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Word Gems
exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity
Edward C. Randall and Emily S. French
Direct-Voice Medium
Edward C. Randall, Esq. (1860-1935) – A prominent Buffalo, New York trial lawyer who served on the board of directors of a number of large corporations, Randall began studying the direct-voice and materialization mediumship of Emily S. French in 1890. He had more than 700 sittings with French over 22 years until her death in 1912. French and Randall spoke with a great many advanced entities on the Other Side; additionally, Spirit Guides would often ask them to assist confused spirits who did not know that they had passed over.
The following are several excerpts from Randall's writings (which you might read for free on various internet sites).
Communications from a young boy in the Spirit World to his mother
CHILD LIFE BEYOND
DURING my many years of scientific investigation I invited many men and women to witness my work, and, among them found a few possessing the psychic force that could be utilized by spirit people in sending messages. I recall that Mrs. S. was told one night that her young daughter, 12 years of age, could do automatic writing if properly instructed. The trial was made. The child sat in an upholstered chair, with pencil and paper, which she magnetized by passing her hand over it for a moment, and then apparently she slept. It was a complete trance condition. After a few trials, her hand would write with great rapidity, and in that manner a conversation could be carried on with spirit people with great satisfaction. In this manner many evidential facts were obtained. There never was the slightest doubt that spirit people controlled her hand. I have had similar experiences with several others, and there is not a particle of doubt in my mind, and in the minds of others who have witnessed such work, of the genuineness of automatic writing.
I wish to mention Mrs. H., a lady of rare refinement and great spirituality. I aided her development in automatic writing. She is today the most wonderful writer that I know—absolutely reliable. I make this statement after receiving hundreds of messages through her hand. With her, it is spirit suggestion. She gets the messages by dictation, knowing at the moment the word she is writing, but not the communication as a whole until it is read afterwards. This is a most satisfactory method, second only to the direct or independent voice such as I have obtained with the aid of Emily S. French.
I mention Mrs. H. and her marvelous powers, for the reason that I am going to append a series of letters from a young boy in the spirit world, written automatically to his sorrowing mother still in earth life. I hope they will comfort thousands of other mothers who mourn for children who have gone from them. These letters were written from time to time in my presence and are authentic:
First letter
"Oh Mummie, Mummie, don't cry so. It makes me so unhappy, and I can't make you feel my arms around you. If you would only smile and be glad, I'd be quite happy, because, dear little Mummie, I see ever so many lovely people who seem to be waiting to take me some place. They are all smiling, and talking together as they wait for me to be ready to go to them. One just came to me, a darling little girl; she says she is my baby sister, you told me went to heaven; she has the loveliest face, it looks all shiny, as though there was a lamp inside her eyes. Mummie, she wants to take me home with her, but I just can't leave you."
Second letter
"Darling, I held you so tight last night, and it seemed you must have felt me, for you smiled in your sleep and said my name. When I kissed you, because you seemed happier, I went with Marian to see our home. It is a darling cottage, and every room is so interesting. Grandma takes care of us and says the house is one she built while she lived with us; she says she did not know it at the time, but she was just as happy and good and did kind things for people, and each kind thing helped build the cottage. Some people do so much good, they have quite big houses, but they can't be any nicer than Grandma's. Hers is just filled with interesting things. She says she has lived in it and improved her mind. She said at first it was just warm and cozy, because she did not have an intellectual mind; but she has studied, and the rooms are filled with pretty things and books, and all sorts of things. When you are happier, I think I'll have a lovely time and learn a lot. Sister Marian's room is beautiful. She has lived there all her life, since a baby, and everything in her room is so beautiful and sweet."
Third letter
"Oh Mummie dear, why do you grieve so? I am well and could be happy, only your sad face keeps me wanting to be near you and comfort you. I saw Marian do such an interesting thing today. She took me to a tumble-down hut, and let me look in while she went in. There was a man in there, moaning and crying. He kept saying, 'It's so cold and dark, I can't see a thing.' Over and over he said it.
"Marian just went to him and laid her hand on his eyes, which were closed. I could see that she was thinking, without her saying a word. It was very strange, yet seemed quite all right.
Marian was thinking:
'Dear man, you are just cold and alone, because when you were on earth you never thought of any one but yourself, and were so selfish and cross and horrid; but you were not happy. Don't you want to be happy?'
"And the man said: 'Yes, I want to be happy, but I can't do anything.'
"Then Marian said:
"Oh dear, yes you can. Just think of some one very miserable you'd like to help. "And the man said:
"Why there was my foster brother. I was so mean 'to him; I'm sorry, can I help him?"
"Because he said, 'I'm sorry, I want to help,' she took her hand from his eyes, and he looked around and could see. The hut that was so dark was beginning to get lighter. He began to look relieved and happier, and begged her to show him what to do, and Marian said:
'I'll take you where you can do a great deal for people. That is my business, to help people that way.'
"Her face was wonderful when she said it. I think I have a splendid sister."
Fourth letter
"Mummie dear, you have made me so happy, by being cheerful. I know it will be easier all the time for you, because you will come to know that I am not miserable and only unhappy when you grieve. Some way, here in this life, things seem so much more real, and it is so easy to learn things. Grandma says we have to go on learning until we are very wise indeed, because we must try to be perfect, and we can't be that unless our minds are full of good things.
I love the music,—the air seems to throb with it some times, and it seems to go so deep inside of you it becomes a part of you, and afterwards you feel as if you had been having a drink of water when very thirsty, so refreshed and washed clean of everything but the nicest thoughts and feelings. There seems to be a good deal for people to do, besides learn things chiefly, helping others. The very good girls, like Marian, just show people how to begin, and then they themselves have to work and help, and, more than all, have nice thoughts. So many people do not know about it here, and I am sure if they did they would not do lots of mean things they do, because it all counts against you and you have just that much longer to work before you can do all the beautiful things there are. We sing and dance and romp, in our recreation times, and then we listen to very wise people who teach us things. I always wanted to make things up—new machines and inventions—and that is what I am going to study for. When I know how, and have worked out something new and wonderful, I am to find an inventor and be with him a lot. In time I can make him think what I am thinking; then he will make my plans. Won't that be fun?"
Fifth letter
"Darling little Mumsie, I have not talked to you for quite a long time, because I have been busy; but now that you know so much about me, and are feeling more contented, I can go on living here without worrying over you and trying to comfort you. You see, it's really just as though I was away at school, and at first one is always homesick; but now we can look forward to a vacation time when you will come to me and we shall be together always, and I shall have such heaps of things to tell you and show you. There is no wasted time here; waste means ignorance, and ignorance is almost wicked, because we should progress a little each day— that is one of our laws. We have to study these laws. I will try and tell you as well as I can some of them. In the first place, we must know what is good, and by knowing that, all the other laws follow easily. When we know good, we know that right follows, and then love and harmony and knowledge and power, and then progress follows as naturally as a flower grows in the sun. You will think this sounds queer from your little boy, that I have changed a lot; but I haven't so much, Mummie,—I have just grown to understand the real things in life, what we all have felt inside of us always.'
Sixth letter
"Dear Mummie, I am learning many things that are necessary in this life, now you are so much happier about me and feel so sure that everything is all right with me. It used to scare me, when I saw any one who had died; or, when I thought of being put in the cemetery, it seemed awful,—so lonely and strange; but now I know how different it is and wish every boy knew that dying is just like getting a new suit and discarding the old. The real you inside the new feels just the same, only we have to learn to think differently about most things. I mean, we must change some of our ideas, but the new ones are much nicer and make living here easier. I wish every one knew this before he came here and then no one would fear, and everything would be so nice and comfy.
"Marian and I came to you on Christmas morning and kissed your dear face; you must have felt all our love and happiness. We will come to you like that often, and some day you will come and live with us; then you will learn so many lovely things we cannot some way seem to tell you. There are such nice people always with us, and you will love it just as we do, Grandma says she is happy to have me with her, and to tell you that she, with the help of friends and teachers, will bring me up to manhood and that you will be proud of me when you come.
"Your own little boy."
Another spirit mother described child life, as follows:
"I will tell you about the home for little children first of all. No mother who loses a wee one need grieve, because she thinks the dear mite will have no one to love it and to soothe its small fears and worries. You would love to see all the happy wee things we have here, some of whom had a very sad time during their brief sojourn on earth. Not one single baby, out of all the millions which come here, ever lacks mothering. They are surrounded by an atmosphere of love and just grow and blossom, as a result of these happy conditions, like so many rare and beautiful flowers. The place where they are rings with the sound of their happy laughter; there is no pain or sorrow for them here and they have no cause for tears. They romp and play and do all manner of things which delight the heart of a child.
