CHAPTER III Communication with the earth.

When I died, I came to the sphere know as the Summerland. It is not necessarily a place of great happiness at first, especially for people who are as ignorant as I was. I had no particular occupation, and you know how tedious it is to have little or nothing to do. One day I met a man who is an expert in making contact with those left behind. He has been doing this almost ever since he arrived. You do not know him, but on your side he was known as Lord A. We call him Tom and he is an interesting individual, having many tales to tell about his various experiences.

On one occasion he attended a séance where the sitters were unknown to him, and tried to speak in what you call the “ direct voice” . Unfortunately the medium was not in good form, and all Tom could accomplish was an indistinct whisper. The sitters became impatient, not realising that the bad result was due, partly to the ill-health of the medium, and partly to the presence of a new sitter who was not in harmony with the circle. Tom did his best, but all he could achieve was a husky and almost inaudible croak. The circle broke up, and he overheard the sitters criticising the medium. Some said he was a fraud, and others said he was not, but nobody thought of criticising the sitters. The new sitter was the Jonah of the circle, although he was unaware of the fact, and that is why it is important always to ask the guide to pass each new applicant. Red Cloud always does this, as you know, not because he wishes to exclude any particular individual, but because he knows that there are certain people who unconsciously upset the conditions of any circle in which they sit. More attention should be paid to this matter of the sitters, for as you know, the customary procedure is for the hostess to invite all who are willing to pay the fee, regardless of their psychic suitability.

When Lord A. found that I was interested in this work, he taught me how to take control of the medium’s physical organs when he is in trance, and how to show myself on the rare occasions when we find a suitable materialization medium. At first I thought I should never succeed in using somebody else’s mouth and lungs, and the getting in and out is as hard for us as this writing was for you when you first began. After much practice, I succeeded in speaking through a medium, but it is not easy to keep control of the physical organs and at the same time recall one’s wits and talk sense. You often wonder why we forget such elementary things as our own names and the places we have visited on earth, but you must remember that we have to do two things at once: control the medium, and recall what we wished to say. The sitter often makes things more difficult by his attitude of extreme suspicion, as of a judge interrogating a prisoner. We are bombarded with questions: When and were did we last meet? At what hour did my grand-father die? This kind of cross­examination completely inhibits the power of concentration. It is as though I had returned from Australia after many years’ absence, and you began to cross-question me regarding trivial incidents of my childhood. As a matter of fact, this would be far easier, because you would be talking to me face to face, and not through a third person.

I know it is natural for you to want proof of identity but that is not the way to get it. Just talk naturally to the visitor, assuming for the time being that he is the person he claims to be, and you will receive your proof all in good time. The first time I attended a direct-voice sitting, I found that there were so many others waiting for their turn to speak that only a very short period could be allotted to each of us. There was the difficulty of getting used to speaking through the medium’s larynx. This you have never tried to do, and believe me, you can have no idea how hard it is at first. By the time I had mastered the technicalities, my time was almost up, and I found that I had forgotten what it was I wanted to say. It is like telephoning at great cost to a distant country, and when at last you are connected, you cannot recall what you have in mind to say. That is why, as a rule, our conversation is so limited. We think out beforehand what to say in the short time at our disposal and, believe me, it is no easy matter to demonstrate one’s immortality in a few brief moments, while all the time we are using an un-familiar instrument.

Just think of r a moment if you were speaking to an friend in South Africa, and he persisted in saying: “ Is that really you Margaret? Before I accept the fact that you are Margaret Vivian, you must give me clear proof that you are not an imposter!” I assure you that you would be so flabbergasted that you would be able to think of nothing that would convince your friend of your identity. Try it one day on a phone call to a local friend! Apart from the tone of the voice, which is always more or less distorted, there are not many things you could say on the spur of the moment to prove conclusively that you were really speaking, especially if your friend were obsessed with the telepathic theory. The only way I succeeded in convincing you was by giving you prophetic utterances and, to do this successfully, one must think it out beforehand, and be careful not to lose the thread when the time arrives.

