] to avoid any violation of the law of the conservation of energy, that it is effected, not by the transference, as is sometimes supposed, of energy from the spiritual to the material plane, but merely by means of directive control over the expenditure of energy derived by the body from purely physical sources, _e.g_. the latent chemical energy bound up in the food eaten and the oxygen breathed.
[1] _Cf_ Sir OLIVER LODGE: _Life and Matter_ (1907), especially chap.
ix.; and W. HIBBERT, F.I.C.: _Life and Energy_ (1904).
I am not sure that this theory really avoids the difficulty which it is intended to obviate;[1] but it is at least an interesting one, and at any rate there may be modes in which the body, under the directive control of the spirit, may expend energy derived from the material plane, of which we know little or nothing.
We have the testimony of many eminent authorities[2] to the phenomenon of the movement of physical objects without contact at spiritistic seances.
It seems to me that the introduction of discarnate intelligences to explain this phenomenon is somewhat gratuitous--the psychic phenomena which yield evidence of the survival of human personality after bodily death are of a different character. For if we suppose this particular phenomenon to be due to discarnate spirits, we must, in view of what has been said concerning "mediums," conclude that the movements in question are not produced by these spirits DIRECTLY, but through and by means of the nervous system of the medium present.
Evidently, therefore, the means for the production of the phenomenon reside in the human nervous system (or, at any rate, in the peculiar nervous system of "mediums"), and all that is lacking is intelligence or initiative to use these means. This intelligence or initiative can surely be as well supplied by the sub-consciousness as by a discarnate intelligence. Consequently, it does not seem unreasonable to suppose that equally remarkable phenomena may have been produced by the aid of talismans in the days when these were believed in, and may be produced to-day, if one has sufficient faith--that is to say, produced by man when in the peculiar condition of mind brought about by the intense belief in the power of a talisman.
And here it should be noted that the term "talisman" may be applied to any object (or doctrine) that is believed to possess peculiar power or efficacy. In this fact, I think, is to be found the peculiar danger of erroneous doctrines which promise extraordinary benefits, here and now on the material plane, to such as believe in them.
Remarkable results may follow an intense belief in such doctrines, which, whilst having no connection whatever with their accuracy, being proportional only to the intensity with which they are held, cannot do otherwise than confirm the believer in the validity of his beliefs, though these may be in every way highly fantastic and erroneous.
Both the Roman Catholic, therefore, and the Buddhist may admit many of the marvels attributed to the relics of each other's saints;though, in denying that these marvels prove the accuracy of each other's religious doctrines, each should remember that the same is true of his own.
