8

Dreams.

— Natural somnambulism. — Second sight. — Crisiacs; visions. — Ecstasy. — Magnetic somnambulism. (Questions

to 171 a.)

Does the incarnated Spirit willingly remain in its bodily envelope? [Question 400.]

“The incarnated Spirit aspires unceasingly to liberation; the coarser the envelope, the more it desires to see itself free of it.” The soul clothes itself in the bodily envelope only because it is constrained to do so by necessity; this is why it aspires unceasingly to disentangle itself from its bands, until the ties that bind it to the Earth are undone once and for all.

During sleep, does the soul rest along with the body? [Question 401.]

“No, the Spirit is never inactive.”

a. What does the Spirit do during the sleep of the body?

“The ties that bind it to the body being loosened, and the body no longer needing its presence, the Spirit launches itself into space and enters into a more direct relationship with other Spirits.” [Question 401.]

During the waking state, in which the vital forces of the body are in full activity, the soul, being subordinate to the influence of the matter to which it is bound, loses part of its faculties; in other words, those faculties, no longer having the fullness of their liberty, become in some manner latent. During sleep the bodily ties are loosened and the soul partially recovers its liberty.

How can we judge of the liberty of the Spirit during sleep? [Question 402.]

“By dreams.”

a. Do dreams, then, have some basis of truth?

“Dreams are always true, but not as the fortune-tellers understand it. Know that the Spirit never rests and, when the body rests, the Spirit has more faculties than in the waking state. It remembers the past and sometimes foresees the future. It acquires more power and can enter into communication with other Spirits, whether of this world or of the other. You often say: I had an extravagant dream, a horrible dream, yet absolutely implausible. You are mistaken; it is almost always the remembrance of the places and the things you have seen or that you will see in another existence or on another occasion. The body being numbed, the Spirit endeavors to break its fetters and to investigate the past or the future.” [Question 402.]

The liberty of the soul, during sleep, manifests itself through the phenomenon of dreams. Dreams are the effect of the emancipation of the soul, which becomes more independent through the suspension of active life and of relation. Hence a sort of indefinite clairvoyance, which extends to the most distant places or to those one has never seen, and sometimes even to other worlds. Hence also the remembrance that brings back to memory events that took place in the present existence or in previous existences; hence, finally, in some cases, the presentiment of future things.

The incomplete remembrance that remains to us upon waking, of that which appeared to us in a dream, the extravagance of the images of what passes or has passed in unknown worlds, intermingled with things of the present world, form those bizarre and confused assemblages, which seem to have no meaning or connection.

Does natural somnambulism have any relation to dreams? How is it to be explained? [Question 425.]

“It is a state of independence of the soul, more complete than in the dream, a state in which its faculties are more developed. The soul has perceptions that it does not have in the dream.”

When the independence of the soul is more complete and its faculties manifest themselves with greater energy than in the dream, it produces the phenomenon designated by the name of natural somnambulism, of which the dream is but a diminutive or a variety. (Note 6).

Does the phenomenon designated by the name of second sight have any relation to the dream and somnambulism? [Question 447.]

“All this is one and the same thing. In what you call second sight, the Spirit is still more free, although the body is not asleep.”

a. Does he who is endowed with second sight see with the eyes of the body? “No; just like the somnambulist, he sees by the soul.” The emancipation of the soul manifests itself sometimes in the waking state and produces the phenomenon known by the name of second sight, which gives to those who possess it the faculty of seeing, hearing, and feeling beyond the limits of our senses. They perceive absent things everywhere where the soul can extend its action; they see, so to speak, beyond ordinary sight and as if through a sort of mirage.

Is second sight permanent? [Question 448.]

“The faculty, yes; the exercise, no.”

a. Does second sight develop spontaneously or by the will of the one who possesses it? [Question 449.]

“Most often it is spontaneous, but not rarely the will also plays an important part. If you take as an example certain persons to whom is given the name of fortune-tellers, some of whom are endowed with this faculty, you will see that it is with the aid of their own will that they enter the state of second sight, or into what you call vision.”