"They are free to enjoy every moment, and they do. There are no quarrels or sulks to mar their happy times together; Their bright faces and sweet presences are a constant delight, especially to those folks who have always loved children. The men and women who were denied children on earth, and had always longed for them, are in their element when they come over and are free to lavish all their love for children on these darlings. The children grow up in time, as they would on earth, but they are free from sin. They can, therefore, go right on helping the spirits of those who spent many years on earth and are not free from the effects of sin. These spirits need help and guidance.
"I will now tell you about. the place where the children come to grow up. It is a wonderful place and there are all sorts of lovely things they can do. The very tiny ones cannot play with the older ones any more than they can on earth. They just need loving arms around them and soft voices to soothe them. They get these always. There are always plenty of 'mother spirits' to look after the wee ones. It is the work they love and are best fitted for. We are all given the work we like best and are most capable of doing.
"As we progress some of us are able to undertake more and more difficult tasks, and that phrase about 'the joy being in the doing, not the task that is done,' is very true here. Most of us find a great joy in our work. I will tell you something about the doings of the older children. The toddlers are such darlings and would rejoice any mother's heart. Their faces are so bright and happy and they are so full of life, and bubble over with fun. There are no sad, wistful little faces here, as you often see on earth—caused by lack of love, the sins of their parents, and other things. These fortunate little ones have a delightful time. They run and dance and sing and jump for sheer joy. They paddle in crystal streams and build castles on lovely beaches, where the sand is like pure gold and the water is like myriad's of gems.
"There are beautiful grassy places for them to play on, where they can run races and play all the games which children love. There are also exquisite fern groves, where every kind of beautiful fern flourishes, and dainty little streams tinkle gaily along, joining, it seems, in the children's merriment. There are so many beautiful and wonderful and delightful things in this enormous children's playground that you will not have time to write down descriptions of half its beauties."
The story of a cruel man who found himself in the Dark Realms, and how he made his way out
EARTHBOUND
THERE were few nights during the years of scientific investigation that I did not talk with earthbound spirit people, usually with several, and I have learned much of their condition.
"What creates the earthbound condition?" is the first question properly asked. I answer, as I have been answered thousands of times:
"The lives they led, and the conditions they created for themselves, for as a man sows so shall he reap."
The laws of nature, the laws under which we live, are not only fixed and definite, but eternally just. Thoughts are things, and every moment as they emanate from each individual something is added to his character. It is enriched or impoverished, and if no light emanates from it one is held at his dissolution within the lower planes that circle this globe. The selfish character, like the miser in the "Chimes of Normandy," the cruel, the immoral and wanton, the thief, the murderer,—is it not just that they be herded together until they have lived over each wrong act, lived it aright and made compensation, thus qualifying themselves for association with a finer group? The justice that meets human souls at the frontier is complete. They enter into a condition which is of their own creation.
They find such light as they radiate, and no more. There is no escape in the after life from the consequences of things done and performed in this. In this plane, so close about the earth that in reality it is a part of it, the wicked, the malicious and base, and all those who have acquired no spiritual development, are held. This plane has various stages. Some are in total darkness, some in half light; all in all, it is at most a twilight zone between the spiritual and physical worlds.
Here old appetites, thoughts and desires hold sway as before. In this zone a great mass of undeveloped people of the same general character, with a desire for spirituality no greater than when living in the physical body, remain. Their condition is much worse than in this world, for there is not the opportunity for reformation that there was before. There the great law of attraction holds together those of a similar character, so that these live in mental poverty until they have a desire for better things. Then the way is shown and they work slowly out by their own efforts, but the labor is long and the path dim that leads to the zones of happiness and peace. Bruno said:
"Whatever good a man has to his credit, whether it be much or little, is the seed from which he grows eternally."
In my talks with earthbound spirit people I never found two exactly alike, any more than they can be found alike here. That change did not alter or improve them. This is evidently Hell, so much talked of and feared. I recall so many earthbound that have told of the horror of their condition, that it is with difficulty I choose specific individuals, for I had speech with: such a great number. It is like seeing the paintings in the principal galleries of Europe. There are many, but some stand out prominently:
"I was not a good man among men. I was selfish, cruel, took human life, and was, as I now know, killed while committing a crime. When I awoke it was very dark, and, not knowing what had happened, I called in anger, but my companions did not come. My voice echoed back to me again and again, and I began to think I was in a cave. I arose and groped about in the darkness, but I could not find the walls, though I walked for hours. I did not feel hunger or thirst, and days and months passed, while I was ever searching for the walls that threw back the echo of my call. Can you imagine the sensation that you would have, to be lost in an open forest with the sun in the sky, to say nothing of being lost in darkness? My sensations and suffering beggar description.
"After a very long time I saw a light, and as it approached I saw that it shone or radiated from the form of a man. 'My brother,' the man said, 'you are in spiritual darkness; how can I help you?' He came and, putting forth his hands, would have touched me, but I was speechless and rushed away in fear. Thereafter when I saw a light I would hide, fearing I would be arrested, for at that time I did not know I had left my physical body. I became desperate, and the next time a light approached I waited. Coming to me, a man from whose body light radiated, as before, said, 'What do you wish?' I replied, 'I want to get out of this prison.' 'You are not in prison; you are dead.' I cursed him for making such fool statements, and he was gone.
"Again I was alone in darkness. How long this continued I know not, for, there being no day, I could not count time. Again there came one to me and again I demanded that I be released from my prison. He calmly and kindly replied, 'You are not in prison; you are a spirit.' That seemed to me the height of absurdity, for I was very much alive; but I listened and he told me 'that I had made the change' and brought another, an artist, who drew pictures of my youth and the faces of my boyhood friends, and, one by one sketched those acts and deeds and wrongs that I had done. Then the light faded and they were gone and I was left alone to think.
"When I had fully come to appreciate my condition and to regret the wrong done and the suffering caused by me, there came a desire to do what I could to make reparation. Then came other spirit people to encourage me and suggest what I must do to obtain spiritual growth and with it, the light. Not one offered to take my burden, or to undo the wrong that I had done; that was for me; they only pointed out the way. I was told there were none to forgive me, except the injured; no savior but himself.
"Step by step I went forward; hour by hour I made reparation and lived again each wrong and lived it right; and day by day, as you count time, I undid my wrong and added to the right. The way was long, the labor intense, but in it I found a happiness I had never known before. For I was building my character; the atom of good was striving for its spirituality. Now that is all behind me, and I live in the glorious and effulgent light of the spirit world, laboring among congenial souls. I was seared by the fire of selfishness and wrong. I paid, and paid to the last farthing, the penalty. Now I am at peace with all. the spirit world, as it is with me.
"I send this message back to the world of men: There is not in the universe a method by which any one can escape the penalty of wrong. Had I known this fact, I would have lived among you honestly and been fair with my fellow men. I did not know it, and I have paid in full, as all will pay in full, for ignorance will not excuse.
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Editor's note: This man has explained, in his own words, the cryptic teaching of Jesus, that of a required stay in prison "until one has paid the last penny!" I shall speak more of this in a forthcoming article on Jesus and atonement theories.
"It has been a privilege to tell through you of my experience in the earthbound zone of the spirit world. If one man will hesitate when contemplating a single selfish or wrong act, and turn from it because of better understanding, it will reflect upon me and better my condition."
The lower realms inter-penetrate the earth plane
"The belts or zones that lie close around your earth are designed for the habitation of undeveloped spirits when out of the body; as they outgrow the passions of earth and become more refined, they pass to another or higher zone. Many remain in the first or earth zone for years.
"We of the higher zones try to teach them that they must forgive the wrongs of earth and in that work advance out of the earthbound condition, but many turn a deaf ear to our suggestions and try to revenge the wrong done to them when on earth; all this is intensely human, and this zone, so like the physical, is very real.
"Those who have progressed, those who in the beginning passed directly through this belt, because of their spirituality, would never come back into that atmosphere, were it not for their love for and desire to help humanity.
In explanation of this condition another spirit said:
"Many on leaving the mortal body are still in earthly conditions, found on the grosser spiritual side you call the lower sphere, where the spiritual senses are not yet awakened to susceptibility of spiritual discernment."
Again, one said:
"I find a great many come from earth life in a very darkened condition; and, of course, they gravitate or are drawn to localities of corresponding conditions. They don't know just where they ought to go or what to do. In fact, many are ignorant of any other than the condition in which they find themselves. Many, too many, are in a condition of slumbering, some in a deep sleep which lasts a long time, and great effort is put forth to awake such spirit people.
