The Children of the Heavens - Robert Bayer (editor) by Robert Bayer

The Children of the Heavens Editor: Robert Bayer (2016)

Table of Contents Children in Heaven by Emanuel Swedenborg — p5 A New Life in the Heavens Above by Hudson Tuttle — p20 Spirit is Immortal Life by Mrs. J. H. Conant — p22 Children in the Heavenly Spheres by Mary Washington — p26 The Book of Knowledge by John Newbrough— p29 The Book of Jehovih’s Kingdom on Earth by John Newbrough— p30 Do Children Pass at once to a Higher Sphere? by William Stanton Moses — p32 The Jewels by Carlyle Petersilea — p34 Little Ruth by Aber and Nixon — p36 What Became of That Fetal Life? by Aber and Nixon — p38 Zelda Schooling Spirit Children by Aber and Nixon — p41 Exegetical Spiritualism — Resurrection by J. M. Peebles — p45 The Destiny of Man by Wesley Aber— p48 Future of a Child by Edward Randall—58 The House of the Harpy by James Hewat McKenzie— p65 The Unborn Dead by Edward C. Randall — p67 The Other Side of the Veil by Mary Bruce Wallace — p73 Mother and Child Reunion by G. Vale Owen — p76

The Fate of Children by J. S. M. Ward — p79 At The Children's Home by G. Vale Owen — p82 Stillborn Children by G. Vale Owen — p88 Children Stories Received and Arranged by 'Sis' by Charlotte Elizabeth Dresser — p94 Child Life Beyond by Edward C. Randall — p112 Welcoming the Children to The Better Land by Mary Bruce Wallace — p123 The Care of Little Children by Charlotte Elizabeth Dresser — p126 Of Birth and Death: From Whence To Where? by Walter DeVoe — p129 The Children’s Sphere by Anthony Borgia — p138 Brought Back to Earth by The Eloists— p152 A Nurse from the Plateau by The Eloists— p154 Pro-Life Feminism by Jeannine Parvati Baker—156 Wanted: Mothers by Anonymous— p165 Bless the Innocents by The Eloists— p171 The Gift of Life by The Eloists— p172 Growing in the Spiritual Worlds

by The Eloists— p175

Peace by The Eloists by — p176 Dear Souls of Light by The Eloists — p177 Lines of Light by The Eloists — p180 The Sacred Life Immortal by Robert Bayer — p183 Eternal Families of Love by Robert Bayer— p185 3

The Development of the Unborn Child by Walter and Betty Shepherd—187 A Family of the Heavens by Robert Bayer— p207 The Cosmic Family Eternal by Robert Bayer— p210

Children in Heaven Heaven and Hell Emanuel Swedenborg (1758)

Some people hold the belief that only children born, within the church enter heaven, not children born outside the church. The reason they give is that children within the church have been baptized, and by means of baptism have been introduced into the faith of the church. These people, however, do not know that no one gains heaven or faith by means of baptism. Baptism simply serves as a sign and reminder that the person needs to be reborn, and that the person born within the church can be reborn because the Word is there, in which are Divine truths for regeneration. The Lord also is known there and He is the source of regeneration. May they know, then, that every child, wherever he was bornâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;within the church or outside it, of godly or of godless parents â&#x20AC;&#x201D;every child is accepted by the Lord when he dies and is brought up in heaven.

According to the Divine design, he is taught and filled with affections for what is good. By means of these, he is filled with insights into what is true. Then, as he is made complete in understanding and wisdom, he is introduced into heaven and becomes an angel. Everyone who thinks rationally is capable of understanding that no 5

one is born for hell, but everyone for heaven; and that the individual himself is at fault for entering hell, with children being incapable of guilt as yet.

Children who die are just as much children in the other life. They possess the same childlike mind, the same innocence within their ignorance, the same gentleness in all respects. They are only in beginnings in order to become angels. For children are not angels, but do become angels. Actually, everyone who departs this world finds himself in a similar life state—the child in a child’s state, the adolescent in an adolescent’s state, the young adult, the adult, the aged, in the state of a young adult, an adult, or an elderly person—although later each individual’s state does change. The state of children has an advantage over that of others in this respect, that children are in innocence, and evil is not yet rooted in them by their real life. Their innocence is of such nature that all the elements of heaven can be grafted into it, for innocence is a container for the true that belongs to faith and the good that belongs to love.

The state of children in the other life is much better than that of children in this world, since they are not clothed with an earthly body, but with one like an angel’s. An earthly body is intrinsically heavy. It does not accept basic sensations and basic impulses from the more inward or spiritual world, but from the more outward or natural world. 6

So children in this world learn to walk, to control their movements, and to talk. Even their senses, such as sight and hearing, are opened only by practice. It is different with children in the other life. Because they are spirits, they act immediately in accord with what is within them, walking without practice. They even talkâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;at first, to be sure, from general affections that are not resolved into thought-concepts. But before long, they are introduced into these as well, which can happen because their more outward aspects are at one with their more inward ones. On the flow of angelsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; speech from affections differentiated by means of thought-concepts, with the result that their speech is wholly shaped by thoughts from affections.

As soon as children are revived (which happens immediately after their decease), they are borne into heaven and entrusted to angels of the feminine gender who during their physical life had loved children tenderly and had also loved God. Because they had in the world loved all children with a virtually maternal tenderness, they accept these as their own. And the children, from their inborn nature, love them as though they were their own mothers.

Each woman has as many children as she wants from her spiritual parental affection. This heaven appears in front of the area of the forehead, right on the line or ray along which angels look toward the 7

Lord. It has this location because all children are under the direct care of the Lord. Also the heaven of innocence, which is the third heaven, flows in among them.

Children vary in their native qualities. Some have the nature of spiritual angels, some the nature of celestial angels. Children of celestial nature appear toward the right in heaven; children of spiritual nature appear toward the left. In the Grand Man who is heaven, all children are in the region of the eyes. Those of a spiritual nature are in the region of the left eye, and those of a celestial nature are in the region of the right eye. This is because the Lord appears in front of the left eye to angels in the spiritual kingdom, and in front of the right eye to angels in the celestial kingdom.

Since children are in the region of the eyes in the Grand Man or heaven, we can see that they are under the Lordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s direct observation and care.

Let us describe briefly how children are raised in heaven. From their guardian, they learn to talk. Their first speech is simply an affectional sound that gradually becomes clearer as thought-concepts become involved. For thought concepts stemming from affections are the basis of all angelic speech (material on this subject may be found in the appropriate chapter. 8

First of all, there are subtly instilled into their affections (which all spring from innocence) the kinds of thing that are presented to their sight, quite delightful things. Because they are from a spiritual source, elements of heaven flow in simultaneously within them, and the infantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; more inward levels are opened by this means. So day by day they become more perfect. Once this first stage is completed, they are transferred to another heaven where they are educated by teachers; and so the process continues.

Children are taught mainly by means of representations suited to their native giftsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; representations so beautiful, and so filled from within with wisdom at the same time, that no one could ever believe it. In this way, step by step, an understanding is instilled into them which draws its soul from what is good. At this point I may describe a pair of representations I have been privileged to see, which may be taken as typical of other representations.

At the outset, they were portraying the Lord rising from His tomb, and at the same time the union of His Human with His Divine. This happened in such a wise way that it surpassed all human wisdom, yet at the same time it was in the innocent style of infants. They represented a concept of a tomb, but not a concept of the Lord with it except so indirectly that one could scarcely tell that it was the Lord, 9

as though He were a great way off. This is because there is something funereal about the tomb which they were dispelling by this means. After this, they carefully let into the tomb something airy that looked thin and water-like, by which they indicated (albeit with a suitable indirectness) the spiritual life inherent in baptism. After this, I saw their depiction of the Lord’s descent to those who were bound and His ascent with them to heaven, all done with matchless care and reverence. The childlike aspect was that they let down little cords, not at all obvious, very delicate and slight, with which they supported the Lord in His ascent. Ever present was a holy fear lest any element in the portrayal border on anything that did not contain something spiritual and heavenly. There are other portrayals in which they are engaged, by which they are guided to recognitions of what is true and affections for what is good, for example plays adapted to the minds of children.

I was also shown how delicate their understanding is. While I was praying the Lord’s Prayer, and they were flowing into my thought-concepts from their own understanding, I sensed that their inflow was so delicate and mild that it was composed almost entirely of affection. At the same time, though, one could notice that their understanding had been opened by the Lord, for what came from them seemed to be flowing through them. The Lord flows into children’s concepts above all from their inmost realms, for nothing 10

has closed these, as is the case with adults â&#x20AC;&#x201D; no principles of falsity against understanding what is true, no life of evil against accepting what is good and thus becoming wise.

This leads to the conclusion that children do not enter the angelic state immediately after death, but are led into it step by step by means of insights into what is good and true, all in keeping with the whole heavenly design. For the slightest elements of the inner nature of every one of them are known to the Lord. So they are led in accord with each and every shift in their own tendency, toward acceptance of things true derived from what is good, and of things good derived from what is true.

I have also been shown how everything is instilled into them by means of pleasant and charming things suited to their gifts. I have been allowed to see children most beautifully clothed with garlands of flowers glowing in the loveliest heavenly hues around their breasts and their slender arms. Once I was allowed to see some children and their nurses, with some virgins in a garden parkâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;not a wooded park, but one with banks of laurel with most elegant gateways and paths giving access to its inner areas. The children themselves were garlanded with the same flowers, and as they entered, the shrubbery over the entrance became more joyfully radiant. We can thus ascertain the quality of their delights, and can also ascertain that they 11

are led into the good elements of innocence and charity by means of charming and pleasant things, with these good elements constantly instilled into the pleasant and charming means by the Lord.

I have been shown, by a means of communication common in the other life, what childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s concepts are like when they see any particular object. It was as though each and every thing was alive, so that life is inherent in the individual concepts of their thought. I could also see that children on earth have virtually the same concepts when they are involved in their play, not yet having the kind of considered opinion adults do about what is inanimate.

It was stated above that angels are either of a celestial or of a spiritual bent. The ones of a celestial bent are clearly distinguished from the ones of a spiritual bent. The former think and speak a little more gently, so that almost nothing is noticeable except a fluent something stemming from a love of what is good, for the Lord, and toward the neighbor. The latter do not function so gently; instead, something rather like fluttering wings is noticeable in certain situations among them. This is evident from their indignation, among other things.

Many people manage to suppose that children remain children in heaven and are like children compared to angels. People who do not 12

know what an angel is have managed to confirm themselves in this opinion by the likenesses in churches here and there where angels are portrayed as children; but the actual situation is quite different. Understanding and wisdom constitute an angel. Just as long as children do not possess these attributes, they are with angels but are not themselves angels. But once they become understanding and wise, they become angels. Furtherâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;which surprised meâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;they do not then look like children, but like adults. For at that point they are no longer of a childlike nature, but of a more mature, angelic nature.

This is inherent in understanding and wisdom. The reason that children look more mature as they become more perfect in understanding and wisdom is that understanding and wisdom are spiritual nourishment itself. So the very things that nourish their minds are nourishing their bodies as well. This stems from correspondence, for the form of their bodies is nothing but the outward form of their more inward elements. It is worth knowing that children in heaven do not mature beyond the beginning of young adulthood, and remain at that point to eternity. To let me be quite sure that this is the case, I have been allowed to talk with some people who were reared as children in heaven and grew up there. I have talked with some when they were children, and then with the same people when they were young adults. I have heard from them about the course of their lives from the one age to the other. 13

On the basis of statements made above about the innocence of angels in heaven, we may establish that innocence is what accepts all the elements of heaven, and that the innocence of children is therefore the matrix of all affections for what is good and true. The statements we refer to are the following: that innocence is wanting to be led by the Lord and not by oneself, that a person is involved in innocence to the extent that he is moved out of his own selfhood, and that the measure of his freedom from his selfhood is the measure of his involvement in the Lord’s “Selfhood.” The Lord’s ‘Selfhood” is what is known as the Lord’s righteousness and worth. The innocence of children, however, is not real innocence because thus far it lacks wisdom. Real innocence is wisdom; for to the extent that a person is wise he loves to be led by the Lord which is the same as saying that a person is wise to the extent that he is led by the Lord. [

So infants are led from the outward innocence in which they are first involved (which is known as the innocence of infancy) into inward innocence, which is the innocence of wisdom. This latter innocence is the goal of all their instruction and advancement. So when they attain the innocence of wisdom, the innocence of childhood which had served them as a matrix in the interim is bonded to them.

The nature of children’s innocence was depicted to me as something 14

wood-like, almost devoid of life, which is brought to life as they are perfected through the agency of insights into what is true and affections for what is good. Afterwards, the nature of real innocence was depicted by a very beautiful child, very much alive, and naked. Actually, the innocents who are in the inmost heaven and therefore nearest the Lord, look quite like children in the sight of other angels. And some are naked, since innocence is portrayed by a nakedness which does not occasion shame. This is what we read about the first man and his wife in the Garden (Genesis 2:25); this is also why, when their state of innocence came to an end, they were ashamed of their nakedness and hid (Genesis 3:7, 10, 11). In summary, the wiser angels are, the more innocent they are; and the more innocent they are, the more they look like children to themselves.

This is why â&#x20AC;&#x153;infancyâ&#x20AC;? in the Word indicates innocence I have talked with angels about children â&#x20AC;&#x201D; whether they were free of evils because they did not have any realized evil like adults. But I was told that they are just as much involved in what is evil, that they too are actually nothing but evil. But like all angels, they are withheld from what is evil and held in what is good by the Lord, so completely that it seems to them that they in their own right are involved in what is good. For this reason, after they become mature in heaven, to prevent them from involvement in the false notion that the good they have is from themselves and not from the Lord, they are occasionally 15

allowed to slip back into their inherited evil elements, and are left in them until they know and realize and believe that this is in fact the case. One particular person who had died as an infant and grown up in heaven held this kind of opinion.

He was the son of a certain king. So he was allowed to slip back into his inborn life of evil things; and I saw then from his life-sphere that he had a passion for dominating others and took acts of adultery lightly. For him, these were evils acquired by heredity from his parents. But once he recognized that this was his own quality, he was again accepted among the angels he had been with before.

In the other life, a person never suffers punishment because of inherited evil, because it does not belong to him. That is, he is not at fault for being what he is in this respect. Rather, he suffers punishment because of the realized evil that does belong to himâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that is, the amount of inherited evil that he has made his own by his life activities.

This remission of grown-up children into the state of their hereditary evil is not to make them suffer punishment, but to let them know that in their own right they are nothing but evil, and that they are delivered from the hell within them into heaven because of the Lordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mercy. So they know that they are not in heaven because of their own worth, 16

but because of the Lord. This prevents them from showing off in front of others because of the good within them, for this is in opposition to the good of mutual love, just as it is in opposition to the true content of faith.

Several times, when numbers of children were with me in groups at the same time (these were still wholly in a childlike state), they sounded like something soft and disorganized, as though they were not yet coordinated as they would be when more mature. Surprisingly, some spirits who were with me could not refrain from urging them to speak (this kind of desire was innate in the spirits). But every time, I noticed that the children balked and did not want to talk. The refusal and resistance—accompanied by a kind of resentment—are things I have often perceived. When they were given the ability to talk, they kept saying only that it wasn’t so. I was taught that this is what children’s temptation is like, to accustom and introduce them not only to resisting what is false and evil, but also to not thinking, speaking, or acting solely at the prompting of someone else. This has the ultimate goal of their not letting themselves be led by anyone but the Lord alone.

From the matters just cited we can draw conclusions as to the nature of the upbringing of children in heaven. Specifically, it is a matter of their introduction, by means of understanding what is true and 17

wisdom in what is good, into angelic life, which is love to the Lord and mutual love, both containing innocence.

How different this is from the upbringing of children on earth in many cases can be deduced from the following example. I was in the street of a large city and saw some small boys involved in a fight. People crowded around, looking on with great pleasure, and I was told that the parents themselves urged their children into these fights. The good spirits and angels who were seeing these events through my eyes were so repelled that I could feel their horror â&#x20AC;&#x201D;particularly at the fact that parents were egging their children into such situations. They said that parents in this way snuff out at this early age all mutual love that infants have from the Lord, and lead them into attitudes of hatred and vengefulness. As a result, by their deliberate behavior they shut their children out of heaven, where there is nothing but mutual love. Let any parents who wish their children well, then, beware of this kind of behavior.

Let us now state the nature of the difference between people who die as adults and people who die as children. People who die as adults have a plane acquired from the earthly, material world, and take it with them. This plane is their memory and its natural, physical affection. This remains settled and then acquiesces, but all the while it is serving as an outmost plane for their thought after death, since 18

their thought flows into it. As a result, the nature of this plane and the way the rational corresponds with its contents determine the nature of the person himself after death. In contrast, children who died in childhood and were brought up in heaven do not have this kind of plane. Instead, they have a â&#x20AC;&#x153;natural-spiritualâ&#x20AC;? plane. This is because they draw nothing from the physical world and the earthly body. Consequently, they are incapable of involvement in such crude affections and their resultant thoughts; in fact they draw everything from heaven. Particularly, children do not know that they were born in the world, so they believe they were born in heaven.

This means that they do not know what a birth other than a spiritual one isâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a spiritual birth being one that occurs by means of insights into things good and true, and by the intelligence and wisdom that make a person a person. Since these things come from the Lord, they believe that they belong to the Lord Himself, and love this fact. Still, the state of people who have matured on earth can become just as perfect as that of children who grow up in heaven, if they set aside bodily and worldly loves (which are loves of self and the world) and accept spiritual loves in their place.

A New Life in the Heavens Above Life in Two Spheres: Or Scenes in The Summerland Hudson Tuttle (1855)

Far away in the ether, where the zones of the Spirit-world sweep in vast folds around their primary world, on a jutting promontory, overlooking the earth below, a class of children are grouped with their guardian and teacher, enjoying the glory of the scene. They are waiting for the coming of someone from the space below and soon they are rewarded, for the spirits of Aldine and Cousin Ray floated up as a beam of light and were greeted by the group.

Scarcely was the welcome over when a spirit, tall and radiant, stood before them, holding up by the hand the spirit of Ava.

“I have come with my child,” he said to the teacher, to ask you to take her into your group, and care for her as it is not possible for me now to do.”

“Most welcome,” replied the beautiful teacher, and all the children came around the timid Ava, who scarcely realized the meaning of the change through which she had passed. They embraced and kissed 20

her, and called her their sister, and made her heart light and happy with affection.

“I must return to earth,” said Ava's father, “for my wife, alone and in want, is dying, and I must welcome her from death; I will soon bring mamma to you, my child.” Then the teacher said to the happy children, “This Easter-morning will be kept with joy by our friends on earth, because it is the day sacred to the resurrection of life from death. Two new members have been born into our life, and we will visit other groups, and beautiful places that we may become acquainted with this new and immortal life.”

Spirit is Immortal Life Flashes of Light Mrs. J. H. Conant (1872)

Q. Is life, or that principle of vital activity which is manifested through the human organism, spirit? If not, what is it leaves the body at death?

A. Spirit I define as something undiscernible by human sense; something which no living soul can measure or analyze. I define life to be, so far as we understand it, a manifestation of spirit. Those things which our senses perceive, recognize, are the things of life, all living things, every one of themâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;not one dead; and they are all manifestations of spirit. That subtle power that defies the scalpel, and passes out of the body at the change called death, I believe to be spirit, co-eternal with the God-spirit, and part and portion of the divine life, â&#x20AC;&#x201D; such a part as that divine life saw fit to exercise over humanity. You call it the spirit of man, the soul of man or woman. It matters not by what term it is recognized. It is the one spirit, the infinite, all-pervadingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a something indestructible, without creation and without end.

Q. You consider all spirit immortal? 22

A. I do, most certainly. And I have most ample proofs that it is all immortal.

Q. Then animals are not at death swept into a grand chaos—the great mass of spirit—to be again worked over into some other form?

A. By no means. Here is the rock—the rock of form—upon which all classes of theological scientists split, and many of them founder; the rock of form, supposing that the form we have or behold to-day will exist forever; that the immortality rests with that, is dependent upon that. By no means is it. Forms are constantly changing, as spirit has need of higher instruments through which to express itself. The instrument is made better. How is it with regard to the flowers? They are not to-day what they were years ago. And why not? Because the God that was within them called upon the God that was within the human intellect, and said, "Come, intelligence, shed your dews upon me, act upon me, bring me into a higher form of good." What was the result? Why, the husbandman went to work to make more beautiful flowers, to add new hues to their fair faces, to make more beautiful their forms, to change for the better the rose and lily, not at all infringing upon Nature or Nature's God. Immortality does not call upon the form for its power. By no means. Forms must change. You have evidence of that every day of your lives. But the immortality that 23

belongs to the form is immortal forever and forever. There is no sudden change of those forms, but a gradual growth. If the change was sudden it would produce too great a shock in the realm of intelligence; therefore it is very slow, comes as you are prepared for it. The years throw their snows upon your brows as you are prepared to receive themâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;just so fast, and no faster.

Q. If spirit is not matter, is all spirit the sameâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that is, equally advanced or perfect? If so, what benefit is derived from its manifestation through matter? A. That spirit is not matter, matter is every day proving. But that spirit is inseparably connected with matter, matter is also every day proving. Matter is the expression of spirit, not the spirit; the outer bark, the foliage, the branches, not the inner, invisible life. What the advantage? Why, all intelligence can answer that question as well as we can. Of what advantage is it to you of this age that you have greater light than they who lived ages before you did? Since you require greater light, certainly it is for your advantage to have it. All the expressions of spirit through matter are not only an advantage to matter, but is also to intelligence, to that subtle force that expresses itself through the human brain, and says, "Behold, this is very beautiful or very grand." The world of matter was made for the world of intelligence. When you keep this in your mind, you will hardly wonder that matter changes its form.

Q. Is the spirit of the infant an emanation from that of the parent? and, if so, is the spirit of the parent less an individualized entity, or does it suffer any diminution or disarrangement in its powers?

A. The infant is physically a physiological result of the parents' life, but spiritually it is not. It is a spirit independent of either father or mother; you may be sure of this. It is from God, the Great Spirit, the Father and Mother, the Whole, the Universal Life.

Q. If the spirit of the infant is not an emanation from that of the parent, whence does it originate? At what period during the incubation does it take possession of the human organism?

A. At conception.

Children in the Heavenly Spheres The Social Life of Heavenly Spheres Mary Washington (1879)

In our blessed abode, are homes for children where they are nourished, protected and educated in all the departments of life, having natural guardians or chosen ones, who are attracted by their love of children to rear them to an individuality of self-sustaining power, oftentimes being brought to earth to be sustained by the magnetism of the mother, or some member of the family. An infant is always held within its mother's magnetic arms, until it can be sustained without it.

Here are buildings of oblong shape, with central towers that rise to immense height, surrounded by smaller towers, these again by balustrades; buildings grand as the soul can conceive of, in which there is gathered everything that is necessary for information and instruction, and for the happiness of children.

