Wisdom Vault — onlinknow.co.za

PERSONAL MAGNETISM. It is a strange and almost amusing fact that there should be at the same time, on the acceptance of the existence of personal mag- netism, on the one hand, and such an igno- rance of the nature of this wonderful force, on the other hand.

In short, while everyone believes in the existence of personal mag- netism, scarcely anyone possesses a knowl- edge of the real nature of the same, much less a working knowledge of its principles of application. A belief in the existence of a personal power, influence, or atmosphere, on the part of certain individuals, which enables the pos- sessor to attract, influence, dominate or con- trol others, has been held by the race from the earliest days of written history.

Many of the oldest writings of the race contain refer- ences to the strange, mysterious power pos- sessed by certain individuals, which enabled 1 2 Personal Magnetism them to attract or influence others. And, fol- lowing the course of written human history along the ages, we may perceive a constant reference to this strange power of the indi- vidual, so generally acknowledged and, at the same time, so little understood.

Coming down to the present age, an age in which great attention has been devoted to the study of psychology and psychic subjects in general, we find that while the old belief in personal magnetism has been strength- ened, there exists, at the same time, very little general knowledge among the public regarding the real nature of the force or the best means of using and employing it.

But this lack of knowledge just alluded to is confined to the general public. In all ages there have been a few advanced individuals who have thoroughly understood and em- ployed the force of personal influence. Not only have the occult students of the past possessed this knowledge, and have passed it on to their successors, but many of the greatest men of history have acquired a thor- ough knowledge likewise, and have employed it in advancing their own interests.

In some cases, individuals of this last mentioned class Personal Magnetism 3 have received direct instruction from occult teachers, but in many cases they have stum- bled across the existence of the power within themselves, and then advanced in their knowledge of the subject by careful investi- gation and study, accompanied by constant experimentation.

Many of them, in their writings or sayings, have testified to their knowledge and use of this most wonderful power. It is difficult even to correctly define the term ‘‘personal magnetism,’’ so little are its principles understood by the masses of the people.

The dictionaries give us but little help in the matter, so vague are their so- called definitions. Perhaps the best defini- tion is the following: ‘‘The strong, peculiar, but little understood power, force, or influ- ence, exerted by certain individuals, in vary- ing degrees, by the means of which other per- sons are attracted to, controlled by, domi- nated, or influenced by the individual posses- sing the power; a form of mental influence exerted by certain individuals over those with whom they come in contact.’’ The principal objection that I, personally, have to the above otherwise fairly good defi- 4 Personal Magnetism nition, is it implies that personal mag- netism is possessed by only certain individ- uals, the implication being that the remainder of the race are devoid of it.

This, in my opin- ion, is a sad mistake. The truth is that each and every individual is possessed of a cer- tain degree of personal magnetism, and that each person may increase the degree and strengthen the power, by knowledge and practice.

Even the most ‘‘unmagnetic’’ per- son possesses personal magnetism, perhaps even to a considerable degree, but is gener- ally so ignorant of the nature of the force or the means of its employment, that he or she actually repels other persons instead of at- tracting them.