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Woman, and Her Relations 
 to Humanity. 
 
 GLEAMS OF CELESTIAL LIGHT 
 
 ON 
 
 THE GENESIS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE 
 BODY, SOUL, AND SPIRIT, 
 
 AND CONSEQUENT 
 
 MORALIZATION OF THE HUMAN FAMILY. 
 
 OFFERED ESPECIALLY TO WOMAN FOR STUDY AND CONTEM- 
 PLATION; NOT TO THE PHENOMENA HUNTER, BUT TO 
 THE SPIRITUAL STUDENT AND DEEP THINKER. 
 
 THE TRUE RELIGION: 
 
 Magnetism — Materialization — Reincarnation. 
 
 » » 
 
 BOSTON: ^^ Tj X 
 
 COLBY & RICH, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 9 Bosworth Street. 
 1892 
 
 \ 
 

 Copyright, 1S92, 
 By MRS. ANNIE C. CAWEIN. 
 
 A 
 
 14 
 
 • • • 
 • • • 
 
DEDICATED 
 
 TO 
 
 JHrs. annte <£♦ Catoem, 
 
 AS A TRIBUTE OF GRATITUDE FOR VOICING THE 
 TEACHINGS AND LOVING WORDS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 "THREE BROTHERS FROM THE MORNING LAND," 
 
 AND OF 
 
 OTHER ARISEN FRIENDS OF THE 
 REPORTER. 
 
Whoever was begotten in pure love 
 
 And came desired and welcome into life 
 
 Is of immaculate conception. He 
 
 Whose heart is full of tenderness and truth, 
 
 Who loves mankind more than he loves himself, 
 
 And cannot find room in his heart for hate, 
 
 May be another Christ. We all may be 
 
 The saviours of the world, if we believe 
 
 In the divinity which dwells in us 
 
 And worship it, and nail our grosser selves, 
 
 Our tempers, greeds, and our unworthy aims, 
 
 Upon the cross. Who giveth love to all, 
 
 Pays kindness for unkindness, smiles for frowns, 
 
 And lends courage to each fainting heart, 
 
 And strengthens hope and scatters joy abroad, 
 
 He, too, is a redeemer, Son of God. 
 
 Ella Wheeler. 
 
 " If the race ever attains its proper development in earthly life, it must 
 be by knowing and obeying the laws of spiritual evolution. The pre- 
 natal Conditions must be regarded as of the first importance, and at the 
 starting point of embryonic life, the spirit must have a chance to be 
 embodied aright." — Communicated by Spirit M. Faraday. 
 
 "Over the unborn, our power is that of God, and our responsibility 
 like his toward us. As we acquit ourselves toward them so let him deal 
 with us." — Looking Backward, chapter xxv. 
 
 "Man is destined for other and higher spheres. In those spheres or 
 new states of existence, man's spirit must present not only an image and 
 likeness of nature and God, but a consciousness of identity and individ- 
 ual selfhood. Feeling and knowing this, he should so live, while in this 
 rudimentary state of existence, that all his physical, intellectual, moral, and 
 spiritual structure, growth, and maturity, be fully developed, cultivated, 
 and perfected ; so that when the ' mortal puts on immortality ' and seeks 
 'a home in the heavens ' it can expand into a celestial life without spot 
 or blemish to mar its beauty or impede its progress in bliss and glory 
 eternal." — From Stellar Key to the Summer Land. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE incidents and conditions which led to the pro- 
 duction of the following pages are as follows : 
 In August, 1887, at the close of a private stance with 
 the Chicago medium, Mrs. Bishop, her control Red-hand 
 remarked, " Spect you'll have to make a book." — " On 
 what subject ? " I inquired. "How to bring papooses 
 into the world and educate them so that their minds 
 won't be tied, " was the reply. As I had no literary 
 aspirations, and supposing the Indian used the word 
 make in mistake for write, I gave the thing no further 
 thought, until some two years afterward when in a 
 private stance at Louisville, after some twenty-five pages 
 of the book had been communicated to me, I was 
 reminded of the prophecy. 
 
 Calling on Wella Anderson, the spirit artist, for a par- 
 ticular likeness, he handed me a sheet of drawing-paper 
 to hold, and, as he said, for me "to magnetize." He left 
 me some ten minutes, returned, laid his watch on the 
 table, tore a jagged corner off of the sheet and retired. 
 Inside of fifteen minutes he returned saying, "I think I 
 have an old Greek here." The jagged corner fitted the 
 torn sheet. Disappointed at not getting the likeness I 
 wanted, yet admiring the head, I was curious to get the 
 
 in 
 
iv INTR OD UC TION. 
 
 name. " Call on the slate-writing medium, Kate Blade," 
 said Anderson, " and you no doubt can get it." After 
 a few hours I was in Mrs. Blade's parlor. She took a 
 clean slate, put a piece of pencil the size of a wheat 
 grain upon it, then placed the slate on the under side 
 of a raised leaf of a breakfast-table, and held it there 
 with her fingers under the slate and thumb on top of 
 the table. Cat never watched a hole for a mouse closer 
 than I did the edge of the slate. The sound of writ- 
 ing, the dotting of i's, the crossing of t's, and finally 
 the sound as if a long pencil had fallen on the slate, 
 was succeeded by Mrs. Blade handing me the slate to 
 read, " He is called Ben Haman and is a very bright 
 spirit." I remarked, " I am impressed that he is a Ma- 
 hometan." A profusion of raps immediately sounded on 
 the table. 
 
 In August '78, sitting with a Louisville writing medium 
 Hofner, Ariosta Bey announced himself: "I am always 
 with you wherever you go. I was a dragoman English 
 consul at Yaddi on the Red Sea. My father was a 
 Greek. ... I was a young man when I passed over. 
 Allah called me to his bosom. Great honor be to God, 
 Allah the father. I follow your footsteps. There is a 
 great work for you to perform, praise be to Allah. I 
 will follow thee to help thee. We are now three inhab- 
 itants who follow you to direct those magic powers only 
 known to the people of the morning land, to work 
 through you, to convince the people there is but one 
 God, Allah the father, who loves all his children, the 
 faithful and the unfaithful, Praise be to Allah." 
 
 Ariosta Bey has almost invariably been the first to 
 communicate at every seance I have had with the 
 medium through whose organism the body of this work 
 
INTRODUCTION. v 
 
 was given. For years he was the chief medical adviser 
 and prescriber of remedies for myself and family when- 
 ever any of us were unwell ; the medium also received 
 his advice, and followed it with profit. 
 
 He also communicated through Horner the follow- 
 ing, which, as it seems to be a statement of the object 
 of the subsequent communications of Ben Haman, I 
 introduce here. 
 
T SALUTE you, my friend and brother, in the cause 
 -*■ of light and progress. Though it may appear to 
 you at times as if the cause had sunk in apathy, as if 
 a strong undercurrent of, indifference had been silently 
 at work, and which, carried by its own force, had made 
 its outburst and deluged the whole visible universe, 
 yet, my friend, I assure you that we, the silent and in- 
 visible movers, see and perceive every day more and 
 more the gradual spreading of this grand and beautiful 
 philosophy which is destined to become the beacon 
 light of life, to develop and bring its adherents nearer 
 to the fount of love, the giver of all health bounties. 
 
 We have a purpose, an aim in view, in coming down 
 from the celestial spheres to teach mankind their destiny. 
 The lower spheres in spirit life being overcrowded by 
 beings scarcely recognizable as being once the pure, 
 undenled infant spirit, which once was placed in the 
 fetus in his mother's womb. With pity we receive 
 these monstrosities, pygmies, and crippled souls return- 
 ing here, who have completely failed in their mission 
 on earth. For each one received a will, a power of dis- 
 crimination to exercise, to use his own judgment in 
 every station of life. Yet how sadly many have failed 
 
 VI 
 
PREFACE OF REPORTER. vii 
 
 to fulfil as they should the work which was assigned to 
 their spiritual capacity. 
 
 It is only mind, and nothing but mind, that elevates 
 mankind above the animal creation. 
 
 Oh, man ! if thou hast received but one talent, put 
 it to usury, do not let it lie dormant and decay. Do 
 not go so far as to deny the assistance of all pervading 
 mind, for thou shalt be called to judgment for all that 
 thou doest and all that thou sayest. 
 
 As in the myth days of old, when the immortal 
 Plato dwelt on this plane, no one was admitted under 
 and among his disciples, unless he could claim at least 
 one soul .his own in friendship and love. So it should 
 be impressed upon the men living in this country, your- 
 self, your teachers, your masters, and your parents, not 
 to deprive their fellow-men of their rest, not to rob 
 them of the opportunity to develop their spiritual 
 nature in friendly intercourse. Do not draw out exist- 
 ence yourself from the world, but gather round your 
 hearthstone such ones who will satiate this thirsting 
 and famishing from the fountain of life. For it is the 
 grandest, holiest duty, practised both on earth and in 
 heaven, to lift up the fallen, teach the ignorant, heal 
 the suffering, and lead the blind in spirit. 
 
 Our aim is to contend against the all enveloping, 
 pervading materialism of those who, grown in error 
 and enmity to God, deny the existence of a personal 
 God, yet secretly, in superstitious fear, worship at the 
 shrine of some dreadful image, and receive for it all 
 power and esteem of their fellows for their self-aggran- 
 dizement. We want your co-operation against that 
 hidden form of materialism indulged in by those who 
 vaunt the proud name of Christian, and apparently 
 
viii PREFACE OF REPORTER. 
 
 worship at its shrine. But do their deeds entitle them 
 to bear the holy name of the Godson ? Do they follow 
 up his precepts in truth and humility ? 
 
 Base hypocrisy ; and they will be judged accordingly, 
 when their spirits, devoid of this material body, shall dis- 
 play their loathsome hidden deformity. It is for the ele- 
 vation of the embodied spirit that we descend, that we 
 ask your co-operation. Our motto is, and has been, 
 " Let there be light," which shall pervade every nook 
 and corner, and relieve us from our arduous labor. 
 The human family are groaning under the oppressive 
 influences of a cruel materialism, and perishing from its 
 deadly effects. The time is nigh when the power of an 
 all-pervading love, harmony, and justice shall counteract 
 this anti-christ, shall conquer and crush it never to rise 
 again. Let us, therefore, enlist the assistance of every 
 human soul and teach him and lead him on to victory 
 over his own passions, and by so doing at once relieve 
 a spirit from his post of duty, to help educate myriads 
 of beings in the lower spheres, who are longing and 
 famishing for one ray of light. Never tire of helping 
 your friends, as we never tire of doing good. Progres- 
 sion is our watchword, let it be heard everywhere. 
 
 Ariosta Bey. 
 
 Moving to Louisville in the spring of 1879, I shortly 
 afterward called upon and introduced myself to Mrs. 
 Annie Cawein, the instrument used by the dictators of 
 the within communications. At the first or second 
 private seance, Benjamin Haman announced himself, 
 and gave me this his first communication which, as he 
 has been the dictator of the major part of this work, I 
 here introduce as an introduction of himself. 
 
PREFACE OF REPORTER. ix 
 
 " I passed over, not quite two centuries ago, a general 
 in the army of the Persian King, Archibald the Third. 
 My father was a nobleman who lived in Hungary. 
 When the rebellion broke out he fled to Turkey. He 
 disguised himself. I was born in Turkey. I was sent 
 to a military school. Then I went travelling, and re- 
 mained in Persia ; was a friend of the king. He knew 
 my ancestry and gave me a high position. My mother 
 was an Austrian. I took more of my mother than of my 
 father. My mother's maiden name was Elizabeth von 
 Holt, born in Vienna contemporary with Maria Theresa. 
 She married my father against the consent of her 
 father. Mother never saw her relatives after she left. 
 Father held a high position in Turkey. He was in- 
 volved in the rebellion. He would have lost his head 
 had he remained ; but after it was settled he returned 
 to Hungary. I fell in a battle fighting against the 
 Medes, who were a very treacherous people. I left a 
 wife and two children, which caused me to return to 
 earth to benefit them. Consequently, it gave me the 
 knowledge how to control and help humanity. I am 
 attached to you." 
 
 He directed me to get a book, he had some commu- 
 nications to make which he wanted me to write down. 
 The commencement was made April 17, 1879. January 
 26, 1880, a preface was dictated. On June 15 following 
 he urged me to bring out the work, still I delayed. 
 December 23, 1890, 1 am again urged to " bring it out." 
 " Let us give it to the world. ... In this little work 
 they will find many rich and rare gems that will assist 
 in spiritualizing the human race." 
 
 A word as to the medium. She was given a common 
 school education, and marrying quite young, and rais- 
 
X PREFACE OF REPORTER. 
 
 ing quite a family of children, her household duties en- 
 grossed so much of her time that she could devote but 
 little to reading, and that little was given to novels. 
 When recovering from trance and attaining her normal 
 state, she knew not a single word or thought her lips 
 had uttered while under control. She was an utter 
 stranger to all of my previous life, yet Ben Haman, in 
 control said, " It was my magnetism which restored 
 your spirit to its body when in your youth you fell 
 from the tree." In 1836 I was up a tree after a squir- 
 rel, and fell some twenty feet therefrom headlong, my 
 shoulders striking a rail on the ground saved my neck. 
 I lay unconscious from two until five o'clock. His 
 review of my life in his story of reincarnation is won- 
 derfully true. The events alluded to therein occurred 
 in Pennsylvania before the medium was born. 
 
 The transmitters of the within communications gen- 
 erally waited until I had written down a sentence before 
 giving a second. Sometimes I was greatly hurried, and 
 in some instances it may be possible I failed to record 
 all the words spoken. However, I tried to be exact. 
 Perfection is not attainable in this lower world. Unless 
 the superior intelligence can find a subject with an 
 organization perfectly adapted to itself, — with a brain 
 intellectually qualified and flexible to its impressions, — 
 the thought attempted to be expressed will be more or 
 less tainted by the idiocrasy of the instrument. Ac- 
 cording to the plane of development occupied by the 
 reader will he be enabled to comprehend, appreciate, 
 and be benefited by the truths attempted to be unfolded 
 in this little work. 
 
 May the gleams of light, falling on creed-bound souls, 
 dissolve the chains which bigotry has forged, and with 
 
PREFACE OF RETORTER. x \ 
 
 which it has bound and held them in darkness, and 
 set them free to worship in nature's temple, with no 
 creed but the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood 
 of man, and obtain a realizing sense of their duty in 
 this earthly kindergarten of the soul, wherein they are 
 to prepare for angelic work in the higher life. 
 
 Reporter. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 By Ben Haman, the Spirit Dictator. 
 
 January, 1880. 
 
 r I ^HIS little work is not for the beginner, nor for the 
 "*■ phenomenist ; it is for the Spiritual student. He 
 who is advanced in the philosophy will be largely bene- 
 fited by it. So will the deep thinker. Those who are 
 educated on a material plane, who are gifted with the per- 
 ceptiveness to comprehend, — they too will be largely 
 benefited by its perusal. 
 
 To women especially do we offer this work for study 
 and contemplation. She upon whom so much depends, 
 to woman who takes the largest part in reproduction, to 
 whom such great responsibilities are intrusted. She 
 little realizes in youth, or even at a matured age, the 
 great responsibilities which rest upon her and which 
 she is called upon as a creator to fulfil with more 
 perfection. 
 
 Man depends upon woman entirely for development. 
 If the organs of reproduction are not regularly formed 
 the offspring cannot develop in Spiritual unfoldment. 
 Woman rocks the cradle, she must learn to comprehend 
 that she also rocks the world. 
 
 xii 
 
PREFACE. xiii 
 
 In this little work which we have offered to humanity, 
 she will have an opportunity of learning what course to 
 pursue in perfecting her offspring, and how she herself 
 can be liberated from the thraldom of sexual slavery. 
 All women who are degraded by an abuse of this law, 
 produce imperfect offspring. No woman should marry 
 under the age of twenty-five years. It is only after she 
 attains a certain period in life that the mind becomes 
 more passive to the natural experiences which, as a 
 matron, should be fully developed. 
 
 Too often do we see defects arising from early mar- 
 riages, — an abuse of sexual relations destroys the ner- 
 vous system of the mother. No perfect organization 
 can be born from such conditions. 
 
 However, we wish to state here that, through a care- 
 ful perusal of this little work, some germs of knowledge 
 may be attained, and if well applied will assist many 
 who desire to live a perfect life, and who wish to assist 
 in perfecting the human race. It comes to mortals as 
 a germ of peace, laden with good will to mankind, and 
 we repeat again if mothers will perfect themselves, there 
 will be more perfect men born into the world. 
 
 June 15, 1880. 
 
 Ben Haman. — Good-morning, my son ! The morn- 
 ing sun shines with its resplendent rays, and illumi- 
 nates old mother earth with its electric light. So we 
 are again permitted to penetrate earth's magnetism and 
 impart our thoughts to you, which vivifies and electri- 
 fies your whole nature. 
 
 Yes, my son, we too are grateful for this opportunity, 
 and greatly do we rejoice at being able to manifest our 
 thoughts in words to you this morning, being fully 
 
xiv PREFACE. 
 
 aware of the great need you have of the influence 
 our magnetism imparts, in giving you strength and 
 vitality. True, we can impart it intuitively, which we 
 have lately striven hard to develop. We have exerted 
 ourselves to unfold your faculties, that you may be 
 enabled to comprehend intuitively and perceptively our 
 thoughts as we vibrate them through your sensorium. 
 
 The majority of mortals who are intellectually ad- 
 vanced, receive impressions and work them out through 
 their intuitive nature. True, there are many that do 
 not realize whence they come, and give no credence to 
 any power outside of their own mental faculties. Never- 
 theless, the unseen powers attend them, work with them, 
 and through their instrumentality produce many effects, 
 the experience of which gives them great relief, and 
 they derive much benefit through the accomplishment * 
 of any object which brings happiness to the individual 
 or instrument. In this wise, my son, we are working 
 with yourself, hand in hand, my spirit influence guiding 
 your hand many times as well as controlling your mind, 
 and you can now realize why we are so anxious to bring 
 out the little work. Though very simple to us, yet it 
 will make a deep impression on a vast majority of mortal- 
 minds. Humanity is in need of such a work ; the by- 
 laws of which will give them an insight into the true 
 nature and habits of life in the material form. There 
 has been a great oversight existing in the nature of 
 individuals. They have paid too little attention to the 
 reproduction and proper development of the human 
 race. In fact, we see in many instances where they 
 give more attention in perfecting animals, by crossing 
 them properly, than they do in perfecting the body 
 which is to be the habitation of a soul and spirit. 
 
PREFACE. xv 
 
 Our work treats largely upon this subject. The per- 
 fecting the human race should accompany the preface 
 of the work. Mortals should strive to comprehend the 
 hygienic laws, in erasing diseases, and establishing a 
 purer element within the system of those who enter upon 
 the sacred duty of reproduction. It is no little thing ; 
 and all the suffering, all the sorrow, all the remorse and 
 disappointments, which this life is subjected to at the 
 present day, are the result of imperfect organizations. 
 And just as long as mortals will continue to live on the 
 animal plane, and reproduce offspring through sensual 
 passions, just so long this evil must continue. No per- 
 fect organization can be produced through sensual 
 desire and evil designs. This evil must be looked to, 
 and every intelligent mortal man and woman will strive 
 to elevate their offspring, when they comprehend that 
 at the same time they are elevating themselves. 
 
 A dutiful son is a pride to a father and mother, a 
 virtuous and loving daughter is an honor to the parents. 
 These can be produced very readily by a strict obser- 
 vation of the spiritual laws attending conception and 
 pregnancy, and it is the duty of all individuals, 
 whether they regard it as such or not, it is their duty 
 to strive and overcome the crude animal propensities 
 which are impregnated in their natures from their pro- 
 genitors, and to develop into the higher spiritual where 
 they belong. They have assimilated themselves long 
 enough with the animal propensities, it is their duty to 
 strive to attain something higher, that they may over- 
 come this suffering, which they in a true sense bring 
 upon themselves. Ignorance is crime — crime is sin ; 
 suffering must follow sin regardless of consequences. 
 Evil brings remorse, remorse is suffering to the spirit. 
 
xvi PREFACE, 
 
 Regret, which follows any act committed, or any crime 
 perpetrated through ignorance, brings suffering to the 
 individual. None are exempt from it ; both young and 
 old share the same fate, for the divine laws work in 
 harmony, and those who sin against them must suffer 
 the consequences. There is no change in those estab- 
 lished laws. The Great Infinite mind which constitutes 
 the whole knows no change, but is perfect in its essence 
 and will not permit any one to escape who violates 
 those laws. They attract the aura of that ether which 
 either harmonizes with their nature or is antagonistic. 
 
 That ether which harmonizes with the nature of the 
 individual promotes him to happiness and to the enjoy- 
 ment of all that is spiritual and ennobling to the senses. 
 That which is antagonistic, acts reversely and destroys, 
 is the destructive ether or magnetism. The creative 
 or reproductive is the purer essence, and emanates 
 from the fountain of wisdom and knowledge. 
 
 The destructive, in its turn, acts with the same force 
 or power that the creative does. And mortals must 
 learn to discriminate and control alike the good and 
 evil, the productive and the destructive, the positive 
 and the negative. Positive is life, negative is death! 
 And I say unto my fellow-men that by obedience to 
 this law, when studied with careful observation, they 
 can control the prolongation of life. 
 
 Those philosophers who lived in the remoter days 
 comprehended the laws more thoroughly than you do 
 at the present day, and many would have lived centuries 
 had not violence interfered. Through ignorance they 
 were destroyed, the ignorance of those who were their 
 superiors in material power. 
 
 For this reason, my son, we are striving to impress. 
 
PREFACE. xvii 
 
 upon you the duty of bringing out the work within the 
 reach of those mortals who are intelligent and can com- 
 prehend it. Being simple in formation and verb, it will 
 impress upon the mind the necessity of cultivating a 
 purer and more moral nature, and by thus doing they 
 will attract superior influences, and these will impress 
 them with spiritual ideas and develop more spiritual 
 habits. 
 
 A spirit never realizes the good work it may have 
 done until it enters the spiritual spheres. Then they 
 realize, as their faculties unfold the reflections from 
 the many, the impressions that are made through the 
 instrumentality of their exertions. This I am ac- 
 quainted with, and this is why I urge it upon you to 
 bring out the work, which will be a boon to many 
 suffering souls. 
 
 I desire to control both your head and hand some- 
 times. I will impress you to write on subjects of im- 
 mortality to individuals in the form, and thus you will 
 sow the seed of spiritual knowledge. The impressions 
 which you receive I wish you to take down ; and 
 do not hesitate, for your intuitive nature has largely 
 expanded within the last year. I will strive to make it 
 remunerative to you in a material sense, for I fully 
 realize the necessity of material comforts, and now as 
 I invoke a blessing from the all infinite mind upon you, 
 that the all pervading principle may assist us in guiding 
 you aright, that the love and harmony which unites us 
 in spirit may be your guiding star, and that a union of 
 heart and a union of soul may interblend with your 
 spiritual nature, and may ever keep you awake to that 
 conscientious unfoldment of the attributes which inter- 
 blend with love and power. 
 
xviii PREFACE. 
 
 We will strive to assist thee, my son, as the father 
 in the material strives to help his offspring. Ay ! even 
 more, we will strive to unfold thy faculties of love and 
 honor, which imbeds itself in the sphere of spiritual 
 harmony. 
 
 And now may the unfoldment of all thy faculties 
 harmonize itself with our design, and work with us in 
 the accomplishment of this great work. Father of 
 Love, we invoke thy strength. Give us the power and 
 love, with strength to work out the duty towards our 
 fellow-man. May a union of soul interblend our 
 strength, that we may be guided by thy love, oh, 
 father. Amen. B. H. 
 
 December 23, 18 go. 
 
 Ben Haman. — I greet you, my son, with happiness. 
 
 In going over the work which we gave you years ago, 
 I am very happy to know that everything remains the 
 same. Life is too short, my son, to put off a work of 
 such importance to yourself and humanity. In speak- 
 ing of yourself, as we have often said before, every 
 mortal has a mission to fulfil. Only a developed mind 
 can realize the importance of doing good. While in 
 the form it is so much easier to accomplish our mission 
 than when out of the form, as we are then not able to 
 control the instruments in the accomplishment of our 
 work. I am only too happy to assist you. 
 
 The little work contains gems that will reach minds 
 of a high order that will do good to many mortals. I 
 will state to you that every intelligent mind that works 
 to accomplish its mission, according to its condition, 
 is immortalizing itself, not only in this world, but also 
 in the spiritual world. 
 