The beautiful play-ground surrounding, is a wonder of marvelous beauty, with its grottoes, its lawns and flowers, its miniature lakes and islands, all fresh and beautiful, with pebbly shores, and shelly banks,

and

sandy

bottom

like 26

glistening

snow,

where

rainbow-colored fishes glide in the crystal waters, giving full play to the imaginative soul of children. Here you will find groups of children nestled in some sylvan retreat on moss-clad mounds, surrounded by towering trees, whose wavering branches invite the pure atmosphere from flower-clad vales within its shady nook, where are interlaced beautiful foliage and flowers, whose perfume charms the soul with joy. Bands of children are gathered by their teachers and guides, who hold joyous associations, often visiting other regions to luxuriate in the beauty of some sylvan shade, where tiny barks, like beautiful sea-shells, are darting over the sparkling waters, filled with life and joy, decked with beautiful flowers in varied hue, sparkling and dancing like fairy spirits upon some emerald lawn, where the gold and silvery sheen envelopes them in its glorious halo. On our silvery waters float beautiful homes or palaces of pleasure, where the artist, the scholar and poet can gather sweet themes from their soul-thoughts, blending them with the beautiful of this heavenly land, without the trials or sorrows of pain or hunger from physical needs.

One spot in our sphere is held as a great retreat by explorers and visitors. It is called the cave of song, from the flute-like notes that reverberate through its subterranean archways. Sometimes solemn and pathetic, at others, joyous and enchanting in its symphony. At times, you feel that it is enchanted ground, by the musical voices that come from its, at other times, silent chambers, whose gorgeous 27

beauty is unrivalled by outward life.

Here are wonderful domes hung with jewels of stalactites, which flash and quiver in the reflected light through interstices, reflecting on the water beneath in cascades and water falls, giving it a grand and romantic picture. Here you can wander through wondrous apartments, giving an opportunity for study. Here are archways with fluted pillars of alabaster, which tower to an immense height, leading to domes and galleries, where statuary of the most wonderful conception of every living thing, is embodied and at rest in its appropriate place, true to the material of outward life. Gems of great brilliancy flash in their gorgeousness, giving a life and warmth to this enchanting cave of summer-land.

The Book of Knowledge Oahspe John Newbrough (1882)

And yet the depth is not full. In a stately mansion a woman of high caste is dead. And it was said she was blessed, because since not having borne children, ease and glory were at her command. And now, with curious mirth and some envy, the spirits of other women who were outcasts come to behold the newborn spirit of the leader of fashion. And as they turn about, nurses come with children born from her body and her spirit, by abortion cast into heaven, even in Jehovih's face accursed: A curtain of black death that will not away, choketh her. To the left, the right, or up and down, there is nothing but the wail of sweet babes - Mother, why murderest thou me? Was I not Jehovih's gift? The woman of fashion hides but is not hidden, even the soiled outcasts are white beside her; like a woman that is crushed but cannot die, she squirmeth and writheth in the kingdom she built with her own hands.

The Book of Jehovihâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kingdom on Earth Oahspe John Newbrough (1882)

We were created in order to help rescue the world from darkness, and to rejoice in our own lives, because of such good as we can do unto others. Behold, we were orphans and castaways; Jehovih wedded us to all the world. Having, therefore, wisdom and purity within themselves, and, withal, having sufficient association to choose from, they did choose and wed for love's sake. Nor did any worldly ambition control their choice, or influence them in hope of any gain as to their wedded partners. And it came to pass that the offspring begotten of these were indeed a new race in the world, as to wisdom, love, purity and spirituality, and new also as to beauty and shapeliness, the like of which had never been before in all the world. And they were by birth so developed in su'is, that, when they were grown a little, education came to them without books. To see and to hear, either corporeally or spiritually, was all they required in order to accomplish wisely all things required unto mortals. And, with them, the heavens were as an open book; the libraries of the heavens as the sound of voices full of wisdom. And the angels of ancient and 30

modern times came, and stood by them, and walked with them, revealing the past and the future. And, yet, none of these colonies were bound by written laws, nor had any of them leaders or masters, nor any government, save the Light of Jehovih. Nor was one colony bound by the customs and commands of another colony; but all of them lived by the highest Light that came to them. Nor owned any man, woman or child anything more than the clothes he or she wore; but all things were Jehovih's, in care of the keeping of the colony.

Do Children Pass at once to a Higher Sphere? Spirit Teachings William Stanton Moses (1883)

SM: Do children pass at once to a higher sphere?

No: the experience of the earth-life cannot be so dispensed with. The absence of contamination ensures a rapid passage through the spheres of purification, but the absence of experience and knowledge requires to be remedied by training and education, by spirits whose special care it is to train these tender souls, and supply them that which they have missed. It is not a gain to be removed from earth-life, save in one wayâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that misuse of opportunities might have entailed greater loss and have more retarded progress. The soul that gains most is the soul that keeps ever before it the work that has been allotted to it, which has labored zealously for its own improvement and the benefit of its fellows, which has loved and served God, and has followed the guidance of its guardians. This is the soul which has least to unlearn, and which progresses rapidly. All vanity and selfishness in every form, all sluggishness and indolence, all self-indulgence mars progress, We say nought of open vice and 32

sin, nor of obstinate refusal to learn and to be taught. Love and knowledge help on the soul. The child may have the one qualification; it cannot have the other save by education, which is frequently gained by its being attached to a medium, and living over the earth-life again. But many a child-spirit leaves the earth-life pure and unsullied who would have been exposed to temptation and grievous trial; and so it gains in purity what it has lost in knowledge. The spirit who has fought and won is the nobler one. Purified by trial, it rises to the sphere set apart for the proven souls. Such experience is essential; and for the purpose of gaining it many spirits elect to return to earth, and, by attaching themselves to a medium, gain the special phase of experience which they need. To one it is the cultivation of the affections that is necessary; to another the experience of suffering and sorrow; to another mental culture; to another the curbing and restraining of the impulses of the spirit, evenness of balance. All who return, save those who, like ourselves, are charged with a mission, have an object to gain: and in being associated with us and with you they gain their progress.

This is the one desire of spirit. More progress! More knowledge! More love! till the dross is purged away, and the soul soars higher and yet higher towards the Supreme.

The Jewels The Discovered Country Carlyle Petersilea (1889)

“A little child had passed through the Gates Eternal, and was lying happy and content in the arms of an angel. We heard the mother’s wail of grief, and hastened to comfort her.

She was kneeling by the grave of her baby, desolate and heart-broken; to her the child was dead she would never see it more; the heaven she believed in was too far off, too indefinite; she felt that her baby was lost to her forever.

We whispered words of hope and comfort to that sorrowing heart, placed the spirit-form of the babe within her arms, and then with gentle magnetic touches we opened the mother’s spiritual sight and she saw the babe within her arms, she felt its little hands caress her face, its little lips as they were pressed to hers, she looked into its beautiful spiritual eyes and her tears were dried. My baby! oh my baby! You are not dead but here with me.”

The jewel was a pearl, and it sent forth rays of soft and beautiful light as the angel passed it to the one on the left. 34

â&#x20AC;&#x153;You all know,â&#x20AC;? said the angel, â&#x20AC;&#x153;that every jewel here has its own story. Some kind and loving deed was done; if not directly to the denizens of earth, to some new-born spirit.

Some of these jewels represent the taking and caring for infants sent into spirit-life, before they ought to come, through the ignorance of parents. Other of these gems, are of those that think out inventions and improvements of all kinds for the benefit of both earth and heaven. Others, for the amelioration of all suffering, and using their influence to bring those together that will give the greatest amount of happiness to each other; for happiness is heaven and heaven is happiness; and you all know that ignorance and suffering is all the hell there is, or ever will be; and it is to save mankind, both in and out of the body, from ignorance, suffering, or hell, that we all are constantly working. We also know that whenever any creature suffers there is ignorance and wrong somewhere. If the wrong has not been committed by the sufferer, it has been committed by someone; and it is to right these wrongs, and to bring all things into harmonious and happy relations, that we are constantly at work. The greatest amount of suffering known to us is caused by ignorance. To enlighten those below us in wisdom will event usually create a heaven for all, and at last all will inhabit the kingdom of heaven which is happiness. 35

Little Ruth Beyond the Vail Aber and Nixon (1901)

Little Ruth is one of Zelda's pupils. Perhaps this Ruth is daughter of Rachel Ann John, who is sister to N, this secretary. ("Rending the Vail," 31) It is not because this is a sister to the secretary, but because the case is one of a class of many thousands of similar cases, and because this particular case was susceptible of identification by N, that the spirits, having charge of this work, chose this case to illustrate this class of conditions, and intimate to the psychic student the great schemes in the economy of Nature by which she ultimately gathers into her illimitable garners the ripened harvests of all the seeds she ever sows: and to present to mankind lessons which, being heeded, might assist Nature in working out her ultimate designs to the advantage of mankind in the coming ages.

It was not until one year after closing these sĂŠances that they got hold of the facts concerning the immediate cause of the premature transition of sister Ann. And now that the reader may have advantage of such facts as seem necessary to the case, we may be excused in retrospecting so far as we have learned.

Some eighteen years before the beginning of these sĂŠances, sister Ann married at the homestead in Washington County, Indiana, and immediately accompanied her husband to their home several hundred miles away, and they never again met her in the physical life. In due course of time there was one son of this union, who yet survives. And, later still, perhaps three years from the marriage, she had a fetal abortion, brought on by taking calomel or some other violent purgative in an over-dose, as prescribed and insisted on by a physician or some very confidential friend, which she now, in spirit, says she "felt she ought not to take, but did so just to please"; and from the complication, blood-poison caused her transition.

And it is now said by some who were present when she was about to pass out of her body that she became both clairvoyant and clairaudientâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;could both see her spirit friends within the room and could hear them talkâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and thus the spirit messengers were enabled to assist her through the gates with joy and peace to her.

What Became of That Fetal Life? Beyond the Vail Aber and Nixon (1901)

On the evening of the 5th day of June, 1890, at the second sĂŠance for "Rending the Vail," sister Ann made her presence and identity known in materialized form, and thenceforward, at different sĂŠances, for nearly two years she appeared, always holding in her hands the appearance of an exceedingly small babe, and would claim it as "my little girl baby," but never would give any explanation, and Ann, never having been apprised of the cause of her death, farther than that it was some kind of fever, was unable to understand what the appearance of the little babe meant.

At the sĂŠances of 1899 and 1900 for "Beyond the Vail," sister Ann sometimes was invisible form, but did not present the form of a babe in her hands or arms. In making illustrations for this book, the spirit artist made one which is found above, recognized as a good likeness, in many respects, of this sister Ann, and she said: "That is my picture." And the artist made another picture, found also above, which presents so many features in common with the picture of sister Ann as to lead us to conclude that the two pictures are undoubtedly pictures of mother and daughter, and after we so recognized the pictures, the spirits informed us that we had guessed the true intention of the pictures and that the picture of the child is designed as an illustration of the personality and work of one called in spirit Little Ruth, and of whom Reed speaks in his description of work in the spirit world.

If the reader will turn back and read carefully all of last above reference, he or she will be prepared to discern what has become of our fetal life in question: That just as Ruth was given in charge of Little Peg, and by the assistance of Dr. Reed, got Little Peg into a cozy little home in spirit life and changed the name Margaret or Peg to Crystal, because Little Peg was becoming such a beautiful spirit, so some qualified spirit messenger was given charge of the spark of life eternal that escaped from this fetus in question, garnered it away and cared for it and named it Ruth, in designation of the messenger 39

work it would be qualified to do. But, ere this, Ruth has grown to adult condition, passed all the schools of Zelda, and is climbing the eternal mountains of grandeur and intelligence that the spirit Thomas Paine so eloquently portrays in "Rending the Vail."

Purpose of This Case

Perhaps part of the purpose of this spirit band in presenting this case in the manner in which it is done is to further assist the psychic student and the student of medical jurisprudence who may chance to peruse these pages, in learning that:

(a) From a period exceedingly early in fetal life it contains an organized spirit entity that survives destruction by whatever cause of the fetal body.

(b) That the tiny spirit is received into the tender care of kind messenger spirits, who look after its welfare, much the same as would have been the case with it in this world, had the child been permitted its natural birth alive in its physical body.

Zelda Schooling Spirit Children Beyond the Vail Aber and Nixon (1901)

Zelda, a teacher of one of the schools in spirit life, while standing in white attire before the circle, made the following writing, to-wit: (a) “Good-evening, friends. I say 'friends' because all are friends who are working to better the human family. (b) “Dr. Reed requested of me some time ago to pay you a visit (1205, and in obedience to his request, I am present to tell you, in my imperfect way, of my work in spirit life.”

“My mission is to teach the little ones who come to us in such great numbers from the earth plane how to grow wise in the spirit spheres. (a) “I have been in spirit life so many years that I have no ties on the earth plane. (b) “I am called Zelda in the spheres, and this name will suffice while I visit you. (c) “This is my first visit to earth for many years. As my work lies far beyond yours, I have no desire to visit this plane, and would not be here tonight if the good Doctor (Reed) had not requested me to give you something in regard to the work I am engaged in. He tells me 41

that a simple recital of my work may be very instructive to you. (d) “I had been in spirit life a long time before I was taken to the home I am now in to help teach the little ones.

“At first I was one of their lower or under teachers, as you call them on earth; and through years of teacher's work I have risen to be one of the highest teachers. [Of the juvenile schools] (a) “We take the little ones as they come to us from your earth plane and train them to be useful in this sphere. (b) “We find some who will make good messengers to the earth, and we train them for that. Others are more adapted to visit the higher spheres and bring knowledge to us that is of inestimable value.

“By the way of parenthesis, let me add: If you will try to realize that the inhabitants of the spheres above you are only human beings shorn of their earthly bodies, you can comprehend all I am going to tell you. There are spirits in countless numbers who are higher than I, and we are as hungry for knowledge from them as you are to hear from us. 'To illustrate:

Not long ago we were puzzled to know how to instruct some of our higher pupils. And again I will say that the age of the pupil has nothing whatever to do with its advancement. In fact, we lose sight of time as you count it on your plane. We therefore sent one of our little 42

messengers to one of the higher spheres and they in turn sent out a messenger. And in due course of time as you say, we received the desired information.

First Disposition of the Little Spirits â&#x20AC;&#x153;The little ones who come to us direct from the earth plane are placed in the preparatory and taken care of by those who have charge of that work, and by the other scholars. 'These kind spirits take them to visit those who are near and dear to them. both in the spirit spheres and on earth. In this way they are not only able to comfort those who are grieving for them, but are thus taught to go and return by themselves and aid others in doing the same.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We use no text-books in the schools of spirit life, but through the power of our minds we are able to place before our students pictures of any subject we wish to explain. A spirit who passes into the spirit spheres before it has reached maturity is best taught by instructive games.

Teaching Music â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have a system of music that far surpasses the music of your earth, and we only use such as will awaken the highest aspirations of the soul. We teach our pupils anything in regard to harmonious sounds; then if they desire to make it their mission to return to the 43

earth plane to inspire mortals to compose music, they attend what you would call conservatories.â&#x20AC;?

Exegetical Spiritualism â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Resurrection Seers of The Ages: Embracing Spiritualism Past And Present J. M. Peebles (1904)

During the process of death, consciousness, in the seeming, is sometimes suspended, as with those who are suddenly

ushered

into the spirit world by capital punishment, suicide or accident, and with those especially whose habits of life, given to pernicious gratification, have materialized their

senses, as if locked in "chains

of darkness." Those who have lived pure and exalted lives, aglow with truth and charity, do not lose their consciousness for a moment, but cognize the transition from a darker to a more illumined room in the mansions of the Father.

There are no idiots to the spiritual vision. Imbecility is caused by malformation of the physical organization. Entering the spirit world, released from ante-natal and social perversions, they immediately commence their upward march of knowledge and wisdom.

Infants are immortal from the sacred moment of embryonic existence. Uniting the alkali and acid, instantly you have the third and higher compound â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the salt. So when the positive and negative relational 45

forces blend, then and there is the divine incarnation. Nature never takes a retrogressive step. If purposely blasted, during the gestative life, the spiritual principle remaining undisturbed, and the individuality intact, the tender riven bud is borne by matronly angels to the nursery gardens of innocence to be trained in the virtues of the spheres. Designed abortion is murder ! Multitudes will meet those offended little ones that ought to have had a natural, physical birth and the experiences of an earthly life, preparatory to a ripened entrance into the world of spirits. Prematurely ushered there, the spiritual objective being based upon the material, they are necessitated by a law of their being, to return under heavenly guidance to the mediumistic spheres of sympathizing friends to gather glimpses of, and participate in, earthly struggles and victories. Identity is cognate with existence itself. It is the natural attribute of spirit â&#x20AC;&#x201D; its very impressibility. It depends not on form for recognition, but the form on it. Every part of the grain we sow is represented in the harvest. Essential spirit being inseparable substance, and ever reporting itself magnetically, we recognize it by sympathy, the same as a child in the darkness knows its mother without the aid of sight or hearing. Our spheres are ourselves extended â&#x20AC;&#x201D; our

very loves

and thoughts in telegraphic communication. When, therefore, spirits from the mortal lands meet the gone before, instantly, by sympathy, they recognize each other, and the past, with all its checkered pilgrimages, indelibly engraved on the tablet of memory, rolls in upon 46

the consciousness with light and shadow, all in order of relations and events, in sweet, unspeakable joy and fall of glory.

The Destiny Of Man The Dawn of Another Life Wesley Aber (1910)

As the ages of time glide away, as a dream that is dreamed floats away forever into the irrevocable past, we stand in mighty hosts and watch mortals in their daily ways, how they control their actions and order their lives.

Mortal man in all the wanderings of his mind, is never satisfied with today, no matter how much he has accomplished or how great a good has come to him. He is ever looking ahead and sighing for the rising of tomorrow's sun, so that he can witness what it brings forth to him.

So much he has laid out with mathematical precision, to perform and fully accomplish that he cannot see the future unfold with a pace too swift. And this insatiate desire to do more, be more, and thus better himself and his loved ones, is as inborn within him as is the breath he breathes. This rising force is simply the result of progression, upon which is built every element which mortals possess. No man can stand still in the face of the moving power of the Universe. He either progresses or retrogrades. So that each act of a lifetime either points 48

to one or another of these ways. And again, there are many of your world, and even of ours who have fallen into darkened conditions on account of their own choice and the backward slipping of their own footsteps, when such environments at last have tended to awaken the better part of their natures, and seeing at last into what they had fallen, their condition served as a dear lesson to them, and they at once turned their faces toward the bright sun of knowledge, and the road of progression. When this is so, they are made the better and stronger men and women for it. The chain of man's destiny is wrought together link by link, by the strong hand of Providence , as the smith welds together bits of burning red-hot iron. And as the fragments of his life join each with each, to make at last the real acts of his existence so does his destiny begin to unfold itself, and lay out like a scroll to be read at will. The daily aspirations of the mortal mind that are the indwelling sentiments of the consciousness are the deeds in embryo that have birth, and at last form many links in destiny's chain.

The inborn voice of the soul which speaks in various tongues and grows into principles which actuate the deeds of a man's life, whether good or bad, forms a part of his destiny, the tiny thoughts in embryo which take vital strength and grow into shape until they become things and take their places in the mortal existence as kindness and at last form the consummation of an earthly life. But does the output 49

of man's inner consciousness from day to day find an end of occurrence with death? Ten thousand times no! Just as he lays aside his earthly apparel (the flesh) and sinks down to rest in the evening of death, thinking his labors are finished, he scarcely loses consciousness in the last of mortal life, until his spirit eyes are looking on the light of the Immortal morning, and he realizes with the fullness of his newly awakened spirit senses that his destiny was not finished on earth, but just begun! When we are near mortals of earth we often hear one and another speaking of some person's destiny, and they usually interpret a destiny as meaning some one accomplishment or another, or refer to it as some business or vocation acquired by them in earth life, saying, "Oh, it was his destiny," or "Well, she had to do her grand work, it is certainly her destiny." A man's destiny is his own precious gift from the Most High, and it accurately means the actual fulfillment of certain laws that abide for him and in his aura for the purpose of fixing his life on earth and in Spirit Spheres, just as it was originally intended to be. A great many of the first plans for mortal life and action that are laid with accurate precision are never reached by persons for whose lives they were intended for the simple reason that these persons are ever ready to neglect the impressions they daily receive and throw aside as imagination or chaff, the whispered words from spirit lips, whose messages are as signal lights along the pathway of truth, and as the guiding rays of a candle under the sheltered roof to the weary, 50

travel-stained wanderer in the Storm of Darkness and Ignorance.

Instead of seeking to understand the governing motives of their lives, they turn their faces into the shabby and threadbare path of ignorance and failure, and then when the Hand of Death beckons them across the river and opens the gates of another existence, they wonder at their own seeming nothingness and failures, and are lost in amazement that they have not really tried to learn something of themselves long ago. How many, many of earth's people today that do not realize the building or the completion of their own destinies! As man's real destiny built day by day, as the years of his life unfold, so should man strive to crowd out of his nature all the petty follies of his earthly years and grow more and more in the Image of God.

Fix your minds, Oh mortals of earth, on some of the high and mighty destinies of those who have left your earth in a blaze of glory as it were, and even as you have had the privilege to learn of them through contact with the love they have left behind, so should you order your lives, that in the law of eternal progress you could witness the upbuilding of a destiny for yourselves of which you need never be ashamed. The reason for a great deal of the hubbub and confusion of your world is because the mortal only strives to realize what is of necessity for his present wants, and tries not to build for himself a future monument of Eternal Peace. In the Heavens the usual destiny 51

that man sees is day after day of gaining the world's goods, so that when he grows old in the years of earth his prosperity he will find him fattened in worldly gain, and Spiritual Ignorance.

The mortal who comes to realize that every happening which comes into his life is for the best, so long as he is living the principles which he feels to be right, is the man who is stepping on the high plane of Progress and attainment of success in his each and every undertaking.

Believe in yourselves or you will be the creatures of failure. If your friends believe in you, you will be a success, but the first element of your friends' trust imposed in you is your own self confidence. Your daily acts, your thoughts, your beliefs, your prejudice, your loves, and hope and fears, all join together in the eternal and form link by link, the wonderful chain of your destiny. They are but the elements which help to make you what you finally are.

How many there are in your world who are all unconsciously laying the corner stones of their destinies today; putting in the foundation principles on which their whole lives are to rest. The multitude of men go on and on up the steep hill of Earthly Fortune and never stop to pick the thorns from their bleeding feet (that come as gentle reminders that their pace is too swift), but trudge tip and tip the steep 52

Incline of Worldly Prowess, until some day the hour of the Eternal comes and they are called to the realms of Spirits, to houses not made with hands, and find they then have nothing in keeping with this new life, only the change called death, and at this occurrence in their existence, when the last scale has fallen, and they are permitted full sight, they see at once that what would have been the greatest possibilities in their mortal destinies were completely left out and moreover alas never known ! A mortal can understand only so much as his experience up to the present time has taught him. It is impossible for him to thread his way into paths unknown, for he cannot comprehend that which has never been his pleasure to be conscious of. If it were otherwise, how different would thousands and thousands of destinies be.

