,italics are marked with underscores4 ,,the ,,drama ,,of ,,love ,,and ,,death ,a ,study of ,human ,evolution and ,transfiguration ,by ,edward ,carpenter ,,new ,,york ,,and ,,london ,,mitchell ,,kennerley #aiab ,copyright #aiab by ,mitchell ,kennerley ,contents ,,chap4 ,,page ,the ,delphian ,sibyl overlooking the ,earth vii ,i4 ,introduction #a ,,ii4 ,the ,beginnings of ,love #e ,,iii4 ,love as an ,art #bd ,,iv4 ,its ,ultimate ,meanings #dh ,v4 ,the ,art of ,dying #fi ,,vi4 ,the ,passage of ,death #hg ,note on ,consciousness in the ,body #ajg ,,vii4 ,is there an ,after-,death ,state8 #aaa ,,viii4 ,the ,underlying ,self #aca ,note on ,mediumistic ,trance #aef ,,ix4 ,survival of the ,self #afb ,x4 ,the ,inner or ,spiritual ,body #agf ,,xi4 ,the ,creation and ,materialization of ,forms #aib ,,xii4 ,reincarnation #bae ,,xiii4 ,the ,divine ,soul #bcg ,,xiv4 ,the ,return ,journey #bdh ,,xv4 ,the ,mystery of ,personality #bfb ,,xvi4 ,conclusion #bhd ,appendix #bhi ,the ,delphian ,sibyl 7,on her mountain-slope overlooking the ,earth7 ,the coastline ranges far1 the skies unfold2 ,the mountains rise in glory1 stair on stair2 ,the darting ,sun seeks ,daphne as of old ,in thickets dark where laurel blooms are fair4 ,the ancient sea1 deep wrinkled1 ever young1 ,with salt lip kisses still the silver strand2 ,in caverns dwell the ,nymphs1 their loves among1 ,and ,titans still with strange fire shake the land4 ,a thousand generations here have come1 ,and wandered o'er these hills1 and faced the light2 ,a thousand times slight man from mortal womb ,has leapt1 and lapsed again into the night4 ,here tribesmen dwelt1 and fought1 and curst their star1 ,and scoured both land and sea to sate their needs2 ,prophetic eyes of youth gazed here afar1 ,with lips half open brooding on great deeds4 ,nor dreamed each little mortal of the ,past1 ,nor the deep sources of his life divined1 ,watching his herds1 or net in ocean cast1 ,deaf to th' ancestral voices down the wind2 ,nor guessed what strange sweet likenesses should rise1 ,selves of himself1 far in the future years1 ,with his own soul within their sunlit eyes1 ,and in their hearts his secret hopes and fears4 ,yet ,i--,i saw4 ,yea1 from my lofty stand ,i saw each life continuous extend ,beyond its mortal bound1 and reach a hand ,to others and to others without end4 ,i saw the generations like a river ,flow down from age to age1 and all the vast ,complex of human passion float and quiver-- ,a wondrous mirror where the ,gods were glassed4 ,and still through all these ages scarce a change ,has touched my mountain slopes or seaward curve1 ,and still the folk beneath the old laws range1 ,and from their ancient customs hardly swerve2 ,still ,love and ,death1 veiled figures1 hand in hand1 ,move o'er men's heads1 dread1 irresistible1 ,to ope the portals of that other land ,where the great ,voices sound and ,visions dwell4 ,,the ,,drama ,,of ,,love ,,and ,,death ,,chapter ,i ,,introductory ,love and ,death move through this world of ours like things apart--underrunning it truly1 and everywhere present1 yet seeming to belong to some other mode of existence4 ,when ,death comes1 breaking into the circle of our friends1 words fail us1 our mental machinery ceases to operate1 all our little stores of wit and wisdom1 our maxims1 our mottoes1 accumulated from daily experience1 evaporate and are of no avail4 ,these things do not seem to touch or illuminate in any effective way the strange vast ,presence whose wings darken the world for us4 ,and with ,love1 though in an opposite sense1 it is the same4 ,words are of no use1 all our philosophy fails--whether to account for the pain1 or to fortify against the glamour1 or to describe the glory of the experience4 ,these figures1 ,love and ,death1 move through the world1 like closest friends indeed1 never far separate1 and together dominating it in a kind of triumphant superiority2 and yet like bitterest enemies1 dogging each other's footsteps1 undoing each other's work1 fighting for the bodies and souls of mankind4 ,is it possible that at length and after ages we may attain to liberate ourselves from their overlordship--to dominate them and make them our ministers and attendants8 ,can we wrest them from their seeming tyranny over the human race1 and from their hostility to each other8 ,can we persuade them to lay aside their disguise and appear to us for what they no doubt are--even the angels and messengers of a new order of existence8 ,it is a great and difficult enterprise4 ,yet it is one1 ,i think1 which we of this generation cannot avoid4 ,we can no longer turn our faces away from ,death1 and make as if we did not perceive his presence or hear his challenge4 ,this age1 which is learning to look the facts of ,nature steadily in the face1 and see through them1 must also learn to face this ultimate fact and look through it4 ,and it will surely--and perhaps only--be by allying ourselves to ,love that we shall be able to do so--that we shall succeed in our endeavor4 ,for after all it is not in the main on account of ourselves that we cherish a grudge against the #8common enemy' and dispute his authority1 but for the sake of those we love4 ,for ourselves we may be indifferent or acquiescent2 but somehow for those others1 for those divine ones who have taken our hearts into their keeping1 we resent the idea that they can perish4 ,we refuse to entertain the thought4 ,love in some mysterious way forbids the fear of death4 ,whether it be ,siegfried who tramples the flaming1 circle underfoot1 or the ,prince of ,heaven who breaks his way through the enchanted thicket1 or ,orpheus who reaches his ,eurydice even in the jaws of hell1 or ,hercules who wrestles with the lord of the underworld for ,alcestis--the ancient instinct of mankind has declared in no uncertain tone that in this last encounter ,love must vanquish4 ,it is in the name1 then1 of one of these gods that we challenge the other4 ,and yet not without gratitude to both4 ,for it is ,azrael's invasion of our world1 it is his challenge to us1 that 7perhaps more than anything else7 rivets our loyalty to each other4 ,it is his frown that wakes friendship in human souls and causes them to tighten the bonds of mutual devotion4 ,in some strange way these two1 though seeming enemies1 play into each other's hands2 each holds the secret of the other1 and between them they conceal a kindred life and some common intimate relation4 ,we feel this in our inmost intuitions2 we perceive it in our daily survey of human affairs2 and we find it illustrated 7as ,i shall presently point out7 in general biology and the life-histories of the most primitive cells4 ,the theme1 in fact1 of the interplay of ,love and ,death will run like a thread-motive through this book--not without some illumination1 as ,i would hope1 cast by each upon the other1 and by both upon our human destiny4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,beginnings ,,of ,,love ,as ,i have just suggested1 the great human problems of ,love and ,death are strangely and remarkably illustrated in the most primitive forms of life2 and ,i shall consequently make no apology for detaining the reader for a few moments over modern investigations into the subjects of cell-growth1 reproduction and death4 ,if this chapter is a little technical and complex in places1 still it may be worth while delaying over it1 and granting it some patient consideration1 on account of the curious light the study throws on the rest of the book and the general questions therein discussed4 ,love seems to be primarily 7and perhaps ultimately7 an interchange of essences4 ,the ,protozoa--those earliest cells1 the progenitors of the whole animal and vegetable kingdom--grow by feeding on the minute particles which they find in the fluid surrounding them4 ,the growth continues1 till ultimately1 reaching the limit of convenient size1 a cell divides into two or more portions2 and so reproduces itself4 ,the descendant cells or portions so thrown off are simply continuations1 by division1 of the life of the original or parent cell--so that it has not unfrequently been said that1 in a sense1 these ,protozoa are immortal1 since their life continues indefinitely 7with branching but without break7 from generation to generation4 ,this form of reproduction by simple budding or division extends even up into the higher types of life1 where it is sometimes found side by side with the later sexual form of reproduction1 as in the case of so-called parthenogenesis among insects4 ,it is indeed a kind of virgin-birth2 and is well illustrated in the vegetable world by the budding of bulbs1 or by the fact that a twig torn from a shrub and placed in the ground will commonly grow and continue the life of the parent plant2 or in the lower stages of the animal world1 where1 among many of the worms1 insects1 sponges1 c41 the life may similarly be continued by division1 or by the extrusion of a bud or an egg1 without any sex-contact or sex-action whatever4 ,this seems in fact to be the original and primitive form of generation2 and it obviously depends upon growth4 ,generation is the superfluity1 the 1 of growth1 and connects itself in the first instance with the satisfaction of hunger4 ,first hunger1 then growth1 then reproduction by division or budding4 ,and this process may go on apparently for many generations without change--in the case of certain ,protozoa even to hundreds of generations4 ,but a time comes when the growth-power and energy decay1 and the vitality diminishes#a--;at any rate1 as a rule4#b ,but then a variation occurs4 ,two cells unite1 exchange fluids1 and part again4 ,it is a new form of nourishment2 it is the earliest form of ,love4 ,it is a very intimate form of nourishment2 for it appears that in general the nuclei themselves of the two cells are shared and in part exchanged4 ,and the vitality so obtained gives the cells a new lease of life4 ,they are in fact regenerated4 ,and each partner grows again actively and reproduces itself by budding and division as before4 ,sometimes the two uniting cells will remain conjoined2 and the joint cell will then generate buds1 or in some cases enlarge to bursting point1 and so1 perishing itself1 break up into a numerous progeny4#c ,so far there seems to be but little differentiation between ,hunger and ,love4 ,love is only a special hunger which leads cells to obtain nourishment from other cells of the same species2 and generation or reproduction in these early stages1 being an inevitable accompaniment of growth1 follows on the satisfaction of love just as it follows on the satisfaction of hunger4 ,rolph's words on the relation of these two impulses 7quoted by ,geddes and ,thompson7 are very suggestive4 ,he says3--8,conjugation occurs when nutrition is diminished4444 ,it is a necessity for satisfaction1 a growing hunger1 which drives the animal to engulf its neighbor1 to #8isophagy4' ,the process of conjugation is only a special form of nutrition1 which occurs on a reduction of the nutritive income1 or an increase of the nutritive needs40 ,and so far there is no distinction of sex4 ,it is true there may be sex in the sense of union or fusion between two individuals2 but there is no distinction of sex1 in the sense of male and female4 ,in the ,protozoa generally there is simple union or conjugation between cells1 which1 as far as can be observed1 are quite similar to each other4 ,it is a union between similars2 and it leads to growth and reproduction4 ,but both union and reproduction at this early stage exist quite independently of any distinctive sex-action1 or any differentiation of individuals into male and female4 ,at a later period1 however1 ,sex comes in4 ,it is obvious that for growth 7and reproduction7 two things are necessary1 which are in some degree antagonistic to each other--on the one hand the pursuit and capture of food1 which means activity and force1 and on the other hand the digestion and assimilation of the food1 which means quiescence and passivity4 ,and it seems that at a certain stage--in general1 when 8animals0 have already been formed by the conjunction of many protozoic cells in co-operative colonies--this differentiation sets in1 and some individuals specialize towards activity and the chase1 while others 7of the same species7 specialize towards repose and assimilation4 ,the two sets of qualities are clearly only useful in combination with each other1 and yet1 as ,i have said1 they are to some degree contrary to each other2 and therefore it is quite natural that the two corresponding groups of individuals should form two great branches in each race1 diverse yet united4 ,these two branches are the male and female--the active1 energy-spending1 hungry1 food-obtaining branch2 and the sessile1 non-active1 assimilative and reproductive branch4 ,and by the division of labor consequent on the formation of these two branches the whole race is benefited2 but only of course on condition that the diverse elements are reunited from time to time4 ,it is in the fusion of these elements that the real quality and character of the race is restored2 and it is by their fusion that development and reproduction are secured4 ,in some of the ,infusorians#d there seems to be a beginning of sex-differentiation1 and fusion takes place between two individuals slightly differing from each other2 but as we have already seen1 in most of the ,protozoa the union is a union of similars--that is1 as far as can at present be observed1 though of course there is a great probability that here also there is generally some difference which supplies the attraction and the value of union4#e ,it is in the ,metazoa generally1 and those forms of life which consist of co-operative colonies of cells1 that sex-differentiation into male and female begins to decisively assert itself4 ,here--since it is obviously impossible for all the cells of one individual to fuse with all the cells of another--certain special cells are set apart in each organism for the purpose of union or conjugation2 and it seems quite natural that in the course of time the differentiation spoken of above1 into male and female1 should set in--each individual tending to become decisively either masculine or feminine--both in the sex-cells or sex-apparatus1 and 7though in a less marked degree7 in the general #8body' and structure4 ,in the lower forms of life1 generally1 as among the amphibia1 fishes1 molluscs1 c41 the male and female sex-cells--the sperm and the germ--do not conjugate within either of the parent bodies1 but are expelled from each1 in order to meet and fuse in some surrounding medium1 like water4 ,there the double cell1 so formed1 develops into the new individual4 ,but in higher forms the meeting takes place1 and the first stages of development ensue1 within one of the bodies4 ,and1 as one might expect1 this occurs within the body of the female4 ,for the female1 as we have said1 represents quiescence1 growth1 assimilation4 ,the germ or ovum is large compared with the spermatozoon2 it is also sessile in habit4 ,the spermatozoon1 on the other hand1 is exceedingly active4 ,and so it seems natural that the latter should seek out the germ within the body of the female4 ,just as1 in general1 the female animal remains impassive and quiescent1 and is sought out by the male1 so the female germ remains at home within the female body1 and receives its visitor or visitors there4 ,and the whole apparatus of connection is symbolical of this relation4 ,the body of the female is the temple in which the sacred mystery of the union or fusion of two individuals is completed1 as a means to the birth or creation of a new individual4 ,yet though the female is thus privileged to be the receptacle and sanctum of the life-giving power1 it must not be thought that this argues superiority of the female1 as such1 over the male4 ,the process of conjunction is sometimes spoken of as a fertilization merely1 implying the idea that the ovum or female element is the main thing1 and that this only requires a slight impulse or stimulus from the male side for its powers of development to be started and set in operation4 ,but though it is true that the ovum can in many cases of the lower forms of life be started developing by the administration of a chemical solution or even a mechanical needle-prick1 this development does not seem to continue2 and modern investigation shows that in normal fecundation an absolute equality reigns1 as far as we can see1 between the two contracting parties and their contributions to the new being that has to be formed4 ,nothing is more astounding than the results of these investigations2 and they not only show us that the protozoic cells 7and sex-cells71 instead of being very simple in structure1 are already extremely complex1 and that their changes in the act of fertilization or fusion are strangely elaborate and systematic2 but they suggest that though to us these cells may represent the microscopic beginnings of life in its most primitive stages1 in reality they stand for the first visible results of long antecedent operations1 and indicate highly organized and1 we may say1 intelligent forces at work within them4 ,the mere process by which a primitive cell divides and reproduces itself has an air of demonic intelligence about it4 ,roughly1 the process may be described as follows4 ,the nucleus appears to be the most important portion of a cell4 ,certainly it is so as regards the supply of hereditary and formative material--the surrounding protoplasm fulfilling more of a nutritive and protective function4 ,within and through the liquid of the nucleus there spreads an irregular network of a substance which is 7for a purely accidental reason7 called chromatin4 ,as long as the nucleus is at rest1 this network is fairly evenly distributed through it2 but the first oncoming of division is signalled by the break-up of the chromatin into a limited and definite number of short1 threadlike bodies--to which the name chromosomes has been given4 ,these chromosomes1 after some curious evolutions1 finally arrange themselves in a line across the middle of the nucleus2 and they are apparently governed in this operation1 and the whole splitting of the cell is governed1 by a minute1 starlike and radiating centre 7called centrosome71 which first appearing outside the nucleus and in the general protoplasm of the cell1 seems to play a dominant part in the whole process4 ,this centrosome1 when the time comes for the cell-division1 itself divides in two1 and the two starlike centres so formed 7which are to become centrosomes of the two new cells71 slowly move to opposite ends or poles of the original cell--all the time1 as they do so1 throwing out raylike threads or fibrils which connect them somehow with the chromosomes and which seem to regulate the movements of the latter1 till1 as described1 the latter form themselves in a line across the centre of the cell1 transversely to the line joining the poles4 ,at this stage1 then1 we have a tiny1 starlike centrosome at each end of the cell1 and a transverse line of chromosomes between4 7,also1 during the process the wall or enclosing membrane of the nucleus has disappeared and the general contents of cell and nucleus have become undivided47 ,it is at this moment that the real division begins4 ,the chromosomes--of which it is said that there are always a definite and invariable number for every species of plant or animal1#f and which are now generally supposed to contain the hereditary elements or determinants of the future individual--these chromosomes have already arranged themselves longitudinally and end-on to each other across the middle of the cell4 ,they now1 apparently under the influence of the radiating points at each pole1 split longitudinally 7as one splits a log of wood7--so that each chromosome1 dividing throughout its length1 contributes one half of itself to one pole and one half to the other4 ,the halves so formed separate1 and approach their respective poles2 and at the same time the cell-wall constricting itself along the equatorial line1 or line of separation1 soon divides the original cell into two4 ,meanwhile the chromosomes in each new division group themselves 7not round but7 near their respective poles or centrosomes1 and a new nucleus membrane forming1 encloses each group1 so that finally we have two cells of exactly the same constitution as the original one1 and with exactly the same number and quality of chromosomes as the original4#g ,the whole process seems very strange and wonderful4 ,no military evolutions and formations1 no complex and mystic dance of initiates in a temple1 with advances and retreats1 and combinations and separations1 and exchanges of partners1 could seem more fraught with intelligence4#h ,yet this is what takes place among some of the very lowest forms of life1 on the division of a single cell into two4 ,and it is exactly the same1 apparently1 which takes place in the higher forms of life when the single cell which is the result of the fusion together of the sperm-cell and the germ-cell1 divides and subdivides to form the #8body' of the creature4 ,as is well known1 the joint cell divides first into two2 then each of the cells so formed divides into two1 making four in all2 then each of these divides into two1 making eight2 then each into two again1 making #af1 #cb1 #fd1 and so on--till they number the thousands1 hundreds of thousands1 millions1 which in effect build up and constitute the body4 ,and at each division the process is carried out with this amazing care and exactness of partition described--so that every cell is verily continuous and of the same nature with the original cell1 and contains the same nuclear elements1 derived half from the father and half from the mother4 ,yet in the process a differentiation has set in1 so that in the end each cell becomes so far modified as to be adapted for its special position and function in the body--for the skin1 mucous membrane1 blood corpuscles1 brain1 muscular tissue1 and so forth4#i ,it is worth while looking carefully at the body of an animal1 or one's own body1 in order to realize what this means--to realize that the entire creature1 in all its form and feature1 its coloring1 marking1 swiftness of limb1 complexity of brain1 and so on1 has provably been exhaled from a single cell1 is indeed that original cell with its latent powers and virtue made manifest2 and to remember that that original cell was itself the fusion of two parent cells1 the male and the female4 ,a word1 then1 upon this matter of the fusion of the two parent cells in one4 ,here1 again1 two very remarkable things appear4 ,one refers to the equality of the sexes2 the other refers to the onesidedness 7or deficiency or imperfection7 which seems to be the characteristic and the motive power of the phenomenon of sex4 ,with regard to the first point1 we saw that among the ,protozoa conjugation occurs for the most part between two individual cells which are alike in size and 7to all appearance7 alike in constitution2 and this conjugation leads to reproduction4 ,but when among the higher forms sex begins to show1 the conjugating cells--sperm-cell and germ-cell--are generally unlike in size1 and often in the higher animals extremely unlike--as in the human spermatozoon and ovum1 of which the latter is a thousand times the volume of the former2#aj and this has sometimes led1 as remarked before1 to an exaggerated view of the preponderant importance of one sex4 ,but the curious fact seems to be that when the spermatozoon of the human or higher animal penetrates the ovum1 there is a preliminary period before its nucleus actually combines with the nucleus of the ovum1 during which the nucleus rapidly absorbs nourishment from the surrounding protoplasm1 and grows--grows till it becomes of exactly the same size as the nucleus of the ovum4 ,the situation then is that there are two nuclei of the same size and both charged with chromatin of the same general character1 in close proximity1 and waiting to fuse with each other4 ,the product of that fusion is a new being2 and as far as can at present apparently be observed1 the parts played by the two sexes in the process are quite equal4 ,there may be difference of function but there is no inequality4 8,both male and female cells10 says ,professor ,rolleston1#aa 8prepare themselves for conjugation long before it takes place1 and neither of them can be said to be a more active agent in fertilization than the other4 ,not #8fertilization' but #8fusion' is the keyword of the process4 ,the mystical conception1 as old as ,plato1 of the male and female as representing respectively the two halves of a complete being1 turns out to be no poetic metaphor4 ,as regards the essential features of reproduction1 it is a literal fact40 ,the second remarkable point has to do with the onesidedness of sexual conjugation1 and the complementary nature of the exchange involved4 ,this is truly noteworthy and interesting4 ,it is evident that if the sperm-cell and germ-cell simply coalesced1 containing each the amount of chromatin characteristic of the species--say sixteen chromosomes in the case of the human being--the result would be a cell with double the proper amount1 say thirty-two chromosomes1 i4e4 an amount belonging to another species4 8,what happens is that each of the reproductive cells1 male and female1 prepares itself for conjugation by getting rid of half its chromosomes4 ,two divisions of the nucleus take place1 not as in the ordinary fashion of cell-division1 when the chromosomes split longitudinally1 but in such a way that1 in each division1 four of the sixteen chromosomes 7making eight in all7 are bodily expelled from the nucleus and from the cell1 when they either perish1 or1 in some cases1 appear to help in forming an envelope of nutritive matter round the germ-cell4 ,these divisions are called #8maturation divisions1' and until they are accomplished fecundation is impossible40#ab ,thus the two nuclei1 having each their number of chromosomes reduced to half the normal number 7in this case to eight71 are now ready to coalesce and so form a new cell with the proper number belonging to the species 7i4e4 sixteen74 ,this cell is the commencement of the new being1 and1 as already described1 it divides and re-divides1 and the innumerable cells so formed differentiate themselves into different tissues1 until the whole animal is built up4 ,says ,professor ,e4 ,b4 ,wilson3--8,the one fact of maturation that stands out with perfect clearness and certainty amid all the controversies surrounding it1 is a reduction of the number of chromosomes in the ultimate germ and sperm cells#ac to one half the number characteristic of the somatic cells4 ,it is equally clear that this reduction is a preparation of the germ and sperm cells for their subsequent union1 and a means by which the number of chromosomes is held constant in the species40#ad ,this extrusion or expulsion by each of the conjugating cells of half its constituent elements is certainly very strange4#ae ,and it seems strangely deliberate4#af ,various theories have been formed on the subject1 but at present there is apparently no satisfactory conclusion as to what exactly takes place4 ,some think that in the one case certain male elements are expelled1 and in the other case certain female elements2 and anyhow it seems probable that a complementary action sets in1 by which each prepares itself to supply a different class of elements from the other1 thus rendering the conjunction more effectual4 ,plato has been already quoted with regard to male and female being only the two halves of a complete original being4 ,he also says 7in the speech of ,socrates in the ,banquet7 that the mother of ,love was ,poverty1 and that ,love 8possesses thus far his mother's nature that he is ever the companion of ,want40 ,and it would appear that in the most primitive grades of life the same is true1 and that two cells combine or coalesce in order to mutually supply some want or deficiency4 ,anyhow1 in the process just described two points stand out pretty clear3 first1 the exact quality of the number of chromosomes contributed by sperm-cell and germ-cell to the fertilized ovum--which seems to indicate that the descendant being has an equal heredity from each parent#ag--though of course it does not follow that both heredities become equally prominent or manifest in the descendant body2 and secondly1 that the same is true of all the cells in this new body--that they each contain the potentialities of the joint cell from which they sprang1 and therefore the potentialities of both parents4 ,these amazing conclusions concerning the origins of life and reproduction--here1 of course1 very briefly and imperfectly presented--cannot but give us pause4 ,contemplating the evolutions and affinities of these infinitely numerous but infinitely small organisms which build up our visible selves1 and the strange intelligence which seems to pervade their movements1 the mind reels--somewhat as it does in contemplating the evolutions and affinities of the unimaginable stars4#ah ,we seem1 certainly1 to trace the same laws or operations in these minutest regions as we trace in our own corporeal and mental relations4 ,cells attract each other just as human beings do2 and the attraction seems to depend1 to a certain degree1 on difference4 ,the male spermatozoon seeks the female ovum1 just as the male animal1 as a rule1 seeks and pursues the female4 ,primitive cells divide and redivide and differentiate themselves1 building up the animal body1 just in the same way as primitive thoughts and emotions divide and redivide and differentiate themselves1 building up the human mind4 ,but though we thus see processes with which we are familiar repeated in infinitesimal miniature1 we seem to be no nearer than before to any #8explanation' of them1 and we seem to see no promise of any explanation4 ,we merely obtain a larger perspective1 and a suggestion that the universal order is of the same character throughout--with a suspicion perhaps that the explanation of these processes does not lie in any concatenation of the things themselves1 but in some other plane of being of which these concatenations are an allegory or symbolic expression4 ,in portions of the following chapters ,i shall trace more in detail the resemblance or parallelism between these processes among the ,protozoa and some of our own experiences in the great matters of ,life and ,love and ,death4#ai ,,chapter ,,iii ,,love ,,as ,,an ,,art ,the astounding revelation of the first great love is a thing which the youthful human being can hardly be prepared for1 since indeed it cannot very well be described in advance1 or put into terms of reasonable and well-conducted words4 ,to feel--for instance--one's whole internal economy in process of being melted out and removed to a distance1 as it were into the keeping of some one else1 is in itself a strange physiological or psychological experience--and one difficult to record in properly scientific terms6 ,to lose consciousness never for a moment of the painful void so created--a void and a hunger which permeates all the arteries and organs1 and every cranny of the body and the mind1 and which seems to rob the organism of its strength1 sometimes even to threaten it with ruin2 to forego all interest in life1 except in one thing--and that thing a person2 to be aware1 on the other hand1 with strange elation and joy1 that this new person or presence is infusing itself into one's most intimate being--pervading all the channels1 with promise 7at least7 of marriage and new life to every minutest cell1 and causing wonderful upheavals and transformations in tissue and fluids2 to find in the mind all objects of perception to be changed and different from what they were before2 and to be dimly conscious that the reason why they are so is because the background and constitution of the perceiving mind is itself changed--that1 as it were1 there is another person beholding them as well as oneself--all this defies description in words1 or any possibility of exact statement beforehand2 and yet the actual fact when it arrives is overwhelming in solid force and reality4 ,if1 besides1 to the insurgence of these strange emotions we add--in the earliest stages of love at least--their bewildering fluctuation1 from the deeps of vain longing and desire to the confident and ecstatic heights of expectation or fulfilment--the very joys of heaven and pangs of hell in swift and tantalizing alternation--the whole new experience is so extraordinary1 so unrelated to ordinary work-a-day life1 that to recite it is often only to raise a smile of dismissal of the subject--as it were into the land of dreams4 ,and yet1 as we have indicated1 the thing1 whatever it is1 is certainly by no means insubstantial and unreal4 ,nothing seems indeed more certain than that in this strange revolution in the relations of two people to each other--called 8falling in love0--and behind all the illusions connected with it1 something is happening1 something very real1 very important4 ,the falling-in-love may be reciprocal1 or it may be onesided2 it may be successful1 or it may be unsuccessful2 it may be only a surface indication of other and very different events2 but anyhow1 deep down in the sub-conscious world1 something is happening4 ,it may be that two unseen and only dimly suspected existences are becoming really and permanently united2 it may be that for a certain period1 or 7what perhaps comes to the same thing7 that to a certain depth1 they are transfusing and profoundly modifying each other2 it may be that the mingling of elements and the transformation is taking place almost entirely in one person1 and only to a slight degree or hardly at all in the other2 yet in all these cases--beneath the illusions1 the misapprehensions1 the mirage and the maya1 the surface satisfactions and the internal disappointments--something very real is happening1 an important growth and evolution is taking place4 ,to understand this phenomenon in some slight degree1 to have some inkling of the points of the compass by which to steer over this exceedingly troubled sea1 is1 one might say1 indispensable for every youthful human creature2 but alas6 the instruction is not provided--for indeed1 as things are to-day1 the adult and the mature are themselves without knowledge1 and their eyes without speculation on the subject4 ,treatises on the ,art of ,love truly exist--and some 7for the field they cover7 very good ones1 like the ,ars ,amatoria of ,ovid or the ,kama-sutra of ,vatsayana2 but they are concerned mainly or wholly with the details and technicalities of the subject--with the conduct of intrigues and amours1 with times and seasons1 positions and preparations1 unguents and influences4 ,it is like instructions given to a boatman on the minuti of his craft--how to contend with wind and wave1 how to use sail and oar1 to steer1 to tack1 to luff to a breaker1 and so forth2 all very good and necessary in their way1 but who is there to point us our course over the great ,ocean1 and the stars by which to direct it8 ,the later works on this great subject--though not despising the more elementary aspects--will no doubt have to proceed much farther1 into the deep realms of psychology1 biological science1 and ultimately of religion4#bj ,as we have just said1 ,love is concerned with growth and evolution4 ,it is--though as yet hardly acknowledged in that connection--a root-factor of ordinary human growth2 for in so far as it is a hunger of the individual1 the satisfaction of that hunger is necessary for individual growth--necessary 7in its various forms7 for physical1 mental and spiritual nourishment1 for health1 mental energy1 large affectional capacity1 and so forth4 ,and it is--though this too is not sufficiently acknowledged--a root-factor of the ,evolution process4 ,for in so far as it represents and gives rise to the union of two beings in a new form1 it plainly represents a step in ,evolution1 and plainly suggests that the direction of that step will somehow depend upon the character and quality of the love concerned4 ,thus the importance1 the necessity1 of the study of the art of love is forced on our attention4 ,it has to be no longer a subterranean1 unrecognized1 and even rather disreputable cult1 but an openly acknowledged and honorable department of human life1 leading in its due time to broad and commonsense instructions and initiations for the young4 99 99 99 99 99 ,casting a glance back at the love-affairs of the ,protozoa1 as briefly described in the preceding chapter1 there certainly seems to be a kind of naive charm about them4 ,the simple and wholehearted way in which on occasions they fuse with one another1 losing or merging completely their own separate individualities in the process2 or again part from each other after having exchanged essences in a kind of affectionate cannibalism2 the obvious and unconcealed relation between love and hunger2 the first beginnings of generation2 and the matter-of-fact manner in which one person1 when he finds it convenient1 divides in half and becomes two persons1 and after a time perhaps divides again and becomes four persons1 and again and again until he is many thousands or millions--and yet it is impossible to decide 7and he himself probably is not quite clear7 as to whether he is still one person or different persons--all this cannot fail to excite our admiration and respect1 nor to give us1 also1 considerable food for thought4 ,one of the first things to strike us1 and to suggest an application to human life1 is the importance of ,love1 among these little creatures1 for the health of the individual4 ,the authors of ,the ,evolution of ,sex say in one passage 7p4 #agh73 8,without it conjugation1 the ,protozoa1 which some have called #8immortal1' die a natural death4 ,conjugation is the necessary condition of their eternal youth and immortality4 ,even at this low level1 only through the fire of love can the phnix of the species renew its youth40 ,and again1 in another passage 7p4 #bgg71 referring to the conclusions of ,maupas3 8,already we have noted this important result1 that conjugation is essential to the health of the species40 ,thus it appears that1 in these primitive stages1 fusion more or less complete1 or interchange of essences1 leads to ,regeneration and renewal of vitality--and this long before the distinct phenomena of sex appear4 ,it leads to ,regeneration first1 and so collaterally1 and at a later period1 to ,generation4 ,somehow--though it is not quite clear how--this view of the importance of love to personal health has been sadly obscured in later and ,christian times4 ,the dominant ,christian attitude converted love1 from being an expression and activity of the deepest human life and joy1 into being simply a vulgar necessity for the propagation of the species4 ,a violent effort was made to wrench apart the spiritual and corporeal aspects of it4 ,the one aspect was belauded1 the other condemned4 ,the first was relegated to heaven1 the second was given its cong to another place4 ,corporeal intercourse and the propagation of the race were vile necessities4 ,true affection dwelt in the skies and disdained all earthly contacts4 ,and yet all this was a vain effort to separate what could not be separated4 ,it was like trying to take the pigments out of a picture2 to call the picture 8good10 but the stuff it was painted with 8bad40 ,and so1 owing to this denial1 owing to this non-recognition of love 7in all its aspects7 as necessary to personal health1 thousands and thousands of men and women through the centuries--some 8for the kingdom of heaven's sake10 and some for the sake of the conventions of society--have allowed their lives to be maimed and blighted1 their health and personal well-being ruined4 ,the deep well-spring and source of human activity and vitality has been desecrated and choked with rubbish4 ,that some sort of purpose1 in the evolution of humanity1 may have been fulfilled by this strange negation1 it would be idle to deny2 indeed some such purpose--in view of the wide prevalence of the negation1 and its long continuance during the civilization period--seems probable4 ,but this does not in any way controvert the fact that it has in its time caused a disastrous crippling of human health and vitality4 ,human progress takes place1 no doubt1 in sections--one foot forward at a time1 so to speak2 but this does not mean that the other foot can be permanently left in the rear4 ,on the contrary1 it means its all the more decided advance when its turn arrives4 ,to-day we seem at the outset of a new era1 and preparing in some way for the rehabilitation of the ,pagan conception of the world4 ,the negative ,christian dispensation is rapidly approaching its close2 the necessity of love in its various forms1 as part and parcel of a healthy life1 is compelling our attention4 ,no one is so poor a physiognomist as not to recognize the health-giving effects of successful courtship--the heightened color1 the brilliant eye1 the elastic step2 the active brain1 the prompt reflexes1 the glad outlook on the world4 ,indeed the effect upon all the tissues--their nourishment1 growth1 improvement in tone1 and so forth--is extraordinary2 and yet--remembering what has been said about ,love and ,hunger--quite natural4 ,for1 after all1 we have seen that every cell in the body is a replica of the original cell from which it sprang2 and so the love which reaches one probably in some way reaches all4 ,and there is probably not only union and exchange 7in actual intercourse7 between two special sex-cells2 but there is also 7all through the period of being 8in love07 an etheric union and exchange going on between the body-cells generally on each side2 and a nourishment of each other by the interchange of finest and subtlest elements4 ,that this mutual exchange and nutrition may take place between the general cells of two bodies is made all the more probable from the experiments already alluded to with regard to chemical fertilization--whereby it has been shown that some ova or egg-cells may be started on a process of subdivision and growth by treatment with certain chemicals1 such as weak solutions of strychnine1 or common salt1 apart from any fertilization by a spermatozoon4#ba ,now since--when the body is once fairly formed--its further growth and sustenance is maintained by continued division and subdivision of the body-cells1 this stimulus to growth may easily 7we may suppose7 be supplied by the subtle radiations and reactions from another body within whose sphere of influence it comes--radiations and reactions sufficiently subtle to pass through the tissues to the various cells1 and of course sufficiently characteristic and individual to be in some cases1 as we have supposed1 highly vitalizing and stimulating--though in other cases of course they may be poisonous and harmful4 ,of course1 also1 it is only love that supplies and is the vitalizing relation4 ,so intense1 at times1 is this vitalizing force1 and so ardent the need of it1 that the whole body leaps and throbs in pain4 ,plato1 in his poetic way1 explains the scorching sensation in all the skin and tissues by feigning that it is caused by the wing-feathers of the soul sprouting everywhere 7i4e4 according to our view1 in every little cell74 ,nevertheless1 his words on the subject are singularly pregnant with meaning4 ,for he says 7in the ,phdrus73 8,whenever indeed by gazing on the beauty of the beloved object1 and receiving from that beauty particles which fall and flow in upon it 7and which are therefore called #8desire'71 the soul is watered and warmed1 it is relieved from its pain1 and is glad2 but as soon as it is parted from its love1 and for lack of that moisture is parched1 the mouths of the outlets by which the feathers start become so closed up by drought1 that they obstruct the shooting germs2 and the germs being thus confined underneath1 in company of the desire which has been infused1 leap like throbbing arteries1 and prick each at the outlet which is closed against it2 so that the soul1 being stung all over1 is frantic with pain40#bb ,this fusion of complementaries1 then1 which is the characteristic of fertilization1 takes place between the lovers--not only in respect of their sex-cells1 but probably also to a considerable degree in respect of their body-cells4 ,and though with any mortal lovers the complementary nature of the fusion can hardly be so complete as to restore the full glory of the race-life1 yet very near to that point it sometimes comes1 filling them with mad and immortal-seeming ecstasies1 and excusing them indeed for seriously thinking that the wings of their souls have begun to grow6 ,in lesser degree this complementary fusion and exchange is doubtless the explanation 7or one explanation7 of that very noticeable point--the strange way in which lovers after some years come to resemble each other--in form and feature1 in facial expression1 tone of voice1 carriage of body1 handwriting1 and all sorts of minute points4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i suppose at this point it will be necessary to explain that the recognition of love 7in all its aspects7 as a general condition of human health1 does not mean a recommendation of wild indulgence in any and every passion--necessary1 because in these cases it seems to be generally assumed that the proposer of a very simple thesis means a very great deal more than he says6 ,it is here that the necessity of education comes in2 for hitherto public instruction and discussion in these matters have been so defective that folk have been unable to talk about them except in a hysterical way--hysterical on the one side or the other4 ,the positive value of love1 its positive cultivation as a gracious1 superb1 and necessary part of our lives has hardly 7at least in the ,anglo-,saxon world7 entered into people's minds4 ,to teach young things to love1 and how to love1 to actually instruct and encourage them in the art1 has seemed something wicked and unspeakable4 ,says ,havelock ,ellis3#bc 8,whether or not ,christianity is to be held responsible1 it cannot be doubted that throughout ,christendom there has been a lamentable failure to recognize the supreme importance1 not only erotically but morally1 of the art of love4 ,even in the great revival of sexual enlightenment now taking place around us there is rarely even the faintest recognition that in sexual enlightenment the one thing essentially necessary is a knowledge of the art of love4 ,for the most part sexual instruction1 as at present understood1 is purely negative1 a mere string of thou-shalt-nots4 ,if that failure were due to the conscious and deliberate recognition that while the art of love must be based on physiological and psychological knowledge1 it is far too subtle too complex1 too personal1 to be formulated in lectures and manuals1 it would be reasonable and sound4 ,but it seems to rest entirely on ignorance1 indifference1 or worse40 ,it is1 ,i think1 not unfair to suppose that it is this indifference or vulgar ,philistinism which is largely responsible for the sordid commercialism of the good people of the last century4 ,finding the lute and the lyre snatched from their hands they were fain to turn to a greater activity with the muck-rake4 99 99 99 99 99 ,love is a complex of human relations--physical1 mental1 emotional1 spiritual1 and so forth--all more or less necessary4 ,and though seldom realized complete1 it is felt1 and feels itself1 to be imperfect without some representation of every side4 ,to limit it to the expression of one particular aspect would be totally inadequate1 if not absurd and impossible4 ,a merely physical love1 for instance1 on the sexual plane1 is an absurdity1 a dead letter--the enjoyment and fruition of the physical depending so much on the feeling expressed1 that without the latter there is next to no satisfaction4 ,at best there is merely a negative pleasure1 a relief1 arising from the solution of a previous state of corporeal tension4 ,and in such cases intercourse is easily followed by depression and disappointment4 ,for if there is not enough of the more subtle and durable elements in love1 to remain after the physical has been satisfied1 and to hold the two parties close together1 why1 the last state may well be worse than the first6 ,but equally absurd is any attempt to limit1 for instance1 to the mental plane1 and to make love a matter of affectionate letter-writing merely1 or of concordant views on political economy2 or again1 to confine it to the emotional plane1 and the region of more or less sloppy sentiment2 or to the spiritual1 with a somewhat lofty contempt of the material--in which case it tends1 as hinted before1 to become too like trying to paint a picture without the use of pigments4 ,all the phases are necessary1 or at least desirable--even if1 as already said1 a quite complete and all-round relation is seldom realized4 ,the physical is desirable1 for many very obvious reasons--including corporeal needs and health1 and perhaps especially because it acts in the way of removal of barriers1 and so opens the path to other intimacies4 ,the mental is desirable1 to give form and outline to the relation2 the emotional1 to provide the something to be expressed2 and the spiritual to give permanence and absolute solidity to the whole structure4 ,it is probably on account of this complex nature that for any big and permanent relationship of this kind there has to be a rather slow and gradual culmination4 ,all the various elements have to be hunted up and brought into line4 ,like all great ideas love has its two sides--its instantaneous inner side1 and its complex outer side of innumerable detail4 ,in consciousness it tends to appear in a flash--simple1 unique1 and unchangeable2 but in experience it has to be worked out with much labor4 ,all the elements have to come into operation1 and to contribute their respective quota to the total result4 ,if we remember what happens when the spermatozoon and the ovum coalesce 7see ch4 ii4 p4 #ai7--the extraordinary changes and disturbances which are induced in the chromatin elements of both nuclei1 the fusion of the nuclei1 and the ultimate ranging of the chromosomes in a line 7for the formation of the new being7 in such a way that every element is represented and contributes its share to the process--we cannot but be struck by the strange similarity to our own inner experience3 how love searches the heart1 drags every element of the inner nature forward from its lurking-place1 gives it definition and shape1 and somehow insists on it being represented1 and1 so to speak1 toeing the line4 ,we shall return to this point later4 ,here ,i only wish to insist on the complexity of the process1 in order to show that for any big relationship plenty of time has to be allowed4 ,whichever side of the nature--mental1 emotional1 physical1 and so forth--may have happened to take the lead1 it must not and cannot monopolize the affair4 ,it must drag the other sides in and give them their place4 ,and this means time1 and temporary bewilderment and confusion4 ,it is curious how #8falling in love' has this very effect--how it paralyzes for a time--inhibiting the mental part and even the physical2 how the smart talker becomes a dumb ass1 and the man about town a modest fool1 and the person who always does the right thing seems compelled to do everything wrong--as if a confusion were being created in the mind1 analogous to that which we have observed in the cells4 ,when we add to these considerations the extraordinary differences between persons1 and between the proportions in which the elements of their characters are mixed1 it is obvious how extremely complex the conditions of any one decent love-relation must be1 and what tact and patience in the handling it may require4 ,the ignorance1 therefore1 which causes a young man1 husband or lover1 to think that the hurried completion of the sexual act is at once the initiation and the fulfilment of love1 is fatal enough4 ,it marks more often the end than the beginning of the affair4 ,for1 contrariwise1 time and plenty of time has to be given in order to allow the central radiation in each case to have its perfect work4 ,is it too fanciful to suppose that the centrosome1 which makes its appearance in the protozon on its approach to conjunction1 and which seems to rule the rearrangement of the chromatin elements within it1 is the analogue of the radiating force in human courtship which so strangely sifts out and remoulds the elements of the lover's personality8 ,does the magic of the centrosome correspond in some sense to the glamour1 so well known in human affairs8 ,and do