PREFACE. xix 
 
 Comprehending this as we do, realizing it with such 
 vivid experience, it is our duty to give it to the mate- 
 rial world. Look round about you, and see what igno- 
 rance is doing, — women destroying their offspring, and 
 men urging it on, — sexual abuse with its deadly influ- 
 ence brought to bear on both sexes. The voice of 
 nature cries against it, and hurls back with damning 
 force, its terrible retribution — ignorant creatures 
 dragged into suffering. Could you see it as we do, 
 the terrors of this evil, you would urge the publication 
 of this little work on with haste, so that we might save, 
 if only a few, by the knowledge its pages contain. 
 Then you and I will feel satisfied that we have done 
 some good for humanity. Spiritual education, en- 
 lightenment from above, constitute a sure (preventive) 
 of all this degradation. We cannot impart knowledge 
 without assistance, which must come through spiritual- 
 ized mediums. I say it is the mediums' heaven-born 
 duty to give their attention to this heaven-born calling. 
 The voice of humanity is crying forth for assistance. 
 Mankind have been drawn down to their lowest depths 
 (of degradation), they must be lifted up out of this 
 terrible condition, they must be drawn nearer to God 
 and heaven. 
 
 You observe this wrangling, this jealous contention, 
 one to supersede the other, among religious sects, each 
 one thinking it alone is in the right way, making 
 resolutions and breaking them, laying future plans that 
 are hurled to pieces at their feet, having no power or 
 strength to accomplish that which they most desire, — 
 to attain the knowledge of heavenly things through 
 the religious orders so called. Their foundation is too 
 weak, it has been shaken. The religious creeds have 
 
xx PREFACE. 
 
 become mouldy and stale. The human race has out- 
 grown them ; they are seeking something more in 
 accord with their divine nature. The Divinity within 
 has outgrown their external forms, and is seeking for 
 something in accordance with its own nature. 
 
 Now, my son, look over what I have given to be the 
 preface, and I am too happy to grasp the hand of the 
 medium who has helped us in our little work for 
 the benefit of the human race. 
 
 Let us give it to the world. Let us strive to do 
 some good. The undeveloped world requires some- 
 thing to lift it out of its degradation. In this little 
 work they will find many rich and rare gems of thought 
 that will assist in spiritualizing the race. 
 
 After all is accomplished, and the work is in print, 
 I will set to work to . inspire mortals to read it. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 April 17, 1879. — The liberal spiritual philosophy. The sixth sense. 
 Acquisition of magnetic power develops material and spiritual 
 faculties. Spirit must repeat itself to attain individuality. In- 
 dividuality necessary to enter the superior spheres. Life is 
 spirit, the outgrowth of the supreme intelligence. The germs 
 of life impregnated in the elements. Disease and plagues 
 caused by atmospheric germs. — Communication of B. H. . 15 
 
 April 18. — It is natural for man to be born again. Jesus a reformer 
 was premature. Was inspired by Moses, Abraham, and Elisha. 
 Spirit must attain identity. Only attained through material 
 magnetism. Reincarnation. Spiritual guides depend upon 
 material magnetism to reveal truth to humanity. — Communica- 
 tion, from Dr. Wm. Shippen, Otto Watto 18 
 
 May 1. — The divine essence of the Creator incarnated in man. 
 Which is spirit indestructible. Manner of incarnation assisted 
 by spirits. Invisibles use the laws of nature to cultivate mortals. 
 The human race deficient in spiritual culture. Consequently 
 unable to receive magnetism from superiors. Man can add to 
 his spiritual nature. Soul and Spirit. The functions of each. 
 Origin of Spirit. External conditions required to unfold it. 
 The grosser the body the weaker the spirit. Spirit requires 
 experiences to unfold its identity. Communication of Robert 
 D. Owen 22 
 
 May 8. — Life, when incarnated. The soul from whence. What 
 it is. Individualized magnetism. The spirit body. Experi- 
 ences constitute individuality. The more experiences acquired, 
 less number of reincarnations. How to become receptive to 
 impressional power. Acts and thoughts assisted by spirit mag- 
 netism. When spirits can control material organs. The spirit 
 
 3 
 
4 CONTENTS. ■ 
 
 PAGE 
 
 power germ the sixth sense. Its development. Effect of 
 gross food. Mind is matter refined. Vegetables and fruit 
 develop spiritual conditions. The happy consequences follow- 
 ing the observation and practice of foregoing laws. — Com- 
 munication of Father H. S., and Judge Elliot 31 
 
 May 15. — The high and holy position of Mother should be com- 
 prehended and studied before it is accepted. Few physically or 
 mentally organized to take or comprehend their responsibility. 
 The female should be spiritually cultured. Effect of the mother's 
 mind upon the fetus. The father imparts blood and life, noth- 
 ing of his spirit. Father responsible for every unkind act. 
 He indirectly affects the fetus. One deficient in organization 
 should not become a parent. — Otto IVatto's Communication . 35 
 
 May 22. — Regeneration before generation. The sin of diseased 
 parents. The study of this philosophy gives power to the will 
 to control inherited passions. Effects of a magic circle — of 
 pure and sincere minds upon the sitters, when superior forces 
 assist spiritual development. Spirit grows by acquiring Knowl- 
 edge. Education. Knowledge and experiences of material life 
 necessary to enter celestial spheres. Knowledge is power, and 
 acts in will-force founded upon love and truth. How acquired. 
 Earthly experiences necessary for spiritual development. Few 
 attain individuality or spirit power. By a repetition of this life 
 man becomes immortalized. Adds and re-adds strength to the 
 perceptiveness of his spiritual faculties. Why many spirits pre- 
 fer to live on the earth plane. Calamities and disappointments. 
 Means of spiritual development. Why we can tell you of. 
 heavenly things which the Nazarene could not. Why man's 
 nature is unfolding faster now than in the past. — O. W.'s Com- 
 munication 
 
 May 29. — The new light. Two kinds of magnetism. Man's 
 spirit must be negative to be receptive. When children will be 
 born with intellectual organizations. How the minds of chil- 
 dren become impressive to spiritual influences. Spirits the 
 instructors of the present age. Their work. Manual labor 
 causes inertia of mind. Make conditions for spiritual influences. 
 Sacred duty of heads of families to open wide the door for 
 spirit friends. Prayer. Law of spiritual affinity. Families 
 should be reared in the knowledge and practice of the law. 
 When the spirit realizes its true worth. The murderer's spir- 
 
CONTENTS. 5 
 
 PAGE 
 
 itual progress. Laws of the body to be observed. Effect of 
 the Nazarene's magnetism while on earth. Mediums receptives 
 of magnetic power. Magnetic power. From whence, and the 
 instrumentality of its transmission — through Circles . ... 43 
 
 June 2. — Guardian angels. Two kinds of attending influences. 
 The character of the organization decides the influence attracted. 
 Power of the influences. The pure material magnetism of me- 
 diums. Makes conditions for the superior influences to reach 
 the spiritual nature of the erring, which is divine. The devel- 
 opment of which germ, good or evil, affected by organization. 
 Mothers give the material body, God the spiritual body. Man 
 and woman should make the laws of organization a study. They 
 should become as one, the same as God and nature. The posi- 
 tive electric and the negative magnetic produce every organized 
 substance, mineral, vegetable, animal, and man. Changes. 
 Law of progression of universal application. — O. IV.' s Com- 
 munication 5 2 
 
 June 8. — The germs of life in every thing. Mineral growth. 
 Vegetation. Law of attraction. The sun's rays produce vege- 
 tation, minerals, planets, and worlds. All planets contain cre- 
 ative power. No spirit born of mortal has ever discovered from 
 whence this power came. Planets affect each other variously. 
 Atmospheric changes, causes of. The atmosphere a mass of liv- 
 ing germs. Acquisition of knowledge develops creative power. 
 God created man in likeness of himself. Man a creator. 
 Through the spiritual philosophy he will learn to perfect the 
 human race. Vegetation not fully developed. Mineral changes 
 in activity and commotion. The atmosphere becoming puri- 
 fied. Reformers, from whence. Powers limited by the organ- 
 ization they occupy. Organizations becoming more perfect, 
 and man more spiritual. Where man stood millions of years 
 ago. Spirit creators. How man enters the new-born life. 
 Takes up in spirit the same character and desires he had on 
 earth. Man and woman should study the laws relating to off- 
 spring. The law of attraction. Vegetable, animal, and man 
 developed by cultivation and observance of nature's laws. Edu- 
 cation. A knowledge of the laws of God. If man seeks to 
 comprehend them he can live in harmony; living in violation of 
 them he suffers. God does not punish. Man punishes him- 
 self 60 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 " PAGE 
 
 June 23. — Sexual intercourse. — The laws of nature prove that 
 God is a father of love. How man becomes formed in his like- 
 ness. The three creative laws of life after impregnation. How 
 the mother should employ her mind. Aspiration. Diet. Con- 
 sequence of observing these laws. Healthy offspring, v/ith or- 
 ganizations flexible to the impressive spirit imbedded for unf old- 
 ment. Every thought of the mother impresses the fetus and 
 moulds its character. Parents form the organization, and deter- 
 mine the character of the spirit influence which will be attracted 
 to it. Responsible for the human soul born into life. They 
 build a temple for an angel or a brute. Children should be in- 
 structed from the very moment of conception. Kindness of 
 the father to the mother impresses the fetus. Real and true 
 mothers impart to the unborn the beautiful attributes of the psy- 
 chical organization. Treatment and diet of infants. A change 
 in the infant about the seventh year, when attention should be 
 given to the culture of itsmind and spirit — Instruct them how. 
 — Communication of 'Judge Edmonds . 72 
 
 June 30. — Education of the infant. Education develops in the 
 child the higher attributes of the divine creator. Duty of par- 
 ents to attend to the spiritual culture of offspring. Instruct 
 them with knowledge. They must develop their own creed — 
 The A B C of the creed should be liberty to man, woman, and 
 child. What children require. Parents should mould their 
 children in the likeness of God. A time should be set apart for 
 spiritual communications when spirit guides may assist. If faith- 
 ful, parents will receive the power of the holy spirit. The watch 
 over every household. Infant helplessness. Man made depend- 
 ent upon man. The time when spirit guardianship begins. 
 Results of upward and of downward progression. The soul 
 perishes. Spirit assumes a particular color according to devel- 
 opment. Appears as a magnetic light, often reflects itself at 
 seances. Relation of soul, body, and spirit. Man and woman an 
 outgrowth of thought. Thought, intellect, knowledge, individu- 
 ality. Reaction taking place in human progress. Bigotry its 
 effect. The true character of God. The three divine attributes, 
 Love, Hope, and Charity, within the soul, are developed through 
 the natural education which is the liberal spiritual philosophy. 73 
 
 July 7. — The true Religion. Comparison of the conditions 
 surrounding the old and new reformers. Cause of the liberal 
 
CONTENTS. 7 
 
 PAGE 
 
 spiritual philosophy now unfolding rapidly. The doctrine of 
 the immaculate conception understood by few. Chrisna. Pa- 
 rentage of Christ. The mother very mediumistic. Attended 
 by Elisha, Moses, Socrates, Pythagoras, and a host of others, 
 developed the fetal organization, and imparted a spiritual nature 
 to the infant, such as the spiritual band wished for their future 
 instrument. Christ the incarnation of David the King. His 
 nature. He advocated the truth of the present spiritual philos- 
 ophy. He collected to himself a circle of twelve. His psy- 
 chological power. Its effect upon his disciples. Like a solar 
 star stood Jesus in the centre. The power and assistance he 
 gave them. Particulars of the work of Christ's spirit band. 
 Their selection of a material guardian and instructions to Joseph, 
 a medium. Guardianship of Mary. Christ educated through 
 their guidance. They develop his psychological power. The 
 charge they gave him. The use he made of his power. His 
 instructions. Character of the Pythagorean philosophy. The 
 psychological power which Jesus taught the same which the 
 mediums of the present day are teaching and imparting. The 
 organs of the medium must be pure. Pythagoras the head of 
 Christ's spiritual band. Jesus the head of his material band. 
 Christ's faith in his spiritual band. The true faith needed. 
 Cause of his views and ideas being misrepresented. The Son of 
 man will come again. He is in the midst of you all, sustained 
 
 by a host of immortals 82 
 
 July 14. — The influence of Christ's magnetism on the children of 
 earth . The new dispensation — its age — what it is — Develop- 
 ment. Will-power. Why conflicting ideas are given through 
 mediums. Why it is essential that mortals should give atten- 
 tion to spiritual things. Jesus, having unfolded his spiritual 
 power, ascended to do his duty. Seeing the weakness of his 
 disciples he quickly fulfilled his promises. His directions to 
 them to sit alone. He imparts the holy spirit. Why they re- 
 quired the magnetism of Christ. The power given the disciples. 
 They speak in different tongues. This power not understood at 
 first. Faith in his guardianship led them into the field of duty. 
 They taught truth as they comprehended it. Reformers not 
 always comprehended by their hearers. Three or four centuries 
 afterward the prelates wrote the traditions as they comprehended 
 them. They did not wish to give conflicting ideas. The cause 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 of varying sects. All sects branches of the great reformer. He 
 will impart power to all who seek him in sincerity. The great 
 spiritual revolution of the present day. He stands in the cen- 
 tre. Wherever two or three are congregated he imparts mag- 
 netic power, the holy spirit. Legions of angels are working 
 out his prophetic words in Europe, America, and the remotest 
 parts of the earth. Christ has worked more faithfully and effi- 
 ciently than other reformers. Salvation. Experiences of 
 Christ on earth. The outgrowth of his spiritual power. Indef- 
 inite conception of the great truth the reformer demonstrated. 
 The great philosophers and remote reformers now in unity with 
 Christ. Buddha. The spiritual philosophy still exists in the 
 Brahma faith. From the central circle in the seventh sphere, 
 where a council is daily held, spirit bands are sent to earth's in- 
 habitants. Impressive ones, or mediums, attract attention from 
 the spiritual urjiverse. The means the reformer is using to 
 draw mankind nearer the 'great Creator. The sixth sense of 
 man becoming unfolded, and the true philosophy of spiritual 
 life unfolded and comprehended. The world knows little of 
 the inner substance which contains the life-germ. Gradually 
 the spiritual nature of man will unfold and comprehend the true 
 religion of Christ. Children of earth must seek for this knowl- 
 edge. If they knock at the door assistance will come. They 
 will receive individuality and self-sustenance. Every branch 
 will develop into the spiritual light of the new dispensation. 
 The fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man the true 
 religion. Where two or three are gathered together he will be 
 in their midst. Salvation of the soul through faith in Jesus 
 Christ. This is the second coming of Jesus Christ. Purify 
 yourselves to hold communion with your sainted ones. Like 
 attracts like 89 
 
 September 23. — Ariosta Bey's criticism of a materialization stance 99 
 Ben Haman's criticism of a materialization seance 101 
 
 October 10. — Ben H's answer to question, Can fraud ever result in 
 
 benefiting mortals? 103 
 
 October 17. — Reincarnation. "Verily I say unto you, except a man 
 be born again he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." "In 
 my father's house." Many are satisfied with the degrees they 
 have attained on earth. Why Immortals return. Consequence 
 of an imperfect organization. Reincarnation demonstrated by 
 
CONTENTS. 9 
 
 I'AGH 
 
 the difference of development. Many in youth superior to 
 those of advanced age. Result of spiritual unfoldment demon- 
 strated by the character. Review of main incidents in the life 
 of the reporter of these communications. A guardian from the 
 moment of material birth. Before this I sought your earthly 
 parentage. Not all guardians can see clearly to choose the 
 more perfect organs for the perfecting of a soul. 1 The spirit- 
 ual essence is planted in the material essences to encounter ex- 
 periences, is the law of reincarnation. Man must strive by exertion 
 of his will to control and raise himself above the material. How 
 knowledge is obtained and can be applied to controlling spiritual 
 and material things. To realize that we are all workers for the 
 great central power. I am portraying this divine truth throug 
 assistance of superiors, but doing my duty. I am assisting to 
 perfect our father's children. Story of a spirit's successive 
 reincarnations 108 
 
 October 31. — Changes in spirit life as well as the material. The 
 magnetic-electric power. Law of their action and results. 
 Man a composition of various elements. When there is a lack of 
 one or more of the elements the body becomes weak, diseased. 
 Oxygen contains the purest electric force. Hydrogen, the mag- 
 netic. Their action on the body. Unions in heaven take place, 
 but not as orthodox ministers portray them. The dogmatic 
 error. The doctrine of soul salvation. Why you have so many 
 materialists at the present day. The ignorant are striving to 
 gain their salvation through sectarian creeds. He who always 
 looks upon the dark can never see the light 1 18 
 
 November 14. — Mind and matter. Mind is an essence refined. 
 Of what constituted. The essence of spirit comes in contact 
 with every kind of vegetable and mineral element in the body. 
 The spirit depends upon a healthy body for nourishment and 
 development. Neglect or abuse of the body a sin against the 
 spirit. The study of the law of health a religious, material, and 
 spiritual duty. Mind disembodied is powerful. The soul is 
 material. Electric forces. At death the soul and spirit inter- 
 blend as one. Then the soul is the spirit envelop. The body 
 develops the soul. Effect of the germ of disease imparted to 
 the fetus. Parents should be healthy and vigorous, and their 
 
 1 A guardian often permits undeveloped effects to take place in order to bring out tho 
 more perfect and good. 
 
IO CONTENTS. 
 
 natures opposite. All depends on organization for future prog 
 ress. Mortals can and have produced Gods. Investigations 
 of the intellectual spirit awaiting reincarnation. Why the best 
 and most intellectual children are often born of poor parents. 
 Who neglect their spiritual duties, and the consequences thereof. 
 Spirits sometimes develop by coming in contact with earth. 
 Spirit friends dine with you many times. The aroma nourishes 
 them. The premature infant brought daily to its mother for 
 magnetism. Guardianship of infants, where and how reared. 
 The maiden's experiences. Infants become guardians. The 
 attributes of the fifth sphere 124 
 
 November 27. — Soul food. Spirit children brought in contact with 
 material magnetism. Youth and adults require the same. The 
 time they require when the body attracts the cruder parts of 
 the electric elements; and the consequences thereof. Law of 
 diet. Gross food injures body, soul, spirit, and intellect. Why 
 cultivate the body. Stimulants. The drunkard drawn back to 
 his fellows goads them on to excesses. Rarely ever a spirit 
 enters spirit-life with a perfect soul. Drawn to Earth to perfect 
 it. Taken in charge by experienced spirits. The soul annihi- 
 lated, the spirit reincarnates. Will-force, spirit-force. The 
 spirit glorified by the development of will-power. Man makes 
 his own heaven or hades. Charity. Fellowship. Spirit cheer. 
 Spiritual philosophy. The doctrine of spiritual elevation 
 necessary to happiness and contentment. Through the assist- 
 ance of superior beings the spiritual nature of mortals will unfold. 129 
 
 Decembers. — Recognition of friends in the spirit spheres. The 
 link between mother and child. Spiritual matrons bring spirit 
 children to their material mothers regularly. Few children 
 spiritually allied to their parents. The more parents fulfil their 
 duty, the more spiritual assistance given to them. No restrain- 
 ing force and no dogmatic ideas should be impressed. When this 
 philosophy is understood man will strive to practise the golden 
 rule. Christ tried to initiate the rule. Man not sufficiently ad- 
 vanced to receive it. His magnetism impregnated the soil and 
 atmosphere. Thoughts are potent and convey magnetic power, 
 distance no obstacle. Erroneous sectarian ideas. The Great 
 • Creator incarnated in the Saviour ! Erroneous ideas undeveloped 
 truth. Magnetism indestructible. Every man leaves a portion 
 of his magnetism in the elements and soil. Bodies as well as 
 
 PAGB 
 
CON TEATS. I I 
 
 PAGE 
 
 spirits require material magnetism. Dispersion of magnetism 
 at death. The human body's origination. Christ's example a 
 lesson to those who denounce Spiritualism. lie will come 
 again in the clouds. Mortals striving to reach the truth attract 
 his magnetism. The blood of one atoning for the sins 
 of millions, of the vilest fetishism. This philosophy which Christ 
 strove to develop, brings happy tidings and joyous greetings to 
 weary mortals. Man his own saviour. Strict attention should be 
 given to the growth of the soul, that the spirit may be endowed 
 with power to accomplish noble works in the spiritual spheres. 
 Education and teaching of children. Cleanliness. Godliness. 
 Magnetic power. Will-force 136 
 
 December 12. — Spiritual children assist their material attrac- 
 tion. Experiences of earth develop large sympathy. They 
 take upon themselves a mission. Its character depends upon 
 the experiences had in the form. Mortals by developing their 
 spiritual faculties can produce any effect they desire. Concep- 
 tion controlled by the will. Sexual intercourse holy and must 
 not be abused. Spiritual nature of father and mother should 
 be cultivated before parentage. Ignorance is sin and the cause 
 of suffering. The harmonious laws of nature not to be trifled 
 with. By cultivation of the spirit, mind becomes powerful. 
 Bonaparte's decisive will. Success in life depends on organic 
 development 144 
 
 January 2, 1880. — The grosser the food the coarser the develop- 
 ment. Simple living on fruit and vegetables develops percep- 
 tive and impressional power. A proper care of the body 
 attracts the more developed spiritual power's assistance. Cause 
 of medium's ethereal perceptiveness. Over two-thirds of the 
 human race could become mediums. Where mortals fear to 
 tread angels persist. Angry passions most injurious to the spirit- 
 ual nature. A passionate nature can be modified by spiritual 
 magnetism. Imparted at every harmonious and sincere stance. 
 This philosophy, the true religion of nature, has existed always. 
 Passion and selfishness have retarded its progress. Every nation 
 has formed its own God, and made its own heaven. Not until 
 the true philosophy takes the place of error, will harmony and 
 peace come to earth's children. Scientific development in na- 
 ture's laws will eventually harmonize and spiritualize man. The 
 spirit body is physical organized electricity. How the electric 
 force purifies the atmosphere. It is also the creative power. . 152 
 
12 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 January 9. — The magnetism thrown off from the sun con- 
 tains creative power. Vegetable, animal, and human life de- 
 pend upon the electric magnetic rays of the sun. Planets are 
 formed by them. The forces of nature are both negative and 
 positive. The positive electric could not create without the 
 negative magnetic. Why you live and what you live for. The 
 hidden germ. Spiritual teachers now come in large circles to 
 assist mortals. Undeveloped spirits losing power. Faith in 
 spiritual guides, with confidence and sincerity, assists in attaining 
 spiritual knowledge. Laying up material stores a vain folly. 
 Spiritual glory. As the spirit outgrows material desires it be- 
 comes more godlike. Gratification of the sensual, destructive 
 to soul and spirit. Sceptics and atheists among the clergy. 
 Their motto. Students of Scriptural philosophy and traditions 
 of undeveloped fungal nations unfit to be teachers. A spiritual 
 teacher must be pure and sincere. A sceptic can make no im- 
 pression. Conviction a positive force and originates from the 
 creator. Thousands perish like the animal. Their spirit merely 
 exists. They return in fear, dread, and agony which they can- 
 not throw off. They are assisted to incarnate 156 
 
 January 16. — Invocation. Why mortals cling with such tena- 
 city to life. Life exists in all things. Three forms of life. 
 The positive electric combined with the negative creative forces 
 inflate every living substance. Humanity has progressed beyond 
 all other life. Life dependent on the solar rays. Darkness 
 necessary for the unfoldment of the seed in the soil. Vegetable 
 life and death. The law of darkness goes back to the remot- 
 est germ of mineral unfoldment. Same conditions required by 
 animal and man. The fish. The serpent and turtle eggs 
 placed in the sun. No deviation from the universal law. Why 
 mortals cling with tenacity to life. The aspiring spirit, by the 
 assistance of its spirit guides, can attain independence. The 
 change by death is but an aspiration to a higher life. The pro- 
 gressive law of individuality. Evil as essential as the good. 
 If there were no sorrow there would be no joy 161 
 
 February 9. — Spiritual essence, what it is. Consequences of realiz- 
 ing that there is a future life. Neglect of the physical 
 body impoverishes the soul. Effect of spiritual knowledge. 
 Spirit-world striving to develop more spiritual teachers to remove 
 the shackles from the slave-bound souls of materialism, and to 
 
CONTENTS. 1 3 
 
 PAGB 
 
 break the chains of sectarianism. An appeal to the spiritually 
 favored ones, and to fathers and mothers, for assistance. 
 Ignorance develops suffering and is a sin. Remorse erased, 
 how. Individuality required for happiness in future life. 
 The purposes to which wealth should be applied. The heaven- 
 bound duty of the stronger. Consequences of not realizing 
 this duty while on earth. Spiritual sunlight, from whence, and 
 its results. Spiritual knowledge is no belief — is founded 
 upon the sublimest facts, and sustained by the All Infinite. 
 Seek it, oh brother, and angel guardians will assist and protect 
 
 you 173 
 

Benjamin Haman. 
 
