COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE SPIRIT WORLD.
Remarks Introductory to my Spirit Father’s Communication.
398. Agreeably to my spirit father’s communication, the manifestations which of late have given birth to Spiritualism, have been the result of a deliberate effort, on the part of the inhabitants of the higher spheres, to break through the partition which has interfered with the attainment, by mortals, of a correct idea of their destiny after death. To carry out this intention, a delegation of advanced spirits has been appointed. Referring to this statement, I inquired how it happened that low spirits were allowed to interfere in the undertaking? The answer was, that the spirits of the lower spheres being more competent to make mechanical movements and loud rappings, their assistance was requisite.
399. Likewise, I inquired why it was deemed expedient to make these manifestations, in the first instance, at Hydesville, near Rochester, through the spirit of a murdered man? The answer to this was, that the spirit of a murdered man would excite more interest, and that a neighbourhood was chosen where spiritual agency would be more readily credited than in more learned or fashionable and conspicuous circles, where the prejudice against supernatural agencies is extremely strong; but that the manifestations had likewise been made at Stratford, in Connecticut, under other circumstances. Nor were these the only places. They had been made elsewhere, without much success in awakening public attention.
400. Thus, it appears that at the outset, the object was to draw attention, and in the next place to induce communications. It will appear from the account of the manifestations at Hydesville and Stratford, that as soon as through an ingenious agreement upon signals rational intercommunication was established, the manifestations became changed in character. The mischievousness displayed, in the primitive derangement of furniture, ceased. This was attributed to the replacement of spirits of inferior grade, by their superiors.
401. Thus this new and glorious light has come up amid dark clouds, as we often see the thunder-gust the harbinger of a bright sky.
402. But still there has been another source of temporary degradation, not arising solely from the spirits, but from the inquirers also. The great motive in the first instance for witnessing spiritual manifestations was the love of the marvellous, or the desire to expose what was deemed jugglery. The mere movements of tables, without any reference to spiritual agency, was the great object of attention. Though I was present where table turning was discussed, if I ever heard the idea of spirits being the cause, it left no impression on my memory, as has already been stated. ([134].)
403. But after alphabetical communication commenced, it was performed so slowly, that the replies were often brief, and made with a view to establish identity of the spirits with the individual whom it professes to personate; or to test the existence of a spirit by the replies given to inquirers respecting facts which could not be known to the medium. At the first recognition, the spirit would occupy the time mainly with statements very natural and amiable, but not instructive beyond the degree of confirmation thus afforded of the great fact of such intercourse being possible on the part of friends who have quitted this stage of existence.
404. Communications through spelling and writing media very much fell short of the expectations which the name assumed by the spirit would awaken.
405. As soon as convinced that the phenomena were due to the shades of the dead, I looked with eagerness for some consistent information of their abodes, modes of existence, of the theological doctrines entertained by them, and the actual diversities of their situation consequent to various degrees of moral and intellectual merit.
406. It was with regret that I found in the published accounts, nothing satisfactory, nothing precise, nothing connected. In no publication did I find any satisfactory statements of the location of the spirit world, or of its subdivision into spheres.
407. Urging this deficiency of information upon those spirit friends who seemed to have selected me as an instrument in promulgating the invaluable truths of Spiritualism, I obtained information, as early as May, 1854, respecting the situation of the spiritual spheres, or country of spirits, relatively to the earth; but about the latter part of October my father commenced writing on the subject through a medium of the other sex, but the ideas furnished were too much blended with her own prepossessions, with which her mind was replete. Hence, although many pages had been written, they were rejected, and resort was had to another medium—Mrs. Gourlay. The result thus obtained was afterwards read to the author, at the disk, so as to have every paragraph scrutinized.
408. Under the following head will be found my father’s communication.
My Spirit Father’s Communication.[10]
409. My son, in communicating with you respecting the destiny of man, I shall endeavour, according to the extent of my capacity and highest perception of truth, to give you a view, as correct and definite as possible, of the all-important subject in question.
410. The spirit world lies between sixty and one hundred and twenty miles from the terrestrial surface; the whole intermediate space, including that immediately over the earth, the habitation of mortals, is divided into seven concentric regions called spheres. The region next the earth, the primary scene of man’s existence, is known as the first or rudimental sphere.
411. The remaining six may be distinguished as the spiritual spheres.
412. The six spiritual spheres are concentric zones, or circles, of exceedingly refined matter, encompassing the earth like belts or girdles. The distance of each from the other is regulated by fixed laws.
413. You will understand, then, they are not shapeless chimeras, or mere projections of the mind, but absolute entities, as much so indeed as the planets of the solar system or the globe on which you now reside. They have latitudes, longitudes, and atmospheres of peculiar vital air, whose soft and balmy undulating currents produce a most pleasurable and invigorating effect. Their surfaces are diversified with an immense variety of the most picturesque landscapes; with lofty mountain ranges, valleys, rivers, lakes, forests, and the internal correspondence of all the higher phenomena of earth. The trees and shrubbery, crowned with exquisitely beautiful foliage and flowers of every colour and variety, send forth their grateful emanations.