they both proceed from some deep-hidden1 profoundly important manifestation of the life1 the energy1 the divinity if you will1 of the ,race8 ,how strange is this matter of the glamour1 and its decisiveness in awakening love by its presence1 or leaving it cold by absence6 ,here is a story of a woman who1 dreadfully disfigured in countenance by an accident in the hunting-field1 called her fianc to her1 and nobly offered him his freedom2 and he 444 accepted it6 ,accepted it1 because1 quite really and truly1 the destruction of her physical beauty had for him shattered the ,vision and the divinity4 ,and here is another similar story where1 contrariwise1 the man immediately confirmed his love and devotion--because for him the glory around her was more illumined by her nobility of feeling than it could be darkened by her bodily defect4 ,such glamour1 working away in the hidden caverns of being1 may at last1 like ,bruno's 8fabro vulcano10 weld two souls into one1 and bring to light a real1 a profound1 and perhaps eternal union4 ,it is after all that inner union which is the real thing2 which gives all its joys to intercourse1 and penetrating down into the world of sense1 redeems that world into a thing of glory and beauty4 ,for the complete action of that creative and organizing force plentiful time must be given2 and the two lovers must possess their souls in patience till it has had its full and perfect work4 ,ovid in his ,ars ,amatoria has many lines on this subject4 8,let the youth10 he says1 8with tardy passion burn1 like a damp torch0 444 8,non est ,veneris properanda voluptas0 444 8,quod datum ex facili longum male nutrit amorem0 7,love easily granted may not long endure71 and so forth4 ,and though these passages no doubt refer mainly to what may be called the practical conduct of amours1 yet they have also a very pointed application to the more important aspects of the grand passion4 ,a long foreground of approach1 time and tact1 diffusion of magnetism1 mergence in one another1 suffering1 and even pain--all these must be expected and allowed for--though the best after all1 in this as in other things1 is often the unexpected and the unprepared4 ,and if the man has to allow time for all the elements of his nature to come forward and take their part in the great mystery1 all the more is it true that he has to give the woman time for the fulfilling of her part4 ,for in general it may be said 7though of course with exceptions7 that love culminates more slowly in women than in men4 ,men concentrate obviously on the definite part they have to play2 but in women love is more diffused and takes longer to reach the point where it becomes an inspired and creative frenzy of the whole being4 ,caresses1 tendernesses1 provocation1 sacrifices1 and a thousand indirect influences have to gradually conspire to the working out of this result2 and not infrequently the situation so arising demands great self-control on the part of the man4 ,yet these things are worth while4 8,the real marriage10 says some one1 8takes place when from their intense love there comes to birth another soul--apart from each1 and invisible1 yet joining them together1 one hand ahold of each--a radiant thing born of the sun and stars1 which though tender and fragile at first1 grows just like a bodily child1 and leads them on1 and dances with them40 ,they are worth while1 all these labors and troubles1 and delays and sacrifices1 if only out of them can be forged a fair and infrangible union4 ,as in all the arts1 so in the greatest of the arts1 no lasting result can be attained1 without such labor4 ,nor indeed without some degree of pain and suffering4 ,young folk and inexperienced may think it is not so4 ,they may think that by a lucky stroke and practically without effort a man may write a 8,blessed ,damozel0 or carve in marble a 8,greek ,slave02 but all experience points differently1 and shows that directly or indirectly to such works have gone infinite labor and patience4 ,and so to the conceiving and shaping of a perfect alliance between a man and a woman must always go much of suffering--for it is by suffering that the souls of human beings are brought into form and carved to fitness for each other4 ,is it seriously--when one comes to think of it--possible to imagine love without pain8 ,figure to yourself1 ,o man1 a courtship absolutely undenied1 from the first accepted1 even encouraged1 with complaisantly unresisting bride1 smiling parents1 fair-weather prospects1 and cash unlimited6 ,how awfully dull6 ,does not the stoutest heart quail at the suggestion8 ,or if such a mating might be deemed pleasant as far as its accessories and conditions were concerned1 could it yet be termed ,love8 ,for ,love1 if worth anything1 seems to demand pain and strain in order to prove itself1 and is not satisfied with an easy attainment4 ,how indeed should one know the great heights except by the rocks and escarpments8 ,and pain often in some strange way seems to be the measure of love--the measure by which we are assured that love is true and real2 and so 7which is one of the mysteries7 it becomes transformed into a great joy4 ,yes1 if men could only understand1 here is one of the most precious of the mysteries1 and the solving of a great riddle4 ,but that the course of true love does generally not run smooth is understood1 more or less1 by every one4 ,and it is woman's strange and imperious instinct--even though at considerable suffering to herself--to see that it doesn't run smooth4 ,ellis practically bases#bd the whole of the evolution of modesty on this instinct--reaching far down in the animal kingdom--by which the female constantly throws difficulties and obstacles in the way of courtship 7by her coynesses1 contrarieties1 changeable moods1 and so forth72 thus calling out in the male all his ingenuity1 his impetuosity1 his energy1 in overcoming them2 rousing dormant elements of his nature2 delaying consummation and giving time for his character and all his qualities to concentrate2 and indirectly having a like effect upon herself4 ,so that ultimately by this method a maximum of passion and agitation is produced1 and in the case of the human being love penetrates to the very deeps and hidden caverns of the soul4 ,such is the genesis of ,modesty--not by any means ,nature's denial of love1 but rather the crafty old dame's method of rendering love1 by temporary obstacles1 all the more insurgent and irresistible--her method of making it less superficial1 of deepening the channels and rendering them more profound4 ,practically1 and as a matter of policy1 a too easy consent to another's love is a mistake4 ,the barb only sticks when the bait is withdrawn4 ,ovid1 it will be remembered1 advises that 8the lover should be admitted by the window1 even when the door is quite accessible1 and really more convenient02#be and most girls 7though they have not read ,ovid7 know instinctively that this is the right policy6 ,nothing is so hateful to a real lover as an easy1 accommodating1 altruistic affection--thoroughly ,christian in sentiment1 and with no more shape of its own than a pillow6 ,romance flies at the mere mention of ,christian altruism2 and the essence of love is romance4 ,hence not only technical obstacles1 but essential differences are necessary to the growth of the passion4 ,differences of age1 differences of sex1 differences of class1 temperament1 hereditary strain1 learning1 accomplishment1 and so forth--if not too great--are all necessary and valuable4 ,they all mean romance1 and contribute to that exchange of essences which we saw was the primitive protozoic law4 ,it is quite probable that the abiding romance between the sexes--so much greater as a rule than that between two of like sex--is due to the fact that the man and the woman never really understand each other2 each to the other is a figure in cloudland1 sometimes truly divine1 sometimes alas6 quite the reverse2 but never clear and obvious in outline1 as a simple mortal may be expected to be4 ,but to return to the subject of pain and suffering4 ,there is something more in their work than merely to reveal to the lover the extent or the depth of his own love4 ,they have something surely to do with the inner realities of the affair1 with the moulding or hammering or welding process whereby union is effected and1 in some sense1 a new being created4 ,it seems as if when two naked souls approach1 or come anywhere near contact with each other1 the one inevitably burns or scorches the other4 ,the intense chemistry of the psychic elements produces something like an actual flame4 ,a fresh combination is entered into1 profound transformations are effected1 strange forces liberated1 and a new personality perhaps created2 and the accomplishment and evidence of the whole process is by no means only joy1 but agony also1 even as childbirth is4 ,all one can reasonably do is to endure4 ,it is no good making a fuss4 ,in affairs of the heart what we call suffering corresponds to what we call labor or effort in affairs of the body4 ,when you put your shoulder to the cart-wheel you feel the pain and pressure of the effort1 but that assures you that you are exercising a force1 that something is being done2 so suffering of the heart assures you that something is being done in that other and less tangible world4 ,to scold and scowl and blame your loved one is the stupidest thing you can do4 ,and worse than stupid1 it is useless4 ,for it can only alienate4 ,probably that other one is suffering as well as you--possibly more than you1 possibly a good deal less4 ,what does it matter8 ,the suffering is there and must be borne2 the work1 whatever it is1 is being done2 the transformation is being effected4 ,do you want your beloved to suffer instead of you1 or simply because you are suffering8 ,or is it ,pity you desire rather than ,love4 ,on the other hand1 these things borne in silence have1 ,i believe1 an extraordinary effect4 ,they pull people to you by quite invisible cords4 ,as ,i have said1 the fact of heart-strain and tension shows that there is a pressure or pull being exerted somewhere4 ,though the cord be invisible1 there is someone at the other end 7though not perhaps quite the one you supposed7 who responds4 ,words anyhow1 in matters of love1 are rather foolish2 they are worse than foolish1 they are useless2 and again they are worse than useless1 for they are misleading4 ,love is an art4 8,it must be revealed by acts10 says a ,swiss writer1 8and not betrayed by words40 ,and ,havelock ,ellis1 speaking further of the mistake of relying on declarations and asservations1 says3#bf 8,this is scarcely realized by those ill-advised lovers who consider that the first step in courtship--and perhaps even the whole of courtship--is for a man to ask a woman to be his wife4 ,that is so far from being the case that it constantly happens that the premature exhibition of so large a demand at once and forever damns all the wooer's chances40 ,and in another passage he says3#bg 8,love's requests cannot be made in words1 nor truthfully answered in words3 a fine divination is still needed as long as love lasts40 ,love is an art4 ,as no mere talk can convey the meaning of a piece of music or a beautiful poem1 so no verbal declaration can come anywhere near expressing what the lover wants to say4 ,and for one very good and sufficient reason 7among others7--namely1 that he does not know himself6 ,under these circumstances to say anything is almost certainly to say something misleading or false4 ,and the decent lover knows this and holds his tongue4 ,to talk about your devotion is to kill it--moreover1 it is to render it banal and suspect in the eyes of your beloved4 ,nevertheless though he cannot describe or explain what he wants to say1 the lover can feel it--is feeling it all the time2 and this feeling1 like other feelings1 he can express by indirections--by symbols1 by actions1 by the alphabet of deed and gesture1 and all the hieroglyphics of ,life and ,art4 ,like the animals and the angels and all the blessed creatures who don't talk1 he can communicate in the ancient1 primeval1 universal language of all creation1 in the language which is itself creation4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,its ,,ultimate ,,meanings 8,to talk about your devotion is to kill it40 ,perhaps one ought even to say that to talk at all is to kill it6 ,one often thinks what divine and beautiful creatures--men and women--there are all around1 how loving and lovable1 how gracious in their charm1 how grand in their destiny6--if indeed they could only be persuaded to remain within that magic circle of silence4 ,and then alas6 one of these divinities begins to talk--and it is like the fair woman in the fable1 out of whose mouth1 whenever she opened it1 there jumped a mouse6 ,the shock is almost more than one can bear4 ,not that the shock proceeds from the ignorance displayed--for the animals and even the angels are deliciously ignorant--but from the revelations which speech unconsciously makes of certain states of the soul--from the strange falsity which is too often heard in the words1 and in the very tones of the voice4 ,but ,love burns this falsity away4 ,that is why love--even rude and rampant and outrageous love--does more for the moralizing of poor humanity than a hundred thousand ,sunday schools4 ,it cleans the little human soul from the clustered lies in which it has nested itself--from the petty conceits and deceits and cowardices and covert meannesses--and all the things that fly from the tip of the tongue directly the mouth opens4 ,it burns and cleans them away1 and leaves the lover speechless--but approximately honest6 ,love is an art1 and the greatest of the ,arts--and the truth of it cannot be said in words2 that is1 in any direct use of words4 ,you may write a sonnet1 of course1 to your mistress's eyebrow2 but that is work1 that is doing something2 it is or is trying to be1 a work of ,art--and anyhow your mistress is not obliged to read it6 ,or you may take a more decisive line to express your feelings--by slaying your rival1 for instance1 with a sword4 ,that is allowable4 ,but to bore the lady with protestations1 and to demand definite replies 7that is1 to tell lies yourself1 and to compel her to tell lies71 is both foolish and wicked4 ,the expression of ,love is a great art1 and it needs man's highest ingenuity and capacity to become skilled in it--but in the public mind it is an art utterly neglected and despised1 and it is only by a very few 7and those not always the most #8respectable'7 that it is really cultivated4 ,it is a great art1 for the same reason that the expression of ,beauty is a great art--for the reason that ,love itself 7like ,beauty7 belongs to another plane of existence than the plane of ordinary life and speech4 ,speech is man's great prerogative1 which differentiates him from the other creatures1 and of which he is1 especially during the ,civilization period1 so proud4 ,the animals do not use it1 because they have not arrived at the need of it2 the angels do not use it1 because they have passed beyond the need4 ,it belongs to the second stage of human consciousness1 that which is founded on self-consciousness--on the rooted consciousness of the self as something solitary1 apart from others1 even antagonistic to them1 the centre 7strange contradiction in terms67 even among millions of other centres1 to which everything has to be referred4 ,the whole of ordinary speech proceeds1 and has proceeded1 from this kind of self-consciousness--is generated from it1 describes it1 analyzes it1 pictures it forth and expresses it--and in the upshot is just as muddled and illusive and unsatisfactory as the thing it proceeds from4 ,and ,love1 which is not founded on that kind of self-consciousness--which is in fact the denial of self-centration--has no use for it4 ,love can only say what it wants by the language of life1 action1 song1 sacrifice1 ravishment1 death1 and the great panorama of creation4 ,self-consciousness is fatal to love4 ,the self-conscious lover never #8arrives4' ,the woman looks at him--and then she looks at something more interesting4 ,and so too the whole modern period of commercial civilization and ,christianity has been fatal to love2 for both these great movements have concentrated the thoughts of men on their own individual salvation--,christianity on the salvation of their souls1 and commercialism on the salvation of their money-bags4 ,they have bred the self-regarding consciousness in the highest degree2 and so--though they may have had their uses and their parts to play in the history of mankind1 they have been fatal to the communal spirit in society1 and they have been fatal to the glad expression of the soul in private life4 ,self-consciousness is fatal to love1 which is the true expression of the soul4 ,and it is curious how 7for some occult reason7 the whole treatment of the subject in our modern world drives it along this painful mirror-lined ravine--how the child is brought up in ignorance and darkness1 amid averted faces and frowns1 and always the thought of self and its own wickedness is thrust upon it1 and never the good and the beauty of the loved one2 how the same attitude continues into years of maturity2 how somehow self-forgetting heroisms for the sake of love are made difficult in modern life2 how even the act of intercourse itself1 instead of taking place in the open air--in touch with the great and abounding life of ,nature--is generally consummated in closed and stuffy rooms1 the symbols of mental darkness and morbidity1 and the breeding-ground of the pettier elements of human nature4#bh ,we have said that for any lasting alliance1 or really big and satisfactory love-affair1 plenty of time should be given4 ,perhaps it is a good rule 7if any rule in such matters can be good7 never to act until one is practically compelled by one's feelings to do so4 ,at any rate1 the opposite policy--that of letting off steam1 or giving expression to one's sentiments1 at the slightest pressure--is an obvious mistake4 ,it gives no chance for the depths to be stirred1 or the big forces to come into play4 ,some degree1 too1 of self-repression and holding back on the part of the man gives time1 as we have said1 for the woman's love-feelings to unfold and define themselves4 ,but there is a limit here1 and even sympathy and consideration are not always in place with love4 ,there is something bigger--titanic1 elemental--which must also have its way4 ,and1 after all1 ,force 7if only appropriately used7 is the greatest of compliments4 ,i think every woman1 in her heart of hearts1 wishes to be ravished2 but naturally it must be by the right man4 ,this is the compliment which is the most grateful of all to receive1 because it is most sincere2 and this is the compliment which is the most difficult of all to pay--because nothing but the finest instinct can decide when it is appropriate2 and if by chance it is inappropriate the cause is ipso facto ruined4 ,nature prizes strength and power2 and so likewise does love1 which moves in the heart of ,nature and shares her secrets4 ,to regard ,love as a kind of refined and delicate altruism is1 as we have already hinted1 drivelling nonsense4 ,to the lover in general violence is more endurable than indifference2 and many lovers are of such temperament that blows and kicks 7actual or metaphorical7 stimulate and increase their ardor4 ,even ,ovid--who must have been something of a gay dog in his day--says1non nisi lsus amo40 ,there is a feeling that at all costs one must come to close quarters with the beloved--if not in the mimic battles of sex1 then in quite serious and hostile encounters4 ,to reach the other one somehow1 to leave one's mark1 one's impress on the beloved--or vice versa to be reached and to feel the impress--is a necessity4 ,i sometimes think that this is the explanation of those strange cases in which a man1 mad with love1 and unable to satisfy his passion1 kills the girl he loves4 ,i don't think it is hypothetical jealousy of a possible other lover4 ,i think it is something much more direct than that--the blind urge to reach her very actual self1 even if it be only with knife or bullet4 ,i am sure that this is the explanation of those many cases of unhappily married folk who everlastingly nag at each other1 and yet will not on any account part company4 ,they cannot love each other properly1 and yet they cannot leave each other alone4 ,a strange madness urges them into continual contact and collision4 ,but yet possibly there is even something more in the whole thing1 on and beyond what is here indicated4 ,in the extraordinary and often agonizing experiences attending the matter of #8falling in love1' great changes1 as we have already suggested1 are being wrought in the human being4 ,astounding inner convulsions and conversions take place--rejections of old habits1 adoptions of new ones4 ,the presence of the beloved exercises this magical selective and reconstructive influence--and that independently to a large degree of whether the relation is a happy and #8successful' one1 or whether it is contrary and unsuccessful4 ,the main thing is contact1 and the coming of one person into touch with the other4 ,we have seen1 in the case of the ,protozoa1 the amazing fact of the #8maturation-divisions' and the #8extrusion of polar bodies' as a preparation for conjugation--how1 when the two cells which are about to unite approach each other1 changes take place already before they come into contact1 and half the chromatin elements from one cell are expelled1 and half the chromatin elements also from the other4 ,what the exact nature of this division and extrusion may be is a thing not yet known1 but there seems every reason to believe that it is of such a character as to leave the residual elements on both sides complementary to one another--so that when united they shall restore the total attributes of the race-life1 only perhaps in a new and unprecedented combination4 ,the ,protozoa in fact #8prepare' themselves for conjugation and realization of the race-life1 by casting out certain elements which would interfere with this realization4 ,and we may well ask ourselves whether in the case of ,man the convulsions and conversions of which we have spoken have not the same purpose and result1 or something much resembling it4 ,whatever really takes place in the unseen world in the case of human ,love1 we cannot but be persuaded that it is something of very far-reaching and long-lasting import2 and to find that the process should often involve great pain to the little mortals concerned seems readily conceivable and by no means unnatural4 ,the complementary nature of love is a thing which has often been pointed out--how the dark marries the fair1 the tall the short1 the active the lethargic1 and so forth4 ,schopenhauer1 in his ,welt als ,wille und ,vorstellung1 has made a special study of this subject4 ,plato1 ,darwin1 and others have alluded to it4 ,it seems as if1 in ,love1 the creature--to use ,dante ,rossetti's expression--feels a 8poignant thirst and exquisite hunger0 for that other one who will supply the elements wanting in himself1 who will restore the balance1 and fill up the round of the race ideal4 ,and as every one of us is eccentric and out of balance and perfection on one side or another1 so it almost seems as if for every one there must be1 on the other side1 a complementary character to be found--who needs something at any rate of what we can supply4 ,and this consideration may yield us the motto--however painfully conscious we may be of our own weaknesses and deficiencies and follies and vices and general ungainliness--the motto of 8,never despair60 ,innocent folk1 whose studies of this subject have been chiefly perhaps derived from penny novelettes--are sometimes inclined to think that love is a stereotyped affair occurring in a certain pattern and under certain conditions between the ages of #ah and #ce2 and that if you are not between these ages and are not fortunate enough to have a good complexion and a nicely formed aquiline nose1 you may as well abandon hope6 ,they suppose that there is a certain thing called a ,man1 and another certain thing called a ,woman1 and that the combination of these two forms a third quite stereotyped thing called ,marriage1 and there is an end of it4 ,but by some kind of ,providential arrangement it appears that the actual facts are very different--that there are really hundreds of thousands of different kinds of men1 and hundreds of thousands of different kinds of women1 and consequently thousands of millions of different kinds of marriage2 that there are no limits of grace or comeliness1 or of character and accomplishment1 or even of infirmity or age1 within which love is obliged to move2 and that there is no defect1 of body or mind1 which is of necessity a bar--which may not even 7to some special other person7 become an object of attraction4 ,thus it is that the ugly and deformed have no great difficulty in finding their mates--as a visit to the seaside on a bank-holiday speedily convinces us2 a squint may be a positive attraction to some1 as it is said to have been to the philosopher ,descartes1 and marks of smallpox indispensable to others2#bi while ,i have read of a case somewhere1 where the man was immediately stirred to romance by the sight of a wooden leg in a woman6#cj ,but apart from these extreme instances which may be due to special causes1 the general principle of compensation through opposites is very obvious and marked4 ,the fluffy and absurd little woman is selected by a tall and statuesque grenadier2 the tall and statuesque lady is made love to by a man who has to stand on a chair to kiss her2 the society elegant takes to a snuffy and preposterous professor2 the bookish scholar 7as in ,jude the ,obscure7 to a mere whore2 the clever beauty 7as in ,l'homme qui rit7 to a grinning clown2 and of course the #8wicked' man is always saved by the saintly woman4 ,the masculine1 virago-like woman1 on the other hand1 finds a man who positively likes being beaten with a stick2 and the miaowling1 aimlessly amiable female gets a bully for a husband 7and one can only say1 8,serve them both right07444 ,finally1 the well-formed aquiline nose insists on marrying a pug nose--and this apparently quite regardless of what the other bodily and mental parts may be1 or what they may want4 ,everyone knows cases of quite young men who only love women of really advanced age1 beyond the limit of childbirth2 and these are curious because they seem to point to impelling forces in love beyond and independent of generation and race-perpetuation1 and therefore lying outside of the ,schopenhauerian explanations4 ,and similarly we all know cases of young girls who are deadly earnest in their affection for quite old men1 men who might well be their fathers or grandfathers1 but hardly1 one would think1 their husbands4 ,in these cases it looks as if the young thing needs and seeks a parent as well as a lover--the two in one1 combined4 ,and where such love is returned1 it is returned in a kind of protective love1 rather than an amative love--or at any rate as a love in which the protective and amative characters are closely united4 ,similarly there are numbers of cases in which mature or quite grown men and women only love 7passionately and devotedly7 boys and girls of immature age--their love for them ceasing from its ardor and intensity when the objects of devotion reach the age1 say1 of twenty or twenty-one4 ,and in many of these cases the love is ardently returned4 ,here1 again1 it is evidently not a case of generation or race-perpetuation1 but simply of compensation--the young thing requiring the help and protection of the older1 and the older requiring an outlet for the protective instinct--a case of exchange of essences and qualities which 7if at all decently and sensibly managed7 might well go to the building up of a full and well-rounded life on either side4 ,in all these cases 7and the above are of course only samples out of thousands7 we seem to see an effort of the race-life to restore its total quality--to restore it through the operation of love--either by completing and rounding out the life of the individuals concerned1 or by uniting some of their characteristics in the progeny4 ,i say #8seem to see1' because we cannot well suppose that this gives a complete account of the matter1 or that it explains the whole meaning of ,love2 but it at any rate suggests an important aspect of the question4 ,the full quality of the race-life is always building itself up and restoring itself in this manner4 ,a process of ,regeneration is always going on4 ,and this process1 as suggested before1 is more fundamental even than ,generation--or it is a process of which ,generation is only one department4 ,regeneration is the key to the meaning of love--to be in the first place born again in some one else or through some one else2 in the second place only1 to be born again through a child4 ,as in the ,protozoa1 so among human beings1 generation alone can hardly be looked upon as the primary object of conjugation2 for1 among the latter1 out of myriads of unions vast numbers are as a matter of fact infertile1 and a considerable percentage 7as indicated above7 are quite necessarily infertile1 and yet these infertile unions are quite as close1 and the love concerned in them quite as intense and penetrating1 as in the case of the fertile ones4 8,if a girl were free to choose according to her inclinations10 says ,florence ,farr in an eloquent plea for the economic independence of women1#ca 8there is practically no doubt that she would choose the right father for her child1 however badly she might choose a life-long companion for herself40 ,in this passage the authoress seems to suggest 7perhaps following ,schopenhauer7 that the generation of a perfect child is the one main even though unconscious purpose of love-union1 and that the individual parent-lives may instinctively be sacrificed for this object4 ,and there no doubt is so far truth in this1 that the tremendous forces of love often pay little respect to the world conveniences and compatibilities of the lovers themselves1 and that often 7as indeed also among the ,protozoa7 the parent's life is rudely and ruthlessly sacrificed for the birth of the next generation4 ,still1 even so1 ,i think the statement as put here is risky1 both as a matter of fact and as a matter of theory4 ,would it not be more correct or less risky to say3 8,if a girl were free to choose1 she would choose the man who most completely compensated and rounded out her own qualities1 physical and mental 7and so would be likely to get her a fine babe71 even though he might not prove the best of companions80 ,it is curious1 as we have suggested before1 how married folk often quarrel to desperation on the surface1 and yet seem to have a deep and permanent hold on each other--returning together again even after separation4 ,it seems in these cases as if they mutually obtained a stimulus from each other1 even by their strife1 which they could not get elsewhere4 ,ir amantium redintegratio amoris4 ,the idea1 too1 that the great and primal object of union is to be sought in the next generation has something unsatisfactory about it4 ,why not in this generation8 ,why should the blessedness of mankind always be deferred to posterity8 ,it is not merely1 ,i take it1 the perpetuation of the race which is the purpose of love1 but the perfection of the race1 the completeness and adequacy of its self-expression1 which love may make possible to-day just as well as to-morrow4 ,ellen ,key1 in that fine book1 ,liebe und ,ehe1#cb expresses this well when she says3 8,love seeks union1 not only in connection with the creation of a new being1 but also because two beings through one another may become a new being1 and a greater than either could be of itself alone40 ,the complementary nature of sex-attraction was made much of by that youthful genius ,otto ,weininger1 who in his book1 ,sex and ,character1#cc has a chapter on the laws of ,sexual ,attractions in which1 in the true ,german manner1 he not only gives an algebraic formula for the different types of men and women1 but a formula also for the force of attraction between any two given individuals--which latter of course becomes infinite when the two individuals are exactly complementary to each other6 ,dr4 ,magnus ,hirschfeld1 in his very interesting work1 ,die ,transvestiten1#cd goes even more into detail than does ,weininger on the subject of the variations of human type in special regard to sex-characteristics4 ,sex-characteristics1 he explains1 may be divided into four groups1 of which two are physiological1 namely the primary characteristics 7the sex organs and adjuncts7 and the secondary 7the hair1 the voice1 the breasts1 and so forth72 and two are psychological or related 7like love-sentiment1 mental habit1 dress1 and so forth74 ,each of the four groups includes about four different elements2 so that altogether he tabulates sixteen elements in the human being--each of which may vary independently of the other fifteen1 and take on at least three possible forms1 either distinctly masculine1 distinctly feminine1 or intermediate4 ,calculating up the number of different types which these variations would thus give rise to1 he arrives at the figure #dc1jdf1gba6--which figure1 ,i think we may say1 we need not analyze further1 since it is certainly quite large enough for all practical purposes6 ,and really though we may mock a little at these fanciful divisions and dissections of human nature1 they do help us to realize the enormous1 the astounding number of varieties of which it is susceptible4 ,and if again we consider that among the supposed forty-three millions each variety would have its counter type or complementary individual1 then we realize the enormous number of perfect unions which would be theoretically possible1 and the enormous number of distinct and different ways in which the race-life could thus find adequate and admirable expression for itself4 ,however1 we are here getting into a somewhat abstract region4 ,to return to the practical1 the complementary idea certainly seems to account for much of human union2 for though there are but few cases in which the qualities of the uniting parties are really quite complementary to each other1 yet it is obvious that each person tends to seek and admire attributes in the other which he himself possesses only in small degree4 ,at the same time1 it must not be forgotten that some common qualities and common ground are necessary as a basis for affection1 and that sympathy and agreement in like interests and habits are at least as powerful a bond as admiration of opposites4 ,it sometimes happens that there are immense romances between people of quite different classes and habits of life1 or of quite different race and color2 and they see1 for the moment1 flaming ideals and wonder-worlds in each other4 ,but unions in such cases are doubtful and dangerous1 because so often the common ground of sympathy and mutual understanding will be too limited2 and hereditary instincts and influences1 deep-lying and deep-working1 will call the wanderers away1 even from the star which they seek to follow4 ,sympathy with and understanding of the person one lives with must be cultivated to the last degree possible1 because it is a condition of any real and permanent alliance4 ,and it may even go so far 7and should go so far7 as a frank understanding and tolerance of such person's other loves4 ,after all1 it seldom happens1 with any one who has more than one or two great interests in life1 that he finds a mate who can sympathize with or understand them all4 ,in that case a certain portion of his personality is left out in the cold1 as it were2 and if this is an important portion it seems perfectly natural for him to seek for a mate or a lover on that side too4 ,two such loves are often perfectly compatible and reconcilable--though naturally one will be the dominant love1 and the other subsidiary1 and if such secondary loves are good-humoredly tolerated and admitted1 the effect will generally be to confirm the first and original alliance all the more4 ,all this1 however1 does not mean that a man can well be #8in love' with two women1 for instance1 at the same time4 ,to love is a very different thing from being #8in love'2 and the latter indicates a torrent-rush of feeling which necessarily can only move towards one person at a time4 7,a standing flood of water may embrace and surround several islands1 but it cannot very well flow in more than one direction at once47 ,but this torrent-rush does not last forever1 and in due time it subsides into the quiescent and lake-like stage--unless indeed it runs itself out and disappears altogether4 ,against this running out and disappearance it is part of the ,art of ,love to be able to guard4 ,it has sometimes been argued that familiarity is of necessity fatal2 and that it is useless to contend against this sinister tendency implanted in the very nature of love itself4 ,but this contention contains only a very partial truth4 ,it is true that in physical love there is a certain physical polarity which1 like electric polarity1 tends to equate itself by contact4 ,the exchange of essences--which we saw as a chief phenomenon of conjugation1 from the protozoa upwards--completes itself in any given case after a given time2 and after that becomes comparatively quiescent4 ,the same with the exchange of mental essences4 ,two people1 after years1 cease to exchange their views and opinions with the same vitality as at first2 they lose their snap and crackle with regard to each other--and naturally1 because they now know each other's minds perfectly1 and have perhaps modified them mutually to the point of likeness4 ,but this only means1 or should mean in a healthy case1 that their interest in each other has passed into another plane1 that the venue of ,love has been removed to another court4 ,if something has been lost in respect of the physical rush and torrent1 and something in respect of the mental breeze and sparkle1 great things have been gained in the ever-widening assurance and confidence of spiritual unity1 and a kind of lake-like calm which indeed reflects the heavens4 ,and under all1 still in the depths1 one may be conscious of a subtle flow and interchange1 yet going on between the two personalities and relating itself to some deep and unseen movements far down in the heart of ,nature4 ,of course for this continuance and permanence of love there must be a certain amount of continence1 not only physical1 but on the emotional plane as well4 ,anything like nausea1 created by excess on either of these planes1 has to be avoided4 ,new subjects of interest1 and points of contact1 must be sought2 temporary absences rather encouraged than deprecated2 and lesser loves1 as we have already hinted1 not turned into gages of battle4 ,few things1 in fact1 endear one to a partner so much as the sense that one can freely confide to him or her one's affaires de cur2 and when a man and wife have reached this point of confidence in their relation to each other1 it may fairly then be said 7however shocking this may sound to the orthodox7 that their union is permanent and assured4 ,nothing can1 in the longer enduring values of love1 well take the place of some such chivalrous mutual consideration which reaches the finest fibres of the heart1 and offers a perfect freedom even there4 ,ellen ,key--to quote her ,ueber ,liebe und ,ehe#ce again--says1 8,fidelity in love can never be promised1 but may be won afresh every day20 and she continues1 8,it is sad that this truth--which was clear enough to the chivalrous sentiment of the old courts of ,love--must still to-day be insisted on4 ,one of the reasons1 in fact1 which these courts gave1 why love was not compatible with ,marriage1 was #8that the wife could never expect from her husband the fine consideration that the ,lover is bound to exhibit1 because the latter only receives as a favor what the husband takes as his right4'0 ,to preserve love through years and years with this halo of romance still about it1 and this tenderness of devotion which means a daily renewed gift of freedom1 is indeed a great ,art4 ,it is a great and difficult ,art1 but one which is assuredly 8worth while40 ,the passion altogether1 and in all its aspects1 is a wonderful thing2 and perhaps1 as remarked before1 the less said about it1 the better6 ,when people--,i would say--come 7not without clatter7 and offer you their hearts1 do not pay too much attention4 ,what they offer may be genuine1 or it may not--they themselves probably do not know4 ,nor do you also fall into a like mistake1 offering something which you have not the power to give--or to withhold4 ,silence and ,time alone avail4 ,these things lie on the knees of the gods2 which place--though it may seem1 as someone has said1 #8rather cold and uncomfortable'--is perhaps the best place for them4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,art ,,of ,,dying ,we have suggested in the last paper that some day possibly we may arrive at an intelligent handling of love and its problems1 by which at length the passion may cease to be the cause of endless shipwreck and despair to mortals1 and become a favorable and friendly divinity obedient to our service4 ,somewhat thus has been man's experience with all the great powers of ,nature--with fire and flood on the earth1 with the winds and lightning of heaven4 ,with intelligent treatment they have become his very ready helpers and allies4 ,and1 as indicated in the outset of this book1 we may fairly expect the same conclusion with regard to the great natural event and process termed ,death4 ,the time has come when we are really called upon to face up to the fact of our decease from the present conditions of life1 physical and mental2 when we are called upon to study and to understand this fact1 and by understanding to become masters of the change which it represents--and able to convert it to our great use and advantage4 ,hitherto--as ,i shall have occasion presently to point out--there has been singularly little study of this science1 either from the clinical1 the physiological1 or the psychological points of view2 and the art of dying1 for example 7which is the subject of this chapter71 seems to have been entirely neglected4 ,no doubt it may be said that this is a difficult art--difficult to study1 and more difficult still to practise2 yet1 after all1 that seems only the more reason for approaching it4 ,the art of avoiding death commands much attention1 and there are hundreds and thousands of books on that subject2 yet since none can really avoid the experience and all must sooner or later pass through it1 it might be thought that the art of meeting one's end with discretion and presence of mind would at least command as much attention4 ,there ought1 one would say--and considering the continual presence of this great ocean waiting to receive us--to be lessons on the subject of its navigation free of charge1 and available for all who wish1 just as there are lessons in swimming for sailors4 ,and though it may be true that since1 as a rule1 one cannot die more than once1 it is difficult to obtain the needed practice1 yet even so one may with perseverance get some approach to doing so4 ,there are a good many recorded cases of people who have apparently died1 and after an interval of a few minutes or a few hours have come to life again4 ,i knew a married lady1 some years back1 who after a long period of illness was given up by the doctors1 and gradually sank till to all appearances she passed away4 ,the medical man pronounced life to be extinct1 and the relatives began to make the usual arrangements for her funeral4 ,however1 being devoted to her children1 and anxious to see them through a critical period1 she had made up her mind not to die1 and being a woman of strong will she clung to her resolution4 ,two or three hours elapsed1 and then1 to the surprise and joy of her friends she returned from #8the other side'--after which she lived three or four years1 sufficiently long to carry out what was needed for her family4 ,and though in this case she had no very distinct experience to report of another state of existence1 yet the fact of her #8will to live' having persevered through the sleep or apparent death of her body and upper mind1 was sufficient to convince her of survival of some sort on a deeper plane1 and to disarm all fear and hesitation when death finally came4 ,probably1 on the ordinary mental plane1 death very much resembles sleep1 and its actual arrival is almost imperceptible2 but1 in the deeper regions of the mind1 there are not unfrequently signs or suggestions of a great awakening4 ,an expression of ecstasy often overspreads the features2 sometimes there are sudden apparent recognitions of friends who have already passed away2#cf in many cases there seems to be a great extension of memory and perception2 and in not a few a distinct sensation of flying or moving upwards4#cg ,to these and other similar considerations ,i shall return later4 ,at present ,i would prefer to keep to the more physical aspects of the question2 but even so far1 one cannot help feeling that--whatever collateral drawbacks there may be in death--in the way of painful illness1 parting with friends1 disturbance and abandonment of plans1 and so forth--the experience itself must be enormously interesting4 ,talk about starting on a journey2 but what must the longest sea-voyage be1 compared with this one1 with its wonderful vista1 and visions1 and voices calling8 ,and again1 since it is an experience that all must go through1 and that countless millons of our fellows have gone through and are still continually going through1 for that very reason alone it has a fascination2 and one feels that had one the opportunity to avoid it one would hardly wish to do so4 ,as ,i have said1 it is curious that there is next to no instruction or guidance commonly provided or accessible in this matter4 ,i mean especially on the physical side4 ,what are our medical folk doing8 ,there are lots of books on childbirth and the science of parturition1 and the best methods of making the transition easy2 but when it comes to the end of life and the event corresponding and complementary to birth1 there is little except silence and dismay4 ,the usual course of preparation for this most important event seems to be 7barring accidents7 something as follows3--a physically unhealthy and morally stupid life1 which inevitably leads to degenerative tendencies and ultimately to distinct disease2 then one or two breakdowns1 which lead to panic1 and the summoning of doctors2 then partial recovery1 and a repetition da capo of the whole series1 without any of the least improvement in the general style of life2 then of course worse breakdown and panic1 leading at last to violent drugs1 injections1 operations1 and so forth1 in the hope of prolonging existence a few hours2 and finally death arriving1 not graciously1 but in the sense of a dismal defeat and rout to everybody concerned2 and to the patient a hurried1 confused and embittered end1 robbed of all decency and dignity4 ,now this won't do6 ,when one thinks of the deaths of animals--so composed on the whole--the calm1 the quietude1 the dignity even1 and the absence as a rule of very acute or obvious suffering2 or when one thinks of the very similar conditions of death among many savage peoples2 one cannot but ask1 ,why this difference8 ,one cannot but say1 ,it really will not do for us #8the heirs of all the ages' to go on behaving in this feeble and foolish way--leading lives which utterly unfit us for the inevitable end of life1 and stricken with most incompetent panic and dismay when the very thing arrives which we have foreseen and which we have had such ample time to prepare for4 ,death--from whatever point of view we look at it--seems to be a break-up of the unity of the creature4#ch ,it is a dislocation and to some degree a rending asunder4 ,but such dislocation and break-up may be of a healthy and normal type1 or it may be unhealthy and of the nature of disease4 ,in the first case it may chiefly consist in the getting rid or shedding off of an out-worn husk1 which is simply left behind--much in the same way as the chrysalis sheath of a moth or other insect is left behind1 or as the husks of a growing bud or bulb are peeled off4 ,many an old person seems to die in this way--the body being the scene of little or no disturbance or conflict1 but simply withering up1 while often at the same time the spiritual nature of the man becomes strangely luminous and penetrating4 ,here there is a certain dislocation1 but no painful rending asunder4 ,the centre of life seems merely to retire to a more inward and subtle region1 where it perchance nourishes an even brighter flame than before2 and the outer body is peeled off as a sort of outworn shell4 ,but in other cases death is undoubtedly very different4 ,instead of the one centre simply withdrawing inward in the way indicated1 while at the same time preserving almost to the last a general unity of the creature1 rebellious and insubordinate centres spring up and introduce serious conflict into the organism4 ,these are of course diseases1 or centres of disease--either in the body1 like tumors1 alien growths1 nests of microbes1 and so forth2 or in the mind1 like violent passions1 greeds1 anxieties1 fears1 rigid habits4 ,and forming thus independent centres they tear and rend the body and mind between them till at last death supervenes--not at all on account of the voluntary withdrawal of the inner person to more ethereal regions1 but simply through the destruction of the organism in which that person functions4 ,it is evident 7whatever view one may take of that inner person and its perduration into other regions of existence7 that the former mode of death is the more normal1 natural and desirable of the two1 and the one which we should encourage and cultivate2 and that the latter is likely to be painful1 undignified1 and even repulsive4 ,from this point of view1 to strengthen the organizing1 regulating power of the body1 as against local growths and insurgencies1 seems 7in general terms7 the best line to take--the best way of prolonging life1 and of rendering death fairly easy and negotiable4 ,the outlying centres--as represented by the various organs and faculties1 both of the body and of the mind--have to be kept during life in subordination to the main centre1 and as far as possible in decent harness and exercise1 so as to become neither too slack on the one hand1 nor too rowdy and insolent on the other4 ,in this way1 when the vital forces decay1 these organs and faculties remain still subservient to the central being1 and becoming comparatively quiescent make room for its further passage and development4 ,there are1 indeed1 some cases of death1 in which the whole inner spirit and consciousness of the man seems to pass on unchanged1 while the rabble rout of the body simply falls away1 or is left behind1 like a disused garment or husk as we have said4 ,it should1 however1 be noted that the strengthening of the organizing and regulating forces does not and must not mean the introduction of rigid and quasi-tyrannical habits 7however #8good' such habits may be supposed to be74 ,the interior ,person--as we shall see later--is far too great and free to be adequately represented by any such habits or regulations1 even the #8best1' and they really belong to the lower mind or body4 ,their dominance leads to an ossifying or woodening and valetudinarian tendency in the organism1 which is as bad in its way as the uncontrolled or inflammatory tendency4 ,to avoid these opposite pitfalls1 and to live sanely and sensibly1 in a certain close touch with ,nature and with the roots of human life1 is no doubt difficult1 especially under the ordinary conditions of civilization2 yet it is surely well worth while--both for the sake of life itself and for the termination of it4 ,and to keep a certain command of the situation during the mid-period of one's day is probably the best way toward commanding the situation at the end4 ,but the ordinary medical methods--with their drugs1 their stimulants1 their sleeping-draughts1 their operations1 their injections of morphia1 serums1 and so forth1 are surely acting all the time in the opposite direction4 ,their tendency surely is to confuse and weaken the central agency1 while at the same time they excite and sometimes madden the local centres--till not unfrequently the patient dies1 confused1 unconscious1 wrecked1 and a mass of disorders and