Mental Fascination

At the dawn of the twentieth century, when spiritualism and emerging psychological science collided, William Walker Atkinson crafted a startling manifesto on the power of the human mind. As the influential editor of "New Thought" magazine, Atkinson believed that mental fascination a force of will and imagination could influence matter, bend the wills of others, and reshape reality itself. This book unpacks that belief with startling candor: examining how animals fall under mental sway, dissecting the mechanics of fascination and induced imagination, and exploring what Atkinson calls the "dangers of psychism" hidden within these practices. He draws freely from Eastern traditions, framing what he terms "Oriental fascination" as ancient wisdom ripe for modern application. What emerges is neither quite self-help nor occult treatise but something more intriguing: a time capsule from an era when Americans dared to believe the mind was a lever capable of moving the world. For readers curious about the spiritual roots of positive thinking, the prehistory of psychology, or simply the strange byways of American intellectual life, this book remains unexpectedly compelling.