This is the experience of another spirit:
"I had been in the after life a number of years when I was taken into the lowest sphere, and what I saw has lingered in my memory ever since. I was taken by a guide accustomed to work in the earthbound plane. We move, as you know, with the rapidity of thought. My first impression was of a descent in the dark, all about me gloom, and to add to the horror I could hear voices though I could not see any one. After a time, when as it seemed, I grew accustomed to the darkness, I could see people about me, poor men and women who did not realize they had left the physical body—some shrieking because they could not escape their victims; those they had wronged were not there, it was their awakening consciousness that brought such vision. The guide spoke gently to them. Some answered with coarse jests, others with mirthless laughter; but a few came close and listened while he told them of their condition and what must be done to work out of this darkness, which was of their own creation. We have as much trouble in making these poor spirit people understand conditions beyond their sight and touch, as you have with earth people."
In the beginning when I talked with spirits who did not know they were dead, as that word is commonly used, it staggered my thought. I could not then conceive that one could be in that condition and not know it. I did not then know that the next life was so material, so tangible, and, in the lower spheres, so like our own; neither did I know that here and now we possess an inner body, which, when separated from the outer flesh garment, is identically the same as before, with the same feature, expression and thoughts. With the first or lower sphere actually blending with our world as it does, how can those who have just gone understand their condition, if they possess no knowledge concerning this change?
In the presence of such known facts, the question of the continuity of life no longer remains, and we advance to the more important proposition of what are the conditions the so-called dead meet when they cross the border. Where is the border? Where is the after life and what is the new environment? These questions are vital and are being answered from day to day, though few ask the question, and of those who do ask, a less number understand. The world is too busy getting money to give this subject serious thought.
Let it not be understood that all the living dead are earthbound and held in such zone of darkness; of all that go, only a few of the many are there held. But let it be remembered that conditions in spirit planes vary as the varying characters of men, and that each reaches that environment for which his earth life has fitted him. There he will live until by growth be has earned a more advanced zone.
Where spirit people are, what they see and enjoy, depends on just what their earth life earned. How many know this fact?
The fortunate should help the unfortunate; the strong should defend the weak; the intellectual should lead with gentle hands the mental poor. This is the highest conception of religion in both worlds, and a necessary process if we would enrich ourselves in either.
A spirit has said:
"You can have no idea of the nature and extent of punishment which some spirits have to undergo. There is no hell [in the traditional sense], nor is torture inflicted in the spirit world. Every one that comes brings the punishment with him in his own nature. When a spirit passes from the earth to this world, every trait of his natural habits, principles and passions is delineated on his spirit features. There can be no deceptions with us. You will be placed with those of similar character, whose natures correspond with yours."
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Editor's note: Imagine the hard-core politician types whose virtually every word is a lie! Imagine finding yourself in a filthy cesspool-world whose inhabitants spend all of their time trying to deceive, intimidate, self-aggrandize, trying to harm... each one acting at the expense of his fellows! When you see people acting like this - be they public figures or an ordinary person on the street - just know that they are already in the dark realms; and they will take this darkness with them to the Other Side!
The man who was trapped in a room filled with money
MISSION WORK AGAIN
AMONG the many thousand cases that I In came into our mission work, some teaching great lessons stand out prominently. There lived in my home city a few years ago a man of great wealth. He had reached the age of four-score and ten, was of unimpeachable character and at the head of some of our largest financial institutions, but he was close in money matters, very close, and saved the pennies as well as the dollars. I knew him intimately, for I had an office for some years in the same building and saw him frequently. He was counted a good citizen, but not much given to relieving distress,—such was the public estimation of his character.
The day came when he passed from the world of men, and was soon forgotten. Five years elapsed, during which period I went on with my work, helping those whom my co-workers brought, regardless of who or what they were, for in the democracy of death wealth and worldly distinction are lost, and only character survives.
I recall vividly the evening I shall describe, for it taught one of the greatest lessons I have ever had from this source. This night I was not alone with Mrs. French; I had as a guest Louis P. Kirchmeyer, who had psychic sight and could actually see spirit people before they spoke, as could Mrs. French. If a spirit was personally known, either could call him by name, and if I knew him well, I could usually recognize his voice. This condition made identity in such cases beyond question.
Again, this chapel in my home where my work was carried on, with the non-luminous ribbon of light above our heads, indicated that conditions were favorable. There was never a night when we knew who would come or what we should be called upon to do, as much depended on our mental and physical condition, and then atmospheric conditions had to be considered. I seldom asked for any particular individual,—ours was a scientific work, and those who needed help were brought in after the lecture, usually.
"It is so cold and dark," a voice came out of the darkness. Mr. Kirchmeyer and Mrs. French both psychically saw and recognized the gentleman mentioned above, and told me his name. After he spoke, I recognized his voice, which was somewhat peculiar. I had a high regard for this man, and, considering the lapse of five years since his passing on, was startled by what he said.
"Mr. W," I said, "I am surprised after this lapse of years to hear you make such a statement. Tell me more of your condition."
"There is around and about me a wall of money, nothing but money; it shuts out the light. It is so dark, and wherever I go I cannot get away from it, around it or over it," he replied.
"This man," said one of the spirit group who was helping in the work, "spent his whole life in accumulating money. It dominated his whole thought, it was all he builded, and in coming into this life he found only the condition he had created, and, never having developed his spirit, he sheds no light on his pathway."
"Having from experience learned how to help in such cases by suggestion, I said, "Mr. W, I think you can see light if you will look. What do you see?"
"It is coming," he said, "just a ray, but wait, I see a highway leading away in the distance."
"And what do you see on that highway?" I asked.
"Nothing," he answered, "not a living thing."
"Look again," I replied.
"Yes," he said, "I now see sign boards along the sides as far as the eye will reach."
"And what, if anything, is printed on those sign boards?" I asked.
"I can only read on the first one the word 'charity.' What does it mean?" he said.
"I will tell him what it means," the same spirit who had spoken before answered. "This man never thought of charity, which is the helping of others, either by kindly words or by material aid, so with all his millions of money he came into this world a spiritual pauper. He has now found the light, will realize his mis-spent life, and must learn what charity is. When he has practiced it, he can read the second, sign. That highway is his to travel; it is long, but it will ultimately lead him to happiness and to a wealth he has never known."
The man who died at Gettysburg
I determined to get from one who had made the change a comprehensive statement of the mental state, not only before but after the transition.
"So much," I said, "of the information that we get from the plane where you now live is general in character, won't you be specially specific and tell us, first, something of your occupation and of the conditions immediately preceding your dissolution?"
"I came," he replied, "from a long line of soldiers. My ancestors fought in the American Revolution, and were among those who aided in establishing your Republic; possibly I inherited a martial spirit. When the first shot was fired by the Confederates, and Lincoln issued his call for volunteers, I was possessed with a desire to enter the army. I had a wife and two children, to whom as I now know, I owed a far greater duty than to my country, but the speech of people, the danger of the nation, the condition of slavery prevailing in the Southern States, and the preparation for war, incited me.
"With forced words of good cheer, I left the brave wife and little children, enlisted, and became a soldier of the Union. I will not take the time to tell you of my life in the army, except to speak of the nights in camp when my thoughts went out to those at home, knowing as I did that funds were slowly diminishing. Ever the idea was dominant that the war would soon be over, then there would be the home coming, and the plans I formed to make compensation for my long absence would come to fruition. But the war did not end as battle after battle was fought with success first on one side, then on the other. I participated in many, seeming to bear a charmed life, for while thousands about me fell, I passed unharmed, and so grew fearless."
"Under what circumstances did you meet your end," I asked.
"It was at Gettysburg," he replied, "I can see and feel it all again as my mind concentrates on that tragic event. It was the second day of that great fight. I was then a colonel and commanded a regiment in reserve; in front of us the battle roared. Shot and shell filled the air and fell near us, muskets belched forth their fire, the earth seemed to tremble; wounded in great numbers were carried to the rear, and we knew that countless dead lay where they had fallen. We waited, knowing it was only a matter of hours, possibly minutes before the order would come to advance. I looked down the line at blanched faces, we all knew that many would not answer the roll call at night. Still we waited. Suddenly out of the smoke galloped an officer from the general's staff. 'Forward,' came the command.
"There was no faltering now that the hour had come. The column moved. Soon shot and shell fell among us, on we went. All was excitement, fear was gone; we had but one desire, and that to kill; such is the lust of battle. I recall but little more. We reached the front and saw the grey line charging up the hill toward us; then, oblivion. I now know that I was shot."
"Tell me of returning consciousness and what you saw," I said.