corruption4 ,the launching of a ship on the great ocean is a thing that is prepared for1 even during all the period when the vessel is being built and perfected4 ,i am not a professional2 but will no one write a manual on the subject1 even from the medical and physiological point of view--,how to prepare for death4444 ,how to go through this great change with some degree of satisfaction1 command1 and intelligence8 ,above all1 may we have a truce to the so common and unworthy conspiracies between doctors1 nurses1 and relatives1 by which for the sake of keeping the patient a few hours 7or at most a few days7 longer alive1 the unfortunate one--instead of being let alone and allowed to die peacefully as far as may be1 and as indeed in nine cases out of ten he himself desires--is on the contrary tormented 7defenceless as he is7 with operations1 inoculations and medical insults of all kinds up to the very last8 ,the thing has become a positive scandal2 and though the ignorant importunities of lay relatives may sometimes be deplorable1 yet the prospect in one's last moments of falling into the hands of professionals is even worse1 and adds a new terror to dissolution4 ,it is at any rate a consolation to know that whatever pains and torments of illness may have preceded1 they generally pass away before the end2 and notwithstanding such current expressions as #8death-agonies1' #8last struggle1' and so forth1 the hour of death itself is mercifully calm and peaceful4 ,walt ,whitman1 who1 in his hospital labors in the ,american ,civil ,war1 must have been present at a vast number of deathbeds1 has recorded that in the great majority of cases the end comes quite simply1 as an ordinary event of the day1 8like having your breakfast40 8,death is no more painful than birth10 says ,dr4 ,edward ,clark in his book on ,visions3 a ,study of ,false ,sight2#ci and most doctors will agree to the general truth of this expression4 ,there is a certain sacredness in ,death1 which should surely be respected4 ,there is too1 we may say1 in most cases1 a sure instinct which comes to the patient of what is impending and of what is needed2 and every effort should be made to secure to the sufferer a quiet period during which he may effect the passage1 for himself1 disturbed as little as possible by the grief of friends or the interferences of attendants4 ,,ii4 ,,psychical ,we may now discuss the subject in hand somewhat more from the psychical side4 ,not that in these matters the physical and the psychical can ever be completely dissociated1 but that having in the preceding section leaned more to the physical side it may be convenient now to lean rather to the psychical4 ,and there is certainly an advantage here--namely1 that from this side we may not unreasonably say that the art of dying can be practised3 it is really possible to approach or even perhaps to pass through ,death on the mental plane1 by voluntary effort4 ,most people regard the loss of ordinary consciousness 7apart from sleep7 with something like terror and horror4 ,the best way to dispel that fear is to walk through the gate oneself every day--to divest oneself of that consciousness1 and1 mentally speaking1 to die from time to time4 ,then one may get accustomed to it4 ,of all the hard facts of ,science3 as that fire will burn1 that water will freeze1 that the earth spins on its axis1 and so forth1 ,i know of none more solid and fundamental than the fact that if you inhibit thought 7and persevere7 you come at length to a region of consciousness below or behind thought1 and different from ordinary thought in its nature and character--a consciousness of quasi-universal quality1 and a realization of an altogether vaster self than that to which we are accustomed4 ,and since the ordinary consciousness1 with which we are concerned in ordinary life1 is before all things founded on the little local self1 and is in fact self-consciousness in the little local sense1 it follows that to pass out of that is to die to the ordinary self and the ordinary world4 ,it is to die in the ordinary sense1 but in another sense it is to wake up and find that the #8,i1' one's real1 most intimate self1 pervades the universe and all other beings--that the mountains and the sea and the stars are a part of one's body and that one's soul is in touch with the souls of all creatures4 ,yes1 far closer than before4 ,it is to be assured of an indestructible immortal life and of a joy immense and inexpressible--8to drink of the deep well of rest and joy1 and sit with all the ,gods in ,paradise40 ,so great1 so splendid is this experience1 that it may be said that all minor questions and doubts fall away in face of it2 and certain it is that in thousands and thousands of cases the fact of its having come even once to a man has completely revolutionized his subsequent life and outlook on the world4 99 99 99 99 99 ,of exactly how this inhibition of ,thought may be practised1 and of all its collateral results and implications it would be out of place to speak now4#dj ,sufficient at present to say that with the completion of this inhibition1 and the realization of the consequent change of consciousness--even if it be only for a time--the ordinary mental self1 with all its worries1 cares1 limitations1 imperfections1 and so forth1 falls completely off1 and lies 7for the time7 like a thing dead2 while the real man practically passes onward into another state of being4 ,to experience all this with any degree of fulness1 is to know that you have passed through ,death2 because whatever destruction physical death may bring to your local senses and faculties1 you know that it will not affect that deeper ,self4 ,i mean that having already become aware of your real self as pervading the life of other creatures1 and moving in other bodies than your so-called own1 it clearly does not so very much matter whether the one body remains or passes4 ,it may make a difference certainly1 but not a fatal or insuperable difference4 ,the vast ocean of the consciousness into which you have been admitted will not be profoundly affected1 even by the abstraction of a pearl-shell from its shore4 ,we have spoken of the ,protozoa more than once in these connections2 and it has been said that the ,protozoa have been considered immortal because1 though they divide into separate cells or organisms1 the life remains continuous2 and because though some of the descendant cells may die yet the life goes on--so that even in the hundredth generation the self or ego of a particular cell may be identical with that of the first parent4 ,and in the case we are considering we have something similar1 for when the common life of souls is once recognized and experienced1 it is clear that nothing can destroy it4 ,it simply passes from one form to another4 ,and we may perhaps say that as the ,protozoa attain to a kind of immortality below death1 or prior to its appearance in the world1 so the emancipated or freed soul attains to immortality above and beyond death--passing over death1 in fact1 as a mere detail in its career4 ,i say1 this heart and kernel of a great and immortal self1 this consciousness of a powerful and continuing life within1 is there--however deeply it may be buried--within each person2 and its discovery is open to everyone who will truly and persistently seek for it4 ,and ,i say that ,i regard the discovery of this experience--with its accompanying sense of rest1 content1 expansion1 power1 joy1 and even omniscience and immensity--as the most fundamental and important fact hitherto of human knowledge and scientific inquiry1 and one verified and corroborated by thousands and even millions of human kind4 ,doubtless1 as already suggested1 questions may arise and will arise as to the exact nature of this continuing life1 its exact relation to the local personal consciousness1 as well as to what is called the sublimal self--how far definite personality and memory go with it1 and so forth4 ,these questions we may return to later4 ,at present let us simply rest on the experience itself4 ,when ,death is at hand1 or its oncoming cannot long be delayed1 there is still that to remember1 to revert to1 to cling to4 ,and the more often we have made the experience our very own1 in life1 the easier will it be to hold on to at the close4 ,whatever physical death may bring--in the way of pain or distress or dislocation of faculty--there still remains that indefeasible fact1 the certainty of the survival of the deepest1 most universal portion of our natures4 ,in some cases this deepest consciousness does itself remain so clear1 so strong that--even through all the obscurations of illness and bodily weakness--death practically brings no break2 the body is shed off1 more or less like a husk or chrysalis 7with effort and struggle perhaps1 but without anguish and despair72 and the human being passes on to realize under some other form the divine life which he has already partially entered into4 ,i think it evident that this is the state of affairs which we ought to put before ourselves as the goal of our endeavor4 ,it would seem the only condition which secures a sense of continuity in death1 or which does not carry with it some threat of failure or extinction4 ,and it suggests to us that our persistent and unremitted effort during ordinary life should be to realize and lay hold of this immortal ,thing1 to conquer and make our own this very ,heart of the universe4 ,it suggests that every magnanimous deed1 every self-forgetting enthusiasm1 every great and passionate love1 every determined effort to get down into the heart and truth of things and below the conventional crust1 does really bring us nearer to that attainment1 and hasten the day when mankind at large shall indeed finally obtain the victory2 and the passage into and through death shall appear natural and simple and clear of obstruction1 and even in its due time desirable4 ,it is clear1 however1 that in a great number of cases this deepest consciousness1 even if it has occasionally during life been reached by the person concerned1 has not been sufficiently firmly established to endure through times of sickness1 bodily weakness1 and mental decay2 while again1 perhaps in the vast majority of cases1 the previous realizations have been almost nil1 or at most have been too few or too slight to count for much4 ,what are we to say in such cases as these8 ,even if with the eye of faith or philosophy the bystander may seem to see the immortal spark shining1 what consolation or assistance is that to the sufferer himself1 who does not perceive or feel it8 ,what is likely to be his experience of dissolution8 and what may he fairly expect or look to as any sort of solution of the obscure problem8 ,to get any kind of answer to these questions and any clear idea of what really happens in the great majority of cases--when the break-up which we call dissolution arrives--it will be necessary to analyze roughly the nature of ,man4 ,we shall then see what are the various elements of that nature1 and what their probable destination1 respectively4 ,and for the purpose in hand ,i think we may divide the complete human being into four sections--though remembering of course that the classification proposed1 or any such classification1 can only be very rough and tentative--namely1 into 7#a7 the eternal and immortal ,self1 of which we have already spoken2 7#b7 the inner personal ego or human soul2 7#c7 the outer personality or animal self2 and 7#d7 the actual body4 ,of these1 7#a71 the eternal ,self1 is the germ or root of the whole human being2 and ,i think we may even say that all the sections and elements of our human nature are really manifestations or outgrowths from this root 7though of course in most cases unconscious of their real belonging or their real source74 ,then 7#b71 the inner personal self or human soul1 includes the finer and subtler elements of #8character'--which we know so well in our friends1 yet find so difficult to describe1 but which are roughly denoted by such words as affection1 courage1 wit1 sympathy1 love of beauty1 sense of equality1 freedom1 self-reliance1 determination1 and so forth2 while 7#c71 the outer personality or animal soul 7not at all of course to be despised71 is concerned with the more terrestrial desires and passions like pride1 ambition1 love of possession1 jealousy1 and especially those that relate themselves directly to the body1 e4g4 desires of food1 drink1 sex1 ease1 sleep1 and so forth2 and finally1 7#d71 the body1 includes all the material organs and parts4 ,other and intermediate subdivisions may be and sometimes are made1 but these four will probably suffice for the present--remembering1 as already said1 that they have only a rough value3 hard and fast lines and divisions in such matters being impossible1 and the nature of man being really continuous and not built in sections2 remembering1 too1 with regard to all four divisions1 that the elements of them are not at all times present in consciousness1 but to a large degree remain conscious or hidden or subliminal4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,passage ,,of ,,death ,allowing1 then1 that our human nature may be roughly divided as above into four main constituents1 the destiny of two of these at death seems pretty clear4 ,it is clear that 7#a7 the central self remains 7whether 8we0 know it or not7 the same as it ever was1 and ever will be1 eternal1 shining in glory and irradiating the world4 ,it goes on1 to be the birth-source1 may be1 of numberless lives to come4 ,on the other hand1 it is equally clear that 7#d7 the actual visible tangible body dies1 perishes1 and is broken up4 ,though it may return1 in its elements and through what we call ,nature1 into the great birth-source1 it ceases as an individual body to exist1 and passes even before the eyes of onlookers into other forms4 ,the fate of these two portions of the human entity can hardly be doubted--of the innermost central portion1 continuance1 with but slow or secular change1 if any2 of the outermost material shell1 immediate decay and dissolution4 ,what1 then1 may we suppose is the destiny of the other two portions1 the human and the animal part8 ,i think we may fairly suppose that they each share to a considerable degree the destiny of that extreme to which they are closest related4 ,the outer personality or animal life1 7#c71 is most closely related to the body4 ,its passions and desires 7though in themselves psychical and mental entities7 look always to the body for their expression and satisfaction4 ,it is difficult to suppose them functioning without the body4 ,we cannot1 for instance1 very well imagine the passion for drink without some kind of mouth or gullet through which to work 7though of course it may carry on a sort of dream-activity by representing these channels to itself1 or creating mental images of them74 ,and similarly of the passion of personal vanity1 or the passion of sex3 they refer themselves always to the body1 in some degree or other4 ,it is clear then1 ,i think1 that when the body in death breaks up1 these psychic elements which function through it and correspond to the various parts and organs--these passions and desires1 and with them the whole animal being--are to some extent involved in the ruin4 ,they are 7in most cases7 smitten with dire suffering and confusion4 ,a terrible misgiving and dismay assault them2 and with the break-up and disruption of the body they too experience the agonies of disruption1 and foresee their own dissolution and death4#da ,yet to conclude from this that these elements do absolutely perish1 would1 ,i think1 be a mistake4 ,for these passional entities and this animal soul1 though they seek the body and manifest themselves through it1 are not the same as the body4 ,they have a creative power within them4#db ,the drunkard1 as suggested1 deprived of his liquor1 represents furiously to himself in imagination the act of drinking3 he dreams a gullet a yard long and an endless swallow--and in doing so he actually moulds and modifies his swallowing apparatus4 ,the vain man and the sexual similarly mould and modify their bodies2 they contribute to the building of the shapes which they use4 ,and this sort of process going on through the ages has created the forms of the animals and mankind1 and their respective members and organs4#dc ,all these things are the expression and manifestation and output of the psychical entities and passions and qualities underlying--which themselves are implicit in the world-soul1 which indeed have grown up and manifested themselves out of the world-soul1 and which still deeply though hiddenly root back into it4 ,the most reasonable and obvious answer1 then1 to the question1 ,what becomes of the animal life and its satellite passions when the body dies8 seems to be that under normal conditions they die too--in the sense that they cease to be manifest4 ,they die1 like the body1 only with this difference1 that being psychical--i4e4 having a consciousness and a self underlying1 while the body dies back into earth and air1 they die back into the psychic roots from which they originally sprang--that is1 into that form of the ,self or ,world-soul of which they are the manifestation--as1 for instance1 in the case of the animals1 into the self or soul of the race2 in the case of undeveloped man1 partly into the soul of the race and partly into the human soul which is affiliated to the soul of the race2 and in the case of perfected man1 entirely into the human soul or inner personality which1 having now found and established its union with the supreme and eternal ,self1 is no longer dependent on the soul of the race1 but has entered into a divine and immortal life of its own4 ,thus in entirely normal cases1 both of animals and man1 we should conclude that the animal soul at the time of bodily death may return perfectly calmly and naturally into its own roots 7as fern-fronds die back in winter71 and the whole process may fulfil itself quite simply and graciously and with a minimum of suffering4 ,but this can only be expected to happen in instances where instinctively 7as in healthy animals and primitive men7 or intentionally 7as among a few of mankind7 the perfect unity1 physical and mental1 of the organism has been preserved4 ,in such cases each desire and passion1 standing in a close and direct relationship to the spirit or self of the whole organism1 is easily and willingly indrawn again at the appointed time2 and there is little or no struggle or agony4 ,but in the great masses of mankind--especially in the domains of civilization--where this unity has been lost1 it is easily seen that many of the passional elements1 loosed from the true service of the informing spirit1 carry on a mad and violent career of their own2 and to curb these or reduce them to orderly acquiescence and subordination is almost impossible4 ,on the contrary1 with the general weakening of the total organism they often break out into greater activity4 ,the ruling passions1 8strong in death10 push themselves to the fore and tyrannize over the failing or ageing man1 and render his actual dissolution stormy and painful2 and not only so1 but they sometimes generate phantasmal embodiments of themselves which haunt the dying man1 or even become visible to outsiders4 ,frederick ,myers1 dealing with this subject1#dd invents the term psychorrhagy for this tendency of portions of the psyche under certain conditions to break loose from the whole man2 and thinks that this process takes place not only at death1 but that there are some folk born with what he calls a psychorrhagic diathesis1 who are consequently peculiarly apt for throwing off phantasms of one kind or another4 ,he says3#de--8,that which #8breaks loose' on my hypothesis is not the whole principle of life in the organism2 rather it is some psychical element probably of very varying character1 and definable mainly by its power of producing a phantasm1 perceptible by one or more persons1 in some portion or other of space4 ,i hold that this phantasmogenetic effect may be produced either on the mind1 and consequently on the brain of another person--in which case he may discern the phantasm somewhere in his vicinity1 according to his own mental habit or prepossession--or else directly on a portion of space1 #8out in the open1' in which case several persons may simultaneously discern the phantasm in that actual spot40 ,myers then proceeds to give a great number of very interesting and extremely well-attested cases of such phantasms1 ranging from merely momentary apparitions of persons during their life or at the hour of their death to the persistent haunting of houses over a long period4 ,and ,i mention this in order to show that there is good authority now for believing it possible not only that phantasms may be generated by the disintegration of the diseased or dying organism1 which will haunt the patient himself2 but that in cases the psychic elements generating these phantasms may be powerful enough to create a ghostly body which may endure1 surviving the earth-body1 and manifesting itself to outside observers on occasions for a considerable time4#df ,so much for the fate of the outer personality or animal part4 ,now with regard to 7#b71 the inner personality or human soul1 we may ask1 ,what becomes of that8 ,and the answer particularly interests us1 because it is with this section that we--or at least the more thoughtful of mankind generally--identify 8ourselves40 ,it is probable that almost any reader of these pages would credit his 8,i0 or 8self10 not to the one universal ,being 7to union with whom he may nevertheless distantly aspire71 nor to the group of terrestrial desires and interests which we have termed the animal being1 but rather to that constellation of nobler character which we have called the human soul4 ,this1 he will say1 is the self that truly interests1 that most deeply represents1 me4 ,tell me1 what becomes of that8 ,i think it is obvious that in the hour of death there are only two directions in which that human soul can turn1 in which 8we0 can turn4 ,we can turn for help either outwards toward the region of the animal self1 or inwards toward the central universal self4 ,and ,i think it equally obvious that the latter direction can alone really supply our need4 ,at first no doubt it may be natural to seek outwards2 but now alas6 in the hour of dissolution the man discovers that all that region of his nature1 in which indeed he has often found comfort before1 is becoming involved in the ruin above described4 ,large portions of his animal faculties are already being torn away--or are sinking into lethargy and sleep4 ,his bodily organs are losing their vitality2 some of them have already become useless4 ,his mental faculties--especially the more concrete and external faculties1 like the memory of events and names--are becoming disintegrated4 ,true1 his general outlook may in cases seem to become wider and more serene as death approaches1 and his inner character and personality to become more luminous and gracious2 but it is a perilous passage on which he is embarked and in general threatening clouds gather round4 ,the consciousness is painfully invaded by the lesser mentalities which surround it2 the ruling passions domineer2 silly little habits and tricks1 of mind and body1 obsess the man2 phantoms and delirium overpower1 or seek to overpower1 him2 he is astonished and perturbed to find himself on the fringe of a world in which figures1 half-strange1 half-familiar1 come and go1 and force themselves upon him with an odd persistence and a rather terrible kind of intelligence4 ,it requires all his presence of mind to gather himself together1 to hold his own1 to suppress the rebel rout1 and to find amid all the flux something indomitable and sure to which to cling4 ,there is clearly only one thing to cling to--and this must be insisted on--only that one great redeeming universal ,self of which we have spoken3 only that superb omnipresent ,life which we find in the very central depth of our souls4 7,and fortunate he who has already so far taken refuge in this1 that the wreck and ruin of the visible world and the mortal onset of ,death cannot dislodge him67 ,that alone is fixed and sure2 and to that the personal man must turn4 ,and ,i think we may say that it is not merely the personal soul's highest duty and best welfare to turn in this direction2 but that in a sense and by the law of its nature it must do so4 ,for even in those cases where the man does not recognize this universal ,being within1 nor consciously believe in and hold on to the same1 still is it not true that unconsciously he is very near and very closely related8 ,for all the great qualities which we have already described as characterizing the most intimate human soul1 are they not just those which must relate it to the universal ,self8 ,i mean such things as ,equality--the sense of inner equality with all human and other creatures2 ,freedom--the sense of freedom from local and material bonds2 ,indifference--indifference as to fate and destiny2 ,magnanimity2 abounding ,charity and ,love2 dignity2 courage2 power--all these things1 are they not obviously the qualities which dawn upon the personal soul and color it when it is coming into touch with the universal8 ,are they not the natural #8sign and symbol' of union or partial union with that ,self8 ,and more3 are there not other things belonging more distinctly to the unconscious and subliminal region 7which we shall deal with presently7--,i mean such things as deep memory1 intuition1 clairvoyance1 telepathy1 prophetic faculty1 and so forth--which point to the same conclusion8 ,the inner personal soul of man is surely already conjoined to the universal1 and must cling to it by its very nature4 ,and though the man may not exactly be conscious of this union2 though he may hardly really know the depth of his own nature2 though1 notwithstanding his own splendid qualities of character1 some thin film may yet divide him from awareness of the all-redeeming ,presence2 yet none the less that ,presence is there2 and is the core and centre of his being4 ,that being granted1 it seems clear that in the disintegration of death the inner personality 7whether consciously or unconsciously7 will cling to the eternal self within it4 ,and this seems to be the explanation of the part played by ,religion in the history of the world1 and its close connection with death4 ,the different religions being lame attempts to represent under various guises this one root-fact of the central universal ,life1 men have at all times clung to the religious creeds and rituals and ceremonials as symbolizing in some rude way the redemption and fulfilment of their own most intimate natures--and this whether consciously understanding the interpretations1 or whether 7as most often7 only doing so in an unconscious or quite subconscious way4 ,happy1 ,i say1 is the man who has so far consciously taken refuge and identified himself with the great life that the onset of death fails to disturb or dislodge him4 ,for him a wonderful passage is prepared--amazing indeed and bewildering1 baffling at times and exhausting1 yet by no means dismaying or terrifying4 ,but for the ordinary mortal who has not yet arrived at this--for whom the ,presence 7beheld perhaps intermittently before7 is now clouded and withdrawn from his decisive reach--for such a man it would seem best and most natural simply to gather and compact himself together as firmly as possible1 and detaching his mind as well as he can from its earthly entanglements and hindrances1 to launch forth boldly1 and with such faith and confidence as he can muster1 on his strange journey4 ,there is a plant of the ,syrian deserts--the ,rose of ,jericho--about the size of our common daisy plant1 and bearing a similar flower1 which in dry seasons1 when the earth about its roots is turned into mere sand1 has the presence of mind to detach itself from its hold altogether and to roll itself into a mere ball--flower1 root and all4 ,it is then blown along the plains by the wind and travels away until it reaches some moist and sheltered spot1 when it expands again1 takes hold on the ground1 uplifts its head1 and merrily blooms once more4 ,like the little ,rose of ,jericho1 the human soul has at times to draw in its roots 7which we may compare to the animal part7 and separate them from their earthly entanglement2 even the sun in heaven1 which it knows distantly for the source of its life1 may be obscured2 but compacting itself for the nonce into a sturdy ball1 it starts gaily on its far adventure4 ,may we presume at all to speculate on the soul's actual passage out of this world and its experiences on the way8 ,no doubt there are queer things to be encountered6 ,i think it is obvious that if the soul passes out of this terrestrial world of ours into another state of existence 7definite1 but quite imperceptible to our present senses7 there must be a borderland region in which phenomena occur of an intermediate character--faintly and fitfully perceptible by our present faculties1 but lacking in the solidity and regularity of our present world2 borderland phenomena in two senses1 as being due 7a7 partly to the break-up of our present senses and the present stage of existence1 and 7b7 partly to the glimmering perception of forms and figures belonging to a farther stage4 ,with regard to 7a71 it is of course common for the mind to #8wander1' and for all sorts of phantoms and hallucinations to obsess and cloud it in the last stages of illness2 and these vagaries of the mind are no doubt due to or connected with excess or deficiency of circulation in the brain1 and morbid physical conditions of one kind or another4 ,but it is possible that a wider and more general view than that may be taken concerning them4 ,i have already referred the reader to the ,note at the end of this chapter4 ,all our desires and passions are psychical entities1 having a life and consciousness of their own1 though affiliated to the total soul within which they work4 ,all our organs and functions are carried on by intelligences1 similarly affiliated yet in degree independent4 ,under normal conditions 8we0 are unaware of these2 entities and intelligences--it is only when they rebel that they come decisively to our notice4 ,in disease1 mental and physical1 there is rebellion4 ,we become painfully conscious of the independent and often undesired activity of our organs1 and of our passions--and so1 unfortunately for them1 do our friends6 ,in morbid states of mind and body certain functions1 certain passions1 take on an independent vitality to such a degree that at last they endue a kind of personality and give rise to strings of phantasms which we believe to be real4 ,in dreams1 though there is not exactly rebellion1 the higher powers of the mental organism being at rest1 the lesser functionaries similarly display an extraordinary and impish activity and present us with amazing masquerades of actual life4 ,what then1 we may ask1 does probably happen in the moment of death1 when the organism has become wasted and enfeebled by disease1 and when the nucleus of the man1 the inner personality1 has compacted itself together into close compass in preparation for its long journey8 ,what happens to all those marginal desires which have chiefly occupied themselves with the affairs of the body or lower mind--those innumerable little spirits and imps which 7as we discover in dreams1 or by closely watching our waking thoughts7 are continually planning and scheming their own little successes and gratifications8 ,what happens to the thousand and one intelligences which carry on the functions and processes of the organism8 and whose labors1 now that the bodily life is coming to an end1 are no more needed8 ,is there not a danger--or at least a likelihood--of this strange masquerade of dreamland1 of these painful obsessions of disease1 being repeated with ever-increased intensity8 ,true1 that if the organism has been kept so well in hand during life as to cause all outlying passions and desires to weaken and become quiescent simultaneously with the body--or at least to go back quietly into the kennels of a long sleep--like a pack of hounds when the chase is over--then these phantoms1 these obsessions1 may in that last hour be conspicuous by their absence4 ,but since in the vast majority of cases this is not1 and cannot be so1 it seems more probable that as a rule the departing soul will make its exit1 not only through the perishing bodily part1 but through a mass of debris1 as it may be called1 of the mind 7chiefly though perhaps not entirely 8the animal mind071 through a cloud of tags and tatters of mentality1 thrown off in the final crisis4 ,it seems probable that just as the actual body1 bereft at death of its one pervading vitality1 breaks out in a mass of corruption or minute multitudinous life1 so there is a tendency1 at any rate1 for the lower mind to break out into a strange ghostly rabble--a cloud of phantasms1 exhaled and projected from the dying person4 ,of these phantasms most1 no doubt1 are only visible to the patient himself 7though that does not render them any more agreeable as visitors72 others are discernible by clairvoyants present2 while others again are distinctly seen even by persons at a distance in space or time--as in the numerous and well-authenticated instances of 8wraiths40 ,the picture is not altogether pleasant1 but it has a certain general congruity with admitted facts1 and with a fairly-accepted body of tradition and theory2 and provisionally ,i suppose we may accept it4 ,it seems likely1 then1 that the passage of the inner self1 or human soul1 out of life and its delivery in another world1 the other side of death1 may very closely correspond to ,birth--to the birth of a babe under ordinary conditions into this world4 ,just as the babe1 when being born1 passes through the lower passages of the body1 so the human self at death is expelled inwardly through all the debris and litter of the mind1 into another less material and more subtle world than ours4 ,and just as the pangs of childbirth are bad--but they are so mainly beforehand and in preparation1 while the actual delivery is swift and a vast relief--so1 in cases1 the pains and anguish in preparation for death may be great 7the squealing of demons torn from their hold on the soul1 the cries of intelligences cut off from their coperative life and source of sustenance in the body1 the fears and distress of the animal mind1 the yellow fury of the passions1 and the death-struggles of the various organs67 yet the final passage itself may be calm and gracious and friendly4 ,anyhow1 as in other cases of human experience1 it would be a mistake to depict this one as by any means uniform in its character4 ,on the contrary1 it is probably susceptible of great variety4 ,the ,head of a ,department 7if it becomes necessary for him to leave his post7 may find1 in one case1 that he is turned out1 so to speak1 with kicks--that he has to run the gauntlet of the execrations of his subordinates2 or in another case he may leave amid the expression of every good wish1 and along a path made pleasant and easy for him2 or again he may go 8trailing clouds of glory10 and with a retinue of followers behind him1 who refuse to remain now that their leader is departing4 ,some such differences possibly1 and we may say probably1 present themselves in the passage of death4 ,the experience of childbirth varies to an extraordinary degree4 ,we hear of ,indian tribeswomen who only go aside for an hour while their people are on the march1 and then rejoin them again at the next halting-place4 ,and who knows but what ,death and the preparation for it might be as easy--if only the doctors and the sky-pilots would hurry up and tell us something really useful1 instead of spending their time in vivisecting the wretched animals1 or in mumbling over ancient creeds8 ,now1 with regard to the second kind of borderland phenomena1 7b71 the glimmering perception in death of forms and figures or conditions of being belonging to a farther stage of existence3 ,i do not propose at present to dwell upon this matter at any length4 ,but with modern psychical research there has come a good deal of evidence to show that on deathbeds it not at all unfrequently happens that distinct and ardent recognition of departed friends takes place2 and though1 no doubt1 it may seem possible to explain these as cases in which the simple memory of a departed friend is very powerfully resuscitated1 still this explanation hardly covers a good many cases--such as those for instance in which the dying person was unaware that the friend had died1 and yet apparently recognized him as a visitor from the beyond-world4#dg ,also of course1 modern research has brought forward some amount of testimony in favor of actual communications with the departed through the agency of entranced mediums2 so that1 though this whole matter is still sub judice1 we may with fair reason suppose that both in trance-conditions and in the hour of death there are not merely apparitions and phenomena due to disintegrations on this side of the border1 but also some kind of real communications and manifestations from the other side4 ,anyhow1 it is clear that each person's experience of death is likely to depend a good deal on the question as to where the centre of gravity of his self-consciousness is placed2 and that--as a part of the ,art of dying--the object of our endeavor should be to throw 7during life7 the self-consciousness inward into that part of our being which is durable and immortal in its nature1 into that part in which we are united1 and feel our union1 with other creatures1 into that portion where the word itself 7self-consciousness7 ceases to have a petty and sinister meaning and becomes transformed with a glorious signification4 ,in that case it is indeed likely that the soul may be endowed beforehand with divine vision4 ,it must be our object1 by throwing our consciousness always that way1 to strengthen the power of the inner soul over the outer personality and all its functions1 and at the same time to rivet more and more the hold of that inner soul on the ,one ,self 7the source of all vitality and centre of limitless power1 if we only understand it so7--so that ultimately the outer and animal personality 7though always beautiful in its nature and not to be despised7 ceases largely to have an independent and uncordinated vitality of its own1 or to be the scene of uncontrolled activities and conflict1 and becomes more the expression and instrument of the inner self3 to such a degree indeed that at the dissolution of the body the animal soul1 passing into slumber1 easily dies down to its deep roots in the human soul1 there of course to await its future reawakening1 and thus leaving the latter liberated from earth-entanglement and free to start 7like the ,syrian rose7 on its long journey4 ,in this freeing for the forward journey there must1 one would think1 be a great sense of joy and satisfaction--even as there must be in the freeing of a ,may-fly from its water-bred pupa into the glory of air and sunshine4 ,just as it obviously is 7notwithstanding some drawbacks7 a joy to the ,babe to enter upon its new life1 so it may well be that to the dying person--notwithstanding the perils of the change1 the fears of the unknown1 the parting with friends1 the apparent rending of cherished ties--there is a strange joy in shelling off the old husks1 and in getting rid of the accumulations and dead rubbish of a lifetime4 ,a thousand and one tiresome old infirmities and bonds of body and mind--now for the first time realized in their true meaning--slip off2 and the ship of the soul1 8to port and hawser's tie no more returning10 departs with a strange thrill and quiver upon its 8endless cruise40 ,the details of this launch and departure we cannot of course ordain4 ,the mode of death is not always within our sphere to determine4 ,accident may decide1 or some hereditary weakness for which the individual can hardly be held responsible4 ,some diseases are by their nature hard upon the patient2 others are kindly in their course4 ,in those that bring great weakness of body there is sometimes an easy passage--the earthly and corporeal part relaxing its hold1 while the mind and character become heavenly-clear4 ,in others of an inflammatory nature1 or where there is great organic vitality1 there may be severe and prolonged struggle4 ,anyhow1 one can imagine the relief when the process is complete4 ,it is not uncommon to experience a strange expansion of the spirit on occasions when the body is seriously weakened by ordinary illness4 ,what must this expansion be when the body finally succumbs--this sense of immensely enlarged life1 this impression of sailing forth toward a new and boundless ocean6 ,how strange to stand a moment on the brink of terrestrial mortality1 and to be conscious of--to see1 even with the inner visual power--the shell one has left behind1 with all its commonplace and banal surroundings3 concrete indeed and material enough1 but lying now outside oneself--something almost foreign to one and indifferent1 abandoned on the very margin and shore of real life2 to stand for a moment2 and then to turn and pass inward into that subtle and immense ethereal existence1 now to be learnt and explored1 which lies within and informs and transfuses all our solid world1 and surpasses all its boundaries6 ,,note ,,to ,,chapter ,,vi ,in order not to burden this already rather lengthy chapter with matter which may not be needed1 ,i append here some general considerations for those who have not given much attention to the subject of the various grades of consciousness in the body--considerations tending to show that the various parts and passions of the body and mind have a life and intelligence of their own1 and that the whole human organism is a hierarchy 7not always perfectly harmonious7 of psychic entities4 ,we generally allow of course that our central or dominant selves are alive and conscious 7though no doubt we use those epithets with a rather sad vagueness74 ,but having allowed that1 the extraordinary phenomena of variable and alternating personality compel us to admit that there may be many such centres within one person1 each of which though now buried may in its turn become dominant and take conscious lead1 and which must therefore be credited with life and intelligence 7even if an alien life and intelligence to 8our own074 ,even the most ordinary brain-centres are in the habit of carrying on whole departments of the bodily organization with an independent intelligence of their own1 and are sometimes liable under the influence of some excitement 7like drink1 or religion1 or some enthusiasm7 to take possession of the whole man and transform him into another creature--exhibiting in doing so a strange degree of invasive vitality and alertness4 ,it is quite certain that the myriad microscopic cells of the body are alive1 each with its own little particular life2 and the more one studies these cells the more difficult it is not to credit them each1 in their degree1 with a particular consciousness or intelligence4 ,and each body-organ again1 composed of a congeries or colony of body-cells1 has a life of its own on and beyond that of its component cells1 and exhibits curious signs too of intelligence and emotion1 which often 7especially in sickness7 affect the moods and thoughts of the entire man4 ,the whole of the subconscious world1 in fact--that world which only occasionally breaks through into the upper consciousness--must be allowed to be alive1 and in its various degrees methodical and calculating4 ,this is well seen in the phenomena of dreams and of hypnotism1 in both of which the most acute and diabolical ingenuity is often shown--as of weird imps working in dark chambers of the brain quite unbeknown to their supposed lord and master2 or in the extraordinary phenomena of trance and 8automatic0 speaking and writing2 or in telepathy and clairvoyance2 or again in the craftiness of utter lunatics2 or in the strange evasions and mental dodgery which 7as just hinted7 are induced by diseases of certain organs2 or in the phenomena of mental healing1 where an appeal to the subconscious intelligence in any and every corner of the body is often followed by extraordinary response2 or in the subtle instinctive knowledge and perception of babes1 and of animals1 long before self-consciousness has developed2 or again1 in the sly cunning of ancient dotards2 or in the complex bodily reflexes carried on perfectly unknown to ourselves during life2 or in the continued functioning of some of the organs after death4 ,in all these cases1 and in scores of others not mentioned1 it is clear that the majority of the processes of the human system are carried on by minor intelligences4 ,they are indeed carried on by crowds of minor intelligences--to which we accord the epithet 8automatic10 and which no doubt we regard as mechanical1 as long1 that is1 as they work smoothly and without friction and opposition4 ,but when they do not do so1 when pain1 disease and lunacy cut in--when a violent burn sets the epithelial cells screaming1 and the scream comes into our consciousness as the vibration of pain2 when a diseased liver twists the events of life and the faces of our friends into malignant shape and mien2 when lust and hypochondria people the mind with phantoms2 and drink makes all the functions mad--then we say we are 8possessed with devils10 then we recognize1 if only on the dark side1 the pervading intelligence or intelligences of the body4 ,it is like the ,head of a ,department1 as ,i have said1 whose subordinate officials are working under him agreeably and harmoniously4 ,as long as that is the case1 he may have in his mind a general outline of the working of the ,department4 ,he probably is ignorant of most of the details2 he certainly does not know personally many of his subordinates1 but he superintends the working of the whole4 ,presently1 however1 occurs something of a strike or meute2 whereupon he discovers that vast numbers of his men are intelligently discussing questions or problems of whose existence he was almost ignorant2 personalities appear before him whom1 before1 he knew at most only by name2 and they argue their case with an acumen and vitality which surprises him4 ,for the first time1 in this revolt of his department1 he comes to realize the amount of intelligent activity which is at work within it1 beneath the surface4 ,so it is with us in the case of disease4 ,in health we have no trouble1 unity prevails4 ,as long as 8we0 are on top1 and the intelligences which carry on the body are working on friendly terms with us1 their minds do not intrude into our realm1 and we are practically unaware of them4 ,but when through our mismanagement or other cause dissension breaks out1 then indeed we realize what kind of forces they are with which we have to deal1 and of what a wonderful hierarchy of intelligences the body is composed4#dh ,,chapter ,,vii ,,is ,,there ,,an ,,after-,,death ,,state8 ,in the last chapter ,death was compared to ,birth1 and it was said that probably the passage of the human soul into another world1 on the other side of death1 exactly corresponded to ,birth--to the birth of a babe into this world4 ,and certainly1 seeing these apparent movements into the visible and away from it again1 it is very natural to assume that there is such another and hidden world1 and to speculate upon its nature4 ,but it may fairly be asked1 is there after all any reason for supposing that there is a definite state of existence of any kind on that side8 ,is it not quite likely that there is only vacancy and nothingness1 or at best a mere formless pulp 7of ether and electrons1 or whatever it may be7 out of which souls are born and into which they return again at death8 ,it is this question which ,i propose to discuss in the present chapter4 ,historically speaking1 we know of course that early and primitive folk1 letting their imaginations loose1 peopled that #8other side' and rather promiscuously1 with all sorts of fairy beings and phantom processions4 ,giant grizzly bears1 divine jackals1 elves1 dwarfs1 satans1 holy ghosts1 lunar pitris1 flaming sun-gods1 and so forth1 ruled and raged behind the curtain--in front of which the shivering mortal stood4 ,but as time went on1 the growing exactitude of thought and science made it more and more impossible to idly accept these imaginings2 and it may be said that about the middle of last century these cosmogonies--for the more thoughtful among the populations of the ,western world--finally perished1 and gave place for the most part to a simple negative attitude4 ,it was allowed that intelligences and personalities 7human and animal7 moved on this side of the veil1 and were plainly distinguishable as operating in the actual world2 but they1 it was held1 were more or less isolated and probably accidental products of a mechanical universe4 ,that mechanical arrangement of atoms1 and so forth1 which we could now largely map out and measure1 and which doubtless in the future we should be able completely to define--that was the universe1 and somehow or other included everything4 ,one of its properties was that it would run down like a clock1 and would eventuate in time in a cold sun and a dead earth--and there was an end of it6 ,any intelligent existence behind or on the other side of this veil of mechanism was too problematical to be worth discussing2 in all probability on that side was mere nothingness and vacancy4 ,such1 very roughly stated1 was the attitude of the fairly intelligent and educated man about fifty years ago1 but since that time the outgrowths of science and human inquiry have been so astounding as to leave that position far behind4 ,the obvious signs of intelligence in the minutest cells1 almost invisible to the naked eye1 the very mysterious arcana of growth in such cells 7partly described in a former chapter71 the myriad action of similarly intelligent microbes1 the strange psychology of plants1 and the equally strange psychic sensitiveness 7apparently7 of metals1 the sudden transformations and variations both of plants and animals1 the existence of the ,x and ,n rays of light1 and of countless other vibrations of which our ordinary senses render no account1 the phenomena of radium and radiant matter1 the marvels of wireless telegraphy1 the mysterious facts connected with hypnotism and the subliminal consciousness1 and the certainty now that telepathic communication can take place between human beings thousands of miles apart--all these things have convinced us that the subtlest forces and energies1 totally unmeasurable by our instruments1 and saturated or at least suffused with intelligence1 are at work all around us4 ,they have convinced us that gloomy phrases about cold suns and dead earths are mere sentiment and nonsense4 ,cold worlds there may certainly be1 but nothing is more certain than that worlds on worlds1 and spheres on spheres1 stretch behind and beyond the actually seen--spheres so microscopic as to totally elude us1 or so vast and cosmic as to elude1 spheres of vibration which elude1 spheres of other senses than ours1 spheres aerial1 ethereal1 magnetic1 mental1 subliminal4 ,the iris-veil of our ordinary existence may truly be rent1 but the visible world1 the world we know1 is no longer now a film on the surface of an empty bubble1 but a curtain concealing a vast and teeming life1 reaching down endless1 in layer on layer1 into the very heart of the universe4 ,and whereas1 in the former time of which ,i have been speaking1 we might have agreed that life could not well continue after the death of the body1 to-day we should1 as a first guess1 be inclined to think that life is more full and rich on the other side of death than on this side4 8,i do not doubt10 says ,whitman1 8that from under the feet and beside the hands and face ,i am cognizant of1 are now looking faces ,i am not cognizant of1 calm and actual faces--,i do not doubt interiors have their interiors1 and exteriors have their exteriors1 and that the eyesight has another eyesight1 and the hearing another hearing1 and the voice another voice40 ,we come1 then1 to this problem of ,death and ,birth in a similarly modified spirit1 and with a predisposition to believe that they do really indicate passages from one definite world or plane or region of existence to another4 ,and here is the place to point out1 and to guard ourselves against1 a common error in the use of the word ,death4 ,death is not a state4 ,there may be an after-death state2 but death itself is the passage