development-sup-positions utterly irreconcilable with anthropological laws.
The diversity of the various human races confirms this view of the subject. Climate and modes of life undoubtedly modify the physical characteristics of mankind, but we know the extent to which these modifications can be carried, and physiological examination conclusively proves that there are between the different races of men constitutional differences too profound to have been produced merely by differences of climate. The crossing of races produces intermediary types; it tends to efface the extremes of characteristic peculiarities; but it does not produce these peculiarities, and, there. fore, creates only new varieties. But the crossing of races presupposes the existence of races distinct from each other; and how is 82 ALLAN KARDEC 82 ALLAN KARDEC the existence of these to be explained if we attribute their origin to a common stock especially if we restrict the production of these various races to so brief a period? How is it possible to suppose, for example, that the descendants of Noah could have been, in so short a time, transformed into Ethiopians? Such a metamorphosis would be as inadmissible as that of a wolf into a sheep, of a beetle into an elephant, of a bird into a fish. No preconceived opinion can withstand, in the long run, the evidence of opposing facts. But, on the contrary, all difficulty disappears if we assume that man existed at a period anterior to that which has hitherto been commonly assigned to his creation; that Adam commenced, some 6000 years ago, the peopling of a country until then uninhabited; that the deluge of Noah was a local catastrophe, erroneously confounded with the great geological cataclysm; and, finally, if we make due allowance for the allegorical form of expression characteristic of the Oriental style, and common to the sacred books of every people.
It is unwise to insist upon a literal interpretation of figurative statements of which the inaccuracy may, at any moment, be rendered evident by the progress of scientific discovery; but the fundamental propositions of religion, so far from having anything to fear from the discoveries of science, are strengthened and ennobled by being brought into harmony with those discoveries. And it is only when the religious sentiment shall have been en lightened by its union with scientific truth that religious belief. thus rendered invulnerable to the attacks of scepticism, will take the place of scepticism in the minds and hearts of men.
83 CHAPTER IV THE VITAL PRINCIPLE 1. ORGANIC AND INORGANIC BEINGS - 2. LIFE AND DEATH - 3. INTELLIGENCE AND INSTINCT.
Organic and Inorganic Beings Organic beings are those which have in themselves a source of activity that produces the phenomena of life. They are born, grow. reproduce their own species, and die. They are provided with organs specially adapted to the accomplishment of the different acts of their life, to the satisfaction of their needs, and to their preservation. They include men, animals, and plants.
Inorganic beings are those which possess neither vitality nor the power of spontaneous movement, and are formed by the mere aggregation of matter; as minerals, water, air etc.
60. Is the force which unites the elements of matter in organic and inorganic bodies the same?
"Yes; the law of attraction is the same for all."
61. Is there any difference between the matter of organic and inorganic bodies?
"The matter of both classes of bodies is the same, but in organic bodies it is animalised." 62. What is the cause of the animalisation of matter?
"Its union with the vital principle."
63. Does the vital principle reside in a special agent, or is it only a property of organised matter; in other words, is it an effect or a cause?
"It is both. Life is an effect produced by the action of an agent upon matter; this agent, without matter, is not life, just as matter cannot become alive without this agent. It gives life to all beings that absorb and assimilate it."
64. We have seen that spirit and matter are two constituent elements of the universe. Does the vital principle constitute a third element?
"It is, undoubtedly, one of the elements necessary to the constitution of the universe; but it has its source in a special modification 84 ALLAN KARDEC of the universal matter, modified to that end. For you, it is au elementary body, like oxygen or hydrogen, which, nevertheless, are not primitive elements; for all the bodies known to you, though appearing to you to be simple, are modifications of the primal fluid."
- This statement seems to imply that vitality is not due to a distinct primitive agent, but is a special property of the universal matter resulting from certain modifications of the latter.
"Your conclusion is the natural consequence of what we have stated." 65. Does the vital principle reside in any one of the bodies known to us?
"“Tt has its source in the universal fluid; it is what you call the magnetic fluid, or the electric fluid, animalised. It is the intermediary, the link between spirit and matter."
66. Is the vital principle the same for all organic beings?
"Yes; but modified according to species. It is that principle which gives them the power of originating movement and activity, and distinguishes them from inert matter; for the movement of matter is not spontaneous. Matter is moved; it does not originate movement.'
67. Is vitality a permanent attribute of the vital principle, or is vitality only developed by the play of the organs in which it is manifested?
