The Box Experiments, Pendulum Test For Mana

May 1, 1949

For Huna Research Associates
Covering the experimental approach to the use of Huna in HUNA and related religious and psychological fields.
From Max Freedom Long
P.O. Box 2867, Hollywood Station, Los Angeles 28, California, U.S.

REPORTS ON THE BOX EXPERIMENTS

Reports on the box experiments have been slow to come in, but those who have had time and energy to drive ahead in this important approach to a better working understanding with the Aunihipili, have made excellent progress.

The primary purpose of practicing with the boxes is to become acquainted with the Aunihipili and to learn how it works with and for one, also how to work with it when considered as a separate entity and NOT as a part of ONE consciousness.

HRA, Stone, of Knoxville, Tenn., tried a variation of the usual methods with his six boxes. He writes, “The objects were taken from the six boxes, and on the inside of the box covers [was] written what they had contained … It seemed to work equally as well as if the objects were actually in the boxes … I made a score of 2 correct out of 8 tries. My mother, who is a ‘natural’ scored 6 out of 12 … I wonder if the Aunihipili is trying indirectly, by was of symbolism, to get a message of a different nature to us.”

Mr. Stone’s question touches on a most important discovery which HRA Macabe, of Menlo Park, Calif., brought into sharp focus in his work. His report on this experiments and findings is of such interest that I will (with his permission) give parts of it.

“Regarding the ‘box’ experiment, I have come to believe that you failed to emphasize enough the very great training one can receive by that simple procedure. For one, I have been simply amazed at the insight I have gained of the working of ‘George’ through these experiments. It has been such an intriguing adventure that my files now contain the record and analysis of over 250 tests made.

“I started in January when I was floundering around to find someplace to start on a test of Huna. I wrapped up 25 small objects and placed them in envelopes; then tried to identify them by placing my fingers on them. My idea was that I would get a distinct ‘hunch’ as to the identity of the object; and I was quite disappointed with the results.

“In thirty tests, I was able to name only two correctly. After a number of trials I began to get impressions instead of a named object. I described four fairly accurately and three others partially, which did not show up very well … With boxes I named correctly ten out of fifty guesses, or exactly chance by mathematics. I then laid aside the idea. 

“Upon reading the March 15th letter, I immediately re-opened the investigation. I enclosed five objects in match boxes, packing them to prevent rattling. (Other precautions taken to prevent guessing, and thirty boxes eventually used in sets of five to each test). Instead of saying to ‘George’, ‘Tell me what is in the box,’ I would say, ‘You and I are good friends – we are both spirits, inhabiting the same physical body, but can reach out independently from it. Now reach in there and tell me what the object feels like; what does it resemble; what does it make us think of; what experience have we had that is associated with it; what IMPRESSION to we get?’

“And right away, from the very first attempt, results startling and amazing began to show up. All kinds of slants on my personal habits, opinions and beliefs. The box containing the nail gave me this – ‘Something that stands up straight or obliquely; something that goes around or up and down.’ Certainly up and down describes driving a nail, and I always slant them to give better holding power.

“All sorts of laughable combinations turned up when ‘George’ tried to describe something by impressions. For instance, there was the earring consisting of small squares jutting down from a point at the bottom and closed on the ear lobe with a screw. He said, ‘Comes to a sharp point; it is notched; closing up, like a door or book; concerns a cow, or a straw to drink milk through.’ It was some time before I could reconcile the idea of drawing milk from a cow with the idea of the udder and the lobe of an ear. But as I was raised on a farm, it was natural to make this association.

“Then a sea-shell gave this: ‘It is rough and irregular; concerns old people.’ I saw the connection, as always, personal. One of my favorite poems is ‘The Chambered Nautilus’ – ‘Till thou at length art free; leaving thine out-grown shell by Life’s unresting sea.’

“I found ‘George’ raking up all kinds of forgotten memories to fashion an impression, some seemingly far-fetched to anyone except me who am able to sense the inner connection. For instance, why did a cigarette recall a neighboring English woman of my childhood days? Because she always spoke of ‘the ‘igh grass,’ and as I roll my own, I called a packaged cigarette jokingly, ‘an ‘erbert Tarryton, don’t you know.’

