mentality to conceive ideas which we do not wish to see manifest. After all, these things are mental attitudes, and the best way to heal them is through mental treatment.

OBSESSION

Obsession is another form of mental control and may or may not be conscious at its inception. People may become obsessed with desires, thoughts, ambitions, habits, suggestions or other mental influences; and if the spirits of undeveloped entities surround us, it seems entirely possible that people may become obsessed by them.

The obsession of desire produces a mania to express that desire; for thought demands an outlet. Some are so obsessed by their ambitions that they are constantly driven to the accomplishment of them. Some are obsessed by the suggestion of their environment, for the mental atmosphere of places often obsesses people, compelling them to do certain things and without any apparent reason. In studying a case of obsession we should take all the facts into consideration and reason from effect back to cause.

PERSONAL INFLUENCE AND OBSESSION

People often become mildly obsessed by the mentalities of those surrounding them; this is called personal contagion. Many take on the color of their environment, and this should be guarded against, for it is a mild form of hypnotism. It is, of course, brought about through the suggestive power of unconscious mental action, and may or may not be malicious. We should never allow ourselves to become controlled by anything that we do not consciously allow to enter the thought. If one feels an influence silently demanding attention, he should at once declare that there is no power, in the flesh or out of it, that can control him except, of course, the One Perfect Mind.

OBSESSION OF DISCARNATE SPIRITS

If we are surrounded by discarnate spirits, they, also, might