Odyle (also Od, Odic Force, Odyllic Force)

An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920)

The term first used by Baron von Reichenbach to denote the subtle effluence which he supposed to emanate from every substance in the universe, particularly from the stars and planets, and from crystals, magnets and the human body. The odyle was perceptible only to sensitives, in whom it produced vague feelings of heat or cold, according to the substance from which it radiated; or a sufficiently sensitive person might perceive the odyllic light, a clear flame of definite colour, issuing from the human finger-tips, the poles of the magnet, various metals, chemicals, etc., and hovering like a luminous cloud over new-made graves. The colours varied with each substance; thus silver and gold had a white flame; cobalt, a blue; copper and iron, a red. The English mesmerists speedily applied Reichenbach's methods to their own sensitives, with results that passed their expectations. The thoroughness of Reichenbach's experiments, and the apparent soundness of his scientific methods, made a deep impression of the public mind. The objections of Braid , who at this time advanced his theory of suggestion, were ignored by the protagonists of odyle. In after years, when spiritualism had established itself in America, there remained a group of "rational" defenders of the movement, who attributed the phenomena of spiritualism as well as those of the poltergeist to the action of odylic force. Table-turning and rapping were also referred to this emanation by many who laughed to scorn Faraday's theory of unconscious muscular action. Others again, such as Mr. Guppy, regarded the so-called "spirit" intelligences producing the manifestations as being compounded of odylic vapours emanating from the medium, and probably connected with an all-pervading thought-atmosphere-an idea sufficiently like the "cosmic fluid" of the early magnetists.