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22
INTRODUCTION
function of that phase of the mentality which may be called “the protective power." p. 167.
"Some of the ancients called it "the kindly genius”; others termed it "the guardian angel"; still others have thought of it as “my spirit friend". p. 167. It is really the the superconscious self.
Dr. Francis Aveling, professor of phychology in the University of London, in his book, 'Psychology, The Changing Outlook' observes: “Another highly significant discovery, the full consequence of which for systematic psychology can hardly yet be estimated, is that of the Unconscious as a dynamic reservoir of psychical energy. Perhaps it is scarcely a too far-fetched use of analogy to compare this with the discovery of radio-activity in physics.” p. 143
It is however not possible to draw a hard and fast line btween the two phases of the subconscious. "These activities frequently blend so into each other that it is most difficult to determine whether they belong to the higher or to the lower. There is, in fact, an indefinite intermediate area in which the higher and lower blend, mingle, and from combinations." P. 156. "Subconscious Power."
We shall conclude this discussion by quoting the views of Prof. William James in his famous work 'The Varieties of Religious Experience' 5th edition in lecture XX entitled “Conclusions." The author puts forward his hypothesis explaining the experiences of the mystics:
“The subconscious self is nowadays a well-accredited psychological entity; and I believe that in it we have exactly the mediating term required. Apart from all religious considerations, there is actually and literally more life in our total soul then we are at any time aware of. The exploration of the transmarginal field has hardly yet been seriously undertaken, but what Mr. Myers said in 1892 in his essay on the Subliminal Consciousness* is as true as when it was first
*Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, Vol. Vii P. 305. For a full statement of Myer's views see his posthumaus work "Human Personality and its survival of bodily death."