"You must remember," the spirit answered, "that these tragic events occurred nearly half a century ago, and that at that time it had not been discovered that there is another life, a plane as material as the one you now inhabit, where life continues. I had no conception of a hereafter, for with all my religious teaching I had no idea of what or where the future life might be; nor was I at all sure there was one; so you can imagine how startled I was to awake as from a deep sleep; bewildered I got to my feet, and looking down saw my body among many others upon the ground. This was startling. I made a great effort to collect my thoughts and recall events. Then I remembered the awful battle; still I did not then realize I had been shot. I was apart from, still I seemed in some way, held to the body I had so lately worn. My mental condition was one of terrible unrest. How was it I was alive, had a body and yet separate and apart from the covering I had thought constituted the body.
"I tried to think and realize my situation. I looked about; others of the seeming dead moved, seemed to stir. Then many of them stood up, and like me seemed to emerge from their physical bodies, for their old forms still lay upon the field. I looked at other prostrate bodies, examined many; from each something was gone. Going among them again, I found other bodies inhabited, still living as you would say, though wounded and unconscious.
"Soon I found myself among thousands in a similar mental state. Not one among them knew just what had happened. I did not know then as I do now, that I always possessed a spirit body composed of a material called Ether, and that the physical body was only the garment it wore while in earth life."
"What brought you to the full realization of what had happened?" I asked.
"I am coming to that," he said; "While the passing out of the old body was without pain, it is a terrible thing to drive a strong spirit from a healthy body, tear it from its coverings. It is unnatural, and the sensation following readjustment is awful. In a short time I became easier, but I was still bewildered. It was neither night nor day; about us all was gloom, not a ray of light, nor a star. Something like an atmosphere dark and red enveloped us all, and we waited in fear and silence; we seemed to feel one another's thoughts, or to be more correct, hear one another think. No words were spoken. How long we remained in this state I cannot now tell, for we do not measure time as you do. Soon there was a ray of light that grew brighter each moment, and then a great concourse of men and women with kindly faces came, and with comforting words told us not to fear; that we had made the great change; that death so-called only advanced our sphere of life; that we were still living beings, inhabitants now of the first plane beyond the earth; that we would live on forever, and by labor reach a higher mental development; that for us the war was over, we had passed through the valley of death.
"I will not attempt to tell you of the sorrow that came with such realization, not for myself, for I soon learned that only through death could we progress, and that the personal advantages beyond the physical were greater than those in the physical; it was sorrow for the wife and the babies; their great grief when they learned what had happened, bound me to their condition, and we sorrowed together. I could not progress or find happiness until time had healed their sorrow. If only those in earth life knew that their sadness binds and holds us, stays our progress and development! After coming with the aid of many friends to full consciousness, and being able to move at will, I followed at first the movements of both armies. I saw the route of Lee's army, the final surrender at Appomattox, and I want to tell you of the great effort the inhabitants of this land in which I live put forth, not only to prevent war, but to bring peace when nations or people are at war, for war has never been right. No taking of human life is ever justifiable.
"This is the first time it has been my personal privilege to get a message through to the world I once inhabited. It has been a great pleasure to tell you something of the sensations during and after the change. There is one experience that I want to relate, for it made a profound impression. One day I saw many people passing into a building having the appearance of a great Temple of Music. I was told I could go in if I desired—I did. There were assembled, I should judge, five thousand people. They sat with bowed heads in a silence, so absolute that I marveled; turning I asked one beside me the object of the meeting, and I was told they were concentrating their thoughts, sending out peace vibrations to nations at war. I did not comprehend, but, curious, I waited. Soon above that great company arose a golden cloud that formed and moved as if directed. Having learned that I could go at will, I followed and found the cloudy substance enveloping another battle field. Again a dark condition with flashes of red, immediately surrounding and above two great armies, for the thoughts of those in battle give out emanations producing such effect. It had substantially the same appearance that prevailed on my awakening.
"As I watched, the dark condition seemed to change, to dissolve before the peaceful conditions of the light that I had followed, just as mist dissolves before the sun. With the change a better thought filled the minds of those engaged, an inclination to treat more humanly the wounded and the prisoners. This is one of the ways those experienced among us help the mental, as those among you aid the physical; both are equally real. Among us are the great who counsel together and work to influence those in authority against war, while others among us by thought suggestions help and sustain those poor soldiers forced into battle, either to satisfy the greed, selfishness, and ambition of those in authority, or to defend a nation or the integrity of their country. We know neither the one side nor the other. We see only the suffering of humanity, a mother's mourning, a wife's heart breaking, a child's sobbing. They are all human, and without distinction or class we labor to comfort and help them by mental suggestion. In such work we enter their homes, a great invisible host, and many a heart has been cheered through our ministrations. Other wars will come, unless the thought of those now in authority changes; then a great work will be required of us, for which we are ready."
"This has been exceedingly interesting, but just one word more. How does your earth-life appear, after so many years?" I asked.
"How much do you remember of those first years, when as an infant you gazed upon your world?" the man replied. "So it is with me. I have but an indistinct recollection of the events that made up my earth-life, only a memory remains, still enough to make me regret many lost opportunities. I was not then a thinker, only a drifter; I accepted what was told me without question; the result was that I did not develop my mental faculties. This life offers such splendid advantages, my joy of living in the present is so intense, that I seldom think of the earth-life at all. All the trials, sorrows, and sufferings incident to birth and the few years in your physical world, were necessary, and from my present vantage ground the matter of living a few years more or less, the manner of my going were unimportant; it is all forgotten now in the wonderful reality about me. As soon as I came to understand what death was and to what it led, I immediately commenced to complete my education, and build a home for the wife and children, and I am happy to tell you that again we dwell together, for they are all here in this land of happiness and opportunity."
The aborted baby girl grows up!
FUTURE OF A CHILD
THE orthodox teachings make no attempt to tell us what becomes of children who go out of the earth-plane in infancy. How many millions of mothers have had babies too young for speech, boys and girls just able to talk and walk, sink into a dreamless sleep, and having kissed for the last time the lips of love, have seen the little bodies lowered with tender hands into the grave, and as the earth fell upon the casket have heard from the lips of ignorance "ashes to ashes, and dust to dust."
With hearts without hope they have gone back to the house of sorrow, the toys, the little bed, the vacant chair, the ache in the heart, the tears that fall in countless thousands of homes, and the cries that go out in the night to know where in the vast universe the baby is, if it lives at all.
"What becomes of those who go out in infancy, you ask? "Do they develop in mind and body? Shall we know them and meet them again? Will they know us? Is there any one to comfort and care for them, and teach them? Do they miss and seek the mother love?"
These and a thousand more questions have been asked in the countless ages that have gone, and are being asked in every desolate home in the world today. Let me tell what I have learned of those conditions through many years of speech with those in the afterlife.
I repeat what I have said before and shall say again, for it is the key to comprehension, that the infant at conception possesses an etheric form, at that moment clothed in a physical garment or flesh body. This etheric form is material, composed of matter, and as matter cannot be destroyed; it follows that etheric child-body cannot by any possibility be annihilated.
The infant etheric form by the process of dissolution passes out of the physical garment which it took on at the moment of conception, the same garment that it wore at birth, and becomes an inhabitant of the next plane of consciousness, where all is etheric, where nothing physical can enter. This change may be likened to an earth-birth. There are thousands of childless women, who never in earth-life found expression for the mother-love. These, with countless others who find their greatest happiness in doing good together with those of blood relation, attend at such a time and take and care for the little stranger in the new environment.
Let me give an instance that came under my personal investigation. It is a well known fact that children up to about three years of age are able to, and do see spirit people; some have spirit playmates. The instance I am about to relate was the passing of a little boy, only one week old, who had a sister a little under three years of age, with whom I was privileged to make an experiment. This little girl night after night saw the baby boy, and described him; he was in the same room with two spirit nurses in attendance, while another woman was from time to time described as being present. Again, this three year old sister often saw the spirit-baby when she was away from her home. On various occasions I verified these statements by inquiry from those in the afterlife during our investigation, and found that what the little sister related had actually taken place. The woman who appeared from time to time was the grandmother; she, assisted by two nurses, cared for the little stranger, and on several occasions, before he could articulate plainly, prior to his fourth birthday, I heard him speak to me. This was a most valuable experience.
Children in the afterlife are cared for very much as they are here. There are those who find their greatest delight in mothering the motherless, and teaching them words of speech and wisdom; so under such unselfish care the children reach mental and bodily maturity just the same as they would if they had remained in this world.
The etheric process of development is interesting; children need mother-love no less in spirit than in earth life, and as the mother sleeps, those in charge place the etheric baby-form close to her heart, where it rests absorbing the love so necessary to its existence. We little know how close the afterlife is, how close its inhabitants come to us, the influence they exert on us, or the result of our thought vibrations upon them. Then again, as the children grow, they keep in touch with us from day to day, and when we go out into the afterlife, they know and greet us as we enter the life that has no night.
