PSYCHIC ROULETTE–

PLAYING GAMES WITH THE SUPERNATURAL

ARTICLES BY G. VANDEMAN - Edited  

15- Watch Out for the Stars

A lot of people are watching out for the stars. But are the stars watching out for them?

The editor of a large daily newspaper was forced to publish an outdated horoscope one day when new material failed to arrive in time. Not one of his 100,000 readers complained. So he reasoned that he might as well save himself the cost of new horoscopes and continue to print old ones. For three months he used the outdated reprints. Finally a reader complained that the sign of the zodiac did not check with the month. Since his reputation—and his income—were now at stake, he placed an order for fresh horoscopes.

All fake? Don't be too sure. There is another side to the story. A certain man paid an expensive fee to have a detailed horoscope cast for himself. He intended to prove that astrology was nothing but superstition and fraud. He was astonished, however, to see the predictions coming true, down to the smallest detail.

He pondered the situation for some time. How could this be? He was not even a believer in astrology. He finally concluded that he had stepped on dangerous ground in tampering with the occult. He immediately renounced all connection with astrology. And now, suddenly, his horoscope was no longer correct!

Had something happened to the stars? Or does this sudden switch mean that the same unseen powers are active in astrology that operate in spiritism under other labels?

There seems to be no clear distinction between astrologers and psychics. Not all psychics are astrologers, though many of them include astrology in their bag of psychic tools. But most, if not all, astrologers have sensitive abilities.

Astrology, then, is another game that men play with the unseen world.

And the horoscope obsession is sweeping the country. But to millions it is not a game at all. They are dead serious. They follow the stars wherever they lead—and drop in or out accordingly.

It takes some of the humor out of those newspaper horoscopes when you realize how seriously they are followed. One astrologer says, "Intellectually I find that I can't believe how a bunch of planets far far away are going to affect us. . . . I don't believe in astrology, but it works." Carroll Righter, southern California astrologist, is said to be the richest of them all. There is a story around that he once collected a thousand dollars from Robert Taylor for drawing up a chart. He reaches the widest audience of any living astrologer. He was interviewed by a writer in his pink Hollywood Hills mansion and was asked how he came to start reading the stars.

He replied, "When I was fourteen years old I was introduced to the famed astrologer Evangeline Adams. She told me I had the perfect chart to be an astrologer. I didn't believe there was anything to it at all and actually started studying with her to disprove it all. Here I am a half century later still trying to disprove it!"

He was asked, "Why is it that certain planets thousands and thousands of miles away influence humans back here on earth?"

"I really don't know how the sun or the moon influences us, but the theory of some scientists is that there is a vacuum between the planets until we get into the atmosphere of the earth or some other planet but they say that the distance is a vacuum for the reception of the influences of the other planets. That may be the reason." The interviewer said, "Uh-huh." What else could you say to a vague answer like that? Carroll Righter continued, "You see, I don't care about the reasons. . . . When I find something that works I don't try to figure out why."

It doesn't matter why. Just so it works.

But tell me. It may work. But doesn't it matter who is at the controls? If an electronic machine were involved, it would matter very much. The Watergate affair will be remembered for a long time. Democrats were very disturbed at the thought of Republicans listening in. What would have been the furor if they thought Republicans were not simply listening, but actually controlling Democratic activities through some mystery of electronics? It makes a difference who sits at the controls.

Why is it that we are so cautious about who operates a machine and so fearless when it comes to the unseen, unidentified powers that operate in the occult? Why do we see a threat in one and not in the other?

Some say that modern astrology, most of it, is not at all like the original astrology of the Egyptians. One astrologer believes that it was never meant to be a religion as it is today. Rather, he says that "it was originally set up to be a timing device. It started in the valley of the Nile and was used by those old guys to tell the people when to expect the floods. . . . Before all this mysticism. . . got mixed up in it, it was an agricultural thing. It told people when to plant and sow. It was a practical thing."

Ivan Sanderson, who debunks modern astrology completely, thinks he has stumbled upon the real origin of the zodiac.

He has traced the zodiac, in his research, back to the ancient Sumerians. He says it had nothing to do with ancient astrology, that it was nothing more than a road map such as you might get from an oil company today. In other words, it was simply traveling directions for anybody setting out in any direction from the head of the Persian Gulf.

He explains, "If you copy the zodiac wheel, as used today, on a piece of clear plastic; stick a pin through its hub, and then stab that pin on to the home-base of the Sumerians [and he supplies a map with the zodiac superimposed] you will immediately see what this is all about. . . .

"Imagine therefore that you are residing at the head of the Persian Gulf about 6,000 years ago. You will find that whichever way you might have wanted to travel from there—except down the sliver of the Gulf itself—you would have to traverse several hundred miles of desert before hitting a coast. Now, all deserts look alike, and especially flat ones. Unlike maritime navigation, there are no steady winds, currents, coasts, tides, or other even fairly stable natural phenomena to aid one. On deserts, where the winds can come from anywhere and at any time, and where there are no landmarks, the only things you have to guide you are the stars.

So, the Sumerians devised a star map for desert travelers, divided it into twelve segments, and gave each a simple symbol so that illiterate cameleers, horsemen, donkey-drivers, or plain foot-sloggers could keep going in at least the correct general direction that they desired. And the Sumerians were consummate astronomers, geographers, and also most knowledgeable students of international affairs:' He says that Sumerians seem to have been basically an economic empire, interested in trade and commerce. So they designated each land by its principal product.

He proceeds to illustrate. "So, take your zodiacal wheel and center it on Sumeria, and then arrange it so that the north-to-south line runs due north between Capricorn to the west and Sagittarius to the east. Imagine then that you are a merchant starting out from Sumeria to prosecute trade to the northwest-of-north. You will point up the left-hand side of the Mesopotamian valley and you hit the mountains and, if you get there, what will impress you most? Goats—both wild mountain goats, ibexes, and domesticated goats, since the last were the first animals to be domesticated—and by just those people you will find living there. Thus, the land of the 'Capricorns' or 'Goat-horned Ones.' Further, to aid you in your travels the scientists back home have given you a pretty picture of a bunch of stars that you must find at night and which they have linked together by straight lines to form a goat."