“In some cases, especially of objects I am constantly using, the impressions identified the objects positively – for instance, paper clips, nails, screws, cuff links, wire, etc.

“I then ran a series of tests seeking to identify photographs, colors, and the number of objects in a group. None of these gave any high results, possibly because they were different from the other series. So I ran another test of 25 objects objects selected by myself; ten objects selected by another person, and am now working on a set of 50 objects, selected by a neighbor from a box of 60 or 70 which I picked up. So far I have gotten a fairly high percentage of correct impressions.

“From the analysis of the results obtained so far, I seem to have established certain features that stand out quite clearly:

1. “There seems to be more difficulty in positively identifying an object by name. It comes mostly by impressions about the object.
2. “All sorts of experiences of the past life are raked up in the attempt to get across an association; sometimes several stabs are made at it from various angles; instead of ‘It is round,’ one will get, ‘It reminds me of a stone; it can be rolled over and over, etc.’
3. “Best results seem to come at the very beginning of the test, even by inexperienced persons. Three of my friends, who pooh-poohed the whole idea and knew they couldn’t possibly guess what might be in the box, hit it wham on the head, much to their amazement.
4. “Sometimes, after ‘George’ has given an impression, he starts off on his own, recalling other things not at all related to the object. As an instance, one day I had planned to start some seeds in a flat, also graft a tree. Rains set in and I forgot the task. Then a box containing a cigarette brought this, ‘It is round and comes to a rounded end; it is flat (that is, a pack of cigarettes is); something about vegetables (a hint to sow those seeds in a flat); something crossed (which is the crossing by grafting). Sometimes this wandering is definitely caused by association of ideas; at other times there seems to be a clearly defined trend toward unearthing some hidden idea.
5. “And lastly, when several tests are run consecutively with no great time interval between, there is a very definite ‘lag’ of impressions from one object to and into the next – as if a train of impressions were started and carried through into the next test. In one series just completed, where I ran through a set of objects – 10 to the set – five times, there were several instances in which as many as three impressions on a given subject had no association whatever with that object, but accurately described the preceding object. In this present series, I am allowing at least 15 minutes to elapse between tests, to eliminate this lag until I become more experienced.

“I really think that this working with concealed objects is quite basic in one’s training and development. For one thing, not only can one get a slant on how the inner mind works, but that insight comes ‘right now,’ and not after a year’s development. One also seems to get an actual feeling of vital force at work. Almost invariably, when a new-comer to the idea picks up a box to work on, he exclaims, ‘I feel something like an electric current – a tingling in my fingers.’ What I like about the Huna idea is this instant response right from the start. One doesn’t need to work through months of training, but can begin to check off results of some kind from the very start.”

The warm thanks of all HRAs goes to those who do such careful work in the experimentation along various lines and, through their findings, add greatly to what we know. HRA Macabe’s findings will bear close study. He has definitely determined the fact that the Aunihipili loves to work with associated ideas – thus giving us the “symbols” found in the study of dreams and in “free association” when efforts are made to find what hidden or “translated” complexes are harbored by the subconscious self and are causing trouble.

Psychoanalysis has been the chief method of discovering the complex so that it may be drained off, and any short cut, especially if one can use it on oneself in spare time, would be a boon. The work with the boxes seems to promise such a method. Everything depends on finding a way to communicate directly with the Aunihipili as a separate entity, not when so closely blended with the Auhane that it reacts to all intents and purposes as a PART of the Auhane and, therefore, gives no inkling of its submerged thoughts, complexes, desires and so on.

One cannot see what time it is with the watch left in the pocket, and one has similar trouble “seeing” what is in the mind of the Aunihipili when it is merged into the complete and dual unit which makes up waking consciousness. Through work with the boxes (and possibly with the pendulum – of which we will have more in the course of our investigations), we soon come to get the watch – the Aunihipili – out of the pocket.

