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Word Gems 

exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity

Franchezzo

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To these meetings for materialisation I was always accompanied by that majestic spirit of whom I have already spoken, and whom I now knew by his name of Ahrinziman, "the Eastern Guide". And as I was now beginning to see him more clearly I will describe him to you.

He was a tall, majestic-looking man with long flowing white garments bordered with yellow, and a yellow girdle around his waist. His complexion was that of an Eastern, of a pale dusky tint. The features were straight and beautifully moulded, as one sees them in the statues of Apollo, though their peculiar Eastern cast caused them to vary a little from the perfect Grecian type.

no stranger to the fire of passion, both love and hate

His eyes were large, dark, soft and tender as a woman's, yet with a latent fire and force of passion in their depths which, though subdued and controlled by his strong will, yet gave a warmth and intensity to his looks and manner, from which I could easily believe that in his earth life he had known all the sweetness, and all the passion of violent love and hate.

Now his passions were purified from all earthly dross, and served but as links of sympathy between him and those who, like myself, were still struggling to subdue their lower natures, and conquer their passions. A short silky black beard covered his cheeks and chin, and his soft wavy black hair hung somewhat long upon his shoulders. His figure, though tall and powerful, had all the litheness and supple grace of his Eastern race, for so marked are the types of each race that even the spirit bears still the impress of its earthly nationality, and although centuries had passed since Ahrinziman had left the earthly body he retained all the peculiarities which distinguish the Eastern from the Western people.

a form of dazzling brightness

The spirit was strangely like an earthly mortal man, and yet so unlike in that peculiar dazzling brightness of form and feature which no words can ever paint, nor pen describe, that strange and wonderful ethereality [“the state of being celestial or ethereal”], and yet distinct tangibility, which only those who have seen a spirit of the higher spheres can truly understand.

seemed no limit to his abilities as he'd been a long-time student of the powers of mind

In his earth life he had been a deep student of the occult sciences [that is, forces beyond our ordinary experience], and since his entry into the spirit world he had expanded and increased his knowledge till to me it seemed there was no limit to his powers.

a pinnacle of power, now employed to raise up the immature

Like myself, of a warm and passionate nature, he had learned during long years of spirit life to overcome and subdue all his passions, till now he stood upon a pinnacle of power whence he stooped down ever to draw up strugglers like myself, whom his sympathy and ready understanding of our weaknesses made ready to receive his help, while one who had never himself fallen would have spoken to us in vain.

a strength of will that could not be challenged

With all his gentleness and ready sympathy, however, he had also a power of will against which, when he chose to exert it, one sought in vain to fight, and I have beheld, on more than one occasion, some of the wild passionate beings amongst whom he worked, brought to a stop in something they were about to do which would have harmed themselves or others.

heroic altruism: “ambitious for the sake of others”

caused his opponents to be paralyzed and frozen

They would be spell-bound and unable to move a limb, yet he had never touched them. It was but by his own powerful will, which was so much stronger than theirs, that for the time they were paralysed.

helped would-be attackers to see the end result of evil

Then he would argue the matter with them, kindly and frankly, and show to them in some of his wonderful ways the full consequences to themselves and others of what they were about to do, and when he had done so, would lift from them the spell of his will and leave them free to act as they desired, free to commit the meditated sin now that they knew its consequences. And seldom have I known any who, after so solemn a warning, would still persist in following their own path.

beside him I was like a child

I myself have always been considered one whose will was strong, and who could not readily give it up to any others, but beside this spirit I have felt myself a child and have bowed more than once to the force of his decisions.

And here let me say that in all things in the spirit world man is, free — free as air — to follow his own inclinations and desires if he wishes, and does not choose to take the advice offered to him. The limitations to a man's own indulgence and the extent to which he can infringe upon the rights of others, are regulated by the amount of law and order existing in the sphere to which he belongs. For example, in the lowest sphere of all, where no law prevails but the law of the strongest oppressor, you may do what you please, you may injure or oppress another to the very last limits of his endurance, and those who are stronger than you will do the same to you…

first glimmer of repentance, sated with the fullness of evil

And it goes on till at last the very excess of evil will work its own cure, the worst and most tyrannical will long for some other state of things, some laws to restrain, some power to control. And that feeling will be the first step, the first desire for a better life, which will give the brothers of Hope sent to work in those dark spheres, the little loophole through which to give the idea of improvement, and the hope that it is still possible for them…

man is always free, to do good or other

In all respects man in the spirit world is free, to work or to be idle, to do good or to do evil, to win a blessing or a curse. Such as he is, such will be his surroundings, and the sphere for which he is fitted must ever be the highest to which he can attain till his own efforts fit him to become a dweller in one higher.

Thus the good need no protection against the evil in the spirit world. Their own different states place an insurmountable barrier between them. Those above can always descend at will to visit or help those below them, but between them and the lower spirits there is a great gulf fixed which the lower ones cannot pass.

Only upon your earth and on other planets where material life exists, can there be the mixture of good and evil influences with almost equal power. I say almost equal, since even on earth the good have the greater power, unless man shuts himself out from their aid by the indulgence of his lower passions.

a hierarchy of beings, with infinite grades of power, of knowledge, of wisdom, and, everywhere, the influence of higher beings upon lower

Sherwood Eddy, “You Will Survive After Death” (1950): speaking of "Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913), the brilliant co-discoverer with Charles Darwin of the principle of evolution... At the conclusion of his long volume on The World of Life, Wallace found infinite variety as the law of the universe. Instead of evidence for a solitary, infinite and eternal Being as the one and only direct agent in every detail of the universe, Wallace believed he found not only God, but a whole hierarchy of beings with infinite grades of power, of knowledge, of wisdom, and everywhere the influence of higher beings upon lower. He found 'the universe requires the continuous co-ordinated agency of myriads of intelligences' and that 'man is destined to a permanent, progressive existence in a world of spirit'." Editor's note: Wallace was correct in his discernment that the universe is managed and directed by "a whole hierarchy of beings with infinite grades of power, of knowledge, of wisdom, and everywhere the influence of higher beings upon lower." The image of Superboy, member of the Legion of Super Heroes, in principle, is not so far-fetched after all.