He covers the other eleven sectors in equal detail, and then says, "Thus, having come around the full circle of the so-called zodiac, we find ourselves holding but one conclusion. This is that the original zodiac was, to early land travelers, what the later wind roses were to mariners. . . . However, the travelers who used this map were illiterate and so had to be given simple symbols-a mountain goat seen in profile for Capricorn; a ram seen from the front for Aries; and so forth. Having done this, the priests of Sumeria, who were true astronomers, took a bunch of stars that could be recognized in each segment, joined them up arbitrarily with lines to look like goats or sheep or oxen, and then trained these travelers to spot them, and so to send them safely on their way. Then they did something else.

"They integrated, as far as was then possible, the most propitious dates between which said travelers should arrive at their destination. And this is where the astrologers have most surely gone off the rails, because they have never realized that the distance to the desired destinations, and in each of these twelve sectors, from the point of departure, varied widely and wildly; and they make the monumental mistake of trying to start their assessment from the center, when those who devised the whole thing were only trying to put on record the best time to get there. It is useless to head off for the headwaters of the Euphrates just because you were born between late January and mid-February. That was the time you had to get there."

Well, it sounds reasonable. And it is highly interesting. I am not qualified, of course, to assess the accuracy of it all. But there is another problem with astrology. It has to do with fatalism and with free choice. Astrologers may say that it is not fatalistic. But certainly that element is there. One prominent astrologer, asked by a leading magazine to draw up Charles Manson's chart right after the Sharon Tate murders, concluded that Manson was fated by the stars to be a killer.

For many individuals, it seems that to be armed with a prediction is to be relieved from the responsibility of making decisions. That's the danger. Initiative is paralyzed. It is all left to the stars. And disorder and despair are a frequent result.

The horoscope game is not a harmless pastime. It may seem to be. But the individual soon becomes dependent upon his chart—and that means dependence upon the unseen powers that operate behind the chart. And to them it isn't a game at all. Not the way they play it.

The stars were created without the power of choice. They are bound in the orbits in which they were placed. Isn't it strange that a man, born to be free, should choose to place his destiny in the dubious care of stars that cannot think?

16- The Spell of the East

The year was 1855. Lhasa, the mysterious Forbidden City of Tibet, was in turmoil. The Dalai Lama had been murdered. It was believed that a Mongolian hermit, the young ruler's last visitor, had slipped poison into his butter tea. But the hermit had escaped. And someone must be punished. Could the Mongolian have been only a paid agent?

It was late at night in the temple room of the Potala, the thousand-room palace of the Dalai Lama. A seance had been called. The Oracle, the state prophet of Tibet, would invoke the gods to learn who had killed their supreme lama.

Tempu Gergan, the wealthy and respected minister of finance, stood nervously at the edge of the group. He had been warned that afternoon that he might be named as the culprit. And he knew that it was not unlikely. For only recently he had accused the Oracle of being unreliable. Would the Oracle pass by an opportunity for revenge? He had secretly sent his wife and servants away from the city before nightfall, in case it was necessary to flee into exile. But he knew that he must be present at the seance himself—or be considered suspect.

All was now ready. The Oracle sat on his throne, wearing the ceremonial robes. On his head was a massive helmet of silver and gold, embellished with five human skulls.

A high lama wafted incense into the seer's face. Behind him a choir of priests chanted weirdly. Facing the Oracle, a living Buddha, in a spine-chilling chant, was calling upon the three­headed, six-armed demon-god to take possession of the seer.

"Come hither, mighty Pehar. Tell us who slew the Dalai Lama." Tempu's breath was choking him. He wanted to scream. But a hypnotic spell kept his eyes riveted on the Oracle.

Now he saw that the face of the Oracle had undergone a terrifying change. It was no longer the face of a priest. It was the leering face of Pehar. The Oracle was now fully demon-possessed.

Tempu stood cold but perspiring. The ground seemed to sway beneath him. He still hoped that his name would be cleared by the demon-god, but he could take no chances. Seeing that all eyes were on the Oracle, he slipped toward a side door where he could watch the proceedings from behind a pillar.

"I see a golden cup with a demon dancing upon the brim," muttered the Oracle. "There is a strange priest offering the cup to the Dalai Lama. He wears a high-peaked hat and tattered garments."

Tempu felt relief as he heard the Mongolian described. But only for a moment, for the demon voice went on. "I see around the holy one bags of gold and silver. A hand offers the silver to the strange priest. The face—I cannot see the face. Yes, it is coming—"

Tempu's legs felt as if they would collapse. He knew instinctively whom the Oracle would name. He flung himself out the door and down the passageway. Pausing for a moment in a small room, he discarded his rich brocades and strode on as a peasant pilgrim. But even as he started again, he heard a crescendo of voices, "Tempu Gergan is the man! Seize him!"

He fought the mounting panic inside. He wanted to dash madly away. But he must look like a poor pilgrim. Would the eternal stairs never end?

Finally he was clear of the building, and headed for the city wall. He heard a shout behind him, "Block the stairs! No one must leave the palace!"

He had escaped just in time. Silently he slipped over the wall where a trusted servant waited with two horses. He had escaped. But he would never see his beloved city of Lhasa again. An innocent man would spend the rest of his days in exile—all because of an unreliable priest, aided by lying demons. The strange spell of the East!

Have you ever wondered how it is that people, century after century, can bow down to gods of wood or stone-gods that cannot think—hideous gods that no worshiper could love—gods that they would escape if only they could? Have you blamed it to the backwardness of the people? No, it isn't all backwardness. The power of those Eastern gods is not in wood or stone. It's not in the idols. It isn't their hideousness alone that inspires fear. It's the demons that inhabit them. The Scripture says, "What say I then? that the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God." 1 Corinthians 10:19, 20.

That's the explanation. The demons behind the gods. Is this the pull of the East? Is this the spell that is even now reaching out to the enlightened West?

The West was caught up in the flurry of the greatest technological program ever known to man. But while the West was absorbed with marching forward, the Beatles took the hippies by the hand—and some who were not hippies—and led them backward to the East.

Here were strange contrasts. While forward-looking Catholics were attempting to bring the mass out of a dead language, the hippies were gathering in public to recite Sanskrit prayers. And while clerical reformers were trying to update their costumes, the hippies were parading in colorful symbolic dress. While the modern churches were reordering their priorities, the subcultures were reshuffling the sins of society in the order of their importance. The constantly shifting face of the new morality was seen in a rash of would-be gurus. Drugs were giving first place to meditation—not because drugs were immoral, but because meditation was said to be a better high.