In addition to the promise that we may become well acquainted with “George” as a separate entity who lives in the same house with us, there is the goal of being able to get the Aunihipili to look at the crystallized part of the future which may be seen through contact with the Aumakuas, and bring back a report on what is ahead, in much the same way as on what is in a box.

A still more shining prospect is that we can, by patient practice, now that we have proven so much of the Huna theory at this point, teach the Aunihipili to act as messenger so that we can ask questions of the Aumakua and get answers. This was demonstrated as entirely possible by the elderly woman kahuna in Honolulu who helped me sell my store and adjust other matters of great importance to me. She used a slightly different method (see SSBM, Case 29, beginning on page 336), but we know that it CAN be done, and our job is to find methods suited to us which will achieve the same ends – perhaps not as swiftly, but effectively.

Undoubtedly, the use of symbols will be continued by the Aunihipili in telling us, in terms of our personal past experiences, what it learns from the Aumakua concerning the future, or by way of guidance in our lives. First learn to identify objects in the boxes, then explore the way ahead. We progress swiftly. 

PENDULUM TESTING EXPERIMENTS FOR THE MANA SURCHARGE

Up to March, 1949, we relied on the Baron Fersen method of testing a surcharge of vital force, to see if one had been successfully accumulated. The hands of the charged person were laid on the shoulders of the uncharged friend and then were slowly withdrawn. IF the friend happened to have a considerably smaller charge of vital force, and IF the accumulated charge were sufficient, there was a distinct “pull’ exerted on the friend when the hands were drawn away.

This method had its obvious faults, not the least of which was the need of a friend or, in practice, a group, for the testing.

THE PENDULUM

The pendulum seems to be the answer to our testing needs. For some years the experiments have been going on to test the many strange uses apparent in this field of psychometric phenomena. The water dowsers have been known down the years, and the success of the British campaign against the Germans in North Africa in [the war], was made successful by the finding of water along the route of march.

The pendulum has various forms and there are electrical machines which are used as a more modern substitute. For our purposes, at least at this time, a very simple “bob” serves well enough.

MAKING A PENDULUM

Making a pendulum is easy. To a five-inch piece of strong thread or light string, a small weight is fastened. It may be a small marble of glass or pottery, or a roundish button. One of the easiest to make is formed from a three-quarter inch piece of red sealing wax such as is used for sealing letters. (Any color will do.) The wax is heated until the end of the thread can be pressed into the soft end of the piece of wax, and the wax is then melded with the fingers around the protruding part of the thread to fasten it more securely.

TO USE THE PENDULUM

To use the pendulum, hold the thread about three and a half inches from the wax bob (more or less) and suspend the bob a half inch over the upturned palm of the free hand. The elbow of the arm supporting the pendulum is pressed lightly against the side to steady it.

The pendulum will usually begin to swing. For me it swings clockwise in a circle about 2-1/2 inches in diameter. It swings (after getting a fair start) about 52 times and then slows down to a stop. This is my average or “index,” and if the swing is less, I know that it is an indication of a lowered charge caused by the long hours or other wearisome activities.

Tests made on others show that each has his or her particular pendulum reaction and “index” number of swings or movements back and forth in a straight line, the line falling as the diagonal across an imaginary circle drawn on the palm. A few people get no movement of the pendulum, and these are supposed to be poorer hands at using the method than the average.

Tests can also be made by holding the pendulum ever a signature written in ink. I have found that the signature produces the same type of swing and the same number of swings or gyrations as the palm of the person owning the signature. The signature of a person who cannot make the pendulum react gives little reaction when tested by another. These are averaged findings, and there are exceptions. Passes may be made over the table before placing the signature on it to be tested. The passes, made with the right hand – about five of them, back and forth – seemingly clear away the influence of other signatures tested at the same spot. Tests made over the palm AFTER accumulating a surcharge, should at least double the swings. My index of 52 rises to over 200. Signatures written when a surcharge has been accumulated, show the same multiplication of swings.

Max Freedom Long