de l'ester—madame, we greet you, and rejoice to perceive that our last prolonged visit to luna has not proven detrimental to your health, but hereafter we must endeavor to be more prudent. now, i pray you, to attentively listen to what i may say to you.
during the years of your present re-embodiment, for a definite purpose, and toward a definite period, certain spirits have occupied themselves in shaping the unfoldment of your mediumship, the anticipated period has arrived, and with blended emotions, we, your spirit friends, question the momentous future, which we trust contains the glorious fulfillment of a stupendous undertaking. soon after your son bernard passed to our side of life, we informed you that you no longer would be used for automatic writing, but that later on your mediumship would be manifested through an altogether different expression. we did not then, and we do not now deem it advisable, to more than refer to this change of phase, considering it best that, through your own experiences, you shall grow into an understanding of what otherwise no one can make plain to your comprehension. our paper on earth's satellite nears a conclusion; indeed, for the
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present, in that direction, to-day will end our investigations. may we hope that your recent experiences have proven sufficiently interesting to have awakened in you a desire for a larger knowledge and a more comprehensive view of the wonders of starry space?
we are aware that in the minds of earth's thinkers there is a lively interest relating to a world of our solar system, astronomically known as the planet mars. we, too, are greatly interested in the same direction, and it is our ardent desire that we may use you as a means through whom earth's peoples may obtain a closer acquaintance with the planet, and through whom we may accomplish an aim very dear to our hearts. we also are aware that your desire to acquire knowledge, at even a sacrifice of personal ease, and other allurements, will induce you to regard our proposal with favor, so i shall not urge you into hasty compliance with our wishes. you carefully will consider the matter, and we with some anxiety will await your decision.
now close your eyes, tranquillize your thoughts, and quickly we again will visit luna.
october 4th, 1892.
de l'ester—yes, again we are with you, and are delighted to find you fully recovered from your exhaustive experience of yesterday. are we to felicitate ourselves upon your having favorably considered our proposal? you hesitate; yet in the past you have trusted yourself to our care and guidance. surely you safely may trust us for the future.
medium—if i seem to hesitate, it is not that i fear trusting myself to your care, but you are aware that this phase of mediumship is very devitalizing, so you will understand that i a little shrink from incurring possible
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injury to my health. then, too, if you may consider it advisable, i should like to be informed concerning the proposed undertaking. since my early youth i have greatly desired to study astronomy, but always circumstances have prevented my gaining more than a very slight knowledge of this, to me, most wonderful of sciences, so, as in the undertaking some astronomical features are involved, without further hesitation i accept your proposal to attempt to make use of my organism for what i feel assured is a wise and beneficent purpose.
de l'ester—madame, in our undertaking much is involved that will be unfolded as we progress toward its fulfillment. aside from the principal object in view, we desire, and hope to give through you, descriptive sketches of the geographical divisions, geological formations, fauna, flora, race characteristics, social conditions, religious beliefs and rites, government, educational methods, arts, sciences, architecture, mechanics and other features of the planet mars. certainly we fully understand the devitalizing effect of your peculiar phase of mediumship, and i will not conceal from you that your acceptance of our proposition may bring about possible undesirable consequences which we cannot foresee, so again i say, we will not urge you, but should you comply with our wishes to have you accompany us in a series of journeys from earth, to mars, our gratification will be boundless, and your experiences will be so unique that in any event you will find no cause for regret. friends who are known to you, and others with whom you will become acquainted, will share with us the responsibilities and pleasures of the undertaking. for the most part these persons are interested in such sciences and pursuits as engaged their attention while in physical form, thus they are specially fitted for such purposes as they have been chosen to serve.
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no, madame, we do not anticipate even a remote possibility of a fatal disaster to your physical existence; but, through exhaustion, your health might receive injury, so you will weigh the matter well before positively deciding to devote yourself to what i may assure you is a beneficent purpose. should your decision meet our wishes, after the first step shall have been taken we will expect you to be steadfast to the end.
we, as well as yourself, have duties and occupations, and in the event of your positive acceptance of our proposition, it will be necessary that we shall make certain arrangements for the successful inception and after-progress of our journeys and investigations.
