by Edward C. Randall

It is most difficult for the human mind to comprehend that anything which sight or sense does not disclose is material. The idea that what we call space is substantial and real, and composed of matter, the same as those things that are visible, presents a proposition difficult of acceptance—we know so little of matter’s physical properties.

If those in the after life live and progress in a world as substantial and material as this, have houses and other structures and buildings, if that plane has forests and fields and growing grain, flowers, mountains, meadow lands and flowing streams, then that world is as substantial and real and composed of the same substance as this, varying only in vibratory action. As a matter of fact, these two worlds or conditions now blend, one with the other. What we see, feel and touch, only clothes visible life. Through nature, as we use that word, the spirit world functions and has temporary physical expression. This fact science is just coming to understand, but as yet little is known of the constituent parts of matter that fill the Universe, whether physical or spiritual.

Heretofore matter has been known in but three conditions,—solid, liquid and gaseous. Sir William Crookes, the learned English chemist, while endeavoring to create a vacuum in a glass tube, discovered a fourth condition, which he named the radiant state. The atoms, freed by rarefaction, assume in this relative vacuum vibratory motions of intense and incalculable rapidity. They become flambent and produce effects of light and electrical radiations. This suggests a clue to most of the cosmic phenomena.

Variously condensed, in its three first conditions, matter in the radiant state loses a number of its properties, such as density, shape, color and weight; but in this new found realm, it appears to be more closely and intimately related to the force which is life. This fourth aspect is another condition which matter is susceptible of assuming. The mind can picture a subtle, hyper fluidic state, as superior to the radiant condition as the radiant is superior to the gaseous, or the liquid to the solid. Science will in the future solve this problem and find an answer to such age-long and formidable problems as the unity of substance, or the preponderating forces of the universe.

Matter, in its higher and more refined vibrations, becomes a fluid of infinite suppleness and elasticity, by endless combinations of which all bodies are engendered. In its primordial essence—invisible, impalpable, imponderable—this fluid, through successive transitions, becomes ponderable and capable of producing, by powerful condensation, those hard, opaque and weighty bodies which constitute the base of terrestrial matter. This state of cohesion is, however transitory. Matter, reascending the ladder of its transformations, can as readily be disaggregated and returned to its primitive fluidic state.

All matter is composed of molecules, atoms and electrons. The smallest particle that can be detected by the human eye through the microscope is about twenty-five times larger than a molecule (2017-now an atom can be photographed).

The molecule is composed of atoms which individually are about one three-hundred-millionth of an inch in diameter, while the electron—as a further subdivision of matter—has a diameter 100,000 less than the atom. There would be thirty trillions of electrons to the inch, each one clothing life, that is force.

It must, therefore, be admitted first of all that nothing we see around us is absolutely solid. A mass of anything, whether it is metal, rock or other apparently dense and solid substance, does not exist as such. Cohesion of particles is relative only in proportion to weight, and each particle of a mass is relatively distant from the others, allowing space for the free passage of light, radio energy in the ether which is life expressed in substance.

Professors Thompson and Tait say that if a drop of water could be magnified to the size of the earth, we should see the atoms about as big as oranges, and that electrons are about a thousand times smaller. Sir William Crookes, when elected President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, in 1898, said in a remarkable address that all of the phenomena of the universe are presumably continuous waves, and that we have good evidence that they range from one vibration to two thousand trillions per second, thus varying in their frequency and also in their velocity. As a starting point he said,

“I will. take a pendulum beating seconds in air. If I keep on doubling, I get a series of steps, as follows:

Starting Point Vibrations Per Second

step 1……………………………………………. 2
2…………………………………………………. 4
3…………………………………………………. 8
4……………………………………………….. 16

5……………………………………………….. 32
6……………………………………………….. 64
7……………………………………………….128
8……………………………………………….256 SOUND
9……………………………………………….512
10…………………………………………. 1, 024
15…………………………………………32, 768

20…………………………………… 1, 048, 576
25………………………………….. 83, 554, 432 ELECTRICAL RAYS
30…………………………….. 1, 073, 741, 824
35……………………………..34,359, 738, 368