Future of a Child The Dead Have Never Died Edward Randall (1917)

THE orthodox teachings make no attempt to tell us what becomes of children who go out of the earth-plane in infancy. How many millions of mothers have had babies too young for speech, boys and girls just able to talk and walk, sink into a dreamless sleep, and having kissed for the last time the lips of love, have seen the little bodies lowered with tender hands into the grave, and as the earth fell upon the casket have heard from the lips of ignorance "ashes to ashes, and dust to dust." With hearts without hope they have gone back to the house of sorrow, the toys, the little bed, the vacant chair, the ache in the heart, the tears that fall in countless thousands of homes, and the cries that go out in the night to know where in the vast universe the baby is, if it lives at all.

"What becomes of those who go out in infancy, you ask? "Do they develop in mind and body? Shall we know them and meet them again? Will they know us? Is there any one to comfort and care for them, and teach them?

Do they miss and seek the mother love?" These and a thousand more questions have been asked in the countless ages that have gone, and are being asked in every desolate home in the world today.

Let me tell what I have learned of those conditions through many years of speech with those in the afterlife.

I repeat what I have said before and shall say again, for it is the key to comprehension, that the infant at conception possesses an etheric form, at that moment clothed in a physical garment or flesh body. This etheric form is material, composed of matter, and as matter cannot be destroyed; it follows that etheric child-body cannot by any possibility be annihilated.

The infant etheric form by the process of dissolution passes out of the physical garment which it took on at the moment of conception, the same garment that it wore at birth, and becomes an inhabitant of the next plane of consciousness, where all is etheric, where nothing physical can enter. This change may be likened to an earth-birth. There are thousands of childless women, who never in earth-life found expression for the mother-love. These, with countless others who find their greatest happiness in doing good together with those

of blood relation, attend at such a time and take and care for the little stranger in the new environment.

Let me give an instance that came under my personal investigation. It is a well known fact that children up to about three years of age are able to, and do see spirit people; some have spirit playmates. The instance I am about to relate was the passing of a little boy, only one week old, who had a sister a little under three years of age, with whom I was privileged to make an experiment. This little girl night after night saw the baby boy, and described him; he was in the same room with two spirit nurses in attendance, while another woman was from time to time described as being present. Again, this three year old sister often saw the spirit-baby when she was away from her home. On various occasions I verified these statements by inquiry from those in the afterlife during our investigation, and found that what the little sister related had actually taken place. The woman who appeared from time to time was the grandmother; she, assisted by two nurses, cared for the little stranger, and on several occasions, before he could articulate plainly, prior to his fourth birthday, I heard him speak to me. This was a most valuable experience.

Children in the afterlife are cared for very much as they are here. There are those who find their greatest delight in mothering the motherless, and teaching them words of speech and wisdom; so 56

under such unselfish care the children reach mental and bodily maturity just the same as they would if they had remained in this world.

The etheric process of development is interesting; children need mother-love no less in spirit than in earth life, and as the mother sleeps, those in charge place the etheric baby-form close to her heart, where it rests absorbing the love so necessary to its existence. We little know how close the afterlife is, how close its inhabitants come to us, the influence they exert on us, or the result of our thought vibrations upon them. Then again, as the children grow, they keep in touch with us from day to day, and when we go out into the afterlife, they know and greet us as we enter the life that has no night.

There are in the next life kindergartens, schools, colleges, and universities of learning just as we have here, and what is more, the inhabitants do not cease to study and increase their store of knowledge when they reach a certain age, but there are great lecture halls where the advanced ones teach the supreme laws of Nature, where all are welcome and all go, and so the secrets of the Universe are understood. There is but one aristocracy in the life to come, and that is founded on the refinement and development of character. Measured by this standard, how very poor are our very rich! I have 57

often written that the aristocrats of the afterlife have gained their position by helping others less fortunate. They rise by raising others. Those alone stand erect who stoop above the lowly.

Here is what a sojourner in the next plane has said of the little ones:

"Many people have puzzled as to the state and condition of young children in the spirit world, and it is on that subject that I desire to speak, more particularly, tonight. There are millions of young children of all ages passing into the spirit world every year. Some of them are of very tender age, while others know right from wrong. It is an interesting subject to inquire as to what they do in the spirit life. At the outset, I must tell you that there is a divine law in the spirit world, that whosoever passes into that kingdom before he has reached to man's estate upon the earth-plane, shall grow mentally to the stature of a man. You can gather from that that the 7 youngest child, even the infant which has been taken from you, will grow mentally and spiritually on the other side of life. Clairvoyants and others have often described young children in the spirit life, who have been recognized by mothers and fathers; they perhaps years after, have been somewhat astonished to hear of the child looking much older, and they have not been able to account for it. You will understand that the presentation of the spiritual form is in order that those in the flesh may be able to see them through the physical senses, and to note 58

that they appear to be growing toward manhood and womanhood. I am afraid that many people upon your earth-plane today are neglectful of their responsibilities to their children. If God has given you such a flower as a child, it is incumbent upon you by example and precept to train that child in spiritual things, so that ultimately he will be with you in the kingdom of Heaven and will rejoice in the knowledge that you guided him spiritually when an infant. But how careless are many people with their children! They forget that the child is all the time taking note, not of what they are saying, but of what they are doing. I assure you that if you are unmindful of your responsibilities toward your children, you will undoubtedly have to pay the penalty when you reach the spirit side of life."

Too little attention has been paid to the going out of children; the world has little knowledge on that subject. No greater blessing can come to the fathers and mothers of every nation and tribe than to know that children with bodies too frail to carry them through the earth-life are not lost in going from among us, but in the other life go right on with their growth and development under the care and guidance of good men and women who for love of humanity do the necessary work, and so enrich themselves.

I am impressed not to leave this subject without a word of warning to do no murder. Know that at the moment of conception out of the 59

mass of the universal good, out of the life mass, an etheric atom, a body infinitesimal in size and perfect in form is clothed, and no matter whether the physical birth is natural or premature, that life-force so individualized has commenced its journey back to God, and all the power in all the Universe cannot change its ultimate destiny.

I am told that into the afterlife countless millions of children have come and are coming who have never had the advantage of a natural physical birth and earth experience so necessary to their development, but that heartless mothers by abortive acts and with the aid of dastard physicians have done and are doing countless murders, more terrible in result than the taking of the life of a man, because the unborn infant is so weak and helpless. If this knowledge shall cause any mother to spare the life of her unborn child, blood of her blood, and bone of her bone, or the physician to pause in his criminal act, sorrow untold will pass both by.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox described perhaps better than she knew in her "Ballade of the Unborn Dead" the natural and logical result of child murder

"They walked the valley of the dead, Lit by a weird half light, No sound they made, no word they said, 60

And they were pale with fright. Then suddenly from unseen places came, Loud laughter, that was like a whip of flame, They looked, and saw, beyond, above, A land where wronged souls wait Those spirits called to earth by love, And driven back by hate. And each one stood in anguish, dumb and wild, As she beheld the phantom of her child. Yea, saw the soul her wish had hurled Out into night and death, Before it reached the Mother world, Or drew its natal breath. And terrified, each hid her face and fled Beyond the presence of her unborn dead, And God's Great Angel, who provides Souls for our mortal land, Laughed, with the laughter that derides, At that fast fleeing band Of self-made barren women of the earth. Hell has no curse that withers like such mirth.

'Oh, Angel, tell us who were they, That down below us fared; 61

Those shapes with faces strained and grey, And eyes that stared and stared; Something there was about them, gave us fear; Yet are we lonely, now they are not here.' Thus spake the spectral children; thus The Angel made reply: 'They have no part or share with us, They were but passers by.' 'But may we pray for them?' the phantoms plead; 'Yea, for they need your prayers,' the Angel said."

"I want to tell you," a teacher in the afterlife said, "of a little waif that came to us in infancy. We taught and carefully guarded, and schooled her in the pure conditions of our sphere until she approached womanhood, but she had no contrasts, therefore she could not judge of the relative purity and delights of her environment. In order that she should be able to enjoy her home and the glories of our world, it was necessary for her to have a knowledge of earthly conditions. And so I was instructed to conduct this child back to earth from time to time. When this child first returned to earth and was among your people, she could hardly endure even to examine the gross conditions, and could not understand how people could exist in such dark, crude elements. But, as I led her along from one condition to another, over the road she would have gone had she remained on 62

earth for the ordinary allotted period, I said to her: 'Had you lived your time in the body, you would have been in the condition in which you see these people.' I also told her that they would look gross to her when they reached the spirit state, but that in course of time they would improve enough to assume the state of purity and peace that she enjoyed. And as we journeyed on, we met one whose earthly experience had unfolded, and the little lady said: 'That one looks different.' And I told her that this one had received a higher training. And we passed along to another place in the earth-life where there were children of the poor and ignorant, as well as of the rich and learned. And we tarried until my little charge thoroughly learned the different environments of children on earth, and the great contrast between their homes, daily life, and schooling and those in spirit-life. This child had never known anything but innocence and purity, and she was far removed from the ordinary conditions of the childhood of earth. It was long before she could, in any degree, recognize it as a reality.

she would get the average experience of the church methods and be able to see wherein a great work, in brave hands, is greatly needed on the spirit side. Then, the minister proceeded with his discourse in his regular methodical manner, telling the people all he thought essential to prepare them to enter higher realms of the spirit. But the girl, now grown to nearly womanhood, could not accept the dicta of the minister, for she had up to now been raised in the spirit world and had learned nothing that was in harmony with methods attempted by the church to enlighten the people and prepare them for future realities. Therefore the teachings of the minister seemed to her so gross, so false, so out of line with all she had ever seen, heard, or read of in the land which had always been her home that she hesitated to remain, but I told her that her future work and welfare required that she learned as much as possible of the earth conditions in which your people live, and the kind of preparation such earth conditions make for their inheritance in our life. But the more the young lady heard of the sermon the more she disbelieved it. In fact, it was so much opposed to what she knew of the conditions on this side, and so different from what preparation while on earth for entrance to and enjoyment of spirit life should consist that at my suggestion she resolved to visit those who had just left the earth-plane, schooled under its teaching, and witness the effect of it; we, therefore, journeyed on."

The House of the Harpy Spirit Intercourse James Hewat McKenzie (1917)

The author, travelling on one occasion through the middle astral plane, visited a city which had almost fallen into ruins, the houses on the outskirts being quite impossible of habitation, for only the walls remained; others in a better state of repair were inhabited by people of a type such as might be met with on earth in slum neighbourhoods. The atmosphere of the place was disagreeable, and in the deserted streets from time to time one could perceive what appeared to be the dead bodies of new-born children, in various stages of growth. Entering one of the houses, these baby forms were everywhere to be found, let into the walls, lying on the floor, and upon the beds, so that there seemed to be no place within the rooms where one could sit down without seeing these strange creations. In these homes lived women whose lives on earth had been devoted to the procuring of abortion, and who had to suffer the annoyance of having these baby forms continually kept before them by unseen spirit operators. Before sitting down it was necessary to remove them from the chairs, and they frequently cast them out of the windows in their desire to be rid of them, but no sooner was this done than the forms were returned to the old position, for unseen eyes were always 65

watching, and brought them back as speedily as they were got rid of. These were artificial creations used by higher spirits as object lessons to awaken the conscience, and arouse these women to the unnatural enormity of their past evil practices. This irritating lesson seldom, failed to bring them to an understanding that what they believed was dead and unknown was in reality alive and known to all.

The Unborn Dead The Dead Have Never Died Edward C. Randall (1917)

I am impressed not to leave this subject without a word of warning to do no murder. Know that at the moment of conception out of the mass of the universal good, out of the life mass, an etheric atom, a body infinitesimal in size and perfect in form is clothed, and no matter whether the physical birth is natural or premature, that life-force so individualized has commenced its journey back to God, and all the power in all the Universe cannot change its ultimate destiny.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox described perhaps better than she knew in her "Ballade of the Unborn Dead" the natural and logical result of child murder.

"They walked the valley of the dead, Lit by a weird half light, No sound they made, no word they said, And they were pale with fright. Then suddenly from unseen places came, Loud laughter, that was like a whip of flame, They looked, and saw, beyond, above, A land where wronged souls wait Those spirits called to earth by love, And driven back by hate. And each one stood in anguish, dumb and wild, As she beheld the phantom of her child. Yea, saw the soul her wish had hurled Out into night and death, Before it reached the Mother world, Or drew its natal breath. And terrified, each hid her face and fled Beyond the presence of her unborn dead, And God's Great Angel, who provides Souls for our mortal land, 68

Laughed, with the laughter that derides, At that fast fleeing band Of self-made barren women of the earth. Hell has no curse that withers like such mirth. 'Oh, Angel, tell us who were they, That down below us fared; Those shapes with faces strained and grey, And eyes that stared and stared; Something there was about them, gave us fear; Yet are we lonely, now they are not here.' Thus spake the spectral children; thus The Angel made reply: 'They have no part or share with us, They were but passers by.' 'But may we pray for them?' the phantoms plead; 'Yea, for they need your prayers,' the Angel said."

conditions. And so I was instructed to conduct this child back to earth from time to time. When this child first returned to earth and was among your people, she could hardly endure even to examine the gross conditions, and could not understand how people could exist in such dark, crude elements. But, as I led her along from one condition to another, over the road she would have gone had she remained on earth for the ordinary allotted period, I said to her: 'Had you lived your time in the body, you would have been in the condition in which you see these people.' I also told her that they would look gross to her when they reached the spirit state, but that in course of time they would improve enough to assume the state of purity and peace that she enjoyed. And as we journeyed on, we met one whose earthly experience had unfolded, and the little lady said: 'That one looks different.' And I told her that this one had received a higher training. And we passed along to another place in the earth-life where there were children of the poor and ignorant, as well as of the rich and learned. And we tarried until my little charge thoroughly learned the different environments of children on earth, and the great contrast between their homes, daily life, and schooling and those in spirit-life. This child had never known anything but innocence and purity, and she was far removed from the ordinary conditions of the childhood of earth. It was long before she could, in any degree, recognize it as a reality.

"And, having learned of the methods of training in the institutions of earth, we pursued our investigations farther along; and, finally we came to where there was a great orthodox church; and there, unseen, we mingled with the congregation. She said: 'This church-house is not like ours at all. What is taught here?' Presently the services began. I told her to listen attentively to the minister, for here she would get the average experience of the church methods and be able to see wherein a great work, in brave hands, is greatly needed on the spirit side. Then, the minister proceeded with his discourse in his regular methodical manner, telling the people all he thought essential to prepare them to enter higher realms of the spirit. But the girl, now grown to nearly womanhood, could not accept the dicta of the minister, for she had up to now been raised in the spirit world and had learned nothing that was in harmony with methods attempted by the church to enlighten the people and prepare them for future realities. Therefore the teachings of the minister seemed to her so gross, so false, so out of line with all she had ever seen, heard, or read of in the land which had always been her home that she hesitated to remain, but I told her that her future work and welfare required that she learned as much as possible of the earth conditions in which your people live, and the kind of preparation such earth conditions make for their inheritance in our life. But the more the young lady heard of the sermon the more she disbelieved it. In fact, it was so much opposed to what she knew of the conditions on 71

this side, and so different from what preparation while on earth for entrance to and enjoyment of spirit life should consist that at my suggestion she resolved to visit those who had just left the earth-plane, schooled under its teaching, and witness the effect of it; we, therefore, journeyed on."

On The Other Side of The Veil The Thinning of the Veil Bruce Mary Wallace (1919)

On the plane where I now find myself we have personal Guides, but beyond this I understand we are each illumined by our own Higher Self. It is to help us to attain this that the Guides are given to us. They are distinguished by a brighter aura, and are so beautiful that we instinctively rely upon their help and advice. It is my Guide who is influencing me in this present line of action. On the other hand, we have perfect free-will to do as we choose just as on earth, and greater freedom to pursue and carry out our own ideals.

"Your world and this one interpenetrate. There are worlds within, and in to the Centre of Being. Not all here are conscious of your world. What I focus upon, that I can see; but our environment is not necessarily a counterpart of yours. We can make our own surroundings. "Yes! . through your mind I can see the soul-side of your trees. We have scenery which apparently changes in colouring similarly to yours, but this is brought about by the desire of our minds. We do not respond to earth's scenes except through a sensitive. As you have such a love of nature and such vivid feelings, I am able to see the scenes more vividly than through other sensitives." 73

"There are lots of children here, such darlings, and they are very happy and friendly. After a certain period of education they pass to higher planes. They are so lovely. Those who have a special faculty for managing children, make homes for them in cases where their parents are still on earth.

"There are also many beings other than man in these more subtle realms, as well as on other physical planets. We can communicate with them, and some of us study their habits somewhat as a traveler studies the ways of a foreign race. Many of these beings are very beautiful. I see them flashing through the air like the fairies of children's stories. Their bodies glow with light and colourâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;golden, rosy and sapphire. They have a lot to do with the inner molding of trees, flowers and Nature-stuffs. You think I am romancing, but indeed this is actually what I see. I see also seraphs from far higher realms, wonderful beings who pass by on waves of light, and are veiled as with a mist. Some of these are winged just like your pictured angels. "The highest spirits of all only come to us in vision or on rare occasions to cast light on something we need to know, or in connection with our work."

"We do not need food as on the earth, but are easily sustained by air, light and water, although some of us take fruit too from the trees in our 74

fields and gardens. Here we tend the trees by thought. Besides the gardens we find here seas, lakes, rivers, woods, mountains, every kind of glorious scenery. There are cities too, but fairer than your fairest dream of such. Ugly houses or slums we could not endure for a moment. There is no dirt or disorder here, and no bodily diseases such as exist on earth. Any want of harmony in feeling is at once shown as a shadow on the otherwise shining white soul-body. It can only be cured by thought and love. "We refresh ourselves when weary with work amongst unevolved souls, by bathing in the exquisitely clear streams and rivers. We create our own garments and houses by the power of thought, or if we are unable yet to do this for ourselves, our more evolved friends make them for us. There is such close and sweet fellowship here between soul and soulâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; no jar, no discord, as on earth; for all speedily gravitate to their own affinities of mind and temperament, living thenceforward in perfect peace and harmony. It is verily the 'Kingdom of Heaven' which we long for you to make outwardly manifest on earth. Believe me, this possibility is no mirage. It is the all-perfect plan of the Creator for man, in the Future. Then shall the words of the old Jewish prophets come true: The desert shall blossom as the rose; and all creatures dwell in peace together. It is our blessed mission to help to inspire you to make all these dreams actual even in your outer world."

Mother and Child Reunion Life Beyond The Veil: Book 1: The Lowlands of Heaven G. Vale Owen (1920)

This was granted her, and she looked on them through the Veil and shook her head sadly. “If only they could know,” she said, “How free from pain I am now, and comfortable. Can you not tell them? “ We tried to do so, but only one of them heard, I think, and he only imperfectly, and soon put it away as a fancy.

We took her from that scene, and, after she had somewhat gained strength, to a children’s school, where her little boy was, and, when she saw him, her joy was too great for words. He had passed over some years before, and had been placed in this school where he had lived ever since. Then the child became instructor to his mother, and this sight was a pretty one to see. He led her about the school and the grounds and showed her the different places, and his schoolmates, and, all the while, his face beamed with delight; and so did the mother’s.

We left her awhile, and then, when we returned, we found those two sitting in an arbour, and she was telling him about those she had left 76

behind, and he was telling her of those who had come on before, and whom he had met, and of his life in the school, and it was as much as we could do to tear her away, with a promise that she should return soon and often to her boy.

That is one of the better cases, and there are many such, but others are otherwise.

Now, while we waited for the mother who was talking with her son, we wandered over the grounds and looked at the various appliances for teaching children.

One especially engaged my attention. It was a large globe of glass, about six or seven feet in diameter. It stood at the crossing of two paths, and reflected them. But as you looked into the globe you could see not only the flowers and trees and plants which grew there, but also the different orders from which they had been derived in time past. It was very much like a lesson in progressive botany, such as might be given on earth and deduced from the fossil plants of geology. But here we saw the same plants alive and growing, and all the species of them from the original parent down to the present representative of the same family.

We learned that the task set for the children was: to consider this 77

progression up to this particular plant or tree or flower actually growing in that garden and reflected in the globe, and then to try to construct in their minds the further and future development of that same species. This is excellent training for their mental faculties, but the results are usually amusing. It is the same study which full-grown students are also at work upon in other departments here, and is put by them to a practical end.

One of them thought it would be a useful method to help the children to use their own minds, and so constructed the ball for their especial use. When they have thought out their conclusion, they have to make a model of the plant as it will appear after another period of evolution, and fearful and wonderful some of those models are, and as impossible as they are strange.

Well, I must not keep you longer, so we will continue when you are able to write again. God bless you and yours. Good night.

The Fate of Children Gone West J. S. M. Ward (1920) As in my last vision, I saw the whole landscape on my way to H. J. L., but this time spoke to no one till I was in H. J. L.’s room. As soon as I saw him, I asked, “What is the age limit at which children can enter Hell? I notice that from the account of the officer there are no children in Hell proper, and yet they are to be found in the seventh division of Hell.” H. J. L. answered, “You cannot, of course, fix any exact age limit. Things work much more reasonably than that. Thus if an infant dies who as yet knows nothing of God, it goes to the infant schools in Hell, as you know. If it has acquired a vague idea of God and a future life, it will come to our secondary schools in the realm of half-belief. “If it has acquired sufficient knowledge it may go to the college, and, finally, boys and girls who have a real living belief may go direct to the realm above this, or occasionally to the highest plane of all. In these cases they will have to complete their education on the intellectual side, although their spiritual side may be well developed. This is, of course, a reversal of what generally happens here. Usually our intellects have been developed largely at the expense of our spiritual functions. “Now let us consider the other side. “When a child reaches a certain stage in its development, roughly from five to seven, it would ordinarily begin to have some general idea as to right and wrong. Now if a child has been badly brought up, or if it inherits a perverse 79

and evil nature from its ancestors, or if obsessed, it may develop very unpleasant characteristics. It may commit serious offences, and in general may begin to develop badly. “Under these circumstances it is cut off very often at the wish of its guide and transferred to the astral plane. There, clear of many of the surroundings which might have dragged it down, it will have an opportunity of developing and of learning sufficient to enable it on leaving the astral plane to come at least to the realm of half-belief. “This period of child life stretches roughly from five to twelve, but, of course, may vary at either end. “The third stage is when they are ceasing to be children and becoming adults, especially in the matter of sex. This is a very critical age, and many children unfortunately choose the downward instead of the upward path. “The tendency is still, however, for the final decision to be left for the astral plane; and I must remind you that to a certain extent this is always the case. In the case; however, of an adult hardened in sin, the astral simply continues in its new life, repeating the sins of the former; but a youth who has started on the downward path, being less hardened, is more likely to be checked by the shock of death. Further, he is hardly likely to have had time to drive away His guardian angel in the way that a hardened sinner has. Thus even a thoroughly vicious youth will probably see the folly of his ways as soon as he reaches the astral plane, and the vicious habits, not yet being firmly rooted, will be easier to eradicate. “On the other hand, if he rejects this second chance and falls into the type of sins represented by ‘obsessing,’ he will sooner or later be hurled out of his astral body into Hell. But when that day comes he or she will no longer be a child, probably not in years, certainly not in 80

spiritual development. “Thus you see how it comes about that there are no children in Hell.” J. W. “But there are vicious children of five or six.” H. J. L. “Not many. They may be spoilt, thoughtless, and selfish, but there are few who are really vicious. Further, they too will realize the wickedness of their faults on coming over and seeing them visualize, as we all do. “If not sufficiently spiritual to pass straight on to us, they will remain on the astral plane and there learn wisdom. If, however, they do not learn wisdom, they will learn folly, but even that will take time to work out its full course, and only when they have become too gross and wicked for the astral plane will they drop to Hell. They will have ceased to be children when that happens. “But it is seldom that a young child does grow worse on the astral plane. They nearly all improve, and, moreover, the bulk of young children are too spiritual to remain even there, but come almost at once either to the elementary schools in the top division of Hell or else to us.