 By Spirit Artist, Wella Anderson. 
 
WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS 
 TO HUMANITY. 
 
 Communication of Ben Haman. 
 
 April z?, 1879. 
 
 Your band is very large. We must give your friends opportunity to 
 benefit themselves and you. 
 
 THE Liberal Spiritual Philosophy is wide and deep. 
 Many who have investigated understand but a small 
 portion of the truth. God or Deity, in his infinite wisdom, 
 has made laws more perfect than mortals can comprehend. 
 The human race is just emerging out of pagan ideas, pagan 
 forms, and pagan habits. 
 
 The development of this science, which is drawn from 
 nature, expands and electrifies the human mind, which is 
 spirit. Spirit is essence divine, and is imparted from Deity, 
 the great fountain of magnetism. Magnetism, so termed, is 
 the life essence of the human body ; the cultivation of it is 
 development into the science of the natural laws. Those 
 laws constituting force develop the spirit to comprehend more 
 perfectly how mortals live, and give a true knowledge of God, 
 the infinite creator of all things good and evil. 
 
 There is but one power Supreme. Although we have been 
 in spirit-life many centuries we do not yet comprehend that 
 supreme power. We see the beautiful creation, and glory in 
 the magnificence of that all-potent will, creating everything 
 to purify and electrify the senses of every developed spirit. 
 
1 6 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMAAUTY. 
 
 Through the development of this sixth sense, which is 
 spirit-power to comprehend, we penetrate the potent laws 
 which control spiritual beings, as well as mortals in the 
 material. Through a development of this sense, we discover 
 that there is a law in the elements, which the ordinary human 
 faculties have not discovered (nor can they comprehend it, 
 until the sixth sense, so termed, is developed to a certain 
 standard, to draw in this magnetic power imparted by 
 Nature's laws), which develops the faculties of humanity, and 
 draws them nearer to God, the all-wise, all-loving, and the 
 sublime in purity, and which gives strength both to the 
 material body and spiritual faculties. 
 
 This divine law has revealed to us, that the human spirit 
 must repeat itself in different forms, incarnating in different 
 bodies until it obtains individuality. Individuality is a power 
 adhering to the spirit, perfecting it, making it competent to 
 work out through its own individuality the various expe- 
 riences, 1 which every individualized spirit must seek to obtain. 
 Not until this individuality is acquired, can it enter the 
 superior spheres. You comprehend but vaguely that you 
 have lived before. Your spirit faculties will receive by 
 intuition, and you will learn to comprehend and realize per- 
 fectly that you have lived before. 
 
 The spirit develops through this magnetic power every 
 faculty that pertains to advancement and perfection. Look 
 about you, see degraded mortals on every side of you ! 
 
 Since you understand that spiritual power depends upon 
 the development of the faculties in the attainment of knowl- 
 edge and refinement, in acquiring a power which enables a 
 mortal to work for himself, what spiritual faculties do you 
 suppose they possess ? There are none who can attain the 
 faculty, the knowledge of this power in one life, — therefore 
 life must repeat itself. 
 
 1 Experiences. — Instruction and enlightenment. Practical wisdom learned 
 or obtained by the changes and trials of life. 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN II AM AN. \J 
 
 What is life, but spirit ? The outgrowth of the supreme 
 intelligence, extending from the spheres beyond, drawing 
 from the fountain of life, the deified attributes of the great 
 fountain of life. 
 
 Every plant, every flower, every shrub, will prove to you 
 that reincarnation is a truth. In the first formation of this 
 globe, when all was a vast desert of water, rock, and soil, 
 when vegetation first developed itself, how many thousand 
 years of repetition until the stately oak was developed from 
 a sprig of moss ! Then through these various changes, after 
 the oak-tree had spread its branches, and the fig-tree had 
 borne its fruit, how many thousand other years, before a 
 human hand had planted a seed or gathered in the fruits of 
 the soil ! 
 
 The rivers and vast sea produced the animal development. 
 The germs of life were impregnated through the elements, 
 by nature's laws. Those living germs still inhabit the ele- 
 ments surrounding you. They do not impart the same power 
 now as formerly ; there has been a change since the develop- 
 ment of the human race. You find living animalcula in the 
 water too numerous to mention. Those living atmospheric 
 germs, impregnating the alcamoles of the water, obtain sub- 
 stance by which they develop and grow. They now fre- 
 quently impart to the human race diseases and plagues 
 which cause so many to perish ; both human beings and ani- 
 mals are daily breathing in those living germs which, coming 
 in contact with certain elementary conditions in their system, 
 readily develop and destroy the physical body. 
 
1 8 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 Communication of Dr. William Shippen. 
 
 April 18, 1879. 
 
 Dr. William Shippen, chief medical director of the army under Wash- 
 ington, announced himself. 
 
 WELL, S , Persevere. Keep up a hopeful spirit. 
 All men have their ups and downs in the material 
 form, and you know it. It remains for every one to work out 
 of the crude conditions. It is true that you think you have 
 had experiences, but there are many who have had more 
 bitter experiences than you. 
 
 Do you know what this mission has been imposed on you 
 for ? To develop your own spirit. God never intended that 
 any one should be idle in this life. Everybody has a mis- 
 sion to fill, and that mission leads to experience. Natural 
 
 experiences of life are essential to progress. S , one must 
 
 learn to be independent. For that we have to learn in spirit- 
 life, if not here. We can only help ourselves by becoming 
 independent. This independence, or self-reliance, individu- 
 alizes, develops the spirit. When you become independent, 
 the power of your spirit will control those who are with you 
 in spirit. Will-power is a potency only to be cultivated 
 through knowledge. 
 
 Confucius comes from a high and holy sphere, his influence 
 is so pure, he can only be felt by a pure mortal. W. S. 
 
 Confucius announces himself. " My blessing be upon you, 
 and may the blessing of the divine father always attend you. 
 Bright hopes will give your spirit strength. Your thoughts 
 are but reflections thrown off and taken up by ourselves. 
 After careful analysis of those thoughts, we see what would be 
 good for you and what not. Reflections are the attributes 
 of the spirit and convey to us clear ideas of your spiritual 
 powers. We know then through this observation in what we 
 have to assist you the most. You are yet a pupil. You 
 
SECOND COMMUNICATION OF BEN II AM AN. 1 9 
 
 must attract will-force. Cultivate will-force to attract spirit- 
 force, helping your fellow-man all you can. By always aspir- 
 ing to truth and spiritual purity you will develop this power 
 which is now unfolding itself within you. Always look on 
 the bright side with a cheerful desire to impart benefit to 
 those who suffer. We have sympathy for our fellow-man, al- 
 though we are at a great distance from this sphere. Since the 
 great Allah, who created you, created me and all our fellow- 
 brothers, should we not interest ourselves in them, as he 
 does in us ? He is all wisdom, all purity, all love. He aids 
 all, both good and evil, without intermission. Both share alike 
 the benefit of his wonderful sympathy, and love and kind- 
 ness. We should follow the example of his creative power, 
 in giving our assistance to those whom we can benefit, who 
 need more life and light. The darkness which surrounds 
 mankind is so dense, we require material assistance, so that 
 we may benefit them. Be faithful to us, as we are to you. 
 Allah has blessed you in giving you this gift, this power 
 through which we can relieve suffering. 
 
 " May the influence of peace, the influence of love, the in- 
 fluence of harmony, abide with you forever and ever, 'till you 
 join us in this beautiful land of brightness, of love, and of 
 sympathy, is Confucius's prayer for his assisting friend and 
 brother. Amen. Peace be with you — good day. C. — " 
 
 Second Communication of Ben Haman. 
 
 Aprils 18, 1879. 
 
 WE feel the necessity of this theme. Our thoughts are 
 not idle and vague, but natural and tangible at times, 
 always desirous of making impressions on individuals. We 
 live and love and sympathize with our fellow-man. Knowing 
 and realizing what we have passed through, we deem it our 
 
20 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 duty to help our material brothers and sisters ; so that they 
 may be happier in this life, and not make it a failure, as most 
 of them do, who pass over into the new-born life. 
 
 That you have lived before, and that mortals in general 
 have lived before who now live in the form, is an absolute 
 fact founded upon the highest truth ; and proves itself, both 
 in spiritual and material life. It is natural for man to be 
 born again to perfect and aid his spiritual progress. It is 
 essential he should pass through various experiences in this 
 life, perfecting his spiritual identity, which he can do by 
 studying this divine philosophy. 
 
 Jesus of Nazareth was a reformer. His teachings were 
 not accepted, they were premature, for the human race 
 was just emerging out of that darkness and barbarism in 
 which antiquity committed so much crime. This philosophy 
 was taught by the Nazarene ; the fatherhood of God, and the 
 brotherhood of man ; but on account of the undeveloped and 
 .crude material condition of the human race, men could not 
 accept it. Paganism, so called, predominated in the human 
 mind or spirit. Thirst for blood and revenge for wrong-doing 
 was practised at that day to such an extent, that it almost 
 obliterated the identity of a spiritual being incarnate. A 
 few who gave themselves up to fasting and prayer, could be 
 approached by pure influences in spirit, and be impressed or 
 inspired to speak words of truth and wisdom, encouraging 
 reformation, advising their fellow mortals to live more har- 
 monious and purer lives. 
 
 When the Nazarene spoke those burning words of truth, he 
 was inspired by Moses, Abraham, and Elisha. They guided 
 him and communed with him whenever he wished information 
 pertaining to the celestial. They instructed him what course 
 to pursue in order to develop this power and make an im- 
 pression on mankind; not being successful, his death was 
 premature. It was not ordained by the Divine power, but by 
 the vindictive Romans, who, pagan-like, sought to destroy 
 
SECOND COMMUNICA TION OF BEN HAM AN. 2 I 
 
 everything that pertained to refinement, culture, and spiritual 
 progress. What condition or position do you suppose those 
 mortals occupy, after they lay off their material bodies ? 
 How much spiritual identity do you presume them to have 
 developed ? having lived lives of recklessness and revenge, — 
 undeveloped evil predominating in their whole career — giv- 
 ing all thought to the sensual and the material — paying no 
 attention whatever to spiritual culture ; consequently there 
 was no spiritual identity developed. Entering into spiritual 
 life with so little power or strength, there is a natural ten- 
 dency to downward progress, incarnating in another form, and 
 attaining strength through material magnetism. The spirit 
 seeks to attain its development through material organs, and 
 every wrong must be set aright, and every evil deed must be 
 transformed into some good work, making compensation for 
 that which was omitted in the past life, by working out good 
 effects, accomplishing good works, by assisting to unfold and 
 develop the spiritual nature of yourself and your fellow-man. 
 Ofttimes the spirit must pass through a severe trial, an or- 
 deal of suffering and disappointment, resulting in the de- 
 velopment of the faculties. Remember we are depending on 
 material magnetism to reveal this divine truth to humanity. 
 It must and will be accepted, for through this the human race 
 must be purified. Life is not yet understood, nor is it known 
 why you exist at all. 
 
 The great Creator has a purpose in creating everything. 
 Forests, fruits, and vegetation are created for the benefit of 
 the human race. Man stands above all ; endowed with in- 
 tellectual and spiritual faculties incarnated with the Divine 
 essence of the Creator, which is spirit indestructible. Con- 
 sequently, man, being the superior creation, should seek to 
 cultivate the capacities of his organization, the organic life prin- 
 ciple of this great power. Spirit, indeed, is Divine essence, 
 and man can become like the Creator, just as much as the 
 son can become like his material father ; the material father 
 
22 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 impregnating the fetus of the unborn babe with natural ma- 
 terial habits or inclinations. Just so the spiritual advance- 
 ment: by exerting the mental capacities through the power of 
 the will, you unfold the spiritual sense, which lies imbedded 
 within the physical organs, and which requires cultivation 
 through and by observation as well as material physical 
 experiences. 
 
 That divine essence, or spirit, emanating from the crea- 
 tive power is impregnated through the organs of the female. 
 By inhalation through respiration she imparts the life essence 
 to the fetus, the male giving but the essential portion of 
 liquid essence, which could not impregnate the life if the fe- 
 male respiration did not impart the more essential portion, 
 which is spiritual. B. H. 
 
 At this point I asked a question, which act, Ben Haman 
 
 said, broke the electric chord of communication. He warned 
 
 me not to do so again, and requested me to bring the above 
 
 .communication along and read the last part of it at the next 
 
 sitting. 
 
 Communication of R. D. Owen. 
 
 THIS medium little knows what great good she could do, 
 if she paid attention to her controls. Those who have 
 a good medium, and can place confidence in that medium, are 
 blessed mortals in the form. 
 
 Friend S , I see you, too, have a spiritual gift. It is your 
 
 duty to cultivate it, you owe it to mankind. No one was 
 created to live for himself alone. He should help others ; 
 as the great God above helps all, so you should seek to help 
 your brother man. 
 
 Mediums are instruments. Just as musical instruments 
 give sound to the magnetic touch of the individual, just so 
 mediums convey expressions to mortals in this material life. 
 
THIRD COMMUNICATION OF BEN II A MAN 23 
 
 The finer the instrument, the more perfect and refined are the 
 spiritual influences that express themselves through them. A 
 highly strung instrument gives a more perfect tone. So with 
 the medium : the more sensitive, the more spiritual in nature ; 
 the purer the habits, the more cultivated and developed are 
 the influences that come within their atmosphere. 
 
 Beware of all mediums who are not spiritually natured : if 
 such give themselves up to undeveloped material influences, 
 they cannot impart that satisfaction to the soul or spirit 
 which those who seek the true philosophy of spiritual 
 progress desire. Now, when we look about us, and see so 
 much undeveloped good, we regret that we have not the 
 power of the gods beyond, that we might withdraw from 
 earth and its dark scenes of sorrow and suffering. Still 
 there is a feeling of love and sympathy which impels us 
 to work and assist those who desire to be aided and will re- 
 ceive us, and give attention to our advice and instructions. 
 Yes, we can benefit all who may come within the atmosphere 
 of the medium, who make themselves receptive ; we will de- 
 velop their spiritual sight, that they may see and understand 
 how to work out of their undeveloped condition, by throwing 
 off the crude material and developing the spiritual sense. 
 
 Third Communication of Ben Haman. 
 
 May 1, 1879. 
 
 AFTER reading two or three sentences of the last com- 
 munication, Ben Haman continued, — The essential 
 portion through respiration is the magnetic electric power, 
 which is the vitality of life. Now the infant is born into the 
 material life with the first respiration of oxygenic atmosphere. 
 The spirit essence divine awaiting in attendance,. influenced 
 and assisted by individualized spirits, assimilates itself with 
 this material infant body. 
 
24 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 Nature knows no retrogression. It is true, each incarna- 
 tion is a step toward elevating the spirit, and is therefore 
 designed and ordained by the superior creative power. 
 
 Natural laws by observation will reveal to you in every 
 plant, in every shrub, the law of progression to perfection. 
 Take, for instance, the oak-tree of last season. Note the 
 shades of the leaves, also count the branches minutely ; and 
 this season make the same observation, and see if there is 
 not a change ; the foliage thicker and more splendid in color 
 and hue, a replenishment of the branches, an addition to the 
 trunk, even in root and bark. Take the little wild flower, 
 bring it into your garden, give it attention, place it near some 
 flower of rarity. You will soon see a change of color, the 
 flower becoming fuller and brighter and more perfect. Gar- 
 den culture improves fruit-trees and vegetation in general 
 with every growth. In a variety of seasons, the vegetation 
 and floral display become more perfect and more beautiful ; 
 so it is with the immortal human spirit. Through repetition 
 and change, the crude material which makes the physical 
 body so gross is thrown off, giving the spirit, through physi- 
 cal experiences and through the natural laws of nature, 
 power to progress. When the mind or spirit attains a 
 certain degree of knowledge, it seeks for the superior in- 
 tellectual knowledge which lies externally all about you. 
 Through the magnetic power the invisibles work and assist 
 in its unfoldment. 
 
 Spiritual culture can only be attained through the laws of 
 nature, which the invisibles use as an art to cultivate the 
 spirit incarnate. These spirits incarnated, having had ex- 
 periences in spirit life, in particle and essence, are one and 
 the same with those who control in spirit. Consequently 
 they can assimilate with each other as acid with alkali. 
 
 The human race, viewing it from this present standpoint, 
 lacks in efficiency for want of this spiritual culture. The 
 animal or material propensities predominating both in char- 
 
THIRD COMMUNICATION OF BEN HAMAA r . 2"j 
 
 acter and material, the spirit, not having the organic condi- 
 tions to work through, is unable to receive the magnetic ex- 
 pressions which are constantly imparted from the superior 
 sources. By observing carefully the laws which we are now 
 unfolding to your mental capacities, you will readily observe 
 that you can add much to your spiritual nature. 
 
 Admitting that the physical organic life is imparted by the 
 parents, the soul, being that electric magnetic power which 
 adheres to the physical body, needs the assistance of the 
 spirit to cultivate and strengthen it. Authors have frequently 
 united soul and spirit as one principle. They are identically 
 separate as long as they inhabit this earthly body. The soul 
 performs the animal functions to the physical body, which is 
 material organic life. The spirit being the essence divine, 
 emanating from the creative power, has its origin beyond the 
 vacuo of space in the interior heavens, unapproachable by 
 spirit perceptions, unless thoroughly individualized and in- 
 comprehensible by man ; that great creative power, in 
 whose potency are consistent the virtues of love, purity, 
 and power. That essence so potent and divine throws off 
 expressions or thoughts, thoughts which are expressions 
 intellectual. Each thought or each expression contains a 
 life-germ which is spirit. These life-germs incarnated in 
 material bodies constitute the present human race. Now, in 
 the beginning, these expressions are very faint and weak, 
 scarcely perceptible after becoming enveloped in this crude 
 material body, which vegetates and perishes the same as 
 animal and vegetable matter. The spirit requires external 
 conditions to assist it in unfolding the spiritual nature of 
 itself. The grosser the body, the weaker the spirit manifests 
 itself. Consequently it is essential that you should cultivate 
 the physical body, spiritualizing it by strict attention to diet, 
 and habits, and modes of life ; never forgetting that the soul 
 takes from the material body certain elements which add 
 strength and purity to the spiritual body, and are essential to 
 
26 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 its development. For the soul lies folded within the physical 
 body as the butterfly within the chrysalis. If the physi- 
 cal body is carefully nourished the spiritual faculties can 
 work through its organs, assisting its development through 
 its experiences and various unfoldments which are essential 
 to its strength and development. When the spirit attains 
 its development through experience, it unfolds the intellect 
 which the spirit requires, so that it may attain its individ- 
 uality. Experience in this material life aids the spirit to 
 progress by being informed of natural facts, and unfolding 
 its identity to the great God principle. Very few minds have 
 a conception of how small the first expression thrown off 
 from Deity is. It is but a thought devoid of shape or form, 
 an intellectual thought. 
 
 N.B. I have given a higher communication than ever 
 before given to mortal. — B. H. 
 
 Communication of Confucius. 
 
 May f, 1879. 
 
 CONFUCIUS. May the great Allah bless you. May he 
 impart this divine essence to you, strengthen you, and 
 preserve you for material spiritual duties. 
 
 I come to you, my beloved brother, laden with the fragrance 
 of the spirit-land, desiring to impart it to you and assist you 
 in this noble work toward humanity. We pray that Allan 
 may give us strength and power, wisdom and knowledge, that 
 we may work together in this beautiful truth as two buds 
 within one blossom, diffusing the fragrance of this magnetic 
 emanation over all with whom you may come in contact, 
 imparting love and sympathy and charity to mankind, assist- 
 ing to unfold their spiritual natures, bringing them nearer to 
 that great fountain of love and knowledge, intertwining their 
 
FOURTH COMMUNICATION OF BEN HAM AN. 2J 
 
 thoughts with the sublimer and purer spiritual beings, de- 
 veloping them in nature to comprehend that they are a part 
 of that divine principle through whom we live and exist. 
 
 Now may Allah bless thee, dear and faithful brother, may 
 you ever realize that happiness which Confucius desires to 
 impart to you in perfecting your happiness, by realizing the 
 joys and happiness which you will be enabled to impart to 
 your fellow-man. Allah gives me strength to impart to you, 
 and thy wisdom shall exceed that of others, for you draw it 
 from the fountain of life, that gives you strength to work in 
 the cause of the human race. Blessed be all who receive it 
 through thee ; may their eyes be open to the truth divine and 
 the life and the light which lead to true happiness. Amen. 
 Our union is closer now, since me meet more often. Allah 
 bless you. Good-day. 
 
 A 
 
 Fourth Communication of Ben Haman. 
 
 May 8, 1879. 
 N intellectual thought, but not all thoughts are intel- 
 lectual. This germ contains an intellectual spark, 
 which is life. That spark incarnates the moment the infant 
 draws its first breath in this material atmosphere. The 
 mother imparts the material part, which is magnetism con- 
 taining life-germs, impregnated through the circulation of 
 her blood, flowing through the placenta to the fetus. Now 
 you have the two distinct life principles, soul and spirit, 
 which are separate in the material body, the soul lying in 
 the material as the butterfly in the chrysalis ; every aliena- 
 tion of the soul lying in the physical body, as perceptible 
 as the butterfly in the chrysalis. The chrysalis, passing 
 through certain changes, develops into the butterfly, when 
 nothing but the shell remains. So the soul within the material 
 body. In death the soul, which is individualized magnetism, 
 
28 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 emerges or withdraws from the material body, gradually con- 
 centrating power, and, uniting itself with the spirit, becomes 
 the spirit body. The development of spiritual power gives 
 the soul its reflections in brilliancy or otherwise, according 
 to what it may have acquired in experiences. If through 
 many repetitions the spirit has become individualized, its 
 appearance is of a bright aura. Experiences in the material 
 life constitute individuality. No spirit can become indi- 
 vidualized, unless it has repeated experiences of this mate- 
 rial life, and those experiences must vary in every branch of 
 knowledge in every mortal. This is not generally under- 
 stood, and yet it is essential. If the human race could 
 comprehend, they could make many more experiences in a 
 less number of lives. 
 
 The influx of this power is a great help in developing the 
 spiritual nature of mankind. It draws them nearer to the 
 spiritual. In giving their thoughts to spiritual things, which 
 are not earthy, they make conditions for their spiritual 
 guides to work upon their mental faculties, developing the 
 sensorium, unfolding that organ, and making it receptive 
 to impressional power. Remember, there is not an act com- 
 mitted nor a thought diffused which is not assisted by spirit 
 magnetism. We control the material organs of this life. 
 When the physical organization is so developed that it is 
 flexible to our influence, our impressions are more readily 
 understood and followed to the benefit of the individual's 
 physical body as well as his spiritual nature. 
 
 This spiritual-power-germ belongs to the material body, 
 and is as natural and necessary as the five distinct material 
 senses, which are seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and^feeT-' 
 ing. The sixth sense is the spiritual sense, which reaches 
 out externally, intellectually, and spiritually. It grasps ex- 
 ternally from above through the sensorium, working through 
 the magnetic emanations of the material body, and is con- 
 trolled by the material body as its sustenance depends upon 
 
COMMUNICATION OF H. S. 2Q 
 
 that which the material body takes in for its sustenance and 
 maintenance. 
 
 If the body takes in gross material for subsistence, it 
 becomes crude, coarse, and inflexible, developing the material 
 too strong, so that the spirit has very little room to develop 
 and penetrate the inflexible organs. 
 
 Mind is matter in a refined state, and is aided by the 
 growth of the physical body ; drawing substance from the 
 material body, it in a manner resembles the same. It is, 
 therefore, essential that the human race, should live more on 
 vegetables and fruit, so that this material body develop more 
 spiritual conditions in its emanations. The aura of a drunk- 
 ard or of a glutton, is dark and murky, the spirit incarnate 
 has no conditions to elevate or expand itself. How essential 
 it is that these truths be taught ; were they there would be less 
 suffering and more intelligence developed. The human race 
 would become intellectualized and spiritualized in nature. 
 They would not acquire habits out of impressions made upon 
 the fetus by the parental will. 
 
 Note. — I want to diffuse this information among the philosophic minded 
 Spiritualists. I wish it understood that the spiritual philosophy must moralize 
 the human race — make them spiritually purer and philosophically more moral 
 . . . gleamings of truths, we may hand down that an infant can comprehend why 
 you give it impressions. B. H. 
 
 Communication of H. S. 
 
 H.- S. (my father) — I must come to say a few words of 
 encouragement to you. Do not let anything interfere with 
 your work. I did not think much of this when on Earth 
 (translated February, 1839). My mind was occupied on a 
 material plane, and did not give much thought to this. 
 
