About this
occult practice, William Atkinson in his book "Life beyond death" commented the following:
« To the
mind of the advanced occultist there are few things more deplorable than the
confusion; half-truths
commingled with untruth; false doctrine; false conclusions; some concerned with
the subject of “spirit communication” in the mind of the Western world. And
yet, this confusion, as deplorable as it may be, has served, nevertheless, to
attract the attention of thinking people to the subject, and to lead them to
further investigation of the matter.
Even the fraudulent
practices which have been such a scandal in the history of spiritualism in the
Western world, as disgusting and revolting as they have been to the mind of
thoughtful persons, have served to bring into relief the real truth behind the
general phenomena of spiritualism.
Leaving entirely out
of consideration the fraudulent, and semi-fraudulent,
phenomena which masquerades as “spirit communication,” the subject of the
communication between persons in the flesh and souls out of the flesh may be
divided into two general classes, i.e. the lower and the higher, respectively.
The lower class is
composed of two cases:
1.
The cases in which disembodied souls, of a
low order —the so-called
“earth-bound” souls— manifest their presence
to persons still in the flesh (I detail this in chapter 16).
2.
The cases of the animation of “Astral shells”
(I detail this in chapter 17).
The higher class of
the phenomena of “spirit communication,” so-called,
consists of cases in which the souls on the higher planes of the Astral
manifest their presence to persons in the flesh.
The soul on the
higher Astral planes, dwells in the idealistic condition, concerning itself not
with the affairs of the world it has left behind it. It, of course, maintains a
sympathetic connection with those near and dear to it by ties of love or friendship
who have been left behind on the material plane, but such sympathetic
connection is entirely of a psychic or spiritual nature, and has no connections
with nearness in space, or physical proximity.
The ties and bonds between
the disembodied soul and the soul still in the flesh in earth-life
may be thought of as spiritual filaments — something like a transcendent form
of telepathic rapport. When the disembodied soul is thinking of the loved one
on earth, the latter frequently experiences a feeling akin to the physical
nearness of the disembodied soul, but this merely arises from the sensing of
the mental and spiritual rapport of which we have just spoken. In the same way,
the disembodied soul experiences a sense of “call” or message from the person
in the flesh when the latter is thinking intently of the former.
So far as this
continuance of the feelings of love and affection between the separated souls
is concerned, nothing but good can be said, for the soul in the flesh is
comforted and strengthened by the feeling of rapport and nearness of the
disembodied soul on the Astral Plane; and the disembodied soul experiences
pleasure and joy just as it would on earth-life
by the physical nearness of the loved one. This relationship is a peculiarly
sacred one, and is enjoyed by many persons in the flesh, although they may have
but little to say regarding it to others who would not understand.
Those who have had
this experience will recognize just what is meant by these words, when they
read them. Others, who have not had these experiences, can understand them only
by reference to the greatest feeling of soul-nearness
they ever have experienced in earth-life. It
is, indeed, a communion of soul with soul, almost approaching the perfection of
soul-communion on the Astral Plane in some
of its aspects, although always leaving a something lacking from the very
nature of the case. We wish to be distinctly understood as having nothing but
good to say regarding this form of “spirit-communication”
between persons bound by ties of love and friendship, one out of the flesh and
the other still in earth life.
What we shall now
proceed to condemn, is something of an entirely different nature.
Advanced occultists
are practically unanimously agreed that the practice of recalling the attention
of disembodied spirits for mere entertainment, curiosity, or general
“exhibition” purposes is most deplorable. The best authorities condemn the practice
in the strongest terms.
In the first place,
the result is always unsatisfactory, for very good and sufficient occult
reasons. In the second place, the effect of such recalling is apt to be
detrimental to the disembodied soul, by reason of withdrawing its spiritual
attention from the things of the higher planes, and turning them back to the
things of the material plane, thus retarding its development and unfoldment,
and also confusing its mind.