40 ……………………….1, 099, 511, 627, 776 UNKNOWN
45…………………….. 85, 184, 872, 088, 832

50 ………………..1, 125, 899, 906, 842, 624 HEAT-LIGHT RAYS

55……………… 36, 028, 707, 018, 963, 968 UNKNOWN
58……………. 288, 230, 376, 151, 711, 744

59…………… 576, 440, 752, 203, 423, 488 ROENTGEN, OR X-RAYS
61 ………… 2, 305, 763, 009, 213, 693,952

62 ………. 4, 611, 526, 018, 427, 385, 904 RADIUM RAYS
63 ………. 9, 223, 052, 036, 854, 775, 808

“It will be seen by the above that at the fifth step from unity, at thirty-two vibrations per second, we reach the region where atmospheric vibration reveals itself to us in sound. At 32,768 per second, to the average human ear, the region of sound ends.

After the 32nd step vibration increases rapidly, giving us electric waves, then light waves at an unthinkable number of vibrations per second, until we reach the X-ray and finally, to us, the radium ray. The rays of radium are the results of quintillions of vibrations per second, and are also so subtle that they pass through all solids. It may be that the X-waves and the radium waves are only at the threshold of the wonders of the unseen universe. It seems to me in these rays we may have a possible mode of transmitting intelligence, which, with a few reasonable postulates, may supply a key to much that is obscure in psychical research.”

Force, or energy, is life and is composed of and functions in matter on both planes. It is only when energy, or life, takes on a covering of gross material that it functions physically. Like all else in nature, it is indestructible.

Energy or life is found in and functions in every stratum. It does not begin at the earth’s surface nor end in the air. Life differs in every condition of matter—in the earth, on the earth, and in that vast expanse which we ignorantly call space. The difficulty is that we do not as yet understand the various conditions and constituent parts of the matter in which the universe is expressed and functions. Until we do, we cannot understand how the so-called dead live and labor in a world material, tangible and real.

The subject is perhaps the most complicated of any in nature. Its mystery is at present beyond any man’s comprehension. I but hope to create an interest in the subject, to set in motion individual thought. Others may, by research, work out some conception of the conditions in which those who have gone before live and work from day to day. We are coming to the conclusion that force and thought blend one with the other, that all are expressed in substance and are an expression of life force.

Water is a transparent, inodorous and tasteless fluid. It is a compound substance, consisting of hydrogen and oxygen in the proportion of two to one—by weight, two parts of hydrogen to one part of oxygen. These are both gases.

Atmosphere is likewise a gas, is inodorous, invisible, insipid, colorless, elastic and, being substance, is possessed of gravity. It is composed by volume of twenty-one parts of oxygen and seventy-nine of nitrogen, mixed but not chemically united.

From the generic rock we see matter ascending in its vibratory condition, step by step, to the earth’s surface; then the water with faster movement than air; then the ether, no less substance than are atmosphere and water, about which as yet we know but little. The component parts of ether are not known to certainty, but that it is substance is admitted. Ether, as we now know, fills all space and is the medium of light, heat and sound. It not only fills space, but passes through all solids, so intense are its vibrations. It is not strange that we do not see it, for we can not see atmosphere. The reason we see water is because of its slow vibration. We do not see electricity, except as we reduce the speed of its vibration. Therefore, it is not strange that we are unable to see ether.

Each stratum has its form of life. The earth has worms and crawling things, the sea fish and other marine life, the air man and animal life, the ether spirit people—each condition, each environment, is natural and real, and all are according to the divine plan. Today our physical bodies have a density, substantially corresponding to other substances, which limits our movements. Tomorrow, when the inner or etheric body emerges from its present housing, it will vibrate in accord with the finer etheric conditions, which are now invisible to us. All this is as natural to spirit people as things of the world are to us.

What I am trying to explain is that the universe is substance, or matter, real and substantial (energy in third density). We are clothed with physical substance; we function and work on one plane, the earth plane. The spirit people live and labor on another, a higher plane. They are separated from us, just as we are separated from various forms of life below us. This after life—Heaven, if you use that term—is substantial, composed of matter higher in vibration than the air in which we function. And in that vitalized, material condition, spirit people live just as we do, build structures of the varying substances, and grow things exactly as we do, though with greater freedom.

In calling attention to the constituent and chemical properties of our material, I show how little we know of matter, and lead, step by step, through its increasing intensity and vibration, in order that we may in a small measure comprehend the material conditions in which spirit people live.

