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The Life Beyond Death2262
But, just as the physical corpse may be aroused into apparent life activity
by a strong galvanic current, and will roll its eyes, move its limbs, and even
utter groans—so may these Astral corpses be galvanized by the vitality of
a medium (unconsciously by the latter), if the conditions be favorable, and
may be materialized so as to appear as a shadowy form, acting, moving, and
even speaking, the only mind in it, however, being supplied by that of the
medium or the persons present at the seance.”
The careful student of occultism will find in the works of all of the best
authorities many warnings against the confounding of the phenomena
related to these “Astral shells,” with that referring to actual communication
between disembodied souls and those in the flesh. But the general public,
not being informed, is very apt to fall into the error of supposing that this
class of psychic phenomena is a manifestation of “spirit return,” and the
cause of rational spiritualism has been very much injured in this way. It is
a ghastly mockery to have these disintegrating “Astral shells,” galvanized
temporarily into life by the vitality and minds of a medium (consciously or
otherwise), and to have them mistaken for the souls of departed friends and
relatives. And yet this terrible experience has been the lot of many earnest
investigators of psychic phenomena, and by many persons whose love has
prompted them to seek to communicate once more with their loved ones. It
would seem that there is much need for true occult knowledge on the part
of the public, in these days when so many are dabbling in psychic research,
and producing psychic phenomena the nature and character of which they
do not understand.
We trust that nothing we have said in this, or the preceding chapters, will
be taken as an attack upon modern spiritualism in the Western world. We
have no such intention, and no such feeling. We realize that through the
channel of modern spiritualism many earnest souls have been brought to
a realization of the higher spiritual truths, and have been led to the door
of the higher occult understanding. In fact, modern spiritualism to-day is
concerning itself comparatively little with “phenomena,” but, instead, is