It is akin to
directing the mind of the growing child back to the things of its prenatal
condition, if such a thing were possible. And, to the soul which does not
understand the nature and character of its Astral Life (and none but the most
advanced souls so do understand) the mixing of the things and phenomena of the
material and Astral Planes is most perplexing, confusing, and distracting.
The soul should be
left to unfold naturally on its new plane, and not called back to earth to
satisfy curiosity or to furnish entertainment. The result arising from the
latter course is akin to that which would arise were one to persist in pulling
up a plant each day to see whether its roots were sprouting and growing.
Another form of
recalling the disembodied soul —that of calling it back to comfort and inform
loving friends and relatives— is scarcely less undesirable. The disembodied
soul, drawn back by the pull upon its sympathetic bonds of connection, comes
back like a person walking in his sleep, for such is almost precisely its
condition.
Sleep walking is not
a desirable thing to induce in persons on earth, and is no better when it is
induced in a disembodied soul. It comes from its Astral experiences in a dazed
condition, and gives but little satisfaction to those recalling it, and really
suffers a confusing and perplexing experience itself. Those who have had
experiences with the recalling of disembodied souls (where the phenomena is
genuine) will readily remember the dazed and generally confused answers given,
and the generally unsatisfactory results obtained even under the best
conditions.
(Only a
few of those cases are real and they happen when the soul woke up in the astral
plane. While in the vast majority of the other cases, the “spirits” are astral
shells posing as friends and family.)
The practice of
recalling souls from the Astral Plane is a clear perversion of Nature’s
processes, and the result is never satisfactory. This practice is never
justified, and the best authorities severely condemn it. The glimpse into the
nature and condition of the Astral Plane life, which we have given you in this
book, should be sufficient for you to see clearly the reason of this opinion,
and the cause of the condemnation.
It is true that souls
on the Astral Plane, sometimes, under stress of strong memories or worries
regarding those they have left behind, have returned voluntarily to the plane
of earth-life, and have made themselves known
to persons dwelling thereon — even to the extent of actual materialization, at
times.
These cases are
unusual, but are sufficiently frequent to be noted in this connection. In such
cases, the strength of the desire of the disembodied soul has caused it to take
on objective form to the senses of those to whom it appears, just as a very
strong telepathic impression will take on objective form. But, even in such
cases, the poor worried soul gradually passes beyond the attraction of earth-life,
and ceases to return to its former scenes, but begins to live out its normal
Astral Life in accordance with Nature’s laws and plans.
We know that in
uttering these truths we are bringing disappointment, and possibly resentment,
to the minds of some in earth-life who
are fond of the thought that they are in frequent communication with the souls
of their departed friends and loved ones. But the truth is the truth, and we
are assured that a proper understanding of the subject will reveal to such
persons that the highest love for those who have gone before will consist in
doing that which is best for those loved ones, so that they will not persist in
sacrificing this best interest for the selfish purpose of temporary satisfaction
on their own part. Nay, more, the “satisfaction” is never really satisfying —
there is always the consciousness that there is something missing, something
lacking.
True love consists in
giving, rather than in getting. And, is not this true in the matter of
communication with those loved ones on “the other side?”
Is it not a higher
and nobler thing to send them loving thoughts and sympathy, cheering and
encouraging them in the unfoldment on the higher planes, than to endeavor to
drag them back to the lower plane of materiality for the sake of hearing them
say that they are happy and that all is all right with them, and, perhaps, to
mumble some semi-coherent
platitudes in the manner of a somnambulist?
And is it not more
worthy of ourselves, who are dwelling in the bonds of the flesh, to raise the
plane of our communion with those on the other side to their own higher plane
of being, and to commune with them along the lines of spiritual understanding
and rapport —in the silence and without spoken words— on the plane where soul
may speak to soul without the medium of words, and without the necessity of
physical presence?
Think over these things, and let your soul speak the
truth to you from its inmost heart — be assured that the answer will be one
with the truths of the highest authorities. »
(Chapter 15)
OBSERVATION
In
broad strokes William Atkinson
repeats the disapproving opinion given by theosophical instructors against
spiritism, but the explanations he provides are too short and he makes several mistakes.
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