seen, as in a mirror, the seventy-two years of your life photographed
year by year. The one the farthest from the Earth, but which had
started the first, and was the oldest, showed events as they were in
1793; the second, which left the Earth a year later, and had not yet
reached Capella, contained those of 1794; the tenth, those of 1803;
the thirty-sixth, having reached midway on the road, gave those of
1829; the fiftieth, those of 1843; the seventy-first, those of 1864.
LUMEN. It is impossible to have better grasped these facts, which seem
so mysterious and incomprehensible at first sight. Now I can recount to
you that which happened to me upon Capella, after having thus witnessed
over again my existence on the Earth.
I
LUMEN. Whilst not very long ago (but I can no longer express that time
by earthly measurements), in a melancholy region of Capella, I was
contemplating the starry heavens at the beginning of a clear night,
occupied in noting the star which is your earthly Sun, and near it the
little azure planet, your Earth, I observed one of the scenes of my
childhood--my young mother seated in the midst of a garden, holding
an infant in her arms (my brother), having at her side a little girl
of two summers (my sister), and a boy two years older (myself). I saw
myself at that age when man is not yet conscious of his intellectual
existence, though he bears even then upon his brow the germ of future
promise. Whilst dreaming of this singular spectacle, which showed _me_
myself at the entrance of my earthly career, I felt my attention drawn
from your planet by a superior power, and directed towards another
point in the heavens, which, even at that moment, seemed to be linked
with the Earth and my career there, by some mysterious tie. I could
not turn my gaze from this new point in the the heavens, my eyes
being, as it were, chained to the spot by some magnetic power I was
unable to resist. Several times I endeavoured to withdraw my eyes, and
to fix them on the Earth I love so well; but in vain, for I was ever
re-attracted to the same unknown star.
[Sidenote: The star Gamma in Virgo.]
[Sidenote: Life on the planet of Virgo.]
This star, upon which my eyes sought instinctively to divine something,
belongs to the constellation of _Virgo_, whose form varies slightly as
seen from Capella. It is a double star, that is to say, an association
of two suns, one of a silvery whiteness, the other of a bright golden
yellow, which revolve round one another once in 175 years. This star
can be seen from the Earth with the naked eye, and its sign is the
letter γ (_Gamma_), in the constellation of Virgo. Around
each of the suns which form it there is a planetary system. My sight
was fixed upon one of the planets belonging to the golden sun. On that
planet there are animals and vegetables as upon the Earth; their forms
bear a similarity to earthly ones, although there is an essential
difference in their organisms. Their animal kingdom is analogous to
yours; they have fishes in the seas, quadrupeds in the air, in which
men can fly without wings, by reason of the extreme density of the
atmosphere. The men of this planet possess almost the same form as
those on the Earth, but no hair grows upon their heads, and they have
three large thin thumbs instead of five fingers on their hands, and
three great toes at the heel in place of soles to their feet, the
extremities of their arms and legs being supple as india-rubber. They
have, nevertheless, two eyes, a nose, and a mouth, which give them
their resemblance to earthly beings. They have not two ears, one on
each side of the head, but one only, in the shape of a cone, which is
placed on the upper part of the skull like a little hat.
They live in societies and wear clothing. Thus, you see, in their
exterior they differ little from the inhabitants of the Earth.
QUÆRENS. Are there, then, in other worlds beings entirely distinct from
us, but who, notwithstanding their dissimilarities, can be compared
with us?
LUMEN. A distinction profound and unimaginable by you separates in
general the animal life of the different worlds. _These forms are the
result of elements special to each globe, and of the forces which
regulate them_: matter, density, weight, heat, light, electricity,
atmosphere, &c., differ essentially on each globe. Even in the same
system these forms differ.
[Sidenote: The system of Gamma in Virgo.]
Thus the men of Uranus and Mercury do not in any way resemble the men
of the Earth; those who see them for the first time cannot perceive
that they possess either head, members, or senses. On the contrary,
the forms of those in the planetary system of Virgo, towards which my
attention was being persistently drawn, are nearly similar to those
of the inhabitants of the Earth, whom they also resemble morally
and intellectually. Slightly inferior to ourselves, they belong to
that scale in the order of souls which immediately precedes that of
terrestrial humanity as a whole.