into that state1 or--better--the passage out of the present state4 ,so ,birth is not a state4 ,there may be a pre-birth state2 but birth itself is the passage into the present state4 ,either we pass through death into another life and condition of being2 or else we are extinguished4 ,in the former case there is clearly no state of death2 and in the latter case there is no such state--because there is no self to be dead or to know itself dead4 ,as ,lucretius says1#di endeavoring to disabuse man of the fear of the grave3-- 8,so to be mortal fills his mind with dread1 ,forgetting that in real death can be ,no self1 to mourn that other self as dead1 ,or stand and weep at death's indignity40 ,birth and ,death1 then1 we may look upon as two contrary movements1 to some degree complementary and balancing each other2 and it is possible that thus1 from consideration of the one1 we may be able to infer things about the other4 ,one such thing that we may be able to infer is that ,love presides over1 or is intimately associated with1 both movements4 ,the connection of ,love with ,birth is of course obvious4 ,in some profound yet hidden way1 almost throughout creation1 the birth or generation of one creature is connected with the precedent love and sex-fusion of two others4 ,and the connection of ,love with ,death1 though not so prominent1 can similarly almost everywhere be traced4 ,the whole of poetry in literature teems with this subject2 and so does the poetry of ,nature6 ,if we are to believe the ,garden of ,eden story1 ,love and ,death came into the world together2 and it certainly is curious that in the age-long evolution of animal forms the same thing seems to have happened4 ,the ,protozoa at first1 propagating by simple division1 were endued with a kind of immortality4 ,but then came a period when a pair found they could enter into a joint life of renewed fecundity by fusing with each other4 ,they literally died in each other1 and rose again in a numerous progeny2 so that love and death were simultaneous and synonymous4 ,sometimes parturition and death were simultaneous4 ,the mother-cell perished in the very act of giving birth to her brood4 ,then again came the aggregation of cells into living groups--the formation of #8colonial' organisms2 and it was then that distinctive sex-differentiation and sex-organs appeared1 and with the capacity of sex also the capacity of death through the disruption of the colony4 ,everywhere love is associated with death4 ,the expenditure of seed in the male animal is an incipient death2 the formation of the seed vessel1 and the glory and color of the flowering plant1 are already the signs of its decay4 8,both ,weismann and ,goette10 say ,geddes and ,thomson1#ej 8note how many insects 7locusts1 butterflies1 ephemerids1 and so forth7 die a few hours after the production of ova4 ,the exhaustion is fatal1 and the males are also involved4 ,in fact1 as we should expect from the katabolic temperament1 it is the males which are especially liable to exhaustion4444 ,every one is familiar with the close association of love and death in the common ,may-flies4 ,emergence into winged liberty1 the love-dance1 and the process of fertilization1 the deposition of eggs1 and the death of both parents1 are often the crowded events of a few hours4 ,in higher animals1 the fatality of the reproductive sacrifice has been greatly lessened1 yet death may tragically persist1 even in human life1 as the direct ,nemesis of love40 ,george ,macdonald1 in one of his books 7,phantastes1 vol4 i4 p4 #aia71 feigns a race of beings1 for whom death is not so much the #8nemesis' of love1 as its natural and inevitable outcome4 ,seized by a great love1 too great for mortal expression1 8looking too deep into each other's eyes10 they 7with great presence of mind1 it must be said67 breathe their souls out in death1 and so take their departure to another world4 ,heine touches the same note in his poem1 the 8,asra03-- 8,ich bin aus ,jemen1 ,und mein stamm sind jene ,asra1 ,welche sterben wenn sie lieben40 ,and scores of scarcely noticed paragraphs in our daily papers1 brief tales of single or double suicide1 present us with a dim outline of how--even in the mean conditions and surroundings of our modern days--every now and then there comes to one or other a longing1 a passion1 and a revelation of a desire so intense1 that1 breaking the bounds of a useless life1 it demands swift utterance in death4 ,some deep and profound suggestion there is in all this--some hint of a life whose very form and nature is love1 and which finds its deliverance and nativity only through the abandonment of the body--even as our ordinary life1 conceived in love1 finds its delivery into this world through what we call birth4 ,at the very least it suggests that ,death may have a great deal more to do with ,love1 and may be more deeply allied to it than is generally supposed4 ,and it may suggest that the two things1 being in some sense the most important occupations of the human race1 should be frankly recognized as such1 and should both be accordingly prepared for4 ,another thing1 about which we may be able to infer something from the analogy between ,birth and ,death1 is the fate of the soul at death4 ,if we can trace in any way the relation of the soul to the body at the time of the first appearance of the latter1 that may shed light on the relation which will hold at its disappearance4 ,we cannot certainly define very strictly what we mean by the word #8soul'2 but we are all very well aware that associated with our bodies1 and in some sense pervading them with its intelligence1 is a conscious 7as well as subconscious7 being which we call the self or soul2 and we are all puzzled at times to understand what is the relation between this and the body4 ,now we have seen 7ch4 ii47 the genesis of the body from a single fertilized cell or germ almost microscopic in size1 and its growth by continual and myriadfold division into1 say1 a human form2 and we have seen that every cell in the perfect and final form--every cell1 of eye1 or liver1 or of any part or organ--is there by linear descent or division from that first cell1 though variously adapted and differentiated during the process4 ,we are therefore almost compelled to conclude that that intelligent self 7conscious or subconscious7 which we are so distinctly aware of as associated with our mature bodies was there also1 associated with the first germ4#ea ,it may not truly have been outwardly manifest or unfolded into evidence at that primitive stage4 ,it could not well be4 ,but it was there1 even in its totality1 and unless it had been there1 we could not now be what we are4 ,the conscious and subconscious self has been within us all along1 unfolding and manifesting itself with the unfoldment and development of the body2 and indeed to all appearances guiding that development4 ,and more1 we may fairly say--having regard to the mode of development of the tissue--that it dwells even in its entirety within every normal and healthy cell of our present bodies1 and is the formative essence thereof4 ,let me give an illustration4 ,sometimes in the morning you may see a bush glittering all over with dewdrops2 every leaf has such a tiny jewel hanging from it4 ,if now you look you will see in each dewdrop a miniature picture of the far landscape4 ,or1 to take a closer illustration1 some shrubs have1 embedded in the very tissue of their leaves1 tiny transparent and lens-like glands which yield to close scrutiny similar miniatures of the world beyond4 ,exactly1 then1 like these plants1 we may think of the whole human body as trembling in light--each cell containing 7if we could but see it67 a luminous image of the presiding genius or self of the body4 ,the question is often asked3 ,where is the self8 does it reside in the head1 or in the heart1 or perhaps in the liver8 is it an aural halo pervading and surrounding the body1 or is it a single microscopic cell far hidden in the interior1 or is it an invisible atom8 ,here apparently is the answer4 ,it animates every cell4 ,it pervades the whole body1 and seeks expression in every part of it4 ,some cells1 as we have said before1 are differentiated so as to express especially this faculty1 others to express especially that2 but the human soul or self stands behind them all4 ,look at a baby's face1 and its growing sparkling expression--an individual being coming newly into the world1 obviously seeking1 feeling1 tentatively finding its way forward--every morning a thinnest veil falling from its features6 ,playing through the whole body1 is an intelligence1 seeking expression4 ,helen ,keller1 the girl both deaf and blind1 describes most graphically her agonizing experiences at the age of six or seven1 when her growing powers of body and mind demanded the expression which her physical disabilities so cruelly denied4 8,the desire to express myself grew10#eb she says2 8the few signs ,i used became less and less adequate1 and my failures to make myself understood were invariably followed by outbursts of passion4 ,i felt as if invisible hands were holding me1 and ,i made frantic efforts to free myself40 ,and then most touching1 the description of her relief1 8the thrill of surprise1 the joy of discovery10 when she at last1 about the age of ten1 was able to utter her first intelligible words4 ,in some degree like ,helen ,keller's is perhaps the experience of every babe that is born into the world4 ,it seems to me1 therefore1 that each person is practically compelled to think of his #8self' as moving behind or as associated with or animating every cell in the healthy body2 and as having been so associated with the first germ of the same1 even though that was a thing well-nigh invisible to the naked eye4 ,you were there1 you are there now1 at the root of your bodily life4 ,you may not1 certainly1 except at moments1 be distinctly conscious of this your complete relation to the body2 but1 as we have already said1 the term self must be held to include the large subconscious tracts which occasionally flash up into consciousness1 and which1 when they do so flash1 almost always confirm this relation2 nor must we lose from sight the still more deeply buried physiological or animal soul1 whose operations we seem to be able to trace from earliest days1 guiding all the complex of organic growth and development1 and apparently conscious in its own way with a very wonderful sort of intelligence4#ec ,all this compels us1 ,i think1 not only to picture to ourselves the mental self or soul as associated with the body1 and taking part in its development from the first inception of the latter2 but also to picture that self as in its entirety considerably greater and more extensive than the ordinary conscious self1 and even as greater than any bodily expression or manifestation which it succeeds in gaining4 ,we are compelled1 ,i think1 to regard the real self as at all times only partially manifested4 ,i think this latter point is obvious2 for when1 and at what period in life1 is manifestation complete8 ,certainly not in babyhood1 when the faculties are only unfolding2 certainly not in old age1 when they are decaying and falling away4 ,is it1 then1 in maturity and middle life8 ,but during all that period the output of expression and character in a man is constantly changing2 and which of all these changes of raiment is completely representative8 ,do we not rather feel that to express our real selves every phase from childhood through maturity even into extreme old age ought to be taken into account8 ,nay1 more than that2 for have we not--perhaps most of us--a profound feeling and conviction that there are elements deep down in our natures1 which never have been expressed1 and never can or will be expressed in our present and actual lives8 ,do we not all feel that our best is only a fraction of what we want to say8 ,and what must we think of the strange facts of multiple personality8 ,do they not suggest that our real self has facets so opposite1 so divergent1 that for a long time they may appear quite disconnected with each other2 until ultimately 7as has happened in actual cases7 they have been visibly reconciled and harmonized in a new and more perfect character8 ,with regard to this view that the real person is so much greater than his visible manifestation1 ,frederick ,myers and ,oliver ,lodge have used the simile of a ship4 ,and it is a fine one4 ,a ship gliding through the sea has a manifestation of its own1 a very partial one1 in the waterworld below--a ponderous hull moving in the upper layers of that world--a form encrusted with barnacles and sea-weed4 ,but what denizen of the deep could have any inkling or idea of the real life of that ship in the aerial plane--the glory of sails and spars trimmed to the breeze and glancing in the sun1 the blue arch of heaven flecked with clouds1 the leaping waves and the boundless horizon around the ship as she speeds onward1 the ingenious provision for her voyage1 the compass1 the helmsman and the captain directing her course8 ,surely 7except in moments of divination and inspiration7 we have little idea of what we really are6 ,but there are such moments--moments of profound grief1 of passionate love1 of great and splendid angers and enthusiasms which dart light back into the farthest recesses of our natures and astonish us with the vision they disclose4 ,and 7perhaps more often7 there are moments which disclose the wonder-self in others4 ,if we do not recognize 7which is naturally not easy67 our own divinity1 it is certain that we cannot really love without discovering a divine being in the loved one--a being remote1 resplendent1 inaccessible1 who calls for and indeed demands our devotion1 but of whom the mortal form is most obviously a mere symbol and disguise4 ,there are times when this strange illumination falls on people at large1 and we see them as gods walking3 when we look even on the tired overworked mother in the slum1 and her face is shining like heaven2 or on the ploughboy in the field with his team1 and see the mould and the material of ancient heroes4 ,yet of what is really nearest to them all the time these folk say nothing1 and we are astonished to find them haggling over halfpence or seriously troubled about wire-worms4 ,it is as if a play1 or some kind of deliberate mystification1 were being carried on--with disguises a little too thin4 ,we see1 as plain as day--and nothing can contravene our conclusion--that it is only a fraction of the real person that is concerned4 ,your self1 then1 ,i say--covering by that word not only all that you and your friends usually include in it1 but probably a good deal more--existed1 with all its potentialities and capacities even in association with the first primitive germ of your present body4#ed ,that germ was microscopic in size1 and its inner workings and transformations were ultra-microscopic in character4 ,we do not know whence they originated2 and whether we think of the soul which was associated with them as ultra-microscopic in its nature or as fourth-dimensional does not much matter4 ,we only perceive that it1 the soul1 must have been there1 in an unseen world of some kind1 pushing forward toward its manifestation in the visible4#ee ,i do not think we can well escape this conclusion4 ,but if we conclude that the soul existed before ,birth1 or1 more properly1 at or before conception1 in some such invisible world1 then that it should so exist after ,death is equally possible1 nay1 probable4 ,for after conception1 by continual multiplication and differentiation of cells1 the soul framed for itself organs of expression and manifestation1 and thus gradually came into our world of sight and sense and ordinary intelligence2 and so1 by some reverse process1 we may suppose that in decay and death the soul gradually loses these organs and their cordination1 and retires into the invisible4 ,whatever the nature of this invisible may be--whether1 as ,i say1 a world of things too minute for human perception1 or too vast for the same1 or whether a world which eludes us by the simple artifice of everywhere and in everything running parallel to the things of the world--only in another dimension imperceptible to us--in any case it seems reasonable to suppose that the soul is still there1 fulfilling its nature and its destiny1 of which its earth-life has only been one episode4#ef ,and if the apparent loss of consciousness 7the loss of the ordinary consciousness at any rate7 which often takes place during the death-change1 seems to point to extinction and not to continuance1 ,i think that that need not disturb us4 ,for in sleep1 in our nightly sleep1 the same suspension of the ordinary consciousness takes place1 as we very well know2 yet all the time the subconsciousness is functioning away--sorting out sounds1 bidding us wake for some1 allowing us to sleep through others1 discriminating disturbances1 carrying on the physiologies of the body1 posting sentinels in the reflexes--and guarding us from harm--till untired in the morning it knits together again the ravelled thread of the ordinary consciousness and renews our waking activities4 ,and if this happens in our ordinary and nightly sleep1 it seems at any rate possible that something similar may happen in death4 ,indeed there is much evidence to show that while at the hour of death the supraliminal consciousness often passes into a state of quiescence or abeyance1 the subliminal1 or at any rate some portion of the subliminal1 becomes unusually active4 ,audition grows strangely keen--so much so that it is sometimes difficult to tell whether the things heard have been apprehended by extension of the ordinary faculty or whether by a species of clairaudience4 ,vision similarly passes into clairvoyance1 the patient becomes extraordinarily sensitive to telepathic influences1 and knows what is going on at a distance2#eg and not only so1 but he radiates influences to a distance4 ,all the phenomena of wraiths and dying messages1 now so well substantiated--of apparitions and impressions projected with force at the moment of death into the minds of distant friends--prove clearly the increased activity and vitality 7one may say7 of the subliminal self at that time2 and this points1 as ,i say1 not to extinction and disorganization1 but perhaps to the transfer of consciousness more decisively into hidden regions of our being4 ,one hears sometimes of a dying person who1 prevented from departure by the tears and entreaties of surrounding friends1 cries out 8,oh6 let me die60 and one remembers the case1 above mentioned1 of the apparently dead mother who1 so to speak1 called herself back to life by the thought of her orphaned children4 ,such cases as these do not look like loss of continuity2 rather they look as if a keen intelligence were still there1 well aware of its earth-life1 but drawn onward by an inevitable force1 and passing into a new phase1 of swifter subtler activity in perhaps a more ethereal body4 ,that the human soul does pass through great transformations--moultings and sloughings and metamorphoses--and so forward from one stage to another1 we know from the facts of life4 ,physiologically the body takes on a new phase at birth1 and another at weaning and teething1 and another at puberty1 and another in age at the #8change of life1' and so on2 and transformations of the soul or inner life 7some of them very remarkable7 are associated with these outer phases4 ,the last great bodily change is obviously accompanied--as we have just indicated--by the development or extension of hidden psychic powers4 ,what exactly that final transformation may be1 we can only at present speculate2 but we can see that1 like the others1 when it arrives it has already become very necessary and inevitable4 ,at every such former stage--whether it be birth1 or teething1 or puberty1 or what not--there has been constriction or strangulation4 ,the growing inner life has found its conditions too limited for it1 and has burst forth into new form and utterance4 ,in this final change the bodily conditions altogether seem to have grown too limited4 ,with an irresistible impulse and an agonizing joy of liberation the soul sweeps out1 or is fearfully swept1 into its new sphere4 ,sometimes doubtless the passage is one of pain and terror2 far more often1 and in the great majority of cases1 it is peaceful and calm1 with a deep sense of relief2 occasionally it is radiant with ecstasy1 as if the new life already cast its splendor in advance4#eh ,yes1 we cannot withhold the belief that there is an after-death state--a state which in a sense is present with us1 and has been present1 all our lives2 but which--for reasons that at present we can only vaguely apprehend--has been folded from our consciousness4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,underlying ,,self ,allowing1 then1 the great probability of the existence of an after-death state1 and of a survival of some kind1 the question further arises3 ,is that survival in any sense personal or individual8 or does it belong to some1 so to speak1 formless region1 either below or above personality8 ,it is conceivable of course that there may be survival of the outer and beggarly elements of the mind1 below personality2 or it is conceivable that the deepest and most central core of the man may survive1 far beyond and above personality2 but in either case the individual existence may not continue4 ,the eternity of the ,all-soul or ,self of the universe is1 ,i take it1 a basic fact2 it is from a certain point of view obvious2 we have already discussed it1 and1 as far as this book is concerned1 it is treated so much as an axiom that to argue further without it would be useless4 ,that being granted1 it follows that if the soul of each human being roots down ultimately into that ,all-self1 the core of each soul must partake of the eternal nature4 ,but as far as it does so it may be beyond all reach or remembrance or recognition of personality4 ,such a conclusion--whatever force of conviction may accompany it--is certainly not altogether satisfactory4 ,i remember that once--in the course of conversation with a lady on this very subject--she remarked that though she thought there would be a future life she did not believe in the continuance of individuality4 8,what do you believe in1 then80 said ,i4 8,oh10 she replied1 8,i think we shall be a sort of ,happy ,mass60 ,and ,i have always since remembered that expression4 ,but though the idea of a happy mass has its charms1 it does not1 as ,i say1 quite satisfy either our feelings or our intelligence4 ,there is a desire for something more1 and there is a perception that ,differentiation and ,individuation represent a great law--a law so great as probably to extend even to the ultimate modes of ,being4 ,and though a vague generality of this kind cannot stand in the place of strict reasoning or observation1 it may make us feel that personal survival is at any rate possible1 and that a certain amount of speculation on the subject is legitimate4 ,at the same time we have to bear in mind that the subject altogether is a very complex one1 and that we have to move only slowly1 if we want to move forward at all1 and to avoid having to retrace our steps4 ,we must not too serenely assume1 for instance1 that we at all know what we are6 ,we have already 7ch4 v47 analyzed to some degree the constitution of the human being1 and found it complicated enough in its successive planes of development4 ,we have now to remember that--at least on the two middle planes1 those of the human soul and the animal soul--there is another subdivision to be made1 namely between that part which is conscious and that which is only subconscious2 so that further complications inevitably arise4 ,we may not only have to consider1 as in the chapter referred to1 which of these planes may possibly carry survival with it1 but again whether such survival may be in the conscious region1 or only in the subliminal or subconscious4 ,this chapter will be largely occupied with a consideration of the subliminal or underlying portion of the self1 and it will be seen that that is probably of immense extent and variety of content compared with the surface or conscious portion2 but it will also be seen that there is no strict line of demarcation between the two1 and that a continual interchange betwixt them is taking place1 so that for the present at any rate it is safest to give the word #8self' its widest scope and make it include both portions and every mental faculty1 rather than limit its application4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in attacking the subject1 then1 of the ,survival of the ,self1 ,i suppose our first question ought to be3 ,what is the test of survival1 what do we mean by it8 ,and to this1 ,i imagine1 the answer is1 ,continuity of ,consciousness4 ,this would seem to be the only satisfying definition4 ,consciousness is necessary in some form or other1 as the base and evidence of our existence2 and continuity in some degree is also necessary1 in order to link our experiences together1 as it were into one chain4 ,continuity1 however1 need not be absolute4 ,the chain of consciousness may apparently be broken by sleep1 or it may be broken by a dose of chloroform1 or by a blow on the head2 but it may be re-knit and resumed4 ,it may pass from the supraliminal state to the subliminal1 and again emerge on the surface4 ,it may even be discontinuous2 but as long as ,memory bridges the intervals we get the sense of continuity of life or personality4#ei ,supposing a body of memories--of life say in some village of ancient ,egypt--suddenly opened up in one's mind1 as vivid and consistent and enduring as one's ordinary memory of childhood days1 it would be natural to conclude that one really had pre-existed in that village2 it would be difficult not to make that inference4 ,and similarly if at some future time1 and in far other than our present surroundings1 the memory of this one's earth-life should emerge again1 vivid and personal as now1 the being thus having that memory would1 we suppose1 conclude that he had once lived this life here on earth4 ,thus ,memory would be the arbiter of survival and of the continuity 7on the whole7 of consciousness4 ,frederick ,myers1 indeed1 goes so far as to define consciousness as that which is 8potentially memorable0#fj--thus suggesting that memory is a necessary accompaniment of any psychic state to which we can venture to give the name of consciousness4 ,it may indeed seem precarious to rest our test of survival on so notoriously fallible1 and even at times fallacious1 a thing as ,memory2 but one does not see that there is anything better1 or that there is any alternative6 ,the memory may not be continuously enduring and operative2 but if at any future time one should be persuaded of having survived from this present life1 it must1 one would say1 be by memory in some form or other1 of this present life4 ,and it must be remarked that though memory is fitful and fallible1 these epithets apply mainly to the supraliminal memory1 to that superficial memory which we make use of by conscious effort1 and which often fails us in the moment of need4 ,deep below this we dimly perceive1 and daily are becoming more persuaded of1 the existence of vast and permanent but latent stores1 which from time to time emerge into manifestation2 and more and more our psychologists are inclining to think that the supraliminal self gains its memories by tapping these stores1 and that its lapses and oblivions are more due to failure in the tapping process than to any failure of the memory stores themselves4 ,indeed not a few psychologists are now asking whether it is not likely that every psychic experience carries memory with it1 and so is preserved in the great storehouse4 ,i have already1 in the last chapter1 spoken of the so-called subliminal self as1 among other things1 a wonderful storehouse of memory2 and ,i propose now to occupy a few pages with the more detailed consideration of the nature of that self2 because1 as we are discussing the question of survival1 our discussion1 as ,i have just said1 ought obviously to include the under as well as the upper strata of consciousness4 ,we cannot very well confine our meaning and our inquiry to the little brain-self only1 and leave out of consideration the great self of the emotions and impulses--of genius1 love1 enthusiasm1 and so forth4#fa ,no1 we must include both--the more intimate1 though more hidden1 self1 as well as the self of the faade and the front window4 ,this hidden self is indeed an astounding thing1 whose extent and complexity grows upon us as investigation proceeds4 ,for when the term #8subliminal' was first used it had apparently a fairly simple connotation--as of some one obscure and unexplored chamber of the mind2 but now instead of a single chamber it would seem rather some vast house or palace at whose door we stand1 with many chambers and corridors--some dark and underground1 some spacious and well lighted and furnished1 some lofty with extensive outlook and open to the sky2 and the modern psychologists are puzzling themselves to find suitable names for all these new domains--which indeed they cannot satisfactorily do1 seeing they know so little of their geography6 ,i can only attempt here--very roughly ,i am afraid1 and unsystematically--to point out some of the properties and qualities of the underlying or hidden or subconscious self--whichever term we may like to use4 ,in the first place1 its memory appears to be little short of perfect1 and at any rate to our ordinary intelligence and estimate1 nothing short of marvellous4 ,when a servant girl1 who can neither read nor write1 reproduces1 in her wandering speech during a nervous fever1 whole sentences of ,latin1 ,greek1 and ,hebrew1 which she could not possibly understand1 and which had only fallen quite casually on her ears years before from the lips of an old scholar 7who used to recite passages to himself as he walked up and down a room adjoining the kitchen in which the girl at that time worked#fb72 we perceive that the under or latent memory may catch and retain for a lengthy period1 and with strange accuracy1 the most fleeting and apparently superficial impressions4 ,when ,dr4 ,milne ,bramwell instructs a hypnotized subject to make a cross on a bit of paper exactly #bj1ahj minutes after the giving of the order2 and the patient1 having of course emerged from the hypnotic sleep1 and gone about her daily work1 and having no conscious remembrance of the command1 does nevertheless at the expiration of the stated number of days and minutes take a piece of paper and make the said cross upon it1#fc we can only marvel both at the persistence and accuracy of memory which the subliminal being displays1 and at the strict command which this being may exercise in its silent way over the actions of the supraliminal self4 ,when we are repeatedly told that in the moment of drowning1 people remember every action and event of their past life1 though we may doubt the exact force of the word #8every1' we cannot but be convinced that an enormous and astounding resurgence of memory does take place1#fd and we cannot but suspect that the memorization is somehow on a different plane of consciousness from the usual one1 being simultaneous and in mass instead of linear and successive4 ,or when1 again1 a #8calculating boy' or prodigy of quite tender years on being asked to find the cube-root of #ca1hee1jac instantly says #cag1 or being given the number #ag1hfa immediately remarks that it consists of the factors #ccg #ec1fe we are reduced to the alternative suppositions1 either that the boy's subconscious self works out these sums with a perfectly amazing rapidity1 or that it has access to stores of memory and knowledge quite beyond the experience of the life-time concerned4 ,in all these cases1 and hundreds and thousands of others which have been observed1 the memory of the subliminal self--whether manifested through hypnotism1 or in sleep or dreams1 or in other ways--seems to exceed in range and richness1 as well as in rapidity1 the memory of the supraliminal self2 and indeed ,myers goes so far as to say that the deeper down one penetrates below the supraliminal1 the more perfect is the remembrance3 that1 in cases where one can reach various planes of memory in the same subject1 8it is the memory furthest from waking life whose span is the widest1 whose grasp of the organism's upstored impressions is the most profound40#ff ,this is1 ,i think1 a very important conclusion1 and one to which we may recur later4 ,but the hidden being within us does not show this extraordinary command of mental processes merely in technical matters4 ,its powers extend far deeper1 into such regions as those of ,genius and ,prophecy4 ,the wonderful flashes of intuition1 the complex combinations of ideas1 which at times leap fully formed and with a kind of authority into the field of man's waking consciousness1 obviously proceed from a deep intelligence of some kind1 lying below1 and are the product of an immensely extended and rapid survey of things1 brought to a sudden focus4 ,they yield us the finest flowers of ,art2 and some at any rate of the most remarkable instances of ,prediction4 ,for though there may be--and probably is--a purely clairvoyant prophetic gift1 freed as it were from the obscuration of ,time1 yet it cannot be doubted that much or most of prophecy is simply very swift and conclusive inference derived from very extensive observation4 ,these flashes and inspirations are clearly not the product of the conscious brain2 they are felt by the latter to come from beyond it4 ,they are1 in the language of ,myers1 8uprushes from the subliminal self40 ,and even beyond them there are things which come from the same source--there are splendid enthusiasms1 and overwhelming impulses of self-sacrifice1 as well as mad and dmonic passions4 ,yet again1 it is not merely command of mental processes that the subconscious being displays1 but of the bodily powers and processes too4 ,intelligent itself to the marvellous degrees already indicated1 it is evident also that its intelligence penetrates and ordains the whole body4 ,every one has heard of the stigmata of the ,crucifixion appearing on the hands and feet of some religious devotee1 as in the celebrated case of ,louise ,lateau4 ,dr4 ,briggs of ,lima once told a hypnotized patient that 8a red cross would appear on her chest every ,friday during a period of four months0--and obediently the mark appeared4#fg ,a whisper in such cases is often sufficient2 and the latent power swiftly but effectually modifies all the complex activities and functions of the organism to produce the desired result4 ,what an extraordinary combination of elaborate intelligence and detailed organizing power must here be at work6 ,and the same in the quite common yet very remarkable cases of mental healing1 with which we are all now familiar6 ,sometimes again--quite apart from any oral suggestion or apparent outside influence--we find the subjective being taking most decisive command of a person's faculties and actions4 ,this happens1 for instance1 in somnambulism1 when the sleepwalker perhaps passes along the narrow and perilous ridge of a roof or wall with perfect balance and sureness of foot--adjusting a hundred muscles in the most delicate way1 and yet with total unconsciousness as far as the supraliminal self is concerned4 ,or it happens sometimes--even more remarkably--to people in full possession of their waking faculties1 at some moment when extreme danger threatens to overwhelm them4 ,john ,muir in his ,the ,mountains of ,california1#fh describes how when scaling the very precipitous face of a cliff he found himself completely baffled1 at a great height from the ground1 and unable to proceed either up or down4 ,he was seized with panic and a trembling in every limb1 and was on the point of falling1 when suddenly a perfect calm and assurance took possession of him1 and somehow--he never quite knew how--with an astonishing agility and sure-footedness he completed the ascent1 and was saved4 8,i seemed suddenly to become possessed of a new sense4 ,the other ,self--bygone experiences1 ,instinct or ,guardian ,angel1 call it what you will--came forward and assumed control4 ,my trembling muscles became firm again1 every rift and flaw in the rock was seen as through a microscope1 and my limbs moved with a positiveness and precision with which ,i seemed to have nothing at all to do4 ,had ,i been borne aloft upon wings1 my deliverance could not have been more complete40 ,mterlinck1 in his chapter on 8,the ,psychology of ,accident0 7in ,life and ,flowers71 describes how in the nerve-commotion of danger1 ,instinct1 8a rugged1 brutal1 naked1 muscular figure10 rushes to the rescue4 8,with a glance that is surer and swifter than the onrush of the peril1 it takes in the situation1 then and there unravels all its details1 issues and possibilities1 and in a trice affords a magnificent1 an unforgettable spectacle of strength1 courage1 precision1 and will1 in which unconquered life flies at the throat of death40 ,and similar instances--of instinctive presence of mind1 and an almost miraculous development of faculty in extreme danger--are within the knowledge of most people4 ,the subliminal being steps in quite decisively1 and the ordinary conscious mind feels that another power is taking over the reins4 ,but there is another faculty of the subjacent self which must not be passed over1 and which is very important--,i mean the image-forming power4 ,this is one of the prime faculties of all intelligent beings1 lying at the very root of creation2 and it is a faculty possessed to an extreme and impressive degree by the self 8behind the scenes40 ,i have discussed this subject generally at some length in my book ,the ,art of ,creation1 and need not repeat the matter here1 except to allude to a few points4 ,the image-forming faculty is a natural attribute of the conscious mind1 in all perhaps but the lowest grades of evolution2 at any rate it is difficult to think of a mind at all like ours without this faculty4 ,this faculty is most active when the mind is withdrawn into itself1 in quietude4 ,in his study or when burning the midnight oil the writer's brain teems1 or is supposed to teem1 with images6 ,but in sleep the image-forming activity is even greater4 ,it then shows itself in the subconscious mind1 in the world of dreams1 whose bodiless creations are more vivid and energetic than those of our waking hours1 and have a strange sense of reality about them4 ,but again1 in the deeper sleep of trance still more vivid images are produced4 ,a young student hypnotized imagines himself to be ,napoleon1 then to be ,garibaldi1 then to be an old woman of ninety1 then to be a mere child4 ,he acts the parts of these characters1 imitates their handwriting1 their voices1 issues proclamations to his soldiers in the name of the first two1 assumes the shaky penmanship of childhood and of old age2 and all in the course of half-an-hour or so4#fi ,the images thus formed in the deep trance of the young man are so vivid1 so powerful1 so dramatic1 that they take possession of the organism and compel it to become the means of their manifestation4 ,in mediumistic trance the same thing happens4 ,there may be suggestion from outside1 or there may not1 but in the depth of the medium's mind images are formed which speak and act through the entranced person1 making use in doing so of the marvellous stores of memory and knowledge which the inner mind has at command1 and sorely puzzling the spectators at times1 as to whether the performance is merely histrionic or whether by chance it indicates a bona fide communication from the dead4#gj ,this energetic dramatic quality of the image-forming faculty is tremendously important4 ,it has not been enough insisted upon2 and it has been greatly misunderstood and misrepresented4 ,it is1 as ,i say1 a root-property of creation4 ,it is seen everywhere in the healthy activity of the human mind1 in its delight in romance and imagination1 in the play of children1 the stage1 literature1 art1 scientific invention--the sheer joy of creation1 going on everywhere and always4 ,lay the conscious and controlling and selective power of the upper mind at rest1 in the trance-condition1 and you have in the deeps of the subliminal self this primal creative power exposed4 ,offer to it the lightest suggestion1 and there springs forth from that abyss a figure corresponding1 or a dozen figures1 or a whole procession6 ,the mere delight of creation calls them forth4 ,could anything be more wonderful8 ,what a strange glimpse it gives us of the possibilities of ,creation4 ,some people seem to be quite shocked at the idea that this subliminal mind1 or whatever it is that possesses these marvellous powers1 should act these parts1 and lend itself to unsubstantial and quasi-fraudulent representations4 ,but why accuse of deception8 ,it is a game--the great game we are all of us playing--the whole ,creation romancing away2 with endless inexhaustible fertility throwing out images1 ideas1 new shapes and forms forever4 ,those forms which hold their own1 which substantiate themselves1 which fill a place1 fulfil a need--they win their way into the actual world and become the originals of the plants1 the animals1 human beings1 works of art1 and so forth1 which we know4 ,those which cannot hold their own pass back again into the unseen4 ,in the far depths of the entranced medium's mind we see this abysmal process going on--this fountain-like production of images taking place--the very beginnings of creation4 ,it is the sheer joy of manifestation4 ,as one gives a musician a mere hint or clue--a theme of three or four notes--and immediately he improvises a spirited piece of music2 so is it with the hypnotized person or with the medium4 ,one gives him a suggestion and he immediately creates the figures according4 ,and so it is for us1 to direct this wonderful power1 even in ourselves--not to call it fraudulent1 but to make use of it for splendid ends4 ,doubtless it can be used for unworthy ends4 ,it is easy to understand that the mediumistic person1 finding this wonderful dramatic and creative faculty within himself or herself1 is sometimes tempted to turn it to personal advantage2 and succumbs to the temptation4 ,the dramatic habit catches hold of the waking self1 and renders the person tricky and unreliable4#ga ,but below it all is creation1 and the instinct of creation--the power that gives to airy nothing a local habitation1 the genius of the dramatist1 of the artist1 of the inventor1 and the very source of the visible and tangible world4 ,for from the ,under-self--as exposed in the state of trance1 or in extreme languor and exhaustion of the body1 or in the moment of death1 or in dreams1 or even in profound reverie--proceed 7strange as it may seem7 ,voices and ,visions and ,forms1 things audible and visible and tangible1 things anyhow which are competent to impress the senses of spectators so vividly as to be for the moment indistinguishable from the phenomena1 audible1 visible and tangible1 of our actual world4 ,amazing as are the materializations connected with mediums--the figures which appear1 which speak1 which touch and are touched1 the faces1 the supernumerary feet and hands1 the sounds1 the lights1 the movements of objects--all in some way connected with the medium's presence--these phenomena are now far too well established and confirmed by careful and scientific observation to admit 7in the mass7 of any reasonable doubt4#gb ,and similarly with the wraiths1 or phantoms which are projected from dying or lately dead persons1 the evidence for them in general is much too abundant and well attested to allow of disbelief4#gc ,what an extraordinary story1 for instance1 is that given by ,sir ,oliver ,lodge in his ,survival of ,man 7p4 #aja7--of a workman who having drunk poison by mistake1 appeared in the moment of death1 with blue and blotched face to his employer1 to whom he was greatly attached1 and told him not to be deceived by the rumor that he 7the workman7 had committed suicide6 ,yet the story is fully and authoritatively given in the ,proceedings of the ,society for ,psychical ,research1 vol4 iii4 p4 #ig1 and cannot well be set aside4 ,but if such things happen in the hour of death1 so do they also happen in the dream-state4#gd ,the dreamer has a vivid dream of visiting a certain person1 and is accordingly and at that time1 seen by that person4 ,and in the state of reverie the same4 ,it is at times sufficient to think profoundly of any one1 or to let one's inner self go out toward that person in order to cause an image of oneself to be seen by him4 ,it will of course be said1 and often is said1 that those phenomena are only hallucinations1 and have no objective existence4 ,but the sufficient answer to that is that the things also of our actual world are hallucinations in their degree1 and certainly have no full objective existence4 ,the daffodil in my garden is an hallucination in that degree that with the smallest transposition of my senses1 its color1 its scent1 and even its form might be quite altered4 ,what we call its objectivity rests on the permanence of its relations--on its continued appearance in one spot1 its visibility to different people at one time1 or to one person at different times1 and so forth4 ,but if that is the definition of objectivity1 it is obvious that the forms which have been seen over and over again1 and under strict test-conditions1 in connection with certain mediums1 have had in their degree an objective existence4 ,in ,america1 in connection with ,kate ,fox 7one of the earliest and most spontaneous and natural of modern mediums71 a certain ,mr4 ,livermore--a thoroughly capable business man of ,new ,york--came into communication as it seemed with his deceased wife4 ,she appeared to him--not in one house only1 but in several houses--over and over again2 sometimes only the head1 sometimes the whole figure2 her appearance was accompanied by inexplicable sounds and lights2 she communicated sometimes by raps1 sometimes by visibly writing on blank cards brought for the purpose2 and these phenomena extended over a period of six years and #chh recorded sittings1 and at many of the sittings were corroborated by independent witnesses4#ge ,it is difficult to imagine hallucinations or deceit maintained under such circumstances4 ,in ,england 7in connection with the medium ,florence ,cook7 the figure 8,katie ,king0 appeared to ,sir ,william ,crookes a great number of times during three years 7#ahha-hd7 and was studied by him and ,mr4 ,c4 ,f4 ,varley1 ,f4,r4,s41 with the greatest scientific care4 ,her apparition often spoke to those present1 was touched by1 and touched them1 wrote1 or played with the children4 ,it often came outside the cabinet1 and three times was seen by those present simultaneously with1 and by the side of1 the entranced medium4 ,the figure was taller than the medium and different in feature2 ,crookes observed its pulse and found it making #ge beats a minute to the medium's #ij1 and so forth4#gf ,professor ,richet1 the ,french scientist1 examined with great care the phantasm 8,beni ,boa10 which appeared to him some twenty times in connection with the ,algerian medium ,aisha2 he obtained several photographs of it1 and observed its pulse1 its respiration1 and so forth4#gg ,lombroso1 the author of many scientific works1 and a man who to begin with was a complete sceptic on these matters1 assures us that at the sittings of ,eusapia ,paladino he saw his own mother 7long dead7 a great number of times1 and that she repeatedly kissed him4#gh ,in connection with ,mme4 ,d',esprance#gi the girlish figure of 8,yolanda0 appeared and disappeared very frequently during a period of ten years1 and was well known to frequenters of her circle2 and in #ahif a committee formed by some twenty-five high officials and well-known persons in ,norway publicly attested the repeated appearance at her seances of a very beautiful female figure who glided among the sitters1 grasped their hands1 gave them messages1 and so forth1 and disappeared before their eyes in a misty cloud4#hj ,such evidence of the objectivity of seance figures could be rather indefinitely multiplied4 ,but the same may be said1 though perhaps less conclusively1 of various ghosts and other manifestations1 whose relations to certain persons or places or houses seem quite definite and well established--and not unfrequently steadily recurrent under the same conditions4#ha ,without going into the vexed question of whether these and the like manifestations are merely products or inventions of the trance-mind of the medium or other person concerned1 or whether some at least of them are the work or evidence of separate #8spirits'--leaving that question open for the present--we may still say that all these things are actual creations--creations of the hidden self of ,man in some form or other2 not so assured1 certainly1 and not so permanent as the well-known shapes of outer ,nature2 abortive creations1 if you like1 which come a little way forward into manifestation1 and then retreat again2 but still creations in the same sense as those more established ones2 and wonderfully revealing to us the secret of the generation and birth of all the visible world4 99 99 99 99 99 ,that we should have1 all of us1 this magic source somewhere buried within--this ,aladdin's lamp1 this vase of the ,djinns1 this ,pandora box of evil as well as of good1 is indeed astounding2 and must cause us1 when we have once fully realized the fact1 to envisage life quite differently from what we have ever done before4 ,it must cause us to feel that our very ordinary and daily self--which we know so well 7and which sometimes we even get a little tired of7 is only a fraction1 only a flag and a signal1 of that great ,presence which we really are1 that great ,mass-man who lies unexplored behind the very visible and actual4 ,difficult or impossible as this being may be to define1 enormously complex as it probably is1 and far-reaching1 and hard to gauge1 yet we see that it is there1 undeniably there--a being that apparently includes far extremes of faculty and character1 running parallel to the conscious self from low to high levels1#hb having in its range of manifestation the most primitive desires and passions1 and the highest feats of intellect and enthusiasm2 and while at times capable of accepting the most frivolous suggestions and of behaving in a humorous or merely capricious and irresponsible manner1 at other times capable1 as we have seen1 of taking most serious command and control of the whole physical organism1 and as far as the spiritual organism is concerned1 of rising to the greatest heights of prophecy and inspiration4#hc ,i say1 then1 that we must include in this problem of survival both the ordinary upper and conscious self and the deep-lying subjective and subconscious 7or superconscious7 being4 ,just as the organizing power of the ,body includes the ,cerebro-spinal system of nerves on the one hand1 and the ,great-,sympathetic system on the other1 so the organism of the soul includes the supraliminal and subliminal portions4 ,the two must be taken together1 and either alone could only represent a fraction of the real person4 ,the exact relation of these two selves to each other is a matter which can only become clear with long time and study of this difficult subject4 ,it may be that the subliminal self is destined to become conscious in our ordinary sense of the word4 ,it may be1 on the other hand1 that the conscious self is destined to rise into the much wider consciousness of the subjective being4 ,there is a great deal to suggest that the supraliminal self is only the front as it were of the great wave of life2 and that the brain consciousness is only a very special instrument for dealing with the surroundings and conditions of our terrestrial existence--an instrument which will surrender much of its value at death and on mergence with the larger and differently constituted consciousness which underruns and sustains it4 ,that the two selves are in constant communication with each other1 and that they are both intelligent in some sense1 is obvious from the facts of suggestion1 by which often the lightest whisper so to speak from the upper is understood and attended to by the under self2 while1 on the other hand1 the under-self communicates with the upper1 sometimes by inner ,voices heard and ,visions seen1 sometimes by automatic actions1 as in dream- or trance-writing1 sometimes even by ,sounds and ,apparitions so powerful as to appear at least external4 ,so we cannot but think that the question of survival may ultimately resolve itself very much into the question of the more complete and effectual understanding between these different portions of the self4 ,when they come into clear relation with each other1 when the unit-man and the ,mass-man merge into a perfect understanding and harmony1 when they both become conscious of their affiliation to the great ,self of the universe1 then the problem will be solved--or we may perhaps say1 the problem will cease to exist4 ,,note ,,to ,,chapter ,,viii ,,on ,,trance-,,phenomena ,it may seem rash or unbalanced to dwell1 in the preceding chapters1 on trance and mediumistic phenomena as much as ,i have done1 considering that they are in some sense abnormal--that is1 they are unusual1 and comparatively few people have an opportunity of verifying them2 also they may 7it is said7 be abnormal in the sense of being the products of conditions so special or even so morbid that conclusions drawn from them can have no general importance or value4 ,there is a certain fashion in such matters1 and with large sections of the public and during a long period it has no doubt been the habit simply to dismiss all consideration of this subject1 as for one reason or another unadvisable4 ,but now these phenomena in general 7or enough of them to constitute a solid body of observation7 are so thoroughly corroborated that it would be mere affectation to pass them by2 and the best science nowadays refuses to ignore exceptional happenings on account of their exceptionality--recognizing that these very happenings often afford the key to the explanation of more common events4 ,the phenomena connected with mediums and seances have been so amazing and unexpected that they have often produced a kind of fear and dismay4 ,the religious people have been terrified at the prospect of having to acknowledge miracles not connected with the ,church2 or of having to confess to the resurrection of ,john ,smith as well as of ,jesus ,christ4 ,the scientific folk 7in many or most quarters7 being always just on the point of completing their pet scheme of the universe--whatever it may happen to be at the time--have naturally been in no mood to admit new facts which would totally disarrange their systems2 and have1 therefore1 with a few brilliant exceptions1 consistently closed their eyes or looked another way4 ,and the general public1 not without reason1 has feared to embark on a subject which might easily float it away from the dry land of practical life1 into one knows not what sea of doubt or even delusion4 ,but these difficulties attend at all times the introduction of a new subject--or at least of one which is new to the generation concerned2 and can of course not be allowed to interfere with the candid and impartial examination of the subject1 or with the assimilation1 as far as feasible1 of its message4 ,it should certainly1 ,i think1 be admitted that there are dangers attending the new science--or rather attending the hasty and careless investigation of it--just as there are attending any other science4 ,there is no doubt that the phenomena connected with it are so astounding that they in some cases unhinge people's minds1 or at least for the time upset them2 and what we have already said once or twice of the frequent bodily exhaustion of the ,medium1 not to mention the occasional exhaustion of the sitters1 must convince us that the greatest care should be exercised in connection with trance-conditions1 and that the whole subject should be studied with a view to discovering its proper and best handling4 ,it is clear--whatever view is taken of the process--that a certain disintegration of the organism1 and even of the personality of the medium1 is liable to occur1 one portion of the organism acting in a manner and under influences foreign to another portion1 and that such disintegration oft repeated or long continued may be liable to produce a permanent degeneration of physique or even possibly demoralization of character4 ,if there is a danger in this direction--and the extent of the danger should certainly be gauged--equally certainly it ought to be minimized or averted by the proper conditions4 ,on the other hand1 while noting this danger1 we should not leave out of mind that some evidence points in the other direction--namely1 to the favorable effects and influences of trance when rightly conducted4#hd ,we may also in this connection allude to the changed attitude of the general mind to-day toward ,hypnotism--a subject allied to that which we are considering4 ,fifty years ago the word had a sinister sound1 and hypnotism and mesmerism were thought to be inventions of the devil and agencies of all evil4 ,to-day they are recognized as a great power for good1 and in at least two hospitals 7in ,france7 as the main instrument of healing4 ,naturally1 when people are ignorant of a subject1 or only in the first stages of knowledge with regard to it1 they mishandle and misunderstand it4 ,it may well happen therefore that with better understanding of mediumship and trance-conditions1 some of their drawbacks or less favorable aspects may pass out of sight4 ,mediums and trance-phenomena--prophecy1 second sight1 speaking in strange tongues1 the appearance of flames and lights1 and of figures apparently from the dead--are things that have been known all down history1 and recognized almost as a matter of course1 both among quite primitive peoples like the ,kaffirs1 or the ,aleuts or the ,mongolians1 or among the more cultured like the ,greeks1 the ,romans1 the ,hindus1 ,chinese1 and so forth4 ,the ,bible teems with references to wizards and 8necromancers0 7note the meaning of the word72 and the story of the ,witch of ,endor gives us a penetrating glimpse into what was evidently a common practice of 8consultation40 ,these phenomena have never been so common as to break up and disorganize the routine of ordinary life1 yet they have always been there1 and recognized1 as on the fringe or borderland--in somewhat the same way as the knowledge or recognition of ,death does not interfere with daily life or prevent us making engagements2 though we know it may do so at any time4 ,and beyond any direct uses that trance-communication and manifestations may have now1 or may have had in the past 7a matter on which no doubt there is a good deal of difference of opinion71 we may fairly suppose that as examples of real things and of a real world lying just outside the sphere of our ordinary and actual experience they may be of immense value--both as delivering us from a cramped and petty belief that we have already fathomed the possibilities of the universe1 and as giving us just a hint and a glimpse of directions in which we may fairly look for the future4 ,that we should for the present be limited for the most part to a definite sphere of activity1 or to a definite region of creation1 seems only natural4 8,one world1 please1 at a time60 said ,thoreau when on his deathbed he was plagued by some pious person about the future life2 and if we in our daily life were entangled in the manifestations of two very different planes of existence it might be greatly baffling4 ,at the same time1 the occasional hint or message from another plane may be of the greatest help4 ,condensations and manifestations 7as of beings from such other plane7 may be abnormal at present4 ,they may be rare1 they may occur under unexpected and even unhealthy conditions1 they may cause dislocations of mind and of morals1 they may be confused and confusing4 ,all these things we should indeed in some degree expect2 and yet it may not follow that these objections will continue4 ,it is quite possible that in the future they will disappear4 ,as ,i have had occasion to say many times1 every new movement or manifestation of human activity1 when unfamiliar to people's minds1 is sure to be misrepresented and misunderstood4 ,it appears in humble guise1 without backing or patronage1 forcing its way to light in the most unlikely places1 8to the ,jews a stumbling-block1 to the ,greeks foolishness10 often distorted and out of shape owing to its very birth-struggles1 and for the very same reason diffident at first and uncertain of its own mission4 ,possibly a time is coming when ,mediumship1 instead of being left over 7as not unfrequently now7 to quite ignorant and uncultured specimens of humanity1 and being exercised in haphazard1 careless fashion1 or for monetary gain1 or personal vanity1 will be looked upon as a sacred and responsible office1 worthy of and requiring considerable preparation and instruction1 demanding the respect of the public1 yet thoroughly criticized1 both in method and result1 by intelligent examination and logic4 ,possibly a time is coming when messages and manifestations from another plane than that of our daily life will come to us under the most obviously healthy and sane conditions1 and will be fully recognized as having value and even1 in their way1 authority4 99 99 99 99 99 ,for the present--allowing 7as ,i do7 the absolute genuineness of a great body of 8spiritualistic0 phenomena--there still is 7owing to various causes already indicated7 considerable doubt as to who or what the manifesting beings or forces are4 ,i suppose the main theories on the subject may be gathered under the following heads3 that the manifesting powers are 7#a7 ,images1 more or less unconsciously projected from the ,medium's own mind2 or1 in case of raps1 and so forth1 emissions of force from the medium's body2 7#b7 that they are the same projected from the minds or bodies of other persons present2 7#c7 that they are independent ,beings1 making use of the medium's or other person's organism for the purpose of expression2 or 7#d7 that there is a blending of these actions4 ,i think everyone who has studied the matter practically admits the first explanation in some degree2 most people perhaps allow the second and fourth2 but a good many--though not all--exclude the third4 ,with regard1 however1 to this last theory 7that there really are occasional messages or manifestations from the dead--or from 8the other side07 there certainly seems to be a very considerable residuum of evidence which1 though not absolutely conclusive1 is favorable to it2 and there certainly are a considerable number of eminent and responsible men--like ,myers1 ,lodge1 ,lombroso1 and others--who1 though not dogmatic1 profess themselves inclined to accept the theory1 on the evidence so far available4 ,for myself--having so little personal and direct experience in this field--,i do not feel in a position to form a definite opinion1 and am content to leave the evidence to accumulate4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,survival ,,of ,,the ,,self ,in the last chapter we pointed out that for any adequate understanding of the subject before us the self must be taken to include the more obscure and subconscious portion of the mind1 as well as the specially conscious portion with which we are most familiar4 ,there is a constant interaction and flow taking place between the two parts1 and to draw a strict line dividing them would be impossible4 ,indeed it would rather appear that growth comes largely by their blending and throwing light on each other4 ,we also brought forward some considerations to show the nature of the underlying or subconscious self--its immense extent1 the swiftness of its perceptions1 and so forth4 ,if then1 to continue our argument1 there should come a time 7in death7 when the outer and more obvious ego merges1 or at least comes into closer relation1 with the under-self1 it would seem likely that the surviving consciousness would be greatly changed from its present form1 and would take on something of the instantaneous wide-reaching character of what has been called the ,cosmic ,consciousness4 ,and this is a conclusion much to be expected1 and surely also much to be desired4 ,however one may envisage the matter1 it hardly seems possible to imagine an after-death consciousness quite on the same plane as our present consciousness4 7,this1 too--one may say in passing--probably explains the difficulty we experience in holding direct communication with the dead--the same sort of difficulty1 in fact1 that the outer mind during life has in directly reaching the inner mind47 ,myers#he speaks of our supraliminal life as merely a special phase of our whole personality1 and suggests that there are good reasons for thinking that there is a relation--8obscure but indisputable--between the subliminal and the surviving self40 ,under these circumstances it would seem natural to inquire what definite reasons there may be for thinking that the subliminal self survives2 and ,i shall occupy this chapter largely with that question4 7#a7 ,in the first place1 from the observed process of the generation and growth of the body from a microscopic origin1 we have already argued 7chapter vii47 the probability of the pre-existence in a sub-atomic or fourth-dimensional state of the being which is manifested in the body1 and therefore the probability of the continuance of that being after the dissolution of the body4 ,and this argument must include the ,under-self1 which is responsible for so much of the organization and growth and sustentation of the body1 as well as the ,upper2 and may well lead us to infer that both upper and under selves continue after death--only conjoined in some way1 and with some added experience gained during life4 7#b7 ,in the second place1 we are struck by the fact that continuous ,memory--which we decided to be the very necessary condition of survival--is just the thing which is so strong in the subjective being and so characteristic of it4 ,the huge stores of memory--and of quite personal and individual memory--which this being has at command1 their long dormancy and their extraordinary resurgence at times when conditions call them forth1 are a marvel to the investigator1 and make us feel that it is hardly probable that they are all swept away at death4 ,even if dormant at the time of death1 it seems not unlikely that here again later conditions may awake them once more to life4 ,but 7#c71 we have a great deal of evidence to show that1 as a matter of fact1 the underlying self is especially active at the moment of death4 ,the whole phenomenon of #8wraiths'--now in the mass so amply proved#hf--the projection of phantasms sometimes to an immense distance1#hg by persons in articulo mortis--goes to show its intense energy and vitality 7if one may use the word7 at that moment4 ,and the vivid resurgences of memory at the same moment 7or in any hour of danger7 point in the same direction4 ,t4 ,j4 ,hudson1 and others1 insist that the subjective mind never sleeps--that whatever drowsiness1 or faintness1 or languor may overpower the upper or self-conscious mind1 the under mind is still acutely awake and operant1 and if this is 7as it appears7 true with regard to sleep1 it may well also be so even with regard to death4 ,again 7#d71 the ,telsthetic faculty of the under-self 7,i mean during life7--its power of clairvoyantly perceiving things and events at a distance1 even in minutest details--is a very wonderful fact--a fact that is amply established1 and one that must give us pause4 ,here are vision and perception at work without eyes or ears1 or any of the usual bodily end-organs#hh--;and acting in such a way as to suggest or practically to prove that the soul has other channels or instruments of perception than those connected with the well-known outer body4 ,every one has heard of cases of this kind4 ,they are common on the borderland of sleep1 or in dreams1 and--what especially appeals to us here--they are very common in the hour of death4 ,if the soul 7as is evidently the case7 can perceive without the intermediation of mortal eye or ear2 then--though we may conclude that these special organs have been fashioned or developed for special terrene use--we may also conclude that1 without them1 it would still continue to exercise perception1 developing sight and hearing and other faculties along lines with which at present we are but slightly acquainted4 ,these faculties spring inevitably deep down out of ourselves1 and will recur again doubtless wherever we are4444 8,were your eyes destroyed1 still the faculty of sight were not destroyed2 out of the same roots again as before would another optic apparatus spring40#hi ,and the same may be said1 7#e71 about the telepathic faculty--that is1 the power 7not of perceiving1 but7 of sending impressions or messages to a distance4 ,this power which the under-self has of communicating with the under-selves of other persons1 and often at a great distance1 is one of the best-established facts in the new psychology2 and again1 it is very pregnant with inference4 ,it shows us the soul acting vividly along certain lines independent as far as we can see of the known body1 certainly along lines independent of the known organs of expression4 ,it compels us to conclude a possible and even probable activity quite apart from that body4 ,with this telepathic power1 or as an extension of it1 may be classed the image-projecting faculty1 which we have already seen to be peculiarly active in death4 ,and it may be appropriate here to notice that in quite a number of the cases of wraiths or phantasms projected 7in forty cases out of three hundred and sixteen as given by ,edmund ,gurney in ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r4 vol4 v4 p4 #djh7 the apparition was seen after the death had occurred--though within twenty-four hours after4 ,this may directly indicate an after-death activity of the person who projected the image1 or it may merely indicate a relay of the telepathic impression on its way1 or in the subconscious mind of the recipient1 previous to emerging in the latter's conscious mind4#ij ,all these things are strongly indicative4 ,they do not give the impression that at death the underlying self is in the act of perishing4 ,on the contrary1 they point to its continuance1 and if anything increased activity2 while at the same time the strongly personal character of many of the phenomena referred to--the wonderfully distinct personal memories1 the very personal images or phantasms projected1 the telepathic appeal to nearest and dearest friends--all suggest that the continuing activity does not merely tail off into an abstract life-force or vague stream of tendency1 but is of a distinctly personal or individual character4 ,there is another consideration1 7#f71 on which ,i may dwell for a moment here4 ,the passion of ,love1 whether considered in its physical or in its psychical and emotional aspects1 is notably a matter of the subjective or subliminal life4 ,the little self-conscious1 logical1 argumentative personality is completely routed by this passion1 which seems to spring from the great depths of being with ,titanic force1 full-armed in its own convictions1 and overturning all established orders and conventions4 ,it surely must give us a deep insight into the nature of that hidden self from which it springs4 ,yet nothing is more noticeable about the passion than its recklessness of mortal life--nothing more noticeable than its willingness to sacrifice all worldly prospects and the body itself in the pursuit of its ends4 ,even the most physical love1 as we have said already 7chapter vi471 has a strange relation to ,death1 and often slays the very object of its desire3-- 8,for each man kills the thing he loves1 ,though each man does not die40 ,while the more emotional form of the passion almost rejoices in its contempt of life and its willingness to face dangers and death for the sake of the beloved4 ,it says as plain as words3--8,i can fulfil myself and my purposes all right1 even without this mortal part which you hold so dear02 and unless we think that the hidden being who thus speaks is a perfect fool1 we must conclude that it is aware of a life surpassing that of the body4 ,such a continuing life we no doubt have evidence of1 and indeed commonly admit to exist1 in the ,race-life2 and as a first approximation it seems natural and obvious to interpret the underlying or subliminal self as being simply the ,race-self4 ,in the case of the lower and less developed forms of creation1 perhaps this is the wisest thing to do4 ,in default of more detailed and perfect knowledge1 we may easily assume that in a shoal of several million herrings or in a #8culture' of several billion microbes the underlying self of each particular herring or microbe is practically identical with the self of the race concerned4 ,but in the case of man and some of the higher animals it is not so easy to do this4 ,we find a strongly individual element in his subconscious mind1 which must also be accounted for4 ,i have already alluded to the stores of individual memory which this mind retains1 thus differentiating it from others2 and ,i have alluded to the intensely individual phantasms which it projects4 ,and now again we are brought face to face with the greatly individual character of its love-passion4 ,however much the love-passion may be symbolical of the life of the race1 and deeply implicated in the same 7and both of these it certainly is71 still--except in its lower forms--there is nothing vague and general and undifferentiated about that passion2 on the contrary1 it is most strongly personal and sharply outlined4 ,why is it that out of the hundred thousand people that a man may meet only one will arouse this tremendous response8 ,why is it that every great love in its depth seems different from every other8 ,do not these things suggest a profound difference of outline in the subconscious beings themselves from whom these loves proceed8 ,these beings are manifestations and organic expressions of the ,race--yes4 ,but they are also deeply individual and different--each one from the other4 ,and here we seem to come upon the first emergence of the solution of the problem before us4 ,the self of which we are in search has--especially through its subconscious part--a vast continuing life1 affiliated to the life of the race and beyond that to the cosmic life of the ,all2 but it also has a strongly individual outline and character4 ,nursed in the womb of the ,race during countless ages1 like a babe within its mother1 passing through numberless reincarnations in a kind of collective way1 and in more or less unconsciousness of its supreme and separate destiny1 it at last in ,man attains to the clear sense of individuality1 and 7through much suffering7 is set free to an independent existence2 being finally exhaled from earth-mortality into a cosmic life under other conditions of space and time than ours4 ,difficult as this conception of a continued individual existence may be to hold to in view of the terrible and external flux of general ,nature1 and difficult as it may be to understand in all detail2 yet1 as ,i say1 it is ,love which compels us to the insight of its truth4 ,it is ,love which has the clear conception of the uniqueness of the beloved1 it is love which positively refuses to believe in her 7or his7 annihilation1 it is love alone which in the hour of loss can face the awful midnight sky1 and dare to sing3-- 8,sleep sweetly1 tender heart1 in peace1 ,sleep1 holy ,spirit1 blessed soul6 ,while the stars burn1 the moons increase1 ,and the great ages onward roll40 ,and it is in the meeting of lovers that the heavens open1 allowing them to see--if only for a moment--the eternities to which they both belong4 ,there are no doubt other considerations--,i mean those connected with mediumistic and so-called spiritualistic phenomena--which point toward the conclusion of an individual survival of some kind after death2 but although this kind of evidence is likely to prove in the end of immense value1 it is possible that the time has not yet quite come when it can be completely substantiated1 tabulated1 and effectively utilized2 at any rate ,i do not feel myself in a position to so deal with it4 ,it has also to be said that a great deal of this evidence 7relating to actual communications from the dead7 is necessarily of so very personal a character that it can only appeal to the individual persons concerned1 and however convincing it may be to them does naturally not carry the same conviction to the world at large4 ,i shall therefore for the present pass these considerations by1 and1 on the strength of the arguments already brought forward1 assume the general truth of man's survival4 ,the course of the argument has been somewhat as follows4 ,in the first place1 we have urged the enormous possibilities 7disclosed by modern investigation7 of other life than that which we know--thus enlarging the bounds of the likely1 and weakening the argument from improbability4 ,in the second place1 we have pointed out that continuance of memory seems the best test of survival2 that even in our law courts 7as in a ,tichborne case7 it is not so much the facts of feature and form as the facts of memory which are relied on to prove identity4 ,thirdly1 we have argued that not only the supraliminal but also the subliminal self must be considered in this matter1 and that probably the surviving self will arise from a harmony or conjunction between these two4 ,fourthly1 we have shown that in respect of memory and many other matters the subliminal self shows a quite remarkable activity even in the hour of bodily death--which does not certainly suggest its decease and cessation from existence4 ,fifthly1 we have seen that all through life the soul has faculties 7of clairvoyance1 transposition of senses1 and so forth7 which point to its independence of the material body4 ,sixthly1 that through love it reaches a deep conviction of its own duration beyond the life of the body4 ,and1 seventhly1 we have suggested that it is largely through the supraliminal and self-conscious life that the sense of identity and individuality is educed and finally established4 ,proceeding1 then1 further along these lines1 the next and obvious question which arises is1 ,in what sort of body is this continuing life manifested8 ,that it must be manifested in some sort of body is1 ,i think1 clear4 ,if we had only arrived at the conclusion that at death the human being merged in the ,all-soul1 or became an indistinguishable portion of the #8,happy ,mass'--that his individual memory flowed out into the great ocean of the world-memory and became lost in it1 and that his power of individual action or perception passed away in like manner--why then the question of a continuing body could not well arise1 or at farthest stretch such body could only be thought of as something indistinguishable from the entire universe4 ,but if there is any truth in the idea of an individual survival1 then it seems clear that there must be some kind of form1 to mark the bounds of the individual1 and to give outline to his relations to other individuals--whether those relations be active and invasive or passive and receptive2 there must be some surface of resistance and separation4 ,with this question ,i shall deal in the next chapter4 ,before1 however1 going into any definite theory of this #8soul-body1' it may be useful to dwell for a moment on general considerations4 ,in the first place1 it is clear that if the individual survives1 he does not do so in any fixed and unchanging form4 ,the form of the individual is not fixed in this earth-life2 nor can we expect or wish it to be so in any other life4 ,as long as there is a continuous stream of experience and memory1 going on from this life to another life1 and from that perchance to others--that is all we can expect to find4 ,there may1 indeed1 be a fixed and transcendent ,individuality1 an aspect of the ,universal1 at the root of all these experiences1 but with that we are hardly concerned at this moment--only with the stream of personal manifestations which proceed from it--everchanging yet linked together from hour to hour4 ,in the second place1 though we have dwelt upon and emphasized the idea of separateness and differentiation1 in the surviving self1 in contra-distinction to the idea of fusion in a formless aggregate1 yet it is clear here too that the common life and bonds must hold individuals together1 just as much as1 if not more than1 in the earth-life4 ,the salient facts of telepathy1 sympathy1 clairvoyance1 and so forth convince us that souls1 freed to some extent from their grosser present envelopes1 will react upon each other in the future1 or in that farther world1 more swiftly and more intimately than they do now4 ,and as they progress from stage to stage1 developing individualities and differences always on a grander and grander scale1 so they will also develop through love their organic union with each other4 ,it seems possible1 indeed1 that growth will largely take place through love-fusion2 till at length1 rising into the highest ranges of combined ,individuality and ,universality1 the transformed consciousness of each soul will take on its true quality--8that of space itself--which is at rest everywhere40 ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,inner ,,or ,,spiritual ,,body ,in order to form a conception of what kind of body the surviving ,self may have1 it seems best for the moment to go back to the genesis of our present body4 ,we saw 7chapter vii47 that we were compelled to suppose1 even in the first germ of our actual body an intelligent form of some kind at work1 which while gathering up and representing race-memories of the past1 presided over and directed their rehabilitation in the present1 thus building up the present body according to a certain pattern--7though subject of course to modification by outer difficulties and obstacles74 ,from the very first1 the exceeding complexity and delicacy of the movements within the germ-cells1 combined with the decisiveness of their divisions and differentiations1 and the perfection and adaptation of the bodily structures and organs ultimately produced1 all point in the suggested direction4#ia ,at the same time1 we were compelled to conclude that this form1 whose first manifestations in the tiny germ-cell evidently originate from quite ultra-microscopic movements1 was itself invisible1 invisible through belonging either to an ultra-microscopic world1 or to a world of a fourth-dimensional or other order of existence4 ,i think1 therefore1 that for the present we may accept that conclusion1 and fairly suppose that some such invisible form underlies the genesis of each of our bodies4 ,but at the same time the conclusion of invisibility must not be supposed to carry with it the conclusion of immateriality4 ,quite the contrary4 ,a creature living in the two-dimensional world formed by the water-film on the surface of a pond might have no conception of the water-world below or the air-world above--both of which might be quite invisible to it2 all the same a fish or a bird breaking through the surface would instantly cause some very powerful and very material phenomena there6 ,and again1 though atoms and electrons individually may be quite invisible1 it is only a question of their number and the force of their electric charges1 as to how far they intrude upon what we call the material world4 ,also1 we must remember that invisibility or imperceptibility does not by any means imply non-occupation of space4 ,on the contrary again4 ,for four-dimensional existence carries with it an occupation of space which is quite miraculous to us--as1 for instance1 the power of appearing in two places at the same time2 while a number of ultra-microscopic atoms1 by their electrostatic attractions and repulsions1 may maintain definite relations of distance from each other1 and may altogether constitute a cloud of considerable size and complex organization--quite imperceptible as a rule1 yet occupying a definite area and fully capable of affecting material things4 ,it may be a question1 then1 whether it is not some such invisible cloud--perhaps of quite human size and measurement--which at conception begins to enter the fertilized germ-cell1 stimulating it to division1 and penetrating further and further into the newly-formed body-cells1 as by thousands and millions they divide and multiply to form the growing organism4 ,whatever it is1 it is something of infinitely subtle organization and constitution1 representing the inmost vitality of the body1 and not that inmost vitality in a merely general sense1 but the vitality of every portion and section of the body4 ,it establishes itself within the gross body 7or it builds that body round itself7 and becomes the organizer and provider of its life2 maintains its form and structure during life1 fortifies it against change and disease1 and wards off as long as it can the arrival of death4 ,what1 then1 of ,death8 ,why1 granted so much as we have supposed1 it seems easy to suppose that at death this inner body passes away again4 ,it just leaves the gross body behind and passes out of it4 ,for a fourth-dimensional being this must be easy to do6 ,but not to presume too much on other-dimensional conditions1 if we only assume the inner body to be such a cloud of atoms or electrons as already mentioned1 the passage of such atoms through the tissues of the gross body would be entirely in accordance with the well-known facts of osmose and the diffusion of liquids and gases1 and would present no exceptional or impossible problem4 ,through cell-walls and muscular and other tissues such atoms would pass1 conceivably maintaining still their relative #8form' and organization with regard to each other1 and forming a cloud similar to that which entered the germ and other cells at conception 7though of course so far modified by the life-experience71 and leaving now the gross body devitalized1 and doomed to slow corruption and to serve only as material for lower forms4 99 99 99 99 99 ,one would not1 of course1 venture on conjectures so speculative as the above1 if it were not that long tradition and history1 and even modern experience1 so singularly confirm or favor their general truth4 ,the conception of a cloud-like ghost--sometimes visible1 sometimes invisible#ib--leaving the body at death1 roaming through the fields of ,hades or some hidden world1 and from time to time revisiting the glimpses of the moon and the gaze of wondering mortals--penetrates all literature and tradition4 ,among all primitive peoples it seems to be accepted as a matter of course2 it informs the legends and the drama and the philosophies of the more cultivated2 it claims detailed historical instances and proofs#ic 7as in the case of ,field-marshal von ,grumbkoff1 to whom the wraith of ,king ,frederick ,augustus announced his own death--which had just occurred2 or in the case of the poet ,petrarch1 to whom ,bishop ,colonna made a similar announcement72 and in modern times it has met with extraordinary and in many quarters quite unexpected confirmation at the hands of scientific investigation4 ,to this evidence of general probability that at death a vital and subtle yet substantial inner body is withdrawn from every part and portion of the gross body1 we may add the evidence1 such as it is1 from actual sensation and experience4 ,in the hour of death and in allied physical changes sensations are experienced corresponding to such a conclusion4 ,though necessarily there is little quite direct evidence1 for the actual moment of death1 yet in the just preceding stage1 of extreme weakness1 the sensation of depletion in every part of the body1 and of withdrawal1 as of a hand being drawn out of a glove1 is very noticeable4 7,and it may be remarked that clairvoyants not unfrequently observe1 at death itself1 a luminous cloud of the general outline and shape of the dying person being slowly distilled1 head first1 from his or her head47 ,furthermore1 in the state of ecstasy--which is closely allied to death--the same sensation of withdrawal is experienced4 ,the person seems to himself to stand outside and a little beyond his own body--and doubtless this experience is denoted in the very etymology of the word4 ,in trance the same3 the medium experiences the extreme of exhaustion while some portion of her vital being is functioning 7as it appears7 outside4 ,under ansthetics it is a common experience to dream that one has left the body and is flying through space4 7,see ,the ,art of ,creation1 p4 #ah47 ,and again1 in the case of love--whose close relation to death we have several times already noted--whether it be in the strain of emotional desire or the stress of the physical orgasm this #8hand from the glove' sensation is often most acute and seems to suggest that every portion of the body is contributing its part to the process in hand2 which indeed in this case of love may very fairly be supposed to consist in a transfer of the cloud-like organism 7or a large part of it7 to the other person concerned4 ,there are cases1 too1 where in a kind of dream-consciousness the sensation of the self passing out through walls and other obstacles is so powerful as to leave an impress on the mind ever after4 ,such is the case already alluded to 7chapter viii4 p4 #adh1 supra7 from ,footfalls on the ,boundary of ,another ,world1 where a lady half waking from sleep 8felt herself carried to the wall of her room1 with a feeling that it must arrest her further progress4 ,but no2 she seemed to pass through it into the open air4 ,outside the house was a tree2 and this also she appeared to traverse as if it interposed no obstacle40 ,she thus passed to the house of a lady friend1 held a conversation with her1 and in her dream returned4 ,but afterward the friend reported that she had seen the apparition that night and conversed with it4 ,similarly a young friend of mine1 dreaming one night that his mother 7in the same house7 was ill1 was intensely conscious of dashing--not along corridors and through doorways but through the partition walls of two rooms--into the chamber where his mother slept1 when finding her all right he returned2 and the experience was so vivid that it remained with him for days afterward4 ,taking all these considerations together1 we may say that there is a strong general probability in favor of the proposition put forward4 ,and it is interesting and important to find that at this juncture modern science is coming out from her old haunts and beginning seriously to tackle a question which she has hitherto for the most part evaded or ignored4 ,the whole of the psychology and even physiology of ,death have 7as ,i have previously remarked7 been sadly neglected2 but now and of late quite a number of books on this subject have been published1#id and a good deal of scientific activity is moving in that direction4 ,professor ,fournier d',albe1 in his book ,new ,light on ,immortality1#ie has made some very interesting suggestions--which though they may not as yet be accounted more than suggestions1 seem to be in the right direction1 and certainly acquire some authority from his intimate command of the modern discoveries in ,physics as well as in the field of ,psychical ,research4 ,his view is that every one of the twenty-five thousand million million cells which constitute say the human body has probably some #8centrosome' or other vital point within it1 which is in fact the governing and organizing power of that cell4 ,such point or collection of points1 though #8material1' may likely weigh only a ten-thousandth part of the cell-weight4 ,hence if this #8soul' was abstracted from each cell1 the total weight of the twenty-five thousand billion souls resulting would be only a ten-thousandth part of the body weight1 or about a fifth of an ounce6 ,but these soul-fragments or psychomeres as he calls them1 would together make up the total soul of the man1 and--as already explained--might not only by their negative and positive charges maintain certain spatial relations and organization with regard to each other1 but would1 owing to their extreme minuteness1 easily pass through the tissues and liberate themselves from the gross body4 ,thus a human soul1 weighing a fraction only of an ounce1 but of like shape and size to the human body1 and of intense vitality and subtlety1 might disengage itself at death1 to begin a fresh career and to enter into a new life--leaving the existing body to fall to ruin and decay4 ,further1 ,professor ,fournier d',albe1 greatly bold in speculation1 surmises that such a spiritual body1 discharging the atmosphere from its interior frame1 might quite naturally rise in the air till it attained its position of equilibrium at a great height up--say in a region #ce-hj miles over the earth1 which would thus become the 7first7 abode of the departed4 ,whatever may be said about the details of this theory1 and whatever difficulties they may present1 the main outlines--as ,i have already indicated--seem quite feasible and probable1 and in line with world-old belief and tradition4 ,and certain details 7which we shall return to again7 are powerfully corroborated by modern observation4 ,meanwhile it is interesting to find1 in corroboration of the general theory1 that some experiments lately carried out1 in weighing the body before and after death1 have apparently yielded the result of a decided loss of weight at or very shortly after1 the moment of ,death4 ,dr4 ,duncan ,m#8,dougall1 experimenting with considerable care1 found that one of his patients lost ounce precisely at death2#if another lost ounce1 with an additional loss of #a ounce during the next few minutes1 after which no further loss took place2 another yielded very nearly the same result2 and so on4 ,thus we have the old ,egyptian idea of the weighing of the soul after death resuscitated in a very practical form in modern times--only with the medical practitioner in the place of ,thoth1 the great assessor of the ,underworld6 ,and it would be satisfactory to know how far modern observation of a normal soul weight corresponds with ancient speculation in the matter4 ,it is curious anyhow to find that ,fournier d',albe's estimates are so nearly corroborated by ,dr4 ,m#8,dougall2 and we must await with interest further and perhaps more detailed observations along the same line4 ,another line along which something seems to have been done by hard and fast science to corroborate the general theory of the extrusion of a cloud-like spirit form from the body at death1 is in the matter of photography4 ,dr4 ,baraduc1 in his book1 ,mes ,morts3 leurs manifestations 7#aijh71 gives an account of photographs which he took of his wife's body within an hour after death and of his son's body 7in the coffin7 nine hours after death4 ,when developed the plates all showed cloud-like emanations hovering over the corpses1 not certainly having definite human outline1 but apparently shot through by lines and streaks of light4 ,and though here again the experiments are not conclusive1 they so far are corroborative1 and may be taken to indicate a direction for further inquiry4 ,this last ,i think we are especially entitled to say1 on account of what has been already done in the way of photographing the cloud-figures 7some of them very definite in outline7 which are found to emanate on occasions from mediums in the state of trance4 ,for notwithstanding the doubt which has commonly been cast on all such photographs and notwithstanding the very obvious ease with which cameras can be manipulated and shadow-figures of some kind fraudulently produced1 the evidence for the genuineness of some such #8spirit' photographs is--to any one who really studies it--beyond question4 ,the celebrated 8,katie ,king10 who appeared at seances in connection with the medium ,florence ,cook1 and during a period of two years or more was seen by some hundreds of people--and especially studied by ,sir ,william ,crookes--was photographed several times under test conditions4#ig ,professor ,charles ,richet1 who when he first heard of ,crookes' conclusions was convulsed with laughter over their supposed absurdity1 afterward confessed his error1#ih for time after time he not only saw a phantasm 78,beni ,boa07 in connection with the ,algerian medium ,aisha1 but obtained photographs of the same4#ii ,dr4 ,a4 ,r4 ,wallace1 in a long note1 pp4 #aij1 #aia of his book1 ,miracles and ,modern ,spiritualism1 gives a careful description of his own experiments in this line4 ,several different figures were at different times photographed in connection with ,mme4 ,d',esprance2 and the very detailed account1 with illustrations1 which she gives of these phenomena in ch4 xxvii4 of her book1 ,shadowland1 must give the unbeliever pause4 ,and so on4#ajj ,the evidence is so abundant1 and so on the whole so well confirmed1 that we are practically now compelled to admit 7and this is the point in hand7 that cloud-like forms of human outline emanating from a medium's or other person's living body may at times be caught by the photographic plate4 ,and this is important because it removes the phenomenon from the region of the fanciful or imaginative and gives it automatic and objective registration4 ,that these forms occurring and occasionally photographed in connection with mediums are independent #8spirits' or souls is of course in no way assumed4 ,they may be such1 or 7what seems more likely7 they may be simply extensions of the spiritual or inner body of the medium4 ,the point that interests us here is that their appearance in either case points to the actual existence of such an inner body1 capable of becoming extruded from the gross body1 and of becoming the seat and manifestation of intelligence4 ,further than that we need not go at present4 ,but it will be objected1 if the inner or spiritual body is1 as has just been supposed1 of such a subtle and tenuous nature as to be in itself quite invisible1 what connection can this have with phantoms that can be photographed1 or that can be seen1 or that can be actually touched and handled8 ,this question--the question as to how an excessively rare and tenuous and invisible being may gradually condense and materialize so as to come first within the region of photographic activity1 and then within the region of normal visibility1 and so on into audible and tangible and material existence and operation1 ,i shall discuss more at length in the next chapter4 ,suffice it here to point out that the general consensus of thoughtful opinion on this subject at the present time points to a probable condensation of some kind1 and utilization of such suitable materials as may be to hand1 by which the subtle inner body gradually clothes itself in an outer and denser garment4 ,whether with ,fournier d',albe we suppose a soul-like core to every single cell1 or whether we take a more diffused and general view1 in any case we seem compelled to believe that our actual bodies are carried on by organizing powers distributed in centres throughout the body4#aja ,if by any means these vital centres were separated from the gross body1 it would still seem natural for them to continue their organizing activity whenever they were surrounded with suitable material4 ,and if1 as seems likely1 in the case of mediums and seances1 a considerable quantity of loose floating organic material is commonly evolved from the bodies of those present1 such effluences might be quickly caught up and condensed by any such vital centres present into more or less visible forms and figures4 ,if1 by way of illustration1 we were to suppose an army-corps to represent a gross body1 then the officers1 from corporals to general1 would represent the inner or organizing soul2 and all these officers together1 though really being a #8body1' would constitute a mass so small and so scattered compared with the mass-body of the army1 that in comparison they would be invisible1 and might easily all pass out and away from the army without being observed4 ,they might pass out and conceivably organize another army-corps elsewhere2 but the result on that left behind 7of which they were really the soul7 would soon be seen in its complete disintegration and collapse4 ,now suppose further that in a neighboring nation1 across the frontier1 there was a great deal of disaffection existing--that large masses of the people there were out of touch with their own ,government 7the case of a medium in trance71 and waiting for some one to come and organize them4 ,then it is easy to imagine the small group of officers aforesaid passing across the frontier 7quite unseen and unobserved7 and immediately on doing so finding ready to their hands a quantity of material just suitable for their activity4 ,in a wonderfully short time the various officers would begin to organize the various departments of a new army-corps2 the people would flock to their standard4 ,even in a day or two the faint outline of a new political form or movement would show itself2 and in a week this might become substantial enough to exhibit serious manifestations of force6 ,the general application of this to the question in hand is obvious enough4 ,but there is another point which it illustrates--a point which we have raised before4 ,i am convinced that science will never yield any very fruitful understanding of the world1 until it recognizes that life and intelligence 7of course in the broadest signification7 pervade all the phenomena of ,nature4 ,it is perfectly useless to try to explain human development1 human destiny1 mental activity1 the forces of nature1 and so forth1 in terms of dead matter4 ,no explanation of such a kind could possibly be satisfying4 ,and more and more it is becoming clear that even what we call the inorganic world is as subtle and swift in its responses as what we call the organic4 ,many difficulties must inevitably arise in any attempted solution of the problem before us--that problem which is generally denoted by 8the nature of the soul and its relation to the body02 but we shall never arrive at any harmonious view of the whole question until we are persuaded1 and practically assume1 that life and intelligence in some degree are characteristic of all that we call #8matter' as well as of all we call mind1 and pervade the whole structure of the universe4 ,we shall then see that the forces1 for instance1 which organize and direct the human body1 even down to its minutest parts1 are probably just as individual and intelligent in their action as those 7to take the example just given7 which organize and direct an army-corps4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,on ,,the ,,creation ,,and ,,materialization ,,of ,,forms ,i have suggested more than once1 in preceding chapters of this book1 and in ,the ,art of ,creation and elsewhere1 that in the ordinary evolution of thought1 in dreams1 in trance and in other psychic states1 we are witness of a process which is continually and eternally going on1 by which the faintest invisible forms and outlines1 the nearest cloud-currents of the inner soul1 gradually condense themselves1 pass into visibility1 tangibility1 and so forth1 and 7if the process is continued7 ultimately take their place among the substantial things of the outer world4 ,hitherto this thought has been applied in certain departments of inquiry1 but ,i am of impression that its considerable and world-wide significance has been missed4 ,freud1 in his ,traumdeutung1 insists that behind the dream1 and inspiring its action and symbolism there always lurks an emotion1 a desire1 a wish4 ,and ,havelock ,ellis 7though with due caution7 corroborates this4 ,he speaks#ajb of 8the controlling power of emotion on dream-ideas10 and says1 8the fundamental source of our dream-life may be said to be emotion40 ,that is1 an emotion 7from whatever source7 arises in the mind4 ,vague and cloudlike at first1 it presently takes form1 and 7if in sleep7 clothes itself with the imagery of a dream1 which becomes at last vivid and dramatic and real1 to a degree which astounds us4 ,but dream-life is only a paraphrase1 so to speak1 of waking life--a phase largely corresponding to the waking life of children#ajc and animals2 and in waking life the same thing happens4 ,a wish or desire appears in the background of the mind2 it moves forward and becomes a definite thought and a plan2 then it moves forward again and becomes an action2 the action creates a result2 and the desire finally establishes itself or its image in the actual world4 ,these emotions and desires and the images which sprung from them have a certain vitality and growth-power of their own4 ,the figures in dreams move of themselves and concatenate with each other of their own accord--much as the figures do in a drama1 as ,coleridge long ago observed--and as the waking thoughts of all of us do1 when we leave them a little to themselves and to go with loose rein4 ,more than that2 in some