Chapter 12

The Mental Atmosphere

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.