 I want you to understand how happy we are that we can 
 communicate. We are drawn to this earth sphere, not for a 
 
30 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 material purpose, but out of love for my children and their 
 spiritual welfare, which I had not thought of so much when I 
 lived in the physical body. I then looked out for your phys- 
 ical welfare and the physical happiness of all my children. 
 I thought if you all were educated for a profession of some 
 kind, all that duty required, which was essential, was done. 
 True, in one sense of the word. I never dreamed I was neg- 
 lecting a duty, a serious duty, which I now realize with so much 
 conscientiousness that I am compelled to come and show you 
 the true way, the road to happiness. Through revealing this 
 power to you we are benefiting ourselves. By lightening the 
 burdens of others, we develop ourselves. We give too much 
 (thought) to the material while we live in the material body, 
 too little to the spiritual. I had always striven to be honest 
 with everybody. I never did a dishonorable act to any one, 
 and I was consequently happy. I wanted to come to im- 
 press it on my boys, that the temptations of this life are so 
 great that they need spiritual assistance . . . temptations 
 and physical surroundings and influences affect more or less, 
 unless you are strongly guarded by the spiritual influence 
 which you attract. 
 
 Rush and Fanny little know how much good they would 
 derive from it if they would give their minds to spiritual 
 communications ; life would become a heaven upon earth, if 
 they realized this philosophy. 
 
 We will not give anything but the good, the pure, and the 
 elevating. 
 
 Communication to Ed. 
 
 ED, God is with us in this work. It is the second coming 
 of Christ, the advent. Now that this truth is diffusing 
 itself in the form of magnetism, it can't help but benefit the 
 human race ; because magnetism is inhaled through respira- 
 
COMMUNICATION OF JUDGE ELLIOT. 31 
 
 tion. Could you see it as we do, the greed of the spirits to 
 communicate with mortals on this sphere, you would not then 
 hesitate a moment to develop this gift of yours which will 
 benefit so many in spirit-life and on earth. 
 
 Ed, we have a beautiful home ; we don't remain in it. As 
 
 long as there is an S in the material form, we will come 
 
 to assist and develop them. Ed, be patient with your boys, do 
 not debate too much with them. . . . May God bless you, and 
 may you always feel that there is a spiritual guide with you, 
 assisting you in working out this great truth. 
 
 F 
 
 Communication of Judge Elliot. 
 
 L — El — El — El — El — damn it, Judge El — (Elliot ? 
 -*— ' suggested by me) yes, I am somewhat confused. (I 
 suppose this is the first time you have communicated?) 
 Yes, it is. That man, Bo — Bo — I can't call his name. (You 
 mean Buford ?) Yes, Buford is as sane a man as you are. He 
 will suffer. Remorseful influences will be his punishment. 
 We don't want him up here. We don't want him sent up 
 here. He had a private interview with me before — (It is 
 damn funny that I could not speak distinctly until you put 
 your hands on this woman's throat). He wanted me to 
 accede to his propositions, but I would not hear to them. 
 They will prove him insane, but that will not relieve him 
 . . . (spoke too fast). I have gotten over my scare. I've 
 gotten over that. I will attend that suit. I have power to 
 influence that. I will help (to form the verdict, I suppose) 
 . . . (too fast). 
 
 I have power to act and do now, (have as much influence 
 over others as when I was), in the material body. 
 
 I tell you there is as much of me as an Elliot, as there 
 ever was . . . There has got to be a change in the laws. 
 
32 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 The Constitution can't reach the case. A man's life is not 
 worth that (the medium snapping her fingers). 
 
 Judge Edmonds, whom I have met before, brought me here 
 to communicate. Said I would feel better by doing so. I 
 have met Lincoln, Washington, your father, and hosts of 
 others here . . . Good-by ; I will come again. 
 
 N.B. — Judge Elliot was shot down in the streets of Frank- 
 fort, Kentucky* a few days before this communication was 
 given. 
 
 Fifth Communication of Ben Haman. 
 
 May is, 1879. 
 
 GOOD-MORNING brother, with love and aspiration we 
 now meet to give you our thoughts. Please read a few 
 of the closing sentences of my last communication (after I 
 had read he continued). It is essential that every woman 
 who accepts the high and holy position of becoming a mother, 
 should study and acquaint herself with the sacred trust 
 assigned to her. Then mortals would be more receptive 
 to the pure intellectual thoughts, impressions (which is spirit) 
 which are daily attempted to be imparted, but which are 
 repelled, on account of the crude physical organization pro-, 
 duced from an undeveloped mind. 
 
 Just as an apple-tree brings forth fruit, according to its 
 cultivation, depending solely upon the feminine portion of its 
 elementary condition, so the offspring born in this life par- 
 takes entirely from the mother's will, nature, and spirit. Do 
 not wonder, then, at so many undeveloped mortals existing 
 on this sphere •, they are produced from uncultivated minds. 
 
 Every action of the mind, thought, and emotion of the 
 mother is transmitted, and causes a vibration of a sympathetic 
 chord or nerve in the fetus. Since mind influences the 
 fetus, it partakes largely from the disposition or passions of 
 
FIFTH COMMUNICATION OF BEN II AM AN. 33 
 
 the feminine will. The will influenced by anger, passion- 
 craving natures, selfishness, envy, and arrogance, all affect 
 the fetus more or less. Now, how essential it is that a 
 mother should be passive during gestation. How few there 
 are that are physically or mentally organized to take upon 
 themselves the holy responsibility of becoming a mother. 
 It is not considered, and little is comprehended of the 
 sacredness of that mission. There is a holy, spiritual emana- 
 tion that descends from the aromatic spheres of spiritual 
 productiveness, which is imparted to the infant at the moment 
 of its birth, — it is the divine essence of spiritual life. Now, 
 then, understand that that essence in its unfoldment is 
 exactly like what the mind of the mother has fashioned. 
 The brain of the fetus vibrates in unison with every feeling 
 which stirs the mother's brain, consequently the formation 
 of the psychical and mental organs depends wholly upon 
 the mother. Since so great a responsibility rests solely on 
 the female, she should be educated and instructed in the 
 philosophy of human nature. The attributes of love, sym- 
 pathy, and charity should be unfolded through the develop- 
 ment of her spiritual nature. Then she would be more 
 capable of producing better and purer minds. 
 
 Through the cultivation of the female mind, drawing them 
 nearer to spiritual things, obliterating the material, giving her 
 thoughts to purer aspirations, her mental faculties will per- 
 ceive and unfold themselves more to the pure and elevated 
 conditions of this material life, avoiding frivolity and sensu- 
 ality, cultivating her spirit, aspiring to a purer and brighter 
 spiritual attainment. Cultivating virtue in every sense is 
 her duty ; but this has been sadly neglected by the majority 
 of mothers. 
 
 These laws and habits once comprehended, will have a 
 tendency to moralize the human race, and perfect it both in 
 spiritual as well as physical habits. It is the violent, angry 
 passion of the mother that develops the germ of contention 
 
34 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 within the offspring. It is the craving, longing enmity-of the 
 mother that develops the germ of dishonor in her offspring. 
 
 Now I have given you an outline of the effect of the mind 
 of the mother upon the developing fetus. The father im- 
 parts but very little, mentally nothing, physically the whole. 
 He gives by impregnating the semen, the physical life-germ 
 in its essential positive force to the negative ovum, which 
 unites and forms the whole. Without the positive life-germ, 
 the negative could produce no object ; when united, the 
 moment of its blending with the ovum the two combine as 
 one, and there is life of the fetus. In this positive life-germ, 
 there is conveyed to the fetus blood and life of the material 
 of the male. Blood which contains the life contains nothing 
 of the soul, simply of the nature of the material. Conse- 
 quently the father gives from the material, blood and life ; 
 he gives nothing of his spirit or will. Some children par- 
 take of the nature of the father in their development ; not by 
 impartation through the semen, but simply by the father's 
 external habits making impressions on the mother, is any of 
 the mental characteristics of the father imparted to the 
 fetus or child. 
 
 The drunkard will make an impression on the mother. 
 Any violent passion, or any kind of mistreatment of the 
 mother, will make an impression upon her. That impression 
 is conveyed to the fetus ; it is not produced by her own will, 
 but by the external influences of the father. The father, 
 then, is also held responsible for every unkind act which he 
 may commit through ignorance at that time. If he does a 
 wrong act which shocks the mother, it is sure to make an 
 impression on the fetus. Therefore, the father, as well as 
 mother, should consider their responsibility in the production 
 and care of offspring as a sacred mission, to be performed 
 in compliance with nature's laws. 
 
 Children are flowers transplanted from the gardens of 
 spiritual spheres to those of this material planet. The seed 
 
COMMUNICATION OF CONFUCIUS. 35 
 
 impregnated in good soil, when properly cultivated, will bring 
 forth beautiful flowers, delicious in their fragrance, and 
 resplendent in their beautiful colors. Likewise the little 
 child, depending largely upon the material drawn from the 
 matron, grows and expands, its mental attributes affinitizing 
 with and closely resembling those of its mother. 
 
 Having given an outline of correct ideas, as to the develop- 
 ment of the fetus, I must state, that any habit which the 
 father or his ancestors may have indulged in promiscuously, 
 is conveyed in the semen to the fetus, in the first stage of 
 its development. That, too, should be a study. 
 
 They who have a deficient organization are not fitted to 
 become parents, and should not accept the holy mission, for 
 if they do they bring misery and suffering upon themselves 
 and the helpless beings they are instrumental in bringing 
 into this life. 
 
 Note. — This is the book the Chicago medium told you you were to make. 
 I want you to understand, prophecy can occur now as well as eighteen hundred 
 years ago. B. H. 
 
 May is, 1879. 
 
 Confucius comes from his sphere above out of sympathy 
 and love, helping his brother in his material life to attain 
 power from fruits that are ripe. 
 
 I want to give you a little philosophy, dear brother, since 
 we are on the fair road of progress, I wish to speak upon 
 higher intellectual philosophies. 
 
 Have you any idea how time is occupied by us in the 
 spiritual spheres ? Each one that passes over, if the intel- 
 lectual germ of identity is developed sufficiently to compre- 
 hend the change, takes his place within the spirit sphere 
 wherever his inclination or will draws him. Consequently 
 you will understand that vety few ascend to a very high 
 position, being adapted more to the material Self being 
 
36 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 essentially material, they give more to the material, and the 
 spiritual inclination being drawn more to the material, they 
 locate where the reflections interblend with their desires. 
 Many of these, returning to earth, being controlled by influ- 
 ences that stand upon materialistic planes, cannot give you the 
 pure spiritual, intellectual ideas that flow from the fount of 
 wisdom ; being themselves but pupils in the great school 
 of nature, they are not able - to grasp those ideas and ex- 
 pressions at once, but must await the development of their 
 mental faculties, in realizing the true laws which lie round 
 about them ; through the unfoldment of which they can com- 
 prehend that there is an inner life beyond this material 
 atmosphere which interblends with the purer essences of 
 Deity, varying in color. Their perceptiveness cannot fully 
 comprehend, and if they do comprehend, they cannot give 
 expression to their thoughts, no more than you can all that 
 you feel within yourself. Incompatibility is assisted through 
 nature's laws. Living in the spiritual atmosphere and attended 
 By superior influences, the spiritual perceptiveness unfolds 
 itself and attains a power or strength by which it is able to 
 throw off expressions. Those expressions are received by 
 yourself in your material body, and greatly assist in the way 
 of progression. In this sphere it is a general thing that 
 mortals are guided entirely by reflections thrown off by spirit- 
 ual beings, causing impressions to be made upon the mental 
 organs of their material body. 
 
 Comprehending this as you do, you will readily know why 
 I do not always attend you. You have more than one home 
 in the spirit spheres. " In my father's house are many man- 
 sions," for you and all who seek to progress. 
 
 It is only by cultivating the mind that your spirit outgrows 
 the lower murky spheres, and ascends to the glorified realms 
 of spiritual law and harmony. None there are that can 
 attain to this elevated position at their first entrance into 
 spiritual life. Through perseverance, energy, and works of 
 
COMMUNICATION OF CONFUCIUS. 37 
 
 love and kindness, by helping each other, by giving strength 
 to one who is weak and frail, too timid to take a step lest he 
 should fall, raising him up as a father would his loving child, 
 through works of love, through deeds of kindness, the 
 immortalized spirit ascends into the spheres of love and har- 
 mony. Good will to all mankind, charity for all. 
 
 Be the faithful friend of every child of earth, 
 
 You cannot say of one, he hath ignoble birth ; 
 
 For on the brow of every one, though dark that brow may be, 
 
 We trace the signet seal of God in his humanity. 
 
 And when earth's children seek your aid 
 
 You dare not stay your hand, 
 
 For 'tis within your power to aid, 
 
 You hear the Christ command. 
 
 Like wayward birds storm-staid at night 
 
 They'll in your home find rest, 
 
 So you will take those little ones 
 
 And fold them to your breast. 
 
 They are little ones compared to you, who have attained 
 so much knowledge, so much power. You can benefit the 
 soul by laying on your hands. You not only help the body, 
 but the spirit also. You reach out into the vacuum of space 
 with your mind that is pure ; we impart magnetic power to 
 you ; with your assistance they are benefited from our foun- 
 tain of magic essence. 
 
 " In my father's house are many mansions." Where are 
 they located ? Looking through the veil which obscures the 
 real from that which is imperfect, you will observe that light 
 and darkness are very distinct objects. The light imparts 
 happiness and gladness to the soul, electrifying the senses, 
 replenishing the mental power with clear perceptiveness ; 
 the darkness developing deeds of undeveloped nature, giving 
 shadowy outlines to shadowy things ; they dare not approach, 
 but yet through obscure conditions they work in undeveloped 
 material. 
 
38 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 Following the light, you observe in distant spheres circle 
 after circle of spiritual souls basking in the sunlight of hap- 
 piness, interblending with the great principle of love, holding 
 their communion with the superior forces, that add to and 
 replenish their strength through the baptism of the pure 
 magic aura that descends upon them. This aura is handed 
 down from sphere to sphere until it reaches your material 
 sphere, through the monitors, the mediums that are in 
 receptiveness, and diffusing it in the midst of the great 
 human family. 
 
 Prayer ascends. Prayer, when spiritually uttered, reaches 
 circle after circle to whatever circle your adaptions or incli- 
 nations may have ascended. 
 
 Prayer is the expression of the soul or spirit, which your 
 attending guides convey to the next sphere, from thence to 
 the attending spheres, untib it reaches the superior intellect- 
 ual forces, which transmit the response through approxima- 
 tion back to your individual self. Prayers are assistant 
 thoughts that work out material effects. 
 
 We have to stop now, this electrical storm interferes with 
 our conditions. 
 
 Sixth Communication of Ben Haman. 
 
 May 22, iS/g. 
 
 BROTHER AND CO-WORKER, I greet you, — It is 
 not generally understood that the physical body should 
 be prepared, as well as the mental organs, to make it receptive, 
 and bring about conditions harmonious for the infant. The 
 interblending powers which lie in nature will assist largely in 
 unfolding the faculties of the mother, if she directs her thoughts 
 upon them. They are nothing more than spiritual influences, 
 which can impart impressions on her mental faculties. 
 
 The physical body is exactly what its growth hath devel- 
 
SIXTH COMMUNICATION OF BEN II A MAN 39 
 
 oped. Spiritual beings cannot add as much to the physical 
 as to the mental. The physical pertains to what it has 
 received in its maturing development from the very embryo, 
 whatever may have been imparted to it from its progenitors. 
 
 Remember, always, that diseases are imparted by the 
 father, as well as by the mother. Consequently, diseased 
 physical bodies should never submit themselves to give life 
 to offspring. In doing so they sin against nature's most 
 holy laws, and the sin not only imparts suffering to them- 
 selves, but to generations of sensitive beings compelled to 
 live out a suffering existence. An ignorant man, in the dark 
 envelope that surrounds him, cannot see this, cannot see the 
 error he is committing, in thus giving himself up to passionate 
 desires and sensual lust. It is therefore essential that more 
 attention be paid to this philosophy, the teachings of which, 
 in time, will unfold the faculties of the race, bring them 
 nearer to the pure influences, and make them receptive to 
 impressions imparted to them through magnetic assistance, 
 which gives strength and power to the will, which is spirit, 
 to control those passions, which have been imparted to the 
 individual body or soul by the parent. 
 
 When seated in a magic circle of minds that are desirous 
 to be benefited, the animal magnetism so termed will assimi- 
 late itself. In this negative state, the positive will-force in 
 the magnetic power comes to the assistance, equalizing tem- 
 peraments by impregnating the physical body, stimulates the 
 soul propensity, and makes it fully receptive to spiritual 
 influx ; adhering to the purer thoughts, which are spiritual 
 emanations, in advice imparted by the soul principle, which 
 gives expressions to the spiritual nature of the individual. 
 In this wise developing the spiritual nature of the individual 
 toward purer thoughts and purer aspirations, imparting a 
 tendency to aspire to higher and more intellectual truths, 
 throwing off the material adherence, aspiring to purer 
 thoughts, purer works and deeds, wholly outgrowing, as it 
 
40 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 a 
 
 were, the material, which is crude and gross. Where a mind 
 has a tendency to interblend with pure spiritual things, it 
 outgrows the crude material of this life, and interblends with 
 the more ethereal. In this wise you make conditions for the 
 spiritual forces to assist you. 
 
 When this position is attained by mortals, they can no 
 longer assimilate themselves or associate with the crude 
 material beings of this sphere. Spiritual intellect develops 
 a diversity of thoughts which, having their origination in 
 the superior spheres, have a tendency, a power, to draw the 
 mind above earthly things. Consequently, by paying strict 
 attention to thought conditions, one cannot avoid developing 
 the better part of his nature ; for sincerity and truth make 
 conditions for the superior forces to interblend and assist. 
 The spirit grows in strength according to the intellectual 
 unfoldment or what it may have acquired of knowledge. 
 Consequently, the mode of teaching here does not impart to 
 all alike, and cannot unfold the same comprehensive power 
 in every individual. 
 
 Objective teaching makes a deeper impression on the 
 young mind than that which you compel through reading 
 or by their own mental absorption. Advance (present) an 
 object, and you have assistance through influx, which throws 
 of! expressions ; and those expressions convey to the young 
 mind — which is always a negative more or less — (power to), 
 receive and comprehend them readily. Read historical facts 
 yourself, and if you convey them to a pupil, with a verbal 
 explanation, you convey the force of your expressive will, 
 and make a permanent impression. 
 
 The Pythagorean School, founded on intellectual sciences, 
 did not hand down in print, to the pupils of that later day, 
 the knowledge which the great philosopher had acquired. 
 Being students of nature, as well as material objects, they 
 imparted their knowledge to the student principally by objec- 
 tive teachings. The students received through impressions 
 
SIXTH COMMUNICATION OF BEN II A MAX. 41 
 
 every principle of information they could glean, and through 
 which the spirit might be impressed or educated. In this 
 wise the spirit acquires the power, the knowledge, and full 
 benefit, which unfolds the intellectual powers of the mind, 
 and gives it the combined negative and positive will-force. 
 
 When these forces are more readily understood, it will be 
 easier to teach the pupil through intuition, and confer upon 
 him a more permanent benefit. For impregnation of the 
 spiritual mind can never be thrown off if the physical organs 
 hold out in strength. 
 
 Education, so termed, is the only source of future power 
 in spirit, and just so long as the spirit is deficient in knowl- 
 edge and in experiences of this material life, it cannot enter 
 the celestial spheres, but prefers living on the same plane in 
 the spirit spheres. 
 
 Knowledge is power, and its potency acts entirely in will- 
 force, founded upon the highest principles of love and truth, 
 which the spirit can only acquire through perseverance, 
 energy, and faithful researches in nature's divine laws. It 
 matters not how many are born in this life, you will not find 
 a superabundance of these souls in spirit, simply because the 
 earthly experiences are essential to the spiritual development 
 in unfolding its attributes, which it can never obtain without 
 repetitions. How very weak, in the way of perccptiveness, 
 is the spiritual intellect in some mortals ! It is not always 
 organic malformation. Usually the experience of the spirits 
 has been too limited in their material researches. You must 
 give such sympathy, and have patience with them. They 
 require assistance ; their education cannot benefit them 
 much, especially on this sectarian plane ; it is too narrow- 
 minded, and can never make conditions for a full outflow of 
 spiritual thought. Mankind must, step by step, advance 
 toward the celestial shores of happiness. Thoughts must 
 become outgrowths — must be thrown out into space, so that 
 mortals can aspire to more intellectual truths; the proof of 
 
42 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 which we give you in verification is, that spirit cannot become 
 immortal in one existence. We term the spirit immortal 
 who has acquired this power. Few there are who attain 
 their individuality through spiritual growth, and the acquire- 
 ment of the potent attributes of spiritual power. 
 
 You become through a repetition of this life immortalized, 
 adding and re-adding strength to the perceptiveness of your 
 spiritual faculties, the outgrowth of which reaches far beyond 
 to the interior spheres, where the creative power enumerates 
 itself with theinterceptive forces of the divine laws, which, 
 in generality, the sense of man cannot comprehend, being too 
 material in nature ; not being developed through the sciences 
 of those magnetic laws, he can accept nothing more than his 
 material senses can reach out for. 
 
 Many had rather this physical, material life would con- 
 tinue as it is, as long as their material wants are supplied. 
 Many who are material in their habits would prefer to live 
 on this plane, it being more agreeable to their senses. 
 
 What would you do with such, but place them right upon 
 that plane ?• How many centuries they pass in that state we 
 will not enumerate. However, when the spark as a vapor 
 is thrown over them, some severe calamity or disappoint- 
 ment, behold they reach out — they grope in darkness as it 
 were, they cry forth in anguish and remorse. Some dear 
 one in sympathy coming to their assistance, unfolds his or 
 her love, and lifts them, as it were, out of the darkness into 
 light, placing them on their feet. If sufficiently strong to 
 stand alone they will then comprehend that they must work 
 in a new sphere, in a sphere of self-sustaining power. 
 
 When once comprehending this, they soon outgrow their 
 material surroundings and cultivate a power for spiritual 
 work. In this wise mortals are assisted through the various 
 spiritual arts, which interblend in expressions to all alike. 
 
 We must stop now, as many friends are seeking to com- 
 municate. We are desirous of bringing workers on to the 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HAM AN. 43 
 
 Christ plane who can accomplish in reform as noble and 
 more lasting works. 
 
 The pure outgrowth of the spirit flows in torrents over the 
 human race. Just as the sun diffuses its magnetic strength, 
 adding growth to material vegetation, so our magnetic power 
 must diffuse itself and give strength to perceptive organs to 
 develop and become purer in spirit and more lasting in effect. 
 
 We are in earnest, and know whereof we speak. We now 
 can tell you of heavenly things, which the Nazarene could 
 not on account of the ignorance prevailing at that time. 
 Man's nature is unfolding, and yields more to the spiritual 
 influences. Work on, brother, all will be well in the end. I 
 bid you good-day. 
 
 May 22, 187Q. 
 
 Confucius. — Hope gives you strength to work now, 
 brother, as our thoughts do blend. So love unites us ever 
 in working for a purer cause that draws us ever nearer. I 
 merely wish to say, hold firm. Duty calls in this great work 
 for earnest sincerity and zealous strength. We are banded 
 together. Our souls aspire to truth. We are determined 
 to aid earth's children to aspire in knowledge and truth. 
 Farewell, brother. 
 
 Communication of Ben Haman. 
 
 May 29, 1879. 
 
 AS the new light dawns upon man it vitalizes his physical 
 organs. It is nothing more than magnetic force 
 which surrounds every mortal in this life. There are two 
 different kinds of magnetism. The one imparts physical 
 strength, the other mental development. These forces, 
 
44 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 which lie imbedded in nature's laws, convey the very life 
 principle to the human system of which the generality are 
 ignorant. Not being educated in nature's laws and forces, 
 they cannot comprehend this power and the potency of its 
 benefit to the human race. Education forms character in 
 every sense of the word. For the spirit being drawn out 
 through the mental organ called sensorium, the external 
 verbal power interblends with every thought of the spirit. 
 When administered in a positive way to the negative, which 
 the individual must be in order to be receptive, it unfolds 
 faculty after faculty, and makes the comprehensive mind 
 impressive to the object. 
 
 When there is more attention paid to the natural education 
 in the material laws, children will be born with intellectual 
 organizations so that the spirit can acquaint itself with the 
 verbal truths which lie , imbedded in nature. This, through 
 magnetic power, is handed down from the superior spheres of 
 the immortals. 
 
 Draw the child's mind to an object, though it may not be 
 tangible or visible to the material eye, you can by explana- 
 tion direct the mind upon a fixed object in spiritual design, 
 and give it the true comprehension, unfolding faculty after 
 faculty. In this manner, the mind is made impressive to 
 spiritual influences, which are the educators of the present 
 age. They inspire mortals with new inventions, which are a 
 benefit to the human race in the way of manual labor, and 
 lighten the burden of toil, giving more rest to the physical 
 organs, making every condition that the human race may 
 pass through experiences of both physical toil and mental 
 advancement. 
 