Second sight is never permanent; it occurs instantaneously at given moments, very often without being overexcited, although it can be provoked by the will. At the instant when the phenomenon of second sight occurs, the physical state of the individual is appreciably modified; the gaze has something vague about it; he stares without seeing; his whole countenance reflects a sort of exaltation. Among the persons who attribute to themselves the gift of prescience, some owe to this faculty the accidental knowledge they have of certain things.

Do persons endowed with second sight always have consciousness of their faculty? [Question 453.]

“No. They consider it perfectly natural and many believe that, if everyone observed themselves better, each would see that they possess this faculty.” Most individuals endowed with second sight do not realize that they possess this faculty, which seems to them as natural as that of sight; they consider it an attribute of their being, having nothing exceptional about it.

Often forgetfulness follows this passing lucidity, whose remembrance becomes more and more vague and ends by disappearing, like that of a dream.

Is there a diversity of degrees in the faculty of second sight? “Yes, and the same individual may have all the degrees.”

a. Could one attribute to a sort of second sight the perspicacity of certain persons who, without having anything extraordinary about them, judge things with more precision than others? [Question 454.]

“Yes; it is always the soul radiating more freely.”

b. Can this faculty give, in some cases, the prescience of things? [Question

a.]

“Yes; it gives presentiments.”

There are infinite degrees in the power of second sight, from the confused sensation to the clear and distinct perception of present or absent things. These different degrees may be found united in the same individual. In the rudimentary state, it confers on certain persons tact, perspicacity, a sort of assurance in their actions, which may be called precision of moral coup d’œil. More developed, it awakens presentiments; more developed still, it shows the events that have taken place or are about to take place.

Is it true that certain circumstances develop second sight? [Question 452.]

“Yes.”

a. What are these circumstances?

“Illness, the proximity of danger, a great commotion.” [Question 452.]

b. According to this, would visions not be purely fantastical things? “No; the body is sometimes in a particular state that allows the Spirit to see what you cannot perceive with carnal eyes.” The phenomenon of second sight seems to occur more frequently under the empire of certain circumstances. Times of crisis, calamities, great commotions, all the causes, in short, that overexcite the moral nature, provoke its unleashing. It seems that Providence, in the presence of danger, gives us the means to avert it. All the persecuted sects and parties give numerous examples of this.

Is complete sleep necessary for the emancipation of the Spirit? [Question 407.]

“No; the Spirit recovers its liberty when the senses are numbed.”

a. Sometimes we have the impression of hearing within ourselves words pronounced distinctly and that bear no relation to what occupies us. What is the reason for this? [Question 408.]

“Yes, and even whole sentences, especially when the senses begin to grow numb. I repeat unceasingly: it is, sometimes, the faint echo of a Spirit that wishes to communicate with you.”

b. What, then, must be done?

“Listen.”

The Spirit takes advantage, in order to emancipate itself, of every instant of rest that the body affords it; for this, however, there is no need of absolute repose. As soon as there is prostration of the vital forces, the Spirit detaches itself and, the weaker the body, the more free the Spirit finds itself. It is in this way that a doze or a simple numbing of the senses presents to us the same images as the dream. Often we hear within ourselves words or whole sentences, pronounced distinctly; they are Spirits that wish to communicate with us. Almost always these words have no apparent meaning; but, sometimes, they are warnings.

Why does the same idea, that of a discovery, for example, arise at the same time in several places? [Question 419.]

“We have already said that during sleep Spirits communicate with one another. Well then! When the body awakens, the Spirit remembers what it learned and the man believes he has invented it. Thus, many may discover the same thing at the same time. When you say that an idea is in the air, you make use of a figure of speech more exact than you suppose. Each one contributes, without suspecting it, to propagate it.”