QUÆRENS.. Yet there is a wide divergence between human beings
themselves in all that pertains both to intellect and morals. We in
Europe differ greatly from the tribes of Abyssinia and from the savages
of the Oceanic Isles. What people do you take as a type of the highest
degree of intelligence on the Earth?
[Sidenote: The Arabs and their intelligence.]
LUMEN. The Arabs. They are capable of producing their Keplers, their
Newtons, their Galileos, their Archimedes, their Euclids, their
D'Alemberts. Besides, they sprang from those primitive hordes whose
roots reach down to the bed rock of humanity. But it is not necessary
to choose a people for a type. It is better to consider modern
civilisation as a whole. Nor is there so marked a distance as you
appear to suppose, between the brain capacity of a negro and that of
the Latin race.
However, if you insist upon a comparison, I can assure you that the
men of the planet of Virgo are almost on a par intellectually with the
Scandinavians.
[Sidenote: Vital difference between Virgo and the Earth.]
The most vital difference which exists between their world and the
Earth, _is the absence of sex_. Neither plants, animals, nor human
beings have sex. Generation is effected spontaneously, as the natural
result of the union of certain physiological conditions in some of
the fertile isles of this planet, man not being formed in the womb of
his mother as upon earth. It would be useless to explain the process,
to one whose earthly faculties prevent him comprehending the facts
of a world distinctly different from his own. It results from this
organic arrangement, that marriage in any form does not exist in this
world, and that the friendships between human beings are never mixed
with the carnal desires, which are inevitably manifested on the Earth
between people of different sexes, even when the attraction is most
pure. Probably you will remember that during the protozoic period, the
inhabitants of the Earth were all deaf, dumb, and sexless. The division
into sexes took place much later in the history of Nature both among
animals and plants.
Being attracted towards this far-off planet I attentively examined its
surface with my spiritual sight, and I was specially drawn, without
knowing the cause, to a white city, resembling from afar a region
covered with snow; but it is improbable that it was snow, as it is
unlikely that water can exist on that globe in the same physical
and chemical conditions as upon the Earth. Upon the borders of this
city an avenue led to a neighbouring wood of yellow trees. I soon
remarked three persons who seemed to be slowly sauntering towards
this wood. This little group was formed of two friends, who were in
close conversation, and of a third, who differed from both by his red
garment and the burden he bore, and who was probably their servant,
their slave, or some domestic animal. Whilst intently regarding the two
principal personages, I observed the one to the right raise his face
to the sky, as if some one had called him from a balloon, and turn his
gaze towards Capella, a star which, doubtless, he did not see, because
for him it was then daylight. Oh, my old friend, I shall never forget
the sudden surprise this sight gave me! I can still scarcely believe
that I was not dreaming....
This person on the planet of Virgo, who was looking towards me without
knowing it, was.... Can I tell you? Well, it was _myself_!
QUÆRENS. How _yourself_?
LUMEN. Yes, my very self. I recognised myself instantly, and you can
judge of my surprise!
QUÆRENS. Certainly I can. I cannot comprehend it at all.
[Sidenote: Anterior existence]
LUMEN. The fact is, the situation was so entirely novel that it demands
explanation. It was in truth myself, and I was not long in finding
out, not only that it was my former face and figure, but also that the
person walking by my side was my dear Kathleen, an intimate friend,
and the companion of my studies upon that planet. My gaze followed
them as far as the Yellow Wood, across picturesque valleys, beneath
golden cupolas, under trees covered with large orange-tinted branches,
and through hedges of elms with amber-coloured leaves. A purling brook
babbled on the fine sand, and we seated ourselves on its banks. I
recall sweet hours we have passed together, the happy years which have
glided away in this far-off country, the fraternal confidences, and
the impressions we shared, in the midst of woodland scenes, of silent
plains, of mist-covered hills, and of little lakes which smilingly
reflected the heavens. With aspirations raised towards all that was
grand and sacred in nature, we adored God in His works. With what joy
I saw again this phase of my previous existence, and riveted anew the
golden chain, whose links life on Earth had broken!