 He who consumes his time in manual labor, the very strain 
 and pressure on the physical body, causes a numbness or 
 drowsiness to cramp his mental powers. Consequently, by 
 lightening this physical burthen by machinery and various 
 instruments, a better opportunity is afforded, and a greater 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HAM AN. 45 
 
 desire imparted to the spirit, to seek after spiritual knowledge. 
 The very faculties becoming more impressive to the material 
 surroundings, it is natural that a desire should develop itself 
 for spiritual elevation. A material body in a constant physi- 
 cal strain cannot develop much intellect in spirit. Those 
 organs being strained to their utmost capacity, are unfit to 
 perceive the beauty of the internal truths, which otherwise 
 would interblend to their unfoldment. Physical labor be- 
 longs to the lower element ; there are beings that must pass 
 through those experiences. At the same time, it is true that 
 by making conditions in lightening the burden of toil, the 
 spirit becomes more sensitive, awakens in strength, and real- 
 izes a natural desire for its advancement. If the laborer 
 has the right conditions in his surroundings, his labor can be 
 lightened through spirit influences. His material body be- 
 comes sensitive to this magnetic assistance, which strengthens 
 the organs of the physical body and develops the mental 
 capacities of the spirit. Gradually the tide of human prog- 
 ress will advance through this magnetic power, so that the 
 human family will become spiritualized in nature. 
 
 Strict attention should be paid to the magnetic surroundings 
 by making conditions in your own family, it being a duty 
 for every head of a family, father and mother, to make such 
 conditions ; no matter how weary from the cares of the day 
 and toils of manual labor, after taking a bath in cold water, 
 let all members of the family sit in a circle, extinguish the 
 light and fix their thoughts upon heavenly objects, and 
 thereby open the door for their spiritual friends to come in 
 rapport with their thoughts, and, understanding their material 
 thoughts and desires, work them out to their benefit, also 
 shower magnetism, which is the elixir of life, over them, re- 
 lieving them of their fatigue, and giving strength to their 
 nervous systems, thus preparing them in every way for the 
 next day's experience, imparting rest and healthful condi- 
 tions to their physical bodies. 
 
46 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 In this wise prayer is heard and worked upon, to the bene- 
 fit of those who make conditions. No family should be 
 reared without this law of spiritual affinity, which holds 
 good with all developed and undeveloped. For all hav- 
 ing their pure and impure attendants in spirit, according to 
 their nature in material, the power of attraction interblends 
 with whatever the thoughts are directed upon. 
 
 Let them begin on ever so low a material plane with a 
 sincere desire, the crudeness of the material nature will be 
 thrown off and the purer take its place. All are marching 
 on the same way of progress. No soul was ever infinitely 
 pure in its first stage of development. Certain experiences 
 are essential to draw out the spiritual germ which cultivates 
 itself, after realizing the external forces, and interblends with 
 the purer. 
 
 If it were not for evil, there could be no good. Good is 
 developed evil. The undeveloped power must have its essen- 
 tial experiences, and through its achievements the good 
 unfolds itself. There is no human nature that has not the 
 good and evil germ within it. Through the unfold ment of 
 the good, the spirit realizes the benefit (value) of its true 
 worth. The murderer, after having committed the crime, is 
 borne down, crushed with remorse. No matter how hard his 
 nature may be, the sympathetic germ unfolds itself, which is 
 the essence of the most high and divine. Consequently, in 
 recognizing the right and wrong, it overreaches the evil, and 
 develops the spirit. The right is the light and truth ; the 
 wrong is the error and darkness. There cannot be light at 
 once. The sun does not throw his rays all at once ; he rises 
 gradually, and gradually disperses the darkness with his 
 light. So with the law of progression ; gradually the rays 
 of light invest the material body, and the spirit can see more 
 clearly the right from the wrong. 
 
 The laws of nature hold good in effecting this through 
 magnetism, and children from the very moment of their birth 
 
COMMUNICA TJON OF BEN HAM AN. 47 
 
 should be taujrht these laws and become observers of them. 
 For through the magnetic power this separation of right and 
 wrong will be unfolded, they will learn to observe more 
 strictly the moral laws pertaining to their own physical bodies, 
 which is the first law and should be understood. 
 
 Strict attention should be given to every moral principle 
 which belongs to the body. By complying with more regular 
 habits, see how an infant grows from the time of its birth to its 
 third or fourth year : as long as the mother pays strict atten- 
 tion to its material wants, by complying with regular habits 
 and attending to its necessary requirements in the way of food 
 and sleep, it grows in health and strength. After those years 
 if they are not as strictly watched, and there is less atten- 
 tion given by the mother, their wants and regular habits are 
 not so strictly attended to, they do not grow as rapidly as 
 before. 
 
 Strict attention should be paid to their habits. A time for 
 sleep, a time for administering food, a time for study, and a 
 time for play. In this wise (if the germs of disease are not 
 inherited from their progenitors) a body attains more strength 
 and larger development, and mental culture develops with 
 more rapidity. All those forms which are overlooked with 
 indifference by the generality of the human family should be 
 understood as necessary to the spiritual development of the 
 human race. 
 
 It is hidi time that the human race was brought out of this 
 ignorance, and freed from superstitious ideas, which have 
 been handed down from one generation to another. Most 
 mortals are now struggling and striving and dragging out a 
 miserable existence, some of them ever trying and never ac- 
 complishing much. Now in this nineteenth century from the 
 Christian era, so called, the spirit world has come in close 
 rapport with the material borders of this, and the intellec- 
 tual forces are handing down through magnetic descent the 
 verbal truths and proofs of their intercession. The human 
 
48 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 family must and will be benefited, if they make conditions 
 and pay attention to the impressive powers that are influ- 
 encing the more intelligent minds of this earth. 
 
 Every nation in its most undeveloped state will prove to 
 you from historic facts, that superior minds control the inferior. 
 The inferiors require leaders or advisors — instructors to as- 
 sist them as monitors in teaching them the truths. Christ, the 
 Nazarene, unfolded truths after truths which were not compre- 
 hended in their true sense. Wherever he went, he diffused 
 the light among all, and made impressions on one and all 
 that were thrown within reach of his magnetism. Those im- 
 pressions did not unfold themselves within all ; the spiritual 
 nature being of such an undeveloped order with some, they 
 could not. Consequently such could not be benefited ; but 
 there were others, those of a more spiritual nature, who 
 received the impression of this magnetic power and it im- 
 pregnated them with an inspiration that forever adhered to 
 their character. 
 
 Every medium is a receptor of this magnetic power. 
 It does not lie purified right in your midst ; it can only be 
 imparted to you through a monitor from those superior ones 
 located in the far distant spiritual spheres. Remember that 
 all is controlled through circles. The centre of every circle 
 is the receiver, and also the dispenser in assisting the inferior; 
 it is handed down from the central force or sublime circle, 
 which is ethereal and is located beyond the seventh sphere ; 
 the approximating power impregnates the centre of the 
 seventh circle in the seventh sphere, from that to the sixth, 
 from the sixth to the fifth, from the fifth to the fourth, from 
 the fourth to the third, from the third to the second, from the 
 second to the first, which is located in the atmosphere of your 
 material sphere and is in direct communication with mortals. 
 Do not pretend to think that that is the only circle, for there 
 are numerous circles located in the distant spheres, having 
 connection with various channels interblending with objects 
 
COMMUNICATION OF CONFUCIUS. 49 
 
 hero. It is just like your rivers branching off into various 
 streams — so these magnetic circles, emanating from the su- 
 perior creative power, interblend with this earth in various 
 ways and through many channels. 
 
 May 2Q, 1879. 
 
 Confucius, — Noble brother, I am here. 
 
 Love is spirit, spirit is divine, and gives us strength to labor 
 
 Within the fields of mortals here, and demonstrate their Saviour. 
 
 How beautiful is life divine, when the reflections given 
 
 Are comprehended, and define their future birth from heaven. 
 
 Yes, love is light, and light is life, the truth we here array, 
 
 And give to mortal minds the strength to lead them in the way 
 
 Of virtue and of purity. Combined here in its strength, 
 
 It gives the spirit power to work, and mind its normal strength. 
 
 Our labor is a labor of love, and such should be the desire 
 of all who work in this great cause. The salvation of the 
 soul means, in its definition, the development and elevation 
 of the spirit toward its original affinity, which is God. 
 
 Are you not all children of one great human family ? Are 
 you not all children of one great infinite power ? drawn 
 hither through one great affinity interblending with that 
 superior potent power? 
 
 As light in the firmament, as water to the famished travel- 
 ler gives invigorating strength to his physical body, so this 
 essence divine gives strength to the starving soul, and buoys 
 it up out of its material crudeness into the spiritual ascension 
 of divine love and harmony. 
 
 Oh, reflections of celestial light from angel homes ! how 
 indifferent mortals are to them ! They convey to the sou! 
 that soothing balm, which in their unfoldment develops hope 
 within the spirit. Mortals are poor indeed when devoid 01 
 
5<d woman; and her relations to humanity. 
 
 that aspiring power which attracts the pure forces within 
 nature's laws to their material assistance. 
 
 Hope ! without it there can be no happiness, for the soul 
 is impoverished and stripped of that natural gift which 
 imparts the vital power of life for its future happiness. 
 
 Love ! oh, essence divine ! An impartation from both 
 father and mother God, the germ of piety, the germ of sym- 
 pathy, interblends with hope, and expands through its assim- 
 ilation the broader perceptiveness of the spiritual faculties. 
 
 Charity ! Oh, restless mortal, you cannot see the mote in 
 your own eye ! He who has not charity for his brother man 
 has neither hope nor sympathy. Those three graces, inter- 
 blending with but one thought, which the living life-germs 
 impart to all through impregnation alike ; but which through 
 cruder experiences and developments, cannot unfold them- 
 selves in the material body, and reach out to benefit each 
 other. 
 
 Charity conveys deep thought and force to the human 
 mind. The world is uncharitable with many. The world is 
 charitable ; but mortals are of the animal productions of the 
 planet, and, in general, the uncharitable ones. 
 
 You can condemn none, remembering that the spirit of 
 love, the spirit^f truth, the spirit of charity, intercedes for 
 all alike. A kind word to the wavering one, a kind look of 
 sympathy to the hopeless one, an act of charity by assisting 
 and raising up the fallen one, are the true precepts of the 
 God principle. 
 
 Oh, man ! oh, man ! reach out for higher truths. You have 
 groped in darkness long enough ; seek the true light, and 
 enjoy its benefits, by observing the golden rule which Con- 
 fucius has taught to man in the material, and which the 
 Nazarene imparted to those who could receive, " Do ye unto 
 others, as ye would that others should do unto you." You 
 all desire, every mortal desires, to receive the full benefit of 
 that which is to his or her material benefit ; but the majority of 
 
COMMUNICATION OF CONFUCIUS. 51 
 
 mankind are loathe to give the same which they receive. Oh, 
 look not too much to your own material wants, but you who 
 have sufficient for your own, see that your brother is supplied. 
 
 Seliishness, arrogance, and animosity must be crushed out. 
 The spirit of liberalism must interblend and come to the 
 assistance of the spiritual nature of man. 
 
 Father God is the father alike of all earth's children great 
 and small, the earth furnishing abundant supply for all alike. 
 The great Cause producing an abundance for the human 
 family, none should suffer; and if charity were sufficiently 
 developed in the spirit of man, he would see his duty toward 
 his brother. No material body, with a heart to feel and com- 
 prehend, could see his brother in the flesh famishing by the 
 wayside, without rendering him assistance. 
 
 This feeling of charity must develop itself within the spirit 
 of man. You must develop the spirit of charity, which is 
 democratic in its nature, and must be universally expended 
 in giving to each one alike his portion, both materially and 
 intellectually. 
 
 By asking for the repetition of a sentence, the communi- 
 cating intelligence said : " You have broken the magnetic 
 chain of thought. Never interrupt. In speaking, you be- 
 come positive, and break the conditions, even by saying 
 ' Well ' when you have written down a sentence, and are 
 ready for more. I assumed the name of Otto Watto, as you 
 were not at first prepared to believe that such an ancient 
 intelligence could interest himself in mortals as Confucius, 
 which is my true name." 
 
 Through Mrs. Shirley, a trance medium, came : " You go 
 in deep into Spiritualism, and that is what brings the lofty. 
 Solomon says, ' Foolish, foolish the action of the ancients, 
 Money lavished on idols. . . . Confucius comes ; he lived 
 long time ago." Through Mrs. Rich of Boston : " Confu- 
 cius is your guide." 
 
52 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 Communication of Ben Haman. 
 
 June 2, 1879. 
 
 UNKNOWINGLY man walks amid a crowd of angels, 
 who are anxiously waiting to impart a thought that 
 may be to his and their advantage. 
 
 I have so much to say to you that it will take time and 
 conditions to impart it in language comprehensible to your- 
 self and others. 
 
 Every mortal on this material plane has angelic guides or 
 influences, usually called guardian angels. They are drawn 
 hither through sympathy and love, for the purpose of benefit- 
 ing and assisting mortals in passing through the various 
 changes and experiences* of this material life. Without their 
 assistance, without their guardian care, mortals would indeed 
 be isolated. They impart strength, giving the magnetic 
 •power from the spiritual source, which, interblending with 
 their faculties, usually called impressions, aid them in accom- 
 plishing designs and objects for the material benefit of the 
 human race. 
 
 There are two classes or kinds of influences usually at- 
 tracted to mortals. The one being cultivated ethereally, the 
 other materially. The one divinely inspired with spiritual 
 power, the other materially endowed with material power. 
 The one divinely endowed can assist the material one, as 
 well as yourself. The individual being the mentor or me- 
 dium conveys the assistance or impressions imparted by the 
 superior one to the material one. 
 
 The material influence remains with you as a protection 
 amid physical surroundings, against accidents, — calamities 
 of any character or kind to mortals constantly standing 
 in danger, through which many escape not knowing how, — 
 always attended with a fright to the individual, which is the 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HAM AN. 53 
 
 electric positive charge imparted to the body by this inllu- 
 ence (see p. 56). 
 
 The intellectually endowed influence works for the mental 
 unfoldment, bringing the spirit into such a condition that it 
 can work out objects, machinery of various kinds, designs 
 that may impart profit to others, works of art that benefit 
 the human family, progressive intellectual ideas that unfold 
 the spiritual nature of man, spiritualizing the body, causing it 
 to interblend with the purer moral conditions in the human 
 system. Having the guardian guidance of these two oppo- 
 site powers, you will readily understand why you can assist 
 the one, at the time you are being assisted yourself. The 
 superior power working on your faculties mentally, gives the 
 more material power conditions to develop his own in 
 spirit. His material pursuits toward your benefit is com- 
 plied with through a law of spiritual development. He, in 
 his undeveloped state, works out a material mission to your 
 benefit as well as his own. He receives only a portion, as a 
 benefit of what you receive. 
 
 If you are crude material, only inclined to the crude 
 material, you cannot be benefited much by the intellectual 
 influence. It depends upon the organization of the indi- 
 vidual. If the organization is devoid of sensual passions, not 
 given to excessive use of stimulants, or abuse of sexuality, 
 of an even balanced temperament, the intellectual force can 
 work to your benefit and to the benefit of the undeveloped 
 influence. But where those passions are developed, and the 
 individual gives more attention to material things in adhering 
 to the corrupt surroundings of material conditions, he gives 
 the undeveloped influence all the power, stimulating his 
 passions through yours, never feeling satiated (satisfied) with 
 what you receive, ofttimes waiting in the dead hour of night, 
 goading on to crime, and the gratification of sensual desires. 
 The mortal then is under the complete control of the unde- 
 veloped. He has made the conditions, having sown the 
 
54 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 seed he will reap the harvest. The pure and divine influ- 
 ence must then withdraw, the will of the mortal holding him 
 in abeyance; he cannot approach through the impure mag- 
 netism to impart assistance. 
 
 The aura of the individual co-blending with that of the 
 undeveloped becomes material, murky, and offensive. And 
 not until he feels through a natural desire the necessity of 
 working out of this condition, can he again be benefited by 
 the pure. The benefit can come only by being brought in 
 contact with purer magnetism on the material plane and 
 through material assistance. The germ of his spiritual nature 
 retains the good as well as the evil. When brought in con- 
 tact with a mediumistic individual, the mediumistic indi- 
 vidual can impart to him psychological conditions, through 
 which the superior influence can reach him again, who, im- 
 pressing him with remorse, rousing the sympathetic nature 
 within him, he will feel the reproach of this influence, which 
 causes deep regret. Never too late to reform. This regret 
 unfolds the superior nature of the spirit, gives him an insight 
 into all the errors of the past, making them repulsive to his 
 spiritual nature which is divine. 
 
 The evil part of the spiritual nature is material. Thus 
 good and evil lie imbedded within the nature of every indi- 
 vidual. And it • lies within the individual's character 
 which germ to develop. If the organization is so formed" 
 that material desires are more sought for, the evil germ will 
 be developed and overbalance the divine or spiritual, literally 
 destroying the conditions for its unfoldment. Many there 
 are who pass away in that sadly undeveloped state, giving 
 the evil germ of their nature all the conditions for its 
 purely material growth. The divine intellectual still remains, 
 but not having had proper conditions (on account of its 
 imperfect organization) to develop itself, it enters spirit 
 life with heavier burdens, consequently it remains inactive. 
 The crude material which it has developed for itself is con- 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN II AM AX. 55 
 
 sumed by the elements ; the intellectual force remains to 
 seek another material body, to live another physical, life. 
 
 If the material body or physical organization is so organ- 
 ized that the purer spiritual perceptions and desires can 
 work through, it will be assisted by the divine influence ; 
 having opportunities more in harmony with itself, it is 
 benefited working out material desires, which adds largely to 
 the growth of the spirit in identity and individuality. 
 
 This power depends largely upon the matrons of this life. 
 Mothers give the organization, the physical body ; God or 
 nature gives the spiritual body. Mortals should comprehend 
 that they are creators. They create material bodies, which 
 are the tenements of the spirit. God creates perfect. He 
 gives the germ of life, which is divine intelligence. Man 
 creates imperfect ; the majority adhering too much to sen- 
 suality, he consumes the nerve power of his system, de- 
 stroying with disease the life fluid, which is essential in 
 developing organic life. 
 
 It is high time that mortals should make this a study, most 
 of them living disappointed lives. No matter what their 
 surroundings may be, the spirit in its tenement feels its 
 inability, its incapacity to work out its experiences ; feels the 
 regret, being unable to act and pursue that course which it 
 was predestined to pursue before its incarnation. 
 
 Who, then, is to blame, God or man ? Man and woman 
 should learn that they must be one, working out to 
 effect in harmony and love, by observing the causes and 
 material effects, positive and negative, in perfecting the 
 human race, by perfecting the organization of every child 
 they bring into existence. If man and woman would study 
 this law, working to benefit each other, they will become as 
 one, the same as God and nature. Father God the positive 
 force, Mother Nature the negative power. Without Mother 
 Nature, the creative positive could accomplish nothing. The 
 positive electric force interblends with the negative mag- 
 
56 woman; and her relations to humanity. 
 
 netic power, giving the conditions to develop and produce 
 every substance that lives upon this globe, from the mineral 
 to the vegetable, from the vegetable to the animal, from 
 the animal to man, the highest. 
 
 You must remember that all must pass through changes, 
 minerals existing many million years before vegetation, vege- 
 tation existing millions of years before animals, man existed 
 not so many years after the development of animal life. 
 
 The next morning I cut from the Courier Journal of June 
 3, the following : — 
 
 A TERRIBLE SITUATION. 
 
 The Denver (Col.) Tribune tells the following story of the Grand 
 Canon: Charles May and his brother Robert, in the spring of 1870, 
 offered to pass 60,000 railroad ties down the Arkansas from the mountain 
 source: He says, "Our offer was accepted and we started into the 
 upper entrance of the canon with a large skiff, provided with six days' 
 rations and 200 feet of rope, with which, by taking a running turn 
 around some firmly planted object, we could lower our boat 100 feet at a 
 time. In this way, at the end of three days, having set adrift many hun- 
 dreds of ties, we reached the entrance of the Royal George. Here we 
 discovered that an attempt to descend the first waterfall with two in the 
 boat was certain destruction, and to return was impossible. Accordingly 
 I determined to lower my brother down the falls in the boat, a distance of 
 200 feet, give him the rope, and let him take the chance of the canon (life 
 seemed more certain in that direction), while I would risk my physical- 
 ability to climb the canon wall, which was about 2,000 feet high. 
 
 " About ten o'clock in the morning I shook hands with my brother, 
 lowered him in the boat safely to the foot of the fall, gave him the rope, 
 and saw him no more. Then throwing aside my coat, hat, and boots, and 
 stripping the socks from my feet, I commenced my climbing way, often 
 reaching the height of one or two hundred feet only to be compelled to re- 
 turn to try some other way. At length, about four o'clock in the afternoon, 
 I reached a height upon the smooth canon wall of about a thousand 
 feet. Here my farther progress was arrested by a shelving ledge of rock 
 that jutted out from the canon side a foot or more. To advance was with- 
 out hope, to return certain death. Reaching upward and outward, I 
 grasped the rim of the ledge with one hand and then with the other, my 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HAM AN. tf 
 
 feet slipped from the smooth side of the canon, and my body hung sus- 
 pended in the air a thousand feet above the roaring waters of the Arkansas. 
 44 At that moment I looked downward to measure the distance I would 
 have to fall when the strength of my arms gave out. A stinging sensation 
 crept through my hair as my eyes caught the strong root of a cedar-bush 
 that projected over the ledge, a little beyond my reach. My grasp upon 
 the rim of the ledge was fast yielding to the weight of my person. Then 
 I determined to make my last effort to raise my body and throw it sidewise 
 toward the root, so as to bring it within my grasp. At the moment of 
 commencing the effort I saw my mother's face as she leaned over the 
 ledge. Presently she reached down her hand and caught me by the hair. 
 Stranger, my mother died while yet a young woman, when I and my 
 brother were small boys, but I remember her face. I was successful in 
 making the side leap of my arms, when I drew myself upon the ledge 
 and rested for a time. From here upward my climbing was laborious but 
 less dangerous. I reached the top of the canon just as the sun was sink- 
 ing down behind the snowy range, and hastened to our camp at the mouth 
 of the canon, where I found my brother all safe. 4 Charley,' said he, 
 4 have you had your head in a iiour-sack? ' It was then I discovered that 
 my hair was as white as you see it now." 
 
 Confucius comes from his sphere above, out of sympathy 
 and love. Man must comprehend that he stands superior 
 and godlike in nature. He can add to, or take from, this de- 
 velopment. Add, by giving thoughts to the pure intellectual 
 development, which interblends with Deity, the Great God 
 power ; can take from it, by adhering to the material of this 
 undeveloped life. Through this divine principle, which is im- 
 parted through intellectually defined beings to mortals here, 
 man's intellectual force is increased, and his spirit is strength- 
 ened; being guided by a superior force, it seeks to work upon 
 a higher plane. . It unfolds the aspiration of love, which is 
 the sensitive activity of the spiritual nature of man. 
 
 Life is short comparatively, and yet so much good can be 
 accomplished if mortals seek to interblend with the good, the 
 pure, and the intellectual. This power so sublime cannot 
 reach all in its effects. Minds that are corrupt in their nature, 
 that adhere to evil, material influences interfere with and retard 
 
58 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 their progress. The pure in nature will develop the faculties 
 that interblend with the sublimer expressions, making condi- 
 tions for the spirit of love, the spirit of truth, the spirit of 
 harmony, to impregnate their souls, giving strength to the fac- 
 ulties to penetrate and work out their material experiences 
 to their own benefit, as well as to the benefit of those drawn 
 hither for assistance. 
 
 Oh man and woman kind S Oh positive and negative ma- 
 terial ! See that you aspire to more noble attractions, see 
 to the unfolding of your faculties, throwing off the crude 
 material, and that you interblend with the more ethereal and 
 benefit each other. 
 
 When you comprehend this divine spiritual power, so dem- 
 ocratic in its nature, so potent in its effects, you will seek to 
 perfect yourselves, by throwing off. selfish motives, developing 
 out of arrogance, and giving freely of your love to all alike ; 
 as God gives love to every creature, so must man distribute it 
 to his fellow-man ; be he undeveloped or cultivated, it mat- 
 ters not, he has the germ of the spiritual life within him ; he 
 is not to blame for any deficiency of organization. You who 
 have created him are to blame. 
 
