Photography of thought.

— Since the phenomenon of the photography of thought is connected with that of the fluidic creations, described in our book Genesis, in the chapter on the fluids, we reproduce, for greater clarity, the passage of that chapter where the subject is treated, and we complete it with new observations.

The spiritual fluids, which constitute one of the states of the universal cosmic fluid, are, so to speak, the atmosphere of the spiritual beings; the element from which they draw the materials upon which they operate; the medium where the special phenomena occur, perceptible to the sight and hearing of the Spirit, but which escape the carnal senses, sensitive only to tangible matter; the medium where is formed the light peculiar to the spiritual world, different, by its cause and its effects, from ordinary light; finally, the vehicle of thought, as the air is that of sound.

The Spirits act upon the spiritual fluids, not by handling them as men handle gases, but by employing thought and will. For the Spirits, thought and will are what the hand is for man. By thought, they impress upon those fluids this or that direction, they agglomerate, combine, or disperse them, organize with them assemblages that present a determined appearance, form, and coloration; they change their properties, as a chemist changes that of gases or of other bodies, combining them according to certain laws. It is the great workshop or laboratory of spiritual life.

Sometimes, these transformations result from an intention; at other times, they are the product of an unconscious thought. It suffices that the Spirit think a thing, for it to be produced, just as it suffices that he shape an air, for it to resound in the atmosphere.

It is thus, for example, that a Spirit makes himself visible to an incarnate being who possesses psychic sight, under the appearances he had when alive at the time when the second one knew him, although he may have had, since that time, many incarnations. He presents himself with the attire, the outward marks – infirmities, scars, amputated limbs, etc. – that he had then. A decapitated person will present himself without his head. This does not mean that he has retained these appearances, certainly not; for, as a Spirit, he is neither lame, nor one-armed, nor one-eyed, nor decapitated; what happens is that, his thought going back to the time when he had such defects, his perispirit instantly takes on the appearances of them, which cease to exist as soon as that same thought ceases to act in that direction. If, then, he was once black and white another time, he will present himself as white or black, according to the incarnation to which his evocation refers and to which his thought transports itself. By an analogous effect, the thought of the Spirit fluidically creates the objects that he was accustomed to use. A miser will handle gold, a soldier will bring his weapons and his uniform, a smoker his pipe, a plowman his plow and his oxen, an old woman her distaff. For the Spirit, who is himself fluidic as well, these fluidic objects are as real as they were, in the material state, for the living man; but, by reason of their being creations of thought, their existence is as fleeting as that of the latter.

The fluids being the vehicle of thought, the latter acts upon the fluids as sound acts upon the air; they bring us the thought, as the air brings us the sound. One can therefore say, without fear of erring, that there are, in these fluids, waves and rays of thoughts, which cross one another without becoming confused, as there are in the air sonorous waves and rays.

— As one can see, it is an order of facts entirely new, which occur outside the tangible world, and constitute, if we may so express ourselves, the special physics and chemistry of the invisible world. But as, during incarnation, the spiritual principle is united to the material principle, it results from this that certain phenomena of the spiritual world are produced conjointly with those of the material world and are inexplicable by whoever does not know their laws. Thus, the knowledge of these laws is as useful to the incarnate as to the disincarnate, for it alone can explain certain facts of material life.

In creating fluidic images, thought is reflected in the perispiritic envelope, as in a mirror, or again like those images of terrestrial objects that are reflected in the vapors of the air; it takes body in it and there in a certain manner photographs itself. Let a man, for example, have the idea of killing another: although the material body remains impassive, his fluidic body is set in action by the thought and reproduces all the shades of the latter; it executes fluidically the gesture, the act that he intended to carry out. The thought creates the image of the victim and the entire scene is painted, as in a picture, just as it unfolds in his spirit.

It is in this way that the most secret movements of the soul reverberate in the fluidic envelope; that one soul can read in another soul as in a book and see what is not perceptible to the eyes of the body. The eyes of the body see the inner impressions that are reflected in the features of the face: anger, joy, sadness; but the soul sees in the features of the soul the thoughts that are not translated outwardly.

However, seeing the intention, the seer may well foresee the execution of the act that will be its consequence, but he cannot determine the instant when that same act will be executed, nor point out its details, nor, again, affirm that it will take place, because later circumstances may modify the plans laid and change the dispositions. He cannot see what is not yet in the thought of the other; what he sees is the habitual preoccupation of the individual, his desires, his projects, his designs good or evil. Hence the errors in the predictions of certain seers, when an event is subordinate to the free will of man; they can only foresee its probability, according to the thought that they see, but they cannot affirm that it will occur in such a manner and at such a moment. Moreover, the greater or lesser exactness in the predictions depends on the extent and the clarity of the psychic vision; in certain individuals, Spirits or incarnate beings, it is diffuse or limited to one point, whereas in others it is clear and embraces the whole of the thoughts and the wills that must concur in the realization of a fact; but, above all, there is always the superior will, which can, in its wisdom, permit a revelation or prevent it. In this last case, an impenetrable veil is cast over the most perspicacious psychic vision. (See in Genesis the chapter on “Prescience.”)

— The theory of the fluidic creations and, consequently, of the photography of thought, is a conquest of modern Spiritism and, henceforth, may be regarded as acquired in principle, save for the applications of detail, which result from observation. This phenomenon is, incontestably, the source of the fantastic visions, and must play a great role in certain dreams.

We think that here can be found the explanation of mediumship through the glass of water (See the preceding article). Since the object that is seen cannot be in the glass, the water must play the role of a mirror, which reflects the image created by the thought of the Spirit. This image may be the reproduction of a real thing, as well as that of a creation of fantasy. In any case, the glass of water is only a means of reproducing it, but it is not the only one, as is proven by the diversity of the processes employed by some seers. This one perhaps suits certain organizations better.

[1] Translator’s Note: See Genesis, by Allan Kardec, chapter XIV items 13 to 15.