By Eduard Herrmann
We shall never be able to give a
rational explanation of the interaction of soul and body, if we regard the soul
as a spiritual being and leave out of consideration the astral body. Only when
we consider the soul as being the essence of the whole body, which thinks and
first organizes the astral and then the physical body, shall we be able to
solve the old question: how can an immaterial being have a real connection with
a material body?
The plastic formative power is in
the astral body, which is an envelope of the soul. This formative power remains
after its product, the physical body, dissolves. The soul then loses only the organ
for sensuous cognition, but the experiences which the soul received while that
organ was active, remain in the soul and become faculties and talents. In this
way the soul never loses anything through the death of its organ the body. The
invisible soul, which is the organizing principle, has the power to reproduce
another body as soon as it is necessary for it. Something of the kind takes
place when certain animals reproduce lost organs. This power to reproduce is
stronger with animals than with men; it seems to decrease with the development
of higher organisms.
The fact that the astral body is
invisible to us does not justify us in believing it to be immaterial, for we
know that an immense accumulation and condensation of atoms is necessary to
make forms visible to the ordinary eye. But we have positive proofs of the
materiality of the astral body; it could not contact and operate on matter if
it were not material. Now, if the astral body precedes the formation and
survives the physical body, then one is justified in asking the question:
Does separation ever occur during
physical life?
If separation occurs, then a
condensation of the astral matter must take place, otherwise we could not see
it. Now is this possible, and have we facts which prove the separability of the
two bodies?
Yes, we have such facts; and the
separability of the bodies is possible, in the following ways:
1. In Life:
a) as involuntary
separation; the double.
b) as voluntary
separation; the mayavi-rupa.
c) separation by
another's will; citation.
2. In the hour of death,
through an intense desire of the soul.
3. After death:
a) by voluntary
representation of the astral body (ghosts, phantoms).
b) by induced
representation, such as materializations, necromancy.
These are the causes of the
visibility of the astral body. Now let us look for the facts which will verify
these assumptions.
The double furnishes evident proof
of the existence of an astral body and of a transcendental subject. Further, it
proves the separability of the astral body from the physical body, which,
however, in the case of the double, is an involuntary separation, because it
happens usually without the knowledge of the person in question. But there have
been cases where men have seen their own doubles and these may also have been
visible to other persons at a distance. We do not know how the separation of
the two bodies takes place; we should be satisfied if we can find out whether
the separated astral body has any consciousness or not.
The ancients knew of the double;
thus it is said of Pythagoras that he was seen and spoken to in two different
places, at the same time. (Iamblichus: Vita Pythag. c. 28.) According to
Plinius (hist. nat. 13, 7). Hermotimus, too, had a double. In the Bible, the
double is called "Angel"; for instance, when St. Peter was in prison
and the damsel Rhoda, saw him before the gate (Acts XII:14-15). Lord Byron's
double was seen by Peel, the Secretary of State, and by Byron's brother, when
the poet was sick with fever, in Patras, Greece.
From many such cases on record it
seems certain that the astral body seldom or never shows consciousness, if the
physical body is in the normal condition; it is different when the physical
body is unconscious or cataleptic. Then the double acts rationally and with
consciousness, and the person is sometimes able to remember his experiences
made while out of the body.
A peculiar circumstance is that
phantoms often wear some dress which does not always correspond with the one
which the person is wearing at that same moment. There is a case mentioned in
the archives of animal magnetism VIII:3, where a man who is just taking
communion in his village church, is at the same time seen by his servant in the
stable, inspecting the cows and in his ordinary working suit. This case is
explained as a hallucination, brought about and made visible by thought
transference, and it gives strong support to the supposition (which Schopenhauer
entertains) that all such appearances are hallucinations. Now the fact that
strong thoughts can become visible is wonderful enough in itself, and no doubt
many so called apparitions are nothing else, but to say that all such cases are
brought about in this way, namely, through our own conscious or unconscious
power of imagination, is manifestly wrong. If a living man is· able to make his
projected thought visible, then a disincarnate soul could probably do this as
well; so that we may say the origin of a hallucination may be found in us as
well as outside of us.
It is difficult, almost impossible,
to decide just what a hallucination is: to say it is a momentary thought picture
by no means disposes of the astral body; or to say that by strong concentration
a thought can be made visible, simply means that a picture is formed by
accumulating that fine matter (which Paracelsus calls astral matter) and
condensing it long enough to make it visible; in other words, it forms an
astral body and so we are again at the point from which we started.