At The Children's Home Life Beyond The Veil Book 2: The Highlands of Heaven G. Vale Owen (1921)

I was making a visitation of certain homes at the instance of my Superior, to see how they did who lived in them, and to help by what advice I might, and to report on returning. So I went from one home to another, and came at length to a cottage in a woodland part, where there dwelt a number of children with their guardians. These latter were a man and his wife who had progressed, in the latter period of their ascending, side by side. These had the care of the children, boys and girls, who had been either stillborn, or who had died at birth or soon after. Such are not, as a rule, taken to those Homes in the lower 'spheres, but brought higher for their development. This is because there is little of earth to do out of their natures; and they also need more special care than those who have, even by a little, fought and developed in the earth battle of life.

The guardians greeted me, and the children came, at their beck, to pay me their welcome. But they were very shy at me, and did not easily respond to my talk to them at the first. All these children are very delicate in their beauty who come over here so, and I was much given to loving them, these little lambs of our Father and His Son. So 82

I enticed them, and at length they became easier of manner.

One little man drew near me and began to play with my belt, for its brightness pleased him, and he as inquisitive of its metal. So I sat on a little grass bank, and took him on my knee, and asked him if he would choose what pretty thing the belt should bring him. He was doubtful of my meaning at first and, following, of my ability.

But I repeated my invitation, and he replied, "A dove, please you, Sir." That was very polite of him, and I told him so, and that when little boys asked in such ways, trusting and believing, then they always got their will, if that will was wise and pleasing to our Father.

A Lesson In Creative Faith.

This saying, I placed him on his feet before me, and put out my will to the end he desired. And presently the form of a dove was seen in the plate of metal which fastened the belt, and this grew in distinctness, until at length it expanded beyond the plate, and then I took it, and it was a live dove which stood on my hand and cooed, and looked at me, and then at the boy, as if wondering which was the parent of its being. I gave him to the lad, and he took him into his bosom, and ran to show the others what had come to pass.

Now, this was no more than a bait to hook more fish. Surely they came, by one and two, until a little crowd of eager faces looked up into mine, not daring so much as to ask, yet longing to be brave enough to do so. Still I waited and said nought, but only smiled them back their smiles; for I was giving them a lesson in the power of faith, and their acquirement of it demanded some initiative on their part.

It was a little maiden who first braved to titter the wishes of herself and companions. She stepped forward and took the border of my tunic in her little dimpled hand and, looking up to me, said rather tremulously, "If you please, sirâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;," and then broke off and coloured with confusion. So I hoisted her to my shoulder and told her to ask her will.

She wanted a lamb.

I told her that orders were coming in in some good style, and growing in bulk betimes. A lamb was rather a bigger pet than a dove. Did she believe that I could give her a lamb? Her reply was very naive. She said, "If you please, sir, the others do." I laughed heartily, and called them nearer, and they said, Yes, if I could make a dove with feathers, I could make a lamb with wool on it (but they called it fur).

Then I sat down again and spoke to them. I asked them if they loved 84

our Father, and they said, Yes, very much, for He it was Who made all this beautiful land, and showed people how to love them. I told them that those who loved the Father were His true children, and that if they asked Him for anything wise and good, believing He was present in His life and power, they would be able so to make their wills use that power that the thing desired would come to them. So it was not needful that I should make any more animals for them, as they could make them themselves. But, as this was rather a difficult case to begin with, I would help them.

Then, at my bidding, they all thought of the lamb they wished to, have, and then willed that it should come to them. But nothing came of it apparently; and I restrained my power within certain limitation, of a purpose. After trying awhile I told them to pause.

Then I explained that they were not powerful enough yet, but when they grew bigger they would be able to do even this, if they continued to develop their faith, in prayer and love, and continued, "For you have that power, only it is not yet large enough, except to do small things. And I am going to show you that you have some of that power in you now, so that you will continue to learn your lessons from your good guardians. You have not yet sufficient power to create a living animal, but you have enough to influence one already alive to come to you. Are there any lambs on this estate?" They said there were 85

none, but there were soâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;me on an estate rather a long distance away, where they had gone on a visit a short time before.

"And you," I said, "by your faith and power have brought one of these lambs to you."

pointed behind them and, turning, they saw a little

lamb feeding on a path among the trees a little distance away.

They were too much surprised at first to do aught but stare at him. But some of the older ones recovering, broke away and ran, with cries of delight, to the place where he was and, seeing them, he ran sporting and prancing to meet them, seeming as joyous as they to find playmates to sport with.

"It's alive," they cried, and turned to beckon the laggards on; and soon that poor lamb was smothered with fondling and caressing, as he might have been a child of their own begetting. I do think they had for 'him a considerable sense of motherhood and proprietorship.

Now, this may seem more or less casual, according to the bent of him who reads. But it is essentials which matter. And I tell you that the pretty little lesson thus given was the spring of what will eventuate, perhaps long ages hence, in the creation of some cosmos, as it might be that of which your planet is a small member. It is thus the Principalities and Powers began to train for mightier things. What 86

they had seen me do was an act of Creation. What they had themselves done, with some little aid from me, was the beginning of such evolvement, which should lead them on to do what I had done, and then to progress, as we in these spheres do, from power to power greater still as faith is added to, little by little, as we use it in the service of Him Who gives it us to enjoy.

This is faith, and, unseen by you, or not so clearly seen, your faith it is which, sanctified by prayer and high motive, brings to pass its own fulfilment. Use it, then, but with care and circumspection and all reverence, for it is one of the great trusts which He has confided to youâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and to us in greater measureâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and that is no mean mark of His great love. Whose Name be blessed for the free Bounty of His giving. Amen forever.

Stillborn Children Life Beyond the Veil: Volume 4 - The Battalions of Heaven G Vale Owen (1921)

WHAT we have to tell you to-night will, perhaps, seem a little off the track of our narrative. But it is necessary to readjust your outlook in respect of a matter of some importance to those who would try to understand the differences which obtain in the life of these spheres as compared with your normal life of earth.

We speak of childbirth into these realms of those who come forth from the earth sphere but have not been endowed with a separate individuality therein. These children come here asleep, and you will realize that their first awakening is that process here which answers to birth on earth. They have never breathed the atmosphere, nor seen the light, nor heard any of the sounds of earth. In brief, none of their bodily senses have been exercised in the way for which they were prepared by their natural formation. The organs of these senses are, therefore, nearly, but not quite, perfect in their structure.

Moreover, the brain has never been called upon to interpret their 88

messages.

And so the child of earth lacks earthly qualities empirically, while having them potentially. These conditions do not apply to a child who has been actually born into earth life, even though he have but a few moments, or even less, of life before he pass on hitherward.

The problem, therefore, which they have to solve who take these children in hand is not a small one; for it is necessary both that the organs be dealt with so that a natural progress may attend the child, and also that the brain receives its lesson. In the case of an infant a few minutes old, this connexion between the brain and the organs of sense has been established and can be used in the maturing of those faculties dependent for their exercise on those organs. But a stillborn child brings not that connexion and [it has to be made on this side. Once that is done, the progress is merely a matter of orderly development, on the same lines as that of ordinary children.

To this end several means are pressed into use. There is the relationship between the child and his parents, and especially between him and his mother. He is brought into contact with her in such a way that he experiences what is as nearly as possible equivalent to birth. By this process he is made to feel his separation from her bodily, his individualization as a separate and complete 89

entity. This is achieved not by his taking a body of flesh, but by his being brought into intimate association in his spiritual body with the spiritual body of his mother. This does not affect so perfect an inception of contact between brain and organic faculties as does a natural birth, but it does establish in a definite way the relationship of earthly parenthood, and from that time the child is kept in touch with his mother in order that he may, as he grows up to maturity, be as others, so far as it is possible to compass this. Still, there is always some little difference between such children and those others who have been born on earth. They are lacking in some of the sterner virtues; and, on the other hand, they are more spiritual in their personality and outlook. But as earthborn children progress in spiritual development, and the stillborn children develop their knowledge of earth by contact with their mothers, and later with their other relatives, so the difference is minimized until they are able to associate on quasi-equal terms of loving friendship, and to help in the mutual giving of what each lacks.

So the earthborn are mellowed in sweetness, and the others are strengthened in character, and, both being included in a community, infuse an element of variety which is pleasurable as it is of profit.

You will see, my son, by what I have but now told you, how great is the responsibility of earthly parents to those their offspring in these 90

realms, for association with them is necessary to the true development of the earthborn children also. It is not an adequate life they lead if they are not kept in touch with their kin on earthâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;there is a hiatus which no one else can fill. And where the parents are of evil life, it is necessary that their spirit children be held aloof from their company for many years of earth time, until they be grown up and of such strength of will and quality of wisdom that they may help the guardians of those people in their watch over them for their well-being.

And most often this development is not sufficiently advanced that it be safe to expose the child to earth influences before the time of earth probation is over and the parent is called away to these realms of spirit. In such cases the only help the child can give is that of prayer.

Such a parent comes over here either with no affection for the child she has suckled at her breast, or else with no knowledge that the child exists at all. So the link between them, weak at best, grows weaker still as the child progresses upward,

59 and the mother

goes downward to her own place of purging. And by the time she had again ascended to the sphere where the child had awaited her coming all her earth life through, he has gone onward into the upper realms and is out of reach of her. 91

He may be cognizant of her, and send her of his help unknown to her.

But the link of warm love which should be about parent and child to bind them heart to heart is not, and never can be, in the ordinary progress of heavenly life.

I have told you this, my son, because we here have noted so much of disregard among you of the burden of motherhood in the matter of which I speak. And yet these sweet flowers, plucked before the bud be opened fully to life's sunlight, be so beautiful, and their wistfulness at the lack of own parentage so marked, it fills one with great distress to see it so. Not that they be in any wise unhappy. We would not permit that to be. But there is a lack, as I say, and it is only partly supplied by those dear mothers who lacked the achieving of motherhood on earth, and find it here.

So each, you will note, makes gift to the other of what that other lacks, and receives what is wanting in return. And it is very beautiful to see.

But, Arnel, why have you inserted this 60

essay in this place? It

seems to have no connexion with your narrative.

But yes, my son. 92

I have noted that query forming in your mind as you have written, and knew you would ask it of me in due time. And it was not without intent that I chose my theme to-night. For without such knowledge it were not possible to understand the Queen and her Consort, whom you have named Mary and Joseph. It is of their relation in the long, long past I have told you to-night. So first they came together. The fruition of their love-bond you have seen.

Children Stories Received and Arranged by 'Sis' Spirit World and Spirit Life Charlotte Elizabeth Dresser (1922)

In the wave of psychic interest which has swept over the world during and since the great war, many bereaved ones have found comfort; and many believe they have received communications from their loved ones, and have become assured of future companionship in a life where war is banished and sorrow unknown. A multitude of books has appeared, many apparently inspired by those who have met the "great change," yet still can look earthward; still can tell of their passing, and their awakening in that strange new life. The soldiers who gave their all; the scholars who left their books; the great minds who have long been on that farther side;â&#x20AC;&#x201D;all send some news of that spirit world, some description of its laws, occupations and interest.

Yet, one field of inquiry has been left, for the most part, vague or undescribed. This is concerning the kind of life that opens out for children, for the little ones who have passed over without their parents.

When, after many months of silence, Dee came to us, the veil between the two worlds seemed to grow transparent. At first it was enough to know that she lived,â&#x20AC;&#x201D;lived with her own personality, only intensified and made more beautiful. Then we began to ask questions concerning that life and its unfoldment to her, and soon we wished to know of her occupations. One evening we asked if she could tell us of her work. The reply came quickly: "Can you believe that I am developing into a teacher?"

'We surely can', we replied; 'but will you tell us just how and what you are teaching?'

"I am teaching little children at present, and love the work. I tell them stories that have a lesson in them.â&#x20AC;?

'Something like kindergarten work?'

"Yes; and I love it; for the children are so quick to learn, and so loving, too. I like to mother the little things, so that they may not miss too much the care and tenderness of the mother left on earth.â&#x20AC;?

'Can you give us some idea of the way you teach them?'

"I will try. Today it was in this way: "'Once upon a time', I told them, 95

'there was a beautiful fairy who took little children to a wonderful garden where they could play.

Then the fairy told them of a new game.' And here I tell it to them, pretending to quote the fairy's words. And so I draw them into all sorts of little, new, educational thoughts, by clothing the thought in a story.

"Sometimes I describe animals on earth, and they are much interested because they have never seen them here. You would laugh to see me trying to represent lions and tigers. But I do not tell them they would harm little children, because evil is not known to them. No thought of cruelty must be allowed to enter their minds.â&#x20AC;?

This description of her work made us wish to hear more, and one evening she gave us the following: "My children are always the dearest work that I have, and I hope that I shall never stop teaching them. Would you like to hear about to-day's lesson?

"I wished to tell them a story of activity in work; so I described the little things of earth, like the ants and bees and other busy little creatures. The children wanted to know what they were like and I tried to tell them. But I could not quite make them understand.

Then I tried to make pictures of them, but as I am no artist, that was not much better. So I finally said that the ants crawl and the bees fly. Then immediately we had a crawling, flying crowd of children that completely overwhelmed their teacher, and she called a halt to the lesson and joined in the fun!" Again, when we asked for a "kindergarten" story, she told us the following: "To-day I called a tiny child to come to me, and when I had her in my arms, I placed my hand on her head and said to the other children: 'Now this, where my hand is, is a beautiful house that we are going to furnish, and you may tell me what we should put in it'.

One said, 'There must be a big room full of love', opening her arms as if she would enclose the universe. Another declared that we must put in kind thoughts for other children who had no mothers here.

Another said we could 'make a playroom in the house, and play games, and see pictures of all those queer animals on earth'.

Another thought, 'We might have a little mother's room, where we could mother other little children as you mother us'. I said, 'Do you think the rooms in this beautiful house are all filled now?' One replied, 'Wouldn't love fill all the others?' 'Pretty near it', I said, 'but how about truth and knowledge and growth?' 'Why, each of these could have a room, too', they said. And the little child in my arms began to feel of 97

her head to find where all these rooms could be.â&#x20AC;?

We asked once if she did not have many children come to her who had been wrongly taught, or not at all, and therefore had only false ideas and impressions. My pencil wrote: "Most of them leave their false impressions with their bodies.

One of the children here was a child of criminal parents, and came over poisoned by wrong teaching; but the influence here was so good and so gentle that she soon outgrew the other impressions. I think she would have drifted into a criminal life if she had been left on earth; here, she is very dear and good.â&#x20AC;?

'If every child had been surrounded by right influences, what would have happened?'

"Most of them would have been good, I think; and their influence over the actually bad would have held evil actions in check.â&#x20AC;?

The work of my life nearly always has been in music, and the part of it that I have liked best has been the direction of choruses and choirs; yet I was greatly surprised when Dee on that unseen side drew a lesson from even this circumstance.

"Can you guess what I talked to my children about to-day?" she wrote one evening. "I told them that you were my friend on earth, and I told them how you loved music. Then they wanted to try to sing, and I wish you could have heard them. They made many sweet sounds, but no time and no harmony. Then I described how you used to beat time to have us sing together. Then they all tried that. I thought they were very dear, trying to follow my motions and keep together.

"The lesson was, of course, unity in action, and that to work together in harmony meant better and bigger things than for each to try separately. I think the idea appealed to them and increased their desire for united and harmonious action.â&#x20AC;?

"I do so love the work with the children, and their quick responsiveness to my thought. I am teaching them about unselfishness now, and how to send their thoughts out to others in kindness and love. Sometimes a newly arrived child feels desolate and lonely without the sheltering protection of a mother's arms.

Then the children can be of the greatest service in surrounding the little one with love and tender thought. There are many ways in which children can learn the true office of unselfishness and love, and their gentle and loving attentions to others react upon themselves in added happiness. 99

"I wish you could see them, all so dainty and light and beautiful.

To-day we walked in the garden looking at the flowers. Then we tried to find the colors that each liked best, and each picked out her favorite color. One chose a pink flower, and said that was for love.

Another chose white, because that to her was like the baby angels.

Another gathered purple flowers because her mother had loved that color. Dearest of all was the little blue flower that stood for hope and happiness, they said. And so we went through the garden, picking flowers and telling what they meant, until we had nearly all the virtues represented, but no faults. When I asked where the faults were, they said, 'Why, flowers have no faults'. Then I called them my flowers, and told them that they, too, must be without faults if they would belong in the beautiful garden of love.

"Ah, dear mothers of little children, I wish you could see these happy ones at play in these wonderful gardens! Can you not think of them so, rather than taken from you and borne to some far-away unknown place?" Then after awhile came a serious story: "Many years ago a boy told his mother that he was going to be a great man, and that he would have riches and power, and make others do as he wished. 100

Well, the years went by, and the boy grew to manhood, and he did attain power and riches and the gift of controlling others; but in far, far different ways from his own boyish plans. He did have power, but power born out of suffering and disappointment. He did have riches, the riches of a spirit made pure by loss. And he did control others, through the power of love and sympathy. For poverty, ill-health and disappointment had come to him in so many different ways, that his pride was turned into humility, his selfishness into kindness, and all his character into true nobility. Thus he was given his desires, but in ways he could not have dreamed, and with results he never anticipated. And so, I tried to show the children that sorrow and disappointment to earthly lives are often heavenly gifts.â&#x20AC;?

The following story rather reflects on the writer, but I think I will include it just the same: "I will tell you about my children to-day. I have talked of you many times,â&#x20AC;&#x201D;of your music, of our friendship, of our many happy times together; and to-day they asked me to tell them more about that friend on earth. I told them she was very dear, but sometimes she could not understand what I was trying to tell her, and then she got cross! They asked me what 'cross' meant. Then I tried to scowl and wrinkle up my face, and I wish you could have heard them laugh! So I had to explain that you were grieved sometimes, just as they were grieved when they wanted their parents to see them, and the parents could not see nor understand. So then 101

they got quite sorry for my little friend.

"I just wanted to show them how much you were in my thought, and show you how my little pupils are growing to think of you, too.â&#x20AC;?

Some evenings later this came: "I told my children to-day that I would talk a little about history.

They did not know the word and asked what It meant, I said it meant the stories of the lives of people, and the places in which they lived. But I soon got beyond my depth and had to call for help. I called a teacher of history from another plane, and he began in such simple and beautiful ways to tell of lives on different planets and the things that happened there, that I learned not only the history, but his beautiful manner of telling it; and I will study with him to get more knowledge and better ways of expressing that knowledge.â&#x20AC;?

Here her writing stopped, but after a little, Mary took the pencil and wrote: "She has not told it all, for he said some things of her teaching that were lovely to hear. You see, she is so loving that she teaches the children that the greatest thing of all is love, and that love is the foundation of all that is good in character and life, and they grow into such expression of it that they are more than ordinarily beautiful in character and appearance, for character expresses itself outwardly 102

in the appearance.â&#x20AC;?

We have been so curious about the blending of story and instruction that we repeat our request for the daily teachings quite often. This one came in answer to one such request: "I had a little hide-and-seek story for them to-day. I don't like to preach about character; so I turn the preaching into playing, and this time I described the old game of hide-and-seek to them, and how we shouted 'I spy' when the hidden person was found. Then I told them of the little thoughts that hid away, and that now I was going to try to find them. The children grew interested and bright eyes were following mine in the pretended search,â&#x20AC;&#x201D;for, really, I could see the characters written on the souls before me. Sometimes I saw helpfulness; sometimes a kind thought that seemed to blossom out like a flower; and again, just love illumined the soul.

Such dear thoughts in nearly all! I hardly know if they had any real faults, only beginnings of what might become so. Now and then a shade of self-love, or maybe a tiny grain of selfishness or pride, but all so small as scarcely to be called faults. But I said 'I spy' just the same, and told them what I saw, and said we must drive them out and chase them away before they grew into faults. So then we played we had them on the run, and chased them hither and yon, until I think we drove them all away. And every one laughed and was 103

happy, but the lesson remained.â&#x20AC;?

Once when we asked for Dee, Mary told us she was with her children, but that she would call her. When she came she told us the story-lesson she had just been giving.

"We were trying to learn about the stars, and I told them about the planet Mars, and they wanted to go there at once. I told them of the study they must first have, and they wanted a lesson right away. What could I do but tell them about travel of all kinds:â&#x20AC;&#x201D;on earth, in the clouds, by land and by water, by material and by spiritual ways.

They listened so eagerly that I could not find it in my heart to tell them that years must elapse before they would be wise enough to travel to planets where were conditions so different from here. So I told them a fairy story about travel, and we all journeyed together in fairy boats with fairy sails, up above the stars, and swung on comets, and danced through northern lights, and played with elves and goblins, and finally slid down a moonbeam to our home here once more.

"That was just as Mary called me, and I ran away and escaped further questions; and wasn't I glad!" But Mary added: "The children are not going to stop there, though, and her troubles are not over yet.â&#x20AC;? 104

To which Dee responded: "We will dodge the whole subject next time by starting on something entirely new.â&#x20AC;?

When we read this story aloud later, the following was added: "My fairy story was not as perfect a success as hoped, for the children still insist on seeing a real planet! I have had to describe the earth to them, and let them take that as a model for the others.

The things I can't exactly get around on that dark planet, are the sin, suffering, ignorance, and selfishness, the fierce wild animals, and the dangers that lurk in hidden places. Could you describe the life on earth and keep it all within the limit of love, wisdom, and goodness?"

'No, I am afraid not. Can you?'

"I am telling a rather one-sided story at present, leaving out the dark side, hoping no embarrassing questions will be asked until the little ones grow older and wiser.â&#x20AC;?

"I have been telling my children about the little men and women of another universe,â&#x20AC;&#x201D;a story that a friend told me after one of her far-away visits. We know something of other universes; but have to depend upon our teachers, or those who have been there, for 105

definite knowledge, because we have not taken up the studies that would help us to go there.

"Well, my friend told us that, among the planets of one of the great suns, was one where life was very minute, and the children were fairy-like in stature. Perhaps they could not use a rose leaf for a couch, but might sleep under the branches. The children were so delighted that they wanted to go there at once. Then I told them of the studies and the years of experience and knowledge that must be acquired before they could go, and they turned to their studies very eagerly, believing these would lead them to this fairy-like world; while I thought nothing could be more fairy-like than this dainty group of children.â&#x20AC;?

One evening we had been talking with several friends through the pencil. Finally Dee took it and wrote: "I am tired of being shut out, and have concluded to step in. Will you take a story to-night? I have taught the children a new game. It had no special moral, but it kept them busy and happy.

"We were trying to see the colors in a rainbow. I mean a spiritual rainbow, for we do not see earth colors. This was as far as we got, when one of the little ones said: 'Could we break it up into dresses?' and another said: 'No, let's play it is a beautiful chariot for us to ride 106

in.’