There are in the next life kindergartens, schools, colleges, and universities of learning just as we have here, and what is more, the inhabitants do not cease to study and increase their store of knowledge when they reach a certain age, but there are great lecture halls where the advanced ones teach the supreme laws of Nature, where all are welcome and all go, and so the secrets of the Universe are understood. There is but one aristocracy in the life to come, and that is founded on the refinement and development of character. Measured by this standard, how very poor are our very rich! I have often written that the aristocrats of the afterlife have gained their position by helping others less fortunate. They rise by raising others. Those alone stand erect who stoop above the lowly.
Here is what a sojourner in the next plane has said of the little ones:
"Many people have puzzled as to the state and condition of young children in the spirit world, and it is on that subject that I desire to speak, more particularly, tonight. There are millions of young children of all ages passing into the spirit world every year. Some of them are of very tender age, while others know right from wrong. It is an interesting subject to inquire as to what they do in the spirit life. At the outset, I must tell you that there is a divine law in the spirit world, that whosoever passes into that kingdom before he has reached to man's estate upon the earth-plane, shall grow mentally to the stature of a man. You can gather from that that the 7 youngest child, even the infant which has been taken from you, will grow mentally and spiritually on the other side of life.
Clairvoyants and others have often described young children in the spirit life, who have been recognized by mothers and fathers; they perhaps years after, have been somewhat astonished to hear of the child looking much older, and they have not been able to account for it. You will understand that the presentation of the spiritual form is in order that those in the flesh may be able to see them through the physical senses, and to note that they appear to be growing toward manhood and womanhood. I am afraid that many people upon your earth-plane today are neglectful of their responsibilities to their children.
If God has given you such a flower as a child, it is incumbent upon you by example and precept to train that child in spiritual things, so that ultimately he will be with you in the kingdom of Heaven and will rejoice in the knowledge that you guided him spiritually when an infant. But how careless are many people with their children! They forget that the child is all the time taking note, not of what they are saying, but of what they are doing. I assure you that if you are unmindful of your responsibilities toward your children, you will undoubtedly have to pay the penalty when you reach the spirit side of life."
Too little attention has been paid to the going out of children; the world has little knowledge on that subject. No greater blessing can come to the fathers and mothers of every nation and tribe than to know that children with bodies too frail to carry them through the earth-life are not lost in going from among us, but in the other life go right on with their growth and development under the care and guidance of good men and women who for love of humanity do the necessary work, and so enrich themselves.
I am impressed not to leave this subject without a word of warning to do no murder. Know that at the moment of conception out of the mass of the universal good, out of the life mass, an etheric atom, a body infinitesimal in size and perfect in form is clothed, and no matter whether the physical birth is natural or premature, that life-force so individualized has commenced its journey back to God, and all the power in all the Universe cannot change its ultimate destiny.
I am told that into the afterlife countless millions of children have come and are coming who have never had the advantage of a natural physical birth and earth experience so necessary to their development, but that heartless mothers by abortive acts and with the aid of dastard physicians have done and are doing countless murders, more terrible in result than the taking of the life of a man, because the unborn infant is so weak and helpless. If this knowledge shall cause any mother to spare the life of her unborn child, blood of her blood, and bone of her bone, or the physician to pause in his criminal act, sorrow untold will pass both by.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox described perhaps better than she knew in her "Ballade of the Unborn Dead" the natural and logical result of child murder,
"They walked the valley of the dead,
Lit by a weird half light,
No sound they made, no word they said,
And they were pale with fright.
Then suddenly from unseen places came,
Loud laughter, that was like a whip of flame,
They looked, and saw, beyond, above,
A land where wronged souls wait
Those spirits called to earth by love,
And driven back by hate.
And each one stood in anguish, dumb and wild,
As she beheld the phantom of her child.
Yea, saw the soul her wish had hurled
Out into night and death,
Before it reached the Mother world,
Or drew its natal breath.
And terrified, each hid her face and fled
Beyond the presence of her unborn dead,
And God's Great Angel, who provides
Souls for our mortal land,
Laughed, with the laughter that derides,
At that fast fleeing band
Of self-made barren women of the earth.
Hell has no curse that withers like such mirth.
'Oh, Angel, tell us who were they,
That down below us fared;
Those shapes with faces strained and grey,
And eyes that stared and stared;
Something there was about them, gave us fear;
Yet are we lonely, now they are not here.'
Thus spake the spectral children; thus
The Angel made reply:
'They have no part or share with us,
They were but passers by.'
'But may we pray for them?' the phantoms plead;
'Yea, for they need your prayers,' the Angel said."
"I want to tell you," a teacher in the afterlife said, "of a little waif that came to us in infancy. We taught and carefully guarded, and schooled her in the pure conditions of our sphere until she approached womanhood, but she had no contrasts, therefore she could not judge of the relative purity and delights of her environment.
In order that she should be able to enjoy her home and the glories of our world, it was necessary for her to have a knowledge of earthly conditions. And so I was instructed to conduct this child back to earth from time to time. When this child first returned to earth and was among your people, she could hardly endure even to examine the gross conditions, and could not understand how people could exist in such dark, crude elements.
But, as I led her along from one condition to another, over the road she would have gone had she remained on earth for the ordinary allotted period, I said to her: 'Had you lived your time in the body, you would have been in the condition in which you see these people.' I also told her that they would look gross to her when they reached the spirit state, but that in course of time they would improve enough to assume the state of purity and peace that she enjoyed. And as we journeyed on, we met one whose earthly experience had unfolded, and the little lady said: 'That one looks different.'
And I told her that this one had received a higher training. And we passed along to another place in the earth-life where there were children of the poor and ignorant, as well as of the rich and learned. And we tarried until my little charge thoroughly learned the different environments of children on earth, and the great contrast between their homes, daily life, and schooling and those in spirit-life. This child had never known anything but innocence and purity, and she was far removed from the ordinary conditions of the childhood of earth. It was long before she could, in any degree, recognize it as a reality.
"And, having learned of the methods of training in the institutions of earth, we pursued our investigations farther along; and, finally we came to where there was a great orthodox church; and there, unseen, we mingled with the congregation. She said: 'This churchhouse is not like ours at all. What is taught here?' Presently the services began. I told her to listen attentively to the minister, for here she would get the average experience of the church methods and be able to see wherein a great work, in brave hands, is greatly needed on the spirit side. Then, the minister proceeded with his discourse in his regular methodical manner, telling the people all he thought essential to prepare them to enter higher realms of the spirit. But the girl, now grown to nearly womanhood, could not accept the dicta of the minister, for she had up to now been raised in the spirit world and had learned nothing that was in harmony with methods attempted by the church to enlighten the people and prepare them for future realities. Therefore the teachings of the minister seemed to her so gross, so false, so out of line with all she had ever seen, heard, or read of in the land which had always been her home that she hesitated to remain, but I told her that her future work and welfare required that she learned as much as possible of the earth conditions in which your people live, and the kind of preparation such earth conditions make for their inheritance in our life. But the more the young lady heard of the sermon the more she disbelieved it. In fact, it was so much opposed to what she knew of the conditions on this side, and so different from what preparation while on earth for entrance to and enjoyment of spirit life should consist that at my suggestion she resolved to visit those who had just left the earth-plane, schooled under its teaching, and witness the effect of it; we, therefore, journeyed on."
The person who was killed in a collapsed building
There was one person in particular with whom from the very first time I worked with Mrs. French I was desirous of talking. This was my mother who left this life in 1873. Time went on, and she did not come. Finally she requested me to meet with Mrs. French under the necessary conditions on May 26, 1896, saying that she would come and go over many things in which we were mutually interested.
About ten o'clock on the appointed morning the Brown Building in Buffalo, then being repaired, collapsed. The street was full of rumors that many people had been killed. The number was put, I think, at six or seven. Of course, there was no way of ascertaining the truth until the debris could be removed and this would require many days.
Mrs. French and I were scarcely seated that evening when my mother greeted me in her own direct voice, and said with great regret that owing to the accident that morning she must forego the pleasure of our visit until a later time, we could be of great help to those whose lives had been crushed out; they needed assistance. Of course, I readily acquiesced in the suggestion. There was perhaps ten minutes of silence; then a voice, choking and coughing, broke the stillness and cried, "My God, the building is falling, the building is falling. This way, this way."