In truth, dear Quærens, it was my very self who then was living on that
planet of Virgo. I really saw myself, and I could follow in sequence
the events of my life and the happiest moments of that existence, now
so far remote.
Besides, if I had had any doubt of my identity, the uncertainty would
have ceased during my observation, for whilst pondering upon the
matter, I saw Berthor--my brother during that existence--come out of
the wood, approach us, and join in our conversation by the side of the
murmuring brook.
QUÆRENS. Master, I fail still to comprehend how you could really see
yourself on that planet of Virgo. Were you then gifted with ubiquity?
Could you, like Francis of Assisi or Apollonius of Tyana, be in two
places at the same time?
[Sidenote: Scientific explanation of anterior life on Virgo.]
LUMEN. Certainly not. But in examining the astronomical co-ordinates of
the Sun Gamma in Virgo, and knowing its parallax as seen from Capella,
I came to the conclusion that the light from this Sun could not employ
less than 172 years in traversing the distance which separates it from
Capella.
I was then actually receiving the luminous ray which left that world
172 years before. And it so happens that at that epoch I was absolutely
living upon the planet of which we speak, and that I was then in my
twentieth year. In verifying these periods, and in comparing the
different planetary styles, I found, in fact, that I was born on the
world of Virgo in the year 45904 (which corresponds to the year
1677 of the Christian era on Earth), and that I died--through an
accident--in the year 45913, which corresponds to the year 1767. Each
year of this planet equals ten of yours. When I saw myself, as I have
just told you, I appeared to be about twenty years of age according to
earthly reckoning, but following the way of reckoning on that planet,
I was only two years old. There the age of fifteen years is often
reached, which is considered the limit of life on that globe, and is
equivalent to 150 years on the Earth.
[Sidenote: Light takes 172 years to travel from Virgo to Capella.]
The luminous ray, or, to speak more accurately, the aspect or
photograph of the world of Virgo, takes 172 earthly years to traverse
the immense space which separates it from Capella; consequently, upon
finding myself upon this last star, I was receiving at that very moment
the image which left the constellation of Virgo 172 years previously.
And although things have changed greatly, though generations have
followed generations, though I died there myself, and have had time to
be born again and live seventy-two years on the Earth, nevertheless
light had taken all this time to cross the space which separates Virgo
from Capella, and was bringing afresh to me impressions of events long
passed away.
QUÆRENS. This duration of the passage of light being proved, I have not
any objection to urge on this point, but I frankly own that to credit
an experience of such amazing singularity, taxes my imagination beyond
its just limits.
[Sidenote: The history of each world is contained in the rays of light.]
LUMEN. This is not any imagination, my old friend. It is a reality,
eternal and sacred, holding its fixed place in the universal plan of
creation. The light of every star, direct or reflected--say otherwise,
the aspect of each Sun, and of each planet--is diffused in space,
according to a rate of rapidity already known to you, and the luminous
ray contains in itself all that is visible. As nothing can be lost,
the history of each world is contained in the light which incessantly
emanates from it in successive waves, eternally travelling into
infinite space without any possibility of its being annihilated. True,
the terrestrial eye cannot read it; but there are eyes immeasurably
superior to your earthly ones.
[Sidenote: Light is vibrations of ether; Sight, perceptions of thought.]
I make use of the terms _sight_ and _light_, in these conversations,
in order that you may comprehend me; but, as I told you in a previous
communication, speaking absolutely, there is not such a thing as light,
only vibrations of ether; neither is there any sight, only perceptions
of the mind. Moreover, even upon the Earth, when you examine the nature
of a star with a telescope, or better still with a spectroscope, you
well know it is not its actual state you have before your eyes, but
its past state, transmitted to you by a ray of light which left it,
perhaps, ten thousand years ago. You know, besides, that a certain
number of stars, of which your astronomers on the Earth are seeking
to determine the physical and numerical properties, and which shine
brilliantly over your heads, have long ago ceased even to exist--may
indeed have ceased to exist since the beginning of your world.