During sleep, our Spirit communicates with other Spirits, whether wandering or incarnated in other worlds; it communicates, also, with other Spirits incarnated on the Earth and who, like it, are at liberty. Upon awakening of the bodies, these Spirits bring back with them the knowledge they have acquired. This is the cause of the ideas that seem to arise simultaneously in several places. Often our Spirit reveals to other Spirits, and this without our knowledge, what was the object of our preoccupations.

Can Spirits communicate, if the body is completely awake? [Question 420.]

“Yes. As we have already said, the Spirit is not enclosed in the body as in a box; it radiates on all sides.” [Question 141.]

a. How is it explained that two persons, perfectly awake, instantaneously have the same idea? [Question 421.]

“They are two sympathetic Spirits who communicate and reciprocally see each other’s thoughts, even when the body is not asleep.”

b. Is this the cause of our sympathies and antipathies toward persons we see for the first time?

“Yes.”

The incarnated Spirit is not enclosed in the body, but, on the contrary, radiates on all sides. Hence the mutual communion of thoughts between two Spirits that meet, which makes two persons see and understand each other without need of the exterior signs of language.

Two Spirits can thus communicate, even when the body is in the waking state, above all if they are sympathetic; hence, sometimes, the simultaneity of the same thought between two different persons. Hence, likewise, the instinctive attraction or repulsion that we sometimes feel toward certain persons at first sight.

What is the difference between the ecstatic and the somnambulist? [Question 439.]

“It is a more refined somnambulism. The soul is more independent.” 103

a. Does the Spirit of the ecstatic really penetrate into the superior worlds? [Question 440.]

“Yes, it sees them and understands the happiness of those who inhabit them, which is the reason why it would like to remain in them.”

b. Could it penetrate into all worlds, without exception?

“No, for some worlds are inaccessible to Spirits who are not yet sufficiently purified.”

c. Nevertheless, there are things that the ecstatic thinks he sees, but that, evidently, result from an imagination shaken by terrestrial beliefs and prejudices. Thus, not everything he sees is real? [Question 443.]

“All that he sees is real; but, since his Spirit is always under the influence of terrestrial ideas, he may see in his own manner or, better said, express what he saw in a language consistent with the prejudices and ideas with which he is imbued; or with your prejudices, in order to be better understood.”

d. When the ecstatic expresses the desire to leave the Earth, does he speak sincerely? And does the instinct of self-preservation not hold him back? [Question 441.]

“That depends on the degree of purification of the Spirit. If it sees its future position as better than that of the present life, it strives to undo the ties that bind it to the Earth.”

e. If we abandoned the ecstatic to himself, could his soul leave the body definitively? [Question 442.]

“Yes, he could die. That is why it is necessary to call him back by means of everything that can bind him to this world, above all by making him understand that the surest way not to stay there, where he sees that he would be happy, consists in breaking the chain that holds him to the terrestrial planet.” Ecstasy is the state in which the independence of the soul in relation to the body manifests itself in the most perceptible manner, becoming, in a certain way, palpable.

In the dream and in somnambulism, the soul wanders through the terrestrial regions. In ecstasy, it penetrates into an unknown world, that of the ethereal Spirits, with whom it enters into communication, without, however, going beyond certain limits, which it could not cross without totally undoing the ties that bind it to the body. A resplendent and entirely new radiance envelops it, harmonies unknown on the Earth enrapture it, an indefinable well-being invades it: it enjoys in advance the celestial beatitude and one may say that it sets one foot on the threshold of eternity.

In the state of ecstasy, the annihilation of the body is almost complete; the latter maintains, so to speak, only organic life. One feels that the soul is bound to it only by a thread, which one further effort could break forever.

In this state, all terrestrial thoughts disappear, yielding place to the refined sentiment that is the very essence of our immaterial being. Entirely given over to such sublime contemplation, the ecstatic regards life only as a momentary halt; for him, the goods and the evils, the coarse joys and the miseries of the Earth are but futile incidents of a journey, whose end he feels happy to see.

Ecstasy is not always free from danger to life. In its aspiration for a better world, the soul could undo the ties that unite it to the body, were it not held back by the idea that, in untying them itself, it would be kept away from that world which it glimpses. [Question 455.]