"They knew about chariots in other stories. So we all jumped into the rainbow and sailed around, or played we did, and told what we saw. Some saw moons and stars; some saw other little playmates coming out of the sky to play with them; some laughed at the queer animals they conjured up; and we had a laughing, happy group. Then suddenly one little girl said: 'I want my mama. Where is she?'

For the little thing had come over alone. So we stopped our play, and all began comforting the child and leading her into happy thought. So, after all, the little game ended in sympathy and service. So don't you think it was a lesson, after all?"

"You might be able to take a story today. Will you try?

"Imagine the tiny forms moving about, as dainty as flowers, and as light and airy as butterflies. I cannot describe them well, nor their motions; but all are full of grace and beauty. To-day I was trying to tell them of…"

"Will you try not to think out the story. I am telling it, not you!" I had not realized that my own thought was interfering; but I said: 'All right, go ahead.’ 107

"I will write if you will stop thinking. Will you write what I wish? I was trying to say 'figures', but you would not write it.”

'I thought the word came from my own mind. I did not think you would be telling of figures there.’

"We do tell them of figures, and give them some idea of numbers, too. We have to begin with the elementary things, as with earth children; and through them lead up to higher things. So I was trying to teach them to count. And because they got mixed up in the names of the figures, I had them form in a little dance, where each one was a figure. And I had them moving in pretty ways, each answering to the name of a number. Sometimes they got mixed up, but the laugh only added to the pleasure of the play. And finally they learned to count very well to a certain number.”

'Did they learn up to a hundred?'

"Million would be better.”

'A million!'

"Yes. What do you expect of little ones with spirit intelligence? You 108

are comparing them to earth children. Here they learn millions as quickly as those of earth would learn tens or hundreds.”

'How long have you been teaching the class?'

"I have been with them as teacher almost since I gained my spiritual sight and hearing.”

'I suppose some have graduated from your class before this?'

"Yes; many have gone on into higher classes. But I teach the tiny ones still, and many others are coming from the earth plane, so that I always have many to teach.”

'Can you tell us how many are in your charge?'

"The number changes, as some move on and others come in. But there are very many; you would call them hundreds.”

'Do you teach them in separate classes?'

"I take them in different classes at times, but many times have them all together.”

109

'We were interested the other day when you told of the one who was homesick for her mother.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

"Some are bewildered at first, and call often for their mothers.

But the love and tenderness that is here soon help them to be happy, and wait for their earth parents with love in their hearts for those who loved them from the first.â&#x20AC;?

"Will you take a story to-night about my children?

"They were to-day trying to see pictures of life on earth. Some of them have to do with war and other troubles, and I have had a hard time trying to explain that these things existed in the planet they came from. Finally I told them of the effort to bring the low and evil-minded into good, and of the many ways by which they were brought. Some had to go through suffering, and some had to see the results of selfishness, to make them leave these faults and come into a better life.

"They could not understand, and one little one said, 'Why, what was love doing all this time?' I said I thought love must have hid her eyes and gone away for a time. Then one of them put her hands to her eyes, and the others pretended to quarrel and have a little war, and 110

before I knew it a game was started. But love,â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the little one who pretended to be love,â&#x20AC;&#x201D;took her hands away from her eyes and smiled. And such a smile! Did you ever see the sun come out of a dark cloud? Well, she smiled just such a smile, and the children all ran to her and circled about her and the war was over.

"Don't you think that might happen on earth if there were love enough?"

'If only there were love enough!'

"You must just go on trying to teach the world of better things.

It will be long before selfishness is changed into service, but it must come sooner or later.â&#x20AC;?

111

Child Life Beyond Frontiers of the Afterlife Edward C. Randall (1923)

DURING my many years of scientific investigation I invited many men and women to witness my work, and, among them found a few possessing the psychic force that could be utilized by spirit people in sending messages. I recall that Mrs. S. was told one night that her young daughter, 12 years of age, could do automatic writing if properly instructed. The trial was made. The child sat in an upholstered chair, with pencil and paper, which she magnetized by passing her hand over it for a moment, and then apparently she slept. It was a complete trance condition. After a few trials, her hand would write with great rapidity, and in that manner a conversation could be carried on with spirit people with great satisfaction. In this manner many evidential facts were obtained. There never was the slightest doubt that spirit people controlled her hand.

I have had similar experiences with several others, and there is not a particle of doubt in my mind, and in the minds of others who have witnessed such work, of the genuineness of automatic writing.

112

I wish to mention Mrs. H., a lady of rare refinement and great spirituality. I aided her development in automatic writing. She is today the most wonderful writer that I knowâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;absolutely reliable. I make this statement after receiving hundreds of messages through her hand. With her, it is spirit suggestion. She gets the messages by dictation, knowing at the moment the word she is writing, but not the communication as a whole until it is read afterwards. This is a most satisfactory method, second only to the direct or independent voice such as I have obtained with the aid of Emily S. French.

I mention Mrs. H. and her marvelous powers, for the reason that I am going to append a series of letters from a young boy in the spirit world, written automatically to his sorrowing mother still in earth life. I hope they will comfort thousands of other mothers who mourn for children who have gone from them. These letters were written from time to time in my presence and are authentic:

First letter.

"Oh Mummie, Mummie, don't cry so. It makes me so unhappy, and I can't make you feel my arms around you. If you would only smile and be glad, I'd be quite happy, because, dear little Mummie, I see ever so many lovely people who seem to be waiting to take me some place. They are all smiling, and talking together as they wait for me to be 113

ready to go to them. One just came to me, a darling little girl; she says she is my baby sister, you told me went to heaven; she has the loveliest face, it looks all shiny, as though there was a lamp inside her eyes. Mummie, she wants to take me home with her, but I just can't leave you:'

Second letter.

"Darling, I held you so tight last night, and it seemed you must have felt me, for you smiled in your sleep and said my name. When I kissed you, because you seemed happier, I went with Marian to see our home. It is a darling cottage, and every room is so interesting. Grandma takes care of us and says the house is one she built while she lived with us; she says she did not know it at the time, but she was just as happy and good and did kind things for people, and each kind thing helped build the cottage. Some people do so much good, they have quite big houses, but they can't be any nicer than Grandma's. Hers is just filled with interesting things. She says she has lived in it and improved her mind. She said at first it was just warm and cozy, because she did not have an intellectual mind; but she has studied, and the rooms are filled with pretty things and books, and all sorts of things. When you are happier, I think I'll have a lovely time and learn a lot. Sister Marian's room is beautiful. She has lived there all her life, since a baby, and everything in her room is so beautiful and sweet." 114

Third letter.

"Oh Mummie dear, why do you grieve so? I am well and could be happy, only your sad face keeps me wanting to be near you and comfort you. I saw Marian do such an interesting thing today. She took me to a tumble-down hut, and let me look in while she went in. There was a man in there, moaning and crying. He kept saying, 'It's so cold and dark, I can't see a thing.' Over and over he said it.

"Marian just went to him and laid her hand on his eyes, which were closed. I could see that she was thinking, without her saying a word. It was very strange, yet seemed quite all right. Marian was thinking: 'Dear man, you are just cold and alone, because when you were on earth you never thought of any one but yourself, and were so selfish and cross and horrid; but you were not happy. Don't you want to be happy?'

"And the man said: 'Yes, I want to be happy, but I can't do anything.' "Then Marian said:

"Oh dear, yes you can. Just think of some one very miserable you'd like to help. "And the man said:

115

"Why there was my foster brother. I was so mean 'to him; I'm sorry, can I help him?"

"Because he said, 'I'm sorry, I want to help,' she took her hand from his eyes, and he looked around and could see. The hut that was so dark was beginning to get lighter. He began to look relieved and happier, and begged her to show him what to do, and Marian said: 'I'll take you where you can do a great deal for people. That is my business, to help people that way.'

"Her face was wonderful when she said it. I think I have a splendid sister."

Fourth letter.

"Mummie dear, you have made me so happy, by being cheerful. I know it will be easier all the time for you, because you will come to know that I am not miserable and only unhappy when you grieve. Some way, here in this life, things seem so much more real, and it is so easy to learn things. Grandma says we have to go on learning until we are very wise indeed, because we must try to be perfect, and we can't be that unless our minds are full of good things. I love the music,â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the air seems to throb with it some times, and it seems to go so deep inside of you it becomes a part of you, and afterwards you 116

feel as if you had been having a drink of water when very thirsty, so refreshed and washed clean of everything but the nicest thoughts and feelings. There seems to be a good deal for people to do, besides learn things chiefly, helping others. The very good girls, like Marian, just show people how to begin, and then they themselves have to work and help, and, more than all, have nice thoughts. So many people do not know about it here, and I am sure if they did they would not do lots of mean things they do, because it all counts against you and you have just that much longer to work before you can do all the beautiful things there are. We sing and dance and romp, in our recreation times, and then we listen to very wise people who teach us things. I always wanted to make things upâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;new machines and inventionsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and that is what I am going to study for. When I know how, and have worked out something new and wonderful, I am to find an inventor and be with him a lot. In time I can make him think what I am thinking; then he will make my plans. Won't that be fun?"

Fifth letter.

"Darling little Mumsie, I have not talked to you for quite a long time, because I have been busy; but now that you know so much about me, and are feeling more contented, I can go on living here without worrying over you and trying to comfort you. You see, it's really just as though I was away at school, and at first one is always homesick; but 117

now we can look forward to a vacation time when you will come to me and we shall be together always, and I shall have such heaps of things to tell you and show you. There is no wasted time here; waste means ignorance, and ignorance is almost wicked, because we should progress a little each dayâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; that is one of our laws. We have to study these laws. I will try and tell you as well as I can some of them. In the first place, we must know what is good, and by knowing that, all the other laws follow easily. When we know good, we know that right follows, and then love and harmony and knowledge and power, and then progress follows as naturally as a flower grows in the sun. You will think this sounds queer from your little boy, that I have changed a lot; but I haven't so much, Mummie,â&#x20AC;&#x201D;I have just grown to understand the real things in life, what we all have felt inside of us always.'

Sixth letter.

"Dear Mummie, I am learning many things that are necessary in this life, now you are so much happier about me and feel so sure that everything is all right with me. It used to scare me, when I saw any one who had died; or, when I thought of being put in the cemetery, it seemed awful,â&#x20AC;&#x201D;so lonely and strange; but now I know how different it is and wish every boy knew that dying is just like getting a new suit and discarding the old. The real you inside the new feels just the same, only we have to learn to think differently about most things. I 118

mean, we must change some of our ideas, but the new ones are much nicer and make living here easier. I wish every one knew this before he came here and then no one would fear, and everything would be so nice and comfy.

"Marian and I came to you on Christmas morning and kissed your dear face; you must have felt all our love and happiness. We will come to you like that often, and some day you will come and live with us; then you will learn so many lovely things we cannot some way seem to tell you. There are such nice people always with us, and you will love it just as we do, Grandma says she is happy to have me with her, and to tell you that she, with the help of friends and teachers, will bring me up to manhood and that you will be proud of me when you come.

"Your own little boy."

Another spirit mother described child life, as follows:

"I will tell you about the home for little children first of all. No mother who loses a wee one need grieve, because she thinks the dear mite will have no one to love it and to soothe its small fears and worries. You would love to see all the happy wee things we have here, some of whom had a very sad time during their brief sojourn on earth. Not 119

one single baby, out of all the millions which come here, ever lacks mothering. They are surrounded by an atmosphere of love and just grow and blossom, as a result of these happy conditions, like so many rare and beautiful flowers. The place where they are rings with the sound of their happy laughter; there is no pain or sorrow for them here and they have no cause for tears. They romp and play and do all manner of things which delight the heart of a child.

"They are free to enjoy every moment, and they do. There are no quarrels or sulks to mar their happy times together; Their bright faces and sweet presences are a constant delight, especially to those folks who have always loved children. The men and women who were denied children on earth, and had always longed for them, are in their element when they come over and are free to lavish all their love for children on these darlings. The children grow up in time, as they would on earth, but' they are free from sin. They can, therefore, go right on helping the spirits of those who spent many years on earth and are not free from the effects of sin. These spirits need help and guidance.

"I will now tell you about the place where the children come to grow up. It is a wonderful place and there are all sorts of lovely things they can do. The very tiny ones cannot play with the older ones any more than they can on earth. They just need loving arms around them and 120

soft voices to soothe them. They get these always. There are always plenty of 'mother spirits' to look after the wee ones. It is the work they love and are best fitted for. We are all given the work we like best and are most capable of doing.

"As we progress some of us are able to undertake more and more difficult tasks, and that phrase about 'the joy being in the doing, not the task that is done,' is very true here. Most of us find a great joy in our work. I will tell you something about the doings of the older children. The toddlers are such darlings and would rejoice any mother's heart. Their faces are so bright and happy and they are so full of life, and bubble over with fun. There are no sad, wistful little faces here, as you often see on earthâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;caused by lack of love, the sins of their parents, and other things. These fortunate little ones have a delightful time. They run and dance and sing and jump for sheer joy. They paddle in crystal streams and build castles on lovely beaches, where the sand is like pure gold and the water is like myriad's of gems.

"There are beautiful grassy places for them to play on, where they can run races and play all the games which children love. There are also exquisite fern groves, where every kind of beautiful fern flourishes, and dainty little streams tinkle gaily along, joining, it seems, in the children's merriment. There are so many beautiful and wonderful and 121

delightful things in this enormous 'children's playground' that you will not have time to write down descriptions of half its beauties."

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Welcoming the Children to The Better Land The Coming Light Mary Bruce Wallace (1924) I WILL tell you a little about my work amongst the thousands of little ones coming to our shores daily from Eastern Europe. We have special companies of women souls organised into bands to receive them, and to take care of them when their own mothers are left on earth. As they arrive, it is interesting to note the transformation that takes place. They appear at first very pale, though their spirit bodies are not emaciated as were their earthly ones, but they wear a kind of haunted look, with most wistful and sad expressions, as though they could not smile even if they wished. We find that the best thing to wake them from this kind of apathy, resulting from their past terrible experiences, is the sight of flowers; and they are at once taken to fields of these. The contrast of a beauty which is within their grasp with their previous experiences of terrible destruction and ugliness, immediately awakens a spark of joy, little or big according to the nature of the child. Some smile faintly for the first time, others rush eagerly forward with shouts of delight to pick the radiant blossoms, which of course they are permitted to do, until their little hands and arms are full of them. By this time the beautiful influences which always breathe from flowers have refreshed the children to such an 123

extent that their faces look quite different. Colour begins to show in their cheeks, new light in their eyes, and the first gleams of happiness appear. We then separate them, and a great deal of consideration is here needed, as we keep families together when we can. Where one child has died before his brothers and sisters, his Guide is on the lookout for them, and knows them by clairvoyance, since all the children of one family have some dominant characteristic perceptible by our eyes. In some cases one of our Mothers takes one family, in other cases a very competent worker takes a group of families beneath her care in one beautiful home.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;My work, as you may already have guessed, has been the creation of these homes in that particular region into which the children are entering. During the last six or eight months I have created several hundreds, and the work has kept me very busy, as I have had to train helpers to keep the houses intact. You will know what I mean from earlier talks. The keynote on which the homes are built must be re-echoed from time to time, or they will disappear into space. I have, of course, planned specially lovely gardens, as those seem to appeal to the children more than anything else.

A veil is drawn between them and their memory of earth in its last stages, so that their recollections seem to be only of their earlier experiences and of their family love. They become radiantly happy in 124

their new surroundings, where they are trained by special teachers to be fitted for life here, which will certainly be for them more delightful than had they continued to live on earth. We have, of course, numbers of cases in which the parents and relatives die also. Homes are provided, then, for united families, under the supervision of a visiting guide, who daily instructs them in the laws of the new life, and gives to the adults knowledge of the past, wisely withheld from the little ones. It is such engrossing work, and I have become so intimately bound up with it lately, and find that my practice in building houses is so much in demand that I am thankful and delighted to supply the need, and spend the greater part of my time in this region, leaving my hostels on the Borderland, of which I have told you before, in the hands of competent comrades.â&#x20AC;?

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The Care of Little Children Life Here and Hereafter Charlotte Elizabeth Dresser (1927)

"There are many who receive them, and they are very tenderly cared for until they awaken; that is, begin to see and hear by spirit means. We have watchers for them, like nurses in a hospital. And when it is noticed that one begins to show signs of wonder or curiosity, this one is taken to another place where experienced teachers look after them until they can understand that love surrounds them. This applies to those who were old enough on earth to have learned some things there.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

"When they are awakened enough and experienced enough to understand the loving thoughts that are sent to their minds, they are examined carefully as to their different characteristics and as to their real mental ability; for we have learned that these manifest at a very early stage. No doubt this is much easier for us than for you, because we can usually read their thoughts quite readily.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

"When they have been studied and cared for in this manner for a time, they are placed in groups under such teachers as will be best fitted for their special characteristics. We have found that we make 126

astonishing progress in their education by following this procedure, and we have wondered why it is not more understood on earth.â&#x20AC;?

'Is this Dee writing?'

"Yes, you know I have been teaching children nearly ever since I came. I have served in nearly all the various grades or wards. My classes have usually been those who were musically inclined, and it has been one of my greatest delights to see how readily many of them grasp the necessary ideas for a musical education. We have other teachers who are best fitted to teach those who seem destined for the loving: missionary work; and others who know how to encourage any scientific tendencies that may appear. We are often astonished at the precocity of some youngster in the way of mathematics. But possibly this astonishes me more than it would some because I was always so backward in that way.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

"With the younger children there is of course more time spent in the earlier care, while their little minds are developing sufficiently to receive impressions. But even this time is much shorter than it is on earth, and a tiny babe is sometimes in the study class with marvelous quickness.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

"It is such dear work that it attracts a very loving class of workers, 127

and if mothers on earth only knew what tender care they always have, there would certainly be less grief over the loss.â&#x20AC;?

'Does a babe that dies before birth continue to live there?â&#x20AC;?

"Yes, it lives, of course, and is cared for as tenderly as if years older. What difference does it make whether it is a few weeks old or many months old? It is a human being started on an immortal journey, which is only slightly interrupted no matter at what stage death may occur.â&#x20AC;?

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Of Birth and Death: From Whence To Where? The Archives of The Eloists Walter DeVoe (1933)

Let us begin your journey through eternity from the only logical starting point, conception. We could begin with the infinite vastness of the All Person because the essence of your being, your soul, is and always has been the very Person of your Creator, and for that reason the essence of your being has always existed through the infinite eons of the past. In that sense your soul being has always had an existence, but in the same sense even the physical body you possess has always existed, for the atoms of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and so forth of which it is composed have been part of your planet, your sun, your galaxy, your nebula and thence from previous stars and nebulae that have been dissipated and gone from an unfathomable and incomprehensible time long passed. Could the atoms of your physical body speak with a conscious awareness, they could tell you awesome stories of stars and planets, peoples and civilizations in the farthest reaches of space, that were born, struggled with the limitations of corpor for a time and then passed on.

129

Their histories long forgotten except in the minds of great gods and goddesses high now in etherea who either lived on those birth places of immortal souls or in some way had assisted with their resurrection and growth.

Yes, even if the spiritual "atoms", if we may use the poetic license to call them such, of your soul being could speak, they could tell you tales of life through the numbing distant unlimited past, of a place infinitely far away or so very close, of a time incomprehensibly ancient and yet as recent as the very now, of experience and wisdom whose comprehension and magnitude would leave even the highest raised angel speechless with awe.

But wait, all of this is our fanciful imagination at play, for none of it can be. Your earthly shell cannot speak, nor can the component parts of your astral shell or soul, though that is where the Great Intelligence that created you resides; and neither can you speak of those times, for the you that you are, the self-conscious, self-knowing aware being that you are came into being at the moment of conception.

The essence of Jehovihâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Person that is all knowing and resident in the sperm, and the spark of the Divine Being that is all knowing and resident in the egg came together in a magical transformation within 130

a star-flash of that union and at that moment a new soul was born. At that moment you were a dual being in soul: the very I AM of the All Person and a "blank slate" that was destined to be the sentient, self-aware, reasoning being that you are. Due to the maturity of our age, the you that you are became an immortal soul when those two components cleaved together in the physically primitive embryonic cell. Understand that whether your physical embryo ever reached further stages of development or not, the spiritual being that you are was already assured immortality as a soul and was destined to grow into more expansive realms forever onward. If it had not been allowed to proceed with its growth on the physical plane in the womb, then it would have continued the growth the I AM ordained it to experience but on the spiritual plane instead by special dispensation. The means by which this is accomplished will be discussed in a later chapter. This then was the birth from whence you came, and this is sufficient understanding to allow us to turn our attention to the places you will be exploring in the days ahead.

Each person born as to life on earth is bestowed with three component attributes, namely a soul or spiritual nature, a corporeal or physical being and the qualities of action, movement, self-expression, metabolism and similar manifestations of energy in motion which we call life. This is why it is said that we are born in the Creatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s image, because the Great Spirit also has the same three 131

components which are the Ever-Present All-Spirit, the infinite corporeal creation (composing our universe) and the All-motion or the manifestation of sentient Energy, the All-Life.

Since we are bestowed with those same attributes in a limited form, and since our destiny is an ever expanding comprehension and usefulness as our Creatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s "hands" in action, it is logical to begin by experiencing one aspect of creation at a time and thus allowing our infant souls a chance to grow at a tolerable rate, and at the same time provide an anchor through which our immature spirit may be nurtured until it reaches a state where it can comfortably subsist on its own.

The main purpose of corporeal existence therefore is to acquire a basic appreciation of the physical aspects of creation, to provide an elementary education for our newly formed souls, which are like blank slates waiting for the experiences of life to be written upon them, and finally to provide a fetal stage for the embryonic development of our soul-selves, the spiritual being that our earthly shell merely reflects.

While it is important to put our brief sojourn on this earthly plane to the greatest possible use, and to grow in maturity and wisdom to the best of our ability before our time comes to move on, yet, in the great 132

scheme of things, our time here is of minor importance in comparison to the eternity ahead, just as our nine months in the womb is of minor importance when compared to the perhaps 90 or even 100 years of corporeal existence. Life in the womb would probably be of great importance, indeed, to the fetus were it able to comprehend, but that nine months pales in comparison to the life time ahead. It is the same when comparing the earth life to the infinity that lies before us in the world of spirit. Were life in corpor of more importance, would not the Creator have provided greater safeguards to make our physical bodies less vulnerable to premature death as to this life? The simplest and most unexpected mishaps can snuff our corporeal lives out, for the mortal body is so delicate and vulnerable. But the truth is that our corporeal existence is only like a heartbeat when compared to the infinite life ahead, and our corporeal life while important is not paramount and is not crucial to our eventual development.

And so it is, be it soon or late, the time comes for each of us. The delicate bond between spirit and corpor snaps to allow our true selves, the spiritual beings that we are, to emerge like a butterfly from a cocoon and take its rightful place in the greater part of creation. For the world of spirit is not a vague and ephemeral place. It is only the imperfect perception of your mortal senses which gives you these false impressions.

