{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_74135/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_74135","id":"gutenberg_74135","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74135","summary":null,"tags":["Astral projection","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Spiritualism"],"text":"MY EXPERIENCES WHILE\n  OUT OF MY BODY\n\n\n\n\n  MY EXPERIENCES WHILE\n  OUT OF MY BODY\n\n  AND\n\n  My Return After Many Days\n\n  BY\n  REV. CORA L. V. RICHMOND\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n  _Copyright, 1915_\n  BY REV. CORA L. V. RICHMOND\n\n  Christopher Press\n  Boston\n\n\n\n\nDEDICATION\n\n\nPRIMARILY TO MY HEAVENLY GUIDES:\n\nThose Teachers and Inspirers who, in early childhood, awakened and have\nunfolded the Spiritual gifts that were mine, and have borne forward to\nthe present hour the work appointed me to do; and\n\n\nTO THOSE BELOVED FRIENDS\n\nwho, having received the ministration through my humble instrumentality\nhave constantly given from hearts and hands the sympathy and aid\nneeded to perform that work--and during the feebleness of the body\nhave sent strength and succor; and _especially_ to the beloved and\nloving friends: DR. CHAS. H. BUSHNELL, whose skill, healing power and\nfaithful attendance were given without stint or measure and _most\nlovingly_, SARAH J. ASHTON, co-worker for more than a quarter of a\ncentury, Assistant Pastor of my Congregation and, above all else,\n_faithful, devoted friend_, without whose unfailing care and constant\nhelpfulness for long months my spirit could not have returned to its\nhuman habitation to take up its assigned work,\n\nThis imperfect record of experiences is most _lovingly_ and\n_gratefully_ inscribed.\n\n                                                    CORA L. V. RICHMOND.\n\n\n\n\n  MY EXPERIENCES WHILE OUT OF MY\n  BODY AND MY RETURN--AFTER\n  MANY DAYS\n\n  _by_\n\n  REV. CORA L. V. RICHMOND\n\n\nTHE RELEASE\n\nIt was true then: I was suddenly and finally released from my body;\n\u201cthis time,\u201d I said, or thought: \u201cI will not have to return.\u201d\n\nMany times, almost numberless, I had experienced the wonderful\nconsciousness of being absent from my human form, of mingling with\narisen friends in their higher state of existence, but, until this time\nI had always known that it was only for a brief season and that there\nwas a tie--a vital and psychic tie--binding me to return to my earth\nform. But _now; now_; could it be true? Was I set free to live and work\nwith the Beloved--the dear ones--in this their higher, more perfect\nstate?\n\nThe Best Beloved, those who had preceded me into this wondrous life,\ncame thronging around, by degrees, to welcome me: not all at once, but\nfirst those who were by tenderest ties the nearest and the dearest.\n\nThey did not answer my question: \u201cHave I really come to stay\u201d?\n\nThe Guide--the Guardian, took me gently in charge that I might not even\nthink of the form I had so lately left. A great sense of relief; of\nbeing set free from the limitations of the body, filled me, far greater\nthan I had ever experienced before. A feeling pervaded me that _all of\nme_ was released. It surely _seemed_ that my work in the human body was\ndone: that the last word was spoken, the last pen-stroke made.\n\nO, the wonder, the unspeakable joy of thus being united with the\nBeloved--those whom I knew had never died, but had thrown off their\ngarments of dust for the more beautiful raiment of the spirit!\n\nIn a narrative written for others to read one cannot dwell minutely on\nthe sacred meetings with those who were ever nearest and dearest; those\nof the household, related by ties of consanguinity and those who were\nkindred in spirit, united to one in thought and aspiration. All that\nsuch reunion means, more than can be dreamed or imagined where one is\nin the human state, was now my possession.\n\n\u201cTurn away, turn away from all thought of the Earth-form;\u201d said the one\nappointed to lead and guide me in this newer, grander flight.\n\nOne by one--or in groups--the dear ones of the Earth-home joined us,\nwelcoming me ever, yet ever evading the oft recurring question, \u201cAm I\nreally here to stay?\u201d\n\nMy attention was continually attracted to some group or company that\nhad not been seen by me--always a surprise to find them \u201c_all there_.\u201d\nThey would smile and seem to answer, \u201cYes, all here, in our own\nparticular states, and doing our own appointed work.\u201d\n\n\nTHE VASTNESS OF THE SPIRIT REALM\n\nThere was a perception of great _Light_, a consciousness of\nIllumination, an awakening to the _vastness_, the _unlimitation_ of\nthis Realm of Spirit.\n\nO how often, when in \u201cdreams\u201d or \u201cvisions\u201d I had been permitted and\naided by my Guides to visit the Spirit States, this inner and higher\nRealm, I had longed to remain! But ever willing to answer the call of\nduty, of added work to be performed by me, I would return to fill my\nplace at the appointed time. NOW; NOW?--\n\nAll else was swallowed up--eclipsed by the wonderful experiences that\ncame--the Beloved Presences--the vistas of luminous Spirits! This\nwas a state of _Super_-Consciousness; the awakening of faculties\nand perceptions before unknown, of _being aware_, almost without\nlimitation: of KNOWING. Whatever _is_ the nature and state of the _real\nEgo_ this seemed as near to the _Absolute_ as one could well conceive!\nThere was so _much_ of me! There was so _little_ of me! There were so\nmany and such surpassing Spirits! How one shrinks in the presence of\nthe mighty ones! How one expands in the Knowledge of the Infinite: His\nImage!\n\nOften in approaching a transcendent Light there would appear an\natmosphere of ensphering tints--there would also seem to be a sphere\nof sound, of surpassing music. On being admitted to that sphere it\nwould prove to be a group of spirits who thus in accord _are Light_\nand _Harmony_. Where one can enter such an \u201catmosphere\u201d communing with\nsuch a group it is because one has _need_ of and is in harmony with the\nspirits of that group.\n\n\nSENSES MERGED IN PERCEPTION\n\nObjective scenes seemed ever to be _adaptations_ to my state, and would\noften vanish as I became aware of the minds or spirits suggested by the\nscenes.\n\n\u201cAll human sensations, as sight and hearing, are readily perceived\nby one awakening to spiritual states to be but _manifestations of\nconsciousness through the physical limitations_ to which the spirit in\nits mental states of earth becomes accustomed. But _here_ all is merged\nin _perception_--where one _perceives_ and _understands_,\u201d thus said\nthe Guide.\n\nThis added consciousness--uniting or releasing the faculties--is not\nall at once: I found myself thinking in the accustomed channels, in\n_words_ as well as thoughts, _listening_ for replies instead of knowing\nthat the answer had been _thought_ to me, really was there before I had\nquestioned; of _looking_ for beautiful _forms_ and scenes instead of\n_perceiving_ the _Soul of Beauty_ which was (is) everywhere.\n\nI became more and more aware that the whole of me, released from the\nfetters of the bodily senses, could perceive and receive more perfectly\nthe answer to every question, even before its formulation in thought.\n\n\u201cFormulation is a process of limitation, sometimes of hindrance,\u201d said\nthe Guide. \u201cA feeble comparison of what \u2018perception\u2019 really is may be\nfound in an artist (of Earth) whose _prepared mind_ (and therefore\nvision) sees the beauty in a landscape, a sunset sky that another sees\nnot at all, or dimly. Prepared senses are the result of prepared minds,\nof being pervaded by the _awareness_ of the Spirit,\u201d said the Presence.\n\nIt is of little avail, however, to attempt to bring into outward forms\nof thought and expression the _perceptions_ one is aware of while\none is in that inner state, excepting that they relate to conditions\nunder which those loved and loving ones in that state can reach and\nchange for the better the sorrowing hearts in human life, the shadowed\nconditions of earth existence.\n\n\nTHE BODY IN CHARGE OF GUARDIANS\n\nAfter a time (I did not know it as _time_) I became aware of being led\nto where the earthly form was still breathing, being cared for and\nimbued with breath by a beloved Guardian spirit and by devoted friends\nin human life. I was to return after all! It was necessary to keep\nmy spirit _en rapport_ with the body as the _Psychic Cord_ was _not_\nsevered that connected body and spirit. But not at once was I to return.\n\nThese periods of calling my attention to and visiting the body were\nbrief--just enough to keep the \u201cvital spark\u201d alive, and aid the dear\nattendants in both worlds to prevent the complete separation which for\nmany days seemed imminent.\n\n\nA VAST CONGREGATION\n\nIt is well known to those who may be interested in reading these pages\nthat during all the years of my mortal life (since the age of eleven)\nI have been brought before audiences and assemblies of people--many\nthousands; among them were hundreds who became friends--some of them\nlife-long, some of later years. I had known of the \u201cpassing on\u201d of very\nmany who had been members of those audiences and of my own \u201cFlock,\u201d but\nI was not prepared for the _vast congregation_ that came out of their\nrespective groups composing a still greater concourse to meet me, nor\nwas I prepared to realize that I knew most of them as friends on Earth!