The situation was tense and startling. I half rose to my feet. Another voice answered in a strange tongue. The words were not distinguishable, but it seemed to me as if some one was responding to the first call, which was followed in a moment by a woman's voice crying out in great fear, "We will all be killed! Help me, help me."
This was the beginning of what we term our mission work, that is, helping to restore consciousness to those who in leaving the old body are not readily able to regain that condition. There was then, aiding in this work, as I have since learned, a group of seven spirit co-workers who had brought to us these unfortunate people whose spirit-bodies had been crushed out in the fall of this building. We were to restore them to a normal mental condition, and acting upon the suggestion of the spirit coworkers I quietly talked with them. After a time I told them what had occurred and brought them to a realization of their situation. Eventually they came to understand that in the fall of that building their spirits had been forced from their physical bodies, and when they came to realize that in the catastrophe they had gone out of earth-life, their sorrow was beyond words.
One told me on that evening that four people, namely: William P. Straub, George Metz, Michael Schurzke, and Jennie M. Griffin, a woman, had lost their lives in the fall of the building. This was verified some days later.
After talking with me, voice to voice, they realized that they had gone through the change called death. Then their friends in the afterlife came, were recognized, and took them and gave them such consolation as was possible under the unfortunate circumstances.
I asked the leader of the spirit group how it was that the voices when first heard seemed so strained, and speech so broken, why there was so much choking. He replied that a person, crushed out of the physical body suddenly, finishes as soon as consciousness and the mental condition are restored, sentences left unuttered when dissolution came; that in the awakening he takes on the identical state in which he passed out.
After they had gone Mrs. French said:
"I see behind you a man probably fifty-five or more years old, strong character I should judge, who has been listening to this conversation. He is looking at you with amazement. He does not seem to understand."
I said to her, "Does he know me?" She replied, "He answers, 'Yes'." "Does he give his name?" "No, not yet."
Of course, being in absolute darkness and not possessing psychic sight or psychic hearing, I could neither see nor hear him, but I asked, "Did he reside in Buffalo?" She answered, "No."
I then inquired concerning other localities, and named residents of a city where I had lived for some years, asking,
"Was he a resident of that city?" and Mrs. French replied saying:
"He says that he lived there."
Then I repeated the names of many of my acquaintances, trying to identify the individual who was then present, with an idea that I might have speech with him. Finally Mrs. French said:
"I see the letters H. G. B."
I quickly recalled the individual described and spoke his name. He had been a leading citizen of a neighboring city, a large manufacturer. I recalled many evenings spent at his house with his family, and particularly did I recall his voice. On Sunday evenings he enjoyed the gathering of young people, and at such times there was often singing of popular songs, and many of the old hymns. His voice was unusual, deep, resonant, and he sang very well. It was a voice which, having once been heard, could never be mistaken. He had been out of the body then about five years. After a little time he moved around apparently to the side of Mrs. French, and greeted me. That deep masculine voice would have been recognized if he had not given his name; there was no mistake. He spoke my name as familiarly as he ever did in earth life, and I greeted him as cordially as I ever had in his home.
I had believed that this man had led an exemplary life, for this was the general impression which prevailed in the community where he resided, and I thought he, of all men, would find the best conditions after dissolution. However, he did not yet realize that he had separated from his physical body. He knew some great change had taken place, but he had absolutely no conception of what it was, although five years had elapsed since it occurred. He told me that his wife and children no longer recognized him in his own home, that he spoke to them, that he called to them, that he got on his knees and shrieked their names, but he could not apparently touch them, he could not make them realize his presence; they passed him apathetically. His inability to make himself known in the home where he had always been the dominant personality, the indifference with which he was treated not only by his own family but by others with whom he came in contact, had driven him nearly to desperation. He could not understand the situation at all, and he was fearful that he was verging on insanity, if not completely insane. All was darkness about him, all things were unnatural, and he had become frantic. It was a delicate task to bring this man to a realization of the great change that had taken place, because his present condition was so intensely real. He was the same man, he had the same intellect, the same personality, apparently the same body. Why should he be ignored and overlooked by all whom he had known?
It was only after many explanations that he came to a realizing sense that he had left the physical world of men. Having in mind the exemplary life which he had led, I told him that I could not understand why he should find himself in such a mental state, and he replied that he had not lived the life for which he had been given credit.
A member of the spirit group present said:
"The wrong done in earth-life binds him to the earth condition. While he has left his physical body, he has not left the earth and its environment, and having no knowledge of the great beyond to which he has journeyed, he has never progressed beyond the earth plane where he formerly lived, and he cannot comprehend while in that mental state the change that has come to him."
It appeared that he had never left his home, and the narrow environment about it, but in a half awakened, half conscious state had wandered from one to another until by good fortune he had been told that if he would attend upon our work, he would understand the change that had come into his life. With this unusual experience we said "Good Night" to our group of co-workers, and I walked homeward in deep thought.
What shall be said of our civilization that teaches nothing of the conditions prevailing in the afterlife?
a thief in the Afterlife is exposed
SO LITTLE CHANGE
HOW can people be dead and not know it? This was the most difficult proposition that was ever presented to me. All orthodox teaching has been such that it is difficult for any one to comprehend the natural conditions about them. In my first years of this most interesting research, I talked with many who did not know that they had left the earth-life at all. Why did they not know that they had left the physical body?
Let me give a stenographic account of our work on the evening of May 10, 1897, illustrative of the point referred to and reported by Miss Gertrude Spaulding, now secretary to one of the United States senators from Minnesota.
The spirit controlling our work said: "Tonight, we must bring into your presence a necessity, bring one who needs help more than you need words of instruction. In this regular work, do not change conditions; if you want to invite strangers, take another night."
A strange spirit voice said:
Q. I am interested to know what you are doing here. I don't want that woman sitting there to take down what I say.
A. She is not here to take down your confession, if you make one. The work we are doing is of sufficient importance to be taken stenographically; that is what the stenographer is here for. Well, sir, how can we serve you?
"I don't want you to call me 'friend,' but as I am here, I will present a business proposition. You like money, don't you? I suppose the rest of you like money too. It does lots of things."
Q. Have you a speculation that you want us to join in?
A. I have a certain block of stock I want to sell.
Q. What kind of stock?
A. Mining stock. It is mining stock.
Q. Is that the most important thing in your mind?
A. That's the most important.
Q. Why do you wish to sell it?
A. I have a good reason, but I don't say very much about it to strangers.
Q. How did you get it?
A. Never mind that. I have it and want to sell it.
Q. How long have you had that stock for sale?
A. I have had it for about five years. Have not sold it because everybody seems afraid of it.
Q. Now, hasn't it occurred to you that if you have not sold it, there is something about that stock that isn't right?
A. I know all about that stock. Are you afraid of it?
Q. No, I am not afraid of it. You have offered it very cheap, I suppose?
A. Not so very. I don't believe in cheap stocks.
Q. You have traveled?
A. Traveled? Traveled from one end of the earth to the other. I have even been to Europe.
Q. Now, does it not seem strange to you that you have traveled so far and not sold your stock?
A. I'll tell you. It is strange to me because everybody that I have offered it to, has turned away after looking at it. People think I am a little "off "
Q. Now, where is your family?
A. You want my wife to sign the papers?
Q. Will she sign?
A. It is not necessary.
Q. Where is she?
A. Home.
Q. Where is home?
A. I will tell you, if you want to know. She is at San Jose, California.
Q. You have traveled a good way. Did you ever hear of the city of Buffalo?
A. Yes, who hasn't?
Q. It is a good city, isn't it?
A. Very good, very good.
Q. Now, I live in Buffalo. I am in my own home now.
A. You don't mean to say that I am in Buffalo?
Q. Yes.
A. Your home?
Q. Yes. You have been brought here for some purpose other than selling mining stock. You have traveled a long way. Now, my friend, where did you get those papers? Be honest with me. Have they not been a burden to you for years?
A. That will do, gentlemen.
Q. Did you get that stock honestly?
The voice of the control interrupted, speaking with great force; "The man you stole the papers from, shot you."
Q. Who is that? How does he know? How does he know?
The control speaking to us said:
"He was shot while stealing those papers. When we cannot reach spirits of his kind, we find it necessary to bring them into the conditions prevailing here now; we want your help. In this condition their mental activities are quickened, and they are brought out of mental darkness."
I said to the spirit: "If you will come and touch me, possibly you will gather more strength."
A. You will put handcuffs on me.
Q. You are among friends.
A. I don't trust in friends or strangers.
Q. I want you to listen to what I have to say. You are nearly three thousand miles from San Jose, California. When you were stealing that stock from that other man, you heard the click of a revolver, didn't you?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you hear the explosion?