414. The physical economy and arrangements of each sphere differs from the other; new and striking scenes of grandeur being presented to us in each, increasing in beauty and sublimity as they ascend.
415. Although the spheres revolve with the earth on a common axis, forming the same angle with the plane of the ecliptic, and move with it about the ponderable sun, they are not dependent on that body for either light or heat, receiving not a perceptible ray from that ponderable source; but receive those dispensations wholly from his internal or spiritual correspondence, (a spiritual sun concentric with the sun of your world,)—from that great central luminary whose native brightness and uninterrupted splendour baffle description.
416. We have no divisions of time, therefore, into days, weeks, months, or years; nor alternations of season, caused by the earth’s annual revolution; those periods being observed with reference only to the affairs of earth.
417. Although we, like you, are constantly progressing toward perfection, our ideas of time and the seasons differ widely from yours; with you it is time—with us, eternity. In the terrestrial sphere, a man’s thoughts, being bounded by time and space, are limited; but with us they are extended in proportion as we get rid of those restrictions and our perceptions of truth become more accurate.
418. As order is a primary object in the spheres, there are of course laws for its preservation. Fundamentally, these proceed through his ministering angels, from the Divine Lawgiver, who commands the angelic hosts of heaven and rules the inhabitants of earth; who employs myriads of ministering angels as the means of intercommunication between their Supreme Master and his creatures throughout the universe.
419. So far as legislation, subordinate or supplementary to that of the Supreme Legislator, is required, the government of the spheres is republican, exercising legislative, judicial, and executive powers. But these functions are not embarrassed by the necessity of codes indited or printed, nor by that of physical coercion. The results of these functions are realized in simultaneous and homogeneous opinions awakened in the minds of the ruling spirits, as truth takes hold of the minds of mathematicians, pari passu, as they read the same series of demonstrations. The conclusions in which the chief spirits thus unanimously concur, are by them impressed upon their constituents, who, thus impressed, are constitutionally unable to resist the sentiment which, like a magic spell, operates upon their sense of right, and overrules any rebellious passion.
420. As, in the rudimental sphere, weighing, measurement, or mathematical calculation or demonstration, when performed by competent persons, are rarely disputed, so in the spheres, the decisions of those whose authority is intuitively evident in moral or legal questions, meet with acquiescence. It follows, therefore, that neither imprisonment nor fetters are requisite for the enforcement of moral or legal restrictions.
421. Moreover, it must be evident that in the spheres, wisdom, knowledge, rectitude, and conscientiousness are the real vicegerents of God, the higher spirits acting as his media.
422. We acknowledge no aristocracy but that of mind and merit. In our diplomatic intercourse with our brothers of earth, when affairs of the greatest importance are to be transacted, (the present dispensation, for example,) we intrust them to a delegation of the most advanced spirits—those who are best acquainted with the affairs of the celestial country and of that to which they are accredited.
423. Our laws are meted out in the scale of exact justice, from whose awards there is no appeal. Punishments are but the natural consequences of violated laws; being invariably commensurate with offences, and have reference as well to the reformation of the offender, as to the prevention of future crime.
424. The political economy of the spheres has reference only to wealth, which being unbounded and free as air and light, can of course be appropriated by each and every member of society, according to his or her capacity of reception, the supply being always equal to the demand.
425. Wealth consists, upon earth, of those objects of human luxury or taste, which can only be acquired by means of labour and capital. Other things being equal, the value is generally in proportion to the cost incurred in the production. But in the spheres, such objects existing in profusion, the supply is of course always equal to the demand, though no less necessary than the air which you breathe; like it, they have no marketable value; there is no one who has occasion to buy, all being abundantly supplied from a common inexhaustible stock.
426. Hence it will appear that we have no occasion for gold or silver, which perisheth with the using, but the currency of moral and intellectual worth, coined in the mint of divine love, and assayed by the standards of purity and truth. Our bank, whose charter is eternal, and whose notes are never subject to fluctuations, and always payable on demand, is none other than the great bank of heaven, whose capital stock consists of an infinitude of love, mercy, and benevolence, of which our Heavenly Father is president and director, and in which his beloved children, the whole human family, are shareholders.
427. With regard to the social constitutions of the “spheres,” each is divided into six circles, or societies, in which kindred and congenial spirits are united and subsist together, agreeably with the law of affinity.
428. Although the members of each society unite as near as may be on the same plan, agreeing in the most prominent moral and intellectual features; yet it will be found, on careful analysis, that the varieties of character, in each society, are almost infinite; being as numerous as the persons who compose the circle.