"It is only developed in connection with a body. Have we not said that this agent, without matter, is not life? The union of the two is necessary to the production of life."
- Would it be correct to say that vitality is latent when the vital agent is not united with a body?
"Yes; that is the case."
The totality of the organs of a body constitutes a sort of mechanism which receives its impulsion from the active or vital principle that resides in them. The vital principle Is the motive power of organised bodies. And while the vital principle gives impulsion to the organs in which it resides, the play of those organs develops and keeps up the activity of the vital principle, somewhat as friction develops heat.
Life and Death 68. What is the cause of the death of organic beings?
"The exhaustion of their bodily organs."
- Would it be correct to compare death to the cessation of movement in a machine that had got out of gear?
85 THE SPIRITS’ BOOK "Yes; when the machine gets out of order, its action ceases. When the body falls ill, life withdraws from it."
69. Why is death caused more certainly by a lesion of the heart than by that of any other organ?
"The heart is a life-making machine. But the heart is not the only organ of which the lesion causes death; it is only one of the wheels essential to the working of the machine."
70. What becomes of the matter and the vital principle of organic beings after their death?
"The inert matter is decomposed, and serves to form other bodies; the vital principle returns to the general mass of the universal fluid."
On the death of an organic being, the elements of which its body was composed undergo new combinations that form new beings. These, in their turn, draw the principle of life and activity from the universal source they absorb and assimilate it, and restore it again to that source when they cease to exist.
The organs of organic beings are, so to say, impregnated with the vital fluid. This fluid gives to every part of an organised being the activity which brings its parts into union after certain lesions, and reestablishes functions that have been temporarily suspended. But when the elements essential to the play of the organism have been destroyed, or too deeply injured, the vital fluid Is powerless to transmit to them the movement which constitutes life, and the being dies.
The organs of a body necessarily react. more or less powerfully. upon one another their reciprocity of action results from their harmony among themselves. When from any cause this harmony is destroyed, their functions cease just as a piece of machinery comes to a stand-still when the essential portions of its mechanism get out of order, or as a clock stops when its works are worn out by use, accidentally broken, so that the spring is no longer able to keep it going.
We have an image of life and death still more exact in the electric battery. The battery, like all natural bodies, contains electricity in a latent state but the electrical phenomena are only manifested when the fluid Is set In motion by a special cause. When this movement is superinduced, the battery may be said to become alive but when the cause of the electrical activity ceases, the phenomena cease to occur, and the battery relapses into a state of inertia. Organic bodies may thus be said to be a sort of electric battery, in which the movement of the fluid produces the phenomena of life, and in which the cessation of that movement produces death.
The quantity of vital fluid present in organic beings is not the same all; it varies In the various species of living beings, and is not constantly the same, either in the same individual or in the individuals of the same species. There are some which may be said to be saturated with it, and others in which it exists in very small proportions. Hence certain species are endowed with a more active and more tenacious life, resulting from the superabundance of the vital fluid present in their organism.
The amount of vital fluid contained in a given organism may be exhausted, and may thus become insufficient for the maintenance of life, unless it be renewed by the absorption and assimilation of the substances in which that fluid resides.
The vital fluid may be transmitted by one individual to another individual. An organisation in which it exists more abundantly may impart it to another in which it is deficient; and may thus, in certain cases, rekindle the vital flame when on the point of being extinguished.
86 ALLAN KARDEC Intelligence and Instinct 71. Is intelligence an attribute of the vital principle?
"No; for the plants live and do not think; they have only organic life. Intelligence and matter are independent of one another; for a body may live without intelligence; but intelligence can only manifest itself by means of material organs. Animalised matter can only be rendered intelligent by its union with spirit."
Intelligence is a faculty which is proper to certain classes of organic beings, and which gives to these the power to think, the will to act. the consciousness of their existence and individuality, and the means of establishing relations with the external world and providing for the needs of their special mode of existence.
We may therefore distinguish: 1st, Inanimate beings, formed of matter alone, without life or intelligence- the bodies of the mineral world; 2d, Animated non-thinking beings, formed of matter and endowed with vitality, but without intelligence; 3d, Animated and thinking beings, formed of matter, endowed with vitality, and possessed of an intelligent principle which gives them the faculty of thought.
72. What is the source of intelligence? "We have already told you: the universal intelligence."
- Would it be correct to say that every intelligent being draws a portion of intelligence from the universal source, and assimilates it as it draws and assimilates the principle of material life?