The trek to the East was not a difficult one. The Maharishi, made famous by the Beatles, is said to have assured an audience of four thousand in Berkeley, California, that to enjoy the fullest measure of blessing from meditation, they were not required to have faith or to renounce liquor, women, or riotous living.

Was this restless drop-out culture seeking a Saviour from sin? Forgiveness? A changed life? Or were they looking for a pantheistic force that would wink at their corruptness?

The philosopher Alan Watts described the appeal of Eastern mysticism in this way: "The Hebrew-Christian universe is one in which moral urgency, the anxiety to be right, penetrates everything. To be wrong, therefore, arouses a metaphysical anxiety and a sense of guilt. The appeal of Eastern philosophy is that it unveils behind the urgent reality of good and evil, a vast region of oneself about which there need be no guilt or recrimination."

Perhaps the subcultures really were looking for a Saviour from sin after all and didn't know it. Perhaps they really thought the way to silence guilt was to kill the watchdog.

A small girl was walking along Fifth Avenue with her mother in the Christmas rush. She kept looking down, with her eyes fixed on the sidewalk. "Why don't you look at the Christmas windows?" "I'm looking for something." "What?" "I'm looking for something to find."

Isn't that the trouble with this generation? Looking down. Looking back. Looking anywhere. Looking for something to find. Pushovers for anything it hasn't already tried.

Says the writer-editor Peter Cohon, "Wherever you want to go everything revolves around profit and private property. . . . But there's passion for religious meaning, for spirituality that's just been squelched for so long: Me, I'm dying. . . for new frames of reference, different ways of putting things together. The I Ching, astrology, magic, the East, schizophrenia. . . anything!"

And so we have a rash of new religions. Substitute religions. Old heresies updated. But none of the bothersome moral demands of Bible religion. We are a pushover for the East.

J. Wallace Hamilton remarks, "Isn't it odd that here in the West we are reading Eastern books because we are looking for peace of mind? But in the East they are reading Western books because they want to wake up."

But the spell of the East is strong. East and West have now met at the Hindu altar. The appeal of Hinduism is no longer a mere fad. Many of today's idolized youth leaders are outspoken converts of Hinduism.

Rock music had long been a medium by which the general public could be indoctrinated. Rock groups had extolled the virtues of drugs. But now the music began to change. Rock and roll began to take on an Eastern influence. The dissonant strains of Eastern tone intervals became familiar to Western ears. Then came the introduction of Hindu religious concepts, the influence of Hindu gods. The religious structure of an entire Western generation was being altered—by rock and roll.

Meditation was in. And chanting. The worship of Shiva. And the mantra. The mantra, according to one writer, is essentially an invitation to a demon spirit to take possession of one's faculties. One swami is reported to have said, "If I had concentrated enough . . . I would have become Shiva myself."

But enough of that. Why should we be so enamored with that which has burdened and bound the East for so long? What is the appeal of a religion of despair, where hope is not even counted a virtue? Is the nothingness of Nirvana the answer? Do we think that we can find peace of mind by sitting motionless as a gooseberry bush? What saving power can there be in a religion that has no living Christ? Will we pass by the living water to drink from rusty wells?

One evening in London I was accosted by an intelligent Britisher who said, "I am on the verge of decision. When I leave this building tonight I will have chosen between Buddhism and Christianity. You have a half hour to present your case!"

A half hour! What a challenge! No time now for nonessentials. In that halfhour I must lead him to an empty tomb outside Jerusalem. For as I have stood, on several occasions, beside the Garden Tomb which many believe to be the most like that in which Christ was laid, I have been profoundly impressed with the essential difference between Christianity and every other religion. The tomb of Christ is empty!

Other great religions worship at the tombs of their founders. The grave of Mohammed at Medina in Arabia is not an empty grave. The tomb of Confucius in China is not an empty tomb. Parts of Buddha's body are enshrined as relics in different places in the Orient. But there isn't a shrine in the world that claims one bone of the body of Christ. If the record of Scripture is true, then He left death forever behind that day and left an empty tomb as a witness!

The spell of the East can be broken. But only by a living Christ. Only a living Christ can interrupt the strange infatuation of gods and gurus so that a restless generation may hear another voice. Only a living Christ can offer forgiveness, a lifting of guilt. Only a living Christ can offer escape from the fear of angry gods. Only He can offer life and keep His promise. Because only He can say, "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore. . . and have the keys. . . of death."

The spell of the East is strong. But it meets a mighty challenge in an empty tomb!

17- The Day After Hypnosis

Dorie worked at psychotherapy in Toronto. There were no spirits involved in her work. Just exercises and routines to reduce tensions and to aid in relaxation.

Then one day she sat in on a hypnotism session. There she witnessed a "spirit going off someplace and returning, telling what it saw and that it had cured a man in a hospital"

And she said, "Well, right there, that was for me!"

She moved to Carmel, California, and set up some therapy classes of her own, with a few patients.

Then it happened. It was Christmas Day, and her husband, who had complained of headaches for weeks, suddenly became seriously ill. She was sure he was dying but was unable to reach any doctor. She placed her husband on her massage table and stood there caressing his temples with her fingertips.

She looked up and saw a strange man standing beside her. He told her not to be frightened—that he had come to help. She looked at him closely and knew that he was a ghost. But she was not afraid.

"I am a medical doctor," he said with a Scottish accent. "Your husband will die unless we operate. Now, I have not the energy to do this by myself. That's why I must work through you. I will use your forces and vibrations." And then, in a commanding tone of voice he said to her, "Cut the top of his head off."

Dorie stared and hesitated. He repeated the command. "Cut off the top of your husband's head to relieve the pressure."

Then she felt her finger being pushed in a circle around the crown of her husband's head -as if she were using a knife. Suddenly she could see inside his skull. The ghost ordered her to move some pieces of bone that were pressing on the brain. After a half hour she could find no more bone particles, and the doctor ordered her to put the top back on but "not too tight. Leave a quarter inch for pressure, and we'll do this again tomorrow."

Her husband was much improved that night. The ghost doctor returned the next day and the procedure was repeated. After several sessions her husband was free of symptoms.