429. Each society has teachers from those above, and not unfrequently from the higher spheres, whose province it is to impart to us the knowledge acquired from their instructions and experience, in the different departments of science, and which we in turn transmit to those below. Thus, by receiving and giving knowledge our moral and intellectual faculties are expanded to higher conceptions and more exalted views of the great Creator, whose almighty power is no less displayed in the constitution of spirit worlds, than in that of the countless resplendent orbs of space.
430. We do not, as many persons in the rudimental state imagine, abandon the studies which we commenced on earth, which would presuppose the loss of our reasoning powers, and our consequent inferiority to yourselves; but on the contrary, we go on progressing in knowledge and wisdom, and shall progress throughout the boundless ages of eternity. You being chained down to earth, by the law of gravitation, are comparatively limited in your resources for information; but we having arrived at a higher sphere of thought and action, and having a more extensive field of vision, can soar higher and farther into the wonderful workings of that mysterious Being, who, owing to the infinity of his perfections, must be forever in advance of us, his finite creatures, and to whom, of course, we can bear no relative proportion.
431. Our scientific researches and investigations are extended to all that pertains to the phenomena of universal nature; to all the wonders of the heavens and the earth, and to whatever the mind of man is capable of conceiving: all of which exercise our faculties, and form a considerable part of our enjoyments. The noble and sublime sciences of astronomy, chemistry, and mathematics, engage a considerable portion of our attention, and afford us an inexhaustible subject for study and reflection.
432. Nevertheless, there are millions of spirits who are not yet sufficiently advanced to take any interest in those pursuits; for you will bear in mind that the spheres are but so many departments of a great normal school, for the mental discipline and development of the race, each of which is reached only by the spiral[11] stages of progression,—the earth being the first in the series, and the seventh sphere the last; being preparatory to an entrance into the supernal heaven. You will perceive, then, that we have an unlimited scope for the prosecution of our studies, and that whatever knowledge you fail to acquire in the rudimental state, legitimate thereto, you will have to obtain, in some of the degrees of the spiritual spheres.
433. We do not study those practical arts, which are so essential to the earth life, such as mechanics, &c.; for we do not stand in need of their applications; our studies being wholly of a mental character, we attend to the fundamental principles only. All the more intellectual branches of the arts and sciences are cultivated in a much more perfect manner than that to which we have been accustomed upon earth. The mind being untrammelled by the gross material body, and having its intellectual energies and perceptions improved, we can by intuition, as it were, more clearly and rapidly perceive and understand the principles and truths on which the sciences are based. We can trace the various relations of each subject, so as to understand its connective importance; a knowledge at which mortals arrive only by a long and tedious process.
434. We are not, for good and wise ends, which in due time will be fully explained, permitted to reveal all our knowledge to those below us, as the consequences of such a procedure would be perilous to the happiness of all, and subversive of order.
435. In addition to our studies we have many other sources of intellectual, moral, and heartfelt enjoyment, from which we derive the most ineffable pleasure: one of which is social reunions and convivial meetings; a coming together of dear friends, brothers, sisters, children and parents; where the liveliest emotion and tenderest affections of our nature are excited, and the fondest and most endearing reminiscences are awakened; where spirit meets in unison with spirit, and heart beats responsive to heart.
436. Yet individuals united by the ties of consanguinity are not always linked together, even here, by the golden chain of love and benevolent affection, since it not unfrequently happens that there is much more harmony existing among those who are not members of the same family. Notwithstanding that persons who were intimately acquainted with each other in the natural world, and those who are akin, may be and often are separated, sometimes for long periods, still they do occasionally meet together; those in the higher degrees and spheres passing to the lower, while those in the latter never ascend to the former till fully prepared for such a transition, agreeably to the fixed and unalterable laws of progression. The periods of such separations vary according to the relative gradations of intellectual and moral qualities in each.
437. The peculiar connections and relations of parents and children, brothers and sisters, and all the minor ties of consanguinity, must be forever maintained, although there may be an indefinite interruption to the harmonious play of their affinities.
438. As regards the institution of marriage, I would observe that on earth it is a civil contract, entered into by two persons, male and female, mutually or otherwise, as the case may be, for and during the term of their natural lives, but which is legally annulled on the demise of either party; so that whether or not it be renewed in the spiritual world, is determined by choice, not obligation.
439. Celestial marriage, however, is quite a different affair: it is the blending of two minds in one, resulting from an innate reciprocal love in each; a conjunction of negative and positive principles, forming a true and indissoluble bond of spiritual union, which human legislation cannot reach: a marriage which is born of God, and is therefore eternal. It is often asked, “Will all be married in heaven?” I answer, Yes, most assuredly; it never was designed for man to be alone, either on earth or in heaven: each will seek and find their counterpart.
440. Each society has a municipal administration or moral code, subject to the divine government; submission to the will of God, and obedience to his laws, whether recognised in nature or revelation, forming the basis of its constitution. With us philosophy and religion go hand in hand.