QUÆRENS. We know this is so. Thus you have seen, unrolled before your
eyes, your existence previous to the last one, 172 years after it had
flown by.
LUMEN. Say rather one phase of this existence; but I could have been
able, and could now indeed review my entire life by going closer to
that planet, as I have already done for my terrestrial existence.
Quærens. So, through the medium of light, you have really seen again
your last two incarnations?
LUMEN. Precisely; and what is more, I have seen them, and continue to
see them, _simultaneously_, side by side as it were of one another.
QUÆRENS. You see them again both at the _same time_?
LUMEN. This fact is easily explained. The light from the Earth takes
seventy-two years to reach Capella. The light from the planet of Virgo,
being once and a half farther off than Capella, takes once and a half
longer time to travel, which would make it about 172 years. As I lived
seventy-two years upon the Earth, and one hundred years before that
upon the other planet, these two periods reach me at precisely _the
same time_ upon Capella. Thus by simply looking at these two worlds, I
have before me my last two existences, which unroll themselves as if I
were not here to see them, and without my being able to change any of
the acts that I see myself upon the point of accomplishing, either upon
the one or the other, since those acts, although present and future to
my actual observation, are in reality past.
QUÆRENS. This is indeed a strange experience!
LUMEN. But what struck me most in this unexpected observation of two of
my previous existences in two different worlds, thus unrolled before
me, was the odd resemblance between these two lives. I found that I had
almost the same tastes in the one as in the other, the same passions,
the same errors. Nothing criminal, nothing saintly in either.
[Sidenote: Explanation of inherent tastes.]
Furthermore (extraordinary coincidence), I have witnessed scenes in
the first analogous to those I have seen upon the Earth. This explains
the innate tastes I brought into the terrestrial world, for the poetry
of the North, the poems of Ossian, the dreamy landscape of Ireland,
for its mountains and its Aurora Borealis. For Scotland, Scandinavia,
Sweden, Norway with its fiords, Spitzbergen with its solitudes--all
alike attracted me. Old towers in ruins, rocks and wild ravines,
sombre pines soughing with the northern winds--all these appealed
to me on the Earth, and seemed to have some mysterious link with my
deepest thoughts. When I saw Ireland for the first time, I felt as
if I had lived there before. When for the first time I ascended the
Rigi and the Finsteraarhorn, and saw the superb sunrise over the snowy
summits of the Alps, it seemed as if I had previously seen all this.
The spectre of the Brocken was not new, the reason being that I had
in a former life inhabited similar regions on the planet of Virgo.
The same life, the same actions, the same circumstances, the same
conditions--analogies, analogies! Almost all that I have seen, done,
thought on the Earth, I had already seen, done, thought a hundred years
before upon that anterior world. I had always suspected it! Taking it
altogether, however, my terrestrial life as a whole was superior to the
one preceding it. Each child in coming into the world brings with him
different faculties, special predispositions, innate dissimilarities,
which no one denies, and can only be explained to the philosophical
mind,--or in view of eternal Justice,--by the supposition of works
previously accomplished by free souls.
But though my terrestrial life was superior to its anterior one,
evincing, as it did, a more accurate and profound knowledge of the
system of the World, it yet lacked, I am bound to state, the possession
of certain moral and physical qualities which belonged to me in my
former existence.
On the other hand, I had faculties on that World which I had not had
upon the Earth. I may cite one specially, that of flying.
[Sidenote: Flying without wings.]
I see that on the planet of Virgo I could fly, just as easily as walk,
and this without either aeronautic apparatus or wings, by simply
stretching my arms and legs, as if I were swimming in the water. On
closely examining the mode of locomotion in use on that planet, I see
clearly that I have (or rather had) neither wings, balloon, nor any
kind of mechanical appliance. At a given moment I spring from the
ground by a vigorous leap, and, spreading out my arms, sail in the air
without fatigue. At other times, descending a steep mountain on foot, I
spring out into space, with feet pressed together, and float at will,
with a slow and oblique motion, to any point I wish, standing upright
as soon as my feet touch the ground.