A. No.
Q. There was one.
A. I should have heard it if there had been.
Q. There was a revolver fired at that time, I am told, and that ball penetrated your body. When that occurred, you passed out of the physical body. You live right on; that life is so like the life here, that you and thousands of others go right on without being conscious of the change; they find conditions so similar, and whatever was in the mind when the change occurred is held sometimes indefinitely. You have been wandering over the face of the earth holding the thought that that stock was in your hands. You are not as you were before you took that stock; a great alteration has taken place, but you are not dead.
A. Am I a ghost?
Q. Let me explain. Every week we sit in a dark room as are now doing, and understanding the laws that govern speech between the spiritual and the physical planes, we are able to talk with people who have passed on, just as we are talking to you tonight. Now, you are in a situation which you fail to comprehend. You must work out of your present condition and undo the wrong that you have done. You will be able in time, much time probably, to progress, and those who have progressed farther and understand your condition, have brought you tonight into this condition for the purpose of having us demonstrate to you the change that has come, and teach you how to compensate for the wrong that you did. If you will listen, you will be told.
A. I believe none of that.
Q. Do you understand that there is actually no death?
A. No, I do not.
Q. The majority of people in the physical world do not understand that change at all. One leaves the old, physical body as one leaves an old coat. But the etheric body, the individual self, with its tendencies and desires, goes on and on. Now, don't you think there has been a change with you in some way? Do you want me to demonstrate that to you?
A. I am just like you.
Q. That cannot be, for your body is composed of ether only. I lift my hand to my face. Can you see my face through my hand?
A. No.
Q. Now, lift up your hand. Don't you see there is a difference?
A. Yes, I can see through my hand.
Q. What do you think of that?
A. If you think I am crazy, I had better go.
Q. We are not trying to do you harm.
A. Talk then in reason.
The control interrupted again, saying:
"We will bring a spirit that shall teach you what is reasonable, and he shall prove to you that you too are a spirit."
Q. Do you know that the man talking to you now, is S, once a citizen of much prominence? A. He is dead.
Q. He is talking to you. Is he dead if he can talk?
A. You are a queer lot of people.
Q. Possibly, but if you will listen to what he says, if you will earnestly seek the truth, you will find it. Things are not satisfactory with you, are they?
A. Not very.
Q. Now, you would like to get out of your present condition, would you not?
A. I don't like to be called dead.
Q. We will help you all we can. We want you to listen. I tell you again, there is no death.
A. But you said I was a spirit.
Q. Yes, I say that you are now in the afterlife, and that you have an etheric body, almost identical with the old physical.
A. Don't you know that the spirit is nothing but dust?
Q. I do not; on the contrary, it is as material as before dissolution?
A. Where are your ministers? Why don't they so teach if it is a fact.
Q. Because the great majority don't know; and the few who do know have not the courage.
A. I will go and ask Father Spencer if this be true.
Q. Do you want to see Father Spencer right here? Is it possible at this time to bring Father Spencer here tonight? I asked the control.
A. I am sending messengers for Father Spencer, who has also passed on since his going, he replied.
Q. Now, if Father Spencer can come here and talk to you as a spirit
A. Then I will believe every word you said.
Q. Either tonight, or at some other time, you shall talk with Father Spencer as you are talking now with us.
A. I will wait.
Some years elapsed before this strange spirit came again, and then only to say that he had found Father Spencer, and had come to understand the terrible condition which, by a life ill spent, he had made for himself. He then appreciated that he must meet again every wrong act of his earth-life, live it again and live it right, and by labor make retribution for all the wrong he had done. He further said that no man, if he understood the result of evil or its effect in the afterlife, would do wrong.
At the time this work was being carried on, I did not fully appreciate the fact that one could be dead, so-called, and not know it, I had first to learn that there is individual life beyond the grave. Then I was taught:
(a) That here and now we have spirit bodies composed of etheric material, as much matter as the flesh garment that covers them.
(b) That dissolution is simply the passing of the etheric out of the physical covering.
(c) That the afterlife is just as tangible and material as this, intense and real beyond comprehension, differing from this life in vibration only.
(d) That the so-called dead have bodies as real and tangible to them as ours are to us.
(e) That many of the dead, so-called, move about even among us, little realizing that any change has been made, unless developed spiritually. When I had learned these things, the teachers of the etheric world took up with me the character and conditions surrounding and governing life in the next sphere of development. Then I understood..
religion in the afterlife - but not in the better neighborhoods
"What of the religious movement among your people?" I asked.
"In the lowest of the spheres, that is, in the earth-bound spheres sectarian strife and religious movement are just as strenuous among the people as they were before these persons left the physical body. That state of transition is but little removed from the physical, for, while the majority there know they have left the body, others have such an imperfect appreciation of the change, or have led such immoral lives that they are not conscious of the fact.
"Here the dogmas of orthodoxy are dominant, and the old religious teachings are promulgated, and the priesthood still holds power. One would think that an individual having passed through the portal called death and finding nothing as he had been taught, or as he had believed, would give up the old notions and try to comprehend the economy of the natural law under which he continued to live; but, strange as it may seem, many even then cling to the old beliefs as if in fear, as if to doubt were sacrilege, and in many ways excuse their failure to find what they expected. They go into your churches and mingle with other people, a great invisible host, hear the same old teachings, say the same creeds and continue in the same mental attitude until some condition is brought about them that guides them into the avenue of knowledge, and as time goes on, one by one they break the shackles about their mentalities, and by progression, through individual effort, become inhabitants of the first spirit sphere.
"Everyday matters are no different in our sphere than in your sphere. You do not progress and obtain knowledge and advancement until you break away from the old beliefs and creeds. Neither do those out of the body in that earth-bound condition. You see there is but one law for you and one law for us. All of nature's laws are universal.
"Our laws are meted out on a scale of exact justice. All Nature's laws are exact laws, and from their award there is no appeal. Punishments are but the natural consequences of violated laws, and are invariably commensurate with the offence, and have reference to the reformation of the offender as well as to the prevention of future crimes."
a swindler is found out, and then sends himself to the Dark Realms
FROM DEATH'S SLEEP
"BY what right do you presume to compel my presence in this house?" The room was in absolute darkness; the voice of one called by the world, "dead," trembling with anger broke upon the stillness of the night.
"Do you understand the situation in which you find yourself?" I asked.
"I do not, and will not allow any man to dictate to me," he replied.
"You are not afraid?" I said.
"Afraid! I am not afraid of God or man, and I will not remain here."
"It might be to your advantage if you would," I answered.
"I did not force you to come. You are as much a stranger to me as I am to you."
"Who did force me to come?" he asked.
"I do not know; tell me about it."
"As it comes to me now," he answered, "an irresistible force seemed to urge me from a dreamlike condition. Suddenly I was awake, in your presence, and immediately concluded that in some manner you controlled my conduct. That I cannot permit."
"You are mistaken there, but does it not occur to you that some great good may come of this meeting?" I inquired.
"I cannot in any way understand your suggestion," the stranger said, "or see how any good can come of an enforced conference. If you did not bring me, who did? I had no desire to come, nor do I wish to remain. This house and its surroundings are unfamiliar to me. With your permission, I will retire."
"Before you go," I said, "I should like to have you know something of the work we are doing, which may account for your coming."
"Well, sir, finding myself in this unfamiliar situation I will not be lacking in courtesy," he said.
"For many years," I replied, "I have been engaged in psychical research, with this psychic who sits opposite me, trying to obtain a practical solution of that great physical change called death."
"What has that to do with me? I am not dead nor am I interested in the subject," he answered.
"Wait a moment, please. You will be interested when I tell you that I have discovered something of the daily life and environment of the individual after he has ceased to be an inhabitant of the earth-plane."
"You are entirely mistaken in your statements; there is no survival—no continuity of life. Death is the end."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely," he replied.
"Suppose," I answered, "I could prove to you here and now, that death, so-called, is but a physical change, the separation of the life-force from the flesh garment, that substance with which it is clothed during its journey on this plane—suppose I could demonstrate here and now that the individual has a spirit body composed of matter with form, features, and expression during his entire earth-life, and at dissolution simply becomes an inhabitant of the next plane of consciousness with the same spirit body, is in short, the same identical man."
"There is no such thing as life after death," he said.
"I am going to try to explain what life is, before I give you the absolute proof of what I state. Now follow me. At the moment of conception, an Atom of the Universal Force called 'Good' is clothed with substance vibrating more slowly than the life-force clothed. The individual is as perfect at that moment as the giant oak in the heart of the acorn. We cannot see the individual or the oak tree before or after birth and growth. Life-force vibrates so fast that it is not visible to the physical eye, but ultimately we see the outer covering, that substance which makes both possible. This outer garment of the individual is composed largely of water. The physical body of ours changes once in seven years at least, but with such change we retain individuality, form, and feature. How is this done?" I asked.
