Introduction

 Now, when speculation and research concerning the life after death are arousing more interest in the public mind than at any other time in human history, it seems peculiarly fitting that I should publish my "Travels in the Spirit World. "

 So far, every attempt to lift the curtain that separates us from the realms of the spirits has been carried on through a "medium." But in this little book, I shall describe scenes of the Spirit World which I have witnessed with my own eyes, and I shall relate conversations with spirits in which I have actually taken part. I have been enabled to tell you of these marvelous occurrences by virtue of a rare faculty which few possess: the ability to leave the physical body and to live for the time being in the astral, the power of being a spirit though there has been no actual physical death. So, because of my additional ability to reason and to reflect on the meaning of all I saw and beard, as well as the power to retain it in the memory, I have garnered the knowledge of the life hereafter which I now present to the public—a knowledge which must be considered as first hand evidence on the subject; a knowledge obtained, I believe, by the only process possible to mortals.

 This ability to detach oneself from the material and to live in the astral is not a power peculiar to me. There are many records of a similar facility. In my case, however, disassociation from the material was purely involuntary. As the reader will discover by reading the opening chapter of the book, I did not seek or foster any such power. It possessed me unawares. Furthermore, I do not claim any superiority or supernatural gift because of my unlooked-for power. I regard it merely as a "facility" —an additional power which some persons happen to possess. One hears little of revelations by virtue of such a power because those who have it pay no attention to it or suppress it altogether. To my readers I commend the results of my observations of the life hereafter, for I believe that even to those who will not see fit to accept them as credible, they will at least prove to be of more than ephemeral interest. As for myself I have no doubt what I have seen and experienced is real, very real. Nothing in all my life has made such a lasting and vivid impression upon my mind. And I am positive that no traveler could be more certain of the reality of his experiences than I am of the reality of my spirit travels. I do not claim to have seen all of the life of the Spirit World. In fact I have seen only a very little of it. But I am sure that I have seen something of each of its multifarious phases. At least, my experiences have been so varied that my readers will be able to obtain a reasonably broad conception of the conditions which will confront us when we leave our present sphere.