The emancipation of the soul occurs sometimes in the waking state, and gives to those who are endowed with the faculty designated by the name of second-sight, the power of seeing, hearing and feeling, beyond the limits of the bodily senses. They perceive things at a distance at all points to which their soul extends its action; they see them, so to say, athwart their ordinary sight, and as though in a sort of mirage.

At the moment when the phenomenon of second-sight occurs, the physical state of the seer is visibly modified. His glance becomes vague; he looks before him without seeing; his physiognomy reflects an abnormal state of the nervous system. It is evident that his organs of sight have nothing to do with his present perceptions; for his vision continues, even when his eyes are shut.

The faculty of second-sight appears to those who are endowed with it to be as natural as ordinary sight. It seems to them to be an attribute of their being; and they are not aware of its exceptional character. They generally forget this fugitive lucidity, the remembrance of which, becoming more and more vague, disappears at length from their memory like a dream.

The power of second-sight varies from a confused sensation to a clear and distinct perception of things present or distant. In its rudimentary state, it gives to some persons tact, perspicacity, a sort of sure-ness, in their decisions and actions, that may be styled the rectitude of the moral glance. At a higher degree of development, it awakens presentiments; still further developed, it shows to the Seer and Adept events that have already happened, or that are about to happen.

Natural and artificial somnambulism, trance and second-sight are only varieties or modifications of the action of one and the same cause. Like dreams, they are a branch of natural phenomena and have therefore existed in every age. History shows us that they have been known, and even abused, from the remotest antiquity; and they furnish the explanation of innumerable facts which superstitious prejudices have led men to regard as supernatural.