by Dana Howard

The warm desert sun cast an aura of radiance over the winding sandy canyon leading to my favorite retreat. It was a rough trail, for this part of the California desert had not been often traveled by motor cars or human footsteps.

I stopped for a moment to drink in the pageant of midday splendor, for now the colors were alive and vibrating, weaving in and out as they reflected the azure skies above. I had been coming here often of late, for this plot of earth, hallowed by Diane’s presence, was infinitely stimulating. Her profound discourses seemed more readily translatable here. In these transcendent moments, I exchanged my drab, scanty material values for the rich heritage of spirit.

Slipping from my sandals, I buried my feet in the desert sand. In a few moments my thoughts began to soar, bounding over the broad expanse of unspoiled, cactus-studded sandy waste. As my vision climbed the high rocky crags in the distance, my mind came to a stop as it embraced one giant monolith still harboring fragments of the past winter’s snow.

What a wonderland is mind, I thought, yet how little we humans know about it! When the mind gains the courage to escape from its enslaving chrysalis, the boundless freedom it enjoys is indescribable.

On my last visit here, Diane had said:

“All things, my daughter, stream from the Source of Creation, then slowly or rapidly stream back again. Millions upon millions of interdimensional telegraph wires link one realm to another. Remember always there is an invisible emphasis behind all things manifest and unmanifest. When the intuitions are trained, they run along a trolley-line of fine milky threads, penetrating the varying etheric planes. Here they create new patterns long before their appearance on the Planet Earth. When these threads are in harmony, one feels a soul refreshing challenge. There seems to be something worthwhile in life to strive for. When the threads are tangled, chaos reigns. The greatest gift to earthlings, my daughter, is the gift of inspiration, for inspiration is the fuel of LIFE itself.”

My mind went on its way again, like a ricocheting pebble making wider and wider circles in its race. As one set of extension cords came to an end a new set seemed instantly created from the threads of the universe. Each fleeting moment brought “things universal” closer to my mere little self. As the stimulating rarified vistas were opened up they fell into pattern, matching perfectly one with the other.

Memory patterns belong to the past, serving their purpose by revealing the errors of past action. But memories are binding. Memory seems to fence in the concepts that struggle to be free.

Thus caught up with my thoughts, she came. Her tone was gentle and soothing, stirring the blood in my veins like some special brand of nature’s brew. It was always the same in Diane’s presence, and the exquisite perfume she exuded had a transporting effect on my senses.

I felt the lightness of her long, tapering fingers on my shoulder.

“I have been enjoying your thoughts, my daughter,” she said. “When earthman surrendered to grooves of conditioning, he closed his avenues of perception. When these avenues are reopened as they will be one day soon, earthlings will be permitted to tune into other planets. Remember, my daughter … ALL THINGS are contained within the framework of LIFE. Not one infinitesimal atom can escape from this framework. The laws of relationship reach from the tiniest grain of sand to the largest planet. A kinship exists between the minutest immediate and the farthest remote. Each tiny part makes contact with every other part. Do you not see how simple it is? When these uncharted pathways are opened, all will experience the universal overtones. In time to come, all will function from the higher octaves. All will experience and know the close relationship between the visible and the invisible. But in the interim the few who have made contact with us will go on ahead. They will open the magic doors for the many when their time comes.

“The fragments of knowledge we are leaving with earthlings today are by no means the full content of our knowing. We can give out only to the degree earthman can comprehend. As one level is conquered, new levels are opened. Nothing shall be withheld from God’s children.

“I cannot stress too often that all manifestation on your earth is but a modification in some measure of the emanating of transcendent substances. Earthlings have obstructed the normal lifeflow. When they gain complete mastery they will be able to accurately direct every act of their lives. This is encompassed in the circle of your future. When earthman has the courage to attempt the seemingly impossible he will then be in reach of the goal. When the channels are opened then your more daring earthmen will embark on strange voyages.

“Many have asked . . . what is the benefit of opening up the avenues of space? To land craft on other planets? My daughter, when these spaceways are opened a tidal wave of good things will flow in. Many earthlings will be endowed with strange new talents. In some the prophetic insight will be awakened. Thousands upon thousands will have the burdens of life lifted. Others will be healed of bodily ills, and so on . . .

“Again, you ask . . . what part will the flying legions from outer space play in this great drama? As those of us in the inner circles know, the ‘flying saucer era’ is far from over. Thousands all over the world have been gathered together in the same bond of interest. Many can see with clear vision the road ahead.

“We come in times of need,” she went on. “We come also in great times, for these are the greatest times your earth has ever known. The gates are ajar — many are going in and out, living a few moments at a time on the higher octaves. Some consciously, others during the hours of sleep. Each day brings them closer to some praiseworthy goal.”

