Observations placeholder

Supernormal faculties in Man- Dr Eugene Osty

Circumstances and conditions

 In March, 1919, there was placed in the hands of Mme Morel, hypnotized, the visiting card of M. Emile D-; in order to obtain a delineation of his life at the time.

The subject did not know M. D-; the experimenter was his friend and familiar with his surroundings.

Speaking of his father's life, Mme M., passed of her own accord to his family, and said:

 "There is a woman in his surroundings, she scarcely exists, so to say, she is so insignificant that she does neither good nor harm-brainless. I see a little girl, the eldest of the children, whom her father loves much more than the others. How mistaken he is! He does not know her the child is ill-disposed violent and passionate, shaking and striking her brothers and sisters. She is full of spite. Oh, what a wicked child! No one must excel her in anything, she wants always to be first. She is very haughty. But destiny walks in strange paths and cannot be avoided . . ."

Censorship.

The child of whom the subject was speaking, whom we will call Denise, was the eldest of three, and ten years old. Her parents, who were wealthy, accustomed her to a personal luxury such as it is unusual to allow to children.

But Denise was a most attractive little being, gentle, amiable, without any arrogance, very sympathetic, and charming by her grace of manner. The experimenter considered that the subject had not seen aright. What seemed false at ten, became true at thirteen.

Mme Morel had taken cognizance of a latent tendency which came out at one of the periods that transform personality-at puberty. The first Denise, whose appearance was still maintained before her parents and adult friends, was succeeded by another Denise at the end of 1921, who was characterized by outrageous and increasing egoism.

There appeared a personality infatuated with herself, discontented with her childish surroundings, meanly spiteful, despotic, imposing her will on all her companions, and jealous of all around her ; for instance, hiding books, exercise-books, and music belonging to her sister, in order that she herself might excel . . a plague of a child, with a perverted character, as yet unperceived by her parents, which they made no attempt to correct by suitable mental training.

Only for purposes of comparison with Mme Morel's presage (for it is a premonition which only the future can verify), it is psychologically interesting to report here an accidental vision of Mme de Berly which came a few days since when the name of Denise (whom she did not know) was mentioned in her presence: She exclaimed-

" What a haughty child! How vain she is of her wealth of her prettily dressed hair! What airs she gives herself! Fortune's wheel turns. One day she will be glad if anyone will give her a mantle. Her marriage will bring her to misery. She will have a dreadful life!"