We do not comprehend that substance called ether, and probably will not understand it until we become inhabitants of that plane, but we do know it is a substance and reality, as people live and labor in surroundings as real and tangible to them as the earth’s substance is to us.

Another, speaking of the materiality of the next plane, has said:

“Spirit ether fills the universe. It is a compound of two coexistent, coeternal elements, the one positive, the other negative; one the male, the other the female element. These two primitive elements do exist, and always have existed, in union. Organic life is an aggregation of these primitive, spiritual elements. The law of chemical affinity, of every form of cohesion, of every human desire, of all love and affection, is but a manifestation of the amity of positive and negative spirit ether asserting itself in organic aggregations of the positive and negative spirit atoms. Suns and systems of worlds are organic evolutions of this eternal life element. Spirit ether fills the universe. Life permeates and is inherent in all things. Nature expresses all there is of creative energy.”

Another inhabitant of the next plane, speaking of matter spiritual and physical, says:

“Our world is composed of matter as real and definite as your own, but that matter vibrates at a higher rate, consequently your undeveloped senses can have but little cognizance of it. And, your own sphere being composed of matter at a low rate of vibration, it is almost equally as difficult for us to manifest on your plane as it is for you to penetrate ours. Yet we have evolved from your plane, and have all the experience of that evolution, and it is perhaps easier for us to reach back and help you than it is for you to see forward. The principle of co-operation between the two planes is what we desire to establish, for this principle of co-operation is an essential and necessary condition for the development of the consciousness from your low and stagnant vibrations to those that are higher and healthier and more in keeping with the spirit’s deepest longing, more in harmony with that process that is working for the ultimate and absolute destiny of the evolving spirit of man.”

How little we know, and how much there is yet to learn of that which we call matter or substance in nature; until the mentality grasps in some measure this subject, life beyond can not be comprehended.

LIGHT IN THE SPIRIT WORLD

THERE were few nights in all the years of my research that Dr. David Hossack did not address us on some subject. He always came with charming courtesy and great cordiality. His voice was low, but he spoke clearly and to the point. No more distinguished or delightful guest ever entered my home. It will be noted that I make no distinction in speaking of those who enter my home. It matters not whether for the moment they function in the spirit or in the physical plane; they are all people and can discuss questions, when proper conditions are provided, with equal freedom. During the period when I obtained these discourses from the beyond, I formed or provided the conditions requisite and necessary, as I have explained elsewhere.

The question of light in the next world has always interested me, and it is one of the subjects upon which I have sought information. I speak of Dr. Hossack, for the reason that he has given me the most satisfactory explanation of any. This was my question to him:

“What is the character of your light, and how does it differ from sunlight?”

The answer:

“The light we have is obtained from the action of our minds on the atmosphere. We think light, and there is light. That is why people who come over in evil condition are in the dark; their minds are not competent to produce light enough for them to see.

“There is greater intensity of light as we go up through the spheres, which comes from the blending of the more spiritual minds.

“Our life is merely the condition of mind which each one has. We create images in thought, and have the reality before us, just as tangible as your houses and buildings are to you. You do not have any conception of the great power and force there is, or may be, in thought. It dominates all conditions and makes us what we are. One who realizes this may control his destiny.

“Thought is a fluid, which becomes substance to us when once it is formed into an expression. It is a vibrating, living thing, and should be recognized as such and controlled accordingly.”

Another spirit speaks of light as follows:

“When you speak of the sun in the spirit world, you mistake, for there is no such thing. There is light here, radiated from the atoms. Our light is very different from your sun. Your light is grosser than ours; it is unnatural to us, and, therefore, painful to the spirit. Our light is soft, radiant and very brilliant. Your physical eye can never behold it; it is so ethereal, so beautiful, that it blends with sensation.”

But why? What natural law produces spirit light? If this were explained in detail, nothing would be left for deductive reasoning. These descriptions but serve to spur one on to greater effort, and must, of necessity, make deductions and partly by that process understand spirit conditions. I have ever noticed that in seeking knowledge of after life conditions, something is left for one to do if he would attain the desired result. This is in accordance with the oft-repeated statement that the spirits only help others to help themselves.