One day I was talking to a friend, and was on the verge of getting my message through to him, when an intruder pushed me away from what you might call our microphone and began talking rubbish. The guide drive him off, but by the time I was once more in control the time was up, and I heard by earth friend say: “ That cannot have been Fred. He would talk sense, and there was nothing evidential in what he said.” On your side seem to expect us to go on proving our identity over and over again ad infinitum. It is rather disheartening, you know, to be continually regarded as an imposter, and to be bombarded with requests for proof. All one can do is to try to prove one’s identity once, and then to renounce these meetings. It was a long time before I found you ready to make contact with me. Your ultra-religious upbringing and you medical education, allied to the character inclined to materialism, made you a difficult subject. I waited until the opportunity came through M.’s mediumship, and now, at last, we can talk together alone.

I must tell you about the affair of the sculptor on you side who was working in his studio, and saw a vision of what he took to be an angelic being. He set to work to make a statue representing the visitor, but he was unable to satisfy his artistic standard, so he took a hammer and broke up the plaster cast. It was a case of second sight, and the visitor was a spirit friend. That artist is a well-known man, and he will never forget this experience. The interesting point is that the angelic being was myself! I was sorry when I saw his destroy his work, and I did not feel inclined to pose again, since he would no doubt have continued destroying the models.

Of course everything here seems solid to us, and it is your world that seems misty and ghost-like. I have now no difficulty in visiting you, but at first it was a great effort. I could not stay long, as I had not learned to adjust myself to the vibrations of your world, and I felt as if I were being literally choked by the fogs that surround you. I made enquiries as to the methods employed by those who contrive to keep in touch with friends left behind, and I joined a group who were studying the various methods of communication. Here I learned that, with practice and patience on both sides, it is possible to write or speak, or even at times, to show oneself. This is by no means an easy matter. I had to practice building up a thought-from of my own face, and this is difficult unless one possesses considerable artistic ability. Then, when the form is built up from ectoplasm, which must be held together all the time, otherwise it melts and one looks like a snow-man in the sun, one must use this artificial form and speak and move in a strange, clumsy mould. All the time there is the possibility that something may upset the delicate balance of the manifestation, and you can imagine to some extent what it is like by supposing that you are free of your body, and that you are trying to demonstrate your identity through one of Madame Tussaud’s was figures.

As you can imagine, it is not a pleasant experience, and a suitable medium is hard to find. The higher spirits usually prefer to confine their activities to trance speaking, and it is only on rare occasions that the guides materialize. The effort to show myself was so great, and the result to poor that I soon gave it up, and concentrated on the writing whenever I could find a suitable medium. A friend of mine writes in this way, too, and he and I often compare notes. It took him many months to acquire his present fluency, and even now mistakes creep in, and the script is always to some extent coloured by the personality of the medium.

Communicating with the earth is interesting, but the chief obstacle is the apathy of those in your world who are disinclined to devote the necessary time and patience. They are often too busy seeking to accumulate wealth, whilst the religious folk, from who one would expect the most enthusiasm, generally bristle with prejudice. You know, it was rather amusing sometimes to be regarded as an evil spirit, just because I sought to help my friends and to teach them something about the new life on which they must all one day embark.

It was one day during the Great War that I made my first attempt to communicate with you, and it was not mere chance that induced you to play with planchette. I have known you for a long time through the ages, and if I wish to do so, I can recall our past lives, though it is not always pleasant reading turning over the pages of time when, as you would put it, we were savages. As you know, the writing was very difficult at first, especially owing to the long intervals when you were not available. In other directions I was sometimes able to help people who were distressed at the loss of their canine friends, and this gave me the idea of making an effort to communicate with others who were able to receive my messages. Sometimes I was successful, and sometimes I was driven off and thought to be a dangerous devil. One day I was going to make an effort to show myself with a dog to a very sorrowful man when, all of a sudden, the room was full of prayers and incense designed to drive off evil spirits, so we did not stay long in that atmosphere. Often, however, I found an awakened soul, and eventually we dog­lovers formed a band to do much the same kind of work as you Canine Defense League.

It is often supposed that we are able to demonstrate our powers at all times, but you know from your own experience that that is not the case. It is just as difficult for me to control your hand as it is for you to be quite sure that the writing is really inspired by me. The more effort you make, the less I can get through, and you must try to make your brain quite passive.

