It is by now an empirically demonstrated fact that the intense and constant desire to perfect some demarcated sensory organ or specific faculty is truly capable of substantially improving it.
If such reality might seem to be dubious with regard to the lower senses, it is nevertheless indisputable and even intelligible when it comes to the sight, and even more when we turn to the expression of the eye.
The expression of our eyes reflects, in a precise and unconscious manner, the state of our inner cores, exactly as a placid surface of water reflects the condition of the sky above.
As a result, whereas the lip is capable of a lie, it is quite difficult for the eyes to lie.
When we fix our gaze on something that is ardently desired or vehemently loathed, our eyes naturally become expressive.
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It is at this juncture that the problem emerges: How can we possibly perpetuate the expressiveness of our eyes?
To a great extent, this question is solved by the exercises that we have been listing up to now. A pair of healthy, vigorous and fast-moving eyes is full of charm on that ground alone.
This is nonetheless insufficient. We want to regale our eyes with that inward fire which is a telling indicator of a fervent soul.
It is here that the problem defines itself. It is clear that a young lady might not desire a dominant, Napoleonic look for herself, at the same time that a soldier or a businessman will certainly have no inclination to possess a normally voluptuous look. Every one should accordingly pose the following question to his or her own self:
— Which expression am I going to bestow upon my eyes?
The said question might in turn be subsumed under the one set out hereunder:
— Which is the expression of the look that accords best with my physiognomy, my profession, my condition, the purpose I am seeking to accomplish?
Each one of us can easily solve such problem, whereupon his efforts will be fully concentrated on acquiring the desired expression.
What is particularly helpful in that regard is self-persuasion by one’s suggestive will.
Persuading oneself bears the connotation of counselling oneself, giving oneself to believe that one is found in the specific physical or mental state that is desired by such a person, and then acting accordingly. We plead with our readers to reflect properly about the import of that definition.
The one who, for instance, desires to persuade himself in order for him to acquire a shiningly radiant and expressive look, ought to begin by deeming himself already in possession of such a look.
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But how can self-persuasion be accomplished? The following exercise will help you.
Exercise 16. Suggestive persuasion
Here is the simplest system to actualize it. Self-persuasion might take place at any time of the day, but the most propitious moment is in the evening, as one is lying in bed prior to catching sleep. We are thus going to start by you forcing your thought into a state of tranquillity, by making sure that you forget the events and worries of that particular day.
When you eventually feel you are immersed in a state of perfect calm, you will have to focus your mind on the thought that your look becomes exquisite, luminous, glowingly bright, and that in future other people cannot but concur that what you are busy thinking in that connection is actually true.
You will have, in other words, to perceive yourself as already endowed with a particular look, whichever one you might happen to crave for.
Take care to fall asleep with this thought. In the morning, when you wake up, you will undoubtedly still recall the self-persuasion of the previous night. You are encouraged in that instance to confirm it to your own self, in the invariable sense we have alluded at, i.e. not merely desiring for yourselves, but rather believing yourselves to be already factually endowed with the look you prefer, and thus imagining its manifold effects, agreeable consequences, etc.
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Exercise 17. Always keep the eyes wide open 26
While following the said advice — especially at home — one must make sure that the eyes are not opened widely with an astonished look. On the contrary, the sight must be sharp and expressive. The purpose behind the exercise is to automatically enlarge the shape of the eye. While keeping the eyes open, therefore, take care not to cross the eyebrows, and to leave them instead in their normal position.27
Exercise 18. The spot on the mirror
This is an adaptation of the preceding exercise, which is however carried out for a different reason. By resorting to a pen or a pencil, you should draw a large black spot over the surface of a mirror. Place then yourself in front of the mirror, in such a manner as to perceive that spot by the base of your nose rather than on the mirror.
26 As we have remarked in a previous footnote, Tommaso Campanella used to take notice of how the impact by the eyes manifested more easily in wonderment and love for a person or a thing. Tommaso Campanella accordingly advised to keep the eyebrows lifted up and the eyes opened, so that the spirit might flow out (Campanella, “De sensu rerum”, Book IV, chapter XV, 326).
Other writers, too, had discerned that truth, as well as the fact that, for instance, people in love tended to enlarge both the spirit and the eyes (Cf. Fracastor, “Sympath.”, Chapter XXIII, 139). In our own practice, we have always noticed that the greater is the white part of the eyes, the greater is the influence that is perceived. A larger opening of the eyes, moreover, enables more elements in the pupil to get reflected.
27 Each person has a specific configuration of eyelids and eyelashes. Every one among us, accordingly, possesses a position of the eyes which best suits the beauty of his eyes, comparatively with all other positions. You have to devise clever ways to discover such position, and turn it into one which is instinctive and familiar to your own person.
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You ought to simultaneously inject your look with an intense expression, in so doing striving to be truly permeated by that feeling which you want your eyes to give expression to.
Exercise 19. With one eye only
Repeat now the immediately preceding exercise, only that this time you shall carry it out by using one eye only, covering with your hand, alternatively bandaging, the right eye or the left one at alternate times.