133

Your whole world consists of the surface of a little ball of corpor, while our spiritual world penetrates all levels of the rest of creation. We here in spirit can see, hear and feel on levels that you can only dream of, for your earthly shell handicaps the natural spiritual senses that you possess in a blunted form. We are free from your earthly drudgery. We are freer on every level beyond your wildest dreams, for we are the real inhabitants of a real world, a world that you are destined to inhabit as your true and rightful place in an infinite creation.

No two souls describe the act of passage in the same way, for no two individuals perceive through the windows of their separate souls in quite the same way, and the circumstances of each transition differ in detail. Suffice it to say that everyone admits that the actual process that liberates the spirit from corpor is easier and smoother than anyone expected. Some "arrive" with such swiftness that they at first donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t realize that the change has taken place at all, while others make the change so gradually that they can describe every detail as a remarkable experience of joy and wonder. Realize that when we say "arrive", that no actual travel necessarily occurs, for when we speak of you being "there", while we are "here" describes not so much the difference of location as it does describe the difference of dimension, which is something that interpenetrates the same place at the same time at a differing level of vibration. This difference in 134

state prevents you from not only perceiving us, but also prevents the interference of one level of experience with that of the other unless extraordinary conditions come into play.

Yet, in spite of the illusion of a great chasm separating us, everyone, soon or late, will make the transition called death, for all your earthly existence is merely preparation for that great event. All you experience, both good and bad, has been an exercise for your soul to build in strength and perfection so that it may be ready to stand on its own in the more refined states of thought, where your self-control and will must be at a greater stage of maturity than had been required when your being was localized in its corporeal shell. For while the personality that you are is housed in its earthly shell, the dulling influence of the lower vibrations of corpor allows the "thought being" that you are to subsist with greater safety and efficiency. Realize that your lack of maturity as a young and immortal soul allows your concentration to wander, and your self control or will is seldom a dominant force in your existence. You are easily distracted by things in your environment and you are often led in your weakness to do things which are not in your best interest or in the best interests of others. You can see, however, when comparing an infant to a mature adult, that some degree of progress has been made in this regard, through oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life time. There is more self control. There is a greater understanding of how your mental powers 135

can be applied to create and accomplish. There is a greater exercise of will to do what is right and necessary even when your lower propensities would have you act differently. Of course, there are great differences in the degree of development even in mature adults, but in most cases it is of a great enough degree to allow that individual after death to subsist in the freer and more refined state of spirit with a great enough degree of competence to keep from being a burden on the rest of the newborn in spirit who are residing on the same plane of existence. Should this newborn be too imperfect, then special provisions must be made, depending on the degree of imperfection and the reason for its occurrence. The innocent soul thrust prematurely into spirit life by being killed through abortion, for example, must be dealt with in a very different manner than a person who has passed over as a result of the fruits of a life of crime. But in all cases, whether it is through natural development in a normal corporeal existence or through special corrective measures applied afterwards, every soul must reach a state of mental development that allows him or her to exist competently in a state of refined vibrations of thought, for the world of spirit requires much greater strength of personality and control of will than is required in the grossness of corporeality. Always remember our basic truth that you are in essence a being of thought. The greater totality that you are is not your corporeal shell but rather your mind, which is thought, and in thought, as a distinct portion of the All-Thought, will you live, move, 136

and have your being for all time to come.

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The Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sphere Life In The World Unseen Anthony Borgia (1956) One of the innumerable questions that I put to Edwin, shortly after my arrival in the spirit world, concerned the destiny of children who, as such, passed into spirit lands.

There is a period of our earthly lives which we are accustomed to call â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;the prime of lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. There is also a prime of life here in spirit, and it is towards that period that all souls either advance or return, according to the age at which their transition takes place. How long it will take rests entirely with themselves, since it is purely a matter of spiritual progression and development, though with the young this period is usually much shorter. Those who pass into spirit after the prime of life period has been reached, whether they be elderly or extremely aged, will, in due time, become younger in appearance, although they will grow older in knowledge and spirituality. It must not be assumed from this that we all eventually reach a dead level of commonplace uniformity. Outwardly, we look young; we lose those signs of the passage of years which cause some of us no little disturbance of mind when we are incarnate. But our minds become older as we gain know ledge and wisdom and greater spirituality, and 138

these qualities of the mind are manifest to all with whom we come into contact.

When we visited the temple in the city, and, from a distance beheld the radiant visitor whom we had come to honour, he presented to the eye the appearance of perfect—and eternal—youth. Yet the degree of knowledge and wisdom and spirituality which he diffused, and which we could feel with our minds, were almost overpoweringly great. It is the same, in varying degrees with all those who visit us from the higher realms, If, therefore there is this rejuvenation of fully grown people, what of the souls who pass over as children; indeed, what of those, even, who pass into the spirit world at birth?

The answer is that they grow as they would have grown upon the earth-plane. But the children here—of all ages—are given such treatment and care as would never be possible in the earth world.

The young child, whose mind is not yet fully formed, is uncontaminated by earthly contacts, and on passing into the spirit world it finds itself in a realm of great beauty, presided over by souls of equal beauty. This children’s realm has been called ‘the nursery of heaven’, and surely anyone who has been fortunate enough to have visited it will say that a more apposite term could not be found. It was, therefore, in response to my original question that Edwin proposed 139

that Ruth and I should accompany him on a visit to the nursery of heaven.

We walked towards the boundary between the higher realm and our own, and we turned in the direction of Edwinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s house. Already we could feel the atmosphere more rarefied, though it was not sufficiently pronounced to cause us any inconvenience or discomfort. I noticed that this atmosphere had a great deal more colour in it, much more than in the depths of the realm. It was as though a great number of shafts of light were meeting and spreading their broad beams over all the landscape. These shafts of light were for ever on the move, interweaving themselves and producing the most delicate and delightful blending of colour, like a succession of rainbows. They were extremely restful, but they were also filled with vitality and, as it seemed to Ruth and me, light-heartedness and merriment. Sadness and unhappiness, one felt, would be utterly impossible here.

The countryside took upon itself a much brighter green in its verdure, the trees were not so tall, but they were as shapely as every other tree in these realms, and they were growing as perfectly.

After we had proceeded a little distance the atmosphere became clear of the coloured beams, and it more resembled that of our own sphere. But there was a strange and subtle difference which was 140

puzzling to the visitor upon his first visit, and it arose, so Edwin told us, from the essential spirituality of the children who live there. Something akin to this is to be encountered when one is privileged to journey to a higher realm than that in which one normally resides. It is almost as though there were a greater degree of buoyancy in the air, apart altogether from a noticeable effect of elevation of the mind. We saw many fine buildings before us as we walked along the soft grass. They were not of any great height, but they were broad in extent, and they were all most pleasantly situated among trees and gardens. Flowers, needless to say, were growing prolifically everywhere, in artistically-arranged beds, as well as in large masses upon the grassy slopes and beneath the trees. I noticed that in some instances flowers that have their counterpart upon the earth-plane, were growing by themselves, those that were proper to the spirit world being separated from them. We were told that there was no special significance in this segregation, but that it was done solely to show the distinction between the two classes of flowers, the spirit and the earthly. Beautiful as the earthly flowers are that grow here, there can be no comparison with those that belong alone to spirit lands. Here again one is limited by earthly experience in any attempt to describe them. Not only are the colourings richer, but the conformations of the flowers and foliage present such an abundance of unparalleled beauty of design that we have no earthly example to adduce by way of comparison. But it must not be supposed that 141

these magnificent flowers remotely suggested the rare hot-house bloom. Far from it. The superabundance of them, together with the great strength and variety of their perfumes, would instantly dispel any thought of rarity. It was no case of cultivating the beauty of the bloom at the expense of its perfume. They all possessed the quality common to all growing things here, that of pouring out energizing force, not only through the medium of their aromas, but through personal contact. I had already tried the experiment of holding a flower within the cupped handsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;it was Ruth who had instructed meâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and I had felt the stream of life-force flowing up my arms.

We could see delightful ponds and small lakes, upon the surface of which were flourishing the most beautiful water flowers in the gayest colours. In another direction we could see larger expanses of water like a series of lakes, with many small boats gliding serenely along. The buildings were constructed of a substance that had all the appearance of alabaster, and they were all tinged with the most delicate colours, such as one is accustomed to seeing in the subtle blendings of an earthly rainbow. The style of architect resembled, for the most part, that of our own sphere; that is to say, some of the buildings bore upon their surface the most exquisite carvings of such natural objects as abound in the trees and flowers, while others drew for their relief upon the none features particular to the spirit world.

142

But what gave us the most enjoyable surprise, was to see interspersed throughout the woods, the quaintest little cottages such as one was always inclined to believe only belonged to the pages of children’s story-books. Here were diminutive houses with crooked timbers—beautifully

crooked—with

bright

red

roofs

lattice-windows, and each with a charming little garden, all there own, surrounding it.

It will at once be concluded that the spirit world has borrowed from the earth world in these fanciful creations for the children delight, but such is not the case. In truth, this whole concept of miniature houses emanated, in the first instance, from the spit world. Whoever was the artist who received our original impression, she has been lost to the earth world through the course the years. That artist is known to us here, though, where she continues her work in the children’s sphere. These little houses were large enough to allow a grown person plenty of room in which to move without appearing to knock his head! To the children they seemed to be of just the right size without their feeling lost within them. I learnt that it was for this same reason that all the large buildings in this realm were without any appreciable height. By thus not making them too high, nor the rooms too large, they conformed with the child’s mind, as yet not fully formed, where spaces seem greater than they really are and where buildings too spacious would have the effect upon the little mind of seeming to 143

dwarf it.

Great numbers of children live in these tiny dwellings, each being presided over by an older child, who is perfectly capable of attending to any situation that might arise with the other residences.

As we walked along we could see groups of happy children, some playing games with their fellows, others seated upon the grass while a teacher was reading to them. Others, again, were to be observed listening attentively and with marked interest to a teacher who was explaining the flowers to them, and giving them something of a lesson in botany. But it was botany of a very different order from that of the earth-plane, in so far as the purely spirit flowers were concerned. The distinctions between the earthly flowers and the spirit flowers were amply demonstrated by the two orders of flowers being separated.

Edwin took us to one of the teachers, and explained the reason of our visit. We were instantly made welcome and the teacher was kind enough to answer a few questions. Her enthusiasm for her work added to her pleasure, she said, in telling us anything we wished to know. As to herself, she had been in the spirit world a goodly number of years. She had had children of her own when upon the earth-plane, and she was still keenly interested in their welfare, and 144

that had led her to take on her present work. So much she told us at herself. it was not very informative, and we knew as much without her having to tell us! What she did not tell us—it was Edwin who later gave us the details—was that she had made such a success with her own children upon earth, who now joined their mother in her work, that it had been obvious from the commencement just what her work would be in spirit lands. Needless to say, it was the very work upon which she had set her heart—the care of children.

It needed no one to tell us that she was admirably suited for such work. She radiated that charm and confidence, kindliness and mirthfulness of nature that so appealed to the children. She understood the child mind—she was, in fact, just a grown-up child herself! She possessed a wide knowledge of the most interesting things, especially of those things that appeal most to children; she had an inexhaustible fund of capital stories for her small charges, and, most important of all, she could be—and showed herself to be—at one with them. I do not think we had as yet seen anyone so superlatively happy as this gracious soul.

In this sphere, our new friend told us, there were to be found children of all ages, from the infant, whose separate existence upon the earth-plane had amounted to only a few minutes, or who even had had no separate existence at all, but had been born ‘dead’, to the 145

youth of sixteen or seventeen years of earth time.

It frequently happens that as the children grow up they remain in this same sphere, and themselves become teachers for a period, until other work takes them elsewhere.

And what of the parents? Were they ever the teachers of their own children? Seldom, or never, our friend informed us. It was a practice that would scarcely ever be feasible, since the parent would be more inclined to be prejudiced in favor of her own child, and there might be other embarrassments. The teachers are always souls of wide experience, and there are not many parents upon the earth-plane who would be capable of undertaking the care of spirit children immediately upon the transition of the former. Whether the teachers were themselves parents upon the earth-plane or not, they all undergo an extensive course of training before they are adjudged fit to fill the post of teacher to the children, and to conform with, and uphold, the rigidly high standards of the work. And, of course, they must all be temperamentally fitted to hold the position of teacher.

The work is not arduous, as you would judge it in the earth world, but it demands a multiplicity of special attributes.

The mental and physical growth of the child in the spirit world is 146

much more rapid than in the earth world. You will recall what I told you about the absolute retentiveness of the memory here. That retentiveness begins as soon as the mind is capable of grasping anything at all, and that is very early. This seeming precocity is perfectly natural here, because the young mind absorbs knowledge evenly. The temperament is carefully guided along purely spirit lines, so that the possession of knowledge in one so young never takes upon it the obnoxiousness of earthly precocious ness. The children are trained in strictly spirit matters first, and then they are usually taught about the earth world, if they have not already lived in it, or if their earthly lives were very brief.

The ruler of the realm acts, in a general sense, in loco parentis, and all the children, indeed, look upon him as a father.

The childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s studies have an extremely wide range. They are taught to read, but many other subjects of the earthly curricula are entirely omitted as being superfluous in the world of spirit. It would be more exact to say that the children are given knowledge of a particular subject rather than taught it.

As they grow they are able to choose for themselves the type of work that appeals to them, and so by specializing in their studies the children can become equipped with the necessary qualifications. 147

Some of them, for instance, elect to return to the earth-plane temporarily to work with us in the exercise of communication, and they make highly efficient instruments, and thoroughly enjoy their visits. Such visits have the advantage of adding widely to their experience. It increases their depth of understanding of the trials and tribulationsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and the pleasuresâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;of being incarnate.

There is always one question that arises in the minds of earth people in connexion with children who have passed on: Shall we be able to recognize our children when we ourselves arrive in the spirit world? The answer is, most emphatically, yes, beyond all shadow of doubt. But how, if they have grown up in the spirit world and out of our sight, can that possibly be? To answer that, it is necessary to know a little more about oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s self.

You must know that when the physical body sleeps, the spirit body temporarily withdraws from it, while still remaining connected to it by a magnetic cord. This cord is the veritable life-line between the spirit body and the earth body. The spirit thus situated will either remain in the vicinity of the earth body, or it will gravitate to that sphere which its earthly life, so far, has entitled it to enter. The spirit body will thus spend part of the lifetime of the earthly body in spirit lands. And it is upon these visits that one meets relatives and friends who have passed on before, and it is similarly upon these visits that parents 148

can meet their children, and thus watch their growth. In the majority of cases the parents are not allowed within the childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own sphere, but there are plenty of places where such meetings can take place. Remembering what I have said about the retentiveness of the subconscious mind, you will see that, in such cases, the problem of recognizing a child does not arise, because the parent has seen the child and observed its growth throughout the whole of the intervening years, in just the same way as the parent would have done if the child had remained in the earth world.

There must be, of course, a sufficient bond of attachment between the parent and child, or else this law will not come into operation. Where such does not exist the conclusion is obvious. That link of affection or kindly interest must also exist between all human relationships in the spirit world, whether it be with husband and wife, parent and child, or between friends. Without that interest or affection it is problematical whether there would ever be any meeting at all, except fortuitously.

The childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s realm is a township in itself, containing everything that great minds, inspired by the greatest Mind, could possibly provide for the welfare, comfort, and education, and the pleasure and happiness of its youthful inhabitants. The halls of learning are as fully equipped as are those larger establishments in our own sphere. Indeed, in 149

many respects, they are more so, since they have all the equipment for the diffusion of knowledge and learning to those who are possessed of neither in the slightest degree, and who must therefore start at the very beginning, as they would have done had they remained upon the earth-plane. This concerns those children who have passed into the spirit world in their extreme infancy. Children who leave the earth world in their early years will continue their studies from where they left off, eliminating from the latter all that are of no further use, and adding those that are spiritualistic ally essential. As soon as they reach a suitable age, the children can choose their future work, and study for it accordingly. What that work can be, I will recount to you later.

The whole question of infant survival had puzzled me considerably when I was incarnate. Ruth said she had no ideas upon the matter whatever, beyond supposing that children must survive, because she felt intuitively that grown people did so. The survival of the one would pro-suppose the survival of the other in a world of anything like law and orderâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;which she presumed the spirit world to be.

Edwin was as perplexed as I was. You can imagine our surprise, then, when we were introduced into the childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s realm, to behold the more than adequate provision made for the young folk who have passed into spirit lands in their tender years. It is a provision 150

instituted under the greatest and wisest dispensation—that of the Father, Himself—involving no creeds or belief, no doctrines or dogmas, no ritual or formulary. It involves nothing more, in fact, but the plain act of undergoing the ‘death’ of the physical body, and the operation of the same laws that govern us all, whether infants or aged—just the casting off of the physical body, and entering, for all time, the world of spirit.

And the children, as might be expected, have the same opportunities, the same rights to their spiritual heritage as we all have here, young and old.

And we all have the same great goal—perfect and perpetual happiness.

151

Brought Back to Earth Radiance The Eloists (1985)

You don't need to keep your mind closed to information of events taking place in the world. Learn all you can about the earth. Thus you will be more fully developed when you pass on to the next world. You have to go through different grades of learning, just as you do in schools. You cannot go forward into more complicated grades until you have passed those in the corporeal world. Babes who die in infancy, by abortion or other means, are brought back to earth under angelic protection to learn about the place of their birth. Earth is really a beautiful planet, and you can be grateful you were born upon it. There are many ugly things about it, to be sure, created by spirits in darkness who are influencing people to harm one another and make war. This will go on until the light of the Creator takes over and comes into positive expression through many awakened souls. You don't need to tune in with anything in the news that depresses you, but you can pour light into the dark conditions as you keep your awareness with the Creator at all times.

Of the trillions of souls who need to be brought in the way of 152

resurrection, fully a hundred million are infants, most of whom are the result of abortions and stillbirths. With the widespread acceptance of the heinous act of abortion, we have been flooded with these poor souls, and though it is true that they are without sin, yet that does not lessen the burden placed upon our workers or upon the lower heavens as a whole.

153

A Nurse from the Plateau Radiance The Eloists (1985)

Let us ponder for a moment on the awesome burden placed on our spiritual realms by the untimely death of so many innocent babes through the thoughtless act of abortion. The number of undeveloped souls thrust into the care of our doctors and nurses who labor on the plateaus close to the earth is far greater than your darkest imaginings. The fact that these babes are thrown upon us in greater and greater numbers each year makes the scene that much more pathetic. Could we only make these selfish women realize that each soul is complete and immortal at conception, perhaps they would more carefully ponder their decision. Their basic misconception that their body is theirs to do with as they please is their first error. They had as little to do with the growth and development of their own bodies as that of the infant they carry. Both belong to the Creator that made them and He is the one to whom they must ultimately answer. If they could only realize that the soul of that poor infant is brought back to them in many cases and fetaled upon them until full term (and therefore only the earthly body may be aborted while the spirit remains), perhaps they would think again before making the fateful decision. If they could only realize that the day will come when they will pass over into our realms of spirit and there meet their rejected child face to face, though then fully grown, and be forced to justify their decisions and 154

rectify their actions once and for all. Perhaps this is the image they need placed before them. Perhaps if they could see their child's pained expression as he or she asks, "Why did you do this to me, mother? Why did you deprive me of my life and your love? What did I do to you to be treated so?" "Why?" is our question as well. We, here on the Plateau in the hospitals and nurseries labor hard and long to maintain and revive these innocent souls, fetaling them sometimes to the natural mother and sometimes to a more appropriate soul, until they are strong enough to be transferred to the nurseries where primary education can begin. This is, of course, more difficult without the corporeal body and corporeal experiences to guide them. But we will work harder and longer still, until those on earth awaken to the Light of the Creator within their souls and awaken to the love that dwells within their hearts. Until then we remain, Your loving friends.

155

Pro-life Feminism Conscious Conception Jeannine Parvati Baker (1986)

Arising from the Great Cosmic Song are the growing voices of feminists who respect life in all its forms--even down to the "unplanned" pregnancies. For too long the spiritual communities of the pagans and the yogis, the two philosophies I have studied for many years, have neglected to re-vision abortion.

Lingering still is the rationalization that an "unwanted" child somehow was worse than abortion--that a "fast death" was better than an entire lifetime of feeling "unwanted" (with a personal history filled with emotional and/or physical abuse from immature, irresponsible parents). It seems to me that abortion really is the ultimate child abuse. And death, whether it be fast or slow, is still death.

In fact, I have left particular "spiritual" communities because of this basic anti-life, pessimistic perspective on abortion. It seemed to me that on the most primal level, a person has much more to learn about spirituality by accepting WHAT-IS (i.e., a pregnancy) than by forcefully "re-cycling" the soul (i.e., terminating the baby). And besides, having an abortion undermines any and all possibilities of 156

changing the culture's basic anti-life/anti-children attitude; much less a personal miracle, wherein the reluctant parents-to-be learn to accept their coming child.

Allow me first to first turn my attention to the Yoga community wherein it is all too common for women yogis (yoginis) to abort their babies so that they can get on with the "real" spiritual work: i.e., a meditation practice. Babies are sometimes seen as a distraction to a heroic spiritual practice.

I have six children and have been practicing yoga for many years. I have received overt as well as more subtle condemnation for my "attachment to fertility" from the yogi community. Somehow being a mother is not viewed as spiritual as being able to go on solitary meditation retreats. In Yoga there are two clear paths to liberation--the sadhu and the householder traditions. The path of the sadhu is to withdraw from the world, unravel our natural attachments and transcend ignorance/suffering by realizing the source of pain: attachment to the ephemeral. From the sadhu's perspective, being sexual and reproducing is seen as adding to the load of attachments.

The path I am on is the one of householder--of being in the world, and yet not of the world at the same time. In other words, the attachment to attachment is made conscious. Rather than throw the baby out with 157

the bathwater, householders are challenged to watch our natural attachments to our children and let them be manifest in their fullest and purest sense. It is a goal to revision this attachment with eternal eyes, not just with temporal sight.

Having babies is known to be a great opportunity to learn surrender, service, ecstasy and other qualities of the spiritual life. However, this path has generally not received as much "good press" as the well known path of the hermit/sadhu yogi. Ask the man on the street what his image is of a yogi and the response more likely than not will be "a solitary and limber man, meditating on his navel in the peace and quiet of the Himalayas."

I have watched many of my yogini sisters procure abortions knowing that it was breaking the primary vow of ahimsa (harmlessness) that yogis make. They justified their actions with a con-fusion philosophy of reincarnation and "free will." In other words, they said that the soul knew "on some level'" what it was getting by choosing incarnation into a woman who did not want to be a mother just yet. Therefore "on some level'" the fetus being aborted accepts being returned back into the cosmos. Some yoginis have even had the hubris to state that their unwanted fetus was a "very advanced soul" who only needed to be incarnated for a very short time to complete its karma here on this plane of existence. Adding insult to injury they go on to state that they 158

have done it a service by providing the soul with a temporary body to "finish up." Maybe their unwanted baby was a samurai in a past life and by being aborted (by dilation and curettage) it is completing its own slicing karma (!) I am constantly amazed at the cleverness of the mind in justifying its own desires. Calling an aborted fetus a "high soul" not needing full deliverance on earth is an example of confused yoga.

