Dawn, The.
A Monthly Reminder that the Golden Era of Our Lives is Yet to Come.
1910--1911 Monthly
San Francisco, CA. Publisher: Dawn Publishing Co.. Editor: John Ball.
1/1, November 1910-1911. 32 pp., $1.00 a year.

The journal ceased after its fifth issue in March 1911 because of "the severe illness of the Editor" -- and because, as the editor frankly admitted, the journal "itself shows no signs of picking up." Ball (1847- ) was an eccentric and opinionated practitioner of "Psychotherapy" and "Psycho-Magnetism" ("as your soul controls your body it necessarily controls the so called animal magnetism of the body") in San Francisco, who published the journal from his offices and advertised in it his willingness to answer "Questions of a private and personal nature" if they were "accompanied by a fee of $1.00." He was the author of an autobiographical sketch, Baptism of Fire, (written as "Lucifer") and of Skakespeare, the World's Greatest Psychist. The "sole purpose of [the journal was] to remind you, at least once a month, that there is a higher and better life for each one of us; but how much better and grander this life is to be depends on our own personal efforts." In practice, this sentiment meant vast amounts of filler ("Lucky Birthday Months," "Disasters Foretold by Dreams," "Giant and Dwarf Honey Bees," "Marriage Customs of Papuans," "Poisoning by the Scent of Flowers," "Oxygen as a Food," "Immortality and the Fourth Dimension," etc.) and excerpts from Ball's favorite poets (including Ella Wheeler Wilcox, of course), all overlain with Ball's ruminations on life, his insistence that "Shakespeare is the one man of our race who comprehended the full significance of our higher psychic life," and his conviction that "The Fountain of Youth, or The Elixir of Life" (the title of his advertised 15 cent pamphlet) was sex. "Ever since the human race acquired the mental power to reflect on its past and speculate about the future, it has been seeking a method, a force or a God that would enable us to live in harmony with our noblest impulses and achieve our highest aspirations. Dormant within the depths of your own soul lies the only power that can regenerate you and bring you immortality and everlasting happiness. This booklet tells you what the power is and how to develop it to your own best advantage." Ball hints in the journal of some sexual mystery, occurring once a month, that is somehow related to this elixir of life, but it is impossible to determine from the journal exactly what the mystery may have been. LOC.

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