“It is a comforting thought to know that we are sustained by the greater ones,” I answered thankfully. “And you, Diane – you are so wonderful. Always watchful and ready, yet you do not antagonize with criticisms. You know our inborn capabilities . . . you dare to tell us we can solve our own problems once we set ourselves to the task.”

“Yes, that is true, my daughter. Nothing is impossible in the realm of thought. Nothing is impossible in the spheres of action. That is why we stress the training of the intuitions, for intuition is thought-transference. Just as the memory of past existences can be brought back to mind, because it is there, cached away in the framework of LIFE. . . . in the selfsame way patterns of the future can be tapped and put into operation.”

For a moment, my mind flew back to that day when I was hurled into a cauldron of “living flame,” preparatory to my teleportive flight to Venus. It was then that my own avenues of perception were mysteriously opened. I had not been aware of it then, but following that experience had come a series of revelations. My long period as a mediator – a voice, had started.

There was still so much that was nebulous, and I was forever seeking the answers. Why had I been one of the selected? Had I lived on other planets in incarnations past? Had I chosen to come back for this very purpose? I just didn’t know. Perhaps the time had not yet come for me to know.

Diane was again reading my thoughts, but she did not volunteer an answer. She continued:

“Let me repeat, my daughter . . . it is important that you listen intently, for I must impregnate your consciousness with the knowledge that your own inner resources are without limit. This applies to all God’s chosen. When earthman decides to mobilize his potentialities . . . when he is willing to open his consciousness to cosmic awareness, then he will be able to sink to the lowest depths of the sub-worlds, and almost in a fleeting moment he will be able to rise to the farthest star. When he gains a clear vision of the road ahead he will no longer be tossed about on your stony planet, for life will take on a plan and a purpose. He will know where he is going, and why.

“The pattern has been drafted. It was drafted eons ago. Soon earthman’s alibis will no longer work. He will find his avenues of escape shut off. It will be hard for him to accept, for as you know, many earthlings believe themselves to be infallible. To be sure, in the performance of their earthly services they have been faithful. But they have been nailed to the cross of the status quo. They have not been willing to break traditional habits. They have preferred to live in the little prisons they have made for themselves.

“Back in the night of time, my daughter. Had earthman followed the true pattern of his existence he would not have fallen into ways of error. He lusted for power. He imposed his own will, rather than doing his creator’s will.

“The transcendental treasures are the greater treasures. They are ever reciprocal . . . always in balance. The skills that are gained in the higher realms must be applied in lower realms. When earthman opens up his mind to intuitional guidance, as he one day will, then he will no longer err in his earthly decisions. When his faculties of knowing have been awakened he will enjoy venturing beyond the realms he has grown accustomed to. He will then know the meaning of adventure in all its glory.”

“It is true then. Our scientific researchers have missed these revolutionary discoveries because they looked to the parts of things rather than trying to find the pattern of the whole? In other words, our scientists have been narrowing their horizons rather than expanding them?”

“Yes, my daughter, your scientists are still a part of halting humanity. They seem to prefer to live and thrive on customary procedures. The armament of the mind is man’s most precious possession. If it were not for the few real thinkers who now and then appear on your earth your planet would long ago have toppled by its own weight. Remember, my daughter, mind is not sense. While the mind expresses through sense it is not sense-knowing. Mind is direct perception. It is contact-knowing. Intuition comes in that pause just before the change. It comes when the mind is at rest; when it can touch the very heart of the universe.

“Intuition travels through universal veins, just as life blood flows through the human body. It transfers through from a time world to a space world. All earth’s children have experienced true intuition in some degree. But more often than not earthlings reject the genuine and the true. They cleanse their bodies in the bath, change soiled accoutrements, but seldom do they cleanse their inner closet of the unwanted debris.

“You may quote me with confidence, my daughter. When the answer comes forth through the medium of the intuition, it can be relied upon. Earthman, deep within his soul, knows this. He can feel the ‘surround’ that encompasses him. When he has the courage to press on beyond . . . when he sincerely wishes to enlarge his spheres . . . a great surge of cosmic strength will flow in to help him. If he will apply this inspired knowledge to the task at hand, success is bound to follow his efforts. He will no longer be interested in self alone. He will want to share his newfound joys with his fellow man. Day by day he will plunge deeper and deeper into the mysteries of life, not because he is curious, but because he will know that he is a child of God; that God’s greatest heritage can also be his.”

“When will this weight of inertia be lifted?” I questioned with a sigh. “Does it mean that if we all pull together we can bring it about?”