Yoga clearly considers abortion killingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;yet guru after guru condones abortion through metaphysical belief in reincarnation. "We only go around a thousand times so may as well grab as much personal enlightenment as we can!" The most liberating belief in some ways is that this is our past lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;with that philosophy we will do what is best for life now and not await our next chance, next lifetime.

Which brings me to the pagan community and our heritage as women healers, the Wicca tradition. Wicca is a wise womanâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;one who knows how to work natural forces--one who understands women's mysteries and one who can do magic (i.e. work with images realizing that energy follows thought). Amongst the pagans many abortions do occur from a point of view that calls it "freedom." Janis Joplin sang, " Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose" (reflecting perhaps a bit of the sadhu philosophy) yet my pagan sisters still perceive their ability to abort non-medically (through herbs, 159

incantations, etc.) as some kind of statement of power and control over their lives. I challenge the true Wicca to display their "control" and "power" in not conceiving unwanted babies in the first place.

Babies teach us that "control" is not as important from the spiritual perspective as surrender. We all know how babies do not recognize "personal privacy" and tend to muck around with special things, like the altar, and generally interfering with "personal pagan progress." How many high priestesses will lead a ritual with a babe in arms? No, here too, children are seen as intervening with an ability to raise the cone of power and draw down the moon. To my way of thinking this is the height of irony--that drawing down the moon is perceived as difficult with a baby present! Pregnancy and birth and breastfeeding seem to draw the moon down into our very bodies!

It all comes down to what our ideas and beliefs are about "spirituality." Christian writers have well documented the inconsistency of abortion with Jesus' teachings. Christianism itself is claimed by the child archetype and so lends its dogma towards the literal protection of babies as well. "Suffer the little children to come unto me," Jesus said, yet abortion misreads the word suffer literally, not in the original meaning of "allow." However, most of the older spiritual traditions, and here paganism of the west and yoga of the east are our examples (as well as ethnic Judaism), have lagged behind by not consistently 160

denouncing abortion. My intuition says that the confusion in the public mind about witches as evil, ugly women, rather than as healers/midwives comes from abortion practices. And though yoga is quite clearly against violence and killing, this is amended for "advanced" practitioners who have the boldness to believe they are somehow above personal karma.

Part of this confusion stems from the archetype of the Terrible Mother and the Great/Good Mother. I have had pagans and yoginis alike tell me that motherhood archetypically contains both the loving as well as the rejecting mother and to be "whole" we need to express both. Abortion seen in that light is but an extension of the natural "weaning mother." This argument is absurd in my book. The source of confusion is calling killing "weaning" or a "natural process"-- dying is a natural process, killing other humans is not part of a natural or spiritual path.

Or at least killing doesn't have to be. I am aware that plenty of killing takes place in nature. Yet if we want to arise from the jungle consciousness (and survival of the fittest myth of social Darwinism) and bring "heaven" here to Earth, as is our New Age potential, we need to set an example to the other animals/organisms on our shared planet. How ironic it is that some yoginis will forego the eating of meat out of compassion for animals, yet this same sensitive compassion is 161

not extended to unwanted babies. Pagans also believe in karma with the dictum that what one puts out comes back three times as hard! Yet somehow abortions are set apart from that universal law. Vegetarianism and recognition of the Golden Rule and karma are part of the spiritual path and both yogis and pagans base their practices on doing no harm. I am praying for the day when these practices will extend to abortion as well and all of us will act consistently with these noble beliefs.

The homebirth community grows in awareness that previous abortions negatively affect natural birth. When a mother labors in a birth after having an abortion previous to the present pregnancy, she often is doing the work to birth both babies at once â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the aborted one and the baby coming now. One exaggerated argument against gynecological/medical personnel being involved in natural birth is that in their busyness and routines they might forget in an early prenatal which procedure they are doing--an abortion or a prenatal exam. Unfortunately many midwives also counsel abortions, being wolves in sheep's clothing. For the most part, medically trained perinatal professionals have accrued a lot of harmful karma and it shows in their limited ability to assist in spontaneous births without their technological tools. If on the one hand you are terminating babies and on the other hand trying to welcome them, there might be some subtle confusion. I believe babies can sense who is truly harmless and trust 162

their deliverance into the hands that consistently support life. No amount of sadhana (spiritual practice) or pagan powers can supersede abortion in our psychic closet: Especially if those past abortions are not healed (atoned, integrated and/or understood that what happened made sense at the time but to repeatedly abort is a waste of a painful lesson.)

Spirituality in its essence is reverence for life. It is not denying the physical for the spiritual. Rather it is seeing the spiritual in the material and ultimately unifying our vision so that there is no separation.

The means is the end. Having an abortion in order "to get my spiritual act together" is self-defeating (Self Defeating). One of the best ways to get oneself together is by helping someone else. Each action we do on the Earth sets the stage for all future actions. Having an abortion is the strongest metaphor for separateness and non-acceptance of the unity of life there is.

Let me close with a prayer for all the babies who are hereâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; whether they be convenient or not. May we be worthy of their trust. May we prepare ourselves fully for those babies whose faces we have yet to see rising from the ground. May we witness the end of our world's confusion about personal "freedom" and "independence" and 163

come to celebrate our divine interdependence and oneness. In the God (Us) name, may all conscious beings come to accept fertility as the blessing it truly is and through all our babies, come to know who we really are.

164

Wanted: Mothers The Faithist Journal Anonymous (1988)

One day as my body lay resting quietly on its

bed, I decided to

plunge into hada, the lower atmospherean heavens of the Earth. I closed my eyes, visualized the soles of my feet until they to tingle; then I felt the tingling creep up my thighs and torso.

The tingling

started

ankles, lower legs,

picked up on my fingertips and

crept up my forearms to the elbow, then to the shoulders and finally to the top of my head.

Meditating on this a while, I heard

a loud buzzing sensation in my head and looking back at my reclining,

suddenly I was outside,

corporeal form.

I floated through the bedroom walls to the myself wandering amongst

(or felt)

outside and soon found

the teeming billions of departed

earthlings who inhabit that region closest to the Earth and to all they have

loved.

I talked with many of them as I wandered,

found that their aims, aspirations and beliefs than those of the people one expressed

and

were little different

might meet at the county fair.

Many

disappointment in not having been taken to "The

Saviour" and all were preoccupied with finding a permanent place to reside. (The 165

more or less

crowding of this region is

somewhat like ManhattanIsland multiplied by many thousands of times).

As I elbowed my way through the densecrowds, I came eventually to a large open valley. The boxes, baskets

ground of this valley was covered with

piles of straw and similar things, each of which

contained the astral form of a tiny infant. Each in a blanket. The scene extended clear to the horizon

infant was wrapped

for as far as the eye could see,

of this region over the North American

continent.

There were millions of tiny infants, placed in little groups of about a dozen, with walkways cleared

between the groups.

Up and down

along these walkways strolled a few dozen sad, tired, middle-aged looking ladies, each wearing a grey tabard with a rope belt, and each busily trying to take care of the immediate needs of several hundred of the infants.

Needless to say, I was quite curious about this scene, and could not resist inquiring what it was all about.

"Where did all these children come from?", I inquired of the nearest lady.

166

"One of these babies is mine", she responded, "but I don't know which one, because I never saw it; I don't even know, whether it is a boy or a girl. I do know that if it has blue, grey or green eyes, it very probably isn't my own, because I and my lover both had brown eyes. And the new ones arriving, of course, are not mine, either, but they all need to be taken care of; they all need a mother but they only have us few."

"How did it happen", I asked, `that you never saw your own child?"

"It was an abortion", she sadly replied, "I was ashamed to let my folks find out that I was pregnant so I went to this so-called ‘doctor’ who ripped it out and left me unconscious from shock and, incidentally, with all sorts of germs in the torn spots and I came over here shortly afterward as the result of a serious infection. All of these kids were aborted, and every day we get several thousand more, so we press into service every woman who comes here looking for her child. Still, as you can see, there are not nearly enough ladies to take care of all of them properly."

She continued, "They all need to be bathed more often than they are. There are so many of them and we have such meager facilities for it, and so few people to help with it; that's why the stench is so bad.

don't really mind it myself but it is so offensive to ‘the others’ that they 167

always bring them here and just drop them." She added, "Most of their mothers wouldn't care enough about them to help, even if they were over here on this side; they were just glad to be rid of them. As for their fathers, I seriously doubt that many of them even believe that they have children here."

I looked out across the tremendous field with miles and miles of little bundles, all dirty, hungry, crying and squirming with loneliness and discontent.

I thought to myself, "If only every young girl who plans to get rid of her kid could come over here and see this!"

I wanted to help, but knew that I lacked the skill and experience to even get started; also, I knew that I had to return to my body, so what little I was able to do was just a token, like dipping out the ocean with a teaspoon. I wondered quietly whether the lower heavens over the other continents of the Earth had tremendous foundling fields like this one.

I knew that heredity is the main factor in whether one continues after death of the body, so to a certain extent, survival of bodily death comes to most as a corollary to the gift of life itself. It's a little like beauty; one gets it chiefly by choosing the right parents. 168

If survival

of bodily death was due to faith or to good works or piety, none of these little ones would be here. If it was a universal gift to every animal thing, the lower heavens would be a raging, howling zoo filled with creatures of every description still trying to do the things they did in corporeal life.

As such it would hardly be called â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;heaven.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

I wondered at the poor physical condition of many of the babies. There were cripples of every kind, deformed bodies, missing members, Siamese twins, dwarfs, blind, deaf and partly paralyzed children.

There were representatives of every, race and ethnic

group on the North American continent, but the ratios didn't seem the same as in the corporeal real world. I suppose that some ethnic groups place a higher value on life and on children than they do on daughter's "reputation." Certainly, the child's religion could hardly have any effect upon its survival, particularly at the ripe old age of minus four or five months.

As I strolled through these thousands of acres of outdoor nursery, looking at the millions upon millions of abandoned children who had been prematurely cast into heaven, I marveled at the size of the task before any woman who had the courage to volunteer to help. I also wondered at the folly of our people in letting this thing happen to us. I realized that the Puritan Ethics, the antiquated concept of "marriage" and the consequent quaint ideas about "honor" and 169

"disgrace" related to the reproductive process must carry much of the blame for this wholesale slaughter of innocents.

I remembered

hearing that in the United States of America, it is estimated that over two million such deaths at the hands of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;dear motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; occur every year.

The U.S.A. only lost somewhat over fifty thousand young men

each year during the ten years of the Vietnam fiasco.

Eventually, I tired of this nightmare and was overwhelmed by a feeling of helplessness and sadness.

170

Bless the Innocents Radiance The Eloists (1988)

Soon we will be gone from your focus until our travels bring us back to your realm again. My hosts and I have been hard at work to strengthen the organizations that are helping the weak-minded, the undeveloped and misguided souls who continually cross the great divide. Our nurseries, most of all, are overburdened above your nation. These are part of the great change we are seeking. Your people must make the leap in consciousness from war and violence to peace. They must learn peace among nations, peace in the home and peace within their inner selves. They must also put an end to the slaughter of the innocents and either accept the responsibility of parenthood or learn how to become mature adults and not become parents, through conscious choice. We can no longer tolerate the continued destruction of so many unborn babes. The hand of judgment will remain above all nations that condone such practices, and until their ways are changed, peace will not reign within their families, but they will continue to deteriorate and wallow in misery.

171

The Gift of Life Radiance The Eloists (1990)

Oahspe reveals to humanity the truth of your immortality, and the reality of the angelic overshadowing that has continuously, over countless centuries, labored to raise the understanding and behavior of mortals to a state that would allow them to become a blessing to themselves and to their progeny, who would inherit conditions in which they have little to say and even less control. Many of the actions taken by mortals through ignorance not only make their lives a time of suffering, but also place inestimable burdens on our angelic realms. It is in that concern that we speak with you tonight, not only to impress upon you the seriousness of our plight, but to enlighten you on things to come. Life begins at conception. At that very moment you become an immortal human soul destined to progress in wisdom and power throughout eternity. This marvelous reality was not always assured in the distant past history of your race on this planet, but for many thousands of years now every soul has been guaranteed immortality at conception, regardless of one's parentage and circumstances surrounding the birth. The evolving embryo at that moment is a separate and distinct immortal being, placed in the care of another separate and distinct immortal being by the Ever-Present 172

Creator until it can subsist unaided in the mortal realm. To terminate or abort this development for any reason constitutes murder of the earthly habitat and thus thrusts the developing soul into our spiritual realm prematurely to the will of the Creator. This is the simple truth which cannot be couched in euphemisms or more expedient phrases. The reality of the consequence is all too readily apparent to us here, and is a practice which must be reversed before any semblance of order can be restored to the lower heavens surrounding your planet. You are well aware that this issue is being hotly contested in your nation today, and it will continue to be hotly contested through the decade to come. But we tell you that the Creator's hand is over this matter and the day will come when your society will finally decide in favor of life, but not before a great deal of suffering is sustained as the battle over this issue is brought to the streets of your nation. Just as your nation's civil war could not be resolved until the majority of your nation's inhabitants resolved in their hearts in favor of freedom to the slaves, so will your nation not find peace in its cities or country places until the majority resolves itself in favor of life. Until then, violence in the streets and within the home will continue to grow. The integrity of the family base will continue to crumble. The children you do raise will continue to be a disappointment both individually and collectively as constructive members of your society. Criminal activity will continue to undermine the fabric of society and the use of drugs and other forms of self-destruction will continue to thwart your efforts 173

at reformation. Though we are already entering a period of increased spiritual light, yet amongst the masses of society it will hardly be evident until this issue is resolved. Until then, keep the light of your focus strong and stay well centered. When the minds of the masses begin to awaken there will also come great progress in disarmament, social reform and the blessings of peace. But many long and painful years remain. Sometimes this is the only way important lessons can be learned. Keep your spiritual community committed and strong so that you may ride unscathed through the turmoil and contribute something positive and helpful in the process.

174

Growing in the Spiritual Worlds Radiance The Eloists (1991)

Peace be with all the Creator's children on earth. Let love flow from their hearts to one another. There is no time to waste. Precious lives are being snuffed out of the body too soon. Too many are passing on to the other side with no preparation for further development. Our time and energies are devoted to receiving these many new souls, and trying to keep them from going back to earth again. Once they have left their physical bodies, they must go on to new experience and spiritual awakening. It is not an easy task for us. We have great compassion for these newborn souls. Many little babies come over here from abortions, sickness and accidents. They have been cheated out of their earthly experience. Not that they would have had all good experiences, but every experience, good and bad, would have contributed to their soul development. They will still grow in spiritual worlds, but it will take much longer. We put all in the hands of our Creator and give Him our faith and love. It is by His power in us that we are able to accomplish our task

175

Peace Radiance The Eloists (1991)

Peace be with all the Creator's children of Earth! Let love flow from their hearts to one another. There is no time to waste. Precious lives are being snuffed out of the body too soon. This earth is a school for the education and development of souls while still in the physical body. Too many are going to the other side with little preparation for further development. Our time is taken up in receiving millions of these new souls and trying to keep them from going back to earth again. Once they have left their physical body, they must go on to new experiences and spiritual awakening. It is not an easy task for us. We have great compassion for these newborn souls, especially little babies who came here due to abortion, sickness and accidents. They have been cheated out of their earthly experience, not that they would all have had good experience, but every experience would have contributed to their development as souls. They will still grow in spiritual worlds, but it will take much longer. We put all in the hands of Our Creator, and give our Faith and Love to Jehovih at all times! The Ever-Present is the captain of our ship!

176

Dear Souls of Light Radiance The Eloists (1992)

Be steadfast in our common purpose. As we come together at these appointed times we work to build greater harmony and continuity between your plane and ours. We seek to burst through the barriers that separate us. As we do this, it is important that your whole life, the sum totality of your existence, plays a fundamental part in this process. The time spent in council is fine and good, but the preparation beforehand makes you fit tools through which we can work and that is the vital link that really "sets the stage." It is how you live, what you think, and how you serve each and every day that molds your vessel for our use. Through it all, it is not what you did yesterday, today, or tomorrow that makes the difference, but rather what habits and traits you nurture day in and day out, year by year, until they are constitutionally part of your character and personality.

We have made great strides together, no doubt, but do not let that slacken your pace. Reconsecrate yourselves, your lives and your Purpose to Jehovih each and every day and you will be answered with greater fulfillment and greater joy of soul throughout all the days of your lives here and hereafter. 177

We have a deep and genuine concern for your wellbeing. Since we are much older than you in years (as you count them), you are like precious children whom the Great Spirit has chosen to place under out care. All children, regardless of the circumstances of their birth and surroundings, are gifts of the Great Spirit and their presence among us should be viewed as a most sacred trust.

They are "angels to be" in time, just as you are, but their innocence and vulnerability behooves us all to love, protect, and nurture them 'until they are strong enough to stand on their own. That is your obligation as their elder care takers, just as you are our responsibility as your elders even though we are separated from you by the unseen dimension that seems to separate your realm from our world of Spirit.

Every child is a sacred trust from the moment of conception, and every child from the earliest moment of development should be held in greater reverence for the sacred miracle that it is. This is not the case among too many people on your plane, and this must be changed through growth in understanding as to who we are as immortal souls, with a purpose and destiny greater than just the here and now.

178

The number of young souls cast upon our spirit plane prematurely every year are testimony to the fact that the people of your world are still mostly misguided and stumbling, diseased in spirit and burdened with darkness. Verily are you rising and falling, both at the same time. This must be remedied, and it will be remedied in this era of Kosmon, but it will be a laborious journey with no easy solutions.

Have no doubt that Jehovih has the solution, and it will be made manifest through the exalted Hosts of Angels who labor as the Creatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hands, yes and hearts on the scene. Have no doubt that they hold all of you as their most sacred trust, and they will not rest until all have been redeemed to light and understanding, to a fuller consciousness and maturity unlike any that has heretofore manifested on earth. Then will a greater peace manifest. Then will all the awakening gifts of spiritual and corporeal knowledge blend and blossom into the fullness of a blessing as it was meant to be, free of all the pain and sufferings of the past. This will be the task of the high-raised beings who are soon to follow us now that we have fulfilled our part and set the stage. All is planned; all is in concert; all is orchestrated.

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Lines of Light Radiance The Eloists (1992)

The Hosts of Light are with you in focus. We come from realms that are not so far removed from your plane that we are insensitive to your earthly trials and your mortal needs, nor are we so close that we are unduly influenced by your realm's unenlightened behaviour or the inharmony and disorganization of the lower atmospherean realms. We have risen to a state in which unity of action and unity of purpose under one Infinite Source is our rule and guide. We work organically under one high council and our labors being so perfectly planned and orchestrated bring us seasons of endless delight and fulfillment as only the higher, more liberated realms can enjoy.

We come to your plane to bring guidance and inspiration to those who are receptive to the Light. We work behind the scenes to orchestrate those earthly events that we can influence for an ultimate good, and to provide spiritual balm for those who suffer from those events of darkness or fate that we cannot influence.

We greet those who arrive here in both timely and untimely fashion and give assurances and instruction to those who are advanced 180

enough to perceive our presence. When they are not, we turn them over to those hosts who are best trained to deal with souls who are diseased. undeveloped, or mired in darkness. Many of the latter are beyond our immediate help because they arrive in such great numbers at this time, especially when there are self-inflicted tragedies and wars.

These unfortunates try us all and test our resources to the limit. Most have to be left to their own devices until more opportune occasions arise at times of dan or when etherean hosts come to our assistance. It is at those times that circles of dedicated souls on earth can be most useful to us, for when they are trained and well developed over many years of discipline, they can be of use to us as "batteries", "step down transformers" and "anchors", through which we can touch the lower atmospherean realms. Through our earthly intermediaries we can reach those in the lower spiritual realms even though they have already passed through the veil into our world of spirit.

Lastly, we also work with those who are young, undeveloped and innocent; those youthful souls of innocence who are thrust upon us through untimely births, mistreatment or abortion. These arrive without the sins of darkness upon them and they are cared for in a most considerate, caring and loving environment, well removed from the lower discordant realms of earth. Some are joined with an 181

appropriate corporeal host under close supervision until they are mature enough to be taken in a state of spiritual infancy to an appropriate region for care, while others who are more mature are removed right away. But in either case all of these innocents quickly find their way to our organic heavens of the higher atmospherean realms. Though they may arrive under the most sorrowful circumstances, they are all by their innocence and virtue special gems in our plateau of Light and Love. Here they are kept in love and joy and away from all harm, where they soon mature with grace and beauty.

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The Sacred Life Immortal Visions of a New Age Robert Bayer (2009)

There is a clock image before me.

It is bejeweled in green and

purple crystals. Its hands point a few minutes from midnight. I pass through the clock. I see mothers, a dozen or so different ones holding their newborn babies in love, smiling and very happy. A complete shifting of the vision onto a new scene: a surgery room, and screams of fear and pain, and an angelic baby rises upward to be swaddled in a spirit blanket by angels who rise above with it. I look to the grisly settling of the operating table, mother, doctor and table and cutting instruments covered in blood. A lifeless child’s body is thrown away into a plastic bag.

I see a corridor of such scenes, extending like

into infinity when you look into 2 mirrors facing one another. Ghastly butchery after ghastly butchery. Very difficult to keep seeing. Below, and unseen to the doctors, a black network of tentacles, monstrous, control the thoughts and movements of the “doctors.” The “mother” is in a state of shock and the tentacles grip her too, in a kind of dark cocoon. I follow the trail of tentacles to a subterranean chasm of caverns. everywhere.

The lightning and mood is horrific. Blood flows

A demonic entity, goat-shaped and black winged, fiery,

red coal eyes, wielding knives in both hands, “sacrifices” the 183

childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s astral forms on the burning altar before him. I can watch no more. I rise up from this hell, to the earth, to the heavens â&#x20AC;Ś I see pure child after pure child growing up in the heavens, wise and good parents and teachers working with them, loving them, teaching them the truths of the universe they know.

Many colors of spiritual

blessings enfold them. A great gathering of these new angels is growing, very serene and very filled with the purpose of returning to earth to enlighten and strengthen all there in a new sacredness of life. Mothers and fathers of the world are coming under their beautiful mantel of love.

My guide speaks:

The Unseen is where the Truth of all things lie.

Nothing is hidden,

whether the light of love or darkness of selfishness, all is revealed in the spirit which is the true reality.

For decades, a holocaust of

infants has terrorized the world and burdened the heavens. The time for the repudiation of this great crime has come.

No more will the

murder of the innocent be allowed to continue, blackening the earth in great sin. A new conscious that all life is sacred and created with divine purpose, by the All Highest Creator, shall dawn and illuminate the mortal mothers and fathers that their highest purpose is to be in love and to love their children forevermore. Our love for you all, our mortal children, is eternal and so let us extend this love to all people, for all are our brothers and sisters, all Children of the Great Spirit, The Sacred Life Eternal. 184

Eternal Families of Love Visions of a New Age Robert Bayer (2010)

The blue sky is above me, with very lovely white clouds dappling it. Also, there is a kind of transparent window outlined in a section of the blue sky. I rise up to it and it opens and I pass into it. There is a rush of fast movement upward, myself and others that I can only dimly see.

After a short time, and all at once, we appear out in the

open, above the crown of vast white cumulous clouds. Passing a little way forward, we then look down upon a city of white and gold and silver and crystal buildings, each surrounded by large gardens and lawns.