you are not yet fully developed in your peculiar phase of mediumship, and unfortunately you are extremely skeptical and over-cautious, which renders you very positive, and doubtless there will be occasions when it will be difficult to harmonize conditions; still, as you possess in an unusual degree the graces of patience, perseverance and earnestness, may we not expect that you will prove equal to such occasions as may occur? indeed, we feel assured that you will.
medium—you know the conditions under which i consent to place myself at your service, and in as far as my ability may serve, i shall endeavor to meet your wishes.
de l'ester—your conditions are perfectly reasonable, and we promise you that we faithfully will observe them. shall we then consider your decision as final?
medium—yes; and as i also shall have to arrange my affairs so as to place myself at your service, i shall require a delay of two days. on the 6th i shall be ready to accompany you.
de l'ester—at what hour?
medium—at 9
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a.m.
de l'ester—let it be so, and remember that during the hours you may be with us you positively must secure yourself against intrusion. this is imperative. do you understand the necessity for this requirement?
medium—i do, and shall arrange for it.
de l'ester—then on the 6th day of october, 1892, our initial journey will occur. until then, adieu.
october 6th, 1892.
de l'ester—good morning, madame, i am pleased to find you quite prepared for our journey starward. accompanying me are george brooks, an englishman, whom ere now you should have known; agassiz, one of earth's noted naturalists, and his close associate, alexander von humboldt, whose fame is not confined to europe. allow me to make known to you these friends who are members of the band whom i have the honor of directing.
medium—gentlemen, i indeed am pleased to make your acquaintance.
agassiz—madame, our acquaintance is not of to-day, and our mutual friendship dates further into the past than at present you are aware of. through the immutable law of attraction, humans are as links of an unbreakable chain, and real friendships are as enduring as eternity.
von humboldt—as no words of mine would add force to this statement, i shall only say that i am, and ever will be, your friend alexander von humboldt.
george brooks—and may i add that as all humans are akin i not only am your devoted friend, but, after a fashion, am your brother george brooks.
de l'ester—and it has been arranged that george shall assist you in your flights through space, and that i shall take upon myself the responsibility of conducting our observations and investigations. to each member of our
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band has been allotted some special duty, thus no confusion can occur, and from time to time spirits of our spheres, and of other planetary spheres, for certain purposes, will join us. when desirable, further explanations will be offered you.
ere we begin our journeys to another world, we will turn our thoughts toward the infinite one, in whom we indeed live, move and have our being.
earnestly, humbly, prayerfully, we turn toward thee, thou eternal, infinite intelligence, who art the all pervading, all knowing energy, controlling every atom of the universe. ever thy children are seeking after truth. ever they who blindly grope their ways through mortal existence, unconsciously, are striving to draw nearer to a realization that thou art. oh, thou dual, yet indivisible one who art the all and in all, as now we are entering upon a mission of loving endeavor, with loftiest aspirations, and with perfect trust we offer ourselves for loving service, well knowing that in thee are the issues of all things, and that thou wilt give thy angels charge concerning us. amen and amen.
madame, you now will close your eyes and endeavor to render yourself passive. that is well. now, with utmost assurance, rest upon george's outstretched arms. have no fear. remember our promise. gently, gently, george. upward, upward now, and outward on this wondrous magnetic current we glide. swiftly as thought traverses space, so swiftly we journey toward mars, which, like a great ruddy jewel, enmeshed in gold, gleams yonder in space.
now that we are nearing the planet, we slowly will descend to such an altitude as will enable you to observe how varied is the scenery, and how very similar it is to portions of our earth world.
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a little lower, george. madame, do you now see clearly? and are you not at all alarmed?
medium—i see quite distinctly, and am not at all alarmed.
de l'ester—truly you are a courageous woman.
through personal observation you will learn that the geological formations, natural divisions, atmospheric conditions and other features of mars are very similar to corresponding features of our own planet.
the same may be said of its fauna and flora, which will surprise you by their familiar appearance. we will remain at this altitude, and as we pass slowly onward we desire that you shall closely observe such views as may be presented. we do not at present wish to discuss them, but should they suggest to you questions which may be relevant to our purpose i shall be pleased to attempt replies.
medium—then may i ask which of the two planets, earth and mars, first came into existence? and also i should like to know how planets are formed.
