society, and that whatever was beyond the sphere of tangibility and analysis was only treated with derision. And it was with a view (among other things) of dissipating these most destructive and equally unstable notions, that THE ASTROLOGER was first undertaken. We were indignant at the arrogance of that paltry philosophy which scorned all credence in the mystic truths that baffle our capacity for investigation, and, from their very immensity, defy association with the more common-place data of science; we were disgusted with the insolence with which this,do-isdom spurned the mysteries of a nobler world, while at the same time it stood confounded before the caplicable germination of an apple-pippin. We assented with enthusiasm to that observation of a profound tanker, that "the very force which sets a clock in motion is the hand of God;" we resolved to raise our voice arat this isy clamour of the rationalists, and to display, as much as such a task lay within the power of an individual, the frivolity and shallow assumption of such icy dogmas. Thus we have gained, as it were, enlargement of mental speculations from the very confinement and compression of the views entertained by these sceptics; we have culled pleasures from this lowliness of spirit in many of our fellow-creatures, in the same manner as Pindar is reported to have received nourishment from a swarm of bees when he was a mere child, and abandoned to starvation upon the mountains of Boeotia To inculcate these creeds of intellectual freedom, of divine beauty, and of exalted truth, among our readers, and to disseminate them by extension among mankind at large, have formed the plan upon which we have proceeded; to withdraw their minds from such cramped schools of cultivation, and to evolve before their enraptured gaze the splendours of an unseen realm, were the rewards which we pictured to ourself as the consequences of our undertaking. That such endeavours and such anticipations of success have been far from futile or visionary, is testified in numerous letters now in our possession, acknowledging, in the most fervent manner, the efficacy of our theories. We would have our previous accomplishments, however, regarded merely as a preliminary, and would wish the first volume of THE ASTROLOGER to be considered simply in the light of a precursor, and as the earnest of more strenuous exertions to scatter a love for the beautiful and good among our fellow-men. Far from these endeavours proving injurious to the cause of substantial erudition-far from their entering a pernicious rivalry with the absolute realities of science-they actually tend to an enlargement of these very sciences themselves, while they elucidate subjects not within the scope of the materialist and the utilitarian. As to any direct exposition of the truth of Astrology, we conceive that the contents of the present volume constitute an ample evidence of its accuracy, as well as of its magnificence; and on that ground any advocacy of its principle would, in this place, be more than superfluous. It is, moreover, needless to remark that a publication which affords gratuitous assistance, in the solution of horary questions, to all who are embarrassed as to the course they should adopt in any complication of their affairs, must be a boon of inestimable value to all classes of the community. Animated with cordial sentiments of obligation for the past and good-will for the future, the Astrologer submits the first portion of his work to the perusal of the public, with a hope that its spirit may fructify in the minds of his readers-to each of whom, individually, he begs leave to utter a grateful farewell, until, by the completion of another volume, he be again summoned from his seclusion. London, August 6, 1845. It is no argument against astrological influence to say that, because we are ignorant of how that influence operates, or in what it consists, there is no influence at all. It suffices for us to know that we can trace it in its effects--and the links between cause and effect are here so well established that even the most sceptical, on examination, cannot find room for doubt. If we disregarded everything that we did not understand, all pursuits tending to the elucidation of natural causes would be necessarily suspended. We see, daily, changes occurring in the vast laboratory of nature, which are deducible from no known laws, yet are the effects apparent; and to deny that the laws exist, would be to dispute our own existence. The experimentalist will reveal the marvellous powers of that extraordinary agent-doubtless the vital principle-which we have agreed to call Electricity, yet, when questioned as to the agent itself, he must confess there his knowledge ceases. Its effects are known, and that is all. New ton has taught, and reason has led us to believe in the exist ence of a power called gravitation, but what it is none have yet been able to decide. We believe the tides to arise from the attraction of the sun and moon, but of the nature of that. attraction we know nothing. The atmosphere is found to be principally composed of a gaseous fluid we have styled "Oxygen,” but there analyzation is baffled. Light travels at the rate of 192,000 miles in a second, but we can only detect its properties