"Such a comparison would be far from exact, for intelligence is a faculty that is proper to each being, and constitutes its moral individuality. Besides, we have told you that there are things which man is unable to fathom; and this, for the present, is one of them."
73. Is instinct independent of intelligence?
"No, not precisely so, for it is a species of intelligence. Instinct is an unreasoning intelligence, by means of which the lower orders of beings provide for their wants."
74. Is it possible to establish a line of demarcation between instinct and intelligence; that is, to say, to define precisely where the one ends and the other begins?
"No, for they often blend into one another. But the actions which belong to instinct and those which belong to intelligence are easily distinguished."
75. Is it correct to say that the instinctive faculties diminish in proportion with the growth of the intellectual faculties?
"No; instinct always continues to exist, but man neglects it. Instinct, as well as reason, may lead us in the right direction.
87 THE SPIRITS’ BOOK Its guidance almost always makes itself felt, and sometimes more surely than that of reason. It never goes astray."
- Why is it that reason is not always an infallible guide?
"It would be infallible if it were not perverted by a false education, by pride, and by selfishness. Instinct does not reason. Reason leaves freedom to choice, and gives man free- will.”
Instinct is a rudimentary intelligence, differing from intelligence properly so called in this particular, viz., that its manifestations are almost always spontaneous, whereas those of intelligence are the result of combination and of deliberation.
The manifestations of instinct vary according to the differences of species and of their needs. In beings that possess self-consciousness and the perception of things external to themselves, it is allied to intelligence, that is to say, to freedom of will and of action.
88 BOOK SECOND -THE SPIRIT-WORLD, OR WORLD OF SPIRITS CHAPTER I SPIRITS 1. ORIGIN AND NATURE OF SPIRIT - 2. PRIMITIVE AND NORMAL WORLD - 3. FORM AND UBIQUITY OF SPIRITS - 4. THE PERISPIRIT - 5. DIFFERENT ORDERS OF SPIRITS - 8. ANGELS AND DEMONS.
Origin and Nature of Spirits 76. What definition can be given of spirits?
"Spirits may be defined as the intelligent beings of the creation. They constitute the population of the universe, in contradistinction to the forms of the material world."
NOTE. The word spirit is here employed to designate the individuality of extra-corporeal beings, and not the universal intelligent element.
77. Are spirits beings distinct from the Deity, or are they only emanations from or portions of the Deity, and called, for that reason, "sons" or "children" of God?
"Spirits are the work of God, just as a machine is the work of the mechanician who made it: the machine is the man's work, but it is not the man. You know that when a man has made a fine or useful thing, he calls it his 'child'’- his 'creation.' It is thus with us in relation to God. We are His children in this sense, because we are His work."
78. Have spirits had a beginning, or have they existed, like God, from all eternity?
"If spirits had not had a beginning, they would be equal with God; whereas they are His creation, and subject to His will. That God has existed from all eternity is incontestable; but as to when and how He created us, we know nothing. You may say 89 THE SPIRITS’ BOOK that we have had no beginning in this sense, that, God being eternal, He must have incessantly created. But as to when and how each of us was made, this, I repeat, is known to no one. It is the great mystery."
79. Since there are two general elements in the universe, viz., the intelligent element and the material element, would it be correct to say that spirits are formed from the intelligent element as inert bodies are formed from the material element?
"It is evident that such is the case. Spirits are the individualisation of the intelligent principle, as bodies are the individualisation of the material principle. It is the epoch and mode of this formation that are unknown to us.”
80. Is the creation of spirits always going on, or did it only take place at the beginning of time?
"It is always going on; that is to say, God has never ceased to create." S1. Are spirits formed spontaneously, or do they proceed from one another?
"God creates them as He creates all other creatures, by His will. But we must again repeat that their origin is a mystery."
82. Is it correct to say that spirits are immaterial?
"How is it possible to define a thing in regard to which no terms of comparison exist, and which your language is incompetent to express? Can one who is born blind define light? ‘Immaterial’ is not the right word; 'incorporeal' would be nearer the truth, for you must understand that a spirit, being a creation, must be something real. Spirit is quintessentialised matter!, but matter existing in a state which has no analogue within the circle of your comprehension, and so ethereal that it could not be perceived by your senses."