Does so-called magnetic somnambulism have any relation to natural somnambulism? [Question 426.]

“It is the same thing.”

a. What is the nature of the agent called the magnetic fluid? [Question 427.]

“Universal fluid, vital fluid.”

b. Does the magnetic fluid have any relation to electricity?

“A little; one might say that it is animalized electricity.” [Question 427.]

The phenomena of natural ecstasy and somnambulism occur spontaneously and are independent of any known exterior cause. But, in certain persons endowed with a special organization, they can be provoked artificially, by the action of the magnetic agent.

The state designated by the name of magnetic somnambulism differs from natural somnambulism only in the fact of being provoked, whereas the other is spontaneous.

What is the cause of somnambulic clairvoyance? [Question 428.]

“The same as that of second sight; it is the soul that sees.”

a. How can the somnambulist see through opaque bodies? [Question 429.]

“There are no opaque bodies except for your coarse organs. Have we not already said that, for the Spirit, matter offers no obstacle, since it traverses it freely? He frequently tells you that he sees through the forehead, through the knee, etc., because you, entirely immersed in matter, do not understand that he can see without the aid of the organs. He himself, by the desire you manifest, believes he needs such organs; but, if you left him free, he would understand that he sees by all parts of his body, or, better said, that he sees from outside his body.” The cause of the clairvoyance of the magnetic somnambulist and of the natural somnambulist is exactly the same: it is an attribute of the soul, a faculty inherent in all the parts of the incorporeal being that exists in us, and that has as limits only those assigned to the soul itself. The somnambulist sees in all the places to which his soul can transport itself, whatever the distance.

In vision at a distance, the somnambulist does not see things from the place where his body is, as if by means of a telescope. He sees them present, as if he were in the place where they exist, because, in truth, his soul is there. This is why his body remains as if annihilated and deprived of sensations, until the soul comes to take possession of it again. [Question 455.]

Since the clairvoyance of the somnambulist is that of his soul or of his Spirit, why does he not see everything and why is he so often mistaken? [Question 430.]

“First, imperfect Spirits are not permitted to see everything and to know everything. You know perfectly well that they still share your errors and prejudices. And then, when they are bound to matter, they do not enjoy all their faculties as Spirit. God gave man the somnambulic faculty with a useful and serious end, and not to teach him what he ought not to know. This is why somnambulists cannot say everything.” The power of somnambulic lucidity is not indefinite. The Spirit, even when completely free, is limited in its faculties and knowledge, according to the degree of perfection it has attained; and it is more limited still when bound to matter, of which it suffers the influence. This is the cause why somnambulic clairvoyance is neither universal nor infallible. And one can count the less upon its infallibility the more it is diverted from the end proposed by Nature in endowing man with this faculty, transforming it into an object of curiosity and experimentation. [Question 455.]

Does the exaltation of somnambulic clairvoyance depend on the physical organization or on the nature of the incarnated Spirit? [Question 433.]

“On both.”

a. What is the origin of the innate ideas of the somnambulist and how can he speak with exactitude of things that he is ignorant of in the waking state, including those that are above his intellectual capacity? [Question 431.]

“It happens that the somnambulist possesses more knowledge than you suppose. Only it is dormant, because his envelope is too imperfect for him to be able to remember it. What is a somnambulist, after all? A Spirit like us, incarnated in matter to fulfill his mission, and the state into which he enters awakens him from this lethargy. We have told you repeatedly that we live again many times; it is this change that makes him materially lose what he managed to learn in the preceding existence. Entering the state that you call crisis, 104 he remembers, but not always in a complete manner; he knows, but he could not say whence comes to him what he knows, nor how he possesses this knowledge. The crisis past, all remembrance is effaced and he returns to obscurity.” The exaltation of somnambulic clairvoyance depends on a special physical disposition that allows the Spirit to detach itself more or less easily from matter. The faculties it manifests are the greater the more elevated the order to which it belongs. In each of its bodily existences, the Spirit acquires an increment of knowledge and experience. It forgets them in part, when incarnated in excessively coarse matter, but, as Spirit, it remembers them. This is why certain somnambulists reveal knowledge superior to their degree of instruction, and even superior to their intellectual capacities. In the waking state this knowledge sometimes leaves a vague remembrance, a sort of intuition that constitutes what is called innate ideas.