in their effect. We are conscious of possessing a power called memory-by what combination of matter is that faculty produced? Why can we recollect names and circumstances at one time and not at another? How often are we actuated by impulses which are not referable to any known causes? We retire to rest and dream, but what are dreams, and why do we dream at all? Nay, when we wake, may not that be really dreaming, and the shadowy existence we pass in sleep become our real life? These are problems which, in the present imperfect state of human knowledge, cannot be satisfactorily solved. The fact is, we are surrounded by a world of wonders, which, when we attempt to penetrate, dazzle and confound us. We may attain the threshold of knowledge, but there our footsteps are irrevocably barred; beyond all is doubt and conjecture. Why, then, should there be anything so incredible in planetary influence the oldest and best supported doctrine in the world? "Oh," say some of our opponents, "it leads to fatalism." With all due humility, we beg to reply it does nothing of the kind and the reasons why will be found fully detailed in our succeeding papers on that sublime study-astrology. "But," allege others, "had there been any certainty in the doctrine we should have had some proof of it before this." To which we answer, that proofs-incontrovertible evidence of the broad foundation of truth on which the science is based-are continually occurring, and any one who has compared the fulfilments with the predictions in those annual works devoted to the pursuit, will be conscious of this. The only enemies astrology has really to fear will be found in the unprincipled and unqualified adventurers, who, ignorant of the very rudiments of the art they pretend to profess, make it a mere cloak to serve their own mercenary ends. Of course a man who has devoted his life to a profession requiring severe and constant application, has a right to be remunerated for his labour when exercised for the benefit of others-with these we war not-but our remarks apply 'solely to the countless horde of soi-disant "fortune-tellers" who gain a dishonest subsistence by preying on the credulity of their victims. To show that he is at least disinterested in his love and veneration for the science, The Astrologer here announces that he will give the benefit of his art, free of all charge and cost whatever, to those amongst his correspondents who may feel really anxious and desirous to know the result of some particular event, and in so doing only looks for his reward in the conviction of truth which must be forced on the mind of the interrogator. The rest we leave our work itself to speak for us, having already somewhat exceeded the limits we had prescribed for this address. To one thing, however, we here stand pledged, that so long as we appear before the public, so long shall a fund of valuable information and innocent amusement be found in the pages of "THE ASTROLOGER." THE ART OF MESMERISING, WITH A FEW WORDS ON MESMERISM. "All these were when no mortal man did know, He wonder would much more-yet such to some appeare! THESE lines, as penned some three hundred and odd y years before the wonderful mesmeric revelations of Elizabeth Andrews, seem almost prophetic, for most truly do they shadow forth the marvellous visions with which that young lady has been favoured, and of which we shall have somewhat to say anon: The opponents of mesmerism have been gradually decreasing of late years, despite the senseless taunts and jeers by which its advocates have been met. Dr. Elliotson has contributed greatly to bring its incomprehensible principle to a science; and Spencer Hall, and other eminent lecturers, have well seconded his creditable intentions. The almost miraculous recovery of Miss Martineau, whose masculine mind and strong mental endowments preclude even the supposition of collusion, must have been a "heavy blow and great discouragement" to the set of Utilitarians, who would reduce the human intellect to the level of a steam-engine, with the workings of which they presume to be so intimately acquainted. The convalescence of this lady-who, so far from having a fervid imagination, has chiefly limited her authorship to works on political economy-has even induced the respectable conductor of the first weekly literary periodical in the kingdom to devote whole pages of his publication to a recital of the mesmeric operations by which the beneficial result was produced. The most bigoted scorner of mesmerism must here feel staggered by this unsought mass of evidence, which goes far to establish the truth of the doctrine that a sympathetic fluid exists between us all, so subtle and etherial, that our senses can only take cognizance of it in its effects. As we shall have occasion hereafter to detail the most recent examples of mesmeric influence, it will suffice here to merely allude to the above remarkable illustration, it now being merely our aim and purpose to show the nature of the operation itself, which can be easily tested by all who feel before elucidating the practice, it is our wish to be firmly disposed to make the experiment. But in one remonstrance, energetic-mesmerism is of too serious a nature to be trifled with, and should never be performed or submitted