A friend sat in on one of the sessions. Now, when someone is ill, the friend says, "You'd better go to Dorie." And people come to be healed-by her Scottish ghost.

Eerie? Extreme? Far-out? That is why I have shared it. Most people know something about the entrance of the hypnosis trail. But not everyone understands what may happen along the way. The trail may begin at a party or in a dentist's chair—or just watching from the sidelines. But a mind other than your own decides what happens after that.

Dorie was asked, "When he gives you orders, does he do it brusquely or pleasantly?"

And she explained, "When he is operating, he treats me just like a doctor treats a nurse in the surgery room. He's quite definitely in command. That's one of the reasons he says it's so easy to work through me. I'm always willing to take orders."

There's the key. Willing to take orders. One hypnotism session—plus an unguarded mind. And now she works for a Scottish ghost.

What is the truth about hypnosis? Is it a safe anesthetic? A good way to kick an undesirable habit? A harmless way to probe the past? Or is it a dangerous passkey to the mind?

We abhor brainwashing in the prison camp. We shudder at the thought of some mad dictator bending the minds of the masses to his will. But we manipulate the mind with drugs, and willingly yield it to the whim of the hypnotist, and glibly tamper with the brain waves.

Is it ever safe to tamper with the mind and let somebody else do the driving? You decide.

The man or woman who thinks of hypnosis only in terms of parlor games and dentists' chairs simply has no conception of what is going on. These may be the beginning. These are the wedge. These are the first breach of the mind. But would the powers behind hypnosis use a wedge without something more in mind? Would a salesman put his foot in a door if he had no thought of entering?

By the way, hypnotism operates under a variety of labels. It is not a bad idea to consider suspect even such harmless-sounding terms as "scientific relaxation" or "psycho-sedation." There is no terribly clear line between so-called scientific relaxation and hypnotism and spirit control. One moment it may be a friend or a trusted physician giving you orders. The next moment it may be an intruding spirit from the other side.

De Witt Miller, a researcher in this field, spotlights the danger: "When the subconscious mind, under hypnosis, becomes susceptible to outward suggestions, how can we be sure that some astral interloper of the spirit world will not intrude upon the subconscious mind, in its hypnotic trance state, and ply its occult arts, as it does with an entranced medium?"

Ever since the days of Bridey Murphy, men and women have been playing games with hypnotic regression—and thought it was fun. But the powers on the other side weren't playing for fun. They were playing for keeps.

The person who submits to hypnosis, for whatever purpose, surrenders his mind to that of another, including his conscience. The conscience is the guardian of the soul. And when you kill the watchdog, anything can happen. This is the danger.

No doubt you have heard the claim that conscience does continue to function during hypnosis. Unfortunately, this is not all the truth. Some of the most experienced authorities, even some connected with the Nancy School in France, only smile at the claim that it is necessary for hypnotic suggestion to fit in with the subject's moral code. They tell us that, on the contrary, it is possible through deep hypnosis to force normally conscientious individuals even to commit crime.

You can see that this is completely logical. The hypnotist recognizes that he cannot expect a subject to carry out his suggestions while in full command of his reasoning faculty. Therefore, as one authority says, "the therapist must partially inactivate, temporarily, the center of conscious reason in the individual" He must silence the watchdog. And that is dangerous business.

A writer in Life magazine says, "As for the possibility that hypnosis could be used for unscrupulous ends, researchers have come to no clear conclusions. There is fair unanimity on one point: a person will do nothing during hypnosis that sharply violates his own conscience or his sense of self-preservation. If, for instance, he is told to murder someone or to kill himself, he will respond simply by waking up from the trance."

But then he negates what he has just said by continuing, "But this to some extent begs the question. . . . Conscience itself can be manipulated. An obvious example is the man who would be horrified if asked to commit murder but who, upon becoming a soldier in wartime, not only kills enemy soldiers but actually gratifies his conscience by doing so. Through hypnosis a clever and unscrupulous operator might be able to achieve the same manipulation of conscience."

A startling French experiment shows the weird power of post­hypnotic suggestion. The laboratory hypnotist told a young woman under hypnosis that when she came out of her trance she would poison a young man on his staff. She protested, "He hasn't done anything to me. I am not a criminal" The hypnotist persisted. He argued that the young man was really her secret enemy. Finally the girl agreed, and she was given a glass of harmless fluid which she was told was poison.

When she was restored to consciousness, she walked up to the young man and remarked that it was unbearably hot and he must be thirsty. She offered him the glass. She even pretended to drink from the glass first, and then watched him sip the supposedly lethal drink.

Only an experiment. Could such dark deeds be duplicated in real life? Considerable evidence says that they can.

I think you can see that any breaching of the mind, any deliberate weakening of it, any control of it by another—even temporarily and for seemingly worthy purposes—can sabotage the vital defenses without your knowing it. The mind belongs to God. And to surrender that citadel of reason and of conscience to a human being, for however commendable a purpose, may have long-range devastating consequences.

And these consequences are not to be considered lightly. Evidence is mounting daily that spirit powers are actually able to manipulate the human mind. They are experts at it. And they are after only one thing. Control.

Is it any wonder that the wise man said, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life"? Proverbs 4:23.

Keep your heart. Can Solomon be speaking of anything other than the mind? Keep it with all diligence. To allow it to be invaded by another intelligence is incompatible with man's inherent and personal responsibility to God. And it is more dangerous than you think!

Why is it that we are horrified at the thought of being kidnapped? We don't want a stranger holding us captive, telling us where to go and what to do. It is high crime. But there seems to be no law against kidnapping of the mind. Strange, unknown entities from the unseen stand suddenly beside people and are permitted to take over without protest.

If a strange man walked in the door and said to your wife, "Don't be afraid, I've come to protect you," she would probably scream for help. She wouldn't want to be protected by any intruder. But psychic intruders get away with it all the time—and not just with women. Men are often equally gullible in accepting strangers from the other side.

The Medical School of the University of California, in San Diego, has a program to teach students hypnotism. The university feels it can train doctors to help people kick such afflictions as smoking, gaining weight, alcoholism, and not being able to sleep.

But there is a high price tag for such so-called help. You may have kicked a habit, or lost twenty pounds. But your mind has been made more susceptible to outside control. The locks on the door of your mind have been jimmied. And they can't be repaired. You'll have to live with the situation. You trusted a friend or a respected therapist to tamper with your mental powers. But now strangers have easier access too. And the second time, these strangers from the unseen may not be courteous enough to ask permission to enter.