\n\nThere were those who had heard the utterances of my Guides through my\nlips when I was a child; those who had attended and were my personal\nfriends when I was \u201cstill in my \u2019teens\u201d; and those who in later years\nhad been of the audiences in many places; and those of my own beloved\nCongregation!\n\nHow difficult to realize that they were all gathered into the larger\n\u201cCongregation of the skies.\u201d Each and all unfolding, working in\nwhatever line of knowledge and work was theirs to attain and achieve!\nAnd to find all the treasured jewels of friendship more bright in the\nadded lustre of the larger life; the flowers in the Garden of true\nAffection growing more and more transcendently fair!\n\nThis is indeed Heaven! Next in blessedness to the Homes of the Best\nBeloved which are the very _Kingdom of Heaven_!\n\n\nMINISTRATIONS OF SPIRITS\n\nIt was wonderful to note the ministrations of spirits to those in\nother less fortunate states--especially to those in Earthly forms.\nWherever the ties of consanguinity were also of real affection the\nspirit guardians of the household responded to the \u201ccall,\u201d perhaps only\na thought, a longing, or a silent prayer for aid and strength, or a\n_need_ unknown to the one ministered unto.\n\nTime is not a factor on the spirit side, the response to a need--an\naspiration, a prayer is instantaneous. Where there seems to be delay,\nand often doubt in the minds of those on Earth as to the presence and\nministration of the loved one who has been summoned, it is because of\nEarthly barriers, because those in the human state cannot perceive--and\nmany, alas, are not willing to receive the spirit friend. I saw that\nthe usual barriers are: Uncontrolled, selfish grief--mourning for the\none who has \u201cpassed on\u201d and often forgetting the other dear ones of the\nhousehold who are left; seeking for the communion to forward a purely\n_selfish_ purpose; and, in general, the obstruction of false education,\ntheological and material, through which the spiritual faculties have\nbeen closed for generations.\n\nWhen human hands and hearts, even though the latter is wrung by pain,\nseek to _help others_ who are in sorrow or need, then the way is opened\nand the _helpers_ are helped by the ministering ones.\n\nTo mourn the friend as utterly \u201cgone\u201d who has only dropped the\nouter garments of the dust is to close, for the time, the avenue of\ncommunication or ministration. Long must the spirit helpers work and\nwait for people to be ready to receive their response to the call for\naid. So many did I see who could not reach the recognition of their\nloved ones that I wished _over_ and _over_ again _that there were more\nreal_ \u201c_Message bearers_,\u201d more to give comfort to those that mourn!\nAnd then the Presence answered: \u201cNot all are ready to whom the Messages\nnow are given, nor are those protected adequately who are the chosen\nInstruments for Message bearing, but the seed is being sown and will\ntake root in thousands of lives.\u201d\n\n\nTHOUGHT-FORMS\n\nI was shown those who existed in the _thought-forms_ and scenes of\ntheir recent human states: Such as these were surrounded with the\n\u201cthings\u201d (forms of things) familiar to them on Earth, and apparently\nnecessary to their happiness even in the new state of existence. These\nscenes illustrated that our lives even in the human state, consist\nlargely of \u201c_states of mind_,\u201d that we see the things we are accustomed\nto see, or have trained our minds or wishes to see omitting many and\nsometimes _most_ of the things of beauty and of import that we _might_\nsee.\n\nThe spirit states that are \u201cexactly like the scenes of Earth\u201d are\ncomposed of the thought-forms of the spirits\u2019 imaging or reproduction,\nand _are_ the _reality_ to them. I recalled the weaving of a web that I\nhad once seen an industrious spider perfect and he was afterward caught\nin his own web. I wondered if we are not often in human life--and the\nstates that immediately follow the weavers of many such \u201ccobwebs\u201d?\nThese thought-webs seemed to proceed from the minds of the spirits\nfashioning them and in which the spirits seemed to be ensphered,\nsometimes enshadowed. Before my questionings had _taken form in my\nmind_ the answer came from the Presence: \u201cNo, they are not enmeshed\n_by_ the thought-forms; their creation is the result of the present\n_condition_; remove the power to produce thought-forms, _i.e._, to\ncreate ones own environment and you remove all activity of mind. As\nthe Spirit unfolds the thought-forms change and then disappear as\n_perception_ takes the place of limitation by the senses.\u201d\n\nWith the almost axiomatic proposition that \u201cour world of life is what\nwe make it\u201d our spirit-surroundings and conditions the result of our\nstates of unfoldment, it became less difficult even when returning\nto the limitations of human organism to understand the conditions\nof existence in the \u201cnext stage\u201d of personal experience beyond the\n\u201ctransition\u201d misnamed \u201cdeath.\u201d\n\n_Spirit states are as varied as are the personal states of those\ncomposing them; the knowledge--or lack of it--possessed by the person_\nIS _the spirit state_, i.e., _knowledge of spiritual principles_.\n\nOh, if one could coin new words, or new understandings, in order better\nto express that which one knows when set free from Earthly environment!\nYes, the _New Understanding_; that is the great need; and that must\nreally be _attained_ by _unfoldment_, growth from within, the pervading\nall illuminating power of the spirit.\n\nThose in the spirit states who were reproducing the familiar scenes\nof their recent Earth conditions were satisfied and even very\nhappy--especially when the scenes so reproduced were of a nature that\nhad brought comparative happiness in Earth life--in their ability to\nmake things seem \u201cexactly as they did in Earth life,\u201d not even knowing\nthat this similitude was the result of their own thought-forms instead\nof being _inherent_ or _organic_ in the \u201cspirit land.\u201d\n\nInteresting and absorbing as were these lessons of observing, the\nprocess of weaving their thoughts into the forms most desired or needed\nby the spirits producing them, there were many whose reproductions\nwere of the shadowed kind and were not voluntary, but results of the\ndeep impress that the shadows of Earth-experiences had made upon their\nminds. No _one_ illustration could serve--but all states and conditions\nthat I could realize were shown.\n\n\nTIME NOT A FACTOR\n\n_Time_ does not seem to be a factor in the realm of spirits except as\nrelated to people and events in the human state with which spirits have\nconnection.\n\nIt was, however, a source of continual wonder and surprise to note the\nchanging forms and _atmospheres_ in the surroundings of those with whom\nI was brought in contact. I saw spirits who, when in Earth life had\nbeen in positions of external power--usually considered \u201cexalted\u201d--as\nof kings or rulers--the result of no \u201cmerit\u201d or achievement of their\nown, but the \u201cincident\u201d or \u201caccident\u201d of birth, who were arrayed in\ntheir _own thought-robes_ of power, but closer observation would reveal\nthe poverty and meagerness of their \u201cRobes of Royalty\u201d and they were\nsometimes seeking somewhat with which to clothe themselves, something\nto _conceal_ their paucity of raiment and surroundings. Most of those,\nhowever, who had held such positions as are the result of \u201ctitles,\u201d\n\u201crank\u201d and \u201ccastes,\u201d seemed endowed with perception enough to know that\nthose external conditions are not perpetuated in spirit states, unless\none has become so imbued with the _idea_ that \u201ctitles,\u201d \u201cwealth,\u201d and\noutward \u201chonors\u201d are _valuable_ in _themselves_. And that the \u201cDivine\nRight of Kings\u201d is indeed a \u201cright\u201d derived from Heaven.\n\n\nTHE TRULY GREAT ARE HUMBLE\n\nI saw many of those who had been poor in worldly possessions, even\ndespised and scorned among men or put to death because of their\nadvocacy of an unpopular \u201ccause\u201d now radiant in their own spiritual\nbrightness, unconsciously\n\n  \u201cWearing their sunbright thoughts\n  For Robes of Royalty.\u201d\n\nAh! How beautiful were they! These of the shining faces and radiant\nhearts! Ever intent on trying to aid humanity, whether in shadowed\nspirit states or in Earthly conditions.\n\nOne may not give the names (even if one knew them) by which these\nin the various spirit states were known on Earth. I saw many who\nwere known to be Great: Great in thoughts, deeds and words for the\nenlightenment of their fellow-beings. Ever were they humble, as ever\nare the truly _Great_. None in spirit life are outwardly _adorned_ with\nthe \u201chonors\u201d given to them or their \u201cmemory\u201d by a tardy World. The\ntruly exalted are far too intent on ameliorating the adverse conditions\nof spirit and human states to take note of the praise and pomp of\nEarthly \u201ccelebrations\u201d in \u201cmemory\u201d of them, sometimes tardily bestowed.\n\nTo be truly Beloved by an individual, a country or a world is indeed\nblessed, and exalted souls do know and understand the true meaning of\nbeing \u201cappreciated and beloved.\u201d\n\nThe Light of the Shining ones, the Great ones, is not dimmed in the\nbrightness of the higher spheres, for they are of its light a part.