to by way of frolic, nor unless the operator has a competent knowledge of the physiology of the human system. With this precaution, the following mode may be adopted with safety. The operator LIFE AMONGST THE PLANETS; THE MOST WONDERFUL MESMERIC REVELATION YET RECORDED. WE are indebted to the able astrologer and eminent meteorologist, "Zadkiel," for the following most remarkable elucidation of the occult science, through the mesmeric trances of a young lady, whose real name we believe to be Elizabeth Andrews. The questions and replies here given, have such internal evidence of their truth, that we feel it would be only insulting our readers to detain them longer from a perusal by uncalled for prefatory remarks. The interrogation commenced as follows: should be in good health, and capable of concentrating his mind upon the subject for a considerable period, and his nervous power should be greater than that of the patient; facility of operation of course increasing with practice. All persons are more or less susceptible, some in the highest, others in the least degree, and there is every shade of susceptibility between the two extremes. When prepared to commence, the room should be perfectly quiet, and the patient seated in an easy chair, undisturbed by any surrounding influences. The mesmeriser may now stand before the patient, with his arms extended, so that the points of his fingers almost touch the forehead, then a regular succession of downward movements must be made, passing over the eyes, chest, and stomach; elosing the hand each time the downward movement is completed, and bringing them up again closed, which may be continued as long as the operator's strength will permit, or as it appears advisable. There are other approved methods, which, in some cases, may be more effectual-such as Dr. Elliotson's method, which is merely moving one hand briskly, with the fingers extended, down the face of the patient, coming nearly in contact, and terminating by pointing the fingers to the eyes; or, the operator may seat himself before the patient, and place his hands on his, the balls of their thumbs being in close contact, and their eyes being fixed on each other, the operator's eyes being of course actively, and the other's passively fixed. It should never be forgotten that the fixed gaze and accompanying manifestations are merely the instruments by which the mind operates to produce the effect, and not the power or force itself; in all cases, however, the will must be the chief care, as the operator should endeavour to transfuse his own mind into that of his patient. The mesmeric sleep is invariably produced, if all the above preliminaries have been duly attended to, at the third or fourth sitting; but the person mesmerised should be suffered to enjoy his earlier slumbers without interruption. For waking, or demesmerising, the operator must place his two thumbs on the inner side of the eye-ball, and, drawing them slowly outwards, press slightly on the eye as he passes over it, and then breathe or blow strongly on the eyes and forehead. This will arouse the dormant faculties, and cause the magnetic fluid to resume its original functions. The application of mesmeric influence to the cure of disease we hail as the greatest discovery of modern times, and in that capacity none should lose sight of its importance. The process of placing the operator and the patient en rapport so that the mesmerised can be made to discourse of objects and persons that are far distant, will furnish the subject of an interesting article in an early number. 66 "Will you look at the Nebula Præsepe, in Cancer?' 'O, it is very large; and there are many worlds and suns; and the people look in some as if they were newly created. They are not many; and have never sinned, and are pure and happy, like angels. In others they have sinned, and are numerous; and they have a kind of railroads; but they have things better than our steam engines on them. It is a very large system of suns and worlds.' 'Will you look at the star called Dubhee, in the Great Bear?' 'Yes; I see it: it is a sun; but not so large as Sirius. There are two, one smaller than the other. It has worlds and moons moving about it.' Will you look at the nebula which surrounds the star Theta, in Orion ?' 'You see that is a kind of imperfect system of worlds, being created by natural causes. There are mountains and animals, but not men yet. There are animals like goats, but without horns; and elephants also, but not exactly like ours. They have an imperfeet, dull light, caused by electricity, like the aurora, but little light from their sun; it is a red light, brighter in some parts than others. There is water, too; but not so much as on our earth; and some fish, but not many.' 