441. Evil or misdirected spirits find their affinities in the second sphere, where the lowest and most undeveloped are associated together, and remain for indefinite periods, but with all the moral depravity and darkness with which they are enveloped, through the benign influence exerted over their perceptive and rational faculties, by higher intelligences, each begins to feel, sooner or later, the low and degraded position he occupies; moreover, finding new means of progress, and new sources of contemplation as well as delight, and his capacity of making perpetual advancement in knowledge, his intellectual faculties become gradually expanded, and his moral powers increased. Hence the grovelling propensities of his nature yielding to the dictates of reason, his grosser passions subside, causing him to aspire to higher associations and circumstances, which in turn beget new wants, thoughts, and feelings.
442. We have no sectarian or ecclesiastical feuds; no metaphysical dogmas; nor are we troubled with those insatiable cravings and inordinate ambitions, so often manifested by mortals; nor have we any taxation for religion, the voluntary contributions of intellectual and moral minds being its meet support.
443. Our religious teachers belong to that class of persons who were noted, during their probation on earth, for their philanthropy and deeds of moral bravery; those who, regardless of the scoffs and sneers of the time-serving multitude, dared to promulgate and defend the doctrines of “civil and religious liberty.” These practical reformers and saviours of the race, instead of worrying their hearers, as is the custom with many on earth, with horrible denunciations and awful threats of eternal vengeance for their misdoing, admonish and exhort them to higher and nobler aims and aspirations; to the study of Deity as manifested in his stupendous works.
444. They urge upon them, too, the necessity of their co-operation in the reformation and advancement of their more degraded brethren, by instructing them in the divine principles of love, wisdom, and benevolence. They instruct them in the soul-inspiring and elevating doctrine of universal and eternal progression, and in the sublime truth that evil is not an indestructible and positive principle, but a negative condition, a mere temporary circumstance of their existence; and, furthermore, that suffering for sin is not a revengeful and malevolent infliction of God, but a necessary and invariable sequence of violated law.
445. They teach them also that, according to the divine moral economy, there is no such thing as pardon for sins committed—no immediate mercy—no possible escape from the natural results of crime, no matter where or by whom committed; no healing of a diseased moral constitution by any outward appliances, or ceremonial absurdities; and finally, that the only way whereby to escape sin and its consequences, is by progressing above and beyond it.
446. We derive much pleasure from the exercise of our talents in vocal and instrumental music, which far excels the noblest efforts of musical genius on earth. When we convene to worship God in our temples, whose halls and columns beam with inherent celestial light, our voices are blended together in songs of praise and adoration to the Almighty Author of our existence, from whom all blessings are derived.
447. From what has been stated, it may be perceived that we are moral, intellectual, and sensitive creatures. Instead of being, as many of you imagine, mere shadowy and unsubstantial entities, we are possessed of definite, tangible, and exquisitely symmetrical forms, with well-rounded and graceful limbs, and yet so light and elastic that we can glide through the atmosphere with almost electric speed. The forked lightnings may flash, and the thunders roll in awful reverberation along the vault of heaven, and the rain descend in gushing torrents; nevertheless, by the mere act of volition, we may stand unharmed at your side.
448. We are, moreover, endowed with all the beauty, loveliness, and vivacity of youth, and are clothed in flowing vestments of effulgent nature suited to the particular degree of refinement of our bodies. Our raiment being composed of phosphorescent principles, we have the power of attracting and absorbing or reflecting the rays evolved, according as our condition is more or less developed. This accounts for our being seen, by clairvoyants, in different degrees of brightness, from a dusky hue to the most intensely brilliant light.
449. The spiritual body is a perfect human form, originating in, and analogous to, the corporeal organization in its several parts, functions, and relations. The heart beats in rythmic pulsations, the lungs fulfil their office of respiration, and the brain generates its vitalized magnetic fluid, whose life-giving currents permeate every portion of the spiritual organism. Man in the rudimental state is tripartite, consisting of soul, of spirit, and flesh; but in the spheres a duality, composed of soul and spirit. Having approached the portals of death, he disrobes himself of the exterior form as he would put away a worn-out garment. The gross and cumbrous physical machine, which was given for the purpose of developing his more beautiful and excellent spiritual body, and of bringing him into more immediate relationship with the outward world, can serve his purposes no longer.
450. For your clearer understanding of the modus operandi of our intercourse with man, you will remember that by our transition to the world of spirits we part with the body only. We lose none of our intelligence by the transfer, but, on the contrary, become daily more and more developed in our knowledge of and power over the forces in nature; so that we are enabled to perform many feats to you, seemingly wonderful, and which really appear miraculous to the majority of those who witness them.
451. Having disposed of the external mechanism of flesh, we cannot come into direct contact with physical matter, but we are able, through the sphere of the medium, when natural conditions are complied with, not only to communicate our thoughts and wishes to our friends, but to move solid, ponderable bodies. By spheres, I mean the particular mental or physical state, or emanation by which all bodies, organic or inorganic, are immediately surrounded, and the particular electrical relations which they sustain to each other, causing repulsions and attractions in man and animals as well as in chemical reagents.