\n\n\nSPIRIT GROUPS AND INSPIRERS\n\nIt is because of the spirit possessions that those of kindred\nthoughts, perceptions, aspirations are attracted to each other\nand form groups--not conventional or arbitrary--interchanging\nideas--purposes--and working _together_ for others. I saw them\n\u201c_moving upon_\u201d the minds of those in Earth-forms whom they could\nreach, sometimes singly, sometimes in groups, as the conditions might\nrequire. The Student in his library, the Inventor in his \u201cwork shop\u201d\nor laboratory, the \u201cDiscoverer\u201d in his Observatory searching for new\nworlds or on ships of \u201cexploration\u201d sailing for Unknown lands, more\nparticularly those who are seeking to solve the vexed \u201cproblems\u201d of\nhuman life.\n\nAh! It was indeed a scene of wonder to see each and every spirit thus\nintent on doing good to his kind, imparting some needed thought, some\n\u201cclue\u201d or \u201cthread\u201d of an intricate proposition that would solve the\nwhole! Long are these \u201cInventions\u201d and \u201cdiscoveries\u201d known in Spirit\nstates before the one is \u201cborn\u201d into human life that can give them\noutward Expression. How luminous seemed the Atmospheres of Spirit thus\nsurrounding those in Earth life when the Heavenly presences were near!\nAnd such lives are always luminous in their own brightness or the\nHigher ones could not \u201cdraw near\u201d and inspire them.\n\nThe people know the names of some of those now on Earth whose\n\u201cdiscoveries,\u201d \u201cinventions,\u201d and works have transformed the world!\nThose arisen ones who aid in bearing forward the Works Beautiful,\ndirect their thoughts to such as are ready in Earth life. Here are the\n\u201cThinkers,\u201d whose knowledge of the Truths of the Universe constitutes\nthe source of all power, Ideas that born of those Truths reach the\nminds prepared to receive them and _move the world_. We saw and paused\namong assemblies, groups pursuing their usual course of conferring,\ninterchanging of ideals and preparing to impart more and more the\nknowledge that is theirs--as minds are prepared to receive.\n\n_Knowledge is imparted by adaptation._\n\nAll such _imparting_ of _knowledge must be by adaptation_. The Spirit\nis attracted--would be from the very nature of the Spirit--to the\none best prepared to receive _from that Spirit_. Thus the subtle law\nof imparting knowledge by adaptation governs the realm of spirit and\nconstitutes the basis of deciding concerning \u201cGuides,\u201d \u201cGuardian\nSpirits,\u201d and all \u201cministering ones.\u201d _Affection_ determines the\nintimate personal guardians.\n\n\nFROM SPIRIT TO SPIRIT\n\nIt was most interesting and enlightening to see--as I was permitted\nto witness--a number of those who are in human states receiving from\nluminous and illuminating spirits some new application of science or\nart, some new presentation of Truth! The minds of Earth so impressed\nare not narrowly questioning \u201cfrom whence do the ideas come\u201d? Fearful,\nif from another _mind_ that those receiving them may \u201close their\nIndividuality.\u201d Such minds know that Truths belong to _minds_--and that\n_somewhere_ are greater minds than one\u2019s own--who can impart knowledge.\n_Truth is the common heritage of souls_; of Intelligence; and happy is\nthe mind, spirit or Angel that can perceive or receive it _from any\nsource_. Intelligence alone perceives and imparts Intelligence.\n\nThe process of imparting knowledge from spirit to spirit (whether those\nimparting and receiving are in spirit states or still in Earth-forms),\ngrows ever more and more interesting as one passes into greater\nawakening and perception of the _realities_, the _verities_ of spirit.\n\u201cTeaching,\u201d \u201cEducation\u201d (in the human sense) only exists in those\nstates or conditions in the spirit realm where the human methods and\nforms of thought still govern the minds of the spirits.\n\nLove is the great Illuminator in all realms and worlds, and thus\n_adaptation_ of Teacher and the one to be taught _must_ be the keynote\nto all reception of knowledge.\n\nOne would like to say so much while comparing the \u201cEducational\u201d process\nof spirit states with the methods of Earth (excellent as some of the\nlatter have become); but one must hasten to record added experiences\nwhile they are near to the outward consciousness from within. For when\none enters again into the daily life of Earth, even although it is ever\npervaded by those surpassing scenes, the vividness of the higher state\nbecomes dimmed by the necessary veiling that human conditions bring.\n\n\nTHERE IS AN ANSWER FOR EVERY QUESTION\n\nEverything that I _wished to know_ found ready answer; even before the\nwish was formed into _thought_. I could realize that the answer came\nfrom the Guide, who was my teacher by adaptation. I could realize\nthat for every _real_ aspiration there is ever an answer; in fact that\nthe answer from within and above prompts the aspiration, the wish to\nknow. That there is a solution for every so-called \u201cproblem\u201d; for,\nin the final analysis, there _are_ no \u201cproblems\u201d--except _states_ of\n_non-perception_.\n\nAll this and a thousand times more of inward awakening came to me as I\ngrew in the perception of the Knowledge of the Spirit.\n\n\n\u201cTHOSE WHO LOVE THEIR FELLOW-BEINGS\u201d\n\nI saw a countless multitude growing brighter, more resplendent,\nas I was led nearer. Among them were those more radiant than the\nothers--greater, it seemed, in the scope and power of their spirits.\n\nI recognized--not always from personal knowledge on Earth--some of\nthe individuals who were there, centers of groups of radiant ones,\nthose who, when in Earth life \u201cloved their fellow men\u201d; and who, by\nword and deed had sought to overcome the errors and abuses heaped upon\nhumanity. Their battles with tongue and pen (no armaments or weapons\nof war), their shining armors of Righteousness--were finally known and\nappreciated by many minds (souls) on Earth.\n\nOne whom I had known from early childhood came toward me with the\ngroup of his friends and relatives, whom I had also known. He greeted\nme as he was ever wont to do when we both were in Earth-forms. Though\nadvanced in years before he left the form, he was ever youthful,\never calm and peaceful; yet firm and forceful in his advocacy of his\nconvictions of Human Brotherhood, and the final triumph of the spirit\nover errors of human conditions in Time and Sense. By those who knew\nhis life and works he was considered a \u201cleading and inspiring mind\u201d; to\nmany he was a Prophet of the \u201cGood time Coming.\u201d How my spirit thrilled\nwith this meeting with him and his household and the group of friends\nwho were with him. One question I had often asked in mind, or had\nwished to know concerning it:\n\nHad he--this friend with whom I was then conversing, met in spirit\nstates the one who in a distant land of Earth had said: \u201c---- ---- is\nthe greatest man America ever possessed\u201d?\n\nThe one who said this to a prominent writer was also a \u201clover of his\nfellow men,\u201d but the two had never met in Earth life. The question\nwas not asked; before it could be formulated the answer came: \u201cYes,\nwe have met and often confer together. In all _essentials_ relating\nto the _Supreme Realities_ of life and the growth of human beings\ntoward perfection through knowledge of Divine Truth and Love we are in\nperfect accord.\u201d I then perceived from among that goodly company the\none approaching of whom we had been speaking; our thought of him and\nour appreciation had attracted him to us. Long and earnestly they spoke\nof the things _to be_ when the children of Earth shall be set free from\nthe shadows caused by ignorance. I more and more perceived some of\nthe personalities of those illuminated ones, and more than once was I\nsurprised that those who had been of such widely different conditions,\nenvironment, education, habits of mind, and, one would think, opposite\nspiritual states could be together!\n\nThe Presence aware that the surprise would exist, said:\n\n\u201cAs you already know, differences of birth, nationality, outward rank\nand even of education, are not _real_ differences in spirit. These\nare (and were) all lovers of their kind--lovers of Peace through\nEnlightenment and Righteousness, and they are now, as they were when on\nEarth constantly seeking through interchange of high Ideals, to find\nthe best means for helping others--to lift the clouds of ignorance from\nthe minds of earth; even now one is within your vision whose presence\nhere will surprise you.\u201d I saw a stately form and recognized the one\nwho, as the head of a great Ecclesiastical organization had in the\n\u201cPrayer for Peace\u201d issued a short time before he had passed from his\nEarth-form given the following significant sentence:\n\n  \u201cMAY THEY (THE NATIONS) REMOVE THE CAUSES OF WAR.\u201d\n\nAs a lover of humanity, a promoter of Peace, he seemed to stand near\nthese shining ones, many of whom when on earth (and now) have never\nrecognized _any_ Ecclesiastical Authority. Of course, I knew that all\nsuch lines, barriers, and human standards are removed--or rapidly\nvanish--in spirit states among Enlightened minds. And that they\nrealize, as this one must have realized, that the Earthly \u201cOffice\u201d and\nall its outward symbols and adornments cannot continue in a realm where\nthe _real_ nature stands revealed--the nature of the spirit.\n\nAll these composing this radiant assemblage were intent on reaching\nand for their good, acting upon the minds of those on Earth for the\n\u201cPromotion of Peace on Earth and Love to All.