There are many over here who have no strong a desire to communicate with those left behind that they are always on the look-out for those you call mediums. It may seem strange to you that we seldom know whether we have been successful, and often we have no motion how far we have been able to make our presence known. I have made many efforts to show myself and to speak, but only on rare occasions have I had proof that I had one so. So I decided that writing is the best method, and I think you will agree that it gives the best results, although those on you side who will persevere are few and far between. This is strange in view of the fact that most of you are in constant fear of death. It is regarded as a privilege to live to a great age but, after all, what is an old age? A few years flit by, and then your earth life is finished, however much you may seek to lengthen it by monkey glands and other artificial means.

I was always anxious to learn how to take my part in the regeneration of the earth, for it is a sad sight to observe, as we do, the lack of interest in everything that concerns the real life. It is as if you were traveling to New Zealand, and you would not take the trouble to consult an atlas to ascertain win which direction it lies, or even to make inquiries as to whether you would ever get there at all. I was a careless young man when I was on your side, but I did sometimes wonder what happened after death, though I had no means of finding out. There are many groups over here working for the awakening of the slumbering earth folk. We have succeeded up to a point, but progress is always slow.

I will tell you a short story about life over here, in order to lighten our discourse. An old man came over here after an earth life that was by no means exemplary. He was a thief who had killed a man during one of his expeditions, and as soon as he arrived here, he met his victim. He did not know how to express his sorrow, but the victim had no ill feelings and told him that he was grateful for his release from a wretched earth life. He knew something about life in the Summerland before he was murdered, as he set to work to teach the old man that he must atone for his bad life, but that the punishment was automatic and not vindictive. After a time, the murderer and his victim became fast friends, and made good progress together. It is not always the apparently good people who get on quickly over here, and what you call sin may occasionally be a beneficent act. Life and vitality are given to you, and you can use them in one of two ways: either you can benefit your soul and spread content among your fellow-creatures, or you can spread the exact opposite and, in do doing, injure yourself.

I do not think you appreciate how astonishing it is that we can write even these few words. You must make your mind as empty as possible; be on the shelf, so to speak, and let me work it. If you can make the effort, the early morning is the best time, when your brain is still half asleep. As you know, it takes years to perfect this writing, and we must persevere and not be discouraged by black days. There is so much that I could tell you if only I could get it through, but it is hard to make you understand. The more I try to give you tests, the less can I write, and the most difficult thing is to get names though, the mere effort raising a wall between us. Sometimes it is difficult to see what you are doing on account of the thick mist that obscures almost everything. As for hearing what you say, that, too, varies. It is more a transference of thought than actual hearing, and the clarity with which this occurs varies. At first I caught very little of what you said, and this explains some of the jumbled replies. You should always try to project your question clearly to me as if you were a long way off. Emphasise it and repeat it once or twice.

As we get used to life over here, so we gradually forget a great deal of our earth life, which fades, just as you have forgotten much that took place when you were a child. Things that seemed terribly important are no longer of interest, and that is sometimes whey we find it difficult to recall names and events that you expect us to give as tests. The need for these tests is passing, as more and more people realise the truth of Survival. We can of course consult the records, but when we attend a séance, we have generally prepared a kind of set piece, and when we are catechised on other matters, we often cannot recall them. As we make progress over here, so we get further away from the earth except where a strong love holds us. Your parents, for instance, have no strong link now except through you. They have become absorbed in other things and would not be able to give you tests regarding earthly matters. I can sometimes forecast a coming event, but only when I have made a special effort beforehand. I am not omniscient, and I must consult the time-film when I wish to see the earth’s future. The more we advance, the less we care for earth matters, and so it us usually recently deceased folk that communicate, except when a highly-evolved spirit makes a special effort to help the human race. You must remember that your earth is not the only pebble on the beach. I have made many visits to other planets, and it was absorbingly interesting.

Civilization is in a very bad way. The ignorant souls who reincarnate dominate the powers, and all the discoveries that might to the relief of suffering and the betterment of social conditions for the multitudes, are concentrated on new methods of destruction. We try to help from this side, but the mediums though whom we can send our messages are few and far between. We need many more, but there is also man’s free will that prevents us from intervening and stopping the carnage. As you know, it is impossible to destroy life, but those who devise these horrors imagine that they can do so, and this had a cumulative affect on human character. Murder is condoned when it takes place in way, and I cannot understand whey the civilized nations do not combine to put an end to it.