If I close my eyes and think long
enough of the Venus of Milo, I will in due time see that beautiful statue
before my mind's eye; that is, I see an astral body of it. This is what we do,
and do easily, in dreams, because when we are sleeping, our thoughts are not
disturbed by the activity of the senses. Now it is a fact that such a
dream-picture can be transmitted to other persons. Materialists will call it a
hallucination; we say it is an astral body which is seen.
The separation and sending out of
one's own astral body is quite different from the sending out of a thought
form. The astral body may be seen and even touched by several people at once I
the thought form is, as a rule, visible to one person only. A Danish physician
who promised his patient to call on her at a certain hour was by her seen at
the appointed time, although the physician was in fact prevented from calling
on her. He probably thought of his promise so strongly that his thoughts became
visible to the patient; and she had, what is called, a hallucination. Another
case is mentioned in the same book (Archive III. 3. 123). A man is seen by all
his workmen when he was in quite another place, but in an abstract, dreamy
state. This I would call an appearance of the double, because all the
conditions were favorable for an unconscious separation of the astral body.
Somnambulistic persons sometimes
correctly describe conditions and things which are happening at a distance. If
the questioner knows what the somnambulist relates, then it is probably thought
transference from him to the somnambulist, but if he does not know, then it may
either be clairvoyance or the sending out of the double. An example of the
latter kind is given by Dr. Charpignon of Paris (Charpignon, Physiology 88). A
somnambule who was put to sleep in Orleans desired to see her sister in Blois,
and went there in Spirit. Passing which is about midway between· the two
cities, she declared that she saw a Mr. Iouannean, in his Sunday suit. Some
persons who were in the room where the patient was asleep, knew the man she
saw, and asked him by letter if he had been at the place indicated at the same
hour. He answered that he was.
It would not do to explain all these
and similar cases by the double; many of them are due to clairvoyance at a
distance, of which there are hundreds of well authenticated cases.
One of the most interesting and
probably rarest experiences, which proves that animals also have the astral
body, or double, is told by the Reverend Moericke, one of Germany's finest
lyrical poets. He received as a present from a neighboring forester, a little
dog; but the faithful animal went from time to time to visit its old master.
One evening it did not come home. On this night the mother and sister of
Moericke woke up, because the dog crawled from under the bed, trembling and in
a state of fear; it quickly hid itself under the bed, as if expecting to be
punished. Both ladies went to sleep again, glad to know that the little fellow
had come back. But very early in the morning the forester brought the runaway,
who had spent the whole night with him. Later we shall see that the double is
more easily and frequently sent out when the sensuous consciousness is
suppressed; the dog probably felt stronger remorse in his sleep than awake,
which caused the appearance of his double at his new home.
The principal causes for the
unconscious sending out of the double are (1) sickness, (2) approaching death,
and (3) somnambulism. It has already been stated that the organizing principle
which forms our body, is identical with the principle which forms the products
of our thought or spirit; and this principle, common to body and thought, we
call soul. The mystical activity of the soul explains all psychic phenomena,
because it is the organizing soul which forms the astral body, the source of
the double, ghosts, materializations, all of which are in fact identical; they
issue from the same cause, namely, the organizing power of the soul; the
difference is only the cause of their origin. To find the cause we must inquire
into the physical and mental dispositions of the men or women who produce the
phenomena.
The simplest form of the double is
the feeling oneself as a double being; this is not rare among sick people. The
physicians Dr. Calmeil and Boismont (Brierre de Boismont: Des hallucinations,
587) report several cases where fever-patients had the fixed idea that their
double was lying in the same bed with them. Many physicians confirm this
experience, which, however, cannot be regarded as an actual proof of the
existence of the double, unless it is seen by other people, as in the case of a
woman who saw herself double and at the same time her child called out:
"Mother, I see you sitting in the corner." (Eschenmayer: Mysterien,
10.)
A peculiar phase is that some
patients see and feel only one part of the body. This happens often with people
who have lost a hand, a foot, or fingers, by accident or in war; in which case
they sometimes even have pain in the lost member. All these well known cases
have been and can be explained in different ways — the existence of the astral
body is as good as any other explanation. Since the phenomena of transcendental
consciousness show their highest manifestations in the state of dying, it is to
be supposed that in this state the organizing function of the soul would show
its activicy by the visible presentation of the astral body; and, indeed, we find
many authentic cases reported in the works of ancient and medieval as well as
modern psychologists. If there is a psychic connection between the appearing
and the perceiving person, the phenomenon seems to be easier to perform.