\u201d\n\nAlas and alas! \u201cThose engaged in actual war--the war raging between\none-half the nations of the Earth that call themselves \u2018enlightened\u2019\ncannot be reached until the leaders and rulers have learned the lesson\ntaught by bitter experience.\u201d So the Presence said, and so I had\nperceived, saddened by the thoughts of the awful human suffering that\nmust ensue.\n\n\nTHE SHADOWS OF THE CONFLICT\n\nThen I was shown the dense Shadow--the awful darkness that seemed an\nengulfing abyss: the scenes of the conflict now raging on Earth. That\nwhich I saw (then just begun), seemed, however, more to represent the\nspiritual and mental states of Rulers and Leaders than the physical\nscenes of battles. I saw the bright spots where the ministrants of\nmercy were rallying, regardless of nationality or \u201cclass,\u201d to aid those\nphysically wounded, to breathe a word of comfort to those injured\nmortally who were \u201cpassing on.\u201d\n\nAbove the terrible scenes of battles I saw those in the \u201crank and file\u201d\nof the armies and navies who were so suddenly wrenched from their\nbodies. Their first thoughts (as their last thoughts had been), were of\nthose loved ones from whom they were suddenly parted when ordered \u201cto\nthe front.\u201d They were aided to find the dear ones (alas where were the\n\u201chomes\u201d? now desolate. Many of the families scattered and in deepest\nsuffering, great physical want, and greater grief.)\n\nThey tried, often without avail, to comfort and aid the dear ones,\ntheir own states of mind and grief over the separation preventing them\nfrom effectively ministering to their loved ones. They soon became\naware that the aid could not be material, that spiritual strength and\nconsolation must be from spiritual sources and that they might, if\nthemselves strong in spirit, move upon the minds of others in human\nlife to aid those dear to them.\n\nIt was a wonderful sight to behold the ministering spirits succoring,\ncomforting, instructing those thus suddenly thrust into spirit states;\nnone but those endowed with the Divine Gift of loving compassion--like\na Florence Nightingale or a Clara Barton--could so successfully aid\nthose spirits thus ruthlessly torn from their human ties and forms. It\nis an awful sight! Yet the spirit \u201cRescuers\u201d are there! The \u201cRed Cross\u201d\nof the skies finds its way to those who need the help and guidance.\n\nIn a measure the Soldiers, all who must go to war on land or sea, are\nbetter prepared for the sudden change than those hurled into spirit\nlife by \u201caccident\u201d of shipwreck or other disaster, or by volcanic or\nearthquake shock. The Soldier _knows_ that he is to confront possible\nand even probable physical death--and being thus prepared often is less\nsurprised and shocked when he finds himself \u201cout of his body.\u201d Yet,\nwherever the need may be, the \u201cstrong helpers\u201d are there: above every\nscene of human sacrifice, whether Cataclysmic, \u201cnatural causes\u201d or the\nresult of human ignorance and neglect, or the self-seeking aggression\nof war, there are they--the dear ones, the strong ones, the saving ones!\n\nAll cannot be aided to at once perceive the new-found condition:\neverything must depend on the degree of spiritual preparedness, which\nis often greater among the humble and lowly--who have a line of simple\nlife, simple love, simple duty to follow than among the more complex\nmental and moral states of the \u201cleaders.\u201d The real state, spiritually,\ndetermines the \u201ccondition\u201d of the spirit in spirit life.\n\nNor were the \u201cclouded\u201d and \u201cshadowed\u201d scenes of Earth life found alone\nabove the lines of battle. There were sometimes deeper shadows among\nthe scenes of \u201cpleasure\u201d and \u201cmirth,\u201d mocking splendor of wealth and\nits opposite of want, squalor, misery, the _toll of human sacrifice\nis not always in the \u201cdeath\u201d of the body_. There are vortices more\nterrible than the volcano\u2019s fiery breath or earthquake\u2019s yawning mouth;\nthe palace often seemed more densely shadowed than the hovel; while the\ndwelling, though a cottage, brightened with Love shone out like a star\nof splendor.\n\n\u201cSpiritual knowledge, the unfoldment of the highest from within, this\nalone can change the \u2018shadowed states\u2019 of Earth into brightness. Every\nlife must be reached; every mind touched and awakened by the spirit;\nthe \u2018good\u2019 that is within each must be brought forth.\u201d\n\n\nTURNING FOR RESPITE\n\nFrom the storm-scenes of contending forces, from the darkness of\nSpiritual night, from the uncertain states, like dim twilight, one\never turns in spirit to the Beloved, to the groups of loved and\nloving ones that constitute the \u201cHome of the Spirit.\u201d \u201cSpiritual rest\nis change,\u201d respite from witnessing the unhappy conditions, the\nshadows of spiritual states that one cannot at once remedy. \u201cRest\u201d is\nnot idleness: communion, companionship, _working together for those\nwho can be aided_--this is rest. The \u201cHome Group\u201d ever intent upon\nministering wherever and whenever needed, afforded the respite sought.\nSuch memories of Earth-experiences as had been kept alive in the sacred\naltar-flame of true affection and home ties; such interchange of Ideals\nand experiences as the later years had brought; such knowledge of the\nblending of the spirit and the mortal states, the guardianship and\nministration of the loved arisen ones over those in Earth-forms, this\nwas rest. Blessed respite; blessed communion; one would never be ready,\nit would seem, to part with such companionship.\n\nNor _do_ we ever \u201cpart\u201d with the truly loved. Whatever duties we must\nperform for those in spirit or human states, _those most in accord,\nthose nearest and dearest are ever with us_ \u201cwhether in or out of the\nbody.\u201d\n\nOur human phrases, and even our usual thoughts seem superficial, weak\nand puerile when endeavoring to describe the divine _realities_ of the\nSpirit. We never \u201cpart\u201d; we can never be \u201cabsent\u201d from the Beloved. Yet\nthe shadows of human existence: \u201ctime and sense,\u201d and outward \u201cchange\u201d\nand \u201ccircumstances\u201d are upon those who make \u201cthe house of clay\u201d the\nlimit of their mental and spiritual possessions.\n\n\nREUNION WITH LOVERS OF \u201cPEACE\u201d\n\nReturning again and often to the bright sphere composed of \u201cthose\nwho love their fellow-beings\u201d; from among them came those whom I\nhad known--with whom I had, as a humble worker labored for some\ncause--_this time_ a few, especially two or three last seen in Earth\nlife at the Hague Peace Conference (1907). \u201cAh, how well we then\nknew--as well as even now when the conflict rages--that the nations\n(44 in number) were not all, indeed but few of them, seeking for\n\u2018peace\u2019; the permanent establishment of a Court of Arbitration for the\nworld! Each was there to \u2018test\u2019 the others; nearly all endeavoring\nto gain some concession from the others to aid in their own selfish\nfuture aggressions\u201d! Such was the thought flashed from my friend of\nthe brilliant mind and noble heart who came with others to greet me.\nAnd the dear lady who took me in her arms and kissed me when we parted\nthere at the Hague even as she did now, said: \u201cWe meet again, and here\nthere is sweet Peace--but O, the horrors of the war! And _you, you will\nreturn to Earth for further work_.\u201d She gave me her blessing with such\nlove as her grand soul can give.\n\nThe other one, he of the brilliant mind and facile pen, he of the\nawakened and illumined spirit, said: \u201cYes, you will return to Earth\nfor added work (even after those many, many years of work already\nperformed), we will aid you, we all _must_ aid those who are working\nto enlighten the minds, to awaken the spirits of those immured in the\nmaterialism of Earth. How dense we all are until awakened! Sorrow\nsmites us, then the fountains of the Soul come forth; our spiritual\nGuardians can help us then, and we begin to know. That was my case on\nEarth. Now I realize how little I _did_ know, but I am grateful that I\nwas not an entire stranger to this realm of spirits, and there is all\neternity in which to grow in knowledge.\u201d\n\n\nMESSAGES FROM FRIENDS\n\nFrom those whom I met in their homes of peace and love and work were\nmany messages to be delivered _in person_ by me to the dear ones on\nEarth--messages that might be of interest here to show that true\naffection and personal watchfulness are more manifested from the\nspirit side of life than people know; even those accustomed to spirit\ncommunion and ministration do not realize all that they might of this\nnearness.\n\nThese messages are too intimate and sacred, however, to be given here,\nand they breathe all the fervor of the _real life and love of the\nSpirit_. I shall communicate them to those to whom they were sent.\n\n\nTHE SPIRIT-HOME OF THE CHILDREN\n\nBut O, the Children! the Children! What can one write or say? What\nwords adapted to tongue or pen can convey an adequate idea of the\nspheres in which my spirit has often met those darlings of both worlds?\nMy own baby girl, who passed on many, many years ago and who has grown\nto womanhood in her spirit state, has ever been my constant companion,\nas a guardian spirit, during my busy hours of Earth life, as a _pilot_\nand gentle helper when through sleep or trance-control my spirit was\nset free to join her and visit the realm of the children.\n\nThese \u201clittle ones\u201d are often wiser in knowledge of the spirit than\nmortals of more mature years.