The day after hypnosis you are not completely your own. You have sold a little bit of yourself into slavery. And it will be easy to sell more. The apostle Paul said, "The one to whom you offer yourself—he will take you and be your master and you will be his slave." Romans 6:16, LB.

There ought to be a way to kick a habit, or lose twenty pounds, without forfeiting a piece of your freedom. Fortunately, there is. The One called Jesus said, "If the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free."

18- The Brain Games

Is man ruled by the laws of science? Or are they controlled by him? Does he discover the laws of his own biology? Or does he make them?

Questions such as these are stimulated by a new development called "biofeedback training." Call it science or call it fad, it is quietly sweeping the country. It is said that we are at the entrance of an "entirely new culture where people can change their mental and physical states as easily as switching channels on a television set." One writer has described this new" systematic exploration of man's inner being" as "no less epochal than man's first step on the moon."

Biofeedback promises clinics or centers where patients will be wired to machines, watching flashing lights or listening to electronic squeaks. These patients will be learning to relax by listening to the amplified sound of their breath, learning to reduce anxiety by listening to their forehead muscles, or trying to calm down by regulating their brain waves. They will be attempting to regulate the heartbeat—or trying to raise the temperature in the hand to abort a headache.

And all this is not entirely fiction. For these techniques are already being used in laboratories around the country.

One thing has already happened. Since biofeedback research involves electronics, it has already created what one outspoken critic calls "a huge 'sucker' market for the kinds of gear that are supposed to permit easy recording of bioelectric signals."

And of course such research and such machines are a bonanza for the instant-salvation groups that see in them an opportunity to offer the public everything from marital bliss to professional success—at a price.

Exactly what is biofeedback?

Well, suppose that you are a public speaker. You record your voice and listen to it back on tape. This feedback of your performance helps you to improve your presentation. The same with a television performer who asks for the videotape to be rolled back to see what he has done. The slow-motion replay in sports is essentially the same thing. This type of feedback of performance is all very helpful.

Then what is biofeedback? It is simply a particular kind of feedback-feedback from different parts of the body. Feedback of the performance of the heart, the circulatory system, the brain, the muscles. The reasoning behind biofeedback training is that once a person can hear his brain waves, or see his heartbeats, he can, with that information, begin to control them.

For instance, many people, when reading silently, have the tendency to subvocalize—that is, to mouth the words they are reading. This, of course, slows the individual's reading speed to the speed at which he could read aloud. There is no speed reading for him.

But how do you know when you are subvocalizing? You try not to, but you still do. Here is where biofeedback comes in. Small microphones designed to pick up the minute bioelectric potentials generated by the movement of vocal muscles, are placed on the reader's ' neck. These potentials are fed into an amplifier and translated into a signal. And, of course, if the reader knows when he is subvocalizing, he can more easily overcome it. It is said that many learn to kick the habit in one to three hours.

So far, so good. But biofeedback training does not stop there. Its possibilities fairly explode. Men see in this new research the opportunity to start out on their own magical mastery tour—to control their own minds, their own nervous systems, perhaps their own fate.

A yogi learns to control his own brain waves. But it takes years. With biofeedback training the average person can learn to control his brain waves in a matter of hours.

One researcher has been working with rats. One rat actually learned to blush in one ear at a time. And the researcher comments, "I believe that in this respect men are as smart as rats."

The danger in all this new research lies in its endless possibilities for exploitation. Already the news that man can alter his own brain waves has led to a cult of the alpha high. An alpha high is hailed as a substitute for a drug trip. Students have been seen on the streets of New York City with headset and earphones, monitoring their own brain waves.

However, a swami tried alpha and reported, "I've got news for you. This is nothing."

Some people find in the alpha experience what they expect to find. One individual reported to the laboratory for alpha training, knowing that alpha was supposed to be associated with special experiences. He was soon producing alpha waves, and began telling the researcher, "I'm losing track of space and time," and "There's a rabbit in here so real I can almost touch it." The scientist became suspicious and turned off the signals the young man was monitoring. He was still in alpha, but reported no more extraordinary experiences.

Incidentally, this tendency of people to see what they expect to see, to find what they want to find, shows up all through the occult. Professor David Lindberg, who teaches a course in the history of the occult at the University of Wisconsin, emphasizes this tendency. His course is extremely popular with students. Yet while his classes may appear to promote interest in the psychic, in a strange paradox he warns students in his very first lecture that one of the objectives of the course is to make them more skeptical in the area of the occult.

Professor Lindberg does not ask his students, "Is it true?" Rather, he asks, "Why do you believe what you believe?" Presumably, many beliefs rest solely on the evidence of the senses—what people see, hear, or feel. "We hope," he says, "to show students that the senses cannot be trusted-that the capacity for self-deception is nearly infinite." He attacks the reality of the occult on the grounds of the "amazing" ability of humans to see what they believe. And he adds, "Modern psychology has shown how much our perceptions are conditioned by our expectations, but we underestimate how true that is."

But back to alpha. There is a question as to whether the alpha state is always a good thing anyway. It may be all right for lounging, but hardly for driving a car. People produce alpha waves, of course, without the aid of a machine. Some do it by simply closing their eyes. Some do it by staring at an object, or carefully focusing on a moving target—which smacks of self-hypnosis. One student does it by holding his breath, and another actually shows alpha bursts as he scores touchdowns on the football field. One psychologist recalls a patient who could produce alpha only while he was talking. "As soon as he shut up, there was nothing there."

Two kinds of organizations are capitalizing on biofeedback re­search. Those who manufacture and sell the electronic instruments are taking full advantage of its popularity. And there are, springing up everywhere it seems, groups who use the terminology of biofeedback, with or without equipment, to promote their own brands of instant salvation or what-have-you.

For instance, there is a group known as Silva Mind Control. Its claims are not exactly modest. It offers, by way of its training in mind control, better memory, better health, better sleep, better attitude, better learning ability, better self-image, better time management, better intuition, more success, more happiness, more self-confidence, more creativity, more energy and vitality, more productivity, more capacity, and more friends. A lot of people are willing to pay for a package like that. The group claims 10,000 graduates.