We say that spirits are immaterial, because their essence differs from everything that we know under the name of "matter.'' A nation of blind people would have no terms for expressing light and its effects. One who is born blind imagines that the only modes of perception are hearing, smell, taste, and touch: he does not comprehend the other ideas that would be given him by the sense of sight which he lacks. So, in regard to the essence of superhuman beings, we are really blind. We can only define them by means of comparisons that are necessarily imperfect or by an effort of our imagination.
1 Subsequent spirit-communications have declared the universe to consist of three elements or modes of substantiality-viz.. Soul, Force, Matter; and, while asserting that the two former are non-material substances, restrict the term 'matter" to the element from which bodies are formed.-TRANS.
90 ALLAN KARDEC 83. Is there an end to the duration of spirits? We can understand that the principle from which they emanate should be eternal; but what we desire to know is, whether their individuality has a term, and whether, after a given lapse of time, longer or shorter, the element from which they are formed is not disseminated, does not return to the mass from which they were produced, as is the case with material bodies? It is difficult to understand that what has had a beginning should not also have an end.
"There are many things that you do not understand, because your intelligence is limited; but that is no reason for rejecting them. The child does not understand all that is understood by its father, nor does an ignorant man understand all that is understood by a learned one. We tell you that the existence of spirits has no end; that is all we can say on the subject at present."
Primitive and Normal World 84. Do spirits constitute a world apart from that which we see? "Yes; the world of spirits or incorporeal intelligences."
85. Which of the two, the spirit-world or the corporeal world, is the principal one in the order of the universe?
"The spirit-world. It is pre-existent to, and survives, every-thing else."
86. Might the corporeal world never have existed, or cease to exist, without changing the essentiality of the spirit-world?
"Yes; they are independent of each other, and yet their correlation is incessant, for they react incessantly upon each other."
87. Do spirits occupy a determinate and circumscribed region in space?
"Spirits are everywhere; the infinitudes of space are peopled with them in infinite numbers. Unperceived by you, they are incessantly beside you, observing and acting upon you; for spirits are one of the powers of Nature, and are the instruments employed by God for the accomplishment of His providential designs. But all spirits do not go everywhere; there are regions of which the entrance is interdicted to those who are less advanced."
Form and Ubiquity of Spirits &8. Have souls a determinate, circumscribed, and unvarying form?
91 THE SPIRITS’ BOOK "Not for eyes such as yours; but, for us, they have a form though one only to be vaguely imagined by you as a flame a gleam, or an ethereal spark."
-Is this flame or spark of any colour?
"If you could see it, it would appear to you to vary from a dull grey to the brilliancy of the ruby, according to the degree of the spirit's purity."
Genie are usually represented with a flame or a star above their foreheads-a sort of allegorical allusion to the essential nature of spirits. The flame or star is placed upon the head because the head is the seat of intelligence.
89 Do spirits employ any time in transportinghemselves through space? "Yes; but their motion is as rapid as that of thought."
-[s not thought the movement of the soul itself, a transportation of the soul itself to the place or the object thought of by it?
"Wherever the thought is, there the soul is, since it is the soul that thinks. Thought is an attribute."
90. When a spirit travels from one place to another. is he conscious of the distance he traverses and of the extent of space through which he passes; or is he suddenly transported to the place to which he wishes to go?
"A spirit can travel in either way. He can, if he will, take cognisance of the distance he passes through, or he can rid himself entirely of the sense of distance. This depends on the spirit's will, and also on his degree of purity."
91. Does matter constitute an obstacle to the movement of a spirit?
"No; spirits pass through everything; the air, the earth, water, fire even, are equally accessible to them.”
92. Have spirits the gift of ubiquity? In other words, can a spirit divide itself, or exist at several points of space at the same time "There can be no division of any given spirit; but every spirit is a centre which radiates in all directions, and it is thus that a spirit may appear to be in several places at once. The sun is only one body, yet it radiates in all directions, and sends out its rays to great distances; but it is not divided."
- Have all spirits the same power of radiation?
92 ALLAN KARDEC "There is a great difference between them in this respect: it depends on the degree of their purity.”
Each spirit is an indivisible unity, but each spirit has the power of extending his thought on all aides without thereby dividing himself. It is only in this sense that the gift of ubiquity attributed to spirits is to be understood. It is thus that a spark sends out Its brightness far and wide, and may be perceived from every point of the horizon. It is thus, also, that a man, without changing his place, and without dividing himself, may transmit orders, signals, etc., to many distant points in many different directions.
