Inasmuch as the physical ear is a materialisation, so to speak, of the interior spiritual ear, and as the external eye is an outer organisation evolved from the spiritual interior eye, so the experiences of the twofold special senses—outward and inward—correspond to that realm within which the exercise of each sense is natural and legitimate. Therefore spiritual things are discerned spiritually and things material are materially discerned. There is no possibility of substituting one for another, though it is true that in a temporary and inverted manner the superior senses can be used to see and hear what is external and inferior.
The opening of spiritual senses is preceded by a rapid closing in of night around the outer consciousness, for the bodily senses are deserted. Then suddenly, after the space of darkness in the temple, consciousness is stirred by the presence of a new universe and awakens or unfolds in the dawn of a new day. It is amazing that those who accept the Bible do not comprehend these great gifts of the spirit. Yet they read: "Lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him; and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased."2 And again: "It
came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness that ye came near unto me. . . . Who is there of all flesh that hath heard the voice of the living God, as we have, and lived?"1 Other passages teach the same experience: "But he . . . looked up stedfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God."2 "He saw a man standing on the right hand of God."3 Then he said: "Behold, I see the heavens opened."4 Compare also: "Suddenly there shined around him a light from heaven. . . . And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do."5 These psychophonic and clairvoyant examples are plain as the sun. Another instance is not less striking. "The King of Syria warred against Israel," and he instructed his officers to establish the camp "in such and such a place." But the King of Israel had a spiritual seer and a spiritual hearer with him, and was thereby kept informed of all movements of the enemy. "The heart of the King of Syria was sore troubled for this thing." So he called his servants together, to find out which one was the traitor. "And one of his servants said: None, my lord, O King, but Elisha the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the King of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber."6
These innate spiritual attributes attest the immortal nature of the human spirit. It remains to say that a kind of celestial electricity unites the communicator and communicant when a spirit of the other world has intercourse in this manner with a spirit on earth. It is positive in the mind of the first and is negatively attached to the second. There is, however, a reverse current which is positive in the mind below and negative in the mind above, so that the transmission of questions and answers
is practicable on both sides. The first sensation of the incarnate recipient is that of a cool, penetrating, awakening breathing, which seems to enter the inmost brain recesses and creates a rapport between them and the unseen world.