Then there is Mind Dynamics, an organization whose demonstrations are more spectacular than its ads. The president of the company says he doesn't really like the circus-show approach but considers it necessary to reach the public. The hostess at these meetings says that the president of the group spent years in synthesizing the most important material from different religions and philosophies into one system-Mind Dynamics. The testimonials are enthusiastic in the extreme. For instance, one girl insisted joyfully, "Besides finding that you can have anything you want, that you are the reason for everything, you also find that you can't be sad or depressed anymore." A few more assertions like that and the guests are ready to sign up.

Some scientists have dismissed these groups as charlatans. That is not for me to say. Undoubtedly there are many sincere and dedicated people in these groups. I am most concerned about the very evident connection of these groups with hypnosis.

Dr. Elmer Green, an outspoken critic who has even debated one of the groups on television, points out that most of these companies use nothing more than variations on hypnosis. "What bothers me about the whole thing," he says, "is that I am much more in favor of voluntary control than. . . hypnotic control. [Students in these organizations] go through a four-day program of intense hypnotic education in order to do the things they demonstrate."

Do you hear the alarm bell?

One television reporter talked with students in these groups and concluded that since they felt they were being helped, there must be nothing wrong with it.

But I am reminded of the punch line recently used to advertise a movie called "Asylum." It said, "See Asylum! You have nothing to lose but your mind!"

An appropriate punch line for these brain games that are springing up like mushrooms? Perhaps so. You have nothing to lose but your mind.

There are those who pride themselves on being open-minded, ready to experiment, ready to try any new thing. But an open mind is not always a virtue. There are times when it can be downright foolhardiness. An uninhibited mind is an unguarded mind. And an unguarded mind is susceptible to incredible exploitation.

There are some things to which the mind should be irrevocably closed. There are some games too dangerous to play. And brain games, any kind of brain games, any games that tamper with the mind, are on that list.

It is said that Robert E. Lee, after the Civil War, was approached by the managers of the infamous Louisiana Lottery. He sat in his old rocking chair, with his crutches at his side, and listened to their proposition. He couldn't believe his ears. He asked them to repeat it. They told him they wanted no money. All they wanted was the use of his name. For that they would make him rich.

Robert E. Lee straightened up in his chair and buttoned his old gray tunic about him. He thundered, "Gentlemen, I lost my home in the war. I lost my fortune in the war. I lost everything in the war except my name. My name is not for sale. And if you fellows don't get out of here I'll break this crutch over your heads!"

A man's name. A man's mind. Neither ought ever to be negotiable. This generation is restless. It is searching. It is looking everywhere for an unwieldy list of things it doesn't have. That's why it's a pushover for the sellers of peace of mind. But while we are turning here and there, confused by the babble of voices that would sell us their psychic wares, another voice is speaking. It is the voice of the One who made the mind and set it thinking. He says quietly, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

None of the circus show. None of the hoopla approach. But could it be that in that simple invitation is all that we could ever need?

19- The Return of the Witches

It was probably the most bizarre chapter in the annals of air piracy.

Few took any special notice of the friendly little group of eight men, women, and children who boarded Delta's Flight 841. Fewer still were aware that two of the men, high over Orlando, Florida, had forced their way into the cockpit with a concealed pistol. It was not until the jet landed at Miami that the passengers learned the news. The captain's voice came over the speaker, while a .45 automatic pointed at his head, "We have a problem. We're being hijacked for one million dollars."

This was no spur-of-the-moment caper. In their home on Detroit's East Side, a sort of witches' commune where all lived together, they had taken drugs, toyed with voodoo, and talked endlessly about escape from an oppressive society. One wall was decorated with a big travel poster that said, "Fly Delta's Big Jets." They talked of Algeria, and waited for the stars to be properly positioned.

Then, before setting off, they conducted an elaborate ceremony. It included plunging a penknife into a small white doll on a dirt altar. Nearby were a Bible, a plate of food, an astrological chart, and pennies laid out in two circles.

Up until a couple of decades ago, and for previous centuries, there were no admitted witches anywhere. Most people have thought of witchcraft as something that only the superstitious gave any credence to. Witch hunts and broomsticks were filed away together in a little-used corner of the mind.

Today, in a massive spin-off from the culture-wide interest in the occult, this has all changed. Tens of thousands across America,—some of them with university degrees—are dabbling in witchcraft,

Satanism, voodoo, and other forms of black and white magic. Witches appear openly on television. Every high school is said to have its own witch. In Cleveland you can rent a witch to liven up a party. There are some eighty thousand persons practicing white magic in the United States, with six thousand in Chicago alone. Some of this is a fad. But unfortunately, much of it isn't. Murder after murder has been linked to the craze, with the murderers openly admitting to police or to reporters that they worshiped Satan. Police, more and more frequently, are finding grim evidence of both animal and human sacrifice.

In a quiet New Jersey town, Mike Newell, who was twenty, drove out to a pond with his two best friends. After conducting a brief service to the devil, his friends, at Mike's own request, bound him. Mike looked out over the pond for a moment, and then said, "Proceed as friends." They pushed him into the pond and watched him sink. His body was found three days later.

Mike believed that dying in Clear Pond would make him the leader of forty legions of Satan's horde.

It is estimated that between fifty and a hundred people in this small town of 48,000 were involved in Mike's cult. And Mike's town is not unique. It seems that everywhere the worship of Satan is coming into the open. Some claim to have actually seen the evil one himself in their ceremonies.

Thumb tacked to the waiting-room door of a church in San Francisco was a bank check. It was made out to the Central Church of Satan in payment "for fifteen souls."

The church, of course, is the First Church of Satan, founded in 1966 by Anton LaVey, who made himself its black pope. He looks the part. He helped to direct "Rosemary's Baby," and appeared as the personification of the devil in that movie.

LaVey claims that the Christian church owes much to Satan, since he has kept the church in business for two thousand years by giving people things to feel guilty about. Since 1966 the National Church of Satan, which now has branches in almost every major American city, has added at least ten thousand converts—some say twenty thousand. LaVey's Satanic Bible has had much to do with the growth of the cult. There are also correspondence courses in Satanism.

His church, says LaVey, represents indulgence instead of abstinence. It urges members to indulge in the so-called seven deadly sins, since they all lead to physical and mental gratification.

