Charles Webster Leadbeater (1854-1934), ordained an Anglican priest in 1879, developed interests in spiritualism and occultism (then highly fashionable), and by the mid-1880s was a leading figure in the recently-founded Theosophical Society. He travelled to India, North America and eventually Australia on the Society's business, his influence only temporarily dented by a furore in 1906-8 involving allegations of child abuse. Leadbeater believed he was clairvoyant, and his many writings include this book, first published in 1899 and reissued here in a fifth edition marking the Theosophical Society's Diamond Jubilee in 1935. Leadbeater primarily addresses readers convinced of the existence of clairvoyance and familiar with theosophical terms. He argues that the 'power to see what is hidden from ordinary physical sight' is an extension of normal perception, and describes a wide range of phenomena including intentional and unintentional clairvoyance, premonitions, telepathy, and 'seeing' the past and the future.

Deliciosa obrita, ya clasica, que nos presenta a esos otros habitantes de nuestro planeta a los que -al igual que ha ocurrido con los animales silvestres- la invasion del hombre ha expulsado de muchos lugares, hallandose en los parajes solitarios, los bosques, los lagos, las montanas y tambien en alta mar.

Clairvoyance means literally nothing more than "clear seeing," and it is a word which has been sorely misused, and even degraded so far as to be employed to describe the trickery of a mountebank in a variety show. For the purpose of this treatise we may, perhaps, define it as the power to see what is hidden from ordinary physical sight. Let me make two points clear before I begin. First, I am not writing for those who do not believe that there is such a thing as clairvoyance, nor am I seeking to convince those who are in doubt about the matter. Before a detailed explanation of clairvoyance can usefully be attempted, however, it will be necessary for us to devote a little time to some preliminary considerations, in order that we may have clearly in mind a few broad facts as to the different planes on which clairvoyant vision may be exercised, and the conditions which renders its exercise possible.

Invalidating its sometimes sinister connotation, C.W. Leadbeater defines occultism as "the study of the hidden laws of nature," thereby revealing its role-here intertwined with vegetarianism-in the pursuit of spiritual truth and wholeness. In this pamphlet, first published in 1913, Leadbeater, always keeping in mind the practical issues that arise and consistently providing scientific support, provides a thorough review of vegetarianism and the many ways it benefits the body and spirit through nutrition, purity, and harmony with nature. English clergyman turned spiritualist CHARLES WEBSTER LEADBEATER (1854-1934) was ordained as an Anglican priest, but later joined the prominent Theosophical Society and traveled to India to study alternative spiritual and occult practices, eventually settling into his life as a clairvoyant and author. His other works include Man Visible and Invisible and The Science of the Sacrament.