452. When we wish to impress the mind of the medium, by the effort of our magic will, (provided always that he or she is in sympathy with or sustains a negative relation to the operator,) we can dispose and arrange the magnetic currents of the brain so as to form or fashion them into ideas of our own. We can also learn to read the thoughts of another—conditions being favourable—as readily as you can gain a knowledge of the characters or symbols of a language foreign to your own.
453. Thoughts being motions of the mind, assume specific and definite forms, and when distinct in the mind can be clearly perceived and understood by any spirit who is in sympathy with the mind in which they are generated.
454. To influence, mechanically, the hand of a medium to write, we direct currents of vitalized spiritual electricity on the particular muscles which we desire to control. In order to produce the physical manifestations, it is not by any means requisite that the medium should be possessed of a good moral character or well-balanced mind, as an individual of small mental calibre would answer our purpose equally well; but an advanced spirit could not directly impress or control the organs of a mind with which he is not in affinity, and vice versâ.
455. We can instantly determine the sphere of a spirit, in or out of the body, by the particular brilliancy and character of the light in which he is enveloped, as well as by the peculiar sensation which his presence creates.
456. The raps are produced by voluntary discharges of the vitalized spiritual electricity, above mentioned, from the spirit, coming in contact with the animal electricity emanating from the medium. These discharges we can direct at will to any particular locality, thereby producing sounds or concussions.
457. The question being often asked, “How do you move solid substances?” I would partly answer it by asking, How does a magnet attract and raise from their resting-places certain bodies within whose sphere it is brought? How does a man move his body and direct it whithersoever it goeth? How does God, the almighty cause of all causes, move and keep in perpetual motion the immense systems which revolve in space, and maintain each in its due relative position? I answer, By the magnetism of a positive will.
458. We, in common with you and all animals, possess an infinitesimal portion of this power, varying in degree in different classes and in different individuals. When you raise your arm, as in the act of lifting or moving a body, you direct by the force of your will-power galvanic currents on the muscles required to perform the function. The muscles acting as levers, through the stimulus of the subtle element, act and react on the more solid parts, the bones, and thus is the object laid hold of and moved, and still you do not come into direct contact with the object. Now, this is called a very simple operation, and so it would appear, but who understands it? Although advanced spirits are much more conversant with the forces operating in nature than the most intellectually developed man in the form, still they do not, nor can they ever, as long as eternity rolls on, understand the hidden sphere of cause. The operation of the will it is impossible to understand. Now, as I have said, we are not possessed of physical bodies; still we can make the imponderable elements subserve our purposes by acting as bones, nerves, and muscles.
459. Touching our peregrinations and voyages of discovery, about which so much has been said by spirits, as well as mortals, I will say that it is a fallacy to suppose that every spirit can visit at will the planets of the solar system, much less those of the more remote systems, since I am certain that none but the residents of the seventh sphere, or the angels of the “Supernal Heavens,” have the power to do so; because each planet, being an inhabited globe, hath its concentric or spiritual spheres, through all of which in order to reach it a spirit must pass. It is obvious, therefore, according to the immutable law of progression, that the transit of a spirit to a distant planet would require its adaptation to the highest sphere of that body.
460. Having spoken of the angels of the “Supernal Heavens,” I will explain what is meant by this designation. They are those pure and comparatively exalted beings who, having advanced beyond the highest sphere of the planet to which they belonged, and attained a very high state of moral and intellectual development, have been admitted into that great and illimitable sphere of progression which lies outside of all other spheres, and in which the greatest conceivable degree of harmony reigns. It is composed of one grand harmonial society, whose members are privileged to go wheresoever they will through the boundless empire of space. They are principally from the planets Jupiter and Saturn, and hold a much more distinguished rank in the intellectual, moral, and social system than the inhabitants of earth. I have not learned that any spirit from our planet has yet reached the Supernal Heaven.
461. It has been said that spirits hunger, thirst, and stand in need of repose. It is true that those states do pertain to spirit life agreeably to the law of spiritual correspondences. The grosser and more undeveloped the spirit, the closer is the analogy between it and the physical states.
462. Physical laws and substances are gross or externalized spiritual laws and things. The more refined and developed the spirit, the less it requires of gross aliment. Refined, intellectual, and moral beings are nourished and sustained by refined, intellectual, and moral nutriment. Their food is derived from the “Tree of Knowledge,” and they slake their thirst at the crystal streams which continually flow from the inexhaustible fountain of God’s wisdom and love. The lowest undeveloped spirit lives on comparatively refined aliment to that on which mortals subsist. It consists of the more refined elements of spiritual fruits and vegetables. The spirit’s need of rest depends on its particular degree of development, diminishing in proportion to its advancement from the material plane.
