Page:Dealings with the dead.djvu/156

 marriage, with prolification, or soul-incarnation, as the result. But I also saw that this purpose was accomplished on earth, and that that use of sex was ended at death; that it absolutely does not exist in the Soul-world. But in the Middle State, as a terrible phantasy, lust and all other abominations abound; and I saw that one great cause of the moral looseness of thousands of sensitive-nerved people on earth resulted from the infernal possessions and obsessions of their persons by delegations from those realms of darkness and—to all but themselves—unmitigated horror. A sensitive man or woman—no matter how virtuously inclined—may, unless by prayer and constant watchfulness they prevent it, and keep the will active and the sphere entire, be led into the most abominable practices and habits. Many of these denizens of the mid-regions of space are insane—in the higher sense all are so—and to them lust and its gratifications, dram-drinking, and mal-practice of all sorts, is a reality, although to others they are cruel phantasies. The belief of these unfortunates results from their former habits, voluntary self-illusion, and their old memories and associations, and they are devil-kings, gamblers, and keepers of seraglios—something on the same principle that a straw-crowned maniac is to himself, and other of his ilk, a regal and potent brow-gemmed monarch—a species of insanity generally the result of personal excess and congenital disease; and one, also, that it is very difficult to cure, either in the Spirit-world or anywhere else, for the reason that no man can be healed, morally or physically, from or by external applications; the recreative work must be commenced and carried on from within, or not at all. Are the destinies of all human beings parallel?