de l'ester—so much is involved in your questions that i cannot now afford you a comprehensive reply. so i may only say that we have been made to understand that suns are, so to say, magnetic stations or centres of magnetic energy, and in so far as exalted spirits of highest spirit spheres can determine, in their relative positions and functions, they are eternal and unchangeable, also, they affirm that the elements, not only of suns, but of all bodies of infinite space, are homogeneous. that periods arrive when through magnetic attraction of elemental substances suns become surcharged and their pregnant energies exhibit inconceivable activity, casting into space the extremely attenuated elemental substances of which worlds are made.
we, as well as those wise ones, are aware that during
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incalculable lapses of time, infinite, intelligent law brings order out of chaos and formless aggregations of atoms become observable bodies of incandescent matter. that cycles upon cycles elapse, during which cooling and condensation proceed, and these gaseous bodies contract to the measurable dimensions of globes. in this manner mars, and much later earth came into the family of our solar system, and in the course of time about either planet a crust was formed, encompassing their super-heated masses. numberless cycles added unrecognized years to the ages of the infant planets. continuously their confined energies burst forth with tremendous force, rending the gradually thickening crust and casting into space masses of incandescent matter, some of which formed satellites of the planets. others, not projected with sufficient force, were drawn back within the mass of such planet as had cast them forth. no, i do not mean to say that all satellites of planets have their origin in this manner, and at another time i shall speak to you of this matter. backward, as the ages flew, the surfaces of mars and earth were upheaved into mountain chains, anon these were engulfed within fiery abysses whose measureless energies tumultuously threatened to burst asunder the entire surfaces of the young worlds. but time flies on tireless wings, and at last atmospheres for them become possible; not beneficent atmospheres, but such as heralded the possibilities of a later time, when dew and rain would, like blessings, fall upon the hot bosoms of the new worlds. the lapse of time from the beginning of the formation of a planet to a period when the crust has cooled and thickened sufficiently to have become somewhat stable, when natural forces have made it possible for, so to say, the generation of an atmosphere, is inconceivable, and quite as inconceivable is the time that must elapse ere the cooling of the
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atmosphere and consequent condensation and deposition of moisture shall have made life conditions possible; truly, my friend, only the infinite mind is equal to such a conception. understand, please, that i am not indulging in mere speculation. in a simplified and perspicuous manner i am trying to convey to you such facts as may furnish brief replies to your questions. i wish you to learn that world building is not only a process of bygone ages, but that far off in the depths of space innumerable worlds are now being formed, just as this planet and earth have been formed. as the primitive history of one corresponds with the primitive history of the other, i shall say that in the earlier ages strange conditions prevailed. geographically the surfaces of the two planets changed, as change the forms in the kaleidoscope. oceans and seas were being deposited, and from their depths continents were upheaved, only to disappear beneath unquiet billows, leaving isolated islands or archipelagoes to mark their subsidence, and from the heated waters dense vapors arose enveloping the new worlds as in winding sheets.
as it is not possible to compute the ages, much less the years, during which mars and earth passed through the various stages of evolvement, up to the period when either planet became sufficiently cool and stable, the waters of a suitable temperature and atmospheric conditions favorable to a degree that life in its earliest expression became possible, necessarily i must remain silent in relation to that matter. but in this connection i may say that the formative history of one planet is the formative history of all planets of all systems of worlds. first, a nebulous condition of substance, which, through natural activities or laws, gradually contracts into measurable dimensions. secondly, a somewhat spherical, gaseous body extending in all directions into space. thirdly, a positive, individ
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ualized, observable body in a highly incandescent state, followed by such gradual evolvement as your geologists well understand. in a fragmentary and simplified fashion i have as concisely as possible replied to your second question. as to the first, such authorities on our side of life as are known to be unquestionable, declare that the planet mars is incalculably older than earth. that during the ages when our globe was almost wholly incandescent, mars' crust was measurably solid and cooled and its earliest life expressions were teeming in its tepid waters. the interval elapsing between the earliest appearance of life on mars and the period when it became possible for the earliest life expressions to appear on our planet is not to be computed through years or through centuries of years, the duration of such an interval is inconceivable.
we desire that you shall understand that we do not propose that this shall be an astronomical, geological or other scientific work, but in so far as we may be able to use your organism we shall touch upon such recognized sciences as may subserve our purposes of comparing degrees of knowledge attained to, in the same direction by the peoples of two planets, mars and earth.
medium—i should like to know how the lowest life forms of a new planet originate, where do they come from, and what are they?