cases waking thoughts or passions become powerful enough to take possession of the whole man and embody themselves in his deeds--sometimes to heroic1 sometimes to criminal ends4 ,or1 taking possession of portions of the man1 they precipitate conflict within him4 ,the dramatic quality of dreams is evidently due to the different figures or incidents of the dream being inspired by different qualities or experiences of the dreamer2 and in the waking man the same process may lead to tragic struggles and disintegrations of personality4 ,in hysteric patients1 where the central controlling power is weak1 the very thought or fear of a disease may seize upon a certain centre in the body and stimulate there all the symptoms of that disease2 or a mental image may seize upon a certain portion of the brain1 and break up the personality with strange new manifestations4 ,in all these cases1 and scores of others which we cannot consider now1 the same action is taking place--by which invisible psychic and spiritual forces1 for good or evil1 are ever pressing forward into the manifest1 and condensing themselves into visible and even tangible forms1 or taking possession of existing forms for the purpose of expression and manifestation4 ,and here we have 7as ,i think will be seen one day7 the whole rationale of ,creation--we have the conception which brings into line the phenomena of the visible and material world and their genesis1 with the genesis of thoughts in our own minds1 and their passage into visibility and expression2 we have the conception which unites the mental and material1 and which makes the whole ,creation luminous with meaning4 ,especially is this obvious to-day1 when the theory of electrons is introducing us to a world as far finer and subtler than the atom1 as the atom is finer and subtler than the tangible world of our experience2 and is suggesting that these finest states of matter are of the nature of electrical charges1 which1 again1 are quite analogous to mental states4#ajd ,thus we have1 almost forced upon us as the key to the creation of visible forms1 the conception1 of a process of condensation by which the most subtle thought and emotion does in course of time 7brief or lengthy7 tend to manifest itself in material shape1 and may ultimately take on the most persistent and quasi-indestructible forms4 99 99 99 99 99 ,reverting1 then1 to the subject of last chapter1 we see that a #8spiritual' body--that is1 a material body of a texture so fine and so swiftly plastic as to be the analogue of thought--is a conception quite in line with the conclusions of modern science2 and that granted the existence of such a thing1 it is quite in line also to conclude that it would tend toward condensation and manifestation in grosser and more visible form4 ,i gave in that chapter some general outline of how such condensation might take place4 ,i now propose to consider this process more in detail1 and to give some evidence as to its actually taking place4 ,there is something perhaps a little comic about the idea of spirit photography--something which has thus helped to retard its acceptance4 ,the busy photographer with his camera is so banal1 and sometimes so obnoxious1 a figure1 that to think of him photographing a ghost1 or the spirit of a dead relation1 verges on bathos or the burlesque4 ,nevertheless1 ,nature does not attend to our canons in such matters1 and in reality the thing is perfectly feasible and in order4 ,it is well known that the photographic plate is most sensitive to the violet end of the spectrum--that it is this end which has the actinic quality4 ,moreover1 it is known that the actinic quality extends beyond this end1 and that there are ultra-violet rays which we cannot see1 and which yet are photographically powerful4 ,but the violet rays1 as is also well known1 are those whose light-waves are smallest--being only about half the size of the red waves2#aje and the ultra-violet rays are still smaller4 ,consequently1 by means of the violet end of the spectrum1 information can be got about small objects and infinitesimal details which would elude the more ordinary light4 ,a particle1 in fact1 may be so small that it would reflect the violet waves1 while it would be unable to reflect the red--just as a boat floating on the water will reflect and turn back tiny ripples1 while it will simply be tossed about by good-sized waves4 ,advantage has been taken of this in microscopy1 and by ingenious arrangements photographs of objects under the microscope can now be taken by ultra-violet light1 so as to show the very minutest details4 ,the application of this to the question before us is clear4 ,if there be a spiritual body1 composed of particles so infinitesimal as to be--to begin with--far beyond the limits of visibility1 yet gradually condensing and accreting to themselves other and subsidiary particles1 there might come a time when such a cloud-form would approach the limit of visibility--the molecules of which it was composed having grown so far4 ,it would be perfectly natural1 then1 for a body composed of such molecules to come into the region of possible photography in the camera through the ultra-violet rays before it came into the region of visibility to the human eye by means of ordinary light4 ,and thus the seeming paradox may be accounted for--of the appearance of spirit-forms1 or even thought-forms1 on the photographic plate which are not yet discernible by the eye4 ,at a later stage of materialization the form may of course yield an image both to the eye and to the camera4#ajf ,again1 in this connection1 it is often urged against the reality of spirit-forms1 ghosts1 and so forth1 that they cannot bear a strong light2 and this is held to dispose of all their claims for consideration4 ,but what has just been said shows that on the contrary such an effect is just what might be expected4 ,the delicate growing structure1 whose particles were just large enough to reflect the smaller light-waves1 might easily be broken up and quite disintegrated by the larger and more powerful weaves of a strong glare--just as1 in fact1 our forms1 which can endure light1 are broken up and disintegrated by the still larger waves of intense heat4 ,katie ,king1 who1 as before mentioned1 appeared so many times in connection with the medium ,florence ,cook1 was frequently seen to fade away if the light was too strong4 8,at the earlier seances she could only come out of the cabinet for a few seconds at a time1 once or twice during the seance2 she had to go back quickly into the cabinet to gather fresh power from her medium1 saying that the strong and unaccustomed brilliancy of the light made her #8melt quite away4'0#ajg ,and ,nepenthes1 that finely formed and beautiful figure which appeared in connection with ,mme4 ,d',esprance1 was more than once seen1 by a large company assembled1 to walk by the side of the medium up to the open ,french window at the end of the room and then to disappear as she came into the full daylight4#ajh ,photographs1 it may be noticed1 of forms appearing at seances1 or in connection with sitters1 vary from mere cloudlike masses without or almost without shape to very distinct human figures with much detail of feature and dress1#aji--the same figure being often recognized in various stages of clearness and definition4 ,and this is interesting because it entirely corroborates the observations made in hundreds of seances1 and in other cases1 in which a form is first distinguished by the eye as a faintly luminous cloud1 and gradually grows in distinctness and definition till it becomes visible in all detail1 and even tangible4 ,mme4 ,d',esprance1 whose book1 ,shadowland1 should be read on account of its intelligent handling and obvious sincerity1 as well as on account of the remarkable phenomena reported1 describes 7p4 #aea7 the first occasion on which a #8materialization' appeared to her3--8,one evening1 for some reason or other1 we were sitting without a lighted lamp4 ,the daylight had not faded when we commenced the sitting1 but though it grew dark no one suggested making a light4 ,happening to glance over to the part of the room where the shadows were deepest it seemed to me that there was a curious cloudy luminosity standing out distinct and clear from the darkness4 ,i watched it for a minute or two without saying anything1 wondering where it came from and how it was caused4 ,i thought it must be a reflection from the street lamps outside1 though ,i had never seen it like that before4 ,while ,i watched1 the luminous cloud seemed to concentrate itself1 become substantial1 and form itself into a figure of a child1 illuminated as it were by daylight that did not shine on it but1 somehow1 from within it--the darkness of the room seeming to act as a background1 throwing up by contrast every curve of the form and every feature into strong relief40 ,and in another passage she says3--8,as soon as ,i have entered the mediumistic cabinet my first impression is of being covered with spider webs4 ,then ,i feel that the air is filled with substance1 and a kind of white and vaporous mass1 quasi-luminous1 like the steam from a locomotive1 is formed in front of the abdomen4 ,after this mass has been tossed and agitated in every way for some minutes1 sometimes even for half-an-hour1 it suddenly stops1 and then out of it is born a living being close by me40#aaj ,another figure--that of ,yolande 7a young woman7--is mentioned in the same book 7p4 #bed7 as appearing again and again out of such a filmy cloudy patch on the floor4 ,similarly1 ,professor ,richet noticed over and over again the outgrowth of a figure 7,beni ,boa7 from a white cloud4 8,near the cabinet we could see1 betwixt the curtain and the table1 a whitish globe forming1 luminous1 and rotating on the floor2 from this globe ,beni ,boa sprang40 ,the figure would then walk round the room and disappear again2 but after a time the white cloud would again form and ,beni ,boa reappear4 ,and ,professor ,lombroso1 alluding to this1 says3#aaa--8,this observation is of great importance1 since it is not possible to attribute to fraud the formation of a luminous patch on the floor which transforms itself into a living being40 ,further1 ,lombroso says3--8,five photographs were obtained at these sittings by magnesium and chlorate of potash light1 with a ,kodak and with a ,richard stereoscopic apparatus simultaneously1 which fact excludes the possibility of photographic fraud2 and all the plates were developed in ,algeria by an optician who was unaware of what had preceded4 ,on the plates appeared a tall figure wrapped in a white mantle0 7and similar to the figure which the seven sitters present at the seances had seen74 ,i have alluded to this cloud-formation before as characteristic of an early stage of the appearance of these figures1 and as suggesting a process of condensation going on4 ,lombroso1 from various considerations which he brings forward 7p4 #ahe71aab seems convinced that the phenomena of these forms are largely connected with radio-activity4 ,he says3--8,it would seem that these bodies belong to that further state of matter1 the radiant state1 which now at last has established a firm footing in science--and which thus offers the only hypothesis which can reconcile the ancient and universal belief in the persistence of some form of life after death with the postulates of science which maintain that without organ there can be no function40 ,this radio-active condition of matter is of course that finest and most active state represented by the electrons--in which each electron is excessively minute1#aac yet moves at enormous speed1 and carries with it an electric charge4 ,it connects itself with condensation in this way1 that 8an electric charge assists vapor to condense10 and 8where ions 7i4e4 positively or negatively charged particles7 are present in considerable numbers a thick mist will form whenever the space is saturated with vapor40#aad ,and ,fournier d',albe says3#aae--8;,in the physical theory of ionization and condensation we have become familiar with the fact that the smallest charged particles are the most effective promoters of condensation4 ,in fact1 it would suffice to extract a very small proportion of the innumerable electrons within the body to bring about a vigorous condensation in the moist air around it40 ,thus it is quite probable that the cloud-formation1 which in general precedes the manifestation of distinct figures1 is due to condensation1 and in part at any rate to a condensation of water-vapor on the accreting particles of the spirit-body4 ,and this is made the more probable by the strong sensation of cold which so frequently accompanies these appearances1 and which is a common accompaniment of condensation4 ,crookes1 in his ,researches1 emphasizes this in connection with almost all the phenomena1 and says#aaf they 8are generally preceded by a peculiar cold air1 sometimes amounting to a decided wind4 ,i have had sheets of paper blown about by it1 and a thermometer lowered several degrees4 ,on some occasions 444 the cold has been so intense that ,i could only compare it to that felt when the hand has been within a few inches of frozen mercury40 ,some such sensation seems to be quite a common experience1 and the authoress of ,shadowland1 speaking of her earlier sittings 7p4 #bbh71 says3--8,it was not long before the same strange disturbances in the air began as on the previous occasion4 ,i felt my hair blown and lifted by currents of air1 and cool breezes played about my face and hands40 ,thus 7with the corroborating evidence of ,crookes' thermometer7 we may suppose that1 after all1 the cold airs and shivering sensations which seem so often to accompany apparitions may not be merely subjective to the observer1 but may be real phenomena due to physical condensations taking place in his immediate proximity4 ,moreover1 it has to be noted that the condensations may not be merely of water-vapor1 but of other substances as well1 namely 7according to an opinion now gaining ground71 of fine matter or effluences provided by the bodies of the sitters present 7or some of them7 as well as by the body of the medium4 ,the passage last quoted from ,shadowland continues3 8then began a strange sensation1 which ,i had sometimes felt at seances4 ,frequently ,i have heard it described by others as of cobwebs being passed over the face1 but to me1 who watched it curiously1 it seemed that ,i could feel fine threads being drawn out of the pores of my skin40 ,and in another passage#aag the same writer describes the cloud which precedes a materialization as 8a slightly luminous haze0 which often appears 8about the head1 shoulders1 elbows and sometimes the knees and feet 7of the medium74 ,frequently it gathers slowly at the fingers1 increasing in density till it resembles a slight transparent film of slightly luminous cotton wool40 ,further1 she explains that it goes on condensing till it becomes cobwebby and perceptible to touch4 ,the evidence generally seems to show that these clouds are of the nature of effluences from the medium or other person present2 and the above quotation affords corroboration of that view and makes easily intelligible the great exhaustion from which mediums often suffer on these occasions4 ,it suggests also that the condensation is by no means of water-vapor only1 but of other substances drawn from the interior vitality of the persons concerned1 and necessary for the building up of the apparitional form4 ,it is difficult in the case1 for instance1 of 8,katie ,king10 who1 as already said1 appeared hundreds of times during two or three years1 or of ,estella ,martha1 who appeared to her husband during five years and in #chj or more seances in connection with the medium ,kate ,fox1#aah not to believe that such figures are 7as we should say7 really the individuals they profess to be1 and not mere thought-forms or images projected from the medium's under-mind4 ,but whichever view we take1 it is obvious that they are centres in some degree1 of intelligent force or vitality1 centres which1 though in their essence rare and tenuous as thought or feeling1 succeed in clothing themselves with a certain grade of corporeality by the use of the materials at hand1 and in so coming into visible manifestation4 ,and this general view is confirmed by the fact1 so often observed1 that when the same figure appears repeatedly1 it does1 as time goes on1 acquire skill and adroitness in carrying out the process of condensation or whatever it is1 which is concerned1 and consequently comes into manifestation and activity more quickly and decisively4 ,also1 it may be noted1 and has often been observed 7as in the case of the said ,estella ,martha and many others71 that by practice the figure attains the power of enduring strong light--that is1 its state of condensation reaches a point of solidity almost comparable with that of our tissues1 which are not as a rule disintegrated by light4 ,the radio-activity of the #8inner being' also helps to explain the extraordinary manifestations of sheer physical force in these connections4 ,some of these manifestations have been so astonishing1 that the fact alone has caused them to be disbelieved2 but though1 of course1 fraud has played a part in such phenomena1 and has to be guarded against1 it is now quite evident that in a multitude of cases fraud does not enter at all4 ,eusapia ,paladino1 for instance--though capable of little fraudulences--was obviously the seat of extraordinary powers not to be explained by these4 ,mr4 ,carrington1 who made a special study of this medium1 and who 7as ,i have said before7 has also made a special study of fraudulent methods in so-called spiritualism1 vouches most strongly for the great exhibitions of inexplicable force in her vicinity--especially perhaps in the way of levitations4 ,he says3--8,every one who has studied ,eusapia's phenomena knows that practically every seance 7for some reason7 commences with table-levitations--this1 whether they are wanted or not6 ,it seems the necessary programme1 and it is almost invariably carried out4 ,seeing them time after time1 one can obtain a very fair idea of their nature and reality4 ,and ,i may say that ,i now consider levitations as well established as any other physical facts4 ,they are not open to the objection to which most psychical phenomena are subjected--that they cannot be repeated or induced and studied experimentally1 as one would study other physical facts--for they can be induced and studied in just this laboratory manner4 ,i have probably seen several hundreds of these levitations now1 under every conceivable condition and in excellent light1 and ,i consider them so far established that1 as ,count ,solovovo said1 8the burden of proof is now on the man who asserts that they are not real1 not upon the man who asserts that they are40 ,these are pretty strong words1 and by a very responsible observer6 ,and then ,mr4 ,carrington proceeds with a detailed account of these and other physical phenomena4#aai ,some years ago1 the reports and accounts of such phenomena were generally at once dismissed as absurd and incredible2 but by a remarkable coincidence the last few years have seen the wonderful development of the science of radio-activity--dating from the epoch-making experiments of ,crookes1 in #ahgi and earlier4 ,these experiments1 curiously enough1 were worked out during much of the same period as ,crookes' researches into spiritualistic phenomena1 and have led to the shedding of much light upon the latter4 ,for the new science developed from them1 and already more or less popularized1#abj compels us to suppose that the most enormous forces lurk all around1 within the very structure of the atom itself--which of course is totally invisible to our eyes4 ,the new facts observed1 with regard to radium and other such substances1 seem to compel the supposition that each atom is composed of an immense number 7say #ajj1jjj7 of highly charged electrical particles moving each with huge velocity--a velocity at any rate comparable to that of light4 ,the dissociation of such atoms and the liberation of their constituent particles develops a fabulous energy4 ,when it is calculated that one gramme or fifteen grains of matter 7say the weight of thirty postage stamps7 moving with the speed of light1 would have energy enough to lift the ,british ,navy to the top of ,ben ,nevis 7,crookes72 or that one milligramme 7say the sixty-sixth part of a grain of wheat7 at the same speed would represent the energy of fifteen million foot-tons 7,lodge72 or when1 according to ,j4 ,j4 ,thomson1 the combined speed and mass of the electrons within such a milligramme of matter would total up to the work represented by a hundred million kilogram-metres2#aba then we can at any rate see--whatever small variations there may be in the estimates--how immense are the potentialities of the tiniest points of matter2 how each minutest atom comprehends1 as ,shelley says1 8a world of loves and hatreds0 7i4e4 positive and negative electric charges72 we realize that no manifestations of unexpected power are per se incredible2 and we are indeed rather inclined to wonder how it is that these great inter-atomic energies do not more often force themselves on our attention6 ,it is evident that any such condition of being as we have supposed in the case of the #8inner' or #8spiritual' body1 might afford means for the liberation--even from a single atom--of forces amply sufficient for the most #8miraculous' phenomena2 and we are led to wonder and to ask whether it may not be the case that1 after all1 our gross bodies are really a hindrance rather than a help--whether it may not be true that the powers we could exert without them and independently of muscles and sinews and hands and feet would be far greater than those we actually do exert by means of these organs and appendages2 whether1 in fact1 our gross bodies do not exercise a limiting effect1 confining our activities to certain very clearly specified directions1 and within certain very definite bounds8 ,at any rate1 this point of view is worth considering4 ,certainly the well-established facts of telepathy1 and the equally well-established facts of the projection of phantoms from persons dying1 or passing through great danger1 to friends even at a great distance1 seem to show that the inner self of one person can send out rays or in some way impress itself on the inner self of another far-off person2#abb and this1 under the theory of electrons moving at prodigious speed1 seems not impossible4 ,for though there is a difficulty in supposing ordinary physical vibrations or radiations to reach effectively from one person to another 7say a thousand miles away7 on account of the law of space itself1 which makes such radiations diminish in intensity as the square of the distance increases1 yet in the case of electrical radiations it seems possible to suppose two people related to each other as positive and negative poles--in which case the radiations of electric charges would pass along lines connecting the two1 and with comparatively little loss of intensity4 ,our present rather crude and lumbering bodies probably impede these subtle exertions of force2 and the fact 7already noted once or twice7 of the greater activity of people in the telepathic or phantasmogenetic directions1 when they are themselves outwardly in a dying or exhausted condition1 seems to point to a considerable liberation of these powers after death4 ,on the other hand1 the well-established facts of perceptivity at a great distance1 or without the mediation of the gross body and the usual end-organs1 point in the same direction4 ,considerable investigations have been made in this subject2 and not only is the evidence for occasional clairvoyance at a distance well established1 but there are curious cases in which the faculty of sight or of hearing seems to be transferred from its natural organ to some other part of the body1 as of seeing with the knee1 or the stomach1 or the finger-tips4 ,myers gives considerable attention to this subject1 and thinks that ,professor ,fontan's experiments#abc 8cannot lightly be set aside02 while ,lombroso quotes an hysterical patient of his own1 a girl of fourteen1 who lost the sight of her eyes1 but was able to read perfectly with the lobe of her left ear6 ,later on1 in the same patient1 the sense of smell concentrated itself in the heel of her foot6 ,mrs4 ,piper1 as is well known1 commonly raises her hand for the sitter to speak into1 as if it were her ear4 ,and in cases of somnambulism the sleepwalker will sometimes move securely through difficult or dangerous places with eyes absolutely closed4 ,all these things seem to point to an aboriginal power of perception independent of the end-organs4 ,it is obvious that if in the course of evolution our present faculties of sight1 hearing1 and so forth have been developed from the diffused sensitivity of an amba or some such creature1 then those faculties must have existed1 in their undifferentiated state1 in the amba2 or1 to put the matter another way1 the faculty of sight clearly does not reside in the cornea of the eye1 or in the crystalline lens1 or even in the retina itself2 which are merely an apparatus evolved for dealing with the details of the matter4 ,the retina catches the light-disturbance1 and the optic nerve conveys it to the brain1 and the brain-cells are agitated by it2 but where does sight come in8 ,at some point1 doubtless1 the agitations of the brain-cells or of their internal molecules are seen and interpreted2 but the being that sees and interprets them may 7we had almost said must7 be capable of directly seeing and interpreting similar agitations in the outer world--that is1 it may or must by its nature be capable of seeing the events of the outer world without the mediation of the end-organs or the brain4 ,frederick ,myers1 dealing with this subject1 says3--8,i start from the thesis that the perceptive power within us precedes and is independent of the specialized sense-organs1 which it has developed for earthly use4 #8,it is the mind that sees and the mind that hears1 the other things are blind and deaf4'0#abd ,he thinks that in the development or unfolding of life on our planet 8certain sensibilities got themselves defined and stereotyped upon the organism by the evolution of end-organs4 ,others failed to get thus externalized2 but may1 for aught we know1 persist nevertheless in the central organs40#abe ,it is evident--however we may explain the matter--that activities and sensibilities do persist and manifest themselves in the human organism quite independent of the ordinary and stereotyped end-organs1 and this fact must go far to persuade us1 not only that there is an inner1 a more subtle1 and a more durable body than that which we usually recognize1 but that in some respects this latter body is a limitation and a hindrance to the activity of the former1 and to the swiftness and range of the perceptions of the soul4 99 99 99 99 99 ,what1 then1 it will naturally be asked1 is the object or purpose or use of our incarnation in this grosser body8--why1 if there is such an ethereal or spiritual frame within1 should it thus tend to accrete denser particles upon itself and ultimately to clothe itself in a vesture of so opaque and material a nature8 ,it would be rash to attempt to answer so profound a question offhand--off one's own bat as it were2 and still more rash perhaps to accept any of the ready-made answers which are offered in such profusion1 and in so many different jargons and lingos1 by the sects and schools1 from the ,gnostics and ,theosophists to the most philistine of the chapels and churches4 ,yet if one may venture a suggestion1 it would seem rather likely that the object and purpose and use of this process by which the soul is entangled in matter1 and its operation and perception so strangely hampered and limited1 is--limitation2 that limitation itself and even hindrance are part and parcel of the great scheme of the soul's deliverance4 ,but the further consideration of this ,i will defer to a later chapter4#abf ,,chapter ,,xii ,,reincarnation ,there is a good deal of talk indulged in1 on the subject of ,reincarnation--talk of a rather cheap character4 ,one does not quite see what is the use of saying that the ego will be reincarnated again some day1 unless one has some sort of idea what one means by the ego1 and unless one has some understanding of the sense in which the word 8reincarnation0 is used4 ,if it is meant that your local and external self1 approximately as you and your friends know it to-day--including dress1 facial outline1 professional skill1 accomplishments1 habits of mind and body1 interests and enthusiasms--is going to repeat itself again in five or five hundred years1 or has already appeared in this form in the past2 one can only say 8impossible60 and 8,i trust not60 ,for all these things depend on date1 locality1 heredity1 surrounding institutions1 social habits1 current morality1 and so forth1 which--though they have certainly played their part in the spirit's growth--must infallibly be different at any other period 7short of the whole universe repeating itself74 ,and anyhow to have them repeated again da capo at some future time would be terribly dull4 ,but if you say 8,of course ,i don't mean anything so silly as that10 it becomes incumbent on you to say what you do mean4 ,supposing1 for instance1 you had been planked down a baby in the ,arabian desert1 and grown up to maturity or middle age there1 instead of where you are1 would any of your present-day friends recognize you8 ,where would be your charming piano-playing1 your excellent cricket1 your rather sloppy water-color painting1 your up-to-dateness in the theatrical world8 ,where your morality 7with three wives of course7 or your religion 7something about 8,christian dogs071 or where your ,british sang froid and impeccability8 ,and if it is obvious that in such a case as this you would1 owing to the changed conditions1 be changed out of all recognition1 much more--one might say--would this be the case if you had been born five hundred years ago1 or were to be born again five hundred years hence4 ,your whole outlook on life1 and its whole impress on you1 would be different4 ,of course ,i am not meaning1 by these remarks1 to say that reincarnation is in itself impossible or absurd2 that would be prejudging the question4 ,all ,i mean at present is that if we are going to study this subject1 or theorize upon it1 it is really necessary to define in some degree the terms which we use4 ,i do not say that you1 the reader1 might not be reincarnated1 but ,i think it is clear that if you were1 we should have a good deal of trouble in following and finding you6 ,it is clear that the you1 so reappearing1 would not be your well-known local and external self1 but some deep nucleus1 difficult perhaps for your best friend to recognize1 and possibly even unknown or unrecognized by yourself at present4 ,and similarly of some friend that you love for a thousand little tricks and ways4 ,we all have such friends1 and at times cherish a sentimental romance of their being restored to us in some future on habited in their old guise and with their well-worn frocks and coats4 ,but surely it is no good playing at hide-and-seek like that4 ,the common difficulties about the conventional heaven--the difficulty about meeting your old friend who used to be so good at after-dinner stories1 about meeting him with a harp in his hand and sitting on a damp cloud--is no whit the less a difficulty whatever future world may be the rendezvous4 ,he would be changed 7externally7 and we should be changed1 and it might well happen that if we did seem to recall any former intimacy we should both feel like strangers1 and be as shy and tentative in our approaches to each other as school-children4 ,what do we mean by the letter 8,i08 and what do we mean by the word ,reincarnation8 ,these two questions wait for a reply4 ,the first is a terribly difficult question4 ,it lies 7though neglected by the philosophers themselves7 at the root of all philosophy4 ,perhaps really all life and experience are nothing but an immense search for the answer4 ,what do we mean by the ,ego8 ,it is a sort of fundamental question1 which it might be supposed would precede all other questions1 but which as a matter of fact seems to be postponed to all others1 and is the last to be solved4 ,all we can at the outset be sure of in the way of answer is the enormous extent and depth of the being we are setting out to define4 ,we sometimes think of the ego as a mere point of consciousness1 or we think of the ordinary self of daily life as a fragile and ephemeral entity bounded by a few bodily tissues and a few mental views and habits4 ,but even the slight discussion of the subject in former chapters of this book 7chapters vi41 vii41 and so forth7 has revealed to us the vast underlying stores and faculties which must be included--the wonderful powers of memory1 the subtle capacities of perception at a distance1 or without the usual organs of sight and hearing1 the power of creating images out of the depths of one's mind1 and of impressing them telepathically upon others1 the faculty of clairvoyance in past and future time1 and so forth4 ,the more we try to fathom this ego1 with which we supposed ourselves so familiar1 the more we are amazed at its labyrinthine profundity1 and the more we are astonished to think that we should ever have ventured to limit it to such a petty formula and conventional symbol as we commonly do--not only in our judgment of friends1 but even in our estimate of ourselves4 ,reincarnation1 as we have already said1 can hardly be the reappearance1 in a new life on earth 7or even in some other sphere71 of the very local and superficial traits which we know so well in ourselves and our friends--which are mainly a response to local and superficial conditions1 and which mainly constitute what we call our personalities4 ,if reincarnation does occur1 it must obviously consist in the reappearance or remanifestation of some such very interior self as we have just spoken of--some deep individuality 7as opposed to personality71 some divine onian soul1 some offshoot perhaps of an age-long enduring ,race-soul1 or ,world-self--and in that sort of sense only shall ,i use the word in future4 ,in that sense the idea is feasible and illuminative4 ,it explains the obvious limitations and localism of our personalities1 as being more or less passing and temporary embodiments of our true selves2 and it represents the latter as immense storehouses of experience from all manner of places and times1 and similarly as centres of world-activity operating in different fields of time and space4 ,at the same time1 it presents various difficulties4 ,for one thing1 it poses the difficulty that for each of us this vast interior being is1 as a rule1 so deeply buried that both oneself and one's friends are only faintly conscious--if at all--of its true outline4 ,and if one does not recognize this being1 of what use is it to us8 ,it is true that we sometimes meet people who at first sight give us a strong impression of far-back intimacy2 but this is only a vague impression and hardly sufficient to afford proof of pre-existence4 ,the only way of meeting this difficulty seems to be to suppose1 as residing in this inner being or true self1 another order of consciousness1 faint intimations of which we even now have1 and by which1 as it grows and develops1 we may some day clearly recognize our true selves and true nature4 ,another difficulty is that 7as already said7 for any satisfactory sense of survival continuity of memory is needed2 and we should have to suppose that the memory of each earth-life was continued into and stored up in this deeper soul or onian self4 ,memory would not normally pass from one embodiment or incarnation to another1 but each stream would flow into the central self and there be stored4 ,and ,i think we may admit that this is by no means impossible4 ,indeed there are not a few facts 7some already mentioned7 with regard to the recovery of memory which make the mater probable4 ,though any given earth-life in a given form could not be repeated1 the memory of such an earth-life1 fresh and clear1 may survive for an indefinite time in the crystal mirror of the deeper consciousness4#abg ,and it is perhaps allowable to suppose that in this way1 and with the lifting of the opaque veil of our present consciousness1 we may some day come clearly into the presence of friends we have lost4 ,here again1 however1 one has to be on one's guard4 ,the mere fact of remembering 7or thinking one remembers71 in this our terrestrial life and with our terrestrial consciousness1 some detail or other of a previous terrestrial life proves little--for1 for aught we know1 quite apart from our psychic selves1 a streak of memory of more physical origin from some ancestor may have come down even several generations1 and may be surviving in one's brain4#abh ,indeed it is extremely probable that all organic matter carries memory with it1 and not unlikely that inorganic matter does so too4 ,if you thought1 for instance1 that you remembered seeing ,charles the ,first beheaded--if you had a rather distinct picture in your mind of the scene at ,whitehall1 which you afterwards found by investigation to be corroborated in its details1 you might at first jump to the conclusion that you had really lived at that time1 and witnessed the scene4 ,but after all it might merely be that an ancestor of yours had been there1 and that the vividly impressed picture had somehow persevered in some subterranean channel of memory and emerged again in your mind4 ,even then you might contend that1 since it was your memory1 you must have been there--or at any rate some fraction of yourself in the ancestor1 which now has become incorporated in your personality4 ,there are a good many stories of this kind going about1 which point to the possibility of the transmission of shreds of remembrance through hereditary channels1 and suggest the idea of an active ,race-memory1 or ,earth-memory1 in itself continuous--a storehouse of experiences1 but fed continually by the individuals of the race1 and coruscating forth again in other individuals4#abi ,indeed one can hardly withhold belief in the existence of such a larger life1 or identity1 #8reincarnated' if one likes to use the expression1 in thousands or millions of individuals2 but to be satisfactorily assured of the reincarnation of one distinct and individual person is another thing1 and would almost demand that there should be forthcoming not only shreds and streaks of remembrance1 but a pretty continuous and consistent memory of a whole former life4 ,thus the whole question which we are discussing is baffled and rendered the more complex by the doubt as to what is meant by the word 8,i40 ,it is clear1 from what we have already said1 that one person may use it to indicate 7#a7 the quite local and superficial self2 while another may have in mind 7#b7 a much profounder being 7the underlying self7 whose depths and qualities we have by no means fathomed2 while others1 again1 may be thinking 7#c7 of the self of the ,race or the ,earth1 or 7#d7 the ,all-self of the universe4 ,i present these questions and doubts1 not--as ,i have said--for the purpose of discrediting the possibility of ,reincarnation1 but by way of showing how complex and difficult the problem is1 and how much some exact thought and definition is needed in dealing with it4 ,at the same time1 in pleading for exact thought ,i would also urge that in avoiding the whirlpools of sentimentalism we should be careful not to fall upon the rocks of a dry and barren formalism4 ,systems of hard and fast doctrines on these subjects--even though issued with all the authority of ancient tradition1 and enunciated in a long-dead jargon--are the most unfruitful and uninspiring of things4 ,they seem to contain no germ of vitality and are liable to paralyze the mind that feeds upon them4 ,besides the drawback--as ,i have pointed out before--that all such systems are inevitably false4 ,nature does not1 in any department1 work upon a cut-and-dried system2 and while at the outset of an investigation we often seem to discern something of that kind1 further study invariably discloses an astounding variety of order and method4 ,it may be well therefore to be prepared to find a general principle of ,reincarnation in operation in the world1 but worked out1 in actual fact1 in a great variety of ways4 ,certainly there comes into our minds1 at a certain grade of their development1 a deep persuasion of the truth1 in some sense1 of reincarnation--that 8the ,soul that rises with us1 our life's ,star1 hath had elsewhere its setting40 ,it blossoms1 this persuasion1 in a curious way1 in the very depths of the mind2 and in moments of inner illumination1 or deep feeling1 is discerned in a way that seems to leave no room for doubt4 ,at the same time1 it not only has this intuitive sanction1 but it commends itself also to the intellect1 because at a certain stage we perceive very clearly both how vast is the whole curve of progress which the soul has to cover from its first birth to its final liberation1 and how tiny is the arc represented by a single lifetime--the two thoughts almost compelling us to believe in a succession of lives as the only explanation or solution4 ,we are compelled towards a practical belief in ,reincarnation1 and yet 7as above7 we have to confess that our conception of what it really is1 or what we mean by it1 is only vague4 ,this1 however1 is no more than what happens in a hundred other cases4 ,the young bird starts building a nest for the first time1 driven by some strange instinct to do so1 and yet it can only have a very dim notion of the meaning and uses the nest will subserve when finished4 ,and we found our lives on deep intuitions--of social solidarity1 of personal responsibility1 of free will1 and so forth--and yet it is only later and by degrees that we learn what these things actually mean4 ,referring1 then1 to the four alternative forms of the self given two or three pages back1 and taking the last first1 we may say definitely1 ,i think1 that as far as the self of each one of us is identified 7#d7 with the ,all-self of the universe1 its reincarnation is assured4 ,its reincarnation indeed is perpetual1 inexhaustible1 multitudinous beyond words1 filling all space and time4 ,though the consciousness of this self is deeply buried1 yet it is there1 in each one of us4 ,occasionally--if even only for a moment--it rises to the surface1 bringing a sense of splendor and of joy indescribable--the absolute freedom and password of all creation1 the recognition of oneself everywhere and in all forms4 ,but this phase of the self--,i need hardly say--is for the most part hidden2 and more common is it perhaps for the ,race-self 7#c7 to rise into our consciousness with more or less distinct assurance that we live again and are re-embodied in other members of the race to which we belong4 ,the common life of the race carries us away and overmasters us with a strange sense of identity and community of being4 ,heroisms and devotions--as of men dying for their country1 or bees for their hive--spring from this2 and superb intoxications of joy4 ,the whole of the life of primitive races and tribes1 and the life of the animals and insects1 illustrates it--in warfares1 migrations1 crusades1 frantic enthusiasms1 mad festivals--the genius of the race rushing on from point to point1 inspiring its children1 incarnating itself without end in successive individuals4 ,it is not so uncommon1 ,i say1 for us to be able to identify ourselves with this great ,race-self1 and to feel its thrill and pulse within our veins4 ,and it might well be thought that1 with these two forms of reincarnation 7#c7 and 7#d7 and the immense joy they bring1 we should be content3 even as all the tribes of the animals and the angels are content4 ,but it seems that man--when the civilization-period sets in1 and after that--is not content4 ,the little individual soul1 now first coming to the consciousness of its own separateness1 sets up a claim for an immortality and a reincarnation of its very own--apart from the ,race-self1 apart even from the ,divine self4 ,it demands that its ego should continue indefinitely into the farthest fields of ,time--a separate entity1 perpetually re-embodied4 ,can such a claim--in the light of what has been said above--be possibly conceded8 ,certainly not4 ,we have seen the absurdity of supposing that the local and superficial self 7#a7 can ever recur again or be re-embodied in that form1 except as a mere matter of memory 7or possibly of a repetition of the whole universal order74 ,and as to the underlying self 7#b71 whatever exactly it may be1 there are a thousand reasons for seeing that as a wholly separate entity the same must be true of that4 ,i may refer the reader to ,the ,art of ,creation1 the whole argument of which is to show that even the mere attempt to think of itself as a separate entity involves the human soul in hopeless confusion and disintegration2 and ,i may remind the reader that we know nothing in the whole universe which is thus separate and apart1 and that the conception1 whether from a physical point of view or a psychological point of view1 is impossible to maintain4 ,that being so1 there remains only to consider the possibility of the underlying self or individual soul being re-embodied--not as an absolutely separate entity1 but as affiliated to some greater ,life which shall afford the basis of successive incarnations4 ,the problem is narrowed down1 practically to the question whether the individual may not obtain some kind of individual reincarnation through the ,race-self1 or possibly through the ,all-self of the universe4 ,and here ,i will state what ,i personally think and believe about this problem1 leaving the reasons for the present to commend themselves4 ,i think that in the early stages--in animal and primitive human life--the ,race-self is paramount2 that each individual self proceeds from it1 in much the same way as a bud proceeds from the stem of a growing plant1 or even as a single cell forms part of the tissue of the stem2 and is absorbed into it again at death4 ,there are no individual and death-surviving souls produced1 apart from the ,race-soul4 ,in the great race or family of bunny-rabbits1 for instance--though there are certainly individual differences of character--just as there are differentiations of tissue-cells in the stem of a plant--it is difficult to believe that there are individual and immortal souls4 ,each little self springs from the race1 and is an embodiment of it1 representing in various degree its characteristics2 and at death--in some way which we do not yet quite understand#acj--returns thither1 yielding its experiences to the stores of the race-experience4 ,the same is probably true of the great mass of the higher animals1 even up to the primitive and earliest ,man4 ,the ,race-self in all these cases moves onward1 upgathering the experiences of the individuals1 wise with their united knowledge1 and rich with their countless memories4 ,and these tracts again1 of experience1 knowledge and memory1 largely in a vague and generalized form1 but sometimes in sharp1 individualized and detailed form1 are transmitted from the ,race-self to its later individuals and offshots4 ,thus a kind of broken reincarnation occurs1 by which streaks of memory and habit pass down time from one individual to another1 and by which perhaps--in us later races--the persistent #8intimations of immortality' and persuasions of having lived before are accounted for4 ,i think that this process1 of mixed and broken reincarnation1 may go on for countless generations--the animal or animal-human souls so differentiated from the race-soul returning continually to the latter at death4 ,but that a period may come when the ,race-self 7illustrated by the growing plant-stem7 may exhibit distinct buds--the embryos1 as it were1 of independent souls--which will not return and be lost again in the race-soul1 but will persevere for a long period and continually attain to more differentiation and internal coherence and sense of identity4 ,in such cases any reincarnations that occur connected with these buds--though mingled with the race-life--will become much less broken than before1 and more distinctly individual2 till at last a phase is reached when such a soul-bud1 almost detached from the race-life1 may be reincarnated 7or let us say #8re-embodied'7 as a separate entity1 with a kind of immortality of its own4 ,it must be at this stage that the characteristic human soul of the ,civilization-period is evolved--which coheres quite firmly round itself1 which protests and revolts against death1 which even largely throws off its allegiance to the race-soul1 and to the laws and solidarities of the race-life1 and which has an enormous and overweening sense of identity and self-importance1 claiming for itself1 as ,i have just said1 a kind of separate persistence4 ,here ensues1 as may be imagined1 a terrible period of confusion and trouble--the whole period of competitive civilization4 ,the splendid claim of identity and immortality is made2 but for the time being it is spoiled by what we call #8selfishness1' the mirror is cracked through ignorance4 ,the ,soul has disowned her allegiance to mere instinct and the race-self1 and has yet not found a firm footing beyond--is only floundering in the bogs of self-consciousness and anxiety4 ,what kind of ,re-embodiment may belong to this period we shall best perhaps see when we have considered the further course of the argument4 ,for at last the process of transition completes itself4 ,the human soul tossed about beyond endurance at length discovers within itself a divine ,nucleus--a nucleus of growth and life and refuge and security1 apart from its own fragility1 quite apart from the race-life1 independent of all the latter's laws and conventions and sanctions and traditions1 independent of caste or color1 of world-period or locality2 and from that moment it 7the soul7 rests2 it ceases 7like the little rose of ,jericho7 from its desert wanderings2 it radiates itself and begins to grow from a new centre2 it is born again2 it becomes the beginning of what may be called a ,divine ,soul4 ,the man becomes conscious of an ethereal body forming within1 unassailable or at least undestroyable by ,death2 and it is probable that1 during this period1 the subtle organism which we have already termed the ,inner or ,spiritual ,body 7ch4 x47 is actually forming and defining and1 so to speak1 consolidating itself4 ,the subtle body of a more perfect being is forming--a body which can pass unharmed through walls1 fire1 water1 which can navigate the air and the planetary spaces1 and which is built on the basis of the ether1 itself the all-pervading life-substance of creation4 ,a divine soul is coming to expression1 an ego indeed1 marvellously different and distinct from all other egos1 and ever more majestic and unique growing2 but rooted deep in the universal self1 and ever from that root expanding and sharing the life of that self and of all its children4 ,with the formation of this divine soul1 re-embodiment in its complete and adequate sense commences4 ,the spiritual or subtle body formed within the gross body retains its characteristics after the death of the latter 7many of which characteristics no doubt hardly gained expression in the one life just ended7--and passes on to other spheres1 there to assume more or less definitely material bodies according to the sphere and the conditions in which it may need to move4 ,it may seek re-embodiment on earth through ordinary heredity and childbirth--in which case presumably it enters into the growing germ1 and moulds the development of the latter to an adequate1 if not to a quite perfect and unsullied1 expression of itself4 ,if the reincarnation is to be into ordinary human and terrestrial life1 this is probably the only available method4 ,and it would seem that some advanced and well-nigh perfect souls do adopt this method1 appearing as infants with a kind of divinity about them1 and a germinal purity so great as to seem to proceed from an #8immaculate conception4' ,but to most1 in this stage1 the toil and tedium of passing through embryonic life and physical birth and infancy may well appear intolerable2 and since by now they have developed the subtle or spiritual body and the powers belonging to it1 this ordeal is no longer necessary4 ,the subtle body can--as we have gathered from former chapters--by a