“The sober old American Society for
Psychical Research, distressed by the boom in psychic interest that somehow did
not extend to any serious research, did a survey of bookstores,” Adam Smith (a/k/a
Jerry Goodman) noted in his book Powers of
Mind.
“In some anguish, it reported
that 97 percent of what was on the shelves was ‘occult’ and more properly
placed in fiction; only three percent was genuine psychical research. The rest
is This Way to the Egress. Use Healing Rays
to Repair the Body! Attract All the Money You Need! Influence the Thoughts of
Others! Transform Your Surroundings! Predict Future Events.
“I have little trouble with any
of these exhortations. Influence the thoughts of others: you dolt, you really
don’t have it together, do you, and watch where you’re stepping! Transform your
surroundings: paint, soap, brush, mop. Attract all the money you need? What is
need? What is you? Use healing rays to repair the body? They aren’t rays, but
the body always heals itself, the physician only sets it up, the medicine only
helps. Predict future events: that’s easy, the hard part is making the event
match the prediction.”
Gold finished by quoting Shakespeare,
Henry IV:
Glendower: I can all spirits
from the vasty deep.
Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so
can
any man;
But will they come when you do
call
for them?
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