The guide asks me where I would like to go.

After a

short pause, I say where I can be of the most service. He says to follow him and we descend into a park of gardens, wide lawns divided by sections of blooming flowers and trees. I see very young and happy children running and playing.

There are parents and

teachers overseeing one or more young ones. Some of these are baby infants and are being carried and caressed. I try to tune into the vibrations and purpose of this uplifting and heart-warming place. I perceive that all the attending adults were childless during their mortal lives.

My guide speaks:

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Yes, you perceive rightly, for all those laboring here, or rather, I should say parenting here, are fulfilling their long-held desire to be parents, while at the same time performing a great service to these little ones.

For know that their work and dedication in service is of

an eternal nature, and that they have not simply volunteered for a short time, a few days or years to these newborn in spirit.

Their

commitment, though not the biological parents in fact, raises them to be in truth from now on the real parents of these children for all eternity.

These are children who were discarded in their earthly

lives, whether through abortion or abuse or abandonment, and so met a tragic and far too early end to their lives on earth. Yet behold the Wisdom of our Heavenly Father-Mother, who joins together lives burdened with sad trials, and thereby makes and blesses a new family of heaven, that shall love and support and rejoice in one another. Where before there was sadness, and pain, now there is but joy and healing in united futures of happiness together that shall always be. Here, in these gardens, you and your loved ones shall one day meet.

I smile in tears of joy and look upon the happy scenes of families in harmony and love and cheer. Our thanks and blessings to the Heavenly Creator!

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The Development of the Unborn Child Conversations with Walter Walter and Betty Shepherd (2010)

Walter has told me that, during its time in the womb, the Spirit looks after the development of the new child, at birth handing over its care to the mother and then gradually to the child’s own psyche. He has also told me that during life it is the mind, with its ideas, which makes all decisions for the individual. It occurs to me that I don’t really know what all this means.

“Walter — by what mechanism does the Spirit care for the growing embryo? And exactly how does the psyche influence us during life? Is it consciously, or is it through the unconscious mind?”

“These are two different questions. Let’s take the first one first. What you mean is that as the Spirit cannot touch the material body, there must be some way in which it causes the body to react. Is that right? “Yes, exactly.”

“Well, as you know by now, all energy comes from the Spirit, which is Life itself. Cells have an inbuilt desire to divide and reproduce. You could say that this idea, or instinct, is in the mind of each cell. To a 187

cell, this would be Love of Living. The Spirit can choose which cells divide and how, by giving energy to some and not to others. In this way it can encourage some cells to form — for instance — a nose, and prevent others from growing in an inappropriate place. That’s a sort of shorthand answer. Is it good enough?”

“Well, it does give me a general idea, but I have a couple of questions. You talk about the division of cells being discouraged by the Spirit if it is not required. Yet in the case of cancer, the cells are not prevented from over-reproducing; why is this?”

“Walter was talking about what happens before the birth of the child. He has told you that when the individual life on earth begins at birth, control is given to the child’s own psyche, so that the Spirit is no longer in charge. We do not think that a child has ever been born with cancer. This develops later, when the psyche is in control, and wrong ideas in the psyche itself are the main cause of it.

What else did you want to know?”

“What about genetic faults? Can the Spirit not prevent these from developing?”

“No it can’t. These are in the DNA, and no amount of love with cure 188

them.

We have been talking about the material body. As you know, your actions are controlled by ideas in the mind. No idea: no action. A person in a coma cannot act.

Where the mind is concerned, in the early stages of the embryo the Spirit will give love (energy) to those ideas it wants to encourage and not to others. At birth, as you already know, the Spirit abrogates its power of veto, and will give love to any ideas of the mind. An idea carries the tenderness of love which gives desire, and the energy of love, which fuels the action. The result of the action is then the light of love, which as we have said before can be all sorts of things.

Does that give you a good enough answer to your first question?”

“Yes. The Spirit controls both body and mind by the giving or withholding of love; that is, energy.”

“Good. Then we will go on to the second question. But first, Walter wants to tell you something about the unconscious mind. In depth psychology, this is considered to consist of two parts, the Personal Unconscious, whose contents have at one time been conscious, and which is unique to the individual, and the Collective Unconscious, 189

which is shared with all mankind. This last is usually considered to be a treasure-house of power and important potential. It has even been considered to equate with the Mind of God, or with the collective mind of Mankind, containing all that has ever been known.

The idea is not true. It is consciousness which is important. And also the Personal Unconscious.”

“But unconscious ideas do exist! They affect mood — and, for that matter, behaviour!”

“Of course they do. And it is very difficult — sometimes impossible — to reach them and change them for the better. But they exist in the Personal Unconscious.

The Collective Unconscious contains the experience gained during evolution through the lower forms of life, before we became human beings at all, and also from some of mankind’s very early experiences. That is valuable in that it teaches empathy — like the boy Arthur when, as a child, Merlin taught him what it is like to be a bird, and a fish, and other things. (You told Walter you had been reading the legend of King Arthur.) When we humans are able to understand other forms of life, it is because we have been through that stage ourselves and have, as it were, a picture in the Collective 190

Unconscious mind with which to compare anything we find out.’

“Are you telling me there are no ideas in that mind, only pictures?” “Darling, we simply don’t know what is in it! People on earth have no way of finding out, since if they had conscious knowledge of it, it would not be unconscious! And in Heaven it doesn’t exist. All mind is conscious.”

We think the Collective Unconscious must contain pictures, as these seem to influence how some artists see the world. It is also a reasonable assumption, since there was very little of what we would call ‘thought’ in the early stages of evolution, and impressions taken by the growing mind would very likely be in picture form.

“What about the body processes, like digestion? These are unconscious.”

“Yes. It is possible that they are controlled by a part of the Unconscious Mind. But Walter doesn’t think so. He thinks — and so do many other spirits — that the person’s own Spirit, when it hands over to the psyche at birth, retains control of the body’s internal processes. This would be a wise thing to do. You can see how disastrous it could be if the conscious mind were able to interfere with these unconscious processes. People might try to change the 191

shape and functions of their body according to fashions and the whim of the moment, or in order to excel at some sport! So Walter thinks that love is given where necessary by the individual Spirit.”

I said I had always thought the body was programmed to operate automatically. “Is the Spirit in control of the autonomic nervous system, then?”

“Both are probably true. No doubt the systems are set up to work on their own, but if things go wrong, the Spirit can intervene.”

“But even so,” I objected, “things do go wrong — with the digestion, for example.”

“The digestion, like other processes, has to work within the framework of the material body — the stomach, intestines, and so on. These are subject to illness, of course. And all illness is caused by wrong thoughts in the mind, usually beyond any control by the sufferer.

Are you any the wiser now?”

“I think so. . . You were talking about the unconscious.”

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“Yes. This leaves the Collective Unconscious as a sort of ancestral record, and certainly no treasure-house of knowledge. It knows what snakes and fish and frogs know — but that is nothing compared to the knowledge of humans! All knowledge, and all power, needs to be conscious, because consciousness is life and reality. This is true right through the Universe, from God to the atom and beyond. The great reservoir of knowledge and power could be the conscious mind itself, if it better understood its own Spirit.

Your second question was: How does the psyche influence us through life on earth? You really already know the answer to this. The psyche is the seat of ideas, and we are controlled by our ideas. In fact, the mind is its ideas, and without ideas we could do nothing. You might say, we would be nothing.

Are you answered?”

I said I thought I was. “But it’s a new idea that the conscious mind is — or could be — the treasure-house of knowledge and wisdom. I suppose the truth is that, as things are, it isn’t!”

“That is because not many people on earth are as yet living in their spiritual bodies, although these are with them on earth. The Spirit is conscious; if you are ever to live in spiritual bodies, and not only in 193

the material and Etheric ones, it will be consciously. If Evil is to be defeated, it will be by consciously loving Good.”

He went on: “Walter has said that most people love God in their hearts. When they come to acknowledge this, when they love him with the reasoning mind as well as in the heart, they will no longer do any evil thing. Well — will they?”

“No. That’s quite true; they won’t.”

A thought occurred to me: “You said we don’t ‘yet’ live in our spiritual bodies. Presumably that means we will one day? If you compare the human race to a growing child, how old would you say it is? How far have we got in the journey of its life on earth?”

“Walter would say it is a toddler; perhaps two years old.”

“Good heavens! Is that all? Then will we change altogether? I have sometimes wondered whether we would end up even a different shape, as the demands of life change.”

“Not a different shape. The material body is already exactly right for life on earth, and the head has grown larger to accommodate the larger brain. Nothing more is needed. It is the psyche which needs to 194

develop. And will — unless disaster prevents it from doing so.”

“You know,” I said, “in spite of all you have said about the psyche, I still find it difficult to know to what degree it can be equated with the mind. I mean, what is the difference?”

“The psyche is the mind and non-material emotional centre of a living person. You are not alone — many psychologists would be hard put to tell you what they think it is! During life on earth, the psyche controls, and interacts with, the electro-magnetic (etheric) part of the living body. For this reason the materialists can think of it as material, and do. They are wrong; the psyche is a spirit. In books on psychology you will read that mechanical thoughts and feelings, verging on sensation of the physical body, are attributed to the psyche. But in fact, thoughts and feelings controlled by the brain and nervous system, such as fear, hunger, lust or anger, are not a part of the psyche at all, but belong to the material body.

Some are evil, and some necessary on earth; all die with the body, or are shed in the afterlife as soon as possible. What continues after death is the true psyche — creative thought and emotional feeling.

People living on earth experience the psyche as intuition, empathy, and creative imagination, and also the will which powers them.” 195

“Not as ideas?”

“Certainly as ideas! All the three words which Walter has just given you are functions powered by the will (love) and giving rise to ideas. Walter has already explained that while ‘creative imagination’ sounds rather grand, in fact it is the most everyday thing in the world. Some people might think they haven’t got any — but they certainly have! Without it, they would not be able to plan the simplest day. Creative imagination accounts for all actions from getting out of bed in the morning to painting a masterpiece. Knowledge and empathy tell you how to do it, and intuition tells you the likely result.

Every act is a creation, resulting in something that was not there before, and it involves imagination because in order to know whether it should be done you have to look into the future — perhaps only a minute hence, but that is still future; the result of your action cannot possibly be with you in the present, when you are still wondering how or whether to do it! The psyche includes the desire to create (to act), and the energy of that desire (that is, the tenderness and energy of love). These two contents of the psyche are everyday things, and account for every large or small action, every day of your life. If you did not see in imagination (and where else would you see it, for it is not there in the present) the boiling water in your kettle, you would 196

not put it on the fire, and you would not get your cup of tea! The mere sight of a kettle is not enough to tell you that water can boil.

“Well, but you would never know unless someone told you! Or unless you were the first to discover it.”

“Quite right. The psyche also includes knowledge — which, when you think about it, consists of ideas about all sorts of things. The mind of the psyche consists of its ideas — remember? — and these may come from personal experience, from some other psyche, or from a source like a book, which is the same as getting it from another person. True knowledge is experience, the truth of which has been personally discovered, or is known by intuition. Facts which you get second hand are not knowledge until they enter your own psyche as known truth, and when they do this they transform the psyche itself.

Your true self includes the truth you know: real knowledge and being are the same thing.

Some people are crammed with facts they have not experienced, and which have not therefore affected their psyche. These constitute a false personal being. Once experienced, some of these facts may enter the psyche and become part of the real person, but until they 197

do they are useless, and may be harmful. ‘I always thought that marmalade was green!’ could be said by someone who has never seen or eaten marmalade. That wouldn’t matter too much. But what about: ‘I always thought all business people could be trusted,’ or ‘I always thought all red berries were edible.’? Both ideas might lead to disaster. But far worse — and not that uncommon: ‘I always thought all foreigners were dangerous, and should be killed.’”

A thought struck me. “I went wrong over an idea, didn’t I — that discarnate spirits had all knowledge and wisdom! If I hadn’t thought that, I wouldn’t have trusted the ancestor’ spirits, and got my fingers burned.”

“Walter is glad you realise that! You see — you have gained knowledge, and it has entered into your being. Now, for the future, you know.

All people hold some ideas which are second-hand and possibly dangerous, and some people are so full of them that they have hardly any true identity at all. You may wonder how they survive in the world. Well — heaven looks after them, and a sore trial they are to their guardian spirits!”

“I suppose they usually get these ideas from their parents, or family, 198

or from their peers?”

“Very often. On the other hand, most families pass down good ideas to their children, and only a few bad ones, so don’t blame them for all evil.”

“The trouble at present is that young people won’t listen to their elders, for good or ill.”

“Absolutely true. But Walter thinks this will pass. It must, if the human race is to survive.

People often feel they need to build a protective wall between themselves and the rest of the world, and to do this they use some ideas which are true and some which are not, creating a facade behind which they can hide their weaknesses. With this shield they feel they cannot be attacked at their weakest points, as no one will know which they are. Psychologists have called this false person the Persona, after the masks worn by actors in Ancient Greece to identify the characters they were playing. (This is still done in Japanese theatre.) The Persona does not only hide weakness; it can present a brave show, and add greatly to the stature of the personality.

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In some people it is very like the real person behind it; in others it is almost entirely false.”

I said I thought most people had a Persona to some degree, acquiring it during their teen years, or sometimes even earlier, “One of the tasks of growing up — often not finished until quite late in life is to get rid of the false hits, until the face you present to the world represents as exactly as possible the true nature behind the mask.

“I think I was seventy or more before I really achieved this. And, oh! the joy when one does — the sense of release!”

“You have done well if you have achieved it at all!

So long as the mask is not too far from reality, and can be taken off at will, it is not too dangerous and can be helpful, as the world is a hard place and few people can face it without protection. But the Persona can grow on to the person so that it cannot be taken off, and then it prevents the proper growth of the psyche, leading to self-deception and loss of identity, for in the end the person no longer knows which is the Persona and which the real self.

“Like the Red Shoes which grew on to the little girl’s feet, in that most dreadful of fairy tales.” 200

“Yes. Fairy tales tell us the truths. The little girl was determined to have her own way — to wear the Red Shoes, and to dance in them. She saw this as the expression of her own self. Then she couldn’t take them off, and could not stop dancing, although she was dropping with fatigue.

At death, this inability to shed the Persona causes a terrible dilemma, because all falsehood in the personality must be discarded before the psyche can join the Spirit and progress through the heavens.”

“Before the ‘Golden bowl’ of the Lustral body can be ‘broken’?”

“Well done! Yes, exactly.”

“When the Lustral body has been superseded, does the psyche, with the Spirit of Love, then live in the Astral body.”

“Yes. That is what it is called. What it means is that the feeling part of the spirit person is then all love, and is no longer contaminated with any bad feelings.”

I had to smile at Walter’s determination that I should not use names (of bodies or anything else) without fully understanding what those 201

names represent. As Shakespeare pointed out, the name of a thing is not its identity, merely a convenient label.

“Walter, you have said that some things are more easily learned here on earth than in the afterlife. Is this one of them — discarding those parts of the Persona which are not true to yourself?”

“Yes, it is.

The psyche is mental spirit. Without it the body would be — not a lump of meat, as it would be without the individual Spirit — but a cabbage. The psyche and the brain are not synonymous; you know that, but it is very important that you should remember it. The psyche is a spirit; the brain is part of the material body. The mind part of the psyche uses the brain as a tool; it no more is the brain than a carpenter is his adze. Damage to the brain damages, not the psyche, but the connection between the two.”

“That accounts for the feeling one gets with brain-damaged people that something within them understands only too well, but cannot communicate what they know and want.”

“Yes. It is a sad fact that this was not understood until recently. People were treated cruelly for what is no more than a mechanical 202

malfunction.

Also, much of what people believe to be intelligence is intellect, and belongs to the electro-magnetic system of the brain — which works better in some people than in others, but is never a spiritual function. Electro-magnetism is not a spirit, it is material; in the language of heaven, the Etheric body.

If the psyche stretches out to learn all it can by personal experience, or by the exercise of its intuitive knowledge of truth (which is given by contact with the Spirit of Love), then it will grow and develop, and live in its own Lustral body.

This is the object of our experience on Earth. To allow the psyche to reach its full potential. As Walter has told you, there are certain lessons which are learned more easily on earth (though sometimes not without suffering).”

“Is that why a hard life can in some ways be a blessing?”

“Yes, it is. Some lessons can be learned only with difficulty in the continuing life in the conditions of heaven, after the death of the material body. What you do not learn now, you will have to learn later, and it may be harder — that is the simple truth. We do not stop 203

learning just because we have finished with the physical body. And just as well, for you will agree that no one is perfect at the end of life on earth.”

“Well, that’s true enough! But why is it harder to learn in the afterlife? I would have thought that it would be easier to take things in, without the pressures of living on earth, and when you are surrounded by loving and helpful spirits.”

“Dear love, you are making the all-too-human mistake of judging others by yourself! You are so anxious to learn that you will not find it hard. But many people don’t want to give up their wrong ideas! They will fight to keep them! All the love in heaven finds it hard to get through to someone who is determined not to have it.

That’s why learning can be hard in the afterlife. It is painfully difficult to give up your most cherished ideas. But every soul learns in the end. The Church Father, Origen, taught that every person in the world, however evil, would be saved in the end, and this is the blessed truth. Thanks be to God!

“So Walter, can I summarize what you have told me.

On earth, the psyche is both thought and feeling, for the two cannot 204

be separated. It is also the individual self — which presumably consists of thought and feeling?”

“Yes. And while on earth, temporarily of sensation.”

“So Descartes was not too far wrong when he said: ‘I think, therefore I am’?”

“Walter believes he put too much emphasis on thought and forgot feeling.”

“Well — yes. . . But that was a diversion. The intellect, as opposed to intelligence, is the work of the mind using the brain as a tool, and is material.”

“Yes.”

“In the heavens, thought and feeling gradually become entirely loving; the psyche then joins with the individual Spirit to live in the Astral body. This — the ‘Pitcher’ of Ecclesiastes — is eventually superseded, and the psyche and Spirit, thought and love together in the Glorified body, return unto God who gave life to them.”

“Good. You have understood. The glorified person will retain 205

personality — all the good things gained by each of us during life on Earth and in the heavens, and will return to God bearing this treasure.”

“Dare one say — by which God will be enriched?”

“That is the hope of the spirits of heaven.”

“What a wonderful thought!”

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A Family of the Heavens Visions of a New Age Robert Bayer (2013)

Upon the lower astral planes, there is a chasm that serves as one of the avenues to the hells far below. A number of years ago, I walked across this gorge of hell upon a White Bridge. And I was doing so now though not with any great relish. At this time I became very focused and clear in mind, careful to not allow the slightest trace of fear or doubt enter my mind, no matter what I might encounter. For it is natural to assume that in these sundry, dark places of spirit, any weakness or negativity would only attract far worse. And so I walked upon the White Bridge spanning these depths. Fire and Back plumes cascaded upward, fashioned by the hate and fear of the denizens below. This time the bridge descended gracefully downward with me athwart it. I heard my unseen guardians caution me to stay upon the bridge at all times.

As I descended, the

delirium of screams rose in volume and intensity of emotion. Shadows of many shapes, faces of many kinds of anguish passed by but did not touch me nor did they seem aware of me. So I managed to stay outwardly calm, because there was no alternative.

At last

we reached the bottom of the pit, and at first I could see nothing. I wondered why I was even here. I became aware of the great 207

vastness of the black plateau, whose ravines and caverns stretched for what seemed thousands of miles. Being alone, what purpose could I possibly serve by being here? My guides said quietly but reassuringly to watch and wait. And so I did and my spiritual eyes became gradually used to the dim light and I found I could see a bit ahead. I heard next some pitiful weeping, and so walked a few steps forward and found that there was a young girl, perhaps ten years old, who was on her hands and knees crying most bitterly. She was so forlorn and in pain that my heart immediately went out to her and as it did, I found that I instantly knew by reading her spiritual vibrations, just what was the cause of her predicament.

Her parents

had never wanted a child and had resented everything extra parenting required, and especially being of meager resources, resented and over time, developed a hatred for this pleasant girl, who in their twisted view, was causing them so much extra work and financial costs. They constantly scolded and punished her, often quite sadistically. And so her heart and spirit were at last broken and one day she cast herself into a stone quarry and so ended her life. Being a suicide she had just arrived here and was hardly less anguished now than before the suicide. As I have stated before, my heart instantly went out to her and I made an inner pledge to the Creator of Universe at that moment, that this girl, I and my soul-mate would take on and love as our own daughter from this point in eternity onward, no matter what. For love 208

begets love, of that I was certain. Also, having no children on earth of our own, it seemed even more fitting to do just this. She rose up almost immediately as the force of my parental love flowed to blend with her and greeted me quite hopefully. I felt something cosmic click in our destinies, and there was in that hell an exchange of smiles and greetings as cheerfully done as in a neighborhood park.

Her name

was Sally. Just then, a great Star Sphere of Light next appeared with my Eternal Soul-Mate, Joyce, within it, and quite an entrance of brilliance and angelic beauty she was. Both Sally and I were amazed but delighted and in seeing her welcoming smile, and the opening of her beckoning arms, we entered her craft.

All three of us then

embraced warmly and with deeply gladdening hearts. We were together, a family! At long last! In hell now yet in the heavens so happy, we knew now, for all time.

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The Cosmic Family Eternal Visions of a New Age Robert Bayer (2015) I am walking down a long corridor, very white and very bright, with gold framed works of art along its walls. Each of the pictures is marvelously vivid, beautiful, empowering to gaze at,

representing

various unique Symbols of Sacredness: Rose, Star, Jewel, Rainbow, Sunrise, Waterfall and many more. There is a Golden Door at the end of the corridor, glowing with a radiance of sparkling golden particles. Above it is an arch inscribed with the words: <Love is Our Eternal Truth.> As I reach for the doorknob an angelic hand takes mine and pulls gently through to another dimension and realm. I am standing upon vast garden lawns that are roofed by a very beautiful transparent glass pyramidal dome, tessellated in many pleasing geometric shapes which fit together perfectly. The blue azure skies and golden sun are above all of this. The glass pyramid seems to be generating a very lovely positive energy, a blend of crystal, emerald and amethyst colors, with which it lightly gleams and radiates.

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I give these environmental details now but what really got my immediate attention were children soaring in ecstatic joy and laughter many meters above the garden. Down below them, their parents and other family members laughed with them, while encouraging and exchanging pleasantries with their kids. It all looks like a family-outing picnic of some special holiday. I feel their heavenly happiness together and rejoice for them. A guide standing next to me speaks: <These are the Families of The Chosen. Almost all of the children here have been adopted by childless couples since their passing over from the spirit world.

Many of these boys and girls have

parents who rejected or aborted them or who are now bound in dark hells for past evil acts where they shall someday learn to walk the spiritual path of ascension. But it is the Will of the Creator that all Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Children shall find love in the heavens even if unloved in their mortal life.

This is their new glad beginning of their very new, very

real immortal lives.

Many workers and teachers of the heavens are

continuing to labor to bring together those whom are destined to be part of the Cosmic Family Eternal. Our reward is simply to see these families united in angelic love and jubilation, eternally so.> Looking all around me, I once again hear their laughter, see their smiles and happy play together, and feel their deep uplifting love for one another.

Yes, this is heaven. Yes, this is Eternal Love. 211

The End

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