STARS OF DEATH
Abbe More, the French astronomer, calls to the attention of all diplomats the years 1936 and 1937. During these years, he says that a great increase and activity of sunspots will be observed. This astronomer reminds us that periods of increased activity of sunspots have often coincided with wars and all kinds of social disturbances.
"During the periods of least activity of sunspots, peaceful times usually have been observed on Earth; and a maximum activity of these spots apparently causes nervous upheavals, which impel nations toward evil and savage battle," so says the abbe.
"If solar activity increases various magnetic deviations, then in the consequences which follow there is likewise developed a strange, feverish condition which takes an epidemic possession of mankind. At times, such a feverish condition begins somewhat earlier than the recorded sunspot maximum, as happened during the World War of 1914.
"Whether another war in approaching is unknown, but I wish to point out that according to statistics of many centuries the years 1936 and 1937 should be considered especially dangerous."
Thus, to all the various calculations regarding 1936, one more is added. In many countries, due to the most diverse causes, people focus their attention on the year 1936. Of course, it is hard to say whether this year will be significant in a crude earthly sense, or will lay a foundation for results in the near future. Very often a decisive event had already taken place somewhere, while at the same time, in other places people were already growing desperate because it had not yet happened. Something akin to this was noticeable in the hours of waiting for the armistice of the Great War. The awaited moment passed as if nothing had taken place. People were still sorrowing, but at the same time the armistice, although not yet announced openly, was already agreed upon.
Thus, the French astronomer has added his experienced word to the various statements about the significance of 1936. Concurrently, across the ocean, some very significant discussions about so-called "stars of death" were taking place.
At a recent meeting of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, its secretary, the well-known astronomer, Charles Abbot, read a report about "stars of death," whose rays could destroy all life on Earth, if they were ever to reach it.
Dr. Abbot had been working at the Mt. Wilson Observatory in California with a group of assistants. With the aid of new astronomical instruments they took most exact measurements of the power of the light of different stellar rays and of their spectrums. They succeeded in taking measurements of the minutest reflections from the stars seen on Earth, despite the fact that these stars are separated from Hie Earth by trillions and quadrillions of kilometers. The study of the rays from the star Regel belonging to the constellation of Orion presented special interest. These ultraviolet rays are extraordinarily short. "The majority of the rays of the star Regel do not sustain life but kill organisms. The rays of Regel do not impart the sensation of light to the organism upon which they fall. They are veritable rays of death. In a small measure similar rays issue from the sun. Luckily for us, they hardly ever reach Earth, since it is difficult for them to pierce the strata of ozone that are in the atmosphere high above Earth.
"We have discovered," relates Dr. Abbot, "that all stars of blue color belong to the death-dealing category. Their temperature is three times higher than that of the surface of the sun."
It is well that in "the cosmic flux such powerful rays are transmuted in space. Apparently, instead of direct destruction they bring great benefit. Altogether, many remarkable observations are currently being accumulated in various fields, which, in the end, draw attention to the very same high energies; and the details of these observations, at times consciously, but more often unconsciously, fall into the hands of humanity.
Often, we also encounter another factor worthy of special attention. In some professional domain there may be raised even from a narrow utilitarian point of view, questions which have truly universal significance. For instance, the "American Weekly" gives some curious data about various unexplainable manifestations which sometimes cause all kinds of accidents, including automobile accidents. The following are of interest: "Recently a chauffeur who had wrecked his car insisted that while driving at full speed he had seen a large dog approaching and so swerved to one side. He had driven into the ditch and wrecked the car, but afterward became convinced that there had been r no dog and that all this had been a strange hallucination.
"Often he who had been sitting calmly at the wheel of a far and suddenly finds himself in an accident cannot explain logically what caused him to lose control.
"Here is another recorded case which happened in Great Britain: A bus that made regular trips between Portsmouth and London was proceeding on its way, with a very experienced driver. Suddenly, passing near a precipice, the bus began zigzagging and plunged over. As a result one passenger was killed and five injured. The driver insisted that he had seen a little girl run across the road, right under the bus, and that he had tried to avoid hitting her".
"In the United States, in Arkansas, there was recorded a case of collective hallucination. Four students were speeding along in a car when the driver saw a carriage crossing the road and applied the brakes. Two of the other students also saw the carriage, but the fourth one did not Bee anything and was quite astonished at the sudden stop. It was said that the driver had mistaken a shadow, which fell on the road, for a carriage".
"In general, one can observe that collective hallucinations are not so rare. An American student once, during a quarrel with a fellow student, took a flashlight out of his pocket shouting, "I will shoot you!' And all those present claimed they saw a real revolver".
"Another interesting case of hallucination was reported from Chicago. A woman was cleaning a room. Suddenly a revolver shot rang out. She fell and began screaming that she was wounded in the chest. When taken into the hospital it was revealed that she had no wound whatsoever. But there had been an unloaded revolver in the room, which had fallen to the floor upon being dislodged. The woman imagined that she heard a shot and that she had been wounded".