He claims that he is in league with the devil, that he represents Lucifer, that when people join his church they become more evil. He says he can command Satan to do anything he wants him to do. And he says, "We are trying to convey the impression that Satan is not the bad guy who causes pain or hardship, but rather that he is the only deity, the only savior who cares."

But communication with Satan does not have to be as open as this to be equally destructive. There is repeated evidence that, at least in some instances, LSD trips, meditation trips, and rock-and-roll dancing have opened the way for actual demon possession. Evi­dently there is truth in the old Christian adage, "Stand against Satan or be invaded by Satan."

Listen to this from Bob Larson, who spent five years as a rock writer and performer before his conversion: "I am not alone in my experimental knowledge of the influence of demonic powers present in rock music. One of the most uncanny stories I have ever heard was related to me by a close friend of mine who works among the hippies. For several weeks he dealt with a sixteen-year-old boy who by his own admission communed with evil spirits.

One day he asked my friend to turn on the radio to a rock-and-roll station. As they listened, this teenager would relate, just prior to the time the singer on the recording would sing them, the words to songs he had never heard before. When asked how he could do this, the sixteen-year-old replied that the same demon spirits that he was acquainted with had inspired the songs. Also, he explained that while on acid trips he could hear demons sing some of the very songs he would later hear recorded by psychedelic rock groups.

"Many 'heavy' rock groups write their songs while under the influence of drugs. Some of them admit to receiving the inspiration for songs from a power that seems to control them. In 1968 Ginger Baker, the drummer of The Cream, was interviewed concerning his emotional feelings while he performed. He replied, 'It happens to us quite often—it feels as though I'm not playing my instrument, something else is playing it and that same thing is playing all three of our instruments [referring to the rest of the group]. That's what I mean when I say it's frightening sometimes. Maybe we'll all play the same phrase out of nowhere. It happens very often with us.' "

King Saul, of ancient Israel, got himself involved with witchcraft at the end of his reign—with tragic results. It was the night before a critical battle, and the king felt the breath of approaching doom. He needed counsel. But the prophet Samuel was dead. And, because Saul had persisted in acts of rebellion, the Lord would not answer him. So in desperation he sought out a witch living in seclusion at Endor.

Even though Saul was disguised, his stature and kingly bearing made the witch suspect his real identity. This could be no ordinary soldier, and his lavish gifts confirmed her suspicions. Asked to perform her incantations, she was afraid. She knew how zealous the king had been in carrying out the divine command, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." Exodus 22:18.

The sorceress feared that this could be a trap. But Saul assured her that no harm would come to her. He asked that she call up Samuel.

The witch saw an apparition—an old man with a mantle, she said. And Saul believed it to be Samuel. There followed no comforting assurance of victory. Rather, the prediction was that the king would die in battle on the morrow.

Did Samuel really appear to the witch? Would Samuel, a prophet of God, be present, even if he could, in this haunt of evil spirits? Hardly. Samuel was sleeping in his grave and knew nothing about the episode that borrowed his name. But the spirit that appeared to the witch could as easily impersonate Samuel as anyone else.

Doesn't the Scripture say that Samuel spoke to Saul? Yes, in the same way that you or I would speak of an actor in a play. An actor in a play portrays Abraham Lincoln. In recounting the play we say that Lincoln did or said so-and-so. Does that mean that Abraham Lincoln himself was there?

In fact, to bring it closer home, repeatedly in these pages I have quoted something or other that "Arthur Ford said" by way of Ruth Montgomery's typewriter. But you are well aware before now, if you have been reading carefully at all, that I do not believe Arthur Ford had anything to do with it. It was simply a spirit impersonating Arthur Ford.

As to the prediction of Saul's death, it was not a difficult predic­tion to make. Satan well knew that by visiting a witch, in such flagrant disregard of the divine command, Saul had broken the last tie with his God. God had said, "There shall not be found among you. . . an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer, for all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord." Deuteronomy 18:10-12.

Saul would have no help from God in the battle of the morrow. By consulting with the spirit of darkness, Saul had destroyed himself. In the horror of guilt and despair, he could hardly be expected to inspire his army with courage. It was a prediction that was sure to work out. It indicated no supernatural knowledge of the future—except as the enemy of God could reason from cause to effect.

Picture the scene. As the king, already weary from travel and from lack of food, hears the fearful prediction, he sways and falls to the earth as one dead. The witch is in panic. What would happen to her if the king should be found dead in her retreat? She urges him to eat. And finally he agrees. What a pitiful scene! The once noble king of Israel, forsaken by his God, sitting down to eat in the wild cave of a sorceress!

It is all so typical of Satan's strategy. It is his habit to make the path of rebellion appear easy and inviting, to blind the mind to the divine warnings. By his bewitching power he had led Saul to justify himself in defiance of the repeated reproofs sent through the prophet Samuel. But now, in the king's extremity, in his hour of utmost despair, Satan turns upon him, presents to him the enormity of his sin and the hopelessness of pardon and goads him on to destruction. Nothing could have accomplished it more effectively.

The next day, on the battlefield, Saul fell upon his sword and took his own life. It is all so typical of the enemy. Kind words so long as he can use a man as his tool. But deserting him at the end. "So Saul died for his transgression. . . and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit." 1 Chronicles 10:13.

 It seems that Arthur Ford once visited Mrs. Montgomery in Washington and lapsed into a trance so that she could ask Fletcher, his spirit control, for some advice on his own behalf. He was moving and wanted to know what to do with some of his things. But Fletcher seemed totally disinterested in his problems. And when Mrs. Montgomery asked if Ford should visit a clinic for a checkup, Fletcher snapped, "He'd better do something. If he doesn't, I can't work through him much longer."

Think of it! He had voluntarily submitted his person to Fletcher's use for nearly half a century. But Fletcher couldn't care less about his problems or his welfare. Unfortunately, the psychic world is filled with Fletchers!

Do you remember the words of Satanist Anton LaVey? "Satan is not the bad guy who causes pain or hardship, but rather. . . he is the only deity, the only savior who cares."

That's what the controversy is all about. That's the way it began in heaven. Lucifer represented God as a tyrant who didn't care, who had no love or self-denial for the creatures He had created. On the other hand, Lucifer styled himself as the advocate of mistreated angels. He was the one who cared.

And so it had to be demonstrated before the universe, and especially in this world. Who is it that cares?