Exercise 20 – Gather your attention in the middle Take a makeup mirror, and fix the black spot within the white circle with such an intensity that it is as if through it you were looking at the brain. Do that with each eye in turn for eyes and the whole skull in a very powerful manner.29
Exercise 22. The look of the glands
Erase the spot you had previously drawn on the mirror, and fix the look on your own self, moving ever more closely forward. In doing so, you should look at yourself by the corners of your lachrymal glands.
28 Eee should be pronounced ih or as the “I” at the begin of italy
29 See in regard to this exercise Peter Livers, “Deine Wesensaustrahlung”. Unlike the previous exercises, the origin of this specific one is found in Yoga.
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This is the very same method in terms of which you are later going to look at people you deal with.
Looking at the pupils, as every one is aware, will tire you very quickly. By contrast, looking at the point we have demarcated can be prolonged indefinitely (the more so if one keeps on shifting the look from one gland to the other), and that has the effect of compelling your interlocutor to unfailingly lower his own eyes and feel perturbed by yours, without being able to understand why that is so.
Exercise 23. Exercises combining rapidity with massage
An alternative practice is to shut your eyes as firmly as you can, in order for you to open them widely to the maximum possible extent while you squeeze your temples with the palms of your hands by pulling toward the ears, as indicated in the illustration here below.
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You must alternate your looks between your right and your left as much as it is feasible. Repeat the action 12 or more times.
Look down as much as possible, while you squeeze your temples in the above-illustrated manner.
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Look up as much as you can manage as you keep on squeezing the temples.
Lift your eyes to your right to the greatest possible extent, and then let them trace a full circle. As you engage in this motion, the palms of your hands, similarly to the preceding exercise, must press firmly against your temples.
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Exercise 24. The look on the road
We are going now to teach a rule aimed at impressing whoever happens to approach you on the road.
If you want to make him take notice of the power of your look, you cannot begin by fixing your gaze on him from afar.
You should rather figure out the most appropriate point at which you will start fixing the look of your eyes on his person.
This point coincides with the moment in which your pupils are bound, in order to meet his pupils, to cover the largest space in their motion. This is something which confers on the eye a special and unforgettable glow.
Accordingly, if the relevant individual were to stand right in front of us, we would only lift up our eyes to his person, in a flash, precisely when he is close to us. If, on the other hand, he happened to accost us from the side, we might safely begin to fix our look upon him a little earlier, but only on condition that you have first turned your head in the opposite direction. The look will thus be projected out twice: Firstly in order to reach
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the other person’s eyes, and secondly in a persistent manner, while turning the head slightly, for the purpose of watching him further in a more comfortable and intense fashion.
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Comprehending ocular expressions
The eyes provide a clear idea of the feelings ensconced in our heart and soul. By looking into the eyes, we can discern the most intimate emotions, the eye appears to be in a direct relationship with the soul, and it appears as if it touches the soul and shares all its impulses. It is on account of such reason that Galen termed the eyes divine organs. In his view, the head was made exclusively for them. Pliny deemed the eye to be the residence of the soul and its natural dwelling, whereas others defined it as “the wrist of the reasonable soul”.
In love, eyes open up along their median line: The white part remains still, and the pupil sparkles. When desire grips the eyes, they light up, become more lively and comely, and the pupil spurts out fire – as it is normally put –. If they are steeped in intimacy, shame, or reticence, the eyes are lowered;
whereas the pupil is stirred up by a disquieting motion in a state of joy and satisfaction. As for moments of merriment or when one is laughing, the eye, too, is worried, sad, it does not shine, it is as if switched off, and it fixes the ground, nearly shut, or else looks ahead without really seeing. In anger, when eyes redden, the agitated pupil is set into motion in every 30 sense.
The position of the eyelid
We have spoken about the importance, for the sake of exercising a captivating charm, of keeping the eyes open. There are essentially three ocular postures which are the most significant, and which are shaped by the position assumed by the eyelid vis-à-vis the eye:
30 Refer also to the booklet published in the 20’s by the Milan-based publishing house Hermes, titled “Fisionomia”.
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• At the eye’s level: It normally indicates a pensive state. It is quite common among the majority of people. It is indeed the condition of the average person
• By the edges of the iris: It is characteristic of emotional liveliness, and it is useful even in respect of a “glance”
• Above the iris: It indicates a strong emotional involvement, and it is one of the pointers of fascination
The eyelid
The pupil, too, corresponds to a large extent to the attitude of a person, thereby identifying his approach to the world.
• Contracted Pupil (needle’s eye). It is typical of the act of observing, be it detached or attentive, as well as of the electrical profile of the person concerned. The person is imposing his own reality.
• Enlarged Pupil (mydriatic profile). It is characteristically representative of the attention to the here and now. It typifies a magnetic and attractive profile. The person concerned is entering the world of the other human being.
In the image set out here below, the woman evinces a clear mydriatic profile, which is precisely what makes her eyes particularly “magnetic”.