463. Though the principles embodied in our teachings and philosophy may be regarded, by the majority of mankind, as strange and incomprehensible, they are, nevertheless, no more so than the principles of natural science would be to the unlettered mind. As the ability to comprehend the principles on which the natural sciences are based increases with the expansion of the intellectual faculties, in like manner is the power of perceiving spiritual things and relations increased by the development of the interior or spiritual faculties.
464. As there are no words in the human language in which spiritual ideas may be embodied so as to convey their literal and exact signification, we are obliged ofttimes to have recourse to the use of analogisms and metaphorical modes of expression. In our communion with you we have to comply with the peculiar structure and rules of your language; but the genius of our language is such that we can impart more ideas to each other in a single word than you can possibly convey in a hundred.
465. I have thus given you a general outline of the leading facts connected with the destiny of the race. I have endeavoured to show you that man is a progressive being, that he possesses a refined material ([449]) organization, which, going with him at death, serves as a medium through which he may communicate with the visible world. I will here add that, under certain circumstances, this spiritual organization has the power of reflecting the rays of light, so as to be rendered visible to the natural eye, as are certain gaseous bodies.
466. I have attempted to show you, too, that the spirit on entering the spheres, being governed by its affinity, takes its position in that circle for which it is morally and intellectually adapted; hence the first sphere is the abode of all the most degraded spirits, and that their advancement, however slow it may be, is nevertheless sure, since “onward and upward” is the motto emblazoned on the spiritual banner.
467. I have endeavoured to show you, also, that the spirit is a finite being like man in the form, and, therefore, fallible, and that as he advances in knowledge, he grasps more of truth and drops more of error. I have attempted to show you that the spirit world is a counterpart of the natural world, and that we, no less than you, are subject to surrounding conditions and circumstances. Spirits of congenial minds and opinions are drawn toward each other and to you, on the principle that “like attracts like.” In order to receive high moral and intellectual communications, it is essentially necessary that the medium and circle should be in affinity with each other, and with the spirits who are capable of giving such communications.
468. Besides the topics adverted to, I will briefly call your attention to a few of the most prominent among the beneficial results which will flow from spiritual intercommunion. It will settle the important question, “If a man die, shall he live again?” It will reduce the fact of the immortality of the human spirit to a certainty, so that the world’s knowledge of the fact will not be the result of a blind faith, but a positive philosophy. It will show the relation existing between mind and matter. It will make men thinking and rational beings. It will establish a holy and most delightful intercourse between the inhabitants of the terrestrial world and their departed spirit friends. It will expand and liberalize the mind far beyond your present conceptions. It will fraternize and unite all the members of the human family in an everlasting bond of spiritual union and harmonial brotherhood. It will establish the principles of love to God and your fellows. It will do away with sectarian bigotry. It will show that many of the so-called religious teachings are but impositions on the credulity of mankind, being founded on the grossest absurdities and palpable ignorance of the nature of things.
469. It will give man higher and infinitely more exalted views of God, and bring him into closer communion with the Author of his being. It will do away completely with the sting of death, and rob the grave of its terrors. It will teach the eternal progression of the soul, and show that the time is fast approaching when the moral condition of the race is to be vastly improved; when error is to be abolished, and truth is to take its place; when the glory of the Lord is to be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together! In fine, it will be a help to the soul in the hour of its adversity, and enable it to bear up under affliction with noble and heroic fortitude; and when about to launch its barque on the river of eternal life for the fair and beautiful land of promise, it will be its stay and sheet-anchor.
Your father, Robert Hare.
Communication from a Spirit Son of the Author.
I have in the spirit world two sons, one of whom died, thirteen months old, in 1813; the other, five months old, in 1825. Both have been to communicate with me. I subjoin a letter received from the younger:
470. “My Dear Father:—I made a very brief communication to you through the medium of Mr. Gordon, which was my first successful effort to control the human organism. It has been long known to me that spirits could manifest themselves to mortals; and that they have always held communion with their brethren in the flesh, is not new to me. The law is as natural as gravitation, and like it, I presume, will endure forever. But so great has been, and still is, the superstition of the masses, and to such an extent has man’s mental vision been obscured by his so-called spiritual teachers, that, excepting a comparatively few instances, spirits have failed in their attempts to reveal themselves to the civilized portion of mankind. The conditions have, for the most part, been wanting, owing to the above causes, and which have grown out of man’s false notions respecting his natural and true relation with the unseen world. The less civilized of our Father’s children, in regard to their communion with spirits, have been much more highly favoured than their otherwise more fortunate brethren, since it has not been an uncommon circumstance for them to commune with their departed friends.
471. “Many years, my dear parent, have elapsed since I entered the bright abode of the blest—a very little child, yet a very happy one. My first and second birth rapidly succeeded each other; but so little did I know, from actual experience, of my rudimental condition, that I have never realized the change. I have no memory of my earth-life, yet I know from observation and reflection that I am to some extent the loser by my premature birth into the spiritual state. I have, it is true, measurably obtained since then that knowledge of exterior nature which I should have acquired in the flesh, on the globe which gave me birth, as an independent, individualized existence.
