Hallucination

The term "hallucination" derives from the Latin "hallucinari," meaning "to talk foolishly" or "to err." It entered English usage in the 17th century to describe deceptive sensory experiences, initially with a connotation of delusion or madness.

A state produced sometimes by jthysiological disorders, sometimes by mcdiumship, and at others by drunkenness. But tlie cause that produces the visions has to be sought deeper than physiology. All such visions, especially when produced through mediumship, are preceded by a relaxation of the nervous system, invariably generating an abnormal magnetic condition which attracts to the sufferer waves of astral light. It is the latter that furnishes the various hallucinations. These, however, are not always what physicians would make them, empty and unreal dreams. No one can see that which does not exist — i.e., whicli is not impressed — in or on the a.stral waves. A Seer may, however, perceive objects and scenes (whether past, present, or future) which have no relation whatever to himself, and also perceive several things entirely disconnected with each other at one and the same time, thus ]n'oducing the most grotesque and absurd combinations. Both drunkard and Seer, medium and Adept, see their respective visions in the Astral Light ; but while the drunkard, the madman, and the untrained medium, or one suffering from brain-fever, see, because they cannot help it, and evoke the jumbled visions unconsciously to themselves, the Adept and the trained Seer have the choice and the control of such visions. They know where to fix their gaze, how to steady the scenes they want to observe, and how to see beyond the upper outward layers of the Astral Light. With the former such glimpses into the ivavcs are hallucinations : witii the latter they become the faithful reproduction of what actually has been, is, or will be, taking ]>lace. The glinijjses at random caught by the medium, and his Hick(>ring visions in the deceptive light, are transformed under the guiding will of the Adei)t and Seer into steady i>ictures, the truthful representations of that which he wills to come within the focus of his perception. Hamsa or If ansa (Sk.). "Swan or goose", according to the Orientalists; a mystical bird in Occultism analogous to the Rosicrucian Pelican. The sacred mystic name which, when preceded by that of K.\l.\ 124 TIIKosdpill' \l (intinitf tiinej. i.t. Knlnhnnsd. is a iiaiiir t»t' i'arahrahin ; iiu-aiiiii^; the ''Bird out of spacr ami tiiiu ". Ilciicr liralima (male) is calltd JIansa Vahiinii **thr Vt'liirlc of Ilaiisa" (tin- Hikd). \V<' find tin- sanu; idea in tilt' Zohiir, wlitrc Ain Siiph (the i-ikIU'ss and iiitinitt-i is saitl t«» descj'iid into the universe, for purposes of

The term "hallucination," so readily relegated to the realm of pathology in modern discourse, carries a more complex resonance within esoteric traditions. Helena Blavatsky, in her 1892 definition, offers a provocative re-framing. She acknowledges the physiological and psychological conditions that can precipitate such experiences—drunkenness, illness, or the trance-like state of mediumship—but insists that the ultimate cause lies deeper than mere physiology. This "deeper cause" is the interaction with what she terms the "astral light."

This "astral light" is not simply a metaphor for the subconscious; it is presented as a subtle medium, a reservoir of impressions, where past, present, and future events, as well as entities, are imprinted. When the nervous system relaxes, particularly in states of trance or heightened sensitivity, an "abnormal magnetic condition" arises, attracting these "waves of astral light." The visions, therefore, are not conjured from nothingness but are perceptions of existing impressions within this subtle ether.

This perspective echoes the ideas of thinkers like Mircea Eliade, who explored the phenomenology of the sacred and the archaic worldview, where the invisible realms were not separate but intimately interwoven with the visible. Similarly, Carl Jung's concept of the collective unconscious, a repository of archetypal images and experiences, offers a psychological parallel to the notion of a universal substratum of impressions. Blavatsky’s formulation, however, leans more towards a Platonic or Neoplatonic understanding of a luminous, impressionable substance that constitutes the fabric of reality beyond the immediately perceptible.

The distinction she draws between the drunkard's or madman's "jumbled" visions and the Seer's or Adept's potentially coherent perceptions is crucial. While all may perceive in the astral light, the untrained mind grasps only fragmented, disconnected elements, leading to "grotesque and absurd combinations." The trained individual, however, possesses the faculty of discernment, the ability to interpret these impressions meaningfully, perceiving objects and scenes with a coherence that suggests a deeper order. This is not to endorse uncontrolled visions but to suggest that the capacity for perceiving subtle realities exists, and the challenge lies in developing the faculty to do so with clarity and purpose, rather than succumbing to the chaotic effluvia of the unrefined psyche.

The modern seeker, often adrift in a sea of information and sensory overload, might find in Blavatsky's concept an invitation to consider the nature of perception itself. If "hallucinations" are, in part, encounters with impressions on a subtle plane, then perhaps the practice of mindfulness, or other forms of contemplative discipline, can serve as a means of refining one's sensitivity to this "astral light," transforming potential delusion into a more profound apprehension of reality's layered nature. It prompts us to question the boundaries between the internal and external, the imagined and the perceived, and the very substance of what we call "real."