Another’s understanding follows:

“There is a great central force, the rays from which gradually lessen in their vibratory action. This force comes from the outside of your world, as you call it, and reaches the lowest ebb in the center of your earth. This central vibratory action is in the highest sphere, and is so intense and vivid that the souls who are in the finest state of development are the only ones who come near its circle. It is the apex of the universe, and that is why there are lesser degrees as it is rayed out through infinite space. These vibrations of light reach the earth and all the other spheres, and the vibratory action of light on each planet depends on its distance from the seat of this creative or central force.

“Some of the planets are much higher in vibratory action than is your earth, and if you were to go to them, and could still retain the earth conditions surrounding you, as usual you could not see any life because your vibration would be so much lower. The need of this condition is so apparent when once one grasps the immensity of the universe and the harmony of its laws.

“If you were able to see all the conditions and people beyond you, life would be chaos and confusion each sphere mixing with another—with no regulations nor harmony anywhere. As it is, each has its own place in the scheme of progression, and this visible wall of vibratory force is the safety guard to continued rational living.

“This force is life, intense, vibrating, dominant. In conception there is the merest touch to this elemental force; consequently, life is forwarded and the continuation of the species insured. It is something discernible as a part of nature and nature is but an expression of this great force..

“Those souls that progress through each step are slowly, but surely, becoming a part of that great force which is life; life itself is light, and ultimately individuality will be once again united in the immensity of that great, harmonious life force and will become again, in turn, a tiny part of the new conception in the earth form. I do not mean that this is reincarnation. An atom only is needed to create life in the lower earth forms, and that is taken from the immense whole. This is the law of the universe. There seem no words to tell you, or to make you understand clearly, the plan and purpose of creation; one must accept it and try to realize that one’s own life, seemingly so important to one’s self, is in reality such a little thing in the immensity of the universe, and yet just as essential to the whole as one petal of a flower is to the perfect rose. It is a part of the perfect whole, and necessary.

“Make that part that is developed by you clean and wholesome, and the going on will be filled with beauty; it will be but the going into a new country, among good friends and great advantages, along spiritual and harmonious lines. But to those who live in the dark and do evil and selfish things, the going will be along rough and stormy places and the helping hand hard to find.”

We know so little of light. We have always had the sun, but even now know little about it. Man first devised the torch, which not so long ago was all he had; then came the candle; then whale oil and the lamp; next petroleum assisted man; and, within our own time, he has invented the electric light,—evolution of the primitive torch. The ether itself is light, as is evidenced by the fact that the dynamo draws from the atmosphere this substance and condenses it. We may behold electricity, which is a physical expression of the ether that fills all space in the whole universe. The more a man knows, the more he is willing to learn. The less a man knows, the more positive he is that he knows everything.

The question of light is a legitimate field of inquiry, in which any man may make researches, as little has been told concerning it. The suggestion that there is light of another character and that life itself is the light which lights the spirit world, is no more startling than that made concerning the electric lamp a few years ago. There are still many things in nature that we do not know, with all our boasted knowledge.

A great law governs spirit, as well as physical, sight. A beautiful, tender, loving thought radiates and goes out from the mentality in long, undulating waves. The longer the thought wave, the finer the thought, the higher its vibrations and the lighter in substance, but a selfish thought sends out a short wave, and, because of its deficient length, it is dark. The mind is a shuttle and is ever weaving about us a condition that will surround us completely on the day of our dissolution. If we develop our minds along fine lines, the thought that goes forth from the soul in the next life will illuminate the path of our progression, but if we fail to observe that law, we pay the penalty, for each soul furnishes all the light discernible along its own pathway in the spheres beyond.

The source of life—that is, the source of energy—does not seem to be known by spirits. Only the infinite can comprehend the infinite. They simply know, as I gather, that there is a great, central source of power from which emanates the life force that finds expression in the various places of consciousness. They know something of conditions that exist in the plane on which, for the time, they live, and, just as we of the earth, they labor for a better understanding of nature’s wonderful laws. Our progression to this next sphere will not change our ambitions or desires, or our comprehension; and vision—what we see will depend on the light that our souls will radiate. We cannot touch a button or turn a switch and light our way, nor can we borrow a lamp. Self-effort and a clean life along right lines will light the way where the great law places us when the night comes after earth’s fitful struggles are over.