472. “My life here has been a charmed one; enrapturing scenes of beauty being constantly presented to view, like the ever-varying landscapes delineated on the canvas by a skilful artist. Now is seen a beautiful silvery lake on whose translucent bosom floats the graceful swan, bending his pliant neck, as if proudly conscious of his surpassing beauty; and anon, among the lilies of this lake, which appear like gems placed on a virgin brow, shoots a tiny barque, freighted with angelic children. Then is presented a bolder view, of towering mountains and wide-extended plains, with the accompanying characteristics of hill and dell.
473. “In answer to a question which would naturally suggest itself to your mind, respecting the means by which I have become acquainted with that knowledge of the external world which I should have gained in it, I would say it has been acquired by frequent visits to the earth. I have been accustomed to accompany you, father, in your daily walks, and to study, through you and mother, those elementary lessons which are so essential to the full development of the spirit. Your son Theodore, though nearly forgotten by you, has not been far distant. The time is fast approaching, and is near at hand, when man’s spiritual nature and destiny will be much more fully comprehended by the world. Then spirit manifestations and spirit intercourse will be considered as natural as for the sun to rise in the eastern heavens. Spirits highly elevated in love and wisdom would not descend from their exalted position except to teach, for their attractions are upward, but their mission is to instruct those below them, from which they derive much happiness. You know, father, how much pleasure it gives you to impart knowledge to others. How much greater then is our enjoyment, whose minds are intensely more susceptible of real joys! Your spiritual mission on earth has just begun, and we are endeavouring to impress your mind with the sacred importance of its fulfilment. Give unto others that we give unto you, and you shall receive abundantly. I occupy a place which has not yet been opened to your perception. Prepare yourself, my dear father, for its higher and more glorious unfoldings, by first gaining that knowledge which pertains to the lower degrees, and you will thereby become elevated to the higher spiritual planes, and increase your knowledge of things celestial, and greatly develop and enlarge your sphere of usefulness.
Theodore.”
Additional Communications from Spirits who died while Infants.
474. The brother of a medium reported himself by spelling out his name in full—Dewitt Matthias. He had departed this life at the age of thirteen months. I inquired if he had taught himself to spell. I was instructed, was his answer.
475. While I was in a state of extreme unbelief, Dewitt’s mother told me that her son, who died when aged only thirteen months, had communicated with her; and said that his stature had grown with his age, now sixteen years. This statement I mentioned as an exemplification of credulity, little thinking that this wonder would be realized by the existence of my spirit children being made evident to me by such communications as that from Theodore, above given.
476. The eldest child of my parents died an infant, yet my elder brother, Charles, in his account of his spiritual birth, mentions that this brother came as a full-grown spirit to greet his translation to the spirit world.
Communication from a very young Spirit child to its Parents.
477. The following communications have been received from a spirit child, as I understand, of about six years old. It will be perceived that it was assisted by its grandmother. They have been handed to me by the child’s father, Mr. George Helmick, in whose sincerity I have great confidence.
478. The following message, says Mr. Helmick, came through the medium of Miss Irish, some eight months since, on an occasion when there were some twelve or fifteen persons present, nearly all of whom were entire strangers to me and my wife, who was also present. We had never seen Miss Irish before, and we know that she had no knowledge of us in any respect.
479. The fact that we had a child in the spirit world was not known to any present but myself and wife.
480. “Father, do you not, kind father, feel my soft and gentle touch upon your brow?[12] Can you not feel my presence, as grandmamma and I, with care, enfold you in our embrace?
“Mother, gentle, loving mother, do you not feel my angel kiss, as I imprint it upon your cheek?
“Father, mother, I left you before earth’s errors had a chance to take root within my young and tender mind.
481. “Then, loving parents, think of me as you do of a gentle moonbeam, which struggles to bless earth with its presence but for a moment, and then softly and sweetly returns to heaven again.
“Spirit Child.”
For George Helmick.
The following message was received through Mrs. Gourlay on the 27th of October last, by the aid of a disk and alphabet as arranged by Dr. Hare:
482. “Dear and loving mother, grandma will help me to write to you.
483. “A calm and holy atmosphere pervades this little company, and lovely forms are surrounding each earth friend. O thou great God of goodness! to thee our hearts are raised in thanksgiving for this privilege of communion with our friends on earth. Gratitude should fill the hearts of all present. Little children are sporting in this atmosphere of love like gentle moonbeams, kissing with a gentle touch the brows of their loving parents.
484. “Oh! why should you weep for those who have gone before? Rather mourn those who are debarred the joys of our celestial homes, where the weary spirit finds rest from the toils of earth, where all is joy evermore.