\n\nBlessings ever attend the presence of a babe in the home of love on\nEarth and, in the highest sense, doubly blessed are those who having\npossessed such a treasure know that if the babe passes from mortal\nsight the _treasure is still theirs_, a babe--growing among the flowers\nof the gardens of spiritual life is as\n\n  \u201cA light within a light,\n  A joy ensphered in joy.\u201d\n\nSuch a child becomes a sacred guardian unto the household.\n\nIt was indeed an enchanted realm into which we now entered. Although\nvisited many times during many years it now seemed more real, more\nbeautiful, more perfect.\n\nAs far as vision (perception) could reach--as vast as the mind could\ncompass or conceive there were children, children everywhere! Sporting\nin the light of their own brightness and joy; they were embodied\nsunbeams, weaving rainbow tinted thoughts into forms of beauty;\nflowers, flowers everywhere; songs of birds and child voices mingling\nwith murmuring waters amid scenes of rarest beauty. Ah, the spirit\nrealm of childhood; the playgrounds of the skies!\n\nNot only children, but \u201cthose of larger growth,\u201d parents, teachers,\nfriends were there to teach, to aid, _and to grow_ in greater knowledge\nand usefulness. Sometimes the children are the teachers to those older\nin Earth years.\n\nIsles of light, radiant with flowers and verdure and surrounded by\niridescent waters! Could one ever picture the thought-forms of these\nlovely ones?\n\n\u201cLet us make rainbows,\u201d exclaimed one fairylike child among a group\nof playmates, some of whom were new in that realm. A questioning look\ncame into the eyes of those addressed: \u201cHow can we _make_ rainbows?\u201d A\nchild-teacher drew near and said: \u201cI will show you; come with me.\u201d\n\nThe five or six eagerly responded.\n\n\u201cTake hold of hands,\u201d the Teacher said, \u201cand have no fear, there can be\nno rainbows without clouds and light.\u201d\n\nI was permitted to follow, with sight or ken, as the Teacher led them\naway, away from those enchanting scenes to where the clouds and shadows\nhung dark beneath and around them.\n\nThey had drawn near a large city of Earth.\n\n\u201cO let\u2019s not go here,\u201d said one, \u201cit seems so dark.\u201d But the others\nurged her on.\n\nSoon one little boy among them said, \u201cSee, there is a little girl. She\nis cold and is crying on the street; she is hungry too, let us help\nher.\u201d They drew near, and the child, feeling comforted (she knew not\nwhy), sobbed more softly and prayed:\n\n\u201cO, my mamma in heaven, _can you hear_ me and send help to brother and\nbaby--you loved us so?\u201d Then the spirit children saw a man approaching;\nthey fairly _pushed him toward the weeping child_ to whom he spoke\nkindly asking:\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter my little girl?\u201d\n\n\u201cO, sir, my mother is dead, and my brother is sick and the baby has\nnothing to eat. We\u2019re so cold in that room.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan you take me there?\u201d asked the man, and he held out his hand for\nher to lead him. She clasped two of his fingers with her tiny hand and\nled him through the dark streets to a narrow alley and up some dark,\ncreaking stairs. Yes, there was little brother crying for \u201cmamma,\u201d for\n\u201csister,\u201d and the baby asleep but sobbing.\n\nThe kind-hearted man saw everything at a glance.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t cry, my little man. I\u2019ll be back in a few minutes. Take care of\nthem, little lady, until I come.\u201d\n\nThe spirit children had helped, and helped; they saw the spirit mother\nlooking very sad, bending above the baby, and then above \u201clittle\nbrother.\u201d They also tried to comfort him and help the little girl.\nThey saw the man go to a telephone and talk with some one and they\ncould see and feel the light of kindness with which he spoke and in\nwhich the answers came. How quick he was! He found a place to buy food.\nHe came back soon, built a fire, warmed some milk, gave the other\nchildren something to ease the worst pangs of hunger. Presently a woman\ncame--such a kind heart! She too worked fast. She gave the baby some\nfood prepared in the milk, helped the little sick boy, who was more in\nneed of bodily comfort than anything else, soothed and fed the little\ngirl who, little mother that she was, at once aided in caring for the\nbaby.\n\nHow the spirit children worked too! They had made the man see and hear\nthe little girl, had aided in guiding her to the dismal room called\n\u201chome\u201d, had helped him find the telephone and the place to buy the\nfood, had helped the woman to find the place, had helped take care of\nthe children and comfort them and the spirit mother.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the Teacher, \u201cwe will return to our beautiful home.\u201d\n\nOne little boy whispered to the Teacher: \u201cI know there are more\nchildren and people who need help down there. Can we go again and help?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhenever you choose to make rainbows or flowers or other beautiful\nthings we will go.\u201d And they rejoiced.\n\nLo! As they passed through the encompassing clouds circles of\nrainbows o\u2019er-spanned them and paths of rainbows guided them to their\nspirit-home. When the other children saw them approaching they sang,\n\u201cO, the rainbows! O, the rainbows! When you dry the tears of sorrow and\nhelp those in need you make rainbows.\u201d\n\nAll spirit children are taught to visit the scenes of Earth life. The\nhome and its loved ones, where they are missed, ever attracts them and\nthey are taught to minister, to aid, to guard. If they _had_ no home on\nEarth they try to aid those who still remain in the \u201corphan\u201d realm of\nhuman life.\n\n\nTHERE ARE NO ORPHANS IN THE SPIRIT REALM:\n\nMothers whose babes are in the Earth life help to care for those\n\u201clittle waifs\u201d thrust out of human existence--and for spirit children\nthat pine for Mother love.\n\nChildren whose parents are in Earth life are taught to aid and comfort\nthose in the home as well as those who have no home. Especially\ncared for are the little \u201cwaifs\u201d who were not welcome in the\nEarth-forms--even those who have not seen the light of earthly day--not\nalways from among the poor of earth were they driven, especially those\nabandoned by the unfortunate or misguided mothers. These and all are\n\u201cmothered\u201d by the spirits whose hearts are filled with mother love.\nAnd here it is well to note that not _all_ who are earthly parents are\n_real_ fathers and mothers, and many who are childless--work night and\nday in the \u201casylums\u201d on earth to save some neglected, forsaken, child.\nThese are real parents.\n\nWhat greater \u201cpunishment\u201d could there be than when the human mother\nhas turned away from the sacred gift of motherhood, she meets, on\nentering spirit life, her own neglected babe who welcomes her there?\n\u201cCoals of fire!\u201d\n\nIt is not always to visit scenes of sorrow and want that the spirit\nchildren are led to the earth: Houses, schools, playgrounds,\n\u201c_Lyceums_,\u201d where the little ones of earth are taught, places of\nentertainment and amusement where they play, and sing, and grow; there\nalso are the playmates of the spirit-home mingling with them and\nendeavoring to impress them with thoughts and deeds of loving kindness\nwith things of beauty.\n\nReturning to the Realm of Spirit Children one finds such respite from\ncare, such constant sources of happiness, such fashioning of forms of\nbeauty. Oh, that all could know! Knowledge of all this has reached but\nfew on Earth; yet more and more will human minds be pervaded by the\nmethods of the Skies.\n\nThose who have given new methods of \u201cEducation\u201d to the people of Earth\nhave been inspired somewhat by these Teachers in spirit states.\nFroebel, whose \u201cKindergarden\u201d system was intended for \u201cchildren\u201d of all\nages; A. J. Davis, whose \u201cProgressive Lyceum\u201d system was not intended\n_exclusively_ for Sunday training of _children_ but in its inception\nwas a reproduction of the \u201cteaching\u201d in spirit states (as far as his\nmind and inspiration could reproduce such beautiful methods.) Even if\none could give in human language the form of teaching (or methods) of\nthe spirit states, the law of _adaptation_ prevailing in the higher\nrealms might not always be available in human life.\n\nHow beautiful to know that growth--and the best opportunity for the\nhighest unfoldment with most loving teachers and Guardians surround the\ndarlings who have passed from the households of Earth.\n\nHere then, O human parents, O sisters and brothers, you who miss the\nbodily presence of the one who occupied the \u201cvacant chair,\u201d you who\nfeel the _pervading sense of the absence_ of the loved children: here\nthey are; bringing to your very homes and hearts, could you but realize\nit, the love, the knowledge, the wisdom, the beauty of the skies.\n\n\nBEAUTY AND HARMONY\n\nEver from childhood through all the years of Earth life beautiful\nscenery, tints of earth and sky, music, in fact all beautiful sights\nand sounds, strongly appealed to me. In the spirit states I noted\nthat harmonious colors, beautiful scenes, and often exquisite music\ngreeted me as we approached groups of radiant atmospheres, encircling\nspheres of light; such exquisite sounds of harmony as one dreams must\nbe the \u201cMusic of the Spheres.