Sometimes not all the senses are susceptible; instead of the eye, the ear may
receive the impression of a presence. The celebrated naturalist, Linne, tells
in his Nemesis Divina that one night he and his wife heard somebody walk
up and down in his museum; Linne seemed to recognize the walk of his friend but
no one was in the museum, and the door was locked. A few days later Linne
received the news that his friend had died that same hour. Linne and his wife
were probably more susceptible to impressions through the ear than through the
eye; with others it may be the reverse takes place. Dr. Werner relates that his
dying brother appeared to his mother; he heard his own name called three times,
but did not see the appearance. Most of such cases are perceived with the eye;
the reason is, we suppose, that the sense of sight is more susceptible than
that of touch or hearing.
All appearances may be divided into
two categories:
1. Appearances which indicate
the situation of the dying.
2. Appearances which leave
the situation undecided.
If this difference is in the soul of
the dying person, then such appearances ought to give evidence that they are in
the· foremost place in the consciousness of the dying — and this is exactly the
case. Lord Byron was told by Captain Kidd: one night, when sleeping in his
cabin, he was awakened by the feeling that something heavy was lying upon him;
he recognized his brother in uniform and felt that the latter was entirely wet.
Captain Kidd was somewhat frightened and called for his officer; the appearance
vanished as soon as he entered. Several months later Kidd received the news
that his brother was drowned that same night in the Indian Ocean. (Monthly
Review, 1830, 299)
In this story, which is vouched for
by Lord Byron, we find the thoughts which may have been in the consciousness of
the drowning officer and which were transmitted to his brother, with whom he
probably was in magnetic rapport; the latter one facilitates thought
transference, as between the magnetizer and his subject, for which reason
Byron's story might be explained to be a strong case of telepathy. Not so the
following story, which Professor Koster of Giessen tells (Perty,
Spiritualismus, 298):
A very sick lady one morning said
that she, on the night before, had been to the native country of her husband,
and described the house and his father and sister, whom she had never seen
before. Soon after, she died. A few days later her husband received a letter
from his father in which he wrote that he and his daughter had seen the
apparition, which did not speak and which quickly disappeared. This is a case
which cannot be explained by telepathy, because the dying lady described what
had happened at a distant place while she was lying in bed, and was at the same
time seen by those two persons.
In most cases the phantom is passive
or irrationally active, as if it were a one-sided product of the organizing
faculty of the soul; sometimes it seems to have little consciousness; but there
are also cases reported where it acts rationally. We find indeed all the
degrees of manifestation, with regard to the outer form, beginning with a
nebulous column and ending with a perfectly formed figure, as well as to
consciousness and rational behavior. That the double is so often seen by dying
persons, may be explained by its releasing of those soul powers which otherwise
have to keep the organism alive and in good order. Superstition which often
draws false conclusions out of facts, takes it for granted that because many
dying persons send out their double, all those appearances are a sure sign of
death. In order to show that this is wrong, we will now consider those cases of
the double which have nothing to do with death.
The state of somnambulism is similar
to that of death; therefore during somnambulism we should expect the separation
of the astral body from the physical; this is frequently the case, and is
nearly always accompanied with a cataleptic condition of the body.
Somnambulists themselves describe this condition as similar to that of dying;
they claim they see their own double, which sometimes visits distant places
which they describe correctly, while entranced. Justinus Kerner, in his
"Seeress of Prevorst," gives many such examples, but similar ones can
also be found in modern books of psychology.
Important for the better
understanding of this mysterious faculty of the soul, is the fact that with
somnambulists, the sending out of the double is not always an unconscious act.
It is sometimes done purposely. Dr. Werner (Die Schutzgeister, 403) tells of
his patient: "It was remarkable that she could send out her magnetic body
at will; but it always produced a light painless trembling commotion of the
whole body".
In such cases the phantom can become
visible. Another physician, Dr. Meier, confirms this in the following story.
"A certain Mr. N. declared to a somnambulist his unbelief in regard to
this point; she answered that she would try to convince him. Some time after
Mr. N. woke up at 4 o'clock in the morning, seeing the somnambulist standing
before him, smiling at him and disappearing again. The next day he visited her,
but did not mention the occurrence; where-upon she smilingly asked if he did
not now believe, (Archive VI. 34.) Another still more interesting case is told
by Dr. Kerner (Magikon IV. 195), of a somnambulist who promised her physician
to visit him in her astral body; she was distinctly seen by both the physician
and his wife, and a letter of inquiry which the Doctor sent to the parents
established the fact that the patient was at that hour in a deep magnetic
sleep, resembling a corpse.
There are many similar cases
recorded, all well attested; so that we have no reason for doubt. Now, if we
take it for granted that the astral body can from time to time separate from
the physical body and even become visible, where do we find the causes for this
strange happening?