The intellectual and scientific inferiority of the somnambulist, when awake, does not authorize us to judge beforehand the knowledge he may reveal in the state of lucidity. According to the circumstances and the objective one has in view, he may draw it from his own experience, or from the clairvoyance of present things; since, however, his own Spirit may be more or less advanced, it is possible for him to say things more or less exact.

Were the sibyls and the oracles of Antiquity endowed with second sight? “Sometimes; they were then what you call crisiacs. Like your sorcerers and diviners, they were exploited by cupidity, when they themselves were not charlatans.”

a. What is to be thought of hallucinations?

“They are more real than is believed. When one does not know how to explain a thing, one says that it is a hallucination.”

b. Nevertheless, hallucination makes us see things that have nothing real about them. For example, you said that there are no demons. Well then! When in a dream or awake someone sees what is called the devil, would the fact not be a product of the imagination? “Yes, sometimes, when the man lets himself be influenced by certain readings or stories of devilry that make an impression; he then remembers them and believes he sees what does not exist. But we had also told you that the Spirit, under its semi-material envelope, can take on all forms in order to manifest itself. A mocking Spirit can, then, appear to you with horns and claws, if it so pleases, in order to abuse your credulity, as a good Spirit can show itself with wings and a radiant countenance. Since it needs to become accessible to your senses, it takes on such forms or any others whatever.”

The kind of crisis that often provokes the development of second sight, of somnambulism, and of ecstasy, has caused, in certain cases, the name of crisiacs to be given to those who are endowed with this faculty. There have been crisiacs in all times and in all nations, who have been considered in diverse ways according to the epochs, the customs, and the degree of civilization. In the eyes of the skeptics, who deny what they do not understand, they pass for damaged brains; the religious sects transformed them into prophets, sibyls, and oracles; in the centuries of superstition, ignorance, and fanaticism, they were sorcerers who were sent to be burned. For the sensible man, who believes in the infinite power and the inexhaustible goodness of the Creator, it is a faculty inherent in the human species, by which God reveals to us the existence of our incorporeal essence.

Human science, being unable to explain these phenomena by the physical laws of matter, solely because they do not obey the caprice and the will of the experimenters, finds it simpler to attribute them to the disarrangements of the brain and designates them by the name of hallucinations.

What consequences can be drawn from the phenomena of somnambulism and ecstasy? Would they not be a sort of initiation into the future life? [Question 445.]

“It is, rather, the past life and the future life that man glimpses. Let him study these phenomena and in them he will find the solution of more than one mystery that his reason seeks in vain to penetrate.”

a. Could the phenomena of somnambulism and ecstasy be reconciled with materialism? [Question 446.]

“Whoever studies them in good faith and without prepossessions cannot be a materialist, nor an atheist.”

Through the phenomena of somnambulism and ecstasy, whether natural or magnetic, Providence gives us the irrefutable proof of the existence and the independence of the soul and makes us witness the sublime spectacle of its emancipation. By this means it opens for us the book of our destiny. While man loses himself in the subtleties of an abstract and unintelligible metaphysics, in search of the causes of our moral existence, God places daily before our eyes and within reach of our hand the simplest and most evident means for the study of experimental psychology. (Note 7).

[103] Translator’s note: In the 2nd French edition of this book, this question received the number 439, and is conceived thus:

What is the difference between ecstasy and somnambulism? — “Ecstasy is a more refined somnambulism. The soul of the ecstatic is even more independent.” This gives more clarity and objectivity to the subject treated.

[104] Translator’s note: Emphasis ours.