Perispirit 93. Is the spirit, properly so called, without a covering, or is it, as some declare, surrounded by a substance of some kind?
"The spirit is enveloped in a substance which would appear to you as mere vapour, but which, nevertheless, appears very gross to us, thought it is sufficiently vaporous to allow the spirit to float in the atmosphere, and to transport himself through space at pleasure."
As the germ of a fruit is surrounded by the perisperm so the Spirit, properly so called, is surrounded by an envelope which, by analogy, may be designated as the perispirit.
94. Whence does the spirit draw its semi-material envelope?
"From the universal fluid of each globe. For this reason the perispirit is not the same in all globes. In passing from one globe to another. the spirit changes its envelope as you change a garment."
- When spirits who inhabit worlds of a higher degree than ours come among us, are they obliged to take on a grosser order of perispirit?
"Yes; they are obliged to clothe themselves with your matter in order to be able to enter your world.”
95. Does the semi-material envelope of the spirit assume determinate forms, and can it become perceptible for us?
"Yes; it can assume any form that the spirit may choose to give to it. It is thus that a spirit is able sometimes to make himself visible to you, whether in dreams or in your waking state, and can take a form that may be visible, and even palpable, for your senses."
Different Orders of Spirits 96. Are all spirits equal or does there exist among them a hierarchy of ranks?
"They are of different degrees according to the degree of purification to which they have attained."
a3 THE SPIRITS’ BOOK Spirit - Hierarchy 97. Is there a fixed number of order or degrees of purification among spirits?
"The number of such orders is unlimited, because there is nothing like a barrier or line of demarcation between the different degrees of elevation; and, therefore, as there are no fixed or arbitrary divisions among spirits, the number of orders may be increased or diminished according to the point of view from which they are considered. Nevertheless, if we consider the general characteristics of spirits, we may reduce them to three principal orders or degrees.
"We may place in the first or highest rank those who have reached the degree of relative perfection which constitutes what may be called ‘pure spirits.’ We may place in the second rank those who have reached the middle of the ascensional ladder, those who have achieved the degree of purification in which aspiration after perfection has become the ruling desire. We may place in the third or lowest rank all those imperfect spirits who are still on the lower rungs of the ladder. They are characterised by ignorance, the love of evil, and all the low passions that retard their progress upwards."
98. Have spirits of the second order only the aspiration after perfection; have they also the power to achieve it?
"They have that power in degrees proportionate to the degree of purification at which they have severally arrived. Some of them are distinguished by their scientific knowledge, others by their wisdom and their kindness; but all of them have still to undergo the discipline of trial through temptation and suffering."
99. Are all spirits of the third order essentially bad?
"No. Some of them are inactive and neutral, not doing either good or evil; others, on the contrary, take pleasure in evil, and are delighted when they find an opportunity of doing wrong. Others, again, are frivolous, foolish, fantastic, mischievous rather than wicked, tricky rather than positively malicious; amusing themselves by mystifying the human beings on whom they are able to act, and causing them various petty annoyances for their own diversion."
Spirit - Hierarchy 100. Preliminary Observations. - The classification of spirits is based upon the degree of their advancement, upon the qualities 94 ALLAN KARDEC which they have acquired, and upon the imperfections from which they have still to free themselves. This classification, however, is by no means absolute. It is only in its totality that the character of each category is distinctly marked, for each category merges in the one above it by imperceptible gradations, the peculiarities of the successive categories shading off into one another at their extremities, as is the case in the various reigns of nature, in the colours of the rainbow, in the phases of a human life. Spirits may, therefore, be divided into a number of classes more or less considerable, according to the point of view from which we consider the subject. It is in this matter as in all other systems of scientific classification. The systems adopted may be more or less complete, more or less rational, more or less convenient for the understanding; but, whatever may be their form, they change nothing in regard to the facts of the science which employs them. That the answers of spirits, when questioned on this point, should vary as to the number of the categories into which they are divided is, therefore, a matter of no practical importance. Too much weight has been attributed to this apparent contradiction by those who forget that disincarnate intelligences attach no importance whatever to mere conventionalities. For them, the meaning of a statement is the only important point about it. They leave to us the question of its form, the choice of terms and of classification,-in a word, all that belongs to the making of systems.