HOMES IN THE AFTER LIFE

ONE in the after life gave me a description of the spirit home of a great, splendid mother, built by the labor of love and ceaseless charity, in the physical as well as in the spirit plane in which she now resides. She worked long and earnestly to make women understand the truth, so that they might live nearer to the best in nature. Here is the description as it was given to me:

“Before me is the interior of a splendid home, the home made by a spirit, created and built by the thoughts, acts and works of one who, thirty-two years ago, lived on the material plane. The room opening before me seems like pure white marble with lofty ceilings. Around the four sides runs a broad balcony supported by columns gracefully turned. From a point beyond the center is a broad stairway curving outward; at its foot, on each side, are niches filled with beautiful statuary. Going up the stairs now, I find each step a different color, yet all blending as one. On all sides of this upper gallery are windows, through which come soft rays of light. Opening off the sides are rooms; and, as I look, a door opens and a beautiful spirit comes out. She takes on, as she enters, the old, material condition that she may be recognized. She has reached maturity, and has a face of rare gentleness, the beauty of purity. She smiles as we describe her and her home to you. With her is a daughter just reaching womanhood; one that never lived the earth life, who was prematurely born. These two, drawn by the invisible bond of affection, have built this home. and made it rich with love.

“Passing down the corridor now, the mother’s arm about the daughter, they approach the other end of the building and descend a stairway similar to the first, and go out upon a broad terrace, along walks bordered with flowers, into the garden of happiness. Turning now and looking toward a valley, I see many trees heavy with foliage, and through them I behold the waters of a lake, rich as an emerald in color.

“About the vaulted room which I have described are many others of like material, filled with all that this mother loves. Books that she uses in her work are seen; pictures, created by acts of tenderness, adorn the wall. Musical instruments, unlike those of earth, await her spirit touch. This is a home where girls just budding into womanhood are taught purity; it is a mother’s home, and suggests to you the possibilities of spiritual surroundings. It was not built in a day, but is the result of labor in the earth and in spheres of progression, where the surroundings are in harmony with spiritual development, the home of a good woman, built by helping others.”

I said to one of my friends in the after life, at another time:

“Tell me of homes of spirit people.” In reply, he said:

“That is a most difficult thing to do, because earth people expect to find everything so different, while, in reality, the homes here are practically the same as in earth life, except that there is in the advanced spheres no discord, no lack of harmony, nothing but light, beauty, music, laughter, blended with earnest, thoughtful study. I am describing the home of a spirit who has grown to know and live within the life-principle. There are many poor, struggling souls, willfully or ignorantly looking down instead of upward, who are living in squalid huts which their deeds and thoughts in earth life have made for them. Very few have beautiful homes ready for them when they enter spirit life, for most people live in such ignorance of natural laws that they find insufficient shelter awaiting them; but, the wise ones start to build by perfecting their way of thinking and by undoing wrongs on earth, and also by helping others. No actual physical touch is given these homes, but, as the soul grows in beauty of thought and deed, the home grows to perfection.”

I asked:

“Are these homes as real to you as ours are to us?”

And he replied:

“They are the abiding places of spirits who gather into them the objects of beauty which they love, and there harmonious spirits come and go, as in earth life. They are as real to them as yours are to you. But we look at things differently; we think them, and the thought is expressed in waves that are visible and real as long as we hold the thought.”

This is no flight of imagination. Let me bring home the truth by an illustration. Yesterday I purchased a country-place, which must be modernized and adapted to our requirements. I have been thinking what changes are possible and what I should like. It was a mental effort to take into consideration the situation and work out a plan. It was all done in thought. I can, by a mental process, see the changed approach, the graded lawns, the enlarged veranda, the great fire-place and the towering chimneys. In thought vibrations these changes have already been made. They exist in mind, which is matter, and all that remains is to have the mental plans put upon paper and sent to the builder, who will give them physical expression, by constructing in gross matter what now exists in refined matter.

So it is in the after life. The home and environment are designed in thought, created in spirit matter, which is also mind, and its beauty and grandeur are only limited by the purity and progression of our earth life. They do not give their thought physical expression; they have nothing physical. Those in the other life have limitations, as we have. We differ in our creations only in the manner of expression. The one must be suitable to physical requirements, the other to spirit requirements; both are mental processes. One is expressed in gross matter, while the other consists of spirit matter and spirit expression.

