and psychical research in my _Matter, Spirit, and the Cosmos_
(1910), chap. ii.


Another theory concerning talismans which commended itself
to many of the old occult philosophers, PARACELSUS for instance,
is what may be called the "occult force" theory. This theory
assumes the existence of an occult mental force, a force
capable of being exerted by the human will, apart from its
usual mode of operation by means of the body. It was believed
to be possible to concentrate this mental energy and infuse it
into some suitable medium, with the production of a talisman,
which was thus regarded as a sort of accumulator for mental energy.
The theory seems a fantastic one to modern thought, though, in view
of the many startling phenomena brought to light by psychical research,
it is not advisable to be too positive regarding the limitations
of the powers of the human mind. However, I think we shall find
the element of truth in the otherwise absurd belief in talismans
by means of what may be called, not altogether fancifully perhaps,
a transcendental interpretation of this "occult force" theory.
I suggest, that is, that when a believer makes a talisman,
the transference of the occult energy is ideal, not actual;
that the power, believed to reside in the talisman itself,
is the power due to the reflex action of the believer's mind.
The power of what transcendentalists call "the imagination"
cannot be denied; for example, no one can deny that a man with
a firm conviction that such a success will be achieved by him,
or such a danger avoided, will be far more likely to gain his desire,
other conditions being equal, than one of a pessimistic turn of mind.
The mere conviction itself is a factor in success, or a factor