Satan set about to prove his case. He brought rebellion and murder into Eden. And the world, by the time of the Flood, under his influence, was so corrupt that it had to be destroyed. He went about setting up his false religions. He had most of the world worshiping angry, temperamental gods that didn't care. The world reached a new low.

In the meantime, God was setting up His own demonstration. He knew that the only way to show men what God is like was to come Himself, in the flesh, and let men see His character, and His gov­ernment, made up into a life.

And so Jesus walked the dusty roads of Palestine—to show what God is like. He healed the people of their illnesses—to show what God is like. He shared their heartaches and lifted their burdens—to show what God is like.

But Satan stole their minds and got them to crucify the Healer. The universe looked on in horror as Satan goaded men on to take the life of their own Creator. And all the watching universe knew who it is that cares.

No wonder Satan hates the cross. There, in stark contrast, side by side, you see the Son of God dying because He cared-and Satan unmasked as the murderer of his God.

No wonder he doesn't want the world to look at the cross. No wonder he leaves it out. No wonder he turns eyes away to psychic phenomena—and tells men that psychic healers and Scottish ghosts and spirit pretenders are the ones who care about their problems. But one day soon every man will know. All the evidence will be in. Every man will see, side by side, the cross of Calvary and a ravaged, ruined world—and decide who it is that cares!

20- They Call It Protection

Is it true that lions will protect you from other lions? Demons from other demons? Impostors from other impostors? If you pray?

There are those who seem to feel it permissible, and even safe, to walk on dangerous ground—just so you pray for protection.

Would Ruth Montgomery be an example? You will recall that she says that automatic writing can be dangerous. Then she speaks about safety precautions, and says, "Always pray for protection before beginning automatic writing, and practice it no more than fifteen minutes each day, at exactly the Same time, when your own guides are available. If evil entities come through, or foul language is used, give up the automatic writing instantly. You are not ready for spirit communication."

Pray for protection. But pray to whom? Who would answer such a prayer? If spirits who pretend to be the spirits of the dead are only impersonators, as we have seen that they must be, there is no protection there. And would God be hearing such a prayer when He has expressly forbidden all contact with the occult? "A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death." Leviticus 20:27.

And about the foul language. Could not an impostor who wished to deceive you accomplish his purpose far more easily by using smooth, respectable language? Would he ruin his chances by using language that would cause you to turn him off at the start? Remember that we are dealing with entities whose cunning can scarcely be estimated. They have the intelligence of angels, and the experience of millenniums in the art of deception. Is it reasonable to ask the very spirits who are deceiving you to protect you?

Mrs. Montgomery also suggests that there is safety in numbers. Is there? Is that the experience of the past? Do not numbers make it only the easier to risk walking on forbidden ground? Uncounted lives are ruined because of the influence of numbers, of the crowd. Members of the Universal Receivers Prayer Group, the most powerful psychic group in northern California, evidently feel that it doesn't matter whom you pray to. They just pray that "God" or "the Higher Self' or "the Spirit World" will hear them and listen to what they have to say.

Does it really make no difference whether it is God or a spirit world full of impostors answering your prayer? A group like that is a setup for deception. The spirit world is delighted to answer prayers like that. Spirits will gladly do favors—if it helps to tighten the net.

But the Universal Receivers feel that they are in good hands. It seems that a spirit came through to the group one day. He said his name was Matthew, that he was from a higher realm and that he had been assigned to the group as protector. They were to have protection both in the group and in their private lives.

A reporter, discussing spirit communication with the leader of the group, asked, "But isn't this dangerous? Can't you call down an 'evil' spirit as well as a 'good' one?"

And she answered, "If you are protected the way we are with Matthew, it's not dangerous."

But do they know who Matthew is? Or only who he says he is?

Think of it! Praying to it—doesn't-matter-who. And accepting without question the dubious protection of a spirit who says his name is Matthew!

Satanist Anton LaVey is critical of white magic—and for a most interesting reason. Listen to this: "During white magical ceremonies, the practitioners stand within a pentagram to protect themselves from the 'evil' forces which they call upon for help." And now notice. "To the Satanist it seems a bit two-faced to call on these forces for help while at the same time protecting yourself from the very powers you have asked for assistance."

Could anyone have said it better? Do we get the message? There was once a man named Daniel. He was cast into a den of lions. But he didn't pray to the lions for protection or expect one lion to protect him from the other lions.

And one thing more. Daniel didn't cast himself in. He was cast in!

21 -What's Wrong With the Spirit World?

For a long time Frank Knittel, a conservative college president, had known that someday he personally would come face to face with spirit phenomena, with spiritualism in some form. He wondered whether it would be rappings or whether it would be a table suddenly rising and floating through a door. On the other hand, it might be more frightening—perhaps a clammy unseen hand about his throat, as some stories went. Someday would come the big surprise.

But then he was never one to experiment. Ouija boards were not for him, a key in the Bible never tempted him, and fortune-tellers disgusted him. It always turned him off to hear someone make sport about Satan, and impersonations or caricatures of the devil had always repulsed him. He never felt himself much of a willing candidate for spiritualism.

Someday he would meet up with it. He knew that. But he was prepared for it. He expected it. So how could it be a surprise? And so as time went by, his terror of spiritualism gave way to a state of unconcern, and finally he put the whole matter onto a shelf in the inner closet of his mind for future reference when the supernatural would begin to occur.

And then it came the surprise. It was all so unexpected and so undramatic that he almost missed it. When it finally hit him full force, the clarity was nearly overwhelming. He came to a full mental stop. And when his thinking went into gear again, he felt possessed of the revelation of a lifetime.

The setting was calm enough—a quiet evening at home, the children asleep, his wife quietly playing the organ. And he reading a favorite book.

Once in the forgotten past he must have read these pages that were open before him, because portions were underlined. But never before had comprehension come through. But now it suddenly burst to life—spiritualism!

This is what the book said: "Spiritualism asserts that men are unfallen demigods; that 'each mind will judge itself; that 'true knowledge places men above all law'; that 'all sins committed are innocent'; for 'whatever is, is right,' and 'God doth not condemn.' The basest of human beings it represents as in heaven, and highly exalted there. Thus it declares to all men, 'It matters not what you do; live as you please, heaven is your home.' Multitudes are thus led to believe that desire is the highest law, that license is liberty, and that man is accountable only to himself."

So this was spiri