The next life, in its inception, is the sum-total of this life. And the structure fashioned by our acts and deeds here, is that which we must inhabit when we enter the spirit world.

The idea that all space is peopled and that in the universe there are no waste places, is startling, but it must appeal to our reason. The Master Mind, in creating, so planned that all space should be of use and occupied, for some purpose. The spirit world does not need our land, our waters, nor our physical atmosphere; they have their corresponding elements. Who shall say they cannot live and move in the invisible sphere about us, and surround themselves with thought creations? They live beyond and outside physical bodies, beyond our vision, yet with us. While their presence is felt by the many, it is known only by the few. This is the great misfortune of our so-called civilized world.

Whatever of the spirit sphere we are prepared for when we leave the earth plane, that spiritual sphere we shall inhabit. Our homes will be such as we have made ourselves. Kindred souls mingle together there as they do upon earth, sympathizing with and enjoying the society of one another. The homes there are as varied as upon earth, but each one is his own architect.

I have never been able to make clear in my mind just the process in and by which our thoughts and acts create in the after life the environment that they do. Take the following description:

“One passing from the earth plane finds a home which, to his perception, is substantial, objective, familiar and real. It embodies and represents his thoughts, purposes and attainments, the outward expression of his mental, moral and spiritual self. That home is healthful, attractive, artistic and beautiful, if he has provided the requisite conditions. Whatever it is, it is home.”

In this regard, it may be noted that our thoughts must, and do, find expression. A thing is thought out before it is carried out, and if those relating to the physical are built, why not others that relate to spiritual conditions? This subject is but one of many I do not as yet understand. Then, again, I wonder if I fully comprehend any matter relating to the next life.

There are many spheres in the spirit world. To some the highest spiritual life is full of activity, however, no such heaven will appeal to the tired earth soul. He will long for some friendly haven of rest, and he will find it. To those in bondage, the after life is freedom. To the sick, it is health. To the cripple, it is strength and unlimited space in which to wander. To the tired laborer, it is eternity, a place without time and where there is no thought nor care of time. He will find that there is no more wear and tear nor fatigue for him. No matter how many journeys he may make, he will not feel tired and worn as upon earth.

Duties there must be, where many are gathered together, but they are such duties as will be one’s greatest happiness to perform.

The more noble the soul, the more it feels the encumbrance of the earthly body; it is at times an uneven partnership—that of an immortal spirit and an earthly body. How often the willing spirit is unable to keep the tired body at its many tasks, and what a release when dissolution takes place and the spirit is able to ascend higher.

What one has gained and needs will be his in the spirit spheres. There is the closest love and quickest sympathy between the earth plane and the spirit world. We shall each find a different home, suited to our work. Our work which now lies upon the earth plane is for us to perform the duties allotted to us. We may not be able to give to the ignorant learning, nor to the hungry food, but we can inspire their spirits to nobler, better deeds, while some one else, who is able, provides food and learning. Let them feel our love and sympathy, and let them see that, even if the clouds of adversity hang low over their heads, the soul is able to ascend to higher, better spheres. It is well to know that we do not travel the stony path of life alone, to feel that, no matter how rough or dark the way may grow, we can, if we will, stretch forth the hand and feel an answering clasp— a clasp that makes the heart grow braver. The Creator seems so far away to most of us that, unless we can have the love and help of one another, we feel lonely. It will ever be impossible for the finite to grasp the infinite, but it is possible to help one another, and find, in so doing, something that gives us courage.

SPIRIT OCCUPATIONS

AGAIN we come to a practical question: the occupation of the countless so-called dead, their daily life, and the method adopted to reach a higher development. If there be occupation, what is the average citizen qualified to do, and, in this connection, we must here consider qualifications.

It is a fact to be noted from experience that it requires years of study and close application to do anything, except hand labor, well. One who aspires to the law must now have a fairly good education, if not that of a college graduate. Then he must enter upon four years of study, followed by years of practice, before he is qualified to do good work. It is the same with the physician, and all other professions. High position is gained by years of labor. Only when fitted is one entrusted with responsibilities, and the ambitious work long and hard to qualify themselves for the positions they would occupy. This is just and proper.