\u201d On approaching nearer I would perceive\nthat the _tints_ and _sounds_, as they reached me, were the radiations\nof thought, the spirit _activities_ of these thus ensphered who have\nattained real harmony. They were not MAKING beautiful colors and music,\nbut LIVING them.\n\n\nTHE \u201cARTISTS\u201d\n\nPerhaps I have elsewhere written that music in spirit states does not\nalways accompany the one who was a \u201cmusician\u201d on Earth; and harmony\nof color, beautiful surroundings may ensphere one who never thought\nof being an \u201cartist.\u201d Their lives have been interwoven with sweet and\nloving thoughts and deeds.\n\nThat which would have been a source of surprise had I not previously\nknown it was that \u201cartists,\u201d \u201cpainters,\u201d \u201csculptors,\u201d \u201cmusicians,\u201d\nand even some of the \u201cpoets,\u201d known by those names on Earth, are not\nfashioning landscapes, portraits, or carving from stone the images of\nlovely forms, nor are they fashioning or weaving into music or verse\nsome classical or other theme: All of those who were \u201cgeniuses,\u201d all\nwho were Idealists, _true lovers of their kind_, find here (in spirit\nlife) their highest happiness in _ministering to others_, in moving\nupon the minds, hearts, spirits of those to whom they are adapted,\nuntil they perceive the _Soul of Beauty_ and fashion it into their\nlives. The \u201cMasters\u201d of art: painters, sculptors, builders, construct\ntheir temples and adorn them with _lives_--the true images of beauty in\nthought, feeling, aspiration, achievement.\n\nMusic is _perfect Harmony_, of one life with itself and others, of many\nlives in all their highest purposes. Such are the creators of the\n\u201cSymphonies of the Skies.\u201d\n\nThose who had \u201cTalent,\u201d hoping to achieve the works of \u201cGenius\u201d--\nsometime, somewhere, are still intent on fashioning reproductions or\nimitations of natural objects and scenes, or impressing art students of\nEarth to produce such effects. But these are not the creators--\u201cevery\n\u2018creation\u2019 is from within and must _live_,\u201d said my Teacher.\n\nOne wishes for a magic pen, or for a perfect Gift of Expression, to\nconvey in language the subtle consciousness of the Beauty and Harmony\nthat meet one as one is led to the \u201c_Atmospheres_\u201d of some of the\n\n\n\u201cCREATORS OF BEAUTY.\u201d\n\nMore wonderful than all else was the knowledge that many who had never\npainted, carved, builded, or traced the \u201cscore\u201d of musical composition\nwere surrounded and pervaded by such ineffable loveliness that one\ncould _weep for very joy_ on perceiving it.\n\n\u201cArt is Great, but the perception of the Soul of Beauty is _Life!\nLove!_\u201d said the Guide.\n\nOne perceives in such states as were there revealed that the true\n\u201cartist\u201d has not always been known among his fellow human beings,\nmoving upon the world of thought, influencing other lives by the beauty\nand harmony of their own natures, these seem, when viewed from the\nspirit, to constitute the real artists.\n\n\u201cIs not the Temple of the Soul a Living Temple, is not the art of\nmolding the mind to perform the mandates of the spirit more to be\nsought for and greater when attained?\u201d \u201cEternal in the Heavens\u201d are the\nTemples \u201cnot made with hands,\u201d so said the Guide and so I perceived\nmore and more clearly.\n\nIn marked contrast to the foregoing were the thought-forms surrounding\nsome of those who had been \u201cartists\u201d on Earth: broken lines,\ninharmonious colors, discords, sharp and jagged corners--all portraying\ndisturbed conditions of the unruly thoughts and impulses that had\npossessed them in Earth life.\n\nI had interesting glimpses of those who were \u201c_working with\nthemselves_.\u201d One who was considered \u201ceminent\u201d in art on Earth was\ncutting, carving, breathing upon an _image of himself_.\n\n\u201cWhat _is_ he doing?\u201d I exclaimed, now really surprised.\n\n\u201cRemoving the angularities and errors of his own nature: jealousy of\nother artists, the deepest scar; selfish love of human praise--that\noverweening desire for adulation; unwillingness to accord to others\nappreciation of their true merits,\u201d replied the Guide.\n\nLater, I saw that artist self-renovated, and one whom he had envied\nderided and scorned, when both were in Earth life, _working together_,\nproducing, through artist minds on earth, works that possess the merits\nof both with the added _tone_ of harmony; the strength of one being\nmerged in perfect accord with the grace and loveliness of the other,\nblending in wondrous works of Beauty.\n\nThis was a wonderful lesson, serving to illustrate that at first,\nand possibly for some time after entering spirit life one\u2019s chief\noccupation is--or should be--removing one\u2019s own limitations; but this\ncannot _begin_ until one is aware that one _has_ the imperfections; to\nbe conscious of one\u2019s faults is half the remedy.\n\nBodily imperfections, infirmities and disease, unless retained\npsychologically by having constantly encroached upon the mind, or\ndeformities that are dwelt upon mentally, are dropped with the body;\nbut such _infirmities of mind_ as are born of an undue \u201cegotism,\u201d undue\n_self love_, (the capital \u201cI\u201d around which the universe revolves),\nmust be removed before the spirit can enter upon _real work_. As\nwith artists so with those eminent in science or any department of\nhuman thought and endeavor; the truly Great are ever the most humble;\nrealizing that however much they know, and however clearly they can\n_think_ \u201cthe universe is full of things we do not know\u201d; as one of the\ngreat ones aptly said.\n\nI had met one--a brilliant mind--who in Earth life was gifted in many\nways, chiefly mathematics. He had breakfasted on billions, dined on\nduodecillions, supped on sepdecillions, he wrote to the rythm of\n\u201clogarithms,\u201d and worshiped at the shrine of the calculus! I tried\nto imagine what he might be doing. Perhaps he was measuring the\nimmeasurable or calculating the uncalculable! I saw him! Where was his\nObservatory? Where his maps, charts, instruments? The answer swept over\nand through me with a great thrill.\n\nThe knowledge that comes to the spirit is instantaneous--if one is\nready--how can one use even the most perfect instrumentalities and\nmethods when time and space are eliminated? _Truth is perceived_: in\nhomely phrase \u201cNo ladder for the air men,\u201d \u201cno mathematics for the\nsoul!\u201d I never could have imagined how quickly he would \u201cperceive.\u201d He\nhad attained the real knowledge of wisdom and love.\n\nThe poet-prophets of the world, those who have sung in immortal verse\nthe Truths of the Skies: Truths of Freedom, Justice, Love, Spiritual\nExaltation, moved by the _theme_ of their songs, using their art as a\nsetting to the Jewel of Truth, these endowed ones knew that without\nthe inspiring _theme_, the words, the rythm would be empty bubbles,\nglittering nothings.\n\n\nALL ARE TEACHERS\n\nAll exalted lives (spiritually) moving and living in similar planes of\nthought--born of their spiritual states--are attracted to each other\nin spirit life for the interchange of perceptions of Truth and bearing\nforward the work of illuminating such minds on Earth _as are ready_ to\nreceive along the lines of human progress and unfoldment, imparting\n\u201cthe things they are ready to know.\u201d\n\nSpirits, the wise ones, do not make the mistake, as many do in human\nlife, of trying to _force_ upon the minds of those whom they teach the\ntruths or knowledge for which those minds are not prepared: \u201cArithmetic\nfirst, after that geometry and higher mathematics,\u201d is the rule in\nEarth schools. So in the instruction by spirit Teachers there is\n_adaptation_ to the pupil not only of the Teacher but of that which\nis to be taught. There are \u201cministering spirits\u201d adapted to every\ncondition.\n\nI could but marvel at the wonderful workings of these principles that\ngovern the influence of \u201cmind upon mind\u201d--really _spirit upon spirit_;\nso much more complex yet more potent than the \u201cforces\u201d and operation\nof the \u201claws\u201d of the material universe--\u201claws\u201d so little understood,\n\u201cforces\u201d so dimly perceived.\n\n\u201cMost of the people on the Earth-plane know so little even concerning\nthe things and forces most intimately connected with their bodily\nexistence: the sunshine, the air they breathe, the earth beneath them,\nthe sea, and the heavens of _Stars_; we must not wonder over-much that\nthey know little or nothing of this inner, though more real, realm of\nSpirit.\u201d\n\nThis was from the Guide. Anticipating the question that was welling up\nfrom the mind: \u201cWhy do not those on Earth know more of these spirit\nstates, more of their own conditions spiritually?\u201d The answer had\nalready been given, and as we passed on the Teacher said:\n\n\u201cGrowth, unfoldment, waiting, working.\u201d\n\n\nCO-WORKERS\n\nAmong the groups and assemblages whom I met and with whom I was most\nfrequently in communication during this surpassing sojourn were the\narisen co-workers in the \u201c_Movement_\u201d with which my life-work has been\nmost identified:\n\n\n\u201cSPIRITUALISM\u201d\n\nIn the work of a life-time as a chosen \u201cinstrument\u201d to bear \u201cglad\ntidings,\u201d to promote the knowledge of spirit existence here and beyond\nthe change called death, and the ministration from and communion with\nthe arisen ones, I had met in outward existence every leading mind and\nevery worker (medium) known in the Spiritualistic movement.