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Thirty Years Among the Dead Dr Carl Wickland I INTER RELATIONSHIP OF THE TWO WORLDS II PSYCHICAL RESEARCH III SUBCONSCIOUS MIND AND AUTO SUGGESTION HYPOTHESES UNTENABLE IV EARTH SPHERE CONDITIONS AND MAGNETIC AURA V TORMENTING SPIRITS MARRIAGE DISTURBANCES VI SPIRITS AND CRIME VII SPIRITS AND SUICIDE VIII SPIRITS AND NARCOTICS INEBRIETY AMNESIA IX PSYCHIC INVALIDISM X ORPHANS XI MATERIALISM AND INDIFFERENCE XII SELFISHNESS XIII ORTHODOXY XIV CHRISTIAN SCIENCE XV THEOSOPHY XVI PHILOSOPHY XVII CONCLUSION CHAPTER I Inter Relationship of the Two Worlds THE reality of an invisible world surrounding the physical world is for many difficult to comprehend since the mind sphere is often limited to the visible and tangible however it requires but little thought to realize the constant change of matter as it occurs in three forms solid liquid and gaseous in its range back and forth between the visible and invisible Visible nature is but the invisible the Real made manifest through a combination of its elements science informs us that fully ninety five per cent of vegetation is derived out of the air or atmosphere Is not mankind living at the bottom of an invisible ocean the atmosphere which is even more important to physical existence than any of the visible physical substances since life can continue but a few moments out of it Nitrogen gas constituting the greater bulk of the atmosphere enters vitally into vegetable and animal growth and existence Hydrogen and oxygen gases are constantly changing from a state of invisible vapor to visible and solid form Carbon offers another example of similar transformation Sounds odors the thermic law of heat and cold and multitudes of other phenomena ranging from the infinitesimal electron to the energy which moves the planets and suns are all intangible invisible factors All activities whether chemical vital or mental operate invisibly as observed in chemical affinity in energy in plant life in animal life in intelligence and mentalization So in every department of our manifest physical nature it is evident that all elements have their root and permanence in the invisible The invisible is the source of the visible Thus when we realize that the objective is only a combination of invisible substances and forces the existence of an unseen world is readily comprehensible Considering the wonderful advancement of science into the field of nature s finer forces it is inconceivable that any thinking mind can fail to recognize the rationale of the independent existence of the human spirit apart for the physical body No subject has been better authenticated through the ages and in all literature than that of spirit existence and a future life Fiske the historian says Among all races of men as far as can now be determined ancestor worship contact with the spirits of the departed was the earliest form of worship prevailing in Africa Asia China Japan among the Aryans of Europe and the American Indian tribes Allen in his History of Civilization writes Rude tribes the world over are found to have ideas of a human soul a spirit world and generally a belief in immortality Savages consider the next life simply a continuation of this they also recognize an other self which has mysterious powers Death is the abandoning of the body by this mysterious other self which is conceived of as still existing in the near neighborhood The loves and hates of this world are transferred to the spirit world Confucius said Bemoan not the departed with excessive grief The dead are devoted and faithful friends they are ever associated with us The writers of classic times Socrates Herodotus Sophocles Euripides Plato Aristotle Horace Virgil Plutarch Josephus Maximus of Tyre repeatedly refer to spirit existence as a well known fact Cicero wrote Is not almost all heaven filled with the human Those very gods themselves had their original here below and ascended from hence into heaven That early Christianity recognized spirits is too well authenticated in the writings of St Anthony Tertullian Origen and their contemporaries to require emphasis The Bible is replete with references to spirit existence We also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses Heb Beloved believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God John The spirits of just men made perfect Heb There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body First that which is natural and afterward that which is spiritual Cor Many other similar biblical citations might be given Swedenborg contributed volumes on this subject Dr Samuel Johnson said I do not believe in spirits I have seen too many of them John Wesley wrote in The Invisible World It is true that the English in general indeed most of the men of learning in Europe have given up all accounts of witches and apparitions as mere old wives fables I am sorry for it and I willingly take this opportunity to offer my solemn protest against this violent compliment which so many that believe in the Bible pay to those who do not believe it Such belief is in direct opposition not only to the Bible but to the suffrage of the wisest and best of men in all ages and nations They well know that the giving up of witchcraft is in effect giving up the Bible That psychic phenomena occurred at the house of Mr Samuel Wesley father of Rev John Wesley at Epworth and continued with noises and disturbances of various kinds for many months is well known Shakespeare Milton Wordsworth Tennyson Longfellow and many other poets wrote with profound understanding of the continued existence of man We are all familiar with the convincing results of the psychical research work of modern scientists philosophers ministers physicians psychologists and other investigators Prof Crookes Alfred Wallace Sir Oliver Lodge Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Rev R J Campbell Archdeacon Colley Rev Newton Rev Savage W T Stead Camille Flammarion Dr Baraduc Dr Janet Prof Richet Cesare Lombroso Dr Hodgson Dr I K Funk Prof James Prof Hyslop Dr Carrington and many others Dr Thomas J Hudson author of The Law of Psychic Phenomena wrote The man who denies the phenomena of spiritualism today is not entitled to be called a skeptic he is simply ignorant The Rev Dr George M Searle Rector of the Catholic Church of St Paul the Apostle New York City said The reality of the existence of spirits in modern spiritism is no longer an open question even among scientific men who have examined the subject Any one who considers the manifestation of them as mere humbug trickery or delusion is simply not up to date In our times no one denies the real existence of spiritualistic facts except a few who live with their feet on the earth and their brains in the moon wrote G G Franco S J in Civilta Cattolica Spiritistic phenomena are external facts which fall within the range of the senses and can easily be observed by all and when such facts are attested by so many well informed and credible witnesses it is useless as well as foolish and ridiculous to fight against proved evidence The facts remain assured even for reasonable men The spiritual world and the physical world are constantly intermingling the spiritual plane is not a vague intangibility but is real and natural a vast zone of refined substance of activity and progress and life there is a continuation of life in the physical world On the physical plane of expression the soul obtains knowledge through experience and contact with objective things and intelligence finds itself by manifesting through physical organs in the spiritual plane progression of the individual continues the mind unfolding along lines of reason through spontaneity of service the attainment and appreciation of high ideals and an ever broadening conception of life s purpose The change called death the word is a misnomer universally regarded with gloomy fear occurs so naturally and simply that the greater number after passing out of the physical are not aware that the transition has been m