Childhood is taught, youth studies, and manhood labors to qualify for the highest place which in life they may be called upon to occupy. It is a fact to be regretted that in most instances high positions are sought for the purpose of acquiring money, and the largest amount of money possible. Worldly ambitions and desires relate almost wholly to physical things. It may be said that the development of mankind, and it has been splendid, has been along physical lines, and the question may be asked, “How are men qualified to take up work, and what is the character of work in the after life, if there is work?”

Before taking up that question, let us remember that nothing physical passes into the spirit world. All the money and property acquired is, as we know, divided among earth people entitled thereto, and usually it is spent with all convenient speed. Litigation pertains to property, and, there being no physical property in the after life, the lawyer will have no practice. The physician and surgeon will have no occupation, for the reason that the physical bodies on which they practice are not there. The only ills are mental. Scientists who recognize only matter having three dimensions will not at first be qualified intelligently to work with spirit material that is so high in vibration that they know little of it.

Nature’s great purpose contemplates that mankind in this life should first of all develop the spirit, refine the inner body in which the individual functions, and qualify by years of effort to meet the conditions of all mankind, for this life is but a preparatory school in nature’s great plan.

How can we acquire spiritual riches? What must one do to become so developed that he may intelligently meet the new conditions and take up the work that will be required of him?

These are questions that can be answered. The answer is, play fair. In every transaction do to others as you would have others do to you. Help those who are less fortunate. Scatter words of kindness lavishly; lend a helping hand to those in need; let the thought be clean and pure; do not teach what you do not know; do not mislead; and labor to understand all natural law. These things and such thoughts will refine and develop self and qualify one to enter into the new conditions in the life to come, without shame and without regret. Such has been my teaching from those in spirit life.

If every one knew that here and now every act and thought was photographed in his psychic ether, and that in dissolution all became visible, some at least would hesitate. The thought that wrong can be hidden gives many courage. Thought makes character, and in the end character is visible.

What have I learned of the daily life and occupation of the living dead? One long an inhabitant of the higher plane, has said:

“We have schools here for the development of the soul of man, and to teach him his relation to mankind; to instruct him in the wonders of creation, impart to him knowledge of the inhabitants of the numerous worlds in space, to aid man, also, in experimenting in chemistry and all other branches of science, for in this life we can explore the uttermost extent of the universe. We also instruct in political economy and laws governing humanity.

“We also point out conditions and means whereby to help the unprogressive and helpless portion of mankind.”

Another states:

“Again, we have more advanced schools, colleges and great universities of learning. The young, as you know, grow to maturity, and those who in earth life appear old at dissolution, having thrown off the old flesh garment, function in the fullness of maturity. There are here no old people—all are young—and age, as you use that word, depends on individual development. Earth people, as a rule, think that when they have passed through high school and universities, they are through with study. When they arrive here and appreciate that knowledge is the stepping stone of their progression, they attend our temples of learning in great things, where more advanced teachers instruct them.”

Another said:

“In the spirit world, as in your world, are numerous libraries. These men and women grow intellectually. Many books are composed and written in spirit spheres, and the authors endeavor sometimes to impress their words and wisdom upon the brains of some sensitive ones upon the earth sphere. Again, a book written by one in your plane is by mental activity first created in spirit substance. It had to be before it could be clothed in physical substance by you, and we have all those books, as well as those wholly written by spirits, but none are permitted in our libraries that are not founded upon truth. It is interesting to see the vast number of spirit people thronging our libraries, studying the works of the more advanced spirits, similar to what is done in the libraries of earth.”

Another said:

“We have hospitals, many of them mental hospitals, where the insane, weak and mentally deficient are treated and developed, and those who understand that work, labor to restore normal conditions, for dissolution does not restore disordered minds or develop mentality.

“There are homes to build, and homes commenced on earth to finish; and they are as different as the homes of your earth. Yours are first fashioned in our ether, then constructed out of earth material by the hand of man. Ours are made out of etheric material and fashioned and erected by and through mental or, to be more correct, spirit thought. All this, as with you, requires effort. You may hire others to build earth homes, but here each builds his own, and many are very busy doing it.

“You ask me to speak particularly as to the occupation of our people. It is a subject vast in extent, for our labors transcend yours, though our methods are different. While our labor is largely in the mental or spirit field of action, yet you must remember we have fields and vegetation where those versed in such work find occupation. But it is in the more advanced field of chemistry and philosophy that spirit people seek to enter, and here millions labor to understand and comprehend the laws of Nature, and how to apply them. It is a busy world and no drones are found, except in the earthbound or lowest of the spirit spheres.”