process of condensation clothe itself in a visible or even tangible vesture1#aca and may function1 at any rate for a time1 in such outer or apparitional form without going through all the abracadabra of birth4 ,if on the earth1 such functioning can only be very temporary1 owing to the difficulty here of the conditions1 and of the supply of the necessary condensation-material2 but in other and less ponderous spheres the difficulty is probably much less1 and the formation of suitable bodies comparatively easy4 ,anyhow1 it will be seen that reincarnation of this second kind is unitary and single in character instead of being divided or fragmentary2 it is unalloyed instead of being broken and mixed2#acb and a vision rises before us1 in connection with it1 of ever-growing forms and more perfect life-embodiments carrying out1 one after another in long succession1 the evolution and expression of each divine soul or separate ray of universal being4 ,thus in answer to query two1 on an early page of this chapter1 we may say that there are two kinds of reincarnation proper--quite different from each other3--7#a7 ,that of the race-self in which the individual members of the race share only in a streaky fashion1 each going back at death into the race-soul1 and emptying its memories and experiences into that soul for general sporadic inheritance1 but not for transmission in mass to any one later individual2 and 7#b7 that of the individual who has found his divine soul and evolved his inner body to a point where it cannot be broken up again2 and who is thus reincarnated or re-embodied complete through successive materializations or condensations1 in other spheres and without again undergoing the ordinary race-birth and death4 ,but though these two represent the normal forms of reincarnation1 a third kind should be added which represents the transition from one to the other1 and which is important for us because it mainly covers the period in which we now are--the great period of civilization4 ,we saw how the soul of the animal is so close to the race-self1 and so little differentiated from it1 that it probably returns quite easily into the race-self at death2 and this is likely to be the same with very early or primitive man4 ,but when the distinctly human soul begins to form and to shape itself1 it does not so easily forget its individuality and obliterate itself in that from which it sprang4 ,and so we have the tentative1 half-formed human soul1 by no means well assured of itself1 or certain of its own powers1 and by no means perfect or contented1 but much persuaded of its own importance and anxiously seeking reincarnation as a separate entity--and seeking this by the only means available to it1 i4e4 through heredity and birth as a member of the race4 ,it is a painful situation and experience4 ,the soul1 as human and not animal soul1 is longing to separate itself from the race1 to mark its distinction and independence--yet it has not1 so far1 found the divine nucleus which alone can give it real independence2 and it can only gain expression and manifestation through the race-self and the ordinary paraphernalia of birth and death4 ,it has learned no other way4 ,moreover1 it is not yet completely differentiated from the race-self4 ,it thus arrives at what can only be a very mingled and broken expression4 ,some father-stream and some mother-stream uniting1 as it were1 in the psychological neighborhood of this half-formed soul give it the desired opportunity2 and blending itself with them it comes down into the world--a being of triple nature1 embryonic and incompletely formed in itself1 and utilizing as best it can the diverse elements of its maternal and paternal sources4 ,its career1 consequently1 and its life on earth are marked by a continual inner struggle and conflict--both physiological and psychological 7due to the effort of the soul to bend the race-life and the elements of corporeal heredity to its own uses71 and in strange contrast both with the hardihood and calm insouciance of the animals1 in whom the race-life is untampered1 and with the transparent health and serenity of those other beings in whom the divine soul has finally established its sovereignty4 ,such1 briefly described1 are ,i believe the outlines of the reincarnation story4 ,to put it in a few words1 the whole process by which the race-self evolves and finally gives birth to myriads of free1 independent and deathless individuals curiously resembles and may well be illustrated by a certain biological phenomenon common both in the vegetable and the animal worlds4 ,some growing stem or portion of tissue1 perhaps of a plant1 perhaps of a sponge or higher organism1 is at first of a simple homogeneous character1 fairly uniform and undifferentiated3 but after a time it exhibits knobs and inequalities1 which presently define themselves in a sort of botryoidal or clustered bud-like growth 7as1 for instance1 in the spadix of an arum or the ovary of a mammal72 finally these knobs or buds become entirely distinct and fully formed1 and are thrown off #8free1' as seeds 7in the case of plants and animals71 or gemmules 7in the case of sponges71 or spores 7in ferns and mosses71 or as fresh and complete individuals in many aquatic creatures--in any case to enter on the beginnings of a free and independent life of their own4 ,this kind of process1 anyhow1 is found in every department of biology1 and it may well be that it extends upward even into the highest domains4 ,the growing stem--proliferating cells without number1 which are born and die in a kind of even uniformity within the limits of the stem--corresponds to the race-self in its early stages2 the formation of knobs and buds in various degrees of clustered development corresponds to the partial growth of human souls out of the race-soul2 and the liberation of the buds and germs corresponds to the liberation of the human souls into the freedom of a universal life4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,the ,,divine ,,soul ,the liberation of buds and germs1 as in the biological processes alluded to in the last chapter1 is in general connected with sex1 and brought about by its operation4 ,and1 similarly1 ,i think we may say that the liberation of human souls and their disengagement from the race-matrix is brought about by love4 ,i have already pointed out 7ch4 ix47 the intensely personal and individualizing character of human love4 ,if one can imagine a love-relation going on between two members of a race--two portions1 as it were1 of the race-soul--at present only slightly individualized1 one can see how the attraction to each other1 the drawing away from their surroundings1 the excitement1 the agitation1 all tend to further their growth as individuals--to give them form1 apart from the matrix in which they are embedded1 and definition and character4 ,of course all experience does this1 but most of all and most deeply does love4 ,it breeds souls out of the ,race-self1 and finally brings them away to an independent life4 8,it is for this that the body exercises its tremendous attraction--that mortal love torments and tears asunder the successive generations of mankind--,that underneath and after all the true men and women may appear1 by long experience emancipated40 ,as said in an early chapter1 in love1 though we do not know exactly what is happening1 we are persuaded that something very profound and far-reaching is working itself out4 ,and one such thing1 ,i am sure1 is the liberation of the soul of the lover--and1 in less degree1 the soul of the loved one4 ,the tremendous experiences and convulsions1 the profound stirrings1 and the wrenchings from old ties and associations1 do at last not only build the soul up into a distinct individuality1 but they dig it up from its roots in the race and plant it out in the great ,eden garden of emancipated humanity--the beginning of a new career4#acc ,another thing that ,i think is happening is that when love is strongly reciprocated the elements 7as we have seen several times already71 whether physical or psychical1 pass over from one to the other and are interchanged--regenerating and immensely enlarging the life and capacity of each individual4 ,this happens1 ,i believe1 in all grades of the universal life1 from the ,protozoa upwards4 ,two individuals drawn together interchange some elements of their being1 and grow thereby into a larger and grander life2 or may even in cases fuse completely into one individual person4 ,as ,swedenborg says somewhere3--8,those who are truly married on earth are in heaven one ,angel40 ,thirdly1 ,i think that the reciprocated love of two sometimes creates a new soul4 ,we are familiar with the idea that the love 7sexual7 of two bodies commonly creates a new body2 and there is an age-long tradition that the same is true in the world of souls4 ,there is in that world also1 not only regeneration but generation4 8,love is the desire of generation in the beautiful1 both with relation to the soul and the body10 says ,plato2#acd and ,ellen ,key1 in a passage already quoted above 7ch4 iv41 p4 #fa71 says that 8two beings through one another may become a new being1 and a greater than either could be of itself alone40 ,by love a new soul is sometimes generated which takes possession of both persons1 and which suggests--as in the ,swedenborg phrase above--that in some other sphere they really become one4 ,and by love1 we may also think1 between man and wife1 a new soul or soul-bud is sometimes created1 which may descend into and vivify the physical germ of their future child4 ,to consider this last point a moment4 ,the connection between heredity and the individual self is very mysterious4 ,we acknowledge our descent1 and what we owe1 both mentally and bodily1 to our parentage2 but we are fain to think of our ego as something apart1 something not to be confused with parents1 and by no means merely derivative from them4 ,sometimes indeed there is great harmony between this ego and the parental inheritance1 sometimes much the reverse2 sometimes the line between the two is doubtful and uncertain4 ,what is the explanation of all this8 and what are the true facts of the relationship8 ,does it not seem likely that1 in the intense organic excitement which attends sexual union1 this excitement--especially if strong love be also present--reaches right down into the soul-depths of each person1 stirring these also1 and the race oversoul at that point1 most profoundly8 ,so that1 at the same moment that the germ of a bodily child is being fertilized1 there is formed in the race-soul a soul-bud corresponding1 which consequently descends into the physical germ and becomes its organizing life--the soul-bud thus being related to the souls of the parents1 somewhat as the physical germ is related to their bodies8 ,it springs1 in fact1 from a related portion of the race-oversoul4 ,or again1 does it not seem likely that in some cases1 instead of a quite new bud being formed1 the profound stirring of the race-life in that vicinity causes some older and more developed soul-bud--which has perhaps already had some earth-experiences--to wake into activity and take possession of the germ8 ,in the first case mentioned the child born will be singularly like the parents1 and in nature harmonious with them1 with very little extraneous in its character1 and with the fair prospect before it of a smooth and even career4 ,but in this latter case1 though the child will be harmonious with the parents it will have great depths beside1 of authentic character of its own which will show out as time goes on4 ,and again1 if deep love be absent1 and consequently there is no special birth or awakening of souls in that region where they should be related to the body which is being born--what is likely to happen8 ,is it not likely that some other soul-bud1 or soul which chance or other indication of destiny may bring that way1 may enter in and possess the developing organism8 ,and is it not likely1 then1 that strife and conflict and doubt may also enter in1 causing a character of mixed elements1 possibly leading to heroic developments1 but also probably to a broken or tragic life-story8 99 99 99 99 99 ,as in the earliest and most primitive developments of life1 so in the latest and most exalted1 the soul is born through love1 and through love it grows and expands4 ,it may indeed be asked whether any other way is possible4 ,oppositions and conflicts may give form to the growing thing1 and help to carve its outlines2 but this gives it expansion4 ,every profound attachment necessarily modifies and enlarges the man4 ,it pulls him out of his little orbit into a wider path--even if for the moment with some amount of eccentricity4 ,something is incorporated in his life which was not part of it before--something possibly which he did not before appreciate or understand4 ,what we now are--whether mentally or physically--is an epitome of multitudinous loves in the past4 ,the very cell-alliances which constitute our bodies are the records of endless heart-yearnings and romances 7dating from far-back ages1 and even now enduring7 among a tiny people to us well-nigh invisible4 ,and we may ask ourselves whether in the regions above and beyond our present life there may not be soul-alliances and even soul-fusions1 by which we humans in our turn build up the very life of the gods8 ,plato in his ,symposium1 speaking of the strange desire of lovers for each other1 makes ,aristophanes say3#ace--8;,but the soul of each manifestly thirsts for1 from the other1 something which there are no words to describe1 and divines that which it seeks1 and traces obscurely the footsteps of its obscure desire4 ,if ,vulcan should say to persons thus affected1 #8,my good people1 what is it that you want with one another8' ,and if1 while they were hesitating what to answer1 he should proceed to ask--#8,do you not desire the closest union and singleness to exist between you1 so that you may never be divided night or day8 ,if so1 ,i will melt you together1 and make you grow into one1 so that both in life and death ye may be undivided4 ,consider1 is this what you desire8 ,will it content you if you become that which ,i propose8'--,we all know that no one would refuse such an offer1 but would at once feel that this was what he had ever sought2 and intimately to mix and melt and to be melted together with his beloved1 so that one should be made out of two40 ,and we may think--though this strange and intimate longing is never fulfilled1 as we know1 in the actual earth-life--that it still may possibly be an indication 7as happens in other cases7 of something which really is working itself out in the unseen world4 ,it was suggested1 in the end of chapter xi4 above1 that limitation and hindrance are a part of the cosmic scheme of the creation of souls1 and that there is a purpose in these things in regard to this mortal life4 ,it was also suggested that the profound soul-stuff of which we are made is capable of infinitely swifter and more extended perceptions than those of which we are usually aware2 and that there is a good deal of evidence to show that perceptive powers of this kind--quite independent of the usual end-organs of sight1 hearing1 taste1 and so forth1 still linger buried deep down within us4 ,the question then naturally arises1 ,if this limitation of faculty really exists as a fundamental fact of our mortal life1 what purpose does it subserve8--,and the answer to this is1 ,i think1 very clear4 ,it subserves the evolution of ,self-consciousness and of the sense of ,identity4 ,it is obvious that diffused faculties and perceptions1 however swift and powerful1 could never have brought these gifts with them4 ,it was only by pinning sensitiveness down to a point in space and time1 by means of a body1 and limiting its perceptions by means of bodily end-organs1 that these new values could be added to creation--the local self and the sense of ,identity4 ,all the variety of human and animal nature1 all the endless differences of points of view1 all diversity and charm of form and character and temperament must be credited to this principle2 and whatever vagaries and delusions the consequent growth of self-consciousness and selfness may have caused1 it is incontestable that through the development of ,identity mankind and all creation must ultimately rise to a height of glory and splendor otherwise unimaginable4 ,and not only limitation but also hindrance4 ,these things give an intensity and passion to life1 and a power and decisiveness to individuality1 the absence of which would indeed be sad4 ,as a water-conduit by limiting the spread of the stream and confining it in a close channel gives it velocity and force to drive the mill1 so limitation and hindrance in human life give the individualized energy from which1 for good or evil1 all our world-activities spring4 ,as the ,lord says in ,goethe's ,prologue to ,faust3-- 8,of all the spirits of denial ,the mischief-maker ,i most tolerate1 ,for man's activity doth all too soon unravel2 ,of slumber he seems never satiate2 ,therefore ,i gladly hand him to a mate ,who'll plague and prick1 and play in fact the ,devil40 ,over a long period in this cosmic process this action1 we may think1 goes on4 ,the vast and pervasive soul-stuff of the universe1 in its hidden way omniscient and omnipresent1 suffers an obscuration and a limitation1 and is condensed into a bodily prison in a point of space and time2 but with a consequent explosive energy incalculable4 ,the ,devil--diabolos the slanderer and the sunderer1 the principle of division--reigns4 ,to him1 the #8milk and water' heaven of universal but vague benevolence is detestable4 ,he builds up the actual1 fascinating1 tragic1 indispensable world that we know4 ,selfishness and ignorance1 the two great ,powers of discord and separation1 are his ministers2 the earth is his theatre of convulsive hatreds and soul-racking passion2 and our mortal life1 instead of being the fair channel of cosmic activities1 becomes a 8stricture knot10 as ,whitman calls it1 and a symbol of disease4 ,but this diabolonian process is only one segment of the whole4 ,after the long descent and condensation and imprisonment of the spirit in its most limited and inert and self-regarding forms1 after its saturation in matter1 and its banishment in the world of death and suffering1 the rising curve of liberation sets in1 and the long process of its return4 ,it is through love mainly1 as we have seen1 that this second process works itself out4 ,from point to point through unison with others1 by absorbing something from their experience1 by sharing a wider life1 the spirit's manifestation grows4 ,by this the great tree of organic life spreads upon the earth2 by this each race-stem multiplies its tissues and expands2 by this the buds of human souls are formed2 and by this the souls themselves are freed to independent life1 and ultimately to circle again 8dancing and sporting0 as ,plutarch says1 8like joyous satellites round about their sun in heaven40 ,there is continual ,transformation2 but there is also continuity from end to end4 ,for every being there is continuance1 but continuance only by change4 ,each soul is a gradual rising to consciousness of the ,all-soul2 a gradual liberation and self-discovery of the divine germ within it4 ,first the race-soul rising toward this consciousness1 and then the individual souls thrown off1 rising each independently toward the same4 ,it is when the latter are moving over from their 7instinctive and so to speak organic7 community with the race-soul to a distinct and separate knowledge of and allegiance to the divine germ now declaring within themselves1 that all this period of confusion and dismay1 naturally enough1 occurs--this that we have called the period of ,civilization and the ,fall of man--the period in which indeed we are now so fatefully involved4 ,but it is in this period too that #8divine souls' are formed1 and their feet first set upon the path of splendor4 ,love indicates immortality4 ,no sooner does the human being perceive this divine nucleus within himself than he knows his eternal destiny4 ,plunged in matter and the gross body he has learned the lesson of identity and separateness4 ,all that the devil can teach him he has faithfully absorbed4 ,now he has to expand that identity1 for ever unique1 into ever vaster spheres of activity--to become finally a complete and finished aspect of the ,one4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,the ,,return ,,journey ,we have seen that there is some reason for believing that1 simultaneously with the birth or coming to consciousness of what we have called the divine soul1 there occurs within us the formation of a #8spiritual' or very subtly material body4 ,this body1 if only composed of atoms1 may easily be so fine and subtle as to pass practically unchanged through ordinary gross matter--the walls1 for instance1 and other obstacles that surround us4 7,at this moment there is an astronomical theory current that the stellar universe consists of two vast star-systems which are passing in nearly opposite directions right through each other47 ,if composed of electrons its subtlety and pervasive powers must be much greater4 ,moreover1 its fineness and subtlety would make it difficult of destruction4 ,the ordinary agents of death--physical violence1 water1 fire1 and so forth--would1 as already pointed out1 hardly reach it2 and it is easy to suppose that it might continue onwards and perdure in stability and activity for thousands of years4 ,even the ,atom of matter1 which is now regarded as a complex system of electrons1 is supposed to have an immensely extended lifetime--nearly two thousand years in the case of ,radium1 and much longer in the case of all other substances2 and if two thousand years or thereabouts is the minimum lifetime of an atom1 it is not difficult to suppose that the lifetime of a subtle body composed as above described may be equally or much more extended4 ,during its lifetime1 the radio-active atom1 slowly disintegrating1 pours out a prodigious amount of energy2 and in the process apparently is transformed and takes on other characters and qualities4 ,radium for instance1 or rather some products of its disintegration1 are thought to take on the characters of ,helium and of ,lead4 ,and similarly we have every reason to believe that the subtle body of ,man is continually pouring out energy on all sides1 radiating like a sun--pouring out mental states1 sensible forms1 influences of all kinds1 even images of itself1 and so continually entering into a wider life and touch with others1 and undergoing a slow transformation of its outer form4 ,at the same time--and leading to the same results--it is continually storing up in its recesses impressions and memories for the seed of future expression and development4 ,it may be imagined that the gross terrestrial body--though splendidly necessary for the localizing of the ,self1 and the establishment of the sense of identity1 and for the electric accumulation of stores of emotion and passion1 and so forth--acts on the whole in such a way as to greatly hamper and limit the activities of the inner body2 and we can imagine that 7as at death and under other special conditions7 the liberation from the gross body is naturally accompanied by an enormous extension of faculty4 ,the soul in its new and subtler form passes out into an immensely wider sphere of action and perception--so much so1 indeed1 as to make direct converse between the two worlds 7the new world it is in1 and the old one it has left7 difficult to establish and very difficult permanently to maintain4 ,the author of ,interwoven says 7p4 #bba7 that the first body and the second body differ greatly in their chemical particles1 8and so the same degree of sight and hearing is not possible4444 ,we have just as much trouble to see the outsides of things as mortals have to see the insides40 ,nor can we place a necessary limit to the birth of finer bodies4 ,there may be a succession of such things4 ,the electron brings us very near to a mental state2 for whereas an ,atom--conceived as similar to the speck of dust which one can roll between one's fingers1 only much more minute--seems to have no relation to mentality1 a tiny electric charge1 capable of conveying a shock1 comes very close6 ,and at that stage the truth becomes apparent that the inner intelligent being in all things is the core1 and the body is only the surface of contact--the surface1 in fact1 along which one intelligence administers shocks to another6 ,with liberation from the gross body that surface may grow enormously extended1 and it may become possible to touch or see1 or to render oneself visible or tangible1 to others far beyond all ordinary possibilities of contact or perception4 ,the succession of finer bodies may exist in any gradation1 from what we call gross matter to the subtlest ether of emotion4 ,at any rate we can see that at every stage there will be a finer body which is more of the nature of thought1 and an outer and coarser which is less so4 ,as the gifted author of ,the ,science of ,peace1 ,bhagavan ,das1 says3--8,at each stage the ,jiva-core 7i4e4 the core of the living individual7 consists of matter of the inner plane1 while its outer updhi 7or sheath7 consists of matter of the outer plane2 and when a person says1 ,i think1 ,i act1 it means that the matter of the inner core1 which is the ,i1 for the time being1 is actually1 positively1 modified by1 or is itself modifying in a certain manner1 the outer real world40 ,the inner film of matter 7or mind71 as he says1 8is posing and masquerading1 for the time being1 as the truly immaterial self40 ,this central ,self we can never wholly reach1 but the movement of each divine soul is toward it2 and the assurance and salvation of each soul is in the growing sense of union with it4 ,the personal self can only #8survive' by ever fading and changing toward the universal4 ,our inner identity is fixed1 but our outward identity we can only preserve by1 as it were1 forever losing it4 ,after life's fitful fever--after the insurgence and resurgence of passions2 after the heart-breaking struggles which are forced upon some for the sake of a mere material footing upon the earth2 after the deadly sufferings which others must undergo in order to gain scantiest allowance and expression of their inner and spiritual selves2 after the mortal conflict and irreconcilableness of material and mental needs2 the battles with opponents1 the betrayal of friends1 the fading and souring of pleasures1 and the dissipation of ideals--the consent of mankind goes to affirm and confirm the conclusion that sleep is well1 sleep is desirable4 ,as after a hard day's labor1 when the sinews are torn and the mind is racked1 ,nature's soft nurse commends a period of rest and healing--so it would seem fitting that a similar period should follow1 for the human soul1 on the toil and the dislocation of life4 ,it seems indeed probable--and a long tradition confirms the idea--that the human soul at death does at first pass1 with its cloud-vesture of memories and qualities1 into some intermediate region1 astral rather than celestial 7if we may use words which we do not understand71 some ,purgatory or ,hades1 rather than ,paradise or ,olympus2 and for a long period does remain there quiescent1 surveying its past1 recovering from the shocks and outrages of mortal experience1 knitting up and smoothing out the broken and tangled threads1 trying hard to understand the pattern4 ,it seems probable that there is a long period of such digestion and reconcilement and slow brooding over the new life which has to be formed4 ,indeed when one comes to think of it1 it seems difficult--if there is to be continuance at all--to imagine anything else4 ,when one thinks of the strange contradictions of our mortal life1 the hopelessly antagonistic elements1 the warring of passions1 the shattering of ideals1 the stupor of monotony3 the soul like a bird shut in a cage1 or with bright wings draggled in the mire2 the horrible sense of sin which torments some people1 the mad impulses which tyrannize over others2 the alternations of one's own personality on different days1 or at different depths and planes of consciousness2 the supraliminal and the subliminal2 the smug ,upper-self with its petty satisfactions and its precise and precious logic1 and the great ,under-self now rising 7in the hour of death7 like some vast shadowy figure or genius1 out of the abyss of being--when one thinks of all this one feels that if there is to be any sanity or sequence in the conclusion1 it must mean a long period of brooding and reconciliation1 and of readjustment1 and even of sleep4 ,at first it may well be a troubled period1 of nightmare-like confusion2 but at last there must come a time when harmony is restored4 ,the past lifetime is spread out like a map before one--all its events fall into their places1 composed and clear4 ,the genius1 rising from the depths1 throws a strange light upon them4 8,this was necessary4 ,that could not have been otherwise4 ,and that again which seemed so fatal1 do you not now see its profound meaning80 ,the soul surveying gradually redeems the past4 ,it comes to understand4 ,tout comprendre1 c'est tout pardonner4 ,it beholds1 far down1 the little fugitive among the shadows1 pursued by the hideous and imbecile mask--the sense of ,sin--and1 recognizing a fleeting embodiment of itself1 it smiles3 for that mask has been seen through and is useless any longer4 ,it beholds another--or is it the same8--pursued by the ,terror of ,death2 and again it smiles3 for that shadow--like the vast moonshadow in a total eclipse of the sun1 which seemed so solid and all-devouring1 has swept by2 it has been passed through1 and it was only a shadow4 ,and it may well be also that this whole process of reconciliation and adjustment and the building up of diverse elements into one harmonious being may occupy more than one such interval between two lifetimes2 it may require several periods of incubation1 so to speak4 ,looking at the matter from the physical side1 and seeing how the inner and subtle body has probably to be formed during all this time--as in a chrysalis--and differentiated into an independent life1 it seems likely that several intervals of outer rest and inner growth may be needed1 and a series of successive moultings6 ,but in the end1 when the string of earth-lives is finished1 and the reconciliation is complete1 then the essential1 the divine1 self has become manifest1 and is ready for a whole new world1 a new order of experience1 even to the farthest confines of the universe4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i have suggested in a former chapter that ,memory--that very wonderful faculty--is probably our best test of ,identity1 our best test of ,survival4 ,if we apply this canon to the evolution of the independent soul out of the race-life1 it may help us4 ,when an animal dies1 the group of memories1 which is its life's-experience1 probably passes back and is transmitted in a more or less diffused way into the general race-life or soul4#acf ,in the case of some higher animals it is possible that the memory-group thus returning may cohere for a time or to a certain degree1 and not be immediately diffused4 ,in the case of the higher types of ,man it is probable that such group may cohere for a long time and rather persistently2 and though embedded in the general race-life and memory1 and much mingled with and modified by these1 it may still form to some degree an independent centre of intelligence and organization 7something like a nerve-plexus in the brain or body74 ,it will form1 in fact1 what ,i have already called a soul-bud or budding soul1 and will be capable of that mixed or partial reincarnation of which ,i have spoken--in which some truly individual streaks of memory will be mixed with general memories of race-life4 ,but after each successive reincarnation the group of memories returning--and allying themselves to the former groups--will necessarily give more and more definition to such budding soul1 till at last the time will come when its individuality will be complete2 its severance from the race-life will follow as a matter of course2 and it will float out into the sea of the all-pervading and divine consciousness4 ,during this budding period of the human soul1 which generally speaking may be said to coincide with the civilization-period of human history1 the memory of each earth-life will go back into the race-soul there to swell the nucleus of the individual soul which is being brought to birth2 but it will not generally revive into evidence in the next earth-life1 for1 being so deeply buried within1 it will be too much overlaid by external layers and happenings to come distinctly into consciousness4 ,it is not probably till the completion of the whole series of its earth-lives that the soul will resume all these memories and come into its complete heritage4 ,then1 at some deep stage or state all its incarnations 7clarified and comprehended7 will become manifest to it--a glorious kingdom beyond the imagination of man at present to conceive4 ,all its various lives it may live over again2 but with as much difference in its understanding of their meaning as there is between an accomplished player's rendering of a piece of music1 and a child's first stumbling performance of the same4 ,it will perceive that1 in a sense1 it has pre-existed from eternity4 ,for though certainly there was a time when it first sprang as a bud from the ,race1 and entered into a gradually evolving and self-defining series of personal lives1 yet that first bud was itself but a particular limitation and condensation of the ,race-self2 and that again1 far back and beyond1 a limitation through many intermediate stages of the ,all-self4 ,it 7the human-divine soul7 will perceive that it pre-existed from eternity as the ,all-self2 that it suffered in its time the necessary obscurations and limitations2 that it abdicated the high prerogative of universal consciousness2 and that it was born again as a tiny ,cinderella-spark2 destined to rise through all the circles of personal and individual life1 and the enacting of the great drama of ,love and ,death--the great cycle of ,evolution and ,transfiguration--once more to the eternal ,throne4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the glory of that ,heaven where the ,all-self dwells radiant as the ,sun1 and each lesser or partial soul knows itself as a ray conveying the whole light1 but in a direction of its own--we need not dwell on or attempt to portray4 ,as the emancipated soul1 just described1 may include the personalities of many earth-lives and bodies1 so there may be--probably are--larger inclusive selves1 special gods1 having troops of souls united to them in the bonds of love and devotion4 ,telepathic radiations1 travelling as it were on lines of light1 and with the velocity and directness of light1 bring each unit into possible touch with every other1 and over an enormous field4 ,as the modern theory of electricity supposes that every electric charge1 however small1 or associated with the smallest atom1 is connected by lines of force with some other and complementary charge somewhere--even perhaps at a practically infinite distance--negative with positive1 and positive with negative2 so the idea is suggested that in the free world of the spirit every need felt by one atom of personality anywhere is felt also and answered to by some complementary impulse and personality somewhere4 ,in the bringing together of these needs and affections1 in the recovery and the building up and the presentation in sensible form of all the worlds of memory1 slumber infinite possibilities1 and the outlines of endless situations and developments4 ,the individual is clearly not lost in any #8,happy ,mass'2 but may contribute to the formation of such a thing in the sense that he comes into such wide and extended touch with others as to have a practically unlimited range of experience1 memory1 knowledge1 creative power1 and so forth1 to draw on4 ,nor is there any call to think of a bodiless heaven or bodiless state of being in any plane of existence4 ,the body in any stage or state is1 ,i repeat1 a surface of contact4 ,wherever one intelligent being comes into touch with another--whether actively1 by impressing itself on the other1 or passively by being impressed--there immediately arises a body4 ,there arises the sense of matter1 which is in fact the impression made by one being upon another4 ,the external senses1 of sight1 hearing and the rest1 are modifications or limitations of more extended inner faculties1 of vision1 audition1 and so forth4 ,the actual world of ,nature which we know1 in the bodies of the woods and streams1 and of animals and men1 is built up out of the material of our senses2 out of the kind of impressionability of which our senses are susceptible2 but if these materials1 of our sight and hearing and touch and taste1 were altered but slightly in their range1 the whole world would be different4 ,they would create for us another world4 ,and so1 if these present end-organs of sense were destroyed1 the soul1 furnished with the inner faculties corresponding1 would create another world of sense and of ,nature1 which would become the medium of expression and communication on that new plane1 and the material of its bodily manifestation there4 ,at present1 owing to entanglement in the grosser senses1 life is certainly in the main a matter of food and drink1 of sex1 of money-making1 and the exercise of rather rude recreations and arts4 ,with a finer range of sense1 there would still remain the roots and realities of these things2 the need of sustenance would still survive in the finer body1 and the need of interchange and the indrawing of vitality2 the hunger of union and of intercourse would remain--to be expressed in some shape or other2 the delight in music and in beauty of form would be no less1 though sounds and colors might be different from those we know2 and all the faculties that we have--and others too that are now only embryonic with us--would demand their exercise and expression4 ,out of such demands and needs would arise a corresponding world4 ,i have suggested above 7ch4 xi47 how1 deep in the subliminal self1 there lies a marvellous faculty of producing visible and audible phenomena--,visions and ,voices and ,forms4 ,out of the depths of being these can be evoked1 and bodied forth into the actual world4#acg ,in other words1 each such ,self1 in its moods of power1 can call forth its own thoughts and mental images with such force as to impress them irresistibly on others within its range--with such force1 in fact1 as to give them a material vesture and location4 ,what we have said of the vastness and range of the human ,under-self1 of its swift interrelation with others1 of the immensity of its memory extending far back into the deeps of time1 must convince us that its powers of creation must be correspondingly wonderful4 ,the phenomena exhibited by entranced mediums1 and by hypnotized subjects1 are only a sample of these powers2 but they hint dimly to us that when we understand ourselves1 and what we are1 and when we understand others1 and what they are1 ,time and ,space and ,estrangement will no longer avail against us2 they will no longer hinder us from recognition of each other1 nor hold us back from the spheres to which we truly belong1 and the fulfilment of our real needs and desires4 ,man is the ,magician who whether in dreams or in trance or in actual life can1 if he wills it1 raise up and give reality to the forms of his desire and his love4 ,it is not necessary for us feverishly to pursue our loved ones through all the fading and dissolving outlines of their future or their past embodiments4 ,they are ours already1 in the deepest sense--and one day we shall wake up to know we can call them at any moment to our side2 we shall wake up to know that they are ever present and able to manifest themselves to us out of the unseen4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,the ,,mystery ,,of ,,personality ,it will have been noticed that throughout this book there has been a tendency to return again and again to the question of what we mean by the ,self4 ,as ,i have said before 7see ch4 xii41 supra71 one might very naturally suppose that as the ego underruns all experience1 and we cannot make any observation of the world at all except through its activity1 the general problem of the nature of the ego would be the first to be attacked1 and the very first to be solved2 whereas1 curiously enough1 it seems to be the last6 ,only towards the conclusion of philosophical speculation does the importance of this problem force itself on men's minds4 ,nevertheless1 ,i think we may say that in the department of philosophy it is the great main problem which lies before this age for solution2 and that one of the greatest services a man can do is--by psychologic study and manifold experience1 by poetical expression1 especially in lyrical form1 and by philosophic thought and investigation--to make clear to himself and the world what he means by the letter #8,i1' what he means by his #8self4' ,to the unthinking person nothing seems simpler1 more obvious1 than his own existence--and hardly needing definition4 ,yet the least thought shows how complex and elusive this #8self' is4 ,it is one of those cases with which the world teems--a juggle of the open daylight--in which an object appears so perfectly simple1 frank1 innocent1 and without concealment1 and yet is really profoundly complex1 deliberate1 and unfathomable4 ,the most elementary considerations easily illustrate what ,i mean4#ach ,when we speak of the ego1 do we mean the self of to-day1 or of yesterday1 or of some years back--or possibly some years in the future when we shall have found the expression now unhappily denied us8 ,do we mean the self of boyhood1 or even of babyhood8 or do we mean that of maturity1 or of old age8 ,do we mean the self indicated by the mind alone1 or by the spirit1 apart from the body8 or do we mean that indicated specially by the body1 or even 7as some folk seem to consider7 by the clothes8 ,it would be very puzzling to be asked to place one's finger1 so to speak1 on any one of these manifestations as really and completely representative4 ,rather perhaps we should be inclined1 if pressed1 to say that our real self was something underrunning all these forms--that it required all the expressions1 from infancy1 through maturity1 even to old age1 and all the apparatus of body and mind1 in order to convey its meaning2 and that to pin it down to any particular moment of time1 or to any particular phase of the material or spiritual1 would be to do it a great injustice4 ,if so1 we seem at once compelled to think of the ,self as something greatly larger than any ordinary form of it that we know1 as something perhaps on a different plane of being--underrunning1 and therefore in a sense beyond1 ,time2 and similarly underrunning1 and therefore in a sense beyond1 both body and mind4 ,and this all the more1 because1 as ,i have said on an earlier page1 we all feel that at best much of our real selves remains in life-long defect of expression2 and that there are great deeps of the ,under-self 7as in chapter viii47 which1 though organically related to our ordinary consciousness1 are still for the most part hidden and unexplored4 ,all1 in fact1 points to the existence within us of a very profound self1 which so far we may justifiably conclude to be much greater than any one known manifestation of it2 which requires for its expression the forms of a lifetime2 and still stretches on and beyond2 which perhaps belongs to another sphere of being--as the ship in the air and the sunlight belongs to another sphere than the hull buried deep in the water4 ,but we may go further in our exploration of the 8abysmal deeps40 ,we have once or twice in the foregoing chapters alluded to the possibility of the self dividing into two personalities1 or even more4 ,we have supposed1 for instance1 that at death the psychic organism may possibly split up--some more terrestrial portion remaining operant and active on the earth-plane1 and some other portion removing to a subtler and more ethereal region4 ,are we--we may ask--and those others who propound the same ideas talking nonsense in doing so8 ,is it anyhow possible for a self to be active in two bodies or in two places at the same time8 ,it may indeed seem impossible and absurd--until we envisage the actual facts2 but when we do so1 when we study the facts of the alternation of personalities1 so much in evidence at the present time1 when we find that two or more personalities1 or coherent bodies of consciousness1 may not only succeed each other in one human organism1 but may simultaneously be active in the same1#aci when we find that there is such a thing as #8bilocation1' and that the apparition of a person may come and deliver a message while the original person is far away and otherwise engaged1 when we notice carefully our own internal psychology and find that we not unfrequently 8talk to ourselves0 and in other ways behave as two persons in one body--we see that the absurdity or unlikelihood of the suggestion may not by any means be so great as supposed1 and that we may after all be forced to largely remodel our conception of what ,personality is4#adj ,that one ,personality should divide into two or more may seem to be foreign to our habitual views2 yet we must remember that worms1 annelids1 and molluscs of various kinds commonly so divide2 and though it is puzzling to think what becomes of the #8,i' or #8self' of a sea-anemone when the latter is cut in twain and each part goes its way as a new creature1 we must not therefore refuse to envisage the fact and the problem thus flowing from it4 ,as to the ,protozoa1 which certainly exhibit signs of considerable intelligence1 fission of one cell into two or more is one of the most normal and frequent events of their lives4 ,the same1 of course1 is true of the elementary cells of the human body2 the fission even of whole organs of the body is not uncommon1 though more pathological in character2 and the fission of the personality1 as just mentioned1 is quite frequent2 and in some cases--as in the well-known case of ,sally ,beauchamp--very striking1 on account of the furious apparent opposition developed between one portion and another4#ada ,the conception therefore of ,personality must1 it would seem1 include the thought of possible bilocation--that is1 of possible manifestation in two places at the same time2 and it must not refuse the thought of inclusion--i4e4 of one personality being possibly included within another--as of living and intelligent cells within the body4#adb ,furthermore1 we must not only allow division of self as one of the attributes of personality1 but also1 apparently1 fusion with other selves4 ,this may seem far-fetched and unreasonable at first1 but on consideration we cannot but see that in one degree or another it is quite in the order of ,nature4 ,the ,protozoa1 of course1 quite frequently combine with each other1 and so make a new start in life2 in the higher organisms the sperm-cell and germ-cell fuse completely for the conception of the offspring1 and the organisms themselves fuse partially and interchange elements during the process of conjunction2 and in the psychology of love among human beings we notice a similar fusion1 and sometimes also almost a confusion1 of personalities4 ,the little self-conscious mind 7of the civilized man7 no doubt protests against all this4 ,it desires to think of itself as a separate and definite entity1 distinct from 7and perhaps superior to7 all others2 and it finds any theories of possible fission or fusion of personalities quite baffling and impracticable4 ,yet in the light of the ,all-self--the key-thought of this book--the whole thing is obvious1 and there is really no difficulty1 except perhaps in the linking up 7through memory7 of the continuity of each lesser self4 ,what we said in the last chapter1 namely that 8the personal self-consciousness can only survive by ever fading and changing toward the universal10 must be borne in mind4 ,continual expansion is a normal condition of consciousness4 ,time is an integral element of it4#adc ,consciousness must continually grow4 ,through memory it preserves the past1 through the present it adds to its stores4 ,the author of ,the ,science of ,peace illustrates the subject 7p4 #cjc7 by asking us to consider the spheres of consciousness of various officials in a country whose departments more or less overlap each other3 8,there are administrative officers in charge of each department1 whose consciousness may be said to include the consciousness of their subordinates in that department1 to exclude those of their compeers1 and to be in turn included in those of their superiors4 ,the more complicated the machinery of the government1 the better the illustration will be of inclusions and exclusions and partial or complete coincidences1 and overlappings and communions of consciousness4 ,at last we come to the head of the government1 whose consciousness may be said to include the consciousnesses1 whose knowledge and power include the knowledges and powers of all the public servants in the land1 and whose consciousness is so expanded as to enable him to be in touch with them all and feel and act through them all constantly4 ,an officer promoted through the grades of such an administration would clearly pass through expansions of consciousness4444 ,such expansion of consciousness1 then1 is not in its nature more mysterious and recondite than any other item in the world-process1 but a thing of daily and hourly occurrence4 ,in terms of metaphysic it is the coming of an individual ,self into relation with a larger and larger not-self40 ,in the light of the ,all-self1 ,i say1 the difficulties disappear4 ,it is the question of ,memory 7explicit or implicit7 which seems to decide the limits of personalities and their survival4 ,the ,one ,self is experiencing in all forms1 but the stores of experience and memory are kept separate4 ,here is a man who has a ,town house and a ,country house and an ,italian villa4 ,when he changes his abode from one to the other he becomes to a great extent a different person4 ,his surroundings and associations1 his pursuits and occupations1 his dress and habits1 his language may be1 are changed4 ,it may even happen that each of his three lives goes on growing and expanding after its own pattern1 and becoming more and more different from the two others2 and yet the ultimate person behind them all remains the same4 ,is it not possible that the lives of us human beings may go on expanding and growing each according to its own law1 and yet the ultimate individual or ,being behind them all may remain the same8 ,if a worm be supposed to have memory 7and worms no doubt have memory in some degree71 then it might well be supposed that1 if divided in two1 each of the parts would inherit the said memory complete4 ,but from that moment the experiences of the two portions1 moving in different directions1 would bifurcate1 and the future stores of memory would be different4 ,thus we should have a bifurcation of the stream of memory1 and a bifurcation of personality--until ultimately1 as time went on1 and the common memory faded into the background1 the two new personalities would begin to feel themselves almost quite separate4 ,is not this again something like what may have happened to ourselves from ,creation's birth8 ,the stream of life has bifurcated and bifurcated till we have lost our common memory and have become convinced of the absolute separation of our personalities one from the other4 ,on the other hand1 the conjunction and fusion of two streams of memory in one is as probable and intelligible as the bifurcation of one into two4 ,two protozoa fuse2 but the race-self in one is the same as in the other1 and in reality the process is only a fusion of organic memories and experiences4 ,a man who had been in the habit of changing every year from his ,town to his ,country house might some day find it convenient to combine his establishments in one suburban residence4 ,certainly if he had so far forgot himself that in changing houses he had always quite changed his memories1 then it would seem impossible to him to combine the two lives in one4 ,otherwise there would be no difficulty in the process4 ,the stores of one establishment1 with their associations and memories would after a time 7and not without some maturation-divisions and