“When the time comes, earthman will no longer listen to the rasping sounds from the sub-worlds. When his ambitions are sharpened, he will want to rise to realms he has never touched. It is our duty to help him gain this reality. And whether he believes it or not, we have been sent by the great Hierarchy — the One God who governs All.

“Life on your planet can become a wonderful adventure, my daughter. Today earthman lives only for the thrills he can create. He does not yet realize that to embrace the unknown is the greatest thrill of all.”

“I guess we know it in a blind sort of way,” I replied. “We strive to improve conditions, but we haven’t yet learned we possess the greater powers. Since we know nothing of the laws of transmutation we know nothing of the powers to transform.”

“Earthman’s material concepts have confused the real issues,” she said. “When a great emergency arises, then earthman will find his own way through the fog. He must challenge the dark forces. When he has created for himself, when his sense awareness has been amplified and the human potential increased, then he will have greater receptivity to the subtler forces. He will be able to differentiate between good and evil. When he has been trained in the intuitional arts he will be able to bring back to earth-consciousness, senses and events long ago passed from view. He will touch every point in the universe, for intuition, the voice of man’s soul, is a powerful force, my daughter.”

My mind sped back to an event out of my own past, the first adult experience I had had in “soul flight.” I attended a lecture where a young Hindu was speaking on the flight of the soul. Looking over the audience, his dark eyes came to rest on me. “Miss,” he said, directing his finger, “do you know you are a soul traveler?”

I shook my head negatively, for I did not then associate my earlier childhood experiences with soul flight. He asked if I would be willing to submit to a platform experiment. I agreed finally, more for a lark than anything else. He sat me in a comfortable chair and in a few moments I could feel my body expanding like a gargantuan mushroom. It seemed to be growing out of all proportion, separating one part from the other.

Then, suddenly my physical body seemed to rise from the chair. Ascent was rapid, and in a flash I was literally sailing through the bluest of ethers. It was a feast of color I shall never forget, for surely there has never been anything on this earth to match it.

The higher ethers are filled with skyscapes of grandeur — perfect, breathtaking scenes. Never on earth had I witnessed such sublime perfection. This continued for what seemed an indeterminable length of time — then I started the gentle but rapid descent.

Far beneath me I could see spires and domes bathed in the same effulgence of color. It was quiet – deathly quiet. And, as I was to learn later on, this etheric spot in creation had been quiet for many long centuries, for I had beheld in vision the archetypal pattern of ancient Babylon. To think that the pattern of a great continental world lay cached away in etheric space where it would remain forever, cast into the framework of LIFE! That nothing is ever lost. Since then I have often wondered why I had been permitted this rare experience, but Diane answered my question.

“Earthlings fear to go over the borderline, my daughter. They stand in awe of the unknown. You were not afraid, therefore you were sustained. It is because of this same fearless quality that we selected you for the Venusian experience. Had fear entered your thoughts, it might have resulted in death.

“When earthman adopts and practices the science of predictive arts, his progress will be rapid indeed. He will find universal substantiation in all things. There will be a satisfactory explanation for his universe and all its major processes.

“Through long and winding centuries, earthman has insisted on following the same distorted pattern. He shouts his platitudes, but seldom applies them. He tells his brother to ‘hitch his wagon to a star,’ then continues to drive his own wagon in the rutted grooves.

“Since it is our sacred duty, to help earthman recover his lost heritage . . . to assist him in revivifying his ambitions so that he might flow with the cosmic tides . . . in the transition days ahead, all memory files will be sealed. Millions of records and worthless books will be cast upon the funeral pyre. Only a framework of knowledge will be kept for future reference by later generations. These will be stored away in vaults of safety, where neither time nor tide can destroy them. In that day, earthman will be cast afloat in a sea of cosmic consciousness. He will sink . . . or he will swim. With the ark that has supported him gone, he will be forced to find refuge in the citadel within. Slowly he will begin to use his powers of intuition. He will know he must develop his superior skills.” I am sure Diane must have seen the look of dismay on my face. To destroy books and records was, to me, unthinkable.

“Do not be harassed, my daughter. That which you have dared to call literature has in many instances been little more than filth cast on the slag dumps of life.”

A flash of light seemed to illumine me. “Oh . . . I’m beginning to understand,” I said, “We will have to draw our knowledge direct from source. Heretofore, we’ve only trained our brains in memory patterns. We thought that constituted knowledge. We’ve been brain-bound to the areas of earth. Now I can see it goes deeper than that. Since we have looked to our physical brain for support, rather than the greater mind, we have been caught in a web of illusion. Intuitional training is the hope of our educational system.”