'Will you look at the Pleiades, and tell me about them?" "Yes; there are a great many; above 100 I have looked at. O, how happy they are that Christ died for them! They are not so sinful as in this "Astro-world: at least some of the worlds are not. What we see are the "REASONS" AGAINST THE CELESTIAL SCIENCE. logy," say most of the objectors, "is false -because-becauseit cannot be true: because everybody disbelieves it-everybody laughs at it-because, it is seldom heard of-because, nobody studies it now: because-no person of sense thinks it worth his attention: because-in short-there are a thousand other more reasons (only I can't think of them)-because it's out of fashion!!" Prodigious! profoundly philosophical! and logically unanswerable! On whose cheek, candid reader, then, should the mantling blush of shame ne found -on the hardy asserter and glorifier of his own ignorance, or on his who humbly, patiently, sedulously, and inquiringly sets himself to learn "so to number his days, that he may apply his heart unto wisdom?" BELIEF AND UNBELIEF.-Your believer on principle will not believe even his own senses. Let a ghost appear unto him, he will relate the occurrence to his friends as a singular case of spectral illusion, and quote a passage from Abercrombie to show, forsooth, the analogy between dreams and spectral appearances. We may well echo the cry of a recent writer, though in a more sober spirit of seriousness-"What is a ghost to do now-a-days that he may be believed?" And now comes the more startling and conclusive question, which we find thus ably put by the same authority:-Is it not a more frightful thought that our own soul can people its environment with goblins and demons, than that such come near it from a sphere of their own? If we will not be afraid of ghosts have we not greater reason to be afraid of ourselves? To this has the march of "intellect" brought us. suns. I was particularly attracted by one man reading a book out of doors: he is an astrologer.' How do you know that?' I saw the book was about that. They are in a state of brotherhood there. They live out of doors now, for it is their summer; I saw the trees in blossom. Their houses are like the best of the Chinese rather. They can see our Sun, but not this earth.' 'Will you look at the Sun, and tell me whether it moves?' 'Yes, it moves in an ellipse; and is now moving towards the constellation Hercules. All the stars we see are suns, and they each move round a central body; and then these also partake of a universal motion around a centre, which is the more immediate dwelling place of the Divinity.' 'Does the Moon move round the Earth? No, it does not; for it moves along with the Earth around the Sun; and the Earth in the same way moves with the Sun around the central body; so that the Earth cannot be said to move round the Sun, strictly speaking.' Will you tell me who built the round towers of Ireland? Yes; they were not Irishmen; but they came from near Rome, and originally from Egypt; they were astrologers, who foresaw by their art that they should be well received in that island; and they built those towers for celestial observations, before the existence of Rome.' N.B. To farther questions she explained that these astrologers were some of the Israelites who left Egypt before the Exodus of Moses."" We shall continue these extracts as occasion occurs, merely adding here, that the most startling evidence of the truths of 1 mesmerism will shortly appear in the publication of a work wherein the authorised cases of clairvoyance will be collected, and given to our readers. A mass of irrefragable testimony will be thus brought to bear on the subject, which no doubts or incredulous cavillings can affect in the slightest degree. ANCIENT AND MODERN MAGICAL ILLUSIONS. THE art of magic amongst the ancients would appear to be the result of a science laboriously acquired, and with difficulty preserved. We are informed by one of the early writers that the first part of the magic amongst the Chaldeans was the knowledge of metals, plants, and minerals; and the second pointed out the times when the works of magic could be performed-that is to say, the precise moments when the stars were propitious for these necromantic exploits. That the ancient Magi were deeply skilled in natural philosophy and experimental science, the wonders they performed by ordinary means alone would fully prove. The thaumaturgists, or wonder-workers, in the ancient temples, were conversant with all our modern modes of optical illusion, and many even of which we are yet ignorant. They had mirrors which represented multiplied images, objects reversed, and, what appears to us still more surprising, objects could be placed before mirrors, and be reflected or not at the will of the magician. They regulated with wonderful adroitness the effects of light; the delicious gardens, the splendid palaces, and alluring prospects, which would suddenly start out of the darkness before the dazzled and bewildered spectator, are only explicable by supposing their knowledge of dioramic effects to be at least equal to that exhibited in the present day. The magician had the power of deluding the sight so as to render persons not only invisible, but also capable of re-appearing under another form. This fact, to which the Greek and Roman writers bear such unequivocal testimony, has been observed more recently in Mexico and Peru. The Naquals, national priests, have been known to take upon themselves frightful aspects, and have been seen to transform themselves into eagles, tigers, and monstrous serpents, before the very eyes of the astounded spectators; but the mode by which these strange transmogrifications were performed has never been satisfactorily explained. The power possessed by the Psylli to prevent