de l'ester—truly a large question, to which i must make a very brief reply. your scientists declare that protozoa are the first, consequently the lowest, forms or expressions of life. the statement to a degree is correct, but as the life, the active principle of the cell, relatively is as great as the active principle of a universe, one cannot accurately designate it as either high or low. life, the imponderable potentiality of the universe, is a unit, expressing itself in every atom, in the formation of every cell,
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floating in the tepid waters of new worlds. it is as truly substance as is the cell brought into form through its intelligent activity. it is the infinite, intelligent energy, permeating all that is. it is the infinite spirit whose countless manifestations we recognize, but whose nature is beyond the conception of angels or of archangels. it is that which we term god. on all planets sufficiently evolved life expressions first appear in cell formations. in these cells, for which scientists have various names, are all the potentialities necessary for the evolvement of all forms of animal and vegetable life. through the ceaseless activity of infinite, intelligent, immutable law, these germ cells, step by step, are evolved from lower to higher planes of expression, and this is a truth, the cells containing the potentialities of the human animal are unlike those containing the potentialities of the mere animal. infinite intelligence makes no mistakes, and in the primordial cells are all the possibilities of all specific orders of animal and vegetable life. in every direction life expressions strive to advance on straight lines, and however thwarted and baffled, go forward with invincible, intelligent energy toward definite ends. but the subject is inexhaustible, and we must for the present defer its further consideration.
we are now resting in space, about one english mile above mars' surface. freed spirits see where mortal vision perceives naught. as you now are, to a degree, liberated from physical limitation, you perceive that all your senses are enlarged and intensified, and you will not find it difficult to carefully observe the view presenting itself, and to describe what you may perceive.
medium—i cannot realize that i am gazing on the planet mars, for it is so strangely similar to our own far distant earth, i see cities and towns, some near by, others
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in the dim distance. there are lakes and streams of shining water and there are wide spreading plains over which i see some animals moving, but i do not see them very distinctly. directly beneath us are fields of waving grain and meadows green with verdure, with here and there clusters of many bright hued flowers. away off yonder i see what appears to be moving trains of railway cars, but the motive power must be different from that in use on our railways, for i do not see either steam or smoke, and the locomotive is quite unlike any i have seen. what direction is that? south? well, far southward i see a considerable body of water, and on it, moving in all directions, are large and small vessels, some with sails, others without any visible motive power. but, dear me, what is that moving so swiftly through the air? an air transport? how very wonderful, but i see neither sails, balloons or any propelling power. i wonder how they rise, and what keeps them from falling? george, it is very impolite in you to laugh at me. of course i am excited; so would you be were you in my place. oh, that one over yonder town is slowly, slowly dropping down, and now it has landed on a great platform and passengers are alighting and others are entering, as one might enter a railway car. now it is ascending with a sort of undulatory movement, dipping and rising like a bird in flight, and now it has risen to quite a height, and is going toward the south. cannot we go nearer to one of the strange conveyances? i am very curious to learn more about them. how they are constructed, and what their motive power is, and what sustains them in the air, and what—george, if you do not stop laughing at me you will let me fall. de l'ester, do tell me something about them.
de l'ester—patience, patience, madame. your curiosity is quite natural and commendable, and in good time
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shall be gratified, but as this is an experimental trip we do not think it prudent to hold you longer. as you grow accustomed to unusual conditions gradually we will prolong our journeys, but now we must return you to your earth home, and if we may find you sufficiently vitalized, to-morrow, at the hour of 9.30, we again will come for you, and we promise you that your experience of to-day is but the beginning of a series of the same, which will greatly add not only to your pleasure, but to the profit of many, for whose benefit our journeys have been planned.
now, earthward, george. yes, the sensation of moving with such tremendous velocity is peculiar. to move so swiftly as to experience a sensation of immobility is quite beyond the conception of mortals, who cannot conceive the fact of an ever-present now in a spaceless universe.
here you are in your quiet room, and none the worse for your starward journey. now you are in your normal state and i have something to say to you.
for a reason that later on you will appreciate, you are not to read what your conscious self has been made, and will yet be made to write. do you understand? then at the conclusion of each journey put away whatever may have been written, and in some coming time together we will read it, and then you will comprehend why i make this request.
may divine and loving influences guide and guard you. au revoir.