“Yes, my daughter. Mind IS. You merely need to uncork it. Each concept, as it reaches out, embraces a still larger concept. As one boundary is torn down, new boundaries are made.

“Earthman has the same given potential as all God’s children. He has within him the same attributes as those from the more advanced planets. He needs but to learn to spin the spiritual threads. He has prepared for life by means of education on the earth. He has learned arithmetic that he might measure his way as he goes along. He has studied Greek and Latin that he might prate of his culture. But the functions of the mind have always been a great enigma to him. He knows little about creative intuition, virtually nothing about direct knowing.

“On other planes, we have schools of specialization. Millions of miles of network interface the mind-ground as it connects with the heart of these institutions. It is from these schools of preparation and specialization that earthlings receive flashes of original intuition. Knowledge rises, plane by plane, to the highest peak of universal wisdom. Earthlings draw all knowledge from these sacred reservoirs. When the bands of limitation imposed by your own way of life are released, you will be tapping these reservoirs as simply as you turn on your kitchen faucet. Moreover, there will be teachers from the more advanced planets to assist you.”

“But,” I asked, “how will tradition carry over if all books are destroyed? How will the centuries of records be kept alive?” My mind flashed back to the loss that had been sustained by the burning of the Alexandrian libraries.

“Do not fear, my daughter. History is never lost. The imprimatur of the cycle is there to be tapped, for it is stamped into the indestructible ethers to be read by the seers and the prophets of every age.”

“You mean, Diane . . . we will all have the power to tap these reservoirs in the ethers?”

“Yes. When the intuitional faculties again become acute, all can tap these reservoirs.”

It seemed beyond the vale of possibility to me, and I asked another question.

“You do mean,” I reiterated, “that all our usual sources of information will be cut off form us. We’ll be left high and dry?”

“If you wish to put it thus crudely, my daughter. It is the only course left if earthlings cannot conform. Earthman has become so completely enmeshed in tangibles he must be forced to reach out and embrace the intangibles. There is much debris to be cleared away before the New Age can be launched. Earth doctors have devised crude methods of repairing crippled bodies, but crippled minds must be stimulated to greater progress. Universal perceptions represent the alpha and omega of existence. Through the organ of intuition, universals can be touched. When the wider areas are opened, it will not be by means of formal education, my daughter. It wilt be through the channel of the intuitions. We have moved into closer range that we might assist. In your own time, our influence will not be adequately measured, yet earthman will one day come to realize his heritage. When he is sensitized to his higher potential, then nothing will be withheld from him. He will be open to the universal trends. He will experience a centralized expansion. He will be aware with a keenness of thought of which he knows nothing today.”

It was still hard for me to release the thought of the chaos that would reign on earth when all sources of material knowledge were closed. Diane sensed my confusion and again came to my rescue.

“Fear not, my daughter. A few will suffer for a time. There will be those who cannot readily adjust to new things. But earthman will soon find joy in his newfound abilities. Although the unadjusted will feel insecure, this is but a prelude to their spiritual awakening. Earthman will soon realize that the binding shackles are falling away. That his earthbound mind is being released to higher realms. Then he will enjoy peace and tranquility such as he has never known.”

“I’m afraid we shall have to breed a new race of beings before that can come,” I sighed.

“It required great daring for your explorers to find new worlds,” she continued. “But once the laws of transmutation are understood, it will be simple indeed.”

The sun was completing its daily trajectory across the vastness of the firmament; Diane’s comforting presence was growing dim to my vision. My thoughts came back to the desert retreat.

“Watch carefully for flashes of intuition,” she said. “Apply it to the task of solving your daily problems. Do not fear, Child of Earth. That which comes from spirit does not err.

“And remember, you will have control of the intuitions when earthman answers the call of work to be done; when he decides to change the pattern-mold of his world. Then he will march forward at a rapid pace. He will strive for greater perfection in the world he knows best. Gradually new aspirations will be released. He will listen for the sweet echoes from all parts of the universe. Then he wilt be happy.

“This must start where earthman stands today. In his institutions of learning . . . in his churches . . . in his social world . . . in his books. This will serve as his temporary foundation, and when this has been made secure the methods that have sustained him through this long cycle can be withdrawn. When he experiences truly constructive living, then he will no longer be interested in the errors of the past. When he is anxious to leave his error-filled world behind him, he will start the march of progress. Almost on the eve of his wishing he will realize his greatest hopes.

“I must go now, my daughter, but I leave with you my blessings and my love.”

I watched as her filmy form merged with the desert sunshine. In a moment Diane had gone back to her home somewhere in the sky.

Excerpt from Over the Threshold