 The ignorance of the fathers and the mothers is traceable 
 in organizations to the fourth and fifth generation, and even 
 farther on. The nineteenth Christian century (so termed) re- 
 ceives the light which conveys life, new energies, new desires,, 
 within the mortal minds of men. That light and life is the 
 magnetic force which is nature, or the negative power of the 
 God principle. It is indeed new to the present generation ; 
 having lain dormant so long, unable to work on the human 
 race, on account of its too material propensities, miscon- 
 ceived ideas, and arrogant selfish education. The intellectual 
 powers of the universe have come to their assistance. Few 
 indeed are they who can receive and comprehend, for their 
 organizations correspond with that of their progenitors. 
 They cannot give birth to those intellectual germs that flow 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN II A MAN. 59 
 
 with expressions to their spiritual perceptions, until they are 
 brought within the magnetic circle, as Jesus the Nazarene 
 brought his disciples into a circle ; when they were gathered 
 together with their doors and windows closed, he imparted 
 the divine spirit of magnetic power to each and all of them. 
 
 This pure magnetic essence cannot be beneficially imparted 
 without the proper conditions. The holy spirit of love, of 
 purity, of virtue, is given by us the same as the Nazarene 
 gave to them who were in rapport with him ; so we give alike 
 to all those who seek this truth. They will find in our works 
 the pure development of their inner nature, drawing it out 
 externally toward the magnetic sun, which draws it up out 
 of the material atmosphere into the more ethereal atmosphere, 
 where it interblends with superior intellects, then descends 
 through approximating sympathy to the individuals of this 
 mortal sphere. 
 
 Oh man and womankind ! learn that you are godlike 
 in your caste. Develop the inner aspirations of your souls' 
 sympathies. Learn to comprehend that you can make your- 
 selves happy ; that all lies within yourselves. Outgrow this 
 crude material, no matter if temptations are great ; cultiva- 
 tion of will-power will control temptations. Adhere more to 
 the spiritual, for that is life beyond the veil. 
 
 Reformers and martyrs have suffered in demonstration of 
 this infinite truth. We have lived in spirit-worlds centuries 
 and centuries. The present has developed conditions for 
 our approach to earth; we come laden with truths, with power, 
 with strength, to assist you in the noble work. You too will 
 reap laurels that will waft your spirit above the material 
 plane. You who are sincere will not see the contention, 
 feel the animosity, or realize the arrogance, that is thrown 
 over you ; you will be raised above them, being protected by 
 a superior band in spirit, strengthened by their love, inspired 
 by their will, assisted by their work, — you will interblend with 
 them so much, that you will not or cannot feel the material 
 
60 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 influences that are hurled against you. As Christ you be- 
 come spiritual in nature; you work upon a spiritual plane, 
 seeking to benefit one and all. As the great Father in his in- 
 finite mercy gives succor to all alike, good and evil, so we in 
 our ethereal spheres come to assist you, invoking you to 
 have charity for all alike. 
 
 As the fatherhood of God develops the brotherhood of 
 man, so we interblend with pure motives co-workers for this 
 new birth. Spiritual light is magnetic essence conveyed 
 hither through angel portals ; ethereal beings who know no 
 anger, that nurse no malevolence, that aspire to love, truth, 
 and charity. Pure motives, wedded to pure thoughts, give 
 strength to spiritual beings whereby they approach and work 
 upon the faculties of mortal man, drawing him out to immor- 
 tality. 
 
 June 8, 1879. 
 
 The germ of life is impregnated in everything. Mineral 
 takes its growth from the external magnetic power. Vege- 
 tation is assisted through mineral power, the combination of 
 which varies in substance according to the formation. The 
 animal stands a grade higher. The magnetic essence im- 
 parts propensities alike to every object on this material 
 plane. However, the object develops in propensity just what 
 its nature attracts. That imbedded in the soil does not at- 
 tract as much owing to the insufficiency of the supply. The 
 soil or the mineral production is composed of a variety of 
 particles drawn from the solar system, the sun's rays separat- 
 ing in particles in the form of germs, each one developing 
 according to its quality. 
 
 Planets after planets have been formed, and are still form- 
 ing, from these particles thrown off by the sun's rays. They 
 concentrate within the atmosphere, wafted hither and thither 
 through space until a rotary condition is attained. These 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HAM AN. £ r 
 
 germs have life composed of a substance that contains 
 nothing but life. 
 
 The elementary conditions, imparting a substance of more 
 electric force positive in nature, impregnating these germs 
 with a replenishing force, develop growth that is positive 
 and negative, the positive impregnating the negative. 
 Father God and Mother Nature. These particles, which de- 
 velop themselves out of this force into material growth, con- 
 stitute this earth globe. So all worlds are thrown off, or all 
 planets more properly speaking, in particles from the vari- 
 ous matured planets. The sun, which lightens this universe, 
 contains this creative power. 
 
 Search as you will, you will find no material object in the 
 form of spirit that contains this power. It lies imbedded be- 
 yond the remotest space, so far, indeed, that no spirit of 
 mortal has ever discovered its source. We cannot interblend 
 in identity with that superior force. Through researches we 
 discover the vast universal developments, which interblend 
 with each other. 
 
 Planets millions of miles distant are in atmospheric harmony 
 with each other ; one imparting to the other certain con- 
 ditions for its development and to its benefit, yet many times 
 to its disadvantage. Those living germs are in constant com- 
 motion with each other. The various atmospheric changes 
 perceptible on this planet are often caused by these particles, 
 which are thrown off in electric magnetic atmospheres. 
 
 The very atmosphere around you is a mass of living germs, 
 so infinitely small that the most powerful microscope can- 
 not identify one of them. 
 
 Comprehending this philosophy, man, the superior force of 
 the animal kingdom, should learn to observe, that by com- 
 prehending these laws he will develop himself more in simi- 
 larity with the creative power. True, upon a material plane 
 at first. However, assisted by beings who have had large 
 experiences in the spiritual spheres, experiences through 
 
62 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 which they become identified with a power that enables 
 them to work out more correctly the creative power on this 
 material plane. Assimilating as an identity with the ani- 
 mal of the lower order, he should remember, that the germ 
 or essence of spirit is purer, containing stronger assimilation 
 with Deity. 
 
 This germ, when impregnated in a lower animal, has not 
 the organization to develop. Man's formation, in physical 
 body, is more like the ethereal archangels', dwellers upon the 
 spiritual planets. The expressions of the creative power 
 thrown off from those planets are intellectual. They con- 
 tain the purest germs. They are conveyed hither, in form 
 developing purer beings. God created man in the likeness 
 of himself; now, this theory does not hold, that he created the 
 physical body like himself. It is the spirit germ that devel- 
 ops in love, in purity, and knowledge. These virtues assim- 
 ilating with purer spiritual expressions or reflections, give 
 the spirit its growth. In like manner the human race becomes 
 godlike in spirit through developing the faculties ; the mind, 
 which is spirit, can only develop it by searching through 
 the intellectual vaults of nature. The seraphs from the su- 
 perior planets have developed in purity this spirit essence, 
 which constitutes the spiritual beings of this planet. They 
 embody an ethereal, an external reflection of the internal 
 perception. Man on this planet resembling in likeness, in 
 nature, an affinity. Hence the idea of God creating in his 
 own likeness — likeness to the pure. 
 
 Man must learn that he, too, is a creator, and by observing 
 the laws of spiritual philosophy, he will learn to perfect the 
 human race. He stands in the midst of undeveloped sur- 
 roundings., Nature in its vegetable growth has not yet at- 
 tained its full development. The mineral changes of the 
 globe are still in activity and commotion ; many thousand 
 years will elapse before this commotion ceases. However, 
 man must learn that through the changes of these laws, the 
 
COMMUNICATION OF PEN HA MAX 63 
 
 atmospheric conditions become purer. The plagues of the 
 ancients are ceasing. The atmospheric changes of those 
 latter days conveyed the poison germs which destroyed whole 
 nations, some affected nations with antagonisms. Why ? 
 they inhaled them through respiration, causing depression 
 (confusion) of the spiritual faculties. Man could not reason 
 then as he does now. The spiritual powers were as potent 
 in those latter days as they are now. They could not reach 
 man's spirit, on account of the crude aura which surrounded 
 him, nor could different ideas have been imparted to man, on 
 account of his crude organization. 
 
 You understand thoroughly that every nation has had 
 its reformer, whom it deified. Owing to certain influences, 
 attracted thither through a flexible organization, there was an 
 incarnation of a superior intellect ; not from the spiritual 
 spheres surrounding this planet, but sent thither from planets 
 remote, the beings of which are thoroughly matured in their 
 spiritual development, the germ of which seeks to unfold 
 itself for the special development of the human race. These 
 reformers can only impart such knowledge as they are able to 
 unfold through the organization of the material mortals here. 
 These spirits contain very potent sparks of magnetic power, 
 and develop man more and more toward spiritual things, 
 but give conflicting ideas at times, on account of the defi- 
 cient organization of the body. However, intellectual forces 
 from the spiritual spheres have come to their assistance. 
 This germ develops more readily now. Man is not as bar- 
 baric as of old. Spiritual sympathy interblends with his 
 nature, and gives the soul strength through which the spirit 
 attains power. 
 
 Millions of years have passed, in the beginning of which 
 man was upon the animal plane, and it is only through the 
 magnetic assistance (coming) from the interior spheres that 
 he has been brought out of his barbarity up to his present 
 state. He must learn that intelligence holds close connec- 
 
64 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 tion with the seraphs and creative powers of this planet. He 
 must strive to perfect the race by observing conditions 
 necessary to the development of the physical body. When 
 given a perfect organization through harmonious mental con- 
 ditions, the spirit can perfect itself by experiences on this 
 material plane. 
 
 There are spirit creators also, just as man creators. Their 
 work differs somewhat from the material in this — they have 
 acquired power through knowledge, and control through will 
 force ; working upon electric matter they perfect themselves 
 more and more. The further they advance in space, the 
 nearer they approach Deity. There is no idleness there, all 
 is activity. 
 
 When the spirit leaves this body, which man has given 
 him, through vegetating he has perfected that body — with 
 proper surroundings he has developed the organs, so that 
 the spiritual guides could assist him — and has become 
 strengthened in spirit through experiences and assistance, 
 he enters upon the new life, borne hither with the assistance 
 of those guides, and takes up in spirit a character exactly the 
 same as that he lays off in the material. Desires within 
 the spirit which he left unaccomplished, he will seek to accom- 
 plish here. Nor can his views be changed, unless his guides 
 have power to assist him — that, too, depends largely upon 
 his own mental development. He cannot accept more than 
 he can comprehend ; and if the spirit has not attained devel- 
 opment and growth in the body, it certainly cannot out of 
 the body. Therefore \\ is necessary for male and female to 
 study the laws of nature, and observing (and obeying) them, 
 give perfect organizations to their offspring. 
 
 Harmonious conditions with the mother will develop har- 
 monious conditions in the offspring. Nor should there 
 be an offspring forced upon the matron, for that produces a 
 demoniac nature, which can never assimilate itself with the 
 purer spiritual atoms of inhalation. Like attracts like, from 
 
 \ 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HA MAN. 65 
 
 the material on up to the spiritual. The rose that is red in 
 color attracts the magnetic aura which develops it with that 
 brilliant hue. And so we trace it from the vegetable king- 
 dom, in its thousands of varieties, to the animal, in its thou- 
 sand varieties, to the human in his thousand varieties. 
 Every thing passes through a change. Observe the vege- 
 table closely. You can only perfect it by cultivation ; giving 
 conditions to the mineral in its soil promotes its material 
 development ; its flavor develops with its perfect growth. So 
 with the spirit of man, it develops with the vegetation of the 
 body. A gross organization cannot develop a pure spirit. 
 Giving too much to the material, the spirit is drawn to the 
 material — desires only to gratify the material, consequently 
 it adheres entirely to the material. 
 
 Through cultivation of the body, by living and observing 
 the laws of nature, which are the laws of God — through 
 nature these laws are made tangible to the sense of man — 
 acquainting yourselves with those laws, you will seek to 
 develop out of this crude material. Education, which is 
 knowledge acquired, gives you strength to penetrate and 
 comprehend those fixed laws. In violating the laws of 
 nature man comes in conflict with the spirit. The spiritual 
 body suffers — the spirit will reproach many times. In his 
 ignorance man imagines that God or Deity reproaches. 
 
 The laws of God are fixed, through immutable will. They 
 cannot be changed ; for that produced through the electric 
 power must remain forever. The human race is subservient 
 to this power ; man can live in harmony with those laws if he 
 seeks to comprehend them. If he violates them he must 
 suffer the consequences. Reason in spirit is sufficiently de- 
 veloped with every material individual who has the five facul- 
 ties to comprehend that in violating the law, which requires 
 replenishment of the body — in violating the law of diet, by 
 taking too much food of any substance or kind, he will cause 
 suffering to the body. By subjecting himself to a draught 
 
66 WOMAAT, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 when overheated he changes the conditions too radically, 
 which closes the pores of respiration and causes fever. 
 Those laws hold good in every experience that man passes 
 through, and should be instilled into the minds of mortals. 
 God does not punish them, but they punish themselves in 
 violating the laws of nature. 
 
 Tenth Communication of Ben Haman. 
 
 June 23, 1879. 
 
 I AM happy to greet you, brother ! God bless you ! 
 The law of nature in its harmonious action reveals 
 natural facts, which should be made a study by mankind. 
 Harmony interblends with v everything. It is the outgrowth 
 and ingrowth of all created objects. It proves the love of 
 God or creative power in its most efficient form. God is a 
 father of love, and diffuses it in the atmosphere in harmony 
 with every object. It instils itself within the nature of man, 
 unfolding itself gradually through his sympathetic nature, 
 giving to his character, through spiritual unfoldment of that 
 divine principle that lies imbedded within, a true resemblance 
 of the divine father, becoming more like in spirit, through 
 love and purity. 
 
 To regulate more effectually the human race, it is essential 
 that men and women should be guided by the intuitive laws 
 of nature, observing especially the creative law of life. As 
 before stated, men and women are creators. They should 
 be guided by prudence and sincerity. The purest motives 
 should be directed to this — the production of life. Depend- 
 ing, as it does, upon the individual nature of man and 
 woman, they must learn to understand that regularity and 
 order are heaven's first laws. There is a time for everything. 
 When the law is more thoroughly understood, mortals will 
 
TENTH COMMUNICATION OF DEN HAM AN. 6j 
 
 realize this ; they will regulate the time when sexual inter- 
 course is to be indulged in, for the production of offspring, 
 observing it in nature's laws as well as in their own material 
 bodies. 
 
 To produce more perfect offspring, there are three distinct 
 rules to be strictly observed and complied with. 
 
 First. The female must be inclined through natural desire 
 to infold with the male — in harmony with everything that 
 may aspire towards material as well as spiritual development. 
 
 Second. Man's organism must be in perfect health, so 
 that the vital power, which is drawn from the brain in the 
 form or material of semen (which contains the life-germ for 
 the soul's development), must be healthy and pure, so that its 
 impregnation may constitute a healthy body. 
 
 Third. Observing the time when nature is the most posi- 
 tive — in the morning, before, or at the time the sun rises. 
 With the rising of that solar body — the interblending of the 
 magnetism thrown off from the upper spheres and conveyed 
 here, imbues mortals with fresh magnetic force, which gives 
 the system vigor, strength, and new life force. 
 
 These three conditions should be first strictly observed. 
 Then when impregnation has taken place, the matron should 
 watch every action of her mind, abstain from dislikes, hold 
 herself aloof from low material associations, interblend with 
 such as may impart pleasure to her, studying the firmament, 
 the stellar system, living in admiration of God's creative 
 powers, in harmony with all around her, making efforts to 
 unfold her mental faculties, and abstaining from everything 
 that may cause her to feel irritable and uncomfortable. Diet 
 should be purely vegetable, no meat, plenty of fruit, no 
 stimulants, milk and water the only drink. 
 
 In this way healthy and intelligent offspring will be pro- 
 duced with natural organizations, and the spirit imbedded 
 within for unfoldment will be flexible to spiritual impressions. 
 Through various changes natural to the organization, the 
 
68 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 spirit incarnated will have power more effectively to work out 
 the design, the mission for which it has entered upon this 
 material life. Love and sympathy, being inherited from the 
 matron, develop externally. By the spiritual development 
 of the faculties, selfishness, arrogance, and ignorance are 
 overcome and disappear. These antagonistic points are born 
 with the nature of man. They are impregnated before birth 
 from both male and female, and grow with the development 
 of the physical body. Impure thoughts, indulged in by the 
 mother, make a deep impression on the fetus, and are sure 
 to develop themselves when born into material life. We 
 cannot impress too deeply this fact, which should be under- 
 stood by every woman in the land. 
 
 Thoughts indulged in before puberty make their way and 
 impress the fetus just the same in power as spiritual thoughts 
 impress themselves on you. Pure thoughts give pure de- 
 sires to the unborn fetus. Remember, the organization de- 
 pends on yourselves. So with the spiritual reflections, they 
 make impressions upon you, and if your organization is in 
 such a state of development that it cannot feel the pure in- 
 fluence, it receives the undeveloped. I am sorry to say that 
 more undeveloped organizations are born into material life 
 than perfect ones ; the imperfect predominate owing to the 
 ignorance predominating. 
 
 Notice one woman married or mated to the man she loves. 
 How much she admires any trait of character which he may 
 possess. With what doting fondness does she follow him in 
 spirit and material ! If he in turn is kind, loving, and sympa- 
 thetic, the angel watchers observe and follow them. Where 
 mutual love and sympathy exist, they know the offspring born 
 from such a union will have a perfect organization for some 
 spirit to work out his earthly experience. The right feeling 
 must exist between both. As the angel said to Joseph, " That 
 which is impregnated in Mary is Holy." It was begotten in 
 love. Consequently the angel charged Joseph to take good 
 
TENTH COMMUNICATION OF BEN II AM AN. 69 
 
 care of her, to be kind and loving to her, so that its develop- 
 ment in fetal growth might be perfect. Now, I charge you 
 all who contemplate maternity, to think seriously upon the 
 object. It is not merely the enjoyment of sexual indulgence. 
 When sexual passion is gratified, all pleasure is gone, but 
 that which follows is that which should be considered — 
 the human soul which is to be born into life, for which you 
 are both responsible. Being God's creatures yourselves, you 
 produce creatures like unto yourselves. If you permit sexual 
 passion and gratification to be the object of your desires, you 
 produce a crude material organization, the soul of which can- 
 not unfold in pure spiritual aspirations. The organization will 
 be deformed and adhere only to sensual things ; the attendant 
 spirit unable to penetrate the mental cerebrum cannot work 
 out intellectual benefits. Such mothers stand upon the ani- 
 mal plane ; the spirit cannot comprehend anything above 
 their material standpoint. It cannot even be cultured by 
 education, for that germ is imbued with a grossness which 
 cannot be thrown off, but lives to gratify in its development 
 that craving desire in which the organization was begotten. 
 
 God's laws are perfect ; follow them that you may produce a 
 perfect child. In one sense, education forms character. When 
 the organization unfolds itself to the more spiritual, the intel- 
 lect grows in advance of the material. But when, on the 
 other hand, the organization unfolds toward the material, a 
 crude organization is produced which must remain dormant 
 to the external beauties of the inner life. 
 
 Children should be cultivated the same as you cultivate 
 plants, with care and tenderness. God never intended that 
 brute force should be used. All is love and harmony in na- 
 ture, as before stated, and should ever be found in the home. 
 
 Children should be instructed from the very moment of 
 conception. Kindness from the father toward the mother 
 unfolds the germ of gratitude within the mother toward the 
 father, which makes an impression on the fetus, unfolds 
 
JO WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 the organs of the brain and makes them receptive to im- 
 pressions. 
 
 Born into material life, it should be loved and cared for 
 with all the sympathy that the two can give. Mothers should 
 also understand, that it is to their future happiness, both in 
 their material life as well as spiritual, to love the infant before 
 it is born. 
 
 During gestation, care should be taken to give all that is 
 to its benefit and growth towards perfecting the body. 
 
 When mothers direct their attention to this, and become 
 real and true mothers to the unborn, in feelings of love and 
 sympathy, the same as to those already born, they will impart 
 to the organization in fetal development the germs of love, 
 sympathy, respect, preference, morality, and force of charac- 
 ter, which are the beautiful attributes of the psychical 
 organization. 
 
 Then culture with care those little buds, that they may 
 blossom and develop into perfect flowers. You are their 
 material assistants. You make their material conditions so 
 essential for their expansion, unfoldment, and growth to ma- 
 turity. You give the material substance ; see that you study 
 this law and comprehend it. 
 
 Hundreds, yes thousands, are sent back into spirit-life before 
 the bud expands. Strict attention should be given to diet. 
 Milk and vegetables should be given for the growth of this 
 delicate bud, which now born into this material atmosphere, 
 requires a change of diet, and treatment similar to that which 
 the placenta has furnished, cleanliness of the physical body. 
 The fetus having grown in water, living in certain conditions, 
 which water imparted to its growth, requires the same in 
 material ; two or three baths a day, an immersion of ten or 
 fifteen minutes, will give the limbs strength and the body 
 vitality, by which growth develops. The germs of disease, 
 lying in the atmosphere as they do, are not attracted to the 
 body when those sanitary conditions are complied with. 
 
TENTH COMMUNICATION OF BEN II AM AN. 7 I 
 
 After the bud has expanded, in the seventh year a change 
 occurs. The time for the more positive magnetism to take 
 its effect has arrived. Attention then should be paid to the 
 spirit, cultivating the mind through objective force. The 
 spirit is naturally drawn toward its own pursuits, those in 
 which it seeks to perfect itself through its (material) experi- 
 ences. Consequently you can only give moral instructions 
 through fixed objects, illustrations, and so forth. 
 
 N.B. — Several months after the above was communi- 
 cated the following, in answer to questions, was given at 
 the " Banner of Light " circle through the organism of 
 Mr. Colville : — 
 
 " Too many mothers have their thoughts and feelings sent 
 out to material things ; far too many mothers feel that to 
 provide for the physical wants of the child at the time of its 
 birth is all that the child needs ; but from the very day of 
 germination the child should be taken care of as kindly, as 
 lovingly, as the rare plant in your green-houses, lest the trans- 
 planting from the tropical clime may kill out its nature. . . . 
 
 " If fathers and mothers were in a condition to become 
 such, with purity of motive, with love surrounding, they might 
 give birth to an immaculate child. It is only the absence of 
 perfect purity of love between parents which prevents every 
 birth from being an immaculate child. 
 
 "The law of parentage is the law of God. The law of God 
 is perfect enough. Your obedience to that law is imperfect. 
 God does not require to change his law in order to produce 
 a perfect child." 
 
72 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 Communication of Judge Edmonds. 
 
 June 23, 1879. 
 
 WELL, I see that you are in earnest about this great 
 and noble work. One who sees the spiritual light, 
 which is truly life, in the right sense, certainly cannot help 
 but take an interest in the diffusion of it. Oh ! there is so 
 much good can be done, and so few sincere workers. Friend 
 
 S , there would be plenty of good mediums if they were 
 
 not afraid of society and its effects. 
 
 Speaking of Spiritualism, it is one of the most high and 
 pure attributes of God. Men cannot make it popular. It is 
 too pure. It works out its own effects, in identity of which 
 it will develop pure truths. Consequently men must become 
 better who understand and follow out the teachings thereof. 
 
 It undermines the sensual nature of man by giving him an 
 insight into the purer philosophies of life ; consequently all 
 who are drawn within its atmosphere must become morally 
 purer and better. 
 
 You have a very large band. ... In the first place you 
 have a pure, earnest, and sincere medium, one who would 
 not hesitate to do good, nor would she deviate from the path 
 of duty, though it might be largely to her material benefit. 
 
 I truly deplore very much that mediums are subject to 
 persecution as they are. But with firmness of will and de- 
 termination they can overcome those obstacles ; for the 
 strongest force is on their side. Let them have patience ; 
 let them persevere in this great cause. Truth will live for- 
 ever ; error must perish. This power must and will unfold 
 itself with all potency, and will benefit all who investigate 
 with an earnest desire to learn. 
 
 Mediums have all on their side. Intellectual spirits are 
 sending their power to them. Re-enforcements always com- 
 ing, victory is nigh. Error must be cut down. Truth must 
 and shall predominate. 
 
ELEVENTH COMMUNICATION OE BEN II A MAN. 73 
 
 Eleventh Communication of Ben Haman. 
 
 June jo, i8yg. 
 
 Good-morning, my son ! Now we have come together to impart thoughts 
 that may be a benefit to the human family. 
 
 EDUCATION has much to do with forming the character 
 of the individual. Consequently it is the duty of every 
 individual to study the laws of nature, to acquaint himself 
 with facts that will appear as tangible objects before him. 
 These facts expound the knowledge, the potency of which 
 will develop the faculties of the human spirit, — develop a 
 more liberal and progressive nature, — and imbue the mind 
 with the high attributes of the Divine creator. You have 
 had too much of this materialism — entirely too much is 
 given to the material nature — too little to the spiritual nature 
 of man. 
 