extrusions67 be got into relation with the stores of the other establishment2 and the two bodies of memory and association would settle down together4 99 99 99 99 99 ,all this seems to suggest to us that our conception of personality must be considerably altered from its ordinary form1 and rendered more fluent1 in order to tally with the real facts4 ,there is no such thing as a fixed and limited personality1 of definite content and character1 which we can credit to our account1 or to the account of our friends4 ,all is in flux and change1 the consciousness ever enlarging1 the ego which is at the root of that consciousness ever growing in the knowledge of itself as a vital portion of the ,all-self4 ,that last alone is fixed2 that alone as the #8universal witness' is permanent4 ,but the streams of memory and experience1 by which from all sides that central fact and consciousness is reached1 are infinite in number and variety4 ,it is in the continuity of a stream of memory that what we call personality must be supposed to consist2 and when this continuity covers not only a single life1 but extends from life to life1 then we must find a new name for the persistent being and call him not a personality1 but1 if we will1 an individuality4 ,such individualities must exist by millions and billions2 they must be as numerous as all the possible lines of experience 7and these are quasi-infinite in number7 by which the soul may grow from its birth in the simplest speck of matter to its realization of divine and universal life4 ,the author 7,bhagavan ,das7 of ,the ,science of ,peace illustrates this infinitude of individualities1 and how they are all contained in the ,all-self1 and each in a sense as an aspect of the ,one1 by the simile of a museum or gallery4 8,if a spectator10 he says 7p4 #bhi71 8wondered unrestingly through the halls of a vast museum or great art gallery1 at the dead of night1 with a single small lamp in one hand1 each of the natural objects1 the pictured scenes1 the statues1 the portraits1 would be illumined by that lamp in succession for a single moment1 while all the rest were in darkness1 and after that single moment would fall into darkness again4 ,let there now be not one but countless such spectators1 as many in endless numbers as the objects of sight within the place1 each spectator wandering in and out incessantly through the great crowd of all the others1 each lamp bringing momentarily into light one object1 and for only that spectator who holds that lamp40 ,then he goes on to say that each line or succession of experiences might represent an individuality2 each individuality in the end would reach the totality of experience1 but in a different order and in a different manner from any other2 and all the individualities would all the time--though changing themselves--remain within the unchanging intelligence of the absolute1 and would only be exploring that intelligence each in a different order4 8,for10 he again says 7p4 #cag71 8an individuality can no otherwise be described1 discriminated and fixed1 than by enumerating the experiences of that individual1 by narrating its biography40 ,we may also illustrate the matter by the conception of a ,tree4 ,a single leaf at the end of a twig may seem to have a little separate self of its own2 but it is very ephemeral4 ,it perishes with the season and another leaf takes its place4 ,there is a deeper self1 in the twig1 which endures1 and from which new leaves spring4 ,and again the twig springs from a small spray1 which is the source of other twigs and leaves4 ,should the leaf desire to trace its complete and total self it would have to follow its life-line through the twig and the spray1 to the branch1 and so right down to the central trunk4 ,it could not stop at any halfway point1 and say1 ,this is my final self4 ,but on its way to the trunk1 at different points1 it would find that its sap or life was flowing into other twigs and leaves1 as well as the twig and leaf first mentioned4 ,it would come into relation1 so to speak1 with other bodies beside the first4 ,if we were to call the first leaf and twig a personality we should have to call some deeper self involving many twigs and leaves an ,individuality1 and so on to the ,all-self of the tree4 ,the self of every leaf would approach the main trunk along a different line1 and through various ranges of individuality2 but all would ultimately participate in one whole4 ,i think some such view is clearly the most satisfactory way of looking at the matter4 ,we are all essentially one2 our differentiation from each other does not consist in differences in the central ego1 but in the different lines of experience and memory4 ,we can none of us boast1 at any point1 of a rounded1 definite and stationary self1 apart from all others2 but we are all approaching the universal from different sides4 ,yet1 also1 it is perfectly true that consciousness is born in us first through our very limitations4 ,through the very obstacles that surround us1 and through the things that seem to divide us from others1 first simple consciousness and then self-consciousness are born4 ,then comes a time when the limitations and the barriers become intolerable4 ,the soul that at first gloried in them comes to find the burden of self-consciousness too great4 ,why should it be forever ,john ,smith8 ,as ,mrs4 ,stetson says3-- 8,what an exceeding rest 'twill be ,when ,i can leave off being ,me6444 ,done with the varying distress ,of retroactive consciousness6444 ,why should ,i long to have ,john ,smith ,eternally to struggle with80 ,when the consciousness arises of this fact1 that we need not be tied to ,john ,smith forever--that our real self is far vaster1 and essentially one with others1 then in each of us the ,divine ,soul is born2 a vista of glory and splendor opens in front1 and on all sides the barriers fall to the ground4 ,on the way to this supreme conclusion the stream of memories which one calls oneself may of course take on form after form2 it may bifurcate1 or it may fuse with other streams4 ,that does not very much matter4 ,the real identity1 once established1 can hardly be lost4 ,for every leaf there is a channel of sap which connects it with the main trunk4 ,personality is real1 but it yields itself up in the greater ,individual of which it is the expression2 and the individual or divine soul is real--enduring perhaps many thousands of years--but it yields itself up ultimately in the ,all4 ,finally1 in that union1 ,memory itself1 in its mortal form1 ceases1 for it is swallowed up in actual realization1 in the power of actual presence in all space and time4 ,the divine soul which has thus completed its union needs memory no more4 ,it is there wherever it desires to be4 ,as the author of ,siderische ,geburt 7,berlin1 #aiaj7 says1 8,we mortals are separated from the divine all-embracing universal ,vision2 and ,memory is only a first glimmering reawakening--a beginning of renewed seraphic life and a coming into relation with all that lies beyond the little world-corner of our presence40#add 99 99 99 99 99 ,at first sight1 and to one who does not yet realize the inner unity of being1 these views on the nature of ,personality and ,individuality may appear strange and even painful4 ,for such a person the thought of the dissociation of his #8self1' of its separation into two or more parts--either in life or in death--and the divergence of the two parts from each other1 must be grotesque and terrible1 and verging even towards madness4 ,and so also must be the thought of the possible dissociation of the personalities of his friends4 ,and yet it may be necessary for us at length and by degrees to understand and assimilate such a view4 ,certain it is that1 as we come to understand it1 we shall see that any dissociation that may occur can only be of the superficial elements--something of the nature of a divergence of the chains of memory2 and that dissociation of the real and intimate self is a thing quite impossible4 ,we shall see that by degrees the self may learn to deal with such dissociations1 and to express itself in various guises1 and in more than one personality at a time4 ,if1 for instance1 there does occur at death a certain break-up of the psychic organism--if the animal soul1 and the human soul1 and the divine soul do to a certain extent part from each other and go along different ways1 we may see that it is quite possible that the personal stream of memory may correspondingly branch in different directions4 ,one portion of the consciousness1 having always been animal and terrestrial in character1 may identify itself mainly with the animal vitality of the residue and its corresponding memories--and may persevere for some time as a wandering passional centre1 liable to attach itself to the organisms of living folk1 or to figure as a #8ghost' of very limited activities and occupied with eternal repetitions of the same action2 another portion1 more distinctly human1 may linger in some intermediate state1 partly in touch with the earth-life and the souls of mortal friends1 yet partly drawn onward into wider spheres2 and may function on for a long time in a kind of dreamland--creating perhaps the objects of its own consumption till it wearies of them1 or building up imaginative worlds of occupations and activities similar to our own1 as in 8the happy hunting grounds0 of ,indians1 or the worlds described from time to time by mediumistic #8controls4' ,and again a third portion may pass into that far wider and grander state of being which we have described--that of the #8divine' soul which recognizes its equality and unity with all others1 and its freedom of the whole universe4 ,in all these cases the main stream of memory1 branching1 must pour itself into the section of life which follows1 and render the latter quite continuous with the former--though naturally with some differences1 both in the memories transmitted1 and in the degrees of community1 in each case4 ,we may apply these considerations to the question of the messages and apparitions from the unseen world which have been alluded to in former chapters4 ,how far or in what special way these communications really represent the active and continuing consciousness of our departed friends is a question which is generally admitted to be most doubtful and difficult4 ,and its difficulty is not lessened1 ,i think1 by our conclusions 7so far7 on the nature of ,personality4 ,if the stream of a man's earth-life memory may diverge at death into two or more streams1 then it must remain difficult for us to say whether the communication which is coming to us proceeds from a mere overflow of that stream1 which has eddied itself1 so to speak1 into the brain of the medium2 or from some #8astral' shell of the departed one1 which has already begun decaying and dissipating1 in our atmosphere2 or again from the true soul of the man which is pushing forward into the world beyond4 ,probably we do not yet know enough about the matter to form decisive judgments4 ,in either case the memory exhibited may be surprisingly perfect4 ,and it seems to me that in most cases nothing but personal evidence and personal detail1 even down to the minutest points1 can decide--and even then not in such a way as to decide for others4 ,and perhaps it is best and most natural so4 ,in our world of ordinary life it is so4 ,if an apparent stranger turns up from the other side of the earth and claims a far-back acquaintance2 if another makes the same claim over the telephone2 if a known friend behaves strangely1 and we are in doubt whether to attribute his conduct to bona fides or to incipient madness2 in these and a thousand other cases1 personal relationship and personal understanding 7though by no means unerring7 count for more than all science and legal proof4 ,and perhaps this is the healthiest way to take the subject3 not to be over-curious or speculative or sentimental1 but where solid help and a permanent and useful relationship seems to be gained1 there to accept the communications as so far commending and justifying themselves4 ,if1 as ,i have just said1 there is something a little disquieting and even terrible in the thought that our personality may thus be subject to rupture or dissociation into two or more portions1 that matter after all depends upon how we look upon it--whether from below1 as it were1 or from above4 ,there is nothing particularly terrible in the thought that our bodily organs and parts--our 8,little ,marys10 and so forth--may have 7probably do have7 very distinct personalities of their own4 ,we look down upon them1 so to speak1 and include them4 ,and we shall one day no doubt1 and in the realization of our greater selves1 have the splendid experience of including two 7or more7 bodies--of having them at our service1 and available for command and expression4 ,even now we are sometimes conscious of having one envelope of a more ethereal and intense nature1 swift and far-reaching both in movement and perception in the innermost regions1 and another more local body1 in touch with terrestrial life4 ,and there would be nothing surprising or dreadful in finding1 after death1 that an ethereal and a terrestrial body were both still at our command--though both perhaps more developed and more differentiated from each other than at present2--or even that we might be capable of inhabiting several such bodies4 ,it is of course puzzling1 under our ordinary conceptions of ,space and ,time1 to imagine how it could be possible to deal with several bodies at the same time2 but in reality it is no more puzzling than the problem which we habitually solve every day and every hour of our lives4 ,how do we1 for instance1 deal with and dispose the activities of our hands and our feet and our eyes and our brain1 with simultaneous care1 say1 in walking through the streets8 ,we inhabit these separate organs1 these distinct personalities1 simultaneously1 and ordain their movements and gather in their perceptions by the act of attention4 ,attention in the world of the spirit corresponds to extension in the physical world4 ,whatever your spirit attends to1 that some physical radiation from yourself extends to4 ,and similarly if you had bodies in different worlds and regions1 by the simple act of attention your spirit would reach them4 ,nevertheless--to return to the one body and the various organs1 like hands and feet and eyes1 which we seem to have under control--it is clear that our minds could not possibly overlook all the details of their management1 unless there were some general ordaining spirit in the body which was in close touch and sympathy1 and ready to act with and aid us2 and similarly it is clear that we could not ordain and organize any movement of a secondary body at a distance--even though #8belonging' to us--unless there were a spirit1 in that body and the intervening spaces1 in touch and sympathy with ours4 ,it is the knowledge that there is such a community of life1 such an abounding ,self1 which gives the #8divine' soul its great joy and its great power--8for whatever he desires1 that he obtains from the ,self40 ,he who knows has indeed the freedom of the universe1 and of all its powers--who knows that the ,spirit of the whole is his own4 ,it is natural therefore to suppose that that portion of the consciousness which has circled and centred very definitely and conclusively round the ,all-self--or such aspect of the same as specially belongs to it2 or 7what perhaps comes to the same thing7 has circled very definitely round the divine soul of a loved one2 will pass through death easily and without much loss of continuity4 ,it will with its attendant memories pass easily and continuously into the inmost sphere2 or 7to put the matter in another way7 remaining in that sphere it will simply become aware that a mass of husks have been shed off1 which clouded it4 ,it will become aware of the glorious state of being to which it has always implicitly belonged1 and of its connection with not one only but many bodies4 ,it may be--and ,i think one almost feels that it must be--that the most intimate self of any of us cannot be realized short of externalization in a vast number of separate manifestations or lives4 ,one has the impression with regard to one's body1 that 8this is one of my bodies02 or that 8this body represents a portion of myself02 but one does not feel 8this body represents my total1 complete and final self40 ,and as we have just suggested that in a more intimate state of being we may become distinctly aware of having relation to several bodies simultaneously1 so the world-old doctrine of reincarnation in its general form has long suggested that our most intimate selves are related to a great number of bodies in succession to each other in ,time4 ,the higher or inner ,individual--of agelong and onian life--is reincarnated 7it is said7 thousands of times2 thus to embody that aspect of the ,divine which it represents4 ,these embodiments may be in forms by no means resembling each other--though doubtless there will be a thread of similarity running through2 and one embodiment may have little idea 7except in moments of inspiration7 of its relation to the others1 or of any continuity of memory between itself and the others4 ,yet the memories of these lives and embodiments passing into the inner sphere are ultimately gathered together and drawn up to constitute that most glorious world of each ,being of which we have spoken--a world in which each overlooks and ordains its various lives and manifestations as from a mountain-top4 ,these are indeed 8the ageless immortal gods who seek ever to come in the forms of men0--whom we ever and anon seem to feel and hear knocking at the inner door of our little local selves1 as though they would gain admittance and acknowledgment4 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,conclusion ,and so we seem to find--in the farthest and loftiest reaches of life1 as in its first beginnings--,love and ,death strangely linked and strangely related4 ,changing their form but not their essence they accompany us to the last2 and we forebode them1 in the final account1 as no longer the tyrannous and often terrible over-lords of our mortal days1 but rather our most indispensable companions without whom life in its higher ranges could not well be maintained4 ,for a time1 certainly1 we cling to our limited and tiny self-life and consciousness2 and deem that all good resides in the careful guarding of the same4 ,but again there comes a time when the bounds of personality confine and chafe beyond endurance1 when an immense rage sweeps us far out into the great ocean2 when to save our lives we deliberately lose them2 when ,death becomes a passion even as ,love is4 ,the mystery of mortal life clears1 or dissolves away1 by our passing in a sense beyond personality2 and the hour arrives when we look down on these local days1 these self-limitations1 as phases--phases of some far vaster state of being4 ,death is the necessary door by which we pass from one such phase to another2 and ,love is even a similar door4 ,growing silently within there emerges at last something which has its home in the great spaces1 which dives under and through ,death1 and is the companion of ,titanic and ,cosmic beings2 something strangely surpassing all barriers and limits1 and strangely finding identity by fusing and losing it in the life of others2 something which at times seems almost mockingly to abandon its own identity and rise creative in new forms--sporting in the great ocean2 and yet can somehow instantly recall its past and the tiny limits from which it first sprang--trailing forever with it the wonderful cloud-wreaths of earth-memory and association1 and the myriad fragrance of personal remembrance4 8,what are thou then80 says the poet1 addressing his departed friend3-- 8,what art thou then8--,i cannot guess2 ,but tho' ,i seem in star and flower ,to feel thee some diffusive power ,i do not therefore love thee less40 ,even in the farthest spheres the poignant syllables #8,i' and #8,thou' will surely still be heard2 and a thousand deaths shall not avail to exhaust their meaning or to make of ,love a pale and cold abstraction4 ,the memory of the earth-life and of personal identity is never lost2 but it passes out into that far greater form1 the memory and resumption into a coherent ,whole of many lives1 and the sense of an ,individuality which has value because it is merged in and is an expression of the ,all4 ,memory indeed changes from being the faint dream-shadow that we know1 of things in the past1 to being the things themselves1 actual and ever present at our command2 and with this finding of the inner soul and heart's core of all beings it becomes possible to live over again with them the days gone by1 in all detail and with ever deeper understanding of their true meaning4 ,the supra-liminal returns into harmony with the subliminal2 the individual life and the mass-life are reunited4 ,with the overpassing of the local and terrestrial self we are liberated into a fluid region where a thousand personalities yield their secrets and their co-operation into our hands4 ,with the releasing of our attention from personal objects and terrestrial gains1 materials and people correspondingly cease to obstruct4 ,they find nothing which they can obstruct6 ,the body moves freely about the world2 life ceases to be the #8obstacle race' and the queer perpetual vista of barricades which it mostly now is2 and a fortiori the soul moves freely1 because truly for the redeemed soul it is possible to feel that all things and creatures are friendly1 all beings a part of itself4 ,these and many other such realizations are indeed possible now--even in our present terrestrial state--under those rare conditions when the divine creature which is within the mortal body achieves a momentary deliverance1 and under which we sometimes pass out of our little mundane dream into that other land where the great ,voices sound and ,visions dwell4 ,,appendix ,,summary ,,of ,,chapter ,,ii #a4 ,every kind of cell or other organism has a natural limit of size 7dependent partly on the relation between surface and volume74 #b4 ,when that limit is reached1 superfluity of nutrition and growth tends to bring about ,reproduction4 #c4 ,reproduction begins with simple division or budding4 #d4 ,conjugation in its primitive form 7as among protozoa where there is no distinction of sex7 takes place between similars1 and is an exchange to some degree of cell-contents4 #e4 ,it apparently affords a superior nutrition1 and is a kind of ,regeneration1 essential to the continued health of the species1 and favorable to reproduction4 #f4 ,hunger and ,love are thus related at this stage4 #g4 ,later1 conjugation takes place between dissimilars 7of the same species72 and the distinct phenomena of sex appear--of male and female4 #h4 ,reproduction by simple division or budding leads to a kind of #8immortality1' since each descendant cell is continuous1 in a sense1 with the original one4 #i4 ,this simple division or virgin-birth process may go on to many generations--even to hundreds among the ,protozoa4 #aj4 ,but since at some time or other conjugation is apparently necessary in order to restore vitality1 the immortality at this point ceases to be an individual immortality1 and becomes rather a joint or racial immortality4 #aa4 ,the main thing in conjugation would appear to be that the two factors should be complementary to each other1 however differentiated1 so that in their union the whole race-life should be restored1 and the ,regeneration therefore be complete4 #ab4 ,the special sex-differentiation called male and female depends on the separation of the active from the sessile qualities 7and other qualities respectively related to each7 into two great branches4 #ac4 ,since the female takes the sessile part she appears sometimes as the goal and object of conjugation1 and the more important factor2 but actual observation so far shows each factor1 male and female1 to be equally important4 #ad4 ,in the fertilized ovum there are an equal number of chromosomes derived from each parent2 and if the female provides the shrine in which the new development takes place1 the male 7centrosome7 appears as the organizing genius of the process4 #ae4 ,this process1 by which a fertilized germ-cell divides and redivides1 and so builds up a 8body10 is quite similar to that by which a protozon divides and redivides to form a numerous colony4 #af4 ,a #8body' indeed is such a colony1 coperatively associated in definite form1 of which all the millions of cells are practically continuous with the original fertilized germ1 and one with it4 #ag4 ,every cell in such a body has apparently the same nuclear elements as the original cell1 equally derived from both parents2 but is differentiated so far as to be able to fulfil its special part in the body4 #ah4 ,the process of division of these microscopic cells is strangely exact and complex2 and the various elements of the nucleus seem to be themselves divided into two1 on each occasion1 with strange preciseness4 #ai4 ,the constituent cells of each race of animals have always a certain number of nuclear threads or chromosomes--fixed for that particular race4 #bj4 ,when1 therefore1 a sperm-cell and germ-cell unite1 they each first extrude or expel half the number of their chromosomes1 so that after union the joint cell is provided again with the precise number of chromosomes characteristic of the race4 #ba4 ,the exact nature of these #8maturation' divisions and expulsions is far from clear2 but it would seem that they are carried out in such a way as1 while retaining always the basic elements of the ,race1 to secure a continual and endless sorting of these into new combinations4 #bb4 ,these complex evolutions occurring1 as described1 in the interior of the most primitive cells1 look as much like the last results of some far antecedent or invisible operations 7of which we know nothing7 as like the first commencement of the visible organic world with which we are acquainted4 ,footnotes #a 8,in ,november #ahhe1 ,m4 ,maupas isolated an infusorian 7,stylonichia pustulata71 and observed its generations till ,march #ahhf4 ,by that time there had been #bae generations produced by ordinary division1 and since these lowly organisms do not conjugate with near relatives1 there had of course been no sexual union4--,what was the result8 ,at the date referred to1 the family was observed to have exhausted itself4 ,the members1 though not exactly old1 were being born old4 ,the sexual division came to a standstill1 and the powers of nutrition were also lost0 7,evolution of ,sex1 ,geddes and ,thomson1 #aija1 p4 #agg74 #b ,see1 however1 ,evolution of ,sex1 p4 #agh1 where a case is recorded of #deh generations of another infusorian apparently without degeneration4 ,see also ,the ,cell1 by ,dr4 ,oscar ,hertwig 7,sonnenschein1 #aiji71 p4 #bib4 #c ,the exchange of life-elements between two individuals is well illustrated in the case of the infusorian ,noctiluca4 ,two ,noctilucas1 ,a and ,b1 ,illustration3 small diagram of conjunction of ,a and ,b coalesce2 and then later divide again along a plane 7indicated by dotted line7 at right angles to the plane of contact4 ,two new individuals are thus formed1 and each ,noctiluca has absorbed half of the other4 ,their activities are regenerated and they begin a new life4 #d ,as in ,volvox2 see ,evolution of ,sex1 p4 #ach4 #e ,and we may say also here that it is even supposable that the special differentiation which we call male and female is only one out of many possible sex-differentiations--the important and main condition being that the differentiations1 whatever they are1 should be complementary to each other1 and should together make up the total qualities and character of the race4 #f ,as sixteen for a human being1 twelve for a grasshopper1 twenty-four for a lily1 and so forth4 #g ,for diagram and illustration of this whole process1 see ,appendix1 infra1 p4 #bhi4 ,also see ,august ,forel's ,the ,sexual ,question 7,english translation2 ,rebman1 #aijh71 pp4 #f and #aa2 ,the ,world of ,life1 by ,a4 ,r4 ,wallace1 ch4 xvii1 p4 #cdc2 ,the ,plant ,cell1 by ,h4 ,a4 ,haig 7,griffin1 #aiaj71 ch4 viii2 and other books4 #h ,stephane ,leduc1 in his ,thorie ,physico-chmique de la vie 7,paris1 #aiaj71 endeavors to trace all the above phenomena to the simple action of diffusion and osmose 7see ch4 viii1 on ,karyokinesis7 but though the resemblance of some of the forms above described to diffusion-figures is interesting--as also is their resemblance to the forms of magnetic fields--this does not prove their genesis either from diffusion or magnetism4 ,it only makes probable that some of the phenomena in question are related to the very obscure forces of diffusion or magnetism--a thing which1 of course1 is already admitted and recognized4 ,with regard to all this the reader should study the astonishing resurrection of the mature blow-fly from the mere milky pap which is all that the pupa at a certain stage consists of4 7,see ,the ,biology of the ,seasons1 by ,j4 ,arthur ,thomson1 #aiaa47 #i 8,in every known case an essential phenomenon of fertilization is the union of a sperm nucleus of paternal origin with an egg nucleus of maternal origin1 to form the primary nucleus of the embryo4 ,this nucleus 444 gives rise by division to all the nuclei of the body1 and hence every nucleus of the child may contain nuclear substance derived from both parents0 7,the ,cell in ,development and ,inheritance1 by ,e4 ,b4 ,wilson1 ,macmillan ,co41 #aijd1 p4 #ahb74 #aj ,the latter1 of course1 being just discernible by the naked eye4 #aa ,parallel ,paths1 by ,t4 ,w4 ,rolleston 7,duckworth1 #aijh71 p4 #ec4 #ab ,parallel ,paths1 p4 #eb4 ,see also1 for further accounts1 ,the ,evolution of ,sex1 pp4 #aab-ad2 ,the ,plant ,cell1 by ,h4 ,a4 ,haig1 pp4 #aba1 #abc et seq42 ,die ,vererbung1 by ,dr4 ,e4 ,teichmann 7,stuttgart1 #aijh71 pp4 #ci1 #dj1 c4 ,throughout it must be remembered that these #8maturation' processes in the generative cells are not only exceedingly complex1 but also very various in the various plants and animals2 and the reader should be warned against too easily accepting ready-made descriptions and generalizations supposed to fit all cases4 #ac ,here and elsewhere in his book ,professor ,wilson uses 8germ-cells0 to include 8sperm-cells02 and ,i have indicated this by the bracket4 #ad ,the ,cell1 p4 #bhe4 #ae ,it appears that in the ordinary conjugation of ,protozoa a quite similar process is observable4 #af 8,nowhere in the history of the cell do we find so unmistakable and striking an adaptation of means to ends or one of so marked a prophetic character1 since maturation looks not to the present but to the future of the germ and sperm cells0 7,the ,cell1 p4 #bcc74 #ag ,it might be said that1 notwithstanding this1 the female obviously has the greater sway1 on account of the conjunction taking place within the body of the mother1 and subject to all her influences4 ,but there is a curious compensation to this in the fact that while after conjugation the centrosome of the germ-cell disappears1 the male centrosome is retained and becomes the organ of division for the new cell1 and consequently for the whole future body4 7,see ,parallel ,paths1 p4 #ef2 also ,professor ,e4 ,b4 ,wilson in ,the ,cell1 p4 #aga47 #ah 8,that a cell can carry with it the sum total of the heritage of the species1 that it can in the course of a few days or weeks give rise to a mollusk or a man1 is the greatest marvel of biological science0 7,the ,cell1 p4 #cif74 #ai ,for summary of the conclusions of this chapter1 see ,appendix1 infra1 p4 #bhi4 #bj ,havelock ,ellis's very fine essay on 8,the ,art of ,love0 7see his ,studies in the ,psychology of ,sex1 vol4 vi1 ch4 xi7 must also be mentioned1 as including much of the subject matter of the above treatises1 but having a very much wider scope and outlook4 #ba ,see ,the ,cell1 by ,e4 ,b4 ,wilson1 p4 #cia2 ,das ,leben1 by ,jacques ,loeb 7,leipzig1 #aiaa71 pp4 #aj-bj1 c4 ,it seems also to be thought that gall-formations on plants1 tumors on animal bodies1 c41 are instances of such chemical or indirect fertilization4 #bb ,translation by ,j4 ,wright1 ,m4,a41 ,golden ,treasury ,series1 p4 #eg4 #bc ,psychology of ,sex1 vol4 vi4 p4 #eag4 #bd ,studies in the ,psychology of ,sex1 vol4 i4 #be ,ars4 ,am4 iii4 #fje4 #bf ,psychology of ,sex1 vol4 vi4 p4 #edb4 #bg ,ibid41 p4 #edd4 #bh 8,the disgrace which has overtaken the sexual act1 and rendered it a deed of darkness1 is doubtless largely responsible for the fact that the chief time for its consummation among modern civilized peoples is the darkness of the early night in stuffy bedrooms when the fatigue of the day's labors is struggling with the artificial stimulation produced by heavy meals and alcoholic drinks4 ,this habit is partly responsible for the indifference or even disgust with which women sometimes view coitus0 7,h4 ,ellis1 ,studies in the ,psychology of ,sex1 vol4 vi4 p4 #eeh74 #bi ,see ,h4 ,ellis1 vol4 v4 pp4 #aa and #ab4 #cj ,see also ,kraft-,ebing1 ,psychopathia sexualis1 #gth edition1 p4 #afe4 #ca ,modern ,woman3 ,her ,intentions1 p4 #cj4 #cb ,english edition2 ,heinemann1 #aijf4 #cc ,fischer1 ,berlin1 p4 #aib4 #cd ,berlin1 #aiaj1 p4 #bij4 #ce ,berlin1 #aije1 p4 #ccb4 ,english translation1 ,love and ,marriage2 ,putnam's1 #aiaa4 #cf ,see chapter on 8,visions of the ,dying0 in ,death3 its ,causes and ,phenomena1 by ,carrington and ,meader 7#aiaa72 also infra1 ch4 vi4 p4 #ajc4 #cg ,see ,h4 ,pieron1 8,contribution la ,psychologie des ,mourants10 in ,revue ,philosophique1 ,dec41 #aijb4 #ch ,see ,civilization3 its ,cause and ,cure 7,george ,allen1 #bs4 #f;d471 pp4 #aa-ba4 #ci ,see ,carrington and ,meader on ,death3 its ,causes and ,phenomena1 p4 #cjj4 #dj ,reference may be made to the ,upanishads 78,sacred books of the ,east10 vols4 i4 and xv472 to the ,bhagavat ,gita2 to ,r4 ,m4 ,bucke's ,cosmic ,consciousness 7,purdy ,publishing ,co41 ,chicago72 to the ,raja ,yoga ,lectures1 by ,vivekananda 7,new ,york1 #ahii72 to the ,ancient ,wisdom1 by ,annie ,besant2 ,the ,art of ,creation1 and ,a ,visit to a ,gnani1 by ,e4 ,carpenter2 and to many other works1 of course4 #da ,if ,i seem here to personify unduly these psychic elements and to ascribe to them too much in the way of consciousness and intelligence1 ,i must refer for explanation to the ,note at the end of this chapter4 #db ,see ch4 vii41 infra1 p4 #aai4 #dc ,see ,the ,art of ,creation1 ch1 xii4 pp4 #bji1 #baj4 #dd ,human ,personality1 c41 ch4 vi4 #de ,ibid4 p4 #aif1 edition #aiji1 edited by ,l4 ,h4 ,myers4 #df ,for evidence on the subject of ,phantasms1 ,wraiths1 ,haunted ,houses1 and so forth1 see ,phantoms of the ,living1 by ,gurney1 ,myers1 and ,podmore2 and ,the ,report on the ,census of ,hallucinations1 ,proceedings of the ,psychical ,research ,society1 vol4 x42 also ,l'inconnu et les problems psychiques1 by ,camille ,flammarion2 and ,lombroso's chapter on ,haunted ,houses1 in his book ,fenomeni ,ipnotici e ,spiritici 7,turin1 #aiji71 ch4 xii42 also ch4 viii4 of the present book1 infra4 #dg ,see ,carrington and ,meader1 op4 cit4 pp4 #cah-bg4 #dh ,dr4 ,morton ,prince's study1 ,the ,dissolution of a ,personality 7,longmans1 #aijf71 should be read1 as going deeply into the whole subject4 ,he suggests 7p4 #ecj7 the use of the word 8co-consciousness10 to indicate the secondary chains of mental operation which coexist side by side with or beneath the primary4 ,dr4 ,r4 ,assagioli1 in his pamphlet ,il ,subcosciente 7,florence1 #aiaa71 also follows the same line4 #di ,de ,rerum ,natura1 iii4 #hij1 translated by ,mr4 ,h4 ,s4 ,salt4 #ej ,see ,geddes and ,thomson1 ,evolution of ,sex 7#aija71 p4 #bge4 #ea ,see ch4 ii4 p4 #ah1 supra2 also1 for amplification of this view1 ,myers's ,human ,personality1 op4 cit41 edition #aiji1 pp4 #ij1 #ia4 #eb ,the ,story of ,my ,life1 by ,helen ,keller 7#aijh71 p4 #ag4 #ec ,for a further account of the subliminal or underlying self1 see next chapter4 #ed ,the only alternative to this seems to be to suppose that the 8soul0 comes into association with the body1 not at the very first inception of the latter1 but at some later pre-natal or post-natal stage1 when the body is already partially or wholly built up by the primitive process of cell-division--that the soul then takes possession of the organism so formed1 and makes use of it for self-expression2 and finally at death discards it4 ,this theory--though it seems a possible one1 and in accordance with the apparent 8possession0 and control of the bodies of trance mediums by independent spirits--presents some difficulties4 ,one difficulty is the absence of any obvious or acknowledged period when such entry of the soul takes place2 another is the difficulty of seeing how a real and effective harmony could be permanently established between a body already formed and organized on hereditary lines1 and an independent soul entering on its own errand at a later date4 ,these 7and other7 difficulties1 however1 are not insuperable1 and it may well be1 in the great variety of ,nature1 that the process of incarnation actually does take place in both ways--i4e4 in the way outlined in this note1 as well as 7more generally7 in the way mentioned in the text4 #ee ,see ,the ,art of ,creation1 #aijh1 p4 #hb et seq4 ,compare also ,bergson's 8elan vital10 in ,l'volution ,cratrice1 p4 #ajj et seq4 #ef ,the ,upanishads1 whose authority on these subjects is surely great1 seem often to try to express the other-dimensional nature of the soul by a paradox of opposites4 8,the self1 smaller than small 7or more subtle than subtle71 greater than great1 is hidden in the heart of each creature0 7,katha-,up4 ,i4 ,adh4 #b valli4 #bj2 also ,svetasvatara-,up4 ,,iii4 ,adh4 #bj7--or again1 8,the embodied soul is to be thought like the hundredth part of the point of a hair1 divided into a hundred parts2 he is to be thought infinite0 7,svet4-,up4 v4 #i74 ,and the last quoted passage continues3 8,he is not woman1 he is not man1 nor hermaphrodite2 whatever body he assumes1 with that he is joined 7only72 and as by the use of food and drink the body grows1 so the individual soul1 by means of thoughts1 touching1 seeing and the passions1 assumes successively in various places various forms in accordance with his deeds40 #eg ,see ,myers1 op4 cit4 p4 #bcc1 on ,clairvoyance of the ,dying4 #eh ,even on the battlefield1 after the battle1 faces of the dead have been observed with this expression upon them4 #ei ,it is1 of course1 quite possible that our ordinary consciousness is discontinuous1 even down to its minutest elements1 and that it is only made up of successive and separate sensations which1 as in a cinematograph1 follow each with lightning speed4 ,but even this almost compels us to the assumption of another and profounder and more continuous consciousness beneath1 which is the means of the synthesis and comparison of these sensations4 #fj ,human ,personality1 op4 cit4 p4 #bi4 #fa ,see ,the ,art of ,creation1 pp4 #aje-h4 #fb ,this well-known case1 given by ,coleridge in his ,biographia ,literaria1 is amply confirmed by scores of similar cases which have been carefully examined into and described by modern research4 #fc ,see ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r4 vol4 xii1 pp4 #agf-bjc2 quoted by ,frederick ,myers1 ,human ,personality1 ch4 v4 #fd ,this is contested by ,h4 ,ellis in his ,world of ,dreams1 p4 #bae1 but not very successfully1 ,i think4 #fe ,see ,myers1 op4 cit4 ch4 iii4 p4 #ff2 also ,t4 ,j4 ,hudson's interesting account of ,zerah ,colburn1 in ,psychic ,phenomena 7#ahic71 p4 #fd4 #ff ,op4 cit4 p4 #ajj4 ,de ,quincey1 it will be remembered1 in a well-known passage of his ,confessions1 says3 8,of this at least ,i feel assured1 that there is no such thing as forgetting possible to the mind2 a thousand accidents may and will interpose a veil between our present consciousness and the secret inscriptions on the mind2 accidents of the same sort will also rend away this veil2 but alike1 whether veiled or unveiled1 the inscription remains forever40 #fg ,see ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iii4 p4 #ajj2 also ,t4 ,j4 ,hudson1 op4 cit41 p4 #aec4 #fh ,new ,york1 #aijc1 p4 #fd4 #fi ,see ,lombroso1 ,fenomeni ipnotici e spiritici1 ,turin1 #aiji1 pp4 #bh-ca4 #gj ,i leave the question of the possibility of the latter open for the present4 ,see ,note at end of this chapter4 #ga ,this was no doubt1 for instance1 the case with ,eusapia ,paladino--as admitted by her warmest supporters4 ,but it does not contravene the fact1 proved by most abundant evidence and experiment1 of the astounding physical phenomena which from her early childhood accompanied her1 and in some strange way exhaled from her4 #gb ,it is impossible1 for instance1 to read slowly and in detail such works as ,a4 ,r4 ,wallace's ,miracles and ,modern ,spiritualism1 ,william ,crookes' ,researches into ,spiritualism1 ,c4 ,lombroso's ,fenomeni ipnotici e spiritici1 and to note the care and exactness with which in each case experiments were conducted1 tests devised1 and results recorded1 without being persuaded that in the mass the conclusions 7confirmed in the first two instances by the authors themselves after an interval of twenty or thirty years7 are correct4 ,already a long list of scientific and responsible men1 like ,charles ,richet 7professor of physiology at ,paris71 ,camille ,flammarion 7the well-known astronomer71 ,professor ,zllner of the ,observatory at ,leipzig1 ,c4 ,f4 ,varley the electrician1 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge of ,birmingham1 have made important contributions to the evidence2 while others1 like ,professor ,de ,morgan the mathematician1 ,professor ,challis the astronomer1 ,sergeant ,cox the lawyer1 and ,professor ,william ,james the psychologist1 have signified their general adhesion4 #gc ,for references see supra1 ch4 vi4 p4 #ib1 footnote4 #gd ,see ,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 ii4 p4 #bhi1 also the experience of ,mrs4 ,a41 given in ,footfalls on the ,boundary of ,another ,world1 by ,r4 ,dale ,owen1 #ahha1 p4 #bef et seq4 ,this latter book1 which is a mine of well-authenticated information1 has suffered somewhat from its rather sensational title4 ,the author1 however1 was an able1 distinguished1 and reliable man1 son of ,robert ,owen of ,lanark1 ,member of ,congress in the ,united ,states1 and ,u4 ,s4 ,minister at ,naples4 #ge ,see ,r4 ,dale ,owen1 ,the ,debatable ,land 7#ahga71 pp4 #che-djj4 #gf ,see ,crookes' ,researches in ,spiritualism1 pp4 #ajd et seq4 ,see also the book ,new ,light on ,immortality1 by ,fournier d',albe1 pp4 #bah et seq41 where the evidence is given in great detail4 #gg ,see ,phnomnes de la ,ville ,carmen1 avec documents nouveaux2 ,paris1 #aijb4 #gh ,c4 ,lombroso1 ,fenomeni ipnotici e spiritici1 p4 #aic4 #gi ,see ,shadow-land 7#aijf74 #hj ,see pamphlet ,materializations1 by ,mme4 ,d',esprance 7,light ,publishing ,co474 #ha ,see1 for instance1 the account of the haunted mill at ,willington1 given at some length by ,mr4 ,w4 ,t4 ,stead in the ,review of ,reviews for ,jan41 #ahib2 also the ,memoirs of the ,wesley ,family1 vol4 i1 pp4 #bec-fj2 and ,whitehead's ,lives of the ,wesleys1 vol4 ii1 pp4 #abj-ff2 also ,footfalls1 b2 ,r4 ,dale ,owen1 book iii1 ch4 ii4 #hb ,see ,myers1 op cit41 p4 #aed4 ,as many writers have remarked1 the term 8superconscious0 might often be more applicable than 8subconscious40 #hc ,with regard to this question of hypnotism and crime1 ,t4 ,j4 ,hudson says 7,psychic ,phenomena1 p4 #abi7 that it is almost impossible to persuade a hypnotic to do what he firmly believes to be wrong4 ,and ,myers maintains that whatever the subliminal being may be1 it is never malignant4 8,in dealing with automatic script1 for instance1 we shall have to wonder whence come the occasional vulgar jokes or silly mystifications4 ,we shall discuss whether they are a kind of dream of the automatist's own1 or whether they indicate the existence of unembodied intelligences on the level of the dog or the ape4 ,but1 on the other hand1 all that world-old conception of ,evil ,spirits1 of malevolent powers1 which has been the basis of so much of actual devil-worship and so much more of vague supernatural fear--all this insensibly melts from the mind as we study the evidence before us40 7,op4 cit41 p4 #beb47 #hd ,see ,mediumship1 by ,james ,b4 ,tetlow 7,keighley1 #aiaj71 price #f;d4 #he ,op cit41 pp4 #afh-fi4 #hf ,see a long chapter on 8,manifestations de ,mourants0 in ,c4 ,flammarion's ,l',inconnu4 #hg ,as in the case of a man drowning in a storm off the island of ,tristan d',acunha1 who was seen at the same hour in a ,norfolk farmhouse4 ,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 ii4 p4 #eb4 #hh ,see further on this subject ch4 xi4 infra1 p4 #baa4 #hi ,towards ,democracy1 p4 #dij4 #ij ,for a discussion of this question1 see ,myers1 op4 cit41 ch4 vii4 on ,phantasms of the ,dead4 #ia ,see supra1 ch4 ii4 p4 #ae2 also ,the ,world of ,life1 by ,a4 ,r4 ,wallace1 ch4 xvii4 8,the ,mystery of the ,cell40 #ib ,of the conditions which may cause the invisible cloud to become visible we shall speak farther on4 #ic ,see1 for a list of these1 ,flammarion's ,l',inconnu1 pp4 #efe-fi2 also ,lombroso's ,fenomeni ipnotici1 c41 p4 #aii4 ,the numerous quasi-historical records of the appearance after death of the saints 7generally in a cloud-like form7 must also not be passed over2 though1 on account of these records being connected with the various churches1 they are necessarily subject to suspicion6 #id ,we may mention ,death3 ,its ,causes and ,phenomena1 ,carrington ,meader 7,london1 #aiaa72 and the list of works quoted in the same book1 p4 #edj et seq4 #ie ,longmans1 #aijh4 #if 8,at the end of three hours and forty minutes he expired1 and suddenly1 coincident with death1 the beam end of the scale dropped with an audible stroke1 hitting against the lower limiting bar and remaining there with no rebound4 ,the loss was ascertained to be three-fourths of an ounce40 ,see reference given by ,carrington and ,meader1 op4 cit41 p4 #cgc4 ,the reports of the experiments are apparently given in the annals of the ,american ,society for ,psychical ,research for ,june1 #aijg4 #ig ,see a long account in the ,spiritualist for #aeth ,may1 #ahgc2 also given by ,f4 d',albe1 op4 cit41 p4 #bbj1 et seq4 #ih ,see ,r4 ,j4 ,thompson's ,proofs of ,life after ,death 7#aijf74 #ii ,see ,phnomnes de la ,villa ,carmen1 by ,charles ,richet1 ,paris1 #aijb2 also ,lombroso1 op4 cit41 pp4 #aid-if4 #ajj ,mr4 ,h4 ,carrington1 in his ,physical ,phenomena of ,spiritualism1 has described in detail fraudulent methods of photography with which he is well acquainted4 ,nevertheless he seems to believe that some cases of 8spirit photography0 are genuine1 and gives instances2 see his book already quoted ,death1 c41 pp4 #cei1 et seq4 ,see also ,mr4 ,e4 ,t4 ,bennett's book on ,spiritualism1 with introduction by ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 pp4 #aac-bj4 #aja ,see ,the ,art of ,creation1 ch4 vi4 #ajb ,the ,world of ,dreams 7,constable1 #aiaa71 p4 #ajg4 #ajc ,the ,world of ,dreams1 p4 #aij4 #ajd ,see ,electrons1 by ,sir ,oliver ,lodge 7,george ,bell1 #aiaj74 #aje ,say1 in millionths of an inch1 fifteen millionths for the violet 7at the dark line ,a71 and twenty-seven millionths for the red 7at ,b74 #ajf ,see1 for examples1 ch4 x4 pp4 #ahf-g1 supra4 #ajg ,see document signed by five responsible witnesses and published in the ,spiritualist of #aeth ,may1 #ahgc4 #ajh ,see ,materializations1 by ,mme4 ,d',esprance1 a lecture given in #aijc in ,london 7,light ,publishing ,co474 #aji ,see illustrations in ,shadowland1 passim4 #aaj ,the cobwebby sensation alluded to above is often mentioned by other writers4 ,dr4 ,j4 ,maxwell1 in his ,metaphysical ,phenomena 7,duckworth1 #aije71 p4 #cbi1 describes a case in which the radiation of force from the fingers of a medium was great enough to move a small statuette five or six inches distant1 and absolutely without contact2 but the phenomenon was accompanied by a 8,spider-web or cobwebby sensation in the hands40 ,the author of that interesting book ,interwoven 7,boston1 #aije1 copyright by ,s4 ,l4 ,ford71 speaks of 8the protoplasmic vapor of the inner man10 and says 7p4 #ae73 8,it is this frail vapor which comes out at death and tries to form into spiritual body02 and again 7p4 #ai73 8,i notice at death that nature draws or relieves the fire of the ganglia first and all the lines of sensation in light which were running down the nerves4 ,it looks like white seaweed1 very light and airy and fragile 444 a veil of shining which is scarcely substance because of its white fire40 #aaa ,fenomeni ipnotici1 c41 p4 #aie4 #aab ,namely1 the highly charged electrostatic condition of mediums1 the luminous clouds floating near them1 the stars and rays of light in their vicinity1 the photographic activity of their emanations1 and so forth4 #aac ,so much smaller than the atom that 8if the earth represented an electron1 an atom would occupy a sphere with the sun as centre and four times the distance of the earth as radius40 ,see ,electrons1 by ,oliver ,lodge1 p4 #ih4 #aad ,ibid41 pp4 #hb1 #hc4 #aae ,immortality1 p4 #adh4 #aaf ,researches in the ,phenomena of ,spiritualism 7,burns1 #ahgd71 p4 #hf4 #aag ,materializations1 p4 #ab4 #aah ,r4 ,dale ,owen1 ,the ,debatable ,land1 p4 #cii4 #aai ,see ,annals of ,psychical ,science1 ,report #aiaj-aa4 #abj ,see ,gustave ,le ,bon's ,evolution of ,matter 7,walter ,scott ,publishing ,co41 #aijg74 #aba ,see ,le ,bon1 p4 #de4 #abb ,for cases of hypnotic trance induced in one person by the telepathic action of another person at a distance1 see ,myers1 op4 cit41 p4 #afj4 #abc ,revue ,philosophique1 ,august1 #ahhg4 #abd ,myers1 op4 cit41 p4 #adi4 #abe ,ibid41 p4 #add4 ,see also ,henri ,bergson's ,l'volution ,cratrice1 p4 #ajb1 on the canalization of the senses4 #abf ,see chapter xiii4 p4 #bdc4 #abg ,it seems probable1 from many considerations1 that at a certain depth within us--in the region of what has been called the cosmic consciousness--memory does in nowise fade1 and the past is always present1 but1 as ,bergson says1 the ordinary conscious intellect tends to only select from this mass what is needed for impending action1 and has consequently become limited by this tendency4 #abh ,see the work of ,richard ,semon on the mneme as a main factor of organic life 7,die ,mneme als erhaltendes ,prinzip im ,wechsel des organischen ,geschehens1 ,leipzig1 #aijd72 also quoted by ,auguste ,forel1 ,the ,sexual ,question 7,english edition1 ,rebman1 #aijh71 pp4 #ad-ag4 #abi ,see ,an ,adventure1 ,macmillan ,co41 #aiaa4 #acj ,see infra1 ch4 xiv4 p4 #bee2 also ,e4 ,b4 ,wilson1 ,the ,cell1 p4 #dcc4 #aca ,though this process1 it would appear1 requires practice1 and is not learned at once4 #acb ,see the frequent description of the unusual beauty and radiancy of the forms seen in connection with trance-mediums and circles4 #acc ,it may easily be understood1 ,i think1 that the process by which the distinct soul is thus built up may last several lifetimes4 ,that is1 there may be a long period during which the budding soul still entangled in the race-life may be reincarnated jointly with the race-soul in a kind of mixed way--family and race-characteristics mingling with and obscuring its expression--though these incarnations would become ever less mixed and more individual in character till the day of the soul's final disentanglement4 #acd ,in the ,symposium--,shelley's translation4 #ace ,shelley's translation4 #acf ,what the physical medium of this transmission may be--whether the germ-plasm of ,weismann1 or some subtle aura which connects the members of a race together1 or anything else--is a question to which the answer at present is not very clear4 #acg ,and not only out of the abysmal deeps of ,man1 but also out of the hidden soul of the ,earth1 and other cosmic beings4 #ach ,see supra1 ch4 vii4 p4 #abb4 #aci ,see note at end of chapter vi4 #adj ,see1 for instance1 ,homer's ,odyssey1 bk4 xi41 lines #fja et seq41 where ,odysseus speaks with the ghost of ,hercules in ,hades2 but it is explained that ,hercules himself is in ,heaven3 8,then in his might ,i beheld huge ,hercules1 phantom terrific1 ,phantom ,i say1 for the hero himself is among the immortals40 #ada ,in this case1 described by ,dr4 ,morton ,prince in his ,dissociation of a ,personality 7see note to ch4 vi41 supra71 at least four or five distinct personalities were recognizable in the one woman4 #adb ,see ,the ,art of ,creation1 pp4 #hj1 #ha4 #adc ,see ,bergson's ,l'volution ,cratrice throughout4 #add 8,der ,beginn des erneuten seraphischen ,lebens und ,einbeziehung alles dessen1 was ausser der ,gegenwartsenge liegt40