Lesson Six: Psychic Phenomena

Psyche means soul; psychic phenomena are the phenomena of the soul. We have already seen that what we call the soul is, really, the subjective part of us. We do not have two minds, but we do have a dual aspect of mentality in what we call the objective and subjective phases of mind. The objective mind is that part of the mentality which functions consciously; it is the part of us which really knows itself; and without it we would not be real of conscious entities.

THE SUBJECTIVE MIND

Our subjective mind is our mental emanation in Universal Subjectivity; it is our individual use of mental law. It is also the avenue through which Instinctive Man works, carrying on the functions of the body; for it is the silent builder of the body. The subjective mind of the individual is the working of Instinctive Man within him, plus all of his conscious and subconscious experiences.

SEAT OF MEMORY

The subjective mind is the seat of memory and of instinctive emotion. Being the seat of memory, it contains a remembrance of everything that has ever happened to the outer man. This memory is perfect and retains every experience of the individual life. The subjective mind also contains many of the family and race characteristics which have been experienced by individualized man. It retains these memories, partly, at least, as mental pictures or impressions. This is proven by the fact that pictures have been taken of the subjective thought and definite outlines developed. This does not necessarily mean that every impression is retained as a mental picture, but that, in all probability, anything that the outer eye has definitely seen is retained as a more or less distinct picture.