The storms.

(To Fr.

Arago.) – We were told that the storm of Solferino had had a providential aim, and several facts of this kind were pointed out to us, especially in February and June of 1848. During the combats did these storms have an analogous end?

Answer. – Almost all.

Interrogated on the subject, the Spirit told us that in such a circumstance God alone acted, without intermediaries. [v.

An Officer of the Army of Italy.] Permit us a few questions relating to the subject, which we ask you to resolve with your habitual clarity. We conceive perfectly that the will of God is the first cause, in this as in all things; yet, knowing that the Spirits exercise action upon matter and that they are the agents of the will of God, we ask whether some among them do not exercise a certain influence upon the elements to agitate, calm, or direct them?

Answer. – But evidently. Nor could it be otherwise. God does not exercise direct action upon matter. He finds devoted agents in all degrees of the scale of worlds. The Spirit evoked expressed himself thus from having a less perfect knowledge of these laws, as well as of the laws of war. Observation. – The communication of the officer, referred to above, was obtained on July 1; this one was obtained on the 22nd, and by another medium.

Nothing in the question indicates the quality of the first Spirit evoked, a quality that spontaneously recalls the Spirit who has just answered. This circumstance is characteristic and proves that the medium's thought contributed in no way to the answer. It is thus that, in a multitude of fortuitous circumstances, the Spirit reveals both his identity and his independence. This is why we say it is necessary to see much and observe a great deal. Only thus shall we discover a host of nuances that escape the superficial and hasty observer. It is known that one must take advantage of facts when they present themselves, and it is not by provoking them that we shall obtain them. The attentive and patient observer always finds something to glean.

Mythology was founded entirely on spirit ideas, with the sole difference that they regarded the Spirits as divinities. They represented these gods, or these Spirits, with special attributions. Thus, some were charged with the winds, others with the lightning, others with presiding over the phenomenon of vegetation, etc. Is such a belief totally devoid of foundation? Answer. – It is so far from being devoid of foundation that it still falls far short of the truth.

At the beginning of our communications the Spirits told us things that seem to confirm this principle. They said, for example, that certain Spirits dwell more especially within the interior of the Earth and preside over the geological phenomena. Answer. – Yes, and you will not be long in having the explanation of all this.

Are the Spirits who dwell within the interior of the Earth and preside over the geological phenomena of an inferior order? Answer. – Such Spirits do not positively dwell on the Earth. They preside over the phenomena and direct them. They are of a completely different order.

Are they Spirits who have incarnated in men, as we have?

Answer. – Who will be so and who already have been. I shall tell you more about it, before long, if you wish. [1]

Translator's note: See The Spirits' Book. – Part Two. – Chapter IX. – Questions

to 540.