\n\nWe were always friends, always co-workers, sisters and brothers bearing\nforward a great Truth. Very frequently during this wonderful visit in\nthe realm of spirit I saw them--either alone or in smaller or larger\ngroups, renewing the companionship that had been so beautiful and\ndelightful when we had worked side by side in human forms.\n\nIn your memory, dear reader, or in your reading scan the list of names\nwho were first known as \u201cInvestigators\u201d then as \u201cSpiritualists,\u201d and\nthe names of those known as MEDIUMS (there were no \u201cPsychics\u201d in those\ndays.) I knew and loved them all. I met them all. Each one in spirit\nlife is still engaged in imparting this knowledge--most important\nof all that human beings can receive--concerning Spiritual Truth.\nExistence, life, love, work beyond the change called death;\n\n\nSPIRITUALISM AS A MOVEMENT,\n\nI had ever been instructed by my Guides, was given to the world when\n_needed_, and when there were those upon the Earth who were ready, when\nthe \u201cages were ripe\u201d for its coming.\n\nIn spirit states of Earth and in the realms far beyond were those who\nknew the \u201cday and hour\u201d had come for \u201cmoving upon the minds of Earth\nwith this new illumination.\u201d\n\nThere was from the \u201csmallest\u201d to the \u201cgreatest,\u201d from the seemingly\n\u201cleast\u201d to the \u201cmost important\u201d of the manifestations a concerted\naction. The \u201crappings\u201d at Hydesville were no \u201caccident,\u201d the visions of\nClairvoyant and seer, the writings and trance utterances (phenomenal)\nwere all a part of this _Stupendous Movement_. All, all, under guidance\nof those wise Spirits who knew what the people of the world needed and\ngave it to them according to their needs.\n\nNecessarily many extremists and \u201cimitators\u201d would be attracted to the\nsubject--like driftwood following or borne upon every new current of\nthought--but it is safe to say that Spiritualism during the sixty-seven\nyears since the \u201cRochester Knockings\u201d has attracted the attention\nof more eminent minds in every department of human research (and\nconvinced them too) and given knowledge and consolation to a greater\nnumber of people than any movement or system of knowledge in ancient\nor modern times. With those who are willing and anxious to be classed\nas Spiritualists it is _knowledge_ of life beyond death--and of the\npresence and ministration of the beloved arisen ones.\n\nSo spoke my Guide to me and to the group of co-workers who had come\nforward to meet and greet me. How young and beautiful they were. Always\nI had noted in earth life how beautiful the dear ones are when one has\nbeen for a time absent from them--and here, in this realm of perpetual\nyouth, with the freedom from human pain and cares that some of them had\nso bravely borne, I could but note the beauty that is theirs.\n\nIn the interchange of thought and experiences with these arisen\nco-workers I could readily understand that being brought into direct\npersonal relationship with their \u201cGuides,\u201d \u201cInspirers,\u201d \u201cTeachers,\u201d\n\u201chelpers\u201d and with each other, they had become more and more aware of\nthe true meaning and nature of the gifts (mediumship) that were theirs\nwhen in the form, and they realized that even those \u201cInspirers\u201d and\n\u201cTeachers\u201d were also the instruments of higher and wiser Spirits.\n\nOne sister worker said to me \u201cI always wanted to _see_ my Guides, as\nyou did, but I could not, for the gift of spirit vision was not mine.\nNow I understand what it means to \u2018see with the eyes of the Spirit\u2019 and\nI am satisfied.\u201d\n\nThose who had been my most intimate co-workers had many things to tell\nme of their \u201cawakening\u201d into added perception of spiritual things and\nof the work assigned them in their new state of existence; still\nministering, still trying to lift the veil, mostly of ignorance, that\ndivides mortals from their arisen ones. Many were the loving messages\nsent to friends and loved _Companions_ still in Earth life.\n\n\u201cTell them you _saw_ me _here_ in spirit life, and I am ever near them,\nin response to a thought, or wish or especially a _need_, guiding,\nguarding, aiding.\u201d\n\nIt seems better to receive a message from one who has \u201cbeen there,\u201d who\nhas actually _seen_ and _conversed_ with one\u2019s friends \u201cface to face\u201d\nand \u201cspirit to spirit.\u201d So, in the treasure house of my spirit are\nstored those messages to be given whenever I meet any of those loved\nones in human life to whom I was so fortunate as to bear a message. It\nis to them alone that the message for them can be given.\n\nThe transcendent brightness and spiritual beauty of that assemblage of\nspirits--from guardian spirits of relatives and friends to the wisest\nand most advanced that one could see, are beyond my power of language\nto express.\n\nThere is no formal taking of one\u2019s \u201cplace\u201d or \u201cposition,\u201d no\nceremonious \u201cassigning\u201d of \u201cduty\u201d or \u201cwork,\u201d but in groups and larger\ncompanies, as well as in personal ministrations, a mutual understanding\nof purpose, according to adaptation. If a united or concerted action\nupon earth-minds for any given purpose is needed it is readily\nperceived and entered upon by all who are in accord, and is performed\nby such methods as enlightened spirits readily understand.\n\nHuman minds are better prepared to comprehend the methods of spirit\ncommunicating with spirit since \u201cwireless telegraphy\u201d and other recent\nscientific wonders have been achieved, not that the _process_ is\nsimilar in any degree, but being prepared for the new revealments in\nscience also prepares impartial minds to know of the more subtle powers\nof the spirit. \u201cVolition\u201d in its highest analysis is the one attribute\nof the spirit by which other spirits know--through perception, what\nis being imparted, _but_ there must ever be _accord_, _sympathy_,\n_adaptation_.\n\nFrom some of those who had been my friends in my early life and who\nwere \u201cleading minds\u201d in this cause, and in other subjects of human\ninterest, I received many thoughts and suggestions concerning\nthe present status of the \u201cmovement\u201d (Spiritualism) and what\nthey now think of the possible and desirable results of \u201cunited\naction,\u201d--\u201corganization\u201d for the work and the workers. These and many\nother themes must be left for opportunity, time and strength to reveal,\nas my work goes on in human life.\n\nOne notes the same minds and spirits in many assemblages of the\ndifferent branches of all purposes for aiding humanity. Even as when on\nearth the \u201cPioneers\u201d in \u201cAnti-slavery,\u201d \u201cEqual Suffrage,\u201d \u201cTemperance,\u201d\nwere the same staunch body of men and women, ready now as then to\nrespond to the call to give a voice to Truth. In the assemblies for\npromoting \u201cpeace\u201d by \u201cthose who love their fellow men,\u201d there was the\nuniversal sentiment: \u201cPeace must be born of Justice and Justice can\nonly come by true Fraternity.\u201d\n\n  \u201cMy country is the world;\n  My countrymen all mankind.\u201d\n\nThis is the standard extending to include \u201cAll Souls.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt seems to inhere in the very nature of _human life_ that men will\n_fight_ for: (1) Personal liberty: freedom from physical bondage and\ninvoluntary servitude; (2) For defence of those nearest and dearest\nenshrined in the \u2018home\u2019; (3) For country when it represents the \u2018home\u2019\nand those \u2018Ideals\u2019 to which the heart ever clings.\u201d\n\nTo \u201cremove the _Causes_ of War\u201d all selfish seeking, all aggression by\nany nation upon the rights of others must cease, \u201cand this must come by\ngrowth, by enlightenment in the cardinal principles of justice, love\nand truth.\u201d These and many other thoughts were given forth in that\nassembly.\n\n[A]A great wave of uprising among the _women_ of all nations was\npredicted in favor of conditions that would \u201cmake for peace\u201d leading\nto united efforts between the most enlightened men and women of all\nnations to the establishment of \u201cPeace born of Right--Not Might.\u201d The\nPeace foretold by poets and sages of all time. Yet all agree in that\nwonderful assemblage, that \u201ctreaties of Peace\u201d are without avail unless\nthe moral force of the nations--among their leaders, rulers and a\nmajority of their people--is sufficient to dominate; and make just\ntreaties _binding_.\n\nAs individuals are now expected to adjust their difference in Courts\nof Law (often misnamed justice), and it is the aim of a majority of\ncitizens not to encroach upon the real rights of others, so the time\n_must_ come when nations will agree to a similar method in adjusting\npossible differences that may arise; and this much _can_ come even\nbefore the real millenium of \u201cPeace on Earth and Love to all Mankind.\u201d\nThere must be some other International Tribunal than the battlefield!\nEarth, sea, and air, _must_ not be held in bondage for physical carnage!\n\nIn the final \u201cDay of Peace\u201d even Peace Tribunals will not be needed,\nbut now--\u201cmay Angels speed the Day of Peace born of Justice.\u201d\n\nIn most instances I could tell the personality, or human name, of each\none giving forth a particular thought, and all were in accord. Alas, I\ncould also perceive that they saw, in viewing the conditions of Earth\nthat \u201cthe end is not yet.