Another thing that should never be lost sight of is the fact that there are among spirits, as well as among men, some who are very ignorant, and that we cannot be too much on our guard against a tendency to believe that all spirits know everything simply because they are spirits. The work of classification demands method. analysis, and a thorough knowledge of the subject investigated. But those who, in the spirit-world, possess only a small amount of knowledge, are as incompetent as are ignorant human beings to embrace the whole of any subject or to formulate a system. They have no idea, or but a very imperfect one, of any sort of classification. All spirits superior to themselves appear to them to be of the highest order; for they are as incapable of discriminating the various shades of knowledge, capacity, and morality by which they are distinguished, as one of our savages would be to discriminate the various characteristics of civilised men. And even those who are capable of this discrimination may vary, in their appreciation of details, according to their special point of 2) THE SPIRITS’ BOOK view, especially in regard to a matter which, from its very nature, has nothing fixed or absolute about it. Linnaeus, Jussieu, Tournefort, have each their special system of classification, but the nature of botany has not been changed by this diversity of system among botanists. The latter have not invented either plants or their characteristics; they have merely observed certain analogies, according to which they have formed certain groups or classes. We have proceeded in the same way. We have not invented either spirits or their characteristics. We have seen and observed them, we have judged them by their own words and acts, and we have classed them by order of similitude, basing our classification on the data furnished by themselves.
The higher spirits generally admit the existence of three principal categories, or main divisions, among the people of the other world. In the lowest of these, at the bottom of the ladder, are the imperfect spirits who are characterised by the predominance of the instincts of materiality over the moral nature, and by the propensity to evil. Those of the second degree are characterised by the predominance of the moral nature over the material instincts, and by the desire of good. They constitute the category of good spirits. The first or highest category consists of those who have reached the state of pure spirits, and have thus attained to the supreme degree of perfection imaginable by us.
This division of spirits into three well-marked categories appears to us to be perfectly rational; and, having arrived at this general classification, it only remained for us to bring out, through a sufficient number of subdivisions, the principal shades of the three great spirit- categories thus established. And this we have done with the aid of the spirits themselves, whose friendly instructions have never failed us in the carrying out of the work upon which we have been led to enter.
With the aid of the following table it will be easy for us to determine the rank and degree of superiority or inferiority of the spirits with whom we may enter into communication, and, consequently, the degree of esteem and confidence to which they are entitled. The power of determining these points may be said to constitute the key to spiritist investigation; for it alone, by enlightening us in regard to the intellectual and moral inequalities of spirits, can explain the anomalies presented by spirit-communications. We have, however, to remark that spirits do not, in all cases. belong exclusively to such and such a class. Their 96 ALLAN KARDEC progress in knowledge and purity being only accomplished gradually, and often, for a time, more in the one than in the other, they may unite the characteristics of several subdivisions; a point which is easily settled by observing their language and their acts.
THIRD ORDER-IMPERFECT SPIRITS 101. General Characteristics.-Predominant influence of matter over spirit. Propension to evil. Ignorance, pride, selfishness, and all the evil passions which result from these.
They have the intuition of the existence of God, but they have no comprehension of Him.
They are not all of them thoroughly bad; in many of them there is more of frivolity, want of reasoning power, and love of mischief, than of downright wickedness. Some of them do neither good nor evil; but the very fact that they do no good denotes their inferiority. Others, on the contrary, take pleasure in evil, and are gratified when they find an opportunity of doing wrong.
Among spirits of this order, a certain amount of intelligence is often allied with malice and the love of mischief; but, whatever may be their intellectual development, their ideas are wanting in elevation, and their sentiments are more or less abject.
Their knowledge of the things of the spirit-world is narrow, and the little they know about them is confused with the ideas and prejudices of the corporeal life. They can give only false and incomplete notions of the spirit-world; but the attentive observer may always find in their communications, however imperfect, the confirmation of the great truths proclaimed by spirits of the higher orders.
Their character is revealed by their language. Every spirit who, in his communications, betrays an evil intention, may be ranged in the third order; consequently every evil thought suggested to our mind comes to us from a spirit of that order.
They see the happiness enjoyed by good spirits, and this sight causes them perpetual torment; for they experience all the agonies produced by envy and jealousy.
They preserve the remembrance and the perception of the sufferings of corporeal life; and this impression is often more painful than the reality. They suffer, in fact, both from the ills they have themselves endured, and from those which they have caused 97 THE SPIRITS’ BOOK