"After the terrible catastrophe of 1912 in which the Titanic struck an iceberg, many passengers on other ships traveling in the same latitudes visited the captain's bridge and told him that they saw dangerous icebergs. These were nothing but hallucinations".
"An interesting and well-known case of mass hallucination took place in England during World War I. The battle of Mons took place on the same location where in the fifteenth century English archers fought the French".
"And so when at one time the Germans attacked particularly strongly and the Tommies were about to retreat, the regiment beheld its ancestors in cuirasses, with crossbows and halberds, who, together with them rushed in to attack the Germans. The enemy was repulsed".
"How could science explain these hallucinations? Simply as imagination, as caused by fatigue, by alcohol? An interesting explanation is given by Dr. Raoul Mourg, a Frenchman, who says that a hallucination is a sudden appearance in the consciousness of an idea which jumps out of the subconscious, and precisely because of this suddenness acquires a great vividness".
"In any case, the process of "visions" is by no means a "seeming so" if it can become the cause of catastrophes, crimes, accidents, etc. Responsible workers should have full control of nerves and not admit any illusions".
At the same time that an American magazine in its own way, approaching the question of hallucination, most interesting experiments are being performed in Europe with the transmission of thought over a distance. Let us also quote these data and considerations.
"Between Vienna and Berlin, under the control of a Beatific commission of physicians, physiologists, and psychiatrists, experiments were held in the transmitting of visual images over a distance with the help of only intensity of thought. These experiments were organized, by the Metapsychical Society in Vienna, whose president is a professor of the University of Vienna, Christofer Schroeder. The dispatching station was Professor Schroeder himself, the "receiver" was a German physician, a member of the Berlin Institute of Psychic Sciences.
"Prof. Schroeder and his two assistants sat at a desk, on which a powerful electric lamp cast a vivid circle of light. Into this circle were placed various objects and drawings on which the three "dispatchers" concentrated their entire attention to such a degree that after a few minutes they fell into a sort of hypnotic trance".
"The "receivers" — the Berlin physician and his two assistants — at the same moment (previously arranged for an exact time) began to think with increasing intensity about the study of the Viennese professor, about the table and the circle of light on it; in short, about the surroundings which they had seen previously, during their visit in Vienna. Gradually, before their closed eyes there began to appear indefinite outlines of objects. At times they became diffused, not reaching completion, but at other times they became so clear that the "receiver", sketching with a pencil on a white sheet of paper, achieved a coherent drawing".
"Out of forty tests performed in November, six were fully successful, twenty tests were doubtful, the rest did not completely succeed. Some of the successful tests were as follows:
"The Viennese "dispatcher" had before him a drawing of a snake with a twofold bend of the body. The Berlin "receiver" drew the snake but with only one bend".
"The "dispatcher" concentrated upon an arrow placed horizontally. The "receiver" drew an arrow in a slanting position".
"The "dispatcher" transmitted the figure 9. The "receiver" drew an 8, but it was afterward noticed that in the drawing placed before the "dispatcher" the lower tail of the 9 was so curled that it could have been easily taken for an 8".
"Especially curious was the sixth test. From Vienna the figure 5 was transmitted. The Berlin "receiver" drew a 5, but placed a triangle under it. This circumstance was of great interest to the members of the commission, who concluded that Prof. Schroeder, at the time of transmission had momentarily become abstracted and thought about a triangle. Some members suggested that the mysterious triangle was the result of "parasites", which undoubtedly exist in telepathic transmission as in radio; i.e., in the transmission some alien thought became entangled which carried upon the invisible waves the image of a triangle."
Let us rejoice at these tests, although, in the final analysis, they are not new and rather meager. One could quote a number of others, far more instructive in this regard, but we note only these, since according to accompanying information they were conducted under the control of a scientific commission. May be precisely the influence of other people, present by chance, reduces the possibility of obtaining results.
Wherever people come close to the subtlest energies, they must be greatly harmonized in spirit and, in general, consciously refined in highest perceptivity.
But, comparing the above-mentioned considerations it so-called hallucinations with the images transmitted over a distance, it may be said that one person's thought-lings will be at the same time hallucinations for another. It is presupposed that a thought sent from a definite place will be received also in the definite place where it is expected; but, like radio waves, these thought-images will be absorbed by suitable receivers in many other places. This simple consideration once again reminds us of the great responsibility of man for his thought and what connection this mental nerve energy may be found to have with cosmic manifestations of the greatest scope.
I repeat that I am writing down the news in today's "s not only because it is especially new and striking; also to show precisely the manifestations that are emphasized in the daily press. Although in many regions fanaticism and ignorant narrowness still dominate, yet through all these obstacles human consciousness continues undoubtedly to conquer new steps of the most urgent knowledge.
It often happens that people, from some professional point of view, without even noticing it touch upon problems of vast significance. Therefore all the latest deductions must proceed with complete broad-mindedness by the observer. Today some "stars of death" are discovered, and tomorrow rays of salvation will descend. And thus one should gather knowledge with full magnanimity and should await a messenger, not because of our limited control, but with understanding of all the breadth of true possibilities.
Peking
January 26, 1935