Undoubtedly, in the soul of those
predisposed persons. Moved by certain strong feelings, the soul directs the
thought on distant places or persons and by means of her organizing faculty
creates there the form, which is called the double; but a subjective
susceptibility on the part of the receiver is undoubtedly just as necessary as
is physical rapport between both persons, in order to make the appearance
visible. It is always a strong desire, a great sorrow, a vehement wish, a
decided will, at the bottom of all such happenings, with perhaps the sole
exception of mediumistic cases, when the coming out of the astral body has
become an unconscious habit. This is the reason why the projection of the
double so often takes place at the moment of dying. Schopenhauer tells of such
a case. A servant girl died in the Jewish hospital in Frankfort. The next
morning the sister and niece of the girl came to the city to inquire about her,
because she had appeared to both of them during the night. (Parerga I. 308.)
The celebrated magnetizer van
Helmont says: "Man has an ecstatic power which enables him to send the
spirit to a distant place or person, provided a strong desire or lively
imagination urges him to do so." Byron, Goethe and the naturalist Linne
testify that they had this power, and it is probable that people with powerful
imagination, coupled with a strong will, are more apt to send out their double.
If thought transference is a fact, why should this, too, not be a fact?
We do not know that our thinking is
not always, in some degree, an organizing. At least it seems to be so when we
dream, for how could we otherwise account for the dream forms, which are quite
as distinct as the physical forms we see when awake?
When deeply agitated the soul either
liberates our astral body or creates a thought picture similar to the dream
forms; and it is either that astral body or the thought picture which can be
seen, if the receiver is in magnetic rapport with the sender.
It is a mistake to suppose that
there are forces without matter, but our thought-forces have to do .with matter
which is so fine that our senses can perceive it under exceptional conditions
only — one of these conditions is the magnetic rapport between two souls. Given
this rapport, it still remains to be decided whether any appearance is an
astral body or a thought picture — and this is not always easy. The probability
that the appearance is an astral body is greater, if several of our senses are
affected by that appearance, that it is not only seen, but also heard, or
touched. It is well authenticated that the phantom can speak. The following is
one such case. The councilor Schubert told his father he had heard his mother
(who lived in another city) call him twice that night, telling him to come
quickly if he wanted to see her once more. Soon after, he saw her standing at
his bed; she touched his hand, said good-bye to him, and then disappeared. In
the following afternoon he received the news that she had died in the morning,
expressing the passionate desire to see her son once more. There is not the
slightest doubt that it was the astral body of his mother which Mr. Schubert
saw, heard and touched. (Perty: Die mystischen Erscheinungen II. 141.)
That phantoms are material is proven
by photography; but, as before stated, this matter is exceedingly fine, and is
as a rule invisible to the human eye. For this reason, many a sceptic, who even
concedes the reality of phantoms, may deny the possibility of material effects
which are sometimes observed in connection with appearances; because, he
argues, matter so rarified as to become invisible, cannot be the carrier of
sufficient force to bring about strong blows, knockings, or other
manifestations of power, such as those which may be observed at spiritistic
sittings. But force is the product of two factors, namely, mass and velocity.
Crookes has proven by experiment that in airtight compartments the molecular
movements of atoms is greater, and the great velocity produces a raising of the
force; so that the rarefying of matter produces greater velocity and
consequently greater force. There can be no doubt that future experiments will
establish the fact that phantoms do produce powerful effects, just for the
reason that they are of extremely rarefied matter.
Physics and chemistry would be
greatly benefited by an earnest study of mystical problems. Today, of course,
representatives of those sciences know little or nothing of transcendental
physics and chemistry; but they will soon be in the same straits as was the
church when she sneered at the heretical teaching of the existence of the
antipodes. Today she cannot find enough missionaries to convert them. Just so
our future naturalists will study the facts which they do not get tired of
denying today; they will make them their special study, and, if possible, claim
the honor of their discovery — for they will have to acknowledge what a German
physician, Dr. Schindler, said fifty years ago (Magisches Geistesleben, p. 35):
"Without considering the
magical powers of man, all psychology is an intelligent everyday life; that
other side of the soul's activity does not exist for her; she denies everything
that cannot be explained according to her understanding. Thus she neglects the
most important half of the human soul, and can therefore not find the true
psychology."
Well, everything is subject to
change and to evolution. What is denied today may be recognized as a truth
tomorrow. Let us Theosophists wait for the time when our teaching will be
justified by every searcher after the truth.
(The Word, September 1913, p.326-336)
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