Concerning different avocations, this one said:

“I am here in this way to try to tell you of some of the conditions of our world. Here we have different avocations assigned to us, according to our needs and desires.

“Some engage in teaching and training the intellect of those who need and desire such training.

“Some with great love of children find ample opportunity for the use and enjoyment of this attribute of their natures in the kindergartens for the many thousands of children continually arriving on these shores.

“Some are most happy in endeavoring to assist the friends of earth into higher and better conditions and in counteracting the abnormal influences of undeveloped and misdirected spirits over the minds of mortals.

“So it is that there is work of benevolence and philanthropy for all who are prepared for such work.

“The exercise of active philoprogenitiveness furnishes the same delightful enjoyments to the soul over here as with you, and greater; for here we more clearly discern the far-reaching consequences of our endeavors to do good to whomsoever is in need of assistance.”

Another said:

“Let me speak of the music here, of those harmonious vibrations that touch the soul, that universal appeal that is understood by all races, regardless of the languages they speak. The music of your world is crude, indeed, compared to celestial compositions and songs. Here we have harmonious vibrations, expressed in what is called music. It elevates the soul, and we devote much time to its cultivation and to instruments for its expression. It is all vibration. Many are occupied in this work. It is only now and then that our songs and our music are impressed on earth’s sensations.

“We do not devote so much time to spirit matter as you do to physical matter. With you it dominates your thought. With us, matter is secondary, and spirit development dominates. It is so much more vital.

“The coming of infants unborn, babies and children, requires the attention of many. Those women who never in earth life knew the joys of motherhood, find it here and do that work. While some care for these little ones, others teach them.”

Again, one said:

“In the lower spheres, when those who are held there realize that the only way to improve their condition is by helping others, and have a genuine desire to help, the way is shown.

“This question of spirit occupation is too great for special treatment. Occupation varies and is as diversified as the thoughts of men. But this you should know: there is work and a place for each new spirit. The pity of their poverty! Few have made any effort to find out what nature requires of them here; few ever gave the subject a single thought. And so they come, one by one, that becomes a great crowd every hour, and only now and then we find a spirit that can take up and do good work; the others have to be taught, even as little children are taught the simplest things.”

Another said:

“Those who have led clean, fine lives, and have enriched the world, come here and, without a break, take up their work and go on.”

I could write a volume on the occupations of those who have preceded us, but enough has been said to impress mankind that the after life is real, and that there we work to develop the spirit, just as here we labor to develop and adorn the physical, while the spirit hungers and development is stayed.

What position will the average individual occupy when he enters the new life? What position has he qualified himself to fill intelligently? Stripped of all earthly possessions, money, goods and chattels gone, he has nothing left but the spirit clothed with kindly acts that have enriched his soul. If he has made the world happier and better, he goes radiant and glorious.

Ideals are like stars. We shall not succeed in touching them with our hands, but, like the traveler in the desert, we take them as our guides. Should not the young be impressed with the fact that the ideal life is one that has enriched itself spiritually, and that material wealth is in all cases a secondary consideration?

Again, one, describing conditions in the great beyond, says:

“The realities of the spirit world are beyond description. I might spend hours telling you of it and not reach your minds with any conception of its glory, its greatness, its grandeur. It is so vast in extent, so marvelous, that any attempt to give you more than a faint idea would be futile. Not until you get here and see for yourself can you have any conception of the home of the soul. We have our mission—to try to get knowledge through to the shore line of your earth. We are working our best to enlighten the world and prepare its people for the death change. It is our business to instruct those who need help, the same here as with you. Many thousands of your people cannot even read, and reach us with so limited mental development as to need all our energies in their advancement out of ignorance, wrong education and false religious teachings. Few on your earth have any idea of the changes that take place along the life line. As they come, we gather and instruct them as you do in your schools—especially in your night schools, where the ignorant seek enlightenment.”

I am impressed with the fact that very many of those called learned will realize at the end that they are among those that need teachers, and will find it necessary to attend night-school in this spirit world.

Excerpt from Frontiers Of The Afterlife