[Sidenote: Dreams bring reminiscences of a former existence.]
Then again, when I wish to do so, I fly slowly in the manner of a
dove which describes a curve in returning to its dovecot. All this I
distinctly see myself doing in this world. Not once, but a hundred,
a thousand times have I thus felt myself transported in my dreams
on Earth softly, naturally, and without apparatus. How can such
impossibilities so often present themselves to us in our dreams?
Nothing can explain them, for nothing analogous exists upon this
earthly globe. Obeying instinctively this innate tendency, I have
frequently soared into the atmosphere suspended from the car of a
balloon, but the sensation is not the same; _one does not feel one's
self_ flying; on the contrary, one has the feeling of being stationary.
I now have the key to my dreams. During the slumber of my terrestrial
senses my soul had reminiscences of its anterior existence.
QUÆRENS. But I also often feel, and see myself flying in dreams in
precisely the way you describe, without wings or machinery, and simply
by an effort of will. Is this, then, a proof that I also have lived
upon the planet of Virgo?
LUMEN. I do not know. If you had abnormal sight, or instruments,
or eyes sufficiently piercing, you could see this planet from your
globe, examine its surface, and if, perchance, you had existed there
when it parted with the luminous rays which have actually reached the
Earth, you might perhaps find yourself again there. But your eyes are
too feeble to make a like research. Besides, it does not follow that
because you have been able to fly, that therefore you have lived in
that world. There are a considerable number of worlds where flying
is the normal condition, and where all the human race possess this
faculty. In reality, there are but few planets where the living
creatures crawl as upon the Earth.
[Sidenote: Plurality of existences.]
QUÆRENS. The conclusion resulting then from your experience is, that
you have had a life anterior to that upon the Earth. Do you, then,
believe in a plurality of existences for the soul?
LUMEN. You forget that you speak to a disembodied spirit. I ought to
be well fitted to give such evidence, having before me both my earthly
life and my anterior life upon the planet of Virgo. Besides, I can
recall many other existences.
QUÆRENS. Ah! that is precisely what I lack in order to possess a
similar conviction. I can recall absolutely nothing that preceded my
birth into this world.
[Sidenote: The soul's memory.]
LUMEN. You are yet in the flesh; you must wait for freedom from earthly
fetters before you can recall your spiritual life. The soul has
only full remembrance, full possession of itself in its normal, its
celestial life; that is to say, between its incarnations. It then sees
not only its life on the Earth, but all its anterior lives.
How could a soul, enveloped in the gross materialities of the flesh,
and fixed there for a transitory work, recall its spiritual life? Would
not such a remembrance even prove hurtful? What trammels would not be
put upon the soul's liberty of action, could it see its life from the
beginning to the end?
Where would be the merit of striving if one's destiny could be foreseen?
Souls incarnated upon the Earth have not yet attained to a sufficiently
elevated state of advancement, for the memory of their anterior life to
be of use to them.
[Sidenote: Man is oblivious of anterior impressions, as in the
butterfly.]
The permanence of the anterior impressions of the soul is not
manifested in this world of passage. The caterpillar does not remember
its rudimentary existence in the egg. The sleeping chrysalis cannot
recall the days it spent in work when it crawled upon the herbage. The
butterfly, which flits from flower to flower, has not any memory of the
time when its cocoon dreamed, as it hung suspended from its web; nor
of the twilight, when its larvæ trailed from plant to plant; nor of
the night, when it was buried like a nut in its shell. This does not
alter the fact that the egg, the caterpillar, the chrysalis, and the
butterfly, are one and the same being.
In certain cases, even of terrestrial life, you have remarkable
examples of forgetfulness, such as that of somnambulism, either natural
or artificial, and also in certain psychical conditions of which modern
science makes a study. Hence it is not surprising that during one
existence we should not remember our anterior ones. Uranic life and
planetary life represent two states, free and distinct the one from the
other.
QUÆRENS. Still, master, if we had already lived a life before this
one, something of it would remain with us, otherwise these anterior
existences might as well never have been.
[Sidenote: Heredity.]
[Sidenote: Dissimilarities.]