“We enter here upon an entirely new variety of clairvoyance, in which the consciousness of the seer no longer remains in or closely connected with his physical body, but is definitely transferred to the scene which he is examining.  Though it has no doubt greater dangers for the untrained seer than either of the other methods, it is yet quite the most satisfactory form of clairvoyance open to him.  In this case, the man’s body is either asleep or in a trance, and its organs are consequently not available for use while the vision is going on, so that all description of what is seen, and all questioning as to further particulars, must be postponed until the wanderer returns to this plane.  On the other hand, the sight is much fuller and more perfect; the man hears as well as sees everything which passes before him, and can move about freely at will within the very wide limits of the astral plane.  He has also the immense advantage of being able to take part, as it were, in the scenes which come before his eyes—­of conversing at will with various entities on the astral plane, and from whom so much information that is curious and interesting may be obtained.  If in addition he can learn how to materialize himself (a matter of no great difficulty for him when once the knack is acquired), he will be able to take part in physical events or conversations at a distance, and to show himself to an absent friend at will.

“Again, he will have the additional power of being able to hunt about for what he wants.  By means of the other varieties of clairvoyance, for all practical purposes he may find a person or place only when he is already acquainted with it; or, when he is put en rapport with it by touching something physically connected with it, as in psychometry.  By the use of the astral body, however, a man can move about quite freely and rapidly in any direction, and can (for example) find without difficulty any place pointed out upon a map, without either any previous knowledge of the spot or any object to establish a connection with it.  He can also readily rise high into the air so as to gain a bird’s eye view of the country which he is examining, so as to observe its extent, the contour of its coastline, or its general character.  Indeed, in every way his power and freedom are far greater when he uses this method than they are in any of the lesser forms of clairvoyance.”

In many well authenticated cases, we may see that the soul of a dying person, one whose physical end is approaching, visits friends and relatives in the astral body, and in many cases materializes and even speaks to them.  In such cases the dying person accomplishes the feat of astral manifestation without any special occult knowledge; the weakened links between the physical and the higher phases of the soul render the temporary passing-out comparatively easy, and the strong desire of the dying person furnishes the motive power necessary.  Such visits, however, are often found to be merely the strongly charged thought of the dying person, along the lines of telepathy, as I have previously explained to you.  But in many cases there can be no doubt that the phenomenon is a clear case of astral visitation and materialization.