Lumen

inning 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 youn

y 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

Gamma i

he planet

netary 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 Ear

Thus, you see, in their exterior they diff

entirely distinct from us, but who, notwithstandi

e forms are the result of elements special to each globe, and of the forces which regulate them: matter, density, weight

m of Gamm

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 th

ntellect and morals. We in Europe differ greatly from the tribes of Abyssinia and from the savages of t

nd their in

prang 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 cons

ure you that the men of the planet of Virgo are alm

e between Virgo

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 de

f 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

looking towards me without knowing it, was

. How y

cognised myself instantly, and

I can. I cannot c

or exi

icturesque 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 impres

net of Virgo. I really saw myself, and I could follow in sequence the event

rvation, for whilst pondering upon the matter, I saw Berthor-my brother during that existence-co

w you could really see yourself on that planet

isi or Apollonius of Tyana, be

nation of anteri

nd knowing its parallax as seen from Capella, I came to the conclusion that the light from this S

nd, 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

ars to travel from

ar, 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

objection to urge on this point, but I frankly own that to credit an experie

world is contained i

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 incessa

of ether; Sight, per

ver, 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

unrolled before your eyes, your existence previou

n able, and could now indeed review my entire life by going closer

of light, you have really seen a

en them, and continue to see them, simultaneo

them again both

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 the

s indeed a stra

rlds, thus unrolled before me, was the odd resemblance between these two lives. I found that I had almost the same

n of inher

rth, 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

urate and profound knowledge of the system of the World, it yet lacked, I am bound to state, the

World which I had not had upon the Earth.

without

on 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 witho

iniscences of a

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 in

slumber of my terrestrial senses my soul h

the way you describe, without wings or machinery, and simply by an effort of

ys 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 liv

y of exi

, that you have had a life anterior to that upon the Earth. Do

itted to give such evidence, having before me both my earthly life and my ante

to possess a similar conviction. I can recall absolu

ul's m

itual life. The soul has only full remembrance, full possession of itself in its normal, its celestial life; th

y work, recall its spiritual life? Would not such a remembrance even prove hurtful? What trammels wo

of striving if one's de

to a sufficiently elevated state of advancement, for t

anterior impressions

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

rtificial, and also in certain psychical conditions of which modern science makes a study. Hence it is not surprising that during one existe

ore this one, something of it would remain with us, otherw

edi

milar

. Now examine each of them. Are they equal? Not in any way; equality of souls does not exist. The one is born with pacific instincts and great intelligence. He will be good, learned, wise, illustrious perchance, amid the thinkers of his age. The other one brings with him a domineering, envious perh

upon education, nor upon material conditions, is manifest in every man. Reflect upon this at your leisure; you will arrive a

n of th

heologians taught that the soul and the b

ysiology, knows that a child lives before being delivered from its uterine prison, therefore the destruction of an embryo of eight mon

ning of the human being took place during the sixth week of gestation

s hearts! You would dare to admit that our immortal being is created by the physical contact of two human beings! You would be disposed to believe that the Divine Head which governs the worlds, is influ

dignity and the spiritual grandeur of the soul itself? And would it not

s. And

f otherwise than in a human embryo. It is a law of life on the Earth. But you must loo

soul should spring from a carnal cause, should be the result of casual unions, more or less legitimate. Also, I agree w

really desirable to have in prospect a journey without end through endless worlds, and an eternal transmigration? For at last there must be an end to it

unkn

eal universe space is but a vain word, no longer measurable? You ignore all; principles, causes, all escape you: atoms upon a movable atom, you have not any exact appreciation of the universe; and yet, despite ignorance so dense, and

ted, nothing

is created in nature, and that nothing is annihilated; that nature includes all things existing, and that God, spirit, law, number, are no more outside nature than matter, weight, motion; that moral truth, justice, wisdom, virtue, exist in the progress of the world as surely as its physical reality; that justice decrees equity in the distribution of its destinies; that our destinies are not a

forces i

ini

which, both in essence and in mode of action, differ from electricity, attraction, light, &c. Now, among these natural and unknown forces there is one in particular, the study of which will ultimately lead to singular discoveries in elucidating the problems of the soul and of life. This is the psychic force. This invisible fluidic force establishes a mysterious bond, unknown to themselves, between living beings, and already in many cases you

ice versa, just at the moment of death, even though many leagues might separate them! The most captious critic cannot in these days deny facts thus circumstantially proved. Twin children living ten leagues apart, and under very different conditions, are stricken at the same time with the same malady,

one's reason recognising the chief characteristics of the moral world. Besides, all these truths will be emphasised by my further narration, when you learn that it is not only the previous existence before my last