Mme. Anaïs Gourdon.

A young woman, notable for the sweetness of her character and for the most eminent moral qualities, deceased in 1860. Evoked at the request of her father and her husband. She belonged to a family of workers in the coal mines in the surroundings of Saint-Étienne, a circumstance important for better appreciating her evocation.

Evocation.

Answer. – Here I am.

Your husband and your father asked me to call you, and they will feel happy to obtain a communication from you.

Answer. – I too am very happy to be able to give it.

Why were you withdrawn so early from the affection of your family?

Answer. – Because my earthly trials were ending.

Do you go to see them sometimes?

Answer. – Oh! I am incessantly near them.

Are you happy as a Spirit?

Answer. – I am happy; I hope, I await, I love; the heavens constitute no terror for me, and I await, confident and with love, for the white wings to lead me.

What do you understand by these wings?

Answer. – I understand becoming a pure Spirit and shining like the celestial messengers, who dazzle me.

Observation. – The wings of the angels, archangels, and seraphim, who are pure Spirits, are evidently no more than an attribute imagined by men to describe the rapidity with which they transport themselves, since their ethereal nature dispenses them from any support to traverse the spaces. Nevertheless, they can appear to men with this accessory and thus correspond to the thought of the latter, in the same way that other Spirits take on the appearance they had on Earth, in order to make themselves better known.

Do you see your brother-in-law, dead some time ago, whom we evoked last year?

Answer. – I saw him among the Spirits when I arrived. Now I no longer see him.

Why do you no longer see him?

Answer. – I know nothing of this.

Can your relatives do anything that would be agreeable to you?

Answer. – They can; those dear beings must no longer sadden me with the sight of their griefs, for they know that I am not lost to them. May my thought be soft, light, and perfumed in their remembrance. I passed through life like a flower, and nothing sad should remain of my rapid passage.

How is it to be explained that your language is so poetic and so little related to the position you had on Earth?

Answer. – Because it is my soul that speaks. Yes, I had acquired knowledge, and often God permits delicate Spirits to incarnate among the rudest men in order to make them foresee the refinements they will attain and which they will later understand. Observation. – Without this explanation, so logical and so conformable to God's solicitude toward His creatures, we would hardly account for what, at first sight, might seem an anomaly. Indeed, what could be more graceful and more poetic than the language of the Spirit of this young lady, raised in the midst of the rudest labors? The converse is often seen; they are inferior Spirits, incarnated among more advanced men, but with the opposite objective. It is in view of their own advancement that God puts them in contact with an enlightened world and, sometimes, also, that they may serve as a trial to that same world. What other philosophy can resolve such problems?

Evocation of Mr. Gourdon, the eldest son, already evoked in 1860.

Answer. – Here I am.

Do you remember that you were already called by me?

Answer. – Yes, perfectly.

How is it that your sister-in-law no longer sees you?

Answer. – She has risen.

Observation. – To this question she had answered: “I know nothing of this”; no doubt out of modesty. Now everything is explained: of a superior nature, she belongs to a more elevated order, while he is still retained on Earth. They follow different paths.

What have your occupations been since that time?

Answer. – I advanced in the path of knowledge, listening to the instructions of our guides.

Could you give a communication for your father, who will be very happy?

Answer. – Dear father, do not believe your children lost, and do not suffer at the sight of our empty places. I too await you, without any impatience, because I know that the days that pass are so many steps climbed, drawing us nearer to one another. Be grave and recollected, but not sad, for sadness is a mute reproach, directed at God, who wishes to be praised in His works. Besides, why suffer in this sad life, where everything is effaced, except the good or the evil we accomplish? Dear father, courage and confidence! Observation. – The first evocation of this young man was marked by the same sentiments of filial piety and of elevation. It had been an immense consolation for the parents, who could not bear his loss. One understands that the same thing was to occur with the young lady. [This communication is also found in the book Heaven and Hell.]