Methodical study of the expression of the eyes Look consists therefore in a two-fold reality: It is the way of laying one’s sight upon a subject, but it is also a vehicle of expression which, independently of any act of seeing confers life on the totality of the face, under the influence of some feeling, thought or state of being. It is in the eyes that one instinctively attempts to read, to guess the thoughts, the state of being and the intentions of the people in whose presence he
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happens to be. That is so because of the fact that it is in the eyes that the reflection of one’s inner life, feelings, passions, signs of approval or disapproval, attraction or repulsion, exteriorize. The eyes speak.
In order to acquire firmer possession of the impression we transmit outwardly, and with a view to practically attaining that goal, we are now going to utilize a series of images. This study, which is pregnant with most rapidly achievable results31, has to be conducted by adhering to the following instructions:
a) You ought to hide every image other than the one you are studying at any given time;
b) You should sit yourself in a comfortable position, as well as in a thoroughly serene state of being;
c) You must have a mirror in front of your person, so that you can control the expression you eventually manage to attain;
d) You are required to analyse in detail each image we are going to provide and its relevant explanation, whereupon, as you stop looking at it, you should strive to reproduce the same expression by putting yourself in the spiritual condition indicated by the title which accompanies the pertinent image;
31 This study is taken from the book “Occhi Fascinatori” by the anonymous Italian author who has been mentioned by us in the historical notes on the images, as well as, in other respects, from Luzy’s work titled “La puissance du renard”. As regards our master Virgilio T., it should be remarked that he was a painter who had amply studied the expressions which a look can take.
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e) Every exercise will have to be repeated until you feel you have achieved the perfect imitation of the original;
f) It is necessarily incumbent to repeat these exercises systematically, until such a point where each and every expression detailed in them is capable of being instantly reproduced.
Scrutinizing look.
Eyebrow following a normal line, eyes opened half-way, pupils turned upwardly through an angle.
Fluffy look.
Eyebrows slightly lowered, eyes half-shut a little, pupils centralized.
45 Pensive look.
Eyebrows following a normal line, eyes opened, pupils lifted up.
Haughty look.
Eyebrows lifted up, the pupils fix their glance ahead of themselves without actually seeing any specific point.
46 Investigative look.
Eyebrows slightly raised upwardly, eyes half-open, very fixed and energetic look.
Shining look.
Eyebrows slightly upwards, eyes half-opened, pupils set in an angular position.
Absorbed look.
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Eyebrows shaping a normal line, eyes open, fixed but indeterminate look.
Meditative look.
Eyebrows lifted up, straight look fixated on one particular point.
Reflective look.
Normal eyebrows, lowered pupils, look turned to the ground.
48 Sarcastic look.
Eyebrows lifted up, pupils turned upwardly at an angular shape.
Pure look.
Eyebrows turned upwardly, pupils in a normal position, look spreading out.
The sketch here above encapsulates its essential features.
49 Infantile look.
Eyebrows raised upwardly, eyes most enlarged, straight look.
When that is combined with a slight movement of the eyes, as in the sketch here above, it might even inspire tenderness.
Ironic look.
Eyebrows forming a normal line, eyes half-closed.
50 Astonished look.
Eyebrows lifted up very much and spread out, pupils tracing a normal line. The sketch which is provided hereunder emphasizes some of the essential aspects in a different variant which we might define as “flabbergasted”.
Proud look.
Eyebrows raised upwardly, pupils turned up in a slightly angular shape.
51 Protective look.
Eyebrows slightly turned up, look cascading from on top.
Contemplative look.
Eyebrows set in an upward position, pupils turned upwardly.
Desirous look.
Eyebrows forming a normal line, drawn slightly together, pupils turned upwardly.
52 Voluptuous look.
Eyebrows following a normal line, slightly drawn together, pupils turned upwardly.
Imperious look.
Eyebrows tracing a slightly arched line, angular look lifted upwardly.
Dejected look.
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Eyebrows shaping a normal line, straight pupils slightly turned upwardly. Japanese people bestow a special attention on this type of look, by virtue of which it is possible to notice the white part of the eye both laterally and from underneath. They call it sanpaku, a term which might be literally translated as “three (san) whites (paku)”. This look accordingly evidences an imbalance.32
Another illustrating example of this type of look can be found in the above sketch.
Lustful look.
Eyebrows slightly lowered, pupils slightly upwards.
32 Cf. Marshall Evan, “The eyes have it”.
54 Ironic look.
Eyebrows in a normal line, eyes crushed, straight look.
Additional Exercises
The one who has the good fortune of having, within his retinue of elite associates, some person gifted with extraordinarily expressive eyes, should never tire of fixing him in his eyes, so as to try and emulate their expression, steal, so to speak, their secret.
The eye belongs to the soul more than any other organ of the body. The eyes are in fact the window through which the soul looks at the world. 33 Even when you are in a road or at some other place, if you meet two beautiful eyes you should not neglect to carefully analyse their specific expression, while firmly holding inside that suggestive will which urges us, too,
The eye belongs to the soul more than any other organ of the body. The eyes are in fact the window through which the soul looks at the world. 33 Even when you are in a road or at some other place, if you meet two beautiful eyes you should not neglect to carefully analyse their specific expression, while firmly holding inside that suggestive will which urges us, too,