"I don't know, and I don't care," he answered.
"Follow me a little farther, please. This entity, this life-force, this individuality, this soul, this 'us,' if you like, is composed of matter, differing only from the flesh substance in its vibratory condition. This accounts for its permanency of form, but no physical eye ever saw or ever will see this self, this spirit form, this soul, so-called, unless possessed of the psychic sight with which, speaking generally, few are endowed. Without it one individual can never see the spirit form of another while an inhabitant of this earth. We are conscious only of physical expression, and sound. Now in dissolution from accident or physical weakness, the body covering that is visible to us is no longer fit for habitation; then the separation, dissolution-death so-called-occurs; the individual through a natural process releases itself from the flesh garment, and stands forth the same man or woman as before, though invisible to the inhabitants of earth. They see but the old flesh body that housed the spirit. They could not, as I have said, see the true self before, nor can they see it after dissolution, because of the intensity, because of the rapidity of the vibration of the etheric body, for our eyes are limited as to motion, as well as to distance."
"That is all very well, but what has it to do with me? I am not dead," he answered.
"If you will be patient I will lead up to the personal application. When one has gone through this death change, one of two conditions may follow; we may never for a moment lose consciousness—it is then just good night to the old and good morning to the new environment. This usually follows a respectable life. The man is the same still, nothing subtracted from or added to his personality, and in the mirror of Nature he sees himself with the same outlines, the same expression, the same thoughts, the same attachments, still a material body dissociated from the flesh covering, the same spirit form that has been his during his journey in the world. But he then appreciates that his body is lighter and more transparent than the flesh substance he has been accustomed to look upon, and he does not resist muscular effort as he did in the old covering; then but for the assurance of friends and relatives who assist in the change, as at earth-birth, and explain to the quickening consciousness, many would be afraid. There is this great difference in the two births. When this atom of life-force first becomes individual, an inhabitant of the earth plane, it possesses instinct but no intelligence; it continues to develop, with no knowledge of its previous existence. It could have none, for it came from the mass of universal life forces. The next great change is similar except that the individual retains all previous development; he knows little more of the laws governing, and the means available to aid his progression than an infant. On the other hand, those who have led unclean earth-lives, who have been selfish, immoral, and have committed crimes against man and Nature, may not soon awaken; if they do, they find themselves in mental darkness, in a prison of their own building, and there they remain until a desire comes from within for better things. Then the way will be shown by spirit people engaged in such charitable work. At the beginning, each awakening spirit is told that each wrong act done in earthlife must be lived over, that as he works he will encounter like conditions under which the wrong was done, and in the new life he must correct the error in the old in order to advance. I recall that an inhabitant of the next plane once said: 'The justice that meets a naked soul on the threshold of the afterlife is terrible in its completeness.'
"I cannot accept a word you say about a life after death. There is no other life—there can be none—a man dies like a dog," said the visitor.
"That is true in a sense," I said, "for the life force and individuality both go on. You cannot destroy an atom of matter, you will admit; so if life-force is matter, that cannot be destroyed."
"This is all very strange talk, but why speak on such a subject to me? I am not dead; if I were and there is life beyond the grave, I should not be here talking to you."
"I have talked just as I am talking to you with many who have made that change," I said.
"Do you mean to tell me you have talked to dead people?"
"I did not say that; I said that I had talked to those who have made the change called death. There is, in reality, no death; there are no dead."
"Talk sense," he retorted, "we have all seen dead people, have seen their bodies buried, and you tell me there are no dead."
Again I said, "You fail to understand what I have been telling you. We bury the physical bodies but not the spirit bodies; one is just as material as the other."
"I don't comprehend you, and I don't care to continue the discussion. I think I will say goodnight."
"Just a moment, and I will demonstrate the fact. Did I not tell you a moment ago that I had talked with many so-called dead?"
"Yes," he answered, "but I did not take what you said seriously; I made up my mind on that subject long ago."
"Now to begin the proof—do you know where you are at this moment? Tell me if you know."
"I don't seem to know. This is not my home; the room is strange to me; you are strange too. It is all unreal. Can you explain the situation in which I find myself?
"Listen to me. This frail little woman, over eighty years old, who sits opposite me, is the most gifted psychic in the world. More than twenty years ago it was discovered that under favorable psychic conditions such as prevail tonight we could have speech with spirit people."
"It can't be possible," he said.
"The suggestion," I replied, "is so far beyond the experience of man, that I am not surprised at your inability to comprehend the fact. Wait! Having such means of communication, we have not only learned much of the future state, but, acting in conjunction with a group of people in the next life, we have been able to bring many to a state of consciousness, after the death change, in quasimaterial, quasi-spiritual conditions, such as prevail here tonight; and when we are doing work of this character, many out of the body are brought for help by their friends, as you have been, that they may comprehend their situation."
"But I am not one of these; the suggestion is absurd, I tell you. I am as much alive as you, and my body is quite as substantial as yours," he said.
"Hold up your hand as I do mine, and see if there is any difference between the two."
"Yes," he answered, "there is a difference, I now discover. Yours is opaque, but mine is transparent. I can see right through my hand. Is this hypnotic suggestion?"
"No," I said, "you are facing new conditions tonight. Do you know that we sit in intense darkness and cannot see you, although we hear your voice distinctly?"
"I know," he answered, "that it is not dark, for I can see you, and if I can see you, you can see me; but never mind that; what is the matter with my body? I think now I have been very ill, and one always looks as I do after long sickness," he replied.
"Speaking of illness, what do you recall about your last illness?"
"My memory seems hazy, but it is coming back to me. I recall lying on a bed, the physician waiting, my wife and children sobbing. The doctor said, 'he is passing now.' That did give me a start; there were some who would like to see me dead—but I fooled them—for I did not die. If I had died, how could I be here?"
"What do you know about death?" I said.
"I don't know anything about it, and I don't want to."
"But when that time comes to you, you will be obliged to know, whether you desire to or not," I replied.
"Well, I am willing to wait, and I don't want to talk about it. I never did."
"Suppose I tell you that you have already made that change."
"It would be foolish to tell me such a thing when I am here talking to you."
"Suppose I now prove it to you. Those in spirit life co-operate with me in this work and are often able to bring to the stranger those whom he has known in earth-life, and face to face and voice to voice, the proposition proves itself."
"I tell you," he said, "there are no dead people, and if there were, I don't want to see them."
"You are not afraid?"
"No," he answered, "but I don't want to see them. I have enough trouble with the living without bothering with the dead."
"Is there no one in the next life with whom you would like to talk if you could? Remember that your sickness may have ended in dissolution; your body is different, and you know you find yourself in a strange city."
"Things have changed, but I don't want to see or talk to dead people."
"You find life so material, so like the earth life, that I believe no method but actual experience will convince you that you have left the mortal state, and that lesson must be learned. You have been so intent on our conversation, I think that you have not looked around--look, what do you see?"
"My God! People, people, people! All strangers, and all looking at me, all with bodies like my own; what strange hallucination is this? Where am I? What am I?"
"You are no longer an inhabitant of this world but are actually living in the afterlife. Are there none you know among those you see, who, to your knowledge, are counted among the dead, so called?" I asked.
"Not one, but wait, there comes—John—my old partner. Why does he, of all men, come? He is dead. I helped bury him. I was his executor. Take him and that woman and the boy away. I won't see them, I tell you. They are dead, all dead. They are coming to arrest me. How can they, when they are all dead? Tell me, tell me tell me quick."
"What wrong did you do?" I asked.
"Wrong? Who said I did them any wrong? I was faithful to the trust."
In answer another spirit spoke. "No, you were not faithful. You stole the money entrusted to you for my wife and child, and left them to suffer. There never was, and never can be a secret in the world. When you kept from my loved ones that which I left for their support and let them die in want, I saw, and all your friends in spirit life saw your act and the working of your mind."
"No secret in the world? My crime known! The dead alive! Have I, too, left my physical body to find life when I thought to find oblivion? Am I to meet all those I have wronged? I cannot face the future! Darkness is gathering! I am falling! God help me!"
The voice faltered, struggled for further speech, and was lost. The gross material that clothed his organs of respiration, disintegrated, and he spoke no more.
We had participated in one of the most remarkable experiences that it has been the privilege of man to have. We had talked with one who had left the physical body, and witnessed his awakening.
Editor’s note: In the book “The Psychic Riddle” by Dr. Isaac Funk (free online) the author offers a report of extensive testing of Mrs. French’s abilities.
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