SEX AND CHARACTER

Otago Witness, Issue 3487, 11 January 1921, Page 24

SEX AND CHARACTER

HOW THEY ARE DETECTED. MAGIC POWERS OF SIDERIC PEND ULUM. GOLD RING ON A THREAD. Whaf is called the “Skleric Pendulum” is the latest craze amongst English students of the occult. The device, with which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has made a number of experiments, is akin to the divining rod, and among the most remarkable of its powers is said to be the determination of sex. This power is excited not only by fertile eggs, young animals, and the like, but also by photographs and letters, and by articles that have been for some time in the possession of individuals. The pendulum is also claimed to indicate bad moral forces and disordered mentality. The device consists of a plain gold ring, or other article of the same metal, held suspended over an object by a thread of hair fastened to the hand. Deductions are made from the swing of the ’pendulum, whether circular, elliptical, or in a straight line. According to a recent article on the subject, the pendulum’s behaviour is explained by a theory that living beings give off an emanation, male or female in character, which is communicated to, and retained by, articles that have been in their possession, such as watches, clothes, and documents. The same is said to apply to letters written by a person, and to photographs of him, though not to printed reproduction of such photographs. The emanation is supposed to be conveyed from tho subject to the photographic plate, and from the latter to all contact prints made from it. The personality of the subject gives a definite character to the emanation. Thus a letter written with a deceitful purpose, by a person of unsound mind, or by someone influenced by anger or terror, is said to cause erratic movements of the pendulum. MAKING THE DEVICE. To make the device, take a smooth silk or cotton thread or woman’s hair, about 15in long. Tie a little noose in one end, taking care to cut the loose end of the thread close to the knot, at the other end fix a wedding ring or other ling without stones, a golden cellar stud, or any like article. Other metals will answer the purpose also, but gold is considered the best. Here, too, the noose end of the knot must be trimmed off. Then push the noose on the first joint of the forefinger, which it must fit tightly. It is not sufficient to wind the thread around the finger. Now the operator, if he has not done so before, divests himself of every metallic article, such as watch, keys, pocket-knife, studs, etc., as they might interfere with the movements of the pendulum; that is, stop them or lead to deviations, which would tend to wrong conclusions. For the same reason, no metallic articles should be in too close proximity to the place where the experiments are to be carried out. HOW TO USE IT. The experimenter (this is important) must take care to stand true in the line of the meridian, facing north (south in the Northern Hemisphere). The right hand, palm downward, forefinger extended, and the other fingers closed, is raised over the object, so that the ring is suspended one or two inches above it. The left arm is best held at the back. The same applies to the thumb, which must not touch the forefinger. It is an advantage to place a sheet of paper under the object. The pendulum must be held steady— not a difficult matter. About a minute after the pendulum has come to rest over the object it begins to swing in a definite way. If it describes a circle the object Is connected m some way with the male sex, or is composed of gold, pyrites, or certain other minerals. Over water the swing is also circular, and the same effect is produced by a photograph of a lake or waterfall. In the case of the last the swing is very vigorous and agitated. If the swing is elliptical, the female sex is indicated, or the presence of silver, lead, and certain other minerals. A straight-line swing from east- to west, or a narrow ellipse pointing in those directions, is regarded as an unfavourable sign, indicating moral, mental, or nervous degeneration in the person with whom the object has been most associated. CONAN DOYLE’S EXPERIENCES. “I tried it 14 times without a failure, upon photographs,” writes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, “in several cases concealing the photograph so that I did riot myself know, until after the ring had given the circle or the ellipse, what the sex was. It neverfailed. I find on testing other materials apart from sex that one gets a constant result —e.g., gold and amber are circular or male, silver is oval, steel and bronze are almost longitudinal. Photographs are, on the whole, better than letters, and recent letters hotter than old ones, but tho latter respond after a long time. I had a male circle from a letter of 1776. One cannot, so far as I can see, claim the matter as bearing directly upon spiritualism, but it strongly supports the existence of forces outside our present scientific knowledge.”