Chapter XII - The Mental Atmosphere

Following the consideration of the first manifestation of the mental phase of personal magnetism in the preceding chapter, we naturally reach the second manifestation of the same, namely: “The conscious projection of the mental current from the brain centers, by the action of the will of the individual.”

This “conscious projection,” in turn, may be said to consist of two forms of manifestation, viz.: (1) the projection into the personal atmosphere; and (2) the projection of a direct current, under special circumstances, into the mind of another person, for the purpose of direct influence upon him or her. Let us consider these two forms, in turn, beginning with the first named.

As to the nature of the process whereby one may project his mental currents into his personal atmosphere, I would say that the method is almost precisely identical with that whereby one projects his physical magnetism, or nerve-force, into his personal atmosphere, as fully set forth in Chapter IX.

As in the case of physical magnetism, is found that the average person colors his personal atmosphere by the character of his mental states, or rather by the predominant color of his mental attitude, without any special effort on his part. The degrees of color – not its particular kind, remember, but its degree of force – depends upon the degree of mental activity of the person. The person of inactive thought, ideas or feeling, will have an almost colorless personal atmosphere, while the person of the active mind will display a marked degree of thought-color therein.

We find here, also, the second class of persons, who, while not fully understanding the nature of the power, or the processes of projection, nevertheless manifest a high degree of thought color and power in their personal atmosphere. This strong color and power results from the fact that such persons are usually individuals of a high degree of feeling or idealism – that is to say, they experience strong feelings, on the one hand; or else have strong mental ideas of anything in which they are interested – or perhaps both strong feeling and strong idealism.

The strongest color and power manifested by persons of this class, is found in persons who take a strong interest in things. This strong interest really combines the two elements of feeling and attention, respectively. Feeling is a strong mental element; and attention, you will remember, is a direct application of the will. So, it follows, that such persons must strongly project their mental states into their personal atmosphere, although unconscious of the same, and without a deliberate employment of the will for this purpose.

But, here, as in the case of the physical magnetism, the strongest and most powerful effect is produced by the individuals who understands the process, and who consciously and deliberately project their thought into their personal atmosphere, where it joins and is vitalized by their physical magnetism, so that its full effect is manifested upon those who may come within its field of influence.

The process of using the will in the direction of projecting thought-color and power into the personal atmosphere is practically identical with the use of the will in the case of physical magnetism, or nerve-force, as described in Chapter IX. In other words, it consists of two phases, viz.:

(1) belief in one’s power to so project; and

(2) the actual projection by the will. I have informed you fully regarding the part played by “belief” in this process of projection, and shall say nothing more on this subject here.

The use of the will in the matter of projection, here also, consists of the actual willing or commanding of the thing itself.

The mental currents are very obedient to the will, and in fact, depend almost entirely upon the will for power to move and act. And, do not forget this, for it is important, the will is moved largely by desire.

If you will strongly desire that your personal atmosphere be colored by your thought currents, and will at the same time picture the thought currents flowing out and filling your personal atmosphere, you will have little left to do in the direction of the conscious use of the will. This because, in the first place, the will naturally operates along the lines of stung desire; and second, because the forming of the mental picture will result in the use of the attention, and the attention, as I have said, is a positive and direct action of the will in the direction of focusing its power.

So, you see, by following this plan, you are really setting into operation the power of the will itself, although not by direct command. You may also use the direct command to the will to project the thought currents, just as you use the same to lift your arm or close your eyes.

There is one other important point, though, which you must make note of and actively employ in your work of building up and maintaining a strong positive personal atmosphere. I allude to the process of intermingling and combining the two elements of personal magnetism, i.e., (1) the physical magnetism, and (2) the mental magnetism.

While there is a natural combination and intermingling of these two, without any special effort on your part, nevertheless, an enormously greater effect will be obtained by a distinct mental process on your part, in which process is combined the several uses of the will above referred to. This special process consists of three distinct mental operations, as follows:

(1) You must earnestly desire the combination of the two elements of personal magnetism, the physical and the mental forces. You must create the strongest kind of desire for this combination. This desire must be stronger than a mere “want” – it must be fanned up to the stage of an actual “longing” or “craving” for the combination in question.