 Parents must learn to realize that it is their duty to pay 
 strict attention to the spiritual development and culture of 
 their offspring. Not in binding them to any creed or dog- 
 matic form, but in instructing them with the knowledge that 
 they are developing their own creed. A creed which unfolds 
 within every individual. Through the development of their 
 faculties they will develop a creed within themselves to cor- 
 respond with the perceptive power's harmo?iious blejidings of 
 nature's laws. 
 
 Liberty to man, woman, and child, the love of a united 
 brotherhood and sisterhood, having patience with ignorance, 
 controlling it with love and sympathy. In this wise alone 
 can you draw out the magnetic germ of perceptive life. 
 
 Children require love, harmony, and sympathy to rear 
 them with positive force. Unkind acts make an impression 
 upon their undeveloped mental organs. They imbed them- 
 selves and incite a revengeful nature, dwarfing the intellectual 
 capacities to that which is good and pure. Holding them in 
 
74 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 secret fear cultivates treachery and arrogance, instead of the 
 divine negative sympathetic nature of God's highest attri- 
 butes. 
 
 O parents ! strive to comprehend that in the rearing of 
 children you have a sacred mission intrusted to you, — a mis- 
 sion the responsibility of which you are held accountable for 
 in years to come. Centuries of unfoldment cannot erase the 
 misconceived (erroneous) ideas impressed by a superficial and 
 false education which you, out of oversight, may have neg- 
 lected to correct. It is your duty, then, to be matured your- 
 self, that you may be capable of instructing the young minds 
 that are brought hither through your influence. You are 
 instrumental in giving them the physical conditions ; you are 
 also in duty bound to give them the spiritual conditions, 
 remembering always that the spirit in its new unfoldment 
 in spiritual realms sees things more clearly, more definitely, 
 than you can in your material body. Consequently you are 
 drawn back to earth to work out that which you omitted 
 through ignorance and false education. 
 
 The attributes of love are imbedded within the spirit, and 
 if they are by any means obstructed in their sojourn in the 
 body while in material life they, through natural laws, retrace 
 their steps, wending their way toward the material atmos- 
 phere of this planet, striving to make amends for the errors 
 of the past. Man and woman by studying the laws of nature 
 can acquaint themselves with facts, which through intuition 
 develop their spiritual faculties, imparting to them a power 
 through which their spiritual guides or controls can and will 
 assist them. 
 
 In educating with objects the minds of the young you can, 
 by explanation and reasoning, unfold the faculties — the minds 
 of those little ones. Keep them in the straight radii of your 
 own effulgence. Remember they are like a piece of putty ; 
 you can mould their cast, in form and principle, just as you 
 desire. Let it be the desire of every one to mould them in 
 
ELEVENTH COMMUNICATION OF BEN II AM AN. 7$ 
 
 the likeness of God the creator. The more intellectual the 
 development the more moral the habits, and the more god- 
 like in nature they become. Never strive through compul- 
 sion to force any obtrusive idea upon their minds. Allow 
 them perfect freedom to expand, that they may take in that 
 which is to their material and spiritual benefit. Care should 
 be taken that they are not influenced by minds that do not 
 stand upon an equal basis with your own foresightedness. 
 
 There should be a time set apart in every well-regulated 
 family for spiritual communications, once every day, in order 
 to make conditions for the heavenly messengers, who are in- 
 terested in your material experiences, to give you assistance 
 in the rearing of those intrusted to your care. Oh, how 
 much lighter the burden of care would be ! How much 
 they can relieve you remains to be tested within every indi- 
 vidual's self. Their interest in your material and spiritual 
 welfare is far greater than you can imagine. 
 
 Their desire develops out of the purest love, and is ever 
 ready to give such instructions, such information, such assist- 
 ance, as may be to your children's and your own lasting bene- 
 fit. Through these heavenly visitors you receive intuitive 
 knowledge ; when based upon a moral standard within your 
 own self you will have power to lead others. The golden 
 rule of Confucius will ever be before you, Do ye unto others 
 as ye would that others should do unto you. 
 
 Parents should keep this responsibility ever before them, 
 of giving opportunities to their spiritual attractions ; by mak- 
 ing conditions for them to communicate they will receive 
 the power of the Holy Spirit which will assist them. The 
 heads of every family, which consists of father and mother, 
 should realize this, should also understand that there is a di- 
 vinely inspired influence that keeps watch over every house- 
 hold. That influence is an affinitized soul drawn hither 
 from the superior spheres of the immortals. They are the 
 deputies of the central power which composes the universal 
 
j6 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 power of the family circle, located in the far distant 
 spheres of seraphs and cherubs. They do not hold verbal 
 communication with earth, but send their thoughts as they 
 do through the emanations of their will, which are conveyed 
 through an approximating power to the children of earth. 
 Every family has its central attraction which consists in the 
 moral force and pure development of this spiritual power. 
 
 You look upon an infant as the weakest thing, born in 
 utter helplessness, dependent upon the sympathy and charity 
 of its progenitors. The Creator creating animals of the 
 earth, and the amphibians of the ocean, and fowls of the 
 atmosphere, all in rotation, with their peculiar development, 
 placed each specie or kind in a position where they can 
 assist themselves, walking, swimming, or flying ; only the 
 young of the human race are helpless and dependent. 
 
 The intellectual care (required by the young) which should 
 be understood or comprehended by individuals, will impart 
 to them the knowledge why the human young alone should 
 be utterly helpless. Simply, this will give you an insight, 
 that, from the very beginning, man is dependent on man. 
 
 With careful attention and constant handling you give the 
 little waif magnetism. Your spirit guide imparting the mag- 
 netic propensities requisite to its physical vitality. The 
 moment the incarnation takes place there is assigned to it a 
 spiritual guardian who holds constant vigilance, many times 
 using means in controlling such material conditions that 
 might retard its progress in its future experiences. This is 
 in every case a truth, many times upon the undeveloped 
 plane, when the intellectual forces cannot approach; the con- 
 ditions are then controlled by undeveloped influences. The 
 higher cannot obtain power immediately ; but in after years, 
 through psychical and careful instruction, the influences 
 yield to the higher law — the undeveloped withdrawing, 
 giving conditions to the superior. 
 
 In this wise man is carefully instructed in the natural 
 
ELEVENTH COMMUNICATION OF BEN HAM AN. J J 
 
 forces of nature's laws, developing faculty after faculty, inter- 
 blending with the more powerful, unfolding the several attri- 
 butes within the nature of himself. Looking up as he does, 
 the unfoldment of the spirit grows in strength and in power; 
 and, through constant development, interblends with the 
 superior intellects of the spirit spheres. 
 
 Ever remember that there are but two progressions, the 
 one upward, which goes toward the divine infinite, by which 
 the spirit becomes strong, firm, positive, and holds control of 
 the physical body, over-ruling every undeveloped desire, and 
 advances with a constant growth towards purity. Just as 
 the fig-tree throws out new sprigs in its growth, every new 
 petal delicately formed, pure, and transparent-like in color ; 
 the lower branches and leaves becoming hardened from 
 atmospheric exposures become firm and strong, and repel 
 the storms which beat against them. Now and then a sprig 
 may be torn off through the positive force, but the young 
 twigs hold their position, holding to the trunk. In this wise 
 the spirit of man grows upward, every faculty reaching with 
 its perceptiveness into space ; the spirit gradually ascends to 
 the topmost pinnacle of morality, pure love, and the highest 
 principles of virtue. This is upward progression. Every 
 new thought, every form of knowledge, is a staple power aid- 
 ing the spirit's progressive unfoldment of individuality. 
 
 The downward progression consists im idleness, indolence, 
 and indifference. No desire to exert the faculties, to com- 
 prehend the divine truths which lie within their reach, hold- 
 ing ever to the material, giving all to the gratification of the 
 sensual appetites, interblending with all the sensualities of 
 the physical material ; the germ or essence which is divine 
 has no conditions by which it can unfold itself, but lying dor- 
 mant within the body, it awaits repetition. There are very 
 few of the soul propensities capable of developing. The 
 soul resembling the body in its exterior is consumed like the 
 body in the change called death. The cruder the material 
 the more perishable it is. 
 
?8 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 "Now, as the soul partakes from* this physical body the 
 magnetic substances which constitute it as a body, it is 
 annihilated or perishes with the body; but the germ — the 
 essence divine, is attracted through certain conditions, to 
 certain localities, situated between the first and second 
 spheres, assuming a color according to its condition or de- 
 velopment. It is devoid of a body, but having a luminous 
 aspect, appearing as a magnetic light often reflects (shows) 
 itself in your seances. It is but a germ, varying in color 
 according to, its power. The color identifies the power 
 which that germ may have developed in its sojourn within 
 the material body. Some are a red white, some blue white, 
 some yellow white, green reflections, varying in hue, accord- 
 ing to the magnetic power which it retains from its physical 
 life. Nothing more, all being annihilated. If the soul, 
 which is the body of the germ or intellect, is not purified 
 through its experiences while in the body, which is the reser- 
 voir upon which it feeds, it cannot separate itself from the 
 body. Unless it becomes an identity separated from the 
 body it must perish with the body. Now understand — the 
 body is the vegetation, the spirit is the cultivator and must 
 therefore control, through will-power, the body, and must 
 strive to adapt itself to the higher intellectual forces, of which 
 I have given you an outline. 
 
 All depends upon the spirit's cultivation ; through its 
 knowledge of these forces it controls the body, awakens 
 within it more pure desires, encounters and passes through 
 experiences which are to the physical benefit of the body, 
 and, as it were, spiritualizes the body. 
 
 This is the destiny of man. He must learn to know, and 
 fully understand, that he is thrown upon his own resources ; 
 that upon the education he receives he depends in after 
 years. Education forming the character, the soul and spirit 
 realizing the experiences, work on toward fulfilling the desired 
 experiences. It makes, and works out at the same time, its 
 
TENTH COMMUNICATION OF BEN HAM AN 79 
 
 destiny. Whatever may be the experience which the spirit 
 may desire to attain, it will seek to work it out effectually. 
 
 Many times through progressive laws, he deviates from the 
 first impulses, is led up through the inclination of his own 
 will, in and through a superior channel, which affords him 
 opportunities to work out more effectually these material ex- 
 periences, in the accomplishment of which — in the fulfilment 
 of every design — he adds new laurels to those already won. 
 
 Men and women are outgrowths of thought. Thought is 
 a power by which intellect is developed. Intellect is a 
 power by which knowledge is attained. Knowledge is the 
 potent power which gives individuality to the human race. 
 If the cultivation of this jewel is neglected, downward pro- 
 gression is inevitable. Observe the progress of the human 
 race, a reaction is taking place. Humanity is learning that 
 ignorance and bigotry (going hand in hand) have been the 
 greatest enemies of progress. 
 
 The human family is striving to raise itself above bigotry, 
 which has no head and cannot think, neither has it any 
 foundation on which to build. It is trembling now before the 
 positive progressive minds on the continent. It is an evil 
 that roots itself within the unborn babe ; through erroneous 
 education, it has cloven to man, and with iron shackles holds 
 him chained to ignorance and superstition. The new dis- 
 pensation, which is the spiritual light, has come to his relief. 
 It will teach mortals with tangibilities, which prove that God 
 or Deity is a father of love and not of wrath, is the father of 
 sympathy and not of revenge, is the father of charity and not 
 of arrogance. The three divine attributes, love, hope, and 
 charity, are emanations from that divine trinity which inter- 
 blends within the soul of every mortal, and can only be 
 drawn out externally through the natural education, which 
 is the Liberal Spiritual Philosophy. 
 
80 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 Communication of Confucius. 
 
 HOW few there are who comprehend and apply the right 
 means for their development. Love and truth flow 
 from above and give the spirit strength to comprehend with 
 indefinite conception the great Creator. In mercy there 
 descends the sympathy and truth which flow into the human 
 soul and thus develop the truth, that mortals too will seek to 
 comprehend at last the beauties and usefulness of this 
 material task. There is nothing that this power of love 
 cannot unfold to mind, if mankind will seek to comprehend 
 and study nature so divine. 
 
 Dear brother, few there are in life, who when withdrawing 
 from the great multitude can realize the Infinite power of God 
 the great Creator. The attributes of love, of purity, of mercy, 
 are imbedded within every object that the human eye rests 
 upon. Man is so crude in nature that he cannot realize the 
 attributes of this infinite power. And yet as the bud un- 
 ftlown unfolds petal after petal, so the human mind, through 
 its researches in nature's laws, unfolds faculty after faculty, 
 comprehending in its gradual development the Divine truths 
 that unfold themselves within the vacuo of spaces. How firm 
 in decisiveness should the spirit of man develop itself ! How 
 strong in will ! Through experiences these powers imbed 
 themselves. He will learn to comprehend that there is some- 
 thing beyond the mystic veil which gives power to the soul, 
 and that is knowledge, which is a power that imbeds itself 
 within the spirit, which impregnates life. Life which is 
 awake to all perceptiveness. Life which is active to all 
 changes. Life which predominates over all material. Life 
 which controls universally in the superior intellectual spheres. 
 The spirit of man will ride the waves of time and control 
 the powers of the universe. In his first stage of develop- 
 ment he is as a grain of sand, inactive, incomprehensive, and 
 
COMMUNICATION OF CONFUCIUS. 8 1 
 
 dormant. Gradual experiences imbedding the life through 
 electric forces of nature's laws, change after change in suc- 
 cession will in time give strength and vitality to the spiritual 
 unfoldment. 
 
 Oh ! think of it, ye children of men, think of yourselves 
 created as you are in purpose what ye make yourselves. 
 Think of what you can attain, of what you can produce. 
 
 The first minor experiences are but as those of a butterfly, 
 living for a time to vegetate in material strength, then perish- 
 ing, as it were, in spirit with the material. The intellectual 
 germ which interblends with the great infinite, receiving 
 through attraction a little life in addition, unfolding as it 
 were, gradually the perceptiveness of a purer intellect. In 
 passing from one stage to the other, man ascends in knowl- 
 edge toward the infinite mind, which sustains and gives life 
 and power to all who strive upward and onward toward the 
 realms in the distant spheres of love and harmony. 
 
 Seek and ye will find, oh, man ! seek that knowledge 
 imbedded within the laws of the universe. Bind sheaf after 
 sheaf, applying it with the purest motives that the soul can 
 comprehend. Knock on the door of wisdom, and it shall be 
 opened unto you, and reveal gem after gem of the beautiful 
 truths which lie within reach of all progressive minds. The 
 father of love imparting conditions to every individual alike, 
 if they can through their perceptiveness comprehend, and 
 through their will apply it. 
 
 Life is a power which moves the universe. Life is a 
 strength which holds in control the laws of nature. Life is 
 an unfoldment towards Deity, for that potent power consists 
 in universal life. 
 
 We will greet you again, dear brother, whenever opportu- 
 nities present themselves. We come only in compliance 
 with conditions which are in rapport with yourself and me- 
 dium. Many blessings, and hope that your healths will be 
 preserved for this work which must moralize humanity. 
 
82 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 Communication of Ben Haman. 
 
 July 7, 1879. 
 
 GOD bless you, as well as the medium ! The morning 
 light greets us with its calm, magnetic rays, imparting 
 conditions which enable us to impart information for the 
 benefit of mortals. We will begin a new chapter ; we will 
 speak of 
 
 THE TRUE RELIGION. 
 
 Reformers of old were workers in the same sphere in 
 which we are now working. They being in the material 
 body, not having the full development of their spiritual fac- 
 ulties, owing many times to a defective physical organiza- 
 tion, they could not work out effects as perfect as we now 
 can. 
 
 We are giving you views which we observe from a high 
 spiritual standpoint. They gave their views from their mate- 
 rial standpoint, having, however, the assistance of controls, 
 who imparted their knowledge and information as perfectly 
 as they could with their material conditions and surroundings. 
 
 The human family in that remote age had not progressed 
 up to its present standard. Repeated incarnations make 
 the perceptive powers more and more perfect, give a clearer 
 insight into the spiritual philosophy, which, when thoroughly 
 comprehended, imparts knowledge to all who can perceive it. 
 
 This law held good in that latter day. Antiquity imparted 
 much strength to the present development, by which the 
 growth of Spiritualism with its philosophy is sustained. 
 
 However, those reformers had not the conditions on the 
 material plane that we now possess. Consequently, the 
 growth of this dispensation will and must unfold itself with 
 greater rapidity, as human minds develop and progress, 
 unshackled from the dogmatic creeds. 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN II A MAN. 83 
 
 The doctrine of the immaculate conception entered the 
 minds of a few mediumistic individuals, who could not com- 
 prehend or define it correctly. 
 
 Speaking of spiritual conditions in the way of conception, 
 we must reveal to you, that Chrisna, the great philosopher 
 and reformer, who existed three thousand years before 
 Christ, was born under the same star, with the same presen- 
 tations of spiritual manifestations, living upon the same 
 plane of moral culture ; his teachings excited much thought, 
 and were highly appreciated. 
 
 The Christ child, born of humble parentage on the moth- 
 er's side, who was pure and in assent when she conceived. 
 Being very mediumistic in nature, the spiritual influences 
 that attended her could impress her with thoughts that had 
 the power to develop the fetal organization of the child. 
 
 Pure and spiritually inclined, she imparted unknowingly 
 the very conditions to the child that the spiritual band wished 
 for their future use. 
 
 Being attended by Elisha, Moses, Socrates, Pythagoras, 
 and a host of others, they worked out those conditions, which 
 enabled them to impart their own spiritual nature to the 
 Christ child, — it being ordained and controlled in the sec- 
 tion interblending with the seventh sphere, where the seraphs 
 and cherubims hold counsel, and are constantly striving to 
 send their counsel and assistance to the children of this 
 sphere. 
 
 The father, who was as material as any other mortal with 
 ordinarily developed faculties, was high priest of the Sanito- 
 rium Shanegum, in which the Jewish maiden Mary was a 
 novice, and was drawn to her in love, in sympathy, and in 
 spiritual conjugality. They were affinitized in spirit, and 
 that which took place through the love he bore her, was 
 begotten in the holiest embrace of a spiritual union, and was 
 sanctioned and controlled by the holiest and purest spiritual 
 influences; was ordained by an infinite and superior power, 
 
84 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 who holds in subservience the universal laws of nature, the 
 multitude of mortal, and the billions of immortal, souls. 
 
 When conditions are controlled through and with such 
 a spiritual interest, you can very well depend upon it that 
 some good effects will develop out of it. 
 
 The spirit of the Christ child was an incarnation of David 
 the king, 1 who returned to fill out the mission which the 
 world had applied to him, David, the man of God. Having 
 committed many errors in that life, wrongs and evil to his 
 fellow-man, he returned at once. After viewing the results 
 which would take place, he came as a reformer and a martyr. 
 
 The present generation, claiming to be his followers, cannot 
 see clearly the true motives, nor can they comprehend the 
 spiritual nature of the Nazarene. Partaking in nature,* as he 
 did, from both of his material parents, who were both pure 
 and undefiled and spiritualized in their conjugal love — they 
 imparted the harmonious blendings of their own natures to 
 the child, who developed in his unfoldment the attributes of 
 love, harmony, and sympathy. He was a brother to all. He 
 •was a lover of all, his soul flowing out in that immortal 
 love which he inherited from the all-infinite principle. He 
 gave unto all sympathy. His heart unfolded charity for all 
 mankind and womankind. 
 
 The human family, at that latter day, were yet too unde- 
 veloped in their nature to comprehend and appreciate him in 
 the true light. He advocated the truth of this present spirit- 
 ual philosophy. He strove hard to unite minds, through 
 whom he would be able to concentrate magnetic force, by 
 which he expected to work out developed effects. He col- 
 lected to* himself a band of twelve disciples, of whom he was 
 the centre. They varying in mediumistic magnetic quali- 
 ties, he drew them around him, so that he might be enabled 
 
 1 See " Strange Visitors," p. 24. " In like manner Jesus, the celebrated child 
 of Bethlehem, had lived a pre-existent life on earth. He had reigned over a people 
 in his previous life." 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HA MAN. 85 
 
 to test their power. They at the time being ignorant, did 
 not know or comprehend the laws through which he per- 
 formed those acts termed miracles. 
 
 His psychological power predominating over their inferior 
 faculties, he drew them in subservience to his will, and 
 taught them through this magnetic law the sciences of nature. 
 They were not like him in their development, nor could 
 their material organs unfold as readily to the spiritual laws, 
 of which they were so ignorant. Yet gradually one by one, 
 according to his organization, received the psychological 
 effects of his pure magnetic power, and unfolded the 
 attributes of their spiritual gifts according to the perceptive- 
 ness of their own individuality. Each one varying in their 
 views — each one demonstrating their individual impressions 
 according to the receptiveness of their faculties. There was 
 not one of the whole twelve who could take correct views, 
 or comprehend that which the Nazarene himself demonstrated. 
 
 While he lived on earth, he was the central star. The 
 twelve in mighty circle stood, their number, it was plenty, 
 and like a solar star, stood Jesus in the centre. The power 
 and assistance which Jesus gave to his disciples while he 
 remained with them, gave them implicit confidence in him. 
 He knew full well that through his psychological influence 
 he would be able to develop them into his spiritual sphere. 
 He gave them magnetic strength in all their secluded 
 gatherings {seances). He instructed them in the science of 
 spiritual law, as developed and demonstrated in the moral 
 attributes of his own nature, which was godlike and spiritual. 
 
 He was assisted by the same band, through his whole phys- 
 ical life. The same spiritual influences that attended him 
 at his birth attended him through all his material experi- 
 ences. Joseph, being selected by them as a material guard- 
 ian, both to the mother and child, was a medium. Through 
 him the spiritual controls of Jesus worked out material 
 effects. The mother's mind was kept passive and undisturbed 
 
86 woman; and her relations to humanity. 
 
 by material cares, was made more sensitive to spiritual 
 influence, and endowed with spiritual magnetic power, which 
 she imparted with strength to the infant suckling. All was 
 controlled in complete harmony during gestation, as well as 
 during nursing. 
 
 Joseph was instructed by the angel, or spirit guide, to 
 watch and care for her, in a holy and pure spiritual way ; 
 which instructions he did not disobey, but followed with due 
 deference to the holy spiritual monition and the high priest's 
 instructions. . 
 
 His education was brought about through the guidance of 
 those same influences. They carried him into Assyria. 
 Pythagoras, controlling conditions, brought him under the 
 influence of the Pythagorean school of instruction, where he 
 was united to the Assyrian sects, and lived twenty years in 
 their midst. Having attained the highest development in 
 moral perceptiveness, having developed the magnetic power 
 which lay within his own nature, and which was assisted by 
 the united band of thirteen in spirit, having unfolded the 
 psychological influence of which he now made use with the 
 most astounding effects, he was told by his spiritual attend- 
 ants to go forth and diffuse this knowledge, and spread the 
 light of the spiritual dispensation, to instruct the ignorant, to 
 develop the wiser ones, and to crush out ignorance and error, 
 and the false teachings of the Hebrew Rabbi. 
 
 He girded on his armor, and went forth with implicit faith 
 and confidence in the Divine father and instigator of his 
 spiritual mission, knowing perfectly well who he was in 
 the ante-natal life, and his motives in returning back to 
 earth ; and fully realizing and comprehending through his 
 spiritual development his purposes and his desires. 
 
 The determination of his will yielded him success wherever 
 he went. The psychological power which he emitted from 
 his pure inner self conveyed to the minds of every one who 
 came within his magnetic circle, a calm resignation and sub- 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HA MAX. 87 
 
 servience to his will. In this he was perfect. He drew 
 vast multitudes wherever he stopped to concentrate his will. 
 Multitudes were compelled to rlock to him, and when drawn 
 within the atmosphere of his magnetism, he imparted to 
 them the psychological principle and God power in nature. 
 
 This magnetic power gave their spiritual perceptions 
 strength and comfort through which they felt, no matter on 
 how low a plane they stood, the calm, spiritual harmony and 
 blending of his power. He instructed them and gave them 
 moral ideas, with pure love and with charitable purposes. 
 He taught that which emanated from the fountain of wisdom, 
 that God is the father of love, that in nature he resembled 
 him, that in spirit he was like him, and made every effort 
 toward imparting the same attributes to the whole human 
 race. 
 
 The Pythagorean philosophy of which the Assyrians were 
 advocates at that remote day, advocated the most perfect 
 moral laws and principles, and highest purity. 
 
