“Mr. Pierpont then introduced me to the spirit brother of my present medium, and I was invited by him to attend a circle at his earthly home and to manifest myself through the organism of his sister.
“This occurred in the early fall; but though I became a regular visitor at the weekly circles of the medium, it was not until the following winter that I gained power to control her organism, and indite that message which was afterward received by you through the dear little paper. In the meantime I had made the acquaintance of Mr. Pierpont, Mr. Pardee, John Critchley Prince, and other noble spirits at those seances, by whom I was cordially invited to become a literary contributor to the Voice.”
The selections from the writings of Spirit Violet, which this book contains, consist mainly of accounts and narratives of life in the spirit world, together with an intelligent exposition of methods employed by spirits in their labor for the benefit of mortals. We shall now leave the subject of this sketch to speak for herself in the chapters that follow, concerning those things that appertain to the realms of spirit life.
CHAPTER II.
SPIRIT ECHOES.
What is more beautiful than a morning in the Summer-Land? All things breathe of harmony and peace. No jarring discords break upon the ambient air; no sense of unloveliness and distress disturbs the spirit; no storm-clouds overcast the heavens with threatening anger. The golden sun tempers his rays in mildness and with beneficent warmth. The birds sing fearlessly in the tree tops; the waters flow merrily to the laughing sea; the breezes play in wanton glee, tossing the leaflets upon the trees, and robbing the flowers of their choicest perfume to greet the senses of the passer-by.
Pure souls, to whom no taint of materiality clings; sweet spirits, who have never felt, or having felt, have risen above the influence of earthly passions, here abide, and, gathering together into convocations,—convened not for ceremony, nor from pride of station, but from sympathy and friendship,—interchange the rich treasures of the mind, cultivate through soul communion, the true graces of the spirit and work in unity together, thus developing the adaptability of each one for his peculiar mission, and, above all, seek, by those united efforts, born of sincerity of purpose, and love for humanity, to devise ways and means for the amelioration of suffering upon earth, as well as for the elevation of lowly, undeveloped Beings in the spirit world.
This is the dear Summer-Land of ascended souls. A Summer-Land as far removed from those spirits who still dwell in the darkness, emitted by their earthly career, and who continue to cling to the shadow of material dross, as it is from those inhabitants of clay, whose thoughts of the future are confined to longings for personal grandeur alone, and whose souls never mount upon the wings of aspiration in reaching out toward the higher realms of purity and goodness, or in searching for the dear Father and his ministering angels.
The silvery chime of bells floats upon the morning air, which bathes my spirit in waves of sweet, melodious sound. Grandly, solemnly they chime, lifting the soul above all selfish thoughts and purposes; bearing it upward and onward upon the wings of sacred music; far upward in adoration toward the source of all this beautiful, beneficent, and immortal life. Faint and low the sweet chime flows downward also, bearing a sense of what is highest and best to those plunged in sorrow, pain, and doubt, and giving them hope of a sweeter life yet to be attained through honest endeavor and individual effort. Sweet and low, floating down, down, into the hearts of loved ones on earth, thrilling them with a calmness of heavenly peace, a sense of perfect rest, and bearing into their souls undying echoes of love, sympathy, and remembrance, from their dear ones who have gone before.
A MEETING OF MISSIONARY SPIRITS.
“Waft, waft, ye winds the story;