Immortality suggests a home.

The spiritual body also requires space to occupy and rest, creating the necessity for a home.

What do you see in spirit-life?

I see life everywhere about me―busy, happy life― 

Spirit-lives, flying to and fro on missions of love or mercy―

Many have a light like a sun radiating from their head and figure. 

One can see these lights at a great distance, shining in various colours and different degrees of magnitude. 

When moving toward you, the light appears to open and you recognise some friend or individual approaching to talk with you, for though it is not necessary to be near friends to speak with them, yet spirits generally desire to be in close proximity with those they love.

―Spirit Peter Cooper

Many seem to think that spirits and angels do not have homes

Many seem to think that spirits and angels do not have homes but this is not true. They do not need houses to shield them from the elements but they need them for privacy and retirement. When they build their homes they shield themselves from the sight of other angels; they construct them for privacy, rest and to be alone, whenever they desire to be, with the object of their affections; in other words, to be alone with themselves, for their other-self is but oneself. Their houses are reared not from material substance but from their thoughts, which become objective and are real things to them and other angels and spirits and they build them as they please. The glory and beauty of the angelic spheres can never be told; their heights, depths and grandeur and variety are beyond our comprehension; yet these spirits and angels do not consider it beneath them to descend to earth and aid the smallest and meanest of creatures. They lend their aid equally to the highest and the lowest; they try to overcome ignorance and error by instilling truth and wisdom; they try to bring forth the greatest happiness from the utmost misery. There is no such thing as failure but as it took ages to form worlds and as it takes time to form all things, so it takes time to bring forth truth from error, it takes time to bring forth happiness from misery.

Adapted from Oceanides―A Psychical Novel

Spiritual sight

If our material sight can perceive distinctly things that exist millions of miles away, we must not suppose for an instant that we lose any power by throwing off our material bodies; our sight instead of being diminished is added to ten-fold. There are limitations to a spirit’s sight, as there are limitations to the sight of those still in the body; yet they can see many times farther than we can. 

Part Two – The Formation of Worlds – How worlds are made

We left the earth at that period where man first made his appearance in the form of a hairy, disgusting savage. This was the first form of man earth ever knew. 

In Part One we learned that the spirit of an atom is the little magnetic flame within each atom and that the spirit within all the earth is magnetism just as the spirit of the sun is magnetism. The body of the sun is obliged to yield up its spirit before it can be a sun and now the earth must gradually yield up its spirit. The earth begins a step farther on in the scale of progress than does the sun. The sun is a primary world; the earth is a secondary world. Now, spirit in and of itself is not intelligent; it is pure magnetism; but the moment a particle of rock is softened enough to attract a moss germ and the spiritual germs of moss have developed into the form of moss, as soon as that moss decays or yields up its magnetic flame, a spiritual sphere begins or the earth has yielded up just so much of its magnetism; and so everything else that exists or develops upon the earth.

At this period of the earth’s history there is no moon, for the moon is an offshoot or ring cast off from the earth. A germ, in developing, uses up about one-third of the magnetism composing its entire material substance and when it rises up in its spiritual form two-thirds of the magnetism which has entered into the composition of its material form is left behind and these atoms remain on the earth to be worked up into some other form. But a third of the atoms have given up their magnetism and have become worthless or worn out; the magnetic spirit has gone out of them and now exists in a form which covers the developed germ. These worthless atoms, which have lost their magnetic flame, now have no power of attraction or of being attracted; they lie helpless at the mercy of the atmosphere; they rise to the surface of the atmosphere and there lie in helpless masses and as fast as a magnetic spiritual sphere is formed, so this ring or belt of worthless atoms thickens and increases and as the ages roll on it becomes very large and heavy.

Now, there is a way in which the worthless atoms are at length replenished and again filled with spirit or magnetic flame. Comets are great wandering torches of magnetic flame or pure magnetism. These great magnetic torches visit the planets and revivify the worthless or worn-out atoms that rise up and surround the planets. When each planet has received its just amount of magnetic flame, it can now attract and be attracted and it attaches itself in the form of a compact ring, such as we observe around Saturn. Before the worthless atoms are revivified, they appear as vast belts and after they are revivified and welded together by the attraction of magnetic spirit, they appear as a vast ring. At length this ring becomes large and heavy; it breaks in pieces and falls away from the parent globe, gathers itself together at its central point and there is a moon. Before man had become observing and intelligent, the earth’s moon rolled about earth. About this period of time man became intelligent and observing.

Matter attracts the spirit or soul germ to itself from out of the ethereal atmosphere and it is the magnetic flame within each atom which attracts the germ as soon as matter is in a suitable state to receive and hold these germs. The germ is the living principle within all things; without it, all things would be dead or inert. These germs only wait for suitable material to enter it and develop as rapidly as possible.

This is the life within all things – it is one of these germinal points which develops and grows up through matter and covers itself with matter until it has attained its full size and form after its own kind of species. As soon as it attains its ultimate or perfect form it begins to throw off its coarser covering of matter but retains or holds to itself as much of the magnetic flame as it needs for a spiritual covering; it then rises from the earth in its developed and beautiful spiritual form and according to natural law takes its place within one of the spiritual spheres which surround the globe. This is true of all life whatsoever – from the simple moss to the wisest man that ever lived or that ever will live. 

Now, ages before man reached an intellectual altitude, these spiritual spheres were forming and this is the true meaning of all which is called death. There is no such thing as death, as it is generally understood – it is merely the rising up of the perfectly developed germ, with its proper amount of magnetic clothing and the leaving behind it of the coarser matter which it no longer needs and which it has robbed of about a third of its magnetism.