\u201d\n\nI cannot mar this wonderful visit--this respite from pain and cares of\nEarth by dwelling too long among the shadows, warclouds and darkened\nstates of Earth life. As beyond the storm clouds of Earth\u2019s nearest\nmaterial atmosphere the sun always shines glorious and with resplendent\nbrightness, so beyond the horrors of war the desolation and ravagement\nof nations incident thereto, beyond the storms, earthquakes, and\ncataclysmic throes of nature, the Sun of Spiritual Hope and Love ever\nshines surpassing fair, and all the Angelic and Spiritual Hosts are\nready to aid, strengthen, succor the spirits enshrouded in time and\nearth conditions.\n\n\nTHE RETURN\n\nMore and more frequent were the summons and the visits to my mortal\nbody, to reimbue, as it was now found possible, with my spirit, to\nrestore with the personal presence, the body within which the vital\nspark had been kept alive by blessed Guardian Spirits and devoted\nfriends on Earth.\n\nMore and more the spirit \u201cHome friends,\u201d the Best Beloved, and the\nGuides encouraged the thought of my return to fulfill the appointed\nwork on Earth. I had prayed to be allowed to remain, to let the body\npass; but now, gradually it is true, the idea of resuming the human\nhabiliments, the garb of the material body, became less repugnant, and\nI finally freely said: \u201cYes, I will go as that is the appointed way.\u201d\n\nHave you, dear friend, who may be reading these imperfect fragments\nof a _perfect experience_, (as any narrative must be) ever visited\nsome fair garden, some sequestered home of dearest friends, a place\nradiant with beauty and enchantment; where there were flowers massed\nin rarest combinations of color and fragrance, fountains murmuring\nin answer to the summer winds, music, such as seemed a part of the\nenrapturing scene; have you enjoyed this with the chosen friends that\nalone could make the scene sacred, the Best Beloved? And have you known\nthe reluctance to return to the \u201couter world\u201d of daily routine of care,\nperhaps of pain? Ah, then you know in the _smallest degree_ what it\nmeant to me to return to my bodily form!\n\nYet even now the soul of all that was mine in that wonderful,\nsurpassing state is ever with me; nor will it again be absent from\nme--since it is enfolded in my very being. I am more complete now, even\nin the body which ever divides us from the Soul of Life.\n\n\u201cYou will be with us again and often,\u201d they said; the Guide said no\nformal \u201cfarewells,\u201d no \u201cleavetaking,\u201d but everywhere from every Dear\nand Blessed one \u201cBlessings, Peace, Joy, and Love go with you into added\nStrength and Work.\u201d\n\nAnd here I am: ready to help the body to grow stronger, and to\n_willingly, joyfully_, in the future as in the past, perform the work\nassigned me--_until--they--call--me--Home_.\n\n                                                    CORA L. V. RICHMOND.\n\n\n\n\nAn Added Word or Two\n\n\nThe possibility of the spirit \u201cleaving the body\u201d for a time and then\nreturning and resuming its usual activities has been demonstrated\nmany times. In some instances the temporary separation was caused by\naccident, illness, states of coma induced by anesthetics, trance,\neither of spirit control or hypnosis, and sometimes a _voluntary\nabsence_ or activity not suspending the vital functions of the body. It\nis also undoubtedly true that during sleep--especially that restful,\ndreamless sleep that betokens a normal state of mind and body, the\nspirit avails itself of the opportunity of restoration by spiritual\nmethods and activities not possible while urging the body to do its\nbidding. Not only Spiritualists, Psychologists and Psychic Research\nstudents have well authenticated cases of the undoubted activity of the\nSpirit apart from the body, but many prominent physicians have recorded\ntheir experiences with patients whose bodily functions were suspended,\neven to seeming dissolution, and upon the unexpected resuscitation of\nthe subject there would be a vivid account of active experiences in\nspirit--usually pleasant scenes and meetings with friends long passed\ninto spirit life. These visits to \u201cheaven\u201d would be sometimes tinged\nwith the religious bias of the subject, but this is not strange in view\nof the fact that _spirit states are conditions of the mind_ and spirit\nexperiencing them.\n\nAmong the most familiar popular illustrations are those narrated\nby Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, especially by \u201cGail Hamilton\u201d who,\nbeing thought \u201cdead\u201d returned to her body, narrated to her pastor\nthe experiences she had during that period of suspended animation\nand resumed her pen, remaining in mortal life a considerable time\nthereafter.\n\nAlthough not usual, this class of experiences is not so _unusual_ as\nmany imagine or assert. And the writer having been from childhood\naccustomed to the \u201cother state\u201d (\u201cInner,\u201d \u201chigher\u201d), of consciousness\ncan distinctly trace her experiences in that inner realm as forming\nfully a third if not one-half of her life-experiences.\n\nThe \u201crealm of spirit\u201d in which she has so often found herself a\nparticipant is, therefore, no unfamiliar realm; in fact if called\nupon to decide _which state_ is the _reality--the life_, she would\nunhesitatingly say: the _inner_ state, the _super-mundane_ realm.\n\nOf the many eminent men of Science in both Europe and America who have\ncome to a knowledge of the truths of Spirit existence, continuance of\nlife after transition,--and the writer has known them all personally,\nexcept the one she is about to mention,--probably Sir Oliver Lodge\nhas approached the subject of \u201cpsychic Research\u201d (Spiritualism) with\na mind the _best prepared_ to receive (perceive) Spiritual Truth. I\nsay this with the utmost reverence and admiration for the long list\nof names--eminent alike in their personal qualities and scientific\nattainments, whose lives have been made brighter by a knowledge of\ndemonstrated future existence and a belief in the Immortality of the\nSoul. Shall I name some of them? Hare, Mapes, Denton, Wallace, Crookes,\nVarley, Zollner, Flammarion--the list is almost endless.\n\nSir Oliver Lodge has not only recently, and very publicly, announced\nhis full belief (knowledge) of continued personal existence beyond the\nchange called death, but the possibility of communion with those \u201cgone\nbefore\u201d and the certainty that he had personal evidence beyond cavil\nor doubt, proofs indubitable, of the presence of and communication\nwith his particular friends, _but_--and this is the point I wish\nto emphasize--in his earlier utterances on this subject he said\nin effect: \u201cWhen I become aware that the human spirit while still\nanimating the body, or not released by death, has _such surpassing\npowers_, \u2018telepathy,\u2019 \u2018voluntary action\u2019 _apart from the body_, showing\nconclusively that the activities of the mind _are not_ dependent\nupon the physical organism--I concluded there _must_ be evidence to\nshow that the spirit _can_ and does survive the body.\u201d This and much\nmore was in his published statements concerning his investigations\nin connection with Psychic Research--showing that he approached the\nsubject not only from the \u201ceffect to cause\u201d line of usual scientific\ninvestigation, but had already in his quickened perception the\nvivification of a-priori knowledge leading from \u201c_cause to effect_.\u201d\n\nOne would like to accumulate and set down in condensed manner all the\navailable evidences of \u201cabsence from the body\u201d--of which the writer has\na large and increasing store, but this writing is more distinctly in\nthe form of a message for this particular time.\n\nWith our own \u201cother world\u201d within and about us, moving \u201clike wings of\nlight on dark and stormy air,\u201d with such unused, wonderful powers, what\nwonder that one having partaken of the bounties of that inner realm\nlongs to awaken the \u201csleeping\u201d spirits of those in human life--or, more\ncorrectly speaking, tear aside the veil and show how wonderful are the\ndormant powers within each person: Soul-powers more active, perhaps,\nthan any are aware! Who can tell, until the film of mental blindness is\nremoved, how great may be the works accomplished by the spirit when the\nbody sleeps, when one is \u201cabsent minded,\u201d or when _thinking intently_\nof a particular friend, one finds at that very day and hour the friend\nhad \u201cpassed away\u201d?\n\nIt is of the \u201cSubstance that dreams are made\u201d that we shall ultimately\nfind our divinest realities, _our very lives_ are fashioned.\n\nThis narrative of \u201cexperiences while out of my body\u201d is only a prelude\nto those vaster heights, those more inner scenes, that I hope sometime\nto be able to record: The Symphony is Life itself whose theme of Love\nis Endless, Endless, Endless.\n\n                                                         --_The Author._\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[A] This was before the Woman\u2019s \u201cPeace Congress\u201d had been thought of by\nEarth minds.\n\n\n\n\nTRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTES:\n\n\n  Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.\n\n  Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.\n\n  Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.\n\n  Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.","title":"My experiences while out of my body : $b and my return after many days","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":12164}