 Psychological power, when conveyed and imparted to 
 individuals from a pure mind, must develop pure effects, 
 when continuation and attention are given. That psychologi- 
 cal power which Jesus taught, is the very power which your 
 mediums of the present day are teaching and imparting. 
 Consequently we have told you that it is necessary and 
 highly essential that the organs of the medium, through 
 which it is conveyed, should be pure. Immoral teachers at 
 heart can produce no pure effects. 
 
 If Christ had been impure in nature, the seeds he sowed 
 could not have sprung up and become deep rooted in the 
 soil of this mundane sphere. He was premature, and could 
 not be comprehended. The psychological power which he 
 imparted was drawn from the spiritual fountain of the God 
 principle. 
 
 Controlled through the band of thirteen, who attended him 
 in spirit, he likewise assimilated the same on earth ; he 
 
SS WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 making the thirteenth, the whole being conducted and con- 
 trolled in similarity with the spiritual band of which Pythag- 
 oras was the head in spirit. He did not deviate one iota 
 from the instructions and advices which he received clairau- 
 diently and intuitively, but followed out every instruction 
 with the greatest trust and simplicity. He was successful in 
 many instances. 
 
 In this trust to your spirit-guides and controls, faith alone 
 holds good. Not faith in God and the salvation of the soul, 
 as your orthodox sectarian creeds define and require, but 
 faith in those spiritual immortals who instruct you in the 
 moral path of duty, to work out spiritual effects by pure 
 and noble deeds. 
 
 The impression which Christ made upon those who heard 
 him developed within some the moral bent of their natures ; 
 they could not receive impressions in the same light he in- 
 tended, they could only see and comprehend according to 
 their own material organization. Consequently they misrep- 
 resented his views and ideas, which the various sects have 
 taken up, who all claim to be following the great reformer ; 
 most assuredly in purpose they desire to be followers, but in 
 design they vary, and cannot comprehend the true motives of 
 his life and teachings. 
 
 He now fulfils that which he forecasted. The son of 
 man will come again, though not in the body, but in likeness, 
 resembling the present dispensation. " He will come in the 
 clouds," which is the atmosphere which surrounds your 
 planet. 
 
 Eighteen centuries have passed away and more. His 
 development in spirit has attained to such a height, that his 
 influence reflects upon all around you. Verily he is in the 
 midst of you all, not in person as an individual, but in spirit, 
 as a power, sustained by an infinite host of immortals who 
 are contributing their magnetic power in harmony and assist- 
 ance. 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HAM AN. 89 
 
 Thirteenth Communication of Ben Haman. 
 
 July 14, 1879. 
 
 The influence of Christ's magnetism upon the children of earth. 
 
 GOOD-MORNING, brother! we are now prepared to pro- 
 ceed with our work. 
 
 The influence of Christ's magnetism upon the children of 
 earth is now perceptible, and can reveal itself to any mind 
 that desires to progress. 
 
 This new dispensation, so termed in the nineteenth century, 
 is very old indeed, as old as the hills of Judea. The spiritual 
 philosophy which is interesting so many minds in Europe 
 ' and America, is nothing more than the magnetic psychologi- 
 cal influence of nature's laws, through which mortals, by 
 thorough investigation, will learn facts which will demonstrate 
 to them the potency of spirit-power. Very little has been 
 revealed up to the present time. Its investigators will ex- 
 pound living truths through the development of this power. 
 
 As before stated, minds cannot perceive or receive more 
 than their faculties can comprehend, and they will apply it 
 in accordance with their perceptiveness. Consequently you 
 have conflicting ideas given you through mediums. The 
 spirit makes its impressions upon the material organs or brain 
 of the individual ; they are moulded according to the per- 
 ceptiveness of the individual's faculties, any spirit attempt- 
 ing to control those organs feels their deficiency, their 
 imperfections, at once, and cannot force them into flexibility 
 on account of their positive development. 
 
 However, the individual himself or herself, by earnest in- 
 vestigation and positive acquired knowledge, can unfold those 
 organs through development. 
 
 Development consists of knowledge acquired through will- 
 power. This will-power, through positive determination, will 
 
90 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 unfold these material organs, and make them more flexible, 
 more sensitive, to the controlling influences or spirit guides. 
 
 Therefore it is highly essential that mortals should give 
 their attention to spiritual things, and not harden their organs 
 in pure material experiences, but give to the spirit opportuni- 
 ties which will impart happier effects to the soul. 
 
 Jesus of Nazareth entering upon a new sphere when he 
 left earth, his spirit was freed from material encumbrances. 
 Having crowned himself with knowledge through his educa- 
 tional experiences with the material laws of Nature, having 
 acquired the individuality for which he sought, having ob- 
 tained a superior condition in the estimation of a few minds 
 upon this material planet, after complying with every law 
 requisite for the unfoldment of this magnetic' strength, of 
 which he was thoroughly informed, and through which he 
 accomplished wonderful works, he ascended to do his duty. 
 
 However, his followers could not make the same impres- 
 sion, nor do the works which he did, owing to their weakness ; in 
 many instances, they could not realize the divine impartation 
 qf the God-power in magnetism. 
 
 After the ascension of Christ into spirit life, he quickly 
 observed their weakness. The promises which he had made 
 to his disciples he quickly fulfilled ; but not until after he 
 had revealed to them to make proper conditions, by exclud- 
 ing themselves in an apartment, closing the doors and win- 
 dows, and they had seen him in a materialized spirit form. 
 
 Very little is understood by the impartation of the holy 
 spirit. Each one of the disciples, having developed his me- 
 diumistic propensities, was then in a condition to receive 
 a full development, by the assistance of a spirit, in the 
 form of a control. Each disciple was assisted by his separate 
 control during his sojourn with the Nazarene, but was never 
 sufficiently firm in faith ; the twelve never having attained 
 their development as individualized spirits, they looked to 
 Jesus as a leader, and depended upon him for advice and 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HA MAN. 91 
 
 assistance ; they were many times overcome by weakness 
 and despair. The controlling influences attending them could 
 not in such weak organizations unfold the positive power of 
 their wills. 
 
 Consequently they required the positive spiritual magnet- 
 ism of Christ in spirit, to unfold and give them their potent 
 permanent spiritual power. 
 
 This was imparted through Christ and his spiritual band, 
 who now could give more assistance to the disciples. The 
 magnetic conditions having been changed upon his entering 
 the higher sphere ; having developed more power within the 
 same faculties, he gave strength to all alike, with the assist- 
 ance of the united band which attended him while on earth; 
 being more vitalized in strength they gave to the disciples the 
 spiritual power, to work out the same effects, which Christ 
 himself produced. On receiving the Holy Spirit, the disciples 
 spake in different tongues, in foreign languages which they 
 knew not of. (Every individualized spirit possesses that 
 power.) 
 
 They could not comprehend nor realize this spiritual power 
 at first, nor could they understand each other, for all seemed 
 confusion. However, through patient observation, with Jesus 
 in the centre who explained all facts necessary for them to 
 know of this great reformation, they did so. He gave 
 them the assurance of his presence ; if they would but call 
 upon him, their thoughts would reach him by uniting them- 
 selves more closely to him, and keeping in constant rapport 
 with his influence (which in magnetism is conveyed to the 
 object worked upon), power would be imparted to them. 
 
 The disciples, having received the assurance of this power, 
 separated according to instructions, each one having at- 
 tained his development through the individualization of his 
 faculties, coming now into close rapport with their spiritual 
 guides, following every advice, heeding impressions, instruc- 
 tions which led them into the field of duty, where each one 
 worked out the mission imposed upon him. 
 
92 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 Through the spiritual influence of Christ they spoke, at 
 times, in their own dialect, and again in that of others more 
 foreign, changing whenever it was necessary, so that their 
 teachings might be comprehended by all their hearers. 
 However, they could not explain, or give expression to any 
 impression or thought other than that which their faculties 
 could comprehend. 
 
 In explaining facts they spoke in parables, illustrating their 
 subject according to their educational perceptiveness, and in 
 a manner to correspond with the ideas and comprehension of 
 their hearers. 
 
 In that latter day the human family was not educated up 
 to the present standard. Accordingly the disciples, reformers 
 we will call them now, used words the definition of which 
 did not always convey to their hearers the meaning which 
 the reformers attempted to convey. Three or four centuries 
 later, the prelates who wrote, or tried to write, the history 
 and experiences of Christ and his disciples, were not as 
 spiritual in nature as the true Reformers were. They did 
 not study and observe the laws with the acuteness which the 
 disciples had used. However, they comprehended facts, 
 writing as they received and comprehended them. They did 
 not intend to give the conflicting ideas which the reformers 
 of a later day conceived, and out of which so many varying 
 sects have developed. 
 
 The sects of the present time are all branches of the great 
 reformer, varying as they do, some weak and some strong. 
 Just as the stout oak which stands firm and erect, heedless of 
 storm and pelting influences ; branch after branch may be 
 torn asunder, yet the young sprouts put forth with more vigor 
 and strength, receiving more of the substance from the inte- 
 rior strength. So with the varying sects ; they in faith hold 
 to the reformer ; some of them not having sufficient faith be- 
 come extirpated. Those who investigate with more sincerity, 
 straining their faculties to comprehend more correctly, will, 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN II AM AN. 93 
 
 in the evolution of time, develop in firmness and strength 
 that power which the great Reformer is imparting to all who 
 seek to comprehend. He stands, as it were, in the centre of 
 this great spiritual revolution. Never in the remotest antiq- 
 uity do we trace such a revolution, such a spiritual change as 
 is taking place at the present time. 
 
 Christ's mediumistic power consisted of twelve definite 
 forms, — phases which I need not explain, as they are already 
 known to almost all Christians. His prophetic words are 
 now being fulfilled : The Son of man will come again in the 
 clouds, and with more power. This is the fulfilment of those 
 words, Verily he is in the midst of us all. The concentrated 
 power consisting in magnetism conveys his influence wher- 
 ever two or three are gathered together. 
 
 This magnetic power is the baptism which he gave to his 
 disciples, called the Holy Spirit. Legions of angels or 
 spirits, one and the same, are constantly going back and 
 forth from this earth, to work out the fulfilment of his 
 prophetic words. Not only in Europe and America, but in 
 the remotest parts of the earth, where you would little think 
 there was any spiritual culture, but where in fact there is 
 greater impression made upon cultivated individuals than 
 here in the midst of Christian civilization. 
 
 Christ the reformer, since his entrance into spirit-life, 
 nearing the nineteenth century, has worked more faithfully, 
 and with more efficiency by far, than the preceding reformers, 
 and why ? Simply this : the old philosophers and reformers 
 having acquired superior knowledge and strength, united with 
 the Pythagorean band, of which Jesus the Nazarene is the 
 centre. He being the later-day martyr, having been in- 
 formed after his maturity of his sufferings and death, was 
 fully resigned, for the sake of the interest and benefit it 
 would eventually be to the human race in salvation, as the 
 Christians term it, of the soul or spirit, but which in reality 
 is not correctly understood. Salvation not consisting in the 
 
94 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 simple faith in Christ without works ; but in faith with works. 
 Faith in realizing that through his magnetic influence each 
 mortal can be assisted in working out good deeds and noble 
 designs. 
 
 He was a martyr. He resigned himself to every fate, suf- 
 fered pain and deprivation for the sake of truth. Prayed to 
 get in more thorough rapport with his guides and controlling 
 influences ; fasted forty days in the wilderness to set an exam- 
 ple by purifying his body for spiritual communion : he gained 
 strength in .spirit by abstaining from material pleasures, the 
 outgrowth of which has become firmer and stronger up to 
 the present day. 
 
 He died for the truth. His teachings were not under- 
 stood save by the few, and those few could not convey them 
 in an indelible form to the inhabitants of earth ; conse- 
 quently the misconceived ideas which have been drawn from 
 the Pagan schools. Throwing out portions here and there, 
 they have as a body an indefinite conception of the great 
 definable truth which Christ the reformer demonstrated. 
 
 However, it has not lain dormant ; it has grown in spirit. 
 The great philosophers, the remotest reformers, having con- 
 centrated their forces, are drawn towards the centre, where 
 Christ the reformer stands. They see clearly that they can- 
 not make the right truthful impression upon the various 
 sects and races. They interpose their power, and now har- 
 monize with the latest reformer. 
 
 However, it will still take time to develop this truth. 
 The trunk of the tree is strong, the roots are deep within 
 the soil, the branches throw out their tubers into the dif- 
 ferent continents of this earth, the leaves diffuse their aroma, 
 and impregnate the atmosphere everywhere. 
 
 Gradually they will exhilarate the sense of man. Through 
 respiration a natural desire will unfold itself, to ascend to 
 the pure realms of truth, the teachings of which will unfold 
 the moral nature of the human race. 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN II A MAN. 95 
 
 Christ the reformer is the tree of life. Look at the mil- 
 lions who are imploring him daily! See the millions of 
 mortals invoking Allah, Omah, Jehovah, and a host of other 
 gods ! They, too, were reformers in their day. They strove 
 to lead minds on a higher pinnacle, but were unsuccessful. 
 
 Buddha accomplished greater works, but, owing to the igno- 
 rance and arrogance of other sects and nations, his power 
 was interfered with, and greatly impaired. However, the 
 more liberal spiritual philosophy still exists in the Bramin 
 faith. Those persons who are individualized powers stand- 
 ing where Christ stood, working to establish the same pur- 
 poses in effect, have added additional branches to the trunk. 
 They have concentrated their power, and united themselves 
 in harmony with Christ the Reformer. Through the develop- 
 ment of their progressive natures, they now work upon the 
 same plane, for the same accomplishment in power and 
 individuality. 
 
 Bands of spiritual beings are sent out from this great head 
 or central circle, which is located in the seventh sphere, 
 where their council is daily held. Thoughts and expressions, 
 influences of love and truth, are thrown off, sent hither and 
 thither through space, to the various inhabitants of earth. 
 The more impressive mortals are sensitive to this influence. 
 They through respiration inhale it ; they are then called 
 mediums or instruments through whom this power is con- 
 veyed to others, and attract more attention from the spiritual 
 universe. 
 
 The great Reformer, attended by the ante-natal reflections 
 and the reformers of remoter days, sends messenger after 
 messenger from sphere to sphere, until the influences reach 
 your earth. This great reformatory principle will develop 
 the true spiritual nature of man, and impart the identical con- 
 ditions necessary for his development, drawing him nearer 
 toward the Infinite Creator whom they resemble in spirit. 
 
 It is through this power, when rightly applied, that the 
 
g6 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 inner principle of man will unfold the sixth sense, which is 
 dormant in the greater number of the human race. The 
 unfoldment or development of the sixth sense, which is 
 purely spiritual, and interblends with the higher attributes oi 
 nature, gives strength and individuality to the conceptions of 
 the spirit, and causes it to grow more potent in purity. Con- 
 sequently, through this unfoldment, the true philosophy of 
 spiritual life will be comprehended. 
 
 Some mortals have intellect, and recognize the material 
 qualities of nature. Comprehending as they do external 
 laws of all characters and kinds, their intellectual views or 
 opinions are formed from the evidence they receive through 
 the five senses, and attribute all purely to material sub- 
 stances, which are perishable in effects. 
 
 If such would but yield to the impulses of their inner 
 natures, they could very soon detect the inner substance 
 which contains the life-germ, and which is supported and 
 sustained by the interior laws, of which they have no knowl- 
 edge. By turning their thoughts in that direction they would 
 • be assisted towards developing the sixth sense, spiritual 
 perceptiveness. 
 
 Gradually all will yield. Through a repetition of the 
 spirit it will eventually receive an organization, by means of 
 which it will be enabled to unfold these attributes of spiritual 
 identity, and through natural experiences, essential to every 
 individual, man will in his development acquire knowledge of 
 these facts, and live out a more perfect life in working out 
 good effects, and assisting others in the unfoldment of their 
 spiritual natures. When that time arrives a more rapid 
 progress will take place ; for mortals will comprehend more 
 thoroughly the true religion of Christ, and will strive to live 
 out the true principles and moral laws which Christ the 
 reformer taught on earth, and which at the present time are 
 imparted with treble force to the inhabitants of earth. 
 
 His teachings, which unfold themselves in the midst of 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN II AM AX. 97 
 
 mortals daily, consist of moral truths, of which mankind 
 have heretofore heard, and yet in many instances are igno- 
 rant of and indifferent to. The influence of this magnetic 
 power which is conveyed hither, must first impregnate the 
 individual, and impart to him of the Holy Spirit. Baptized 
 with this magnetism, which we call impregnated, and which 
 you receive in the presence of every pure medium, through 
 whom it is conveyed, you gain strength and courage ; 
 though at first very faint, by repetition it unfolds itself and 
 gives courage to the individual to work out its spiritual 
 effects. 
 
 Children of earth must seek for this knowledge, they must 
 make an effort to attain it, they must strive to acquire it ; 
 and if they knock on the door of knowledge they will cer- 
 tainly be heard, and the assistance will come to them. But 
 they who sit patiently watting, without exerting their facul- 
 ties, or exerting themselves to attain a knowledge of these 
 facts, must continue in their blind ignorance. Use the 
 reasoning power which the Creator has imparted to you, 
 develop its strength, and through the assistance of the 
 Nazarene you will receive the individuality and self-sus- 
 tenance of your own immortal self. 
 
 Every branch which reaches out conveys magnetic assist- 
 ance to the different nations of the earth. Which nations 
 in time will develop out of their errors into the spiritual light 
 of this dispensation. The same love, the same sympathy, 
 the same harmony, interblends with their surroundings as 
 with yours. 
 
 The host of reformers that labored so spiritually on earth 
 have concentrated their magnetic forces in rapport with 
 Christ ; and now with this new dispensation of power, the 
 Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man interblends 
 with every soul, that it may receive the baptism of the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 This sympathy, love, and harmony are imparted to all 
 
98 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 alike through magnetism, and is universally distributed to 
 the children of men. That love, harmony, and sympathy 
 which individualized the character of Christ and illuminated 
 his character, are doubly unfolded within the higher attributes 
 of the individualized power of the great God-principle. 
 
 This is the true religion. Time will develop and unfold 
 the purer gems of its teachings. Mortals must develop out 
 of materialism. Orthodox creeds must throw off their shac- 
 kles ; they must become more charitable and develop out of 
 their crude materialism, which can never interblend with the 
 universal love and harmony of God and his infinite laws. 
 
 Those branches which are weak must be broken off, and 
 the true power, which emits itself daily from the original 
 fountain of life, will flow out with living truths, establishing 
 a more potent foundation through which all, all are glorified. 
 Purer motives will wed themselves to purer thoughts ; and, 
 with obedient will, they will develop the interior power and 
 teachings of the great Reformer. And ever let it be im- 
 pressed that, where two or three are gathered together with 
 thoughts directed to the spirit band which he controls, he 
 will be in their midst. 
 
 And this is the salvation of the soul through faith in Jesus 
 Christ. Faith in his works, of which you ought to be the 
 followers. Faith in his example, of which you ought to be 
 the workers. Faith in his assistance, through the conditions 
 by which his reflections will reach you, not ordained solely 
 on his own plane, but duly arranged and assisted through 
 the instigation of his will, which is the same in effect as the 
 material father's in arranging to influence and assist his son 
 toward accomplishing material success, but multiplied in 
 number by assistant reformers ; they imparting magnetic 
 conditions to each one alike, in the spiritual circles which 
 may control. 
 
 This is the second coming in spirit, in thought, in will, 
 the works of which will reveal themselves to all who can 
 
COMMUNICATION OF ARIOSTA BEY. 99 
 
 comprehend the love and truth in which he lived, in which 
 he died, and in which many other reformers have lived and 
 died who have increased and now reveal themselves with 
 more spiritual effects than in former days, and will finally 
 draw forth the finer attributes of the undeveloped spirit and 
 revolutionize, by the impartation of purer desires and more 
 moral principles, the human race. 
 
 We may be able to speak of this subject at some future 
 time. We are workers for this great central power. Christ, 
 the Reformer's magnetism, is imparted to us constantly. We 
 convey it through the medium's organs to those who come in 
 contact with her. They receive it according to their own 
 nature. If pure, it imparts pure desires. If impure, it can 
 make but a vague impression which does not last a fortnight. 
 Tiierefore, mortals must strive to purify themselves in order 
 to hold communion with their sainted ones. They can only 
 attract the assistance of those of a sphere who stand upon 
 an equal plane with themselves. Progression changes condi- 
 tions and gives them the power to commune with the purer, 
 who give them assistance and sympathy, the theory of 
 which is founded on tangible facts. B. H. 
 
 On my return from a materializing seance, so-claimed, I 
 had a seance with Mrs. Cawein. Without the least allusion 
 to any impression I had there received, Mrs. C. spoke as 
 follows — she being in deep trance : 
 
 Communication of Ariosta Bey. 
 
 September 23, iS/g. 
 
 MORTALS are so material that they do not look at the 
 bright spiritual side of things, but give all to the pres- 
 ent material. Many of them do not hesitate to commit acts 
 and deeds which are wrong, and that obscure and darken 
 
IOO WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 the spirit, and hold it chained to earth. So we find things 
 at . . . We see things largely misrepresented there. How- 
 ever, they do some good in giving those manifestations, 
 which are not what they purport to be. 
 
 True, the medium is controlled, and assumes the characters 
 that are reputed as manifesting. She is a trance medium, 
 something like this phase (Mrs. Cawein's) in whom the 
 spirit controls the intellectual organs for spiritual purity and 
 advancement. But there, the object is purely material. In- 
 stead of the intellectual, it is all thrown on the material phys- 
 ical organs of the medium, she assuming every character. 
 In personating many times her features take on the natural 
 expression of the spirit. Do you not observe the same 
 through this medium at times ? We want honesty and sin- 
 cerity to spiritualize the human family. Those manifesta- 
 tions may make a good impression on some, but on many 
 they produce a doubtful, sceptical feeling, and do more harm 
 than good. It is not well to advise sincere philosophers to 
 visit and witness these manifestations. The deceptive influ- 
 ences are sure to make an impression on them the same as 
 they did upon yourself. I admit she is not always under 
 control, at other times complete deception. Those who visit 
 there must take their chances. There is no sincerity there. 
 It is all a money-making affair. . . . 
 
 Your enthusiasm for the material manifestations has been 
 modified. Ben Haman will speak of why you were permitted 
 to go there. He works on a higher plane. 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN II A MAN. IOI 
 
 Communication of Ben Haman. 
 
 September 23, 1879. 
 
 GOOD-MORNING, my son ! You have passed through 
 experiences ; the purpose was good. One year ago, had 
 you visited that abode, you would have been satisfied, and 
 accepted everything as germane and beneficial. Probably it 
 would have benefited you. You were not then on the plane 
 upon which you now stand spiritually. All must pass through 
 changes. There are many on that plane who are truly bene- 
 fited by witnessing those manifestations, though it will be 
 very humiliating to the sensitive when he discovers that mis- 
 representation has been practised upon him. Nor is it right 
 or just to misrepresent spiritual influences or manifestations. 
 However, it is all controlled under spirit-influence, and pre- 
 sented on a plane, which is almost purely material. 
 
 We permitted you to visit there, to show you the diversity 
 of power in manifestations, the diversity of thoughts, and 
 their effects upon mortals in this life. 
 
 All this does very well for materially inclined individuals, 
 and is essential, for it is a portion of what human mortals are 
 composed of. The sincere philosopher is satisfied with the 
 intuitive power, which raises his soul above the material 
 things of this life, giving him an inceptive view of his pres- 
 ent spiritual nature, which adheres to all purified spirits. 
 But have we not all had those experiences ? Yes. It is es- 
 sential that we pass through the gross material ; none can 
 aspire to the purely intellectual without first having experiences 
 in the lower spheres. Consequently, those who are bene- 
 fited on that plane gradually emerge a step higher. After 
 they reach an elevated position, above the present material 
 one, they will comprehend why they were permitted to pass 
 through that ordeal. The law of progress advances views 
 
102 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 founded upon facts, which become tangible to the investiga- 
 tor as he reaches the higher portals of spiritual progression. 
 It is all mental power. This magnetic force which conveys to-*- 
 mortals the tangible facts, is the individualized life substance ; 
 it strengthens the material organs of the physical body, giving 
 power to the mental organs, through which the spirit mani- 
 fests itself. 
 
 The more power you attract, the more power is concen- 
 trated, the more independent the spirit becomes. It is rea- 
 sonable then to advise that knowledge of spiritual things, so 
 called, which lie inert in the laws of nature, is only obtained 
 through this life-force magnetism. It is the life substance of 
 every living creature, both animal and human beings. We 
 in spirit feel the deficiency of this power, especially if the 
 intellectual faculties have been neglected. Progression ad- 
 vances step by step into that real, natural life. None can 
 enjoy the true natural, unless they work out of the material ; 
 by thus doing, they become loving, sympathetic, and charita- 
 ble creatures, having a tendency to reach the good and omit 
 the evil, wherever opportunities give them conditions. 
 
 