These worthless atoms, which have been robbed of their spirit, rise up above the earth’s atmosphere and lie helpless there until a comet revivifies them. A comet is merely a wandering supply of pure magnetic flame, devoid of matter except its nucleus or guiding principle, which is ever striving to reach some planet and in its fruitless endeavours carrying its tail or magnetic flame as a great torch which strikes each worthless atom and leaves within its heart a proper amount of its spiritual flame and that is why comets are continually sweeping around among the planets.

Man’s material form is gradually evolved from the lower animal kingdom. Step by step he keeps rising in the scale of progress. 

It is in this wise that living germs are constantly being breathed in by the male parent; they are developed or clothed in his blood until they have sufficient strength and size to enter a prepared ovum. As material forms progress they attract and breathe in correspondingly higher germs, that is, a donkey cannot attract and hold the germs that are intended to develop into a wise and perfect man but a very fine monkey, gorilla or baboon can breathe in and hold the germs that are a shade higher and finer than the creature that inhales them and as fast as these forms progress they attract and hold higher and still higher germs. 

Within the spiritual and angelic spheres they have all that we have on earth and they have all that earth ever produced. Our earth is but the nucleus of vast spheres which surround it and these spheres are peopled with spirits, angels and spiritual forms of all things that ever had life, which all the developed germs which the earth has been able to develop. These spheres are so vast and grand that they are able to hold in their proper place and order all these variously developed forms and every year which the earth counts gives just so many more forms into the spheres, just so many more spirits and angels; just so many more worthless atoms rise up to eventually make another moon and this is true of all earths and secondary worlds that are not suns.

Suns are first or primary worlds, which have yielded up their spiritual forms. Planets are secondary worlds or inhabited worlds that are yielding up their spirits very gradually, which go to make up the spiritual spheres and the worthless atoms to form moons or third worlds.

Adapted from Oceanides – A Psychical Novel, Carlyle Petersilea, Progressive Thinker Publishing House, Chicago, 1915

The spirit of all things ascends

The spirit of all things ascends, even to the spirit of moss and grass and the spirit of all things is the magnetic flame within and the magnetic flame is the clothing of the developed germ.

True Union

The true union of the male and female – positive and negative – results in an embryonic angel in two forms and the magnetic bond between positive and negative, the male and female, blend so completely together that each is like the other in all respects, appearing as one, a veritable angel, two halves making one whole.

There is no such thing as void or nothing

Matter, spirit and germinal points fill all space and all space is ether.

The spiritual world, together with all its spheres, is a vast deal more tangible than the coarser earth

The spiritual world, together with all its spheres, is a vast deal more tangible than the coarser earth.

All souls are united in oneness to their eternal counterparts

All souls are united in oneness to their eternal counterparts.

A great analogical chain runs through all nature

No law runs alone throughout the universe—but its complement, whether hidden or otherwise, is always with it and must be taken into account.

Herr Franz (Spirit)

We make our home according to our former habits

We make our home according to our former habits, yet we travel extensively whenever we feel inclined.

Not the slightest thing goes to waste

Our spirit is a receptacle, a vast store-house and not the slightest thing goes to waste. Our soul makes use of everything which is stored within it, for not even an atom can be lost within the great whole – not a thought or an incident fades, disappears or is lost.

Through memory and memory alone

We lose our dearest friends by so-called death and our tearful soul cries out – Come back to me, my beloved; tell me if you are happy and content – do you still love me – do you remember? and the answer to our cry is ready and awaiting us but soul answers soul and through soul and in no other way.  There is no way by which soul can answer soul except by the exercise of memory.  The friend on earth remembers the friend he has lost – the lost friend also remembers the friend he has left. The memory of one coalesces with the other and the two souls are joined to each other once more through memory and memory alone. 

The true male and female form the angel

All progressed angels are joined to the other halves of themselves – the true male and female forming the angel.

Not one little thought or event is blurred or indistinct

We forget nothing that ever transpired in our life on earth – not the smallest detail.  We even remember every thought we ever evolved, everything which ever met our eye, every sound we ever heard, every sensation we ever felt, every being we ever came in contact with; all are stored in our memory to be unrolled like a scroll whenever we so desire.

We are eternal drops within the Eternal Spirit of the whole which is God

We forget nothing – from the least to the greatest, all remain indelibly stamped on the soul forever. The angel takes cognisance of all that ever was or is or ever will be.  One might as well say that God forgets.  Who can imagine God forgetting anything? 

Immortal ego never forgets

The ethereal atmosphere is a vast reservoir or storehouse – one grand picture gallery of all that takes place on the earth.  When we throw aside the material body we can read all that has ever taken place in past ages, all pictured with greater distinctness and more vividly than when they actually transpired on the earth.  These pictures are not stationary and move as if endowed with life.  We are just beginning to grasp this law but, as yet, very crudely to what will be attained in the future.  

Death does not alter a person's character

Death does not alter a person's character.

Time does not exist in the sight of God

Time does not exist in the sight of God; that's an earth limitation. Time ceases when the soul leaves the material world or rather the grosser kind of material world because it is material in my home here, only of a finer kind, and it has to learn that there is no such thing; it is all present, all eternity, and there is no need for the rush and turmoil of the life on the earth. The only thing in which we might perhaps say that there was a conception of time is when we have special bits of work to do and cannot stay long with friends on the earth.

The Witness