485. “Gentle mother, your little seraph-boy is not dead, but liveth. In his uncontaminated love, find comfort for the ills of life.
486. “Dear father, it was my spirit hand which was placed on thy brow, which you just felt.
487. “I left earth pure. In this purity I come to my dear parents. Accept my love, and give me yours in return.
“Little Walter.”
Mrs. Helmick.
OF THE SPIRITUAL BIRTH,[13] CALLED DEATH, OF HUMAN BEINGS, CALLED MORTALS, ALTHOUGH IMMORTAL.
Of Spiritual Birth.
488. Having obtained from several of my most valued spirit friends or relatives, narratives of their translation from this sphere to the world of spirits, it appears, from their concurrent testimony, that on the death of the body, the soul finds itself soon afterward awaking from a profound sleep,—but so much more like dreaming than being awake, as for a short time to create a doubt whether it be not dreaming. Meanwhile, bright shadowy forms become more and more distinguishable; and the body which it has left being perceived apart on its bed, or in whatever position its death occurred, the conviction is induced that another state of existence has been attained. As the forms, at first shadowy, become distinct, they are usually found to be those of the nearest or dearest previously departed friends. These meet the nascent spirit with every possible manifestation of affection, while the most ecstatic emotions are awakened.
489. Forthwith the spirit is conducted to his celestial abode: of which the elevation is greater as the morality of the individual concerned is higher.
Narrative given by Spirits of their translation to the Spirit World, the abode of human souls in a future state
490. The following narrative is from an excellent spirit philanthropist, who, though a stranger to me in this world, introduced himself to me at the session of a small circle, by the communication alleged to be intended for me, which has already been quoted. ([147].)
491. He has since reported himself as the author of those sentiments, and has held many conversations with me.[14]
492. Subsequently to an address made by me at Franklin Hall, he expressed himself as follows: “Do not keep your light under a bushel. I was present and heard you speak last night. I wish you to say more about your personal experience. That would weigh with the community at large.” I excused my course by answering, that I wished my experience to be riper before submitting it to the community.
Narrative of his Spiritual Birth, by W. W-—-, a most benevolent Spirit of the Fifth Sphere.
493. “Did you ever have a most delightful dream in which you saw your near and dear friends about you, all seeming happy and contented with their condition? If you have, then you can form an imperfect idea of my state when I awoke to the reality of the change which opened upon my entranced sight on being ushered into the spheres. I had been long sick, and was subject to periods of unconsciousness. Therefore I did not soon perceive the change to be real. I felt almost too much happiness for my spirit to bear.
“On looking around, I perceived my mother, with outstretched arms, ready to receive her welcome son to the mansion prepared for him.
494. “Did I still dream? I asked: no! it was a blessed reality; all pain had fled, and my spirit rejoiced in new health. I could hardly contain myself from expressing my gratitude to God in verbal ejaculations. But I soon found that I had a much more delightful mode of expression. Each countenance beamed with love and intelligence, and the spirits could interpret my thoughts as readily as mortals can read a well-printed book.
495. “One spirit, on whose countenance I could read volumes, approached, and taking me by the hand said, ‘Welcome, dear brother, to this sinless world, where your progression is sure; no obstacles shall impede your footsteps; the conditions of time are removed; your feet shall fail not in the race of progress. Onward and Upward is our motto.’
496. “With willing heart I followed my guide. Every step taken led me up toward the great Source of light and truth. I never wearied in my journey. Bright and sparkling waters flowed at my feet, and living flowers sprang up before me. Each new object gave me courage to proceed. Old familiar faces met my gaze at every footstep, and cherub forms flitted past me. Golden clouds rested over the scene, and all nature was refulgent with light and animation. Huge oaks tossed their giant branches to the pure breezes of heaven, and lofty pines bowed their heads in love and adoration. The little birds sent forth their notes of praise, while the air was laden with the perfume of flowers. Being fond of the beauties of nature while on earth, I enjoyed this scene much.
497. “I was rejoiced to see so many of my friends present. Each vied with the other to give me the most cordial welcome.
498. “I soon perceived that I was near my journey’s end, for I had reached the fifth sphere of spiritual progression. My guide pointed out to my view the mansion which I was to occupy.
499. “I was told that I could return to earth, when I was so inclined. Inclination often draws me thither. So long as a spirit has friends on earth, he will visit them; but when they join him, he loses his attachment for the rudimental sphere, and seldom thereafter leaves his celestial abode.
500. “My habitation consists of suites of rooms, most beautifully ornamented with paintings and statues and the most elegant productions of spirit art. Each individual can have his dwelling to suit his own particular taste or fancy. The more refined and elevated the spirit, the more refined and beautiful is the house or home that he inhabits.
501. “The occupations of the higher spirits are of a more intellectual character than the highest on earth.
502. “Our spheres are types of yours; but we do not have to provide for the casket which contains the spiritual jewel.”