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The Art And Science Of Personal Magnetism
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The Mental Atmosphere
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Following the consideration of the first manifestation of the mental phase of personal magnetism in the preceding chapter,
we naturally reach the second manifestation of the same, namely: "The conscious projection of the mental current from the
brain centers, by the action of the will of the individual."
This "conscious projection," in turn, may be said to consist of two forms of manifestation, viz.: (1) the projection into
the personal atmosphere; and (2) the projection of a direct current, under special circumstances, into the mind of another
person, for the purpose of direct influence upon him or her. Let us consider these two forms, in turn, beginning with the
first named.
As to the nature of the process whereby one may project his mental currents into his personal atmosphere, I would say that
the method is almost precisely identical with that whereby one projects his physical magnetism, or nerve-force, into his personal
atmosphere, as fully set forth in Chapter IX.
As in the case of physical magnetism, is found that the average person colors his personal atmosphere by the character of
his mental states, or rather by the predominant color of his mental attitude, without any special effort on his part. The
degrees of color – not its particular kind, remember, but its degree of force – depends upon the degree of mental activity
of the person. The person of inactive thought, ideas or feeling, will have an almost colorless personal atmosphere, while
the person of the active mind will display a marked degree of thought-color therein.
We find here, also, the second class of persons, who, while not fully understanding the nature of the power, or the processes
of projection, nevertheless manifest a high degree of thought color and power in their personal atmosphere. This strong color
and power results from the fact that such persons are usually individuals of a high degree of feeling or idealism – that is
to say, they experience strong feelings, on the one hand; or else have strong mental ideas of anything in which they are interested
– or perhaps both strong feeling and strong idealism.
The strongest color and power manifested by persons of this class, is found in persons who take a strong interest in
things. This strong interest really combines the two elements of feeling and attention, respectively. Feeling is a strong
mental element; and attention, you will remember, is a direct application of the will. So, it follows, that such persons must
strongly project their mental states into their personal atmosphere, although unconscious of the same, and without a deliberate
employment of the will for this purpose.
But, here, as in the case of the physical magnetism, the strongest and most powerful effect is produced by the individuals
who understands the process, and who consciously and deliberately project their thought into their personal atmosphere, where
it joins and is vitalized by their physical magnetism, so that its full effect is manifested upon those who may come within
its field of influence.
The process of using the will in the direction of projecting thought-color and power into the personal atmosphere is practically
identical with the use of the will in the case of physical magnetism, or nerve-force, as described in Chapter IX. In other
words, it consists of two phases, viz.: (1) belief in one’s power to so project; and (2) the actual projection by the will.
I have informed you fully regarding the part played by "belief" in this process of projection, and shall say nothing more
on this subject here. The use of the will in the matter of projection, here also, consists of the actual willing or commanding
of the thing itself.
The mental currents are very obedient to the will, and in fact, depend almost entirely upon the will for power to move and
act. And, do not forget this, for it is important, the will is moved largely by desire. If you will strongly desire
that your personal atmosphere be colored by your thought currents, and will at the same time picture the thought currents
flowing out and filling your personal atmosphere, you will have little left to do in the direction of the conscious use of
the will. This because, in the first place, the will naturally operates along the lines of stung desire; and second, because
the forming of the mental picture will result in the use of the attention, and the attention, as I have said, is a positive
and direct action of the will in the direction of focusing its power. So, you see, by following this plan, you are really
setting into operation the power of the will itself, although not by direct command. You may also use the direct command to
the will to project the thought currents, just as you use the same to lift your arm or close your eyes.
There is one other important point, though, which you must make note of and actively employ in your work of building up and
maintaining a strong positive personal atmosphere. I allude to the process of intermingling and combining the two elements
of personal magnetism, i.e., (1) the physical magnetism, and (2) the mental magnetism. While there is a natural combination
and intermingling of these two, without any special effort on your part, nevertheless, an enormously greater effect will be
obtained by a distinct mental process on your part, in which process is combined the several uses of the will above referred
to. This special process consists of three distinct mental operations, as follows:
(1) You must earnestly desire the combination of the two elements of personal magnetism, the physical and the mental
forces. You must create the strongest kind of desire for this combination. This desire must be stronger than a mere "want"
– it must be fanned up to the stage of an actual "longing" or "craving" for the combination in question. (2) You must use
the imagination, actively, in the direction of forming a mental picture of the mingling of the two forms of magnetism, just
as you would picture the combination of two clouds, or two currents of water in a lake, flowing in from two different sources.
The stronger and more vivid you can make this picture, the stronger and more effective will be the result. I have explained
that these mental pictures require the use of the attention, and that the attention is due to a direct and concentrated use
of the will. Therefore, the will is actively and powerfully employed in this process and the result is correspondingly effective.
(3) The direct command of the will itself, in the direction of "willing" the currents to coalesce and combine. These three
phases of the use of the will, combined, will prove very effective in the direction names. A little practice will enable you
to perform all three of them, at one time, almost automatically.
You will see, by a little thought, that the process just described, is practically that used when you perform any conscious,
voluntary motion of the body. Let us see: You wish to raise your hand. What processes are involved? Three, as follows (1)
Desire – you wish to raise your hand; (2) mental picture – for almost unconsciously you form the image of the raised hand;
and (3) the direct command of the will, which is the final mental effort.
The combination of the two forms of personal magnetism, the physical and the mental, works along two lines of action namely,
(1) the mental magnetism gives color and character to the physical magnetism; and (2) the physical magnetism gives vitality
and acting force to the mental magnetism. It might be said, almost, that the physical magnetism gives the body and moving
force to the combination, while the mental magnetism gives the "soul" to it. Each re-doubles the efficiency of the other,
by the power of combination.
The occultists inform us that the personal atmosphere is composed of certain colors, depending upon the particular quality
of mental states that happen to be predominant in the combination – each mental state being said to have its own color. I
shall not take up this phase of the subject, but merely mention it because of its general interest in this connection.
The occultists also inform us that, when the combination of the two elements of magnetism combine, the mental magnetism takes
on a deeper and more pronounced color and hue, and appears also to solidify and become denser; and that the physical magnetism
seems to be rendered doubly active, its increased energy being evidenced by tiny sparks and dancing glittering atoms. It seems
to be like the combination of two different chemicals, each tending to increase the potency and activity of the other, and
the two combining in the production of particularly potent and active new thing.
From the same sources, we learn that the aura or personal atmosphere of the person who uses the will in the direction of
forming the potent combination of the two forms of magnetism, seems to be almost alive, so filled with energy is it. It is
said that when it comes in contact with other persons – particularly when the owner is using his mind to impress and influence
the others – the aura will reach out and actually enfold the other persons within its field of energy, seemingly trying to
embrace the person and hold him subject to the vibration of its owner’s mind.
When you learn to produce this combination effectively, you will begin to notice that you will almost unconsciously affect
and influence other persons with whom you come in contact. You will notice that they will begin to take on your moods and
general feelings, and that they will fall "in tune" with your mental vibrations, generally. If you are enthusiastic about
anything, they will begin to manifest enthusiasm. And so on, each of your mental states registering an effect upon the other
persons. Moral: Hold only those mental states, which you wish other to "take on."
And, keep your inner opinions and designs well to the back of your mind, by an effort of the will, and show only what you
wish to be sensed by others, for remember your thought currents will have become wonderfully dynamic and powerful.
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