the bites of serpents has been singularly shown by experiments made in Egypt within the last few years, and seems to have been gained by the employment of a perfume which influenced the reptiles, but did not affect the senses of man. The Scythian sorcerers possessed an herb, which was so exceedingly nutritious, that its effects operated on the system for a fortnight, and thus enabled them to exhibit the most marvellous abstinence. But without going so far back for examples, we may adduce the extraordinary and inexplicable achievements of the Brahmin and Chinese jugglers of our own day, who can, without any previous preparation, cause a stick, planted in the ground, to bear instantly blossoms which become fruit, and when taken by spectators are frequently transformed to fragrant flowers in their hand. So well authenticated are these mysterious conjurations, that we do not think a more acceptable article could be presented to the reader than one enumerating a few of the best confirmed instances of their singular dexterity, which we shall duly prepare for an early number. EXPERIENCES OF SUPERNATURAL VISITATION. THE following remarkable circumstance being of such recent occurrence, we select, from a host of others, to establish a position we shall afterwards endeavour to maintain. At the late sittings of the Grand Jury, in New Hampshire, North America, a person came before Judge Gore to enter a complaint for murder. As he had heard of no murder committed in that county, he looked at the complainant carefully, suspecting him to be insane. He was a young man of about five-and-twenty years of age, good-looking, intelligent, and well dressed. Perceiving the surprise of the attorney-general, he said to him,"I do not wonder at your astonishment; examine these papers. They were certificates of good character and perfect sanity, from a large number of the mos: respectable people in the town where he resided. He then proceeded to state his complaint, as follows:In the winter previous he had been hired to work by a farmer. Soon after he went to live with him, he heard strange noises in the cellar and rooms. At first he took little notice of them, but one night he distinctly heard a spinning wheel move in the cellar, and loud sounds in the entries, whilst the doors flew open as often as they were latched. The farmer merely laughed, and remarked, "They keep up quite a rumpus to-night." The next night he heard groans as he went out to feed the cattle, and bright lights gleamed in his bedroom, passing towards an old well that, having been disused, was now filled up. He at first fled; but, returning, promised to reveal nothing, and continued his labour. Soon after, however, the farmer attempted to kill him with a hedge-stake. On his return one night late, the windows in the lower part of the house seemed brilliantly illuminated. He made some remark about having company, when the lower windows suddenly became dark and the upper ones illuminated, and the whole house was a blaze of fire. Upon this the farmer swore, "This is that cursed Irishman's work." He now left the house, and told the story to his neighbours, who informed him that, some years before, an Irish labourer, employed by the farmer, had suddenly disappeared, and was by many supposed to have been murdered. The attorney-general being thus compelled to take some notice of the affair, issued a warrant for the farmer's apprehension; and, strange to say, the facts as detailed were fully proved against him, and he afterwards, on his own confession, suffered the extreme penalty of the law. On removing the rubbish of the well, a human skeleton was discovered in an advanced state of decay; and the account, which is given at great length in the last volume of the American Criminal Annals, adds, that from that period no further disturbances took place. THE EARLY ASTROLOGERS.-Let us look back for a moment upon the past-the past as regards human opinions-and the wisdom which the Omnipotent First Cause has permitted his creature man to exercise in scanning the ever present, ever living objects of wonder and admiration which are always open, lighted up, and, as it were, offering themselves to our study and contemplation. Seth named the stars; the Chaldeans observed and registered their mutations; Job watched the scintillations of Orion, and the influences of the Pleiades; Esdras and Zerubabel regarded the starry host as active causes in the fulfilment of the supreme behests; Zoroaster was bewildered by their glories, and worshipped; the calm dignity of Pythagoras was excited to inexpressible awe by the investigations he pursued; Orpheus and Homer dedicated song and verse to a record of the beauties and effects of the planetary creation. If we need other testimonies of the oldest time, we have those of Xenophon, Plato, Thucydides, Herodotus, Pliny, Favorinus, and Horace. These are names which a prevailing impression, continuing through the stream of time, from the family of our first parents to the philosophers and poets of the Roman empire, only could have associated. Such an union of sacred and pagan authority would be vainly sought in confirmation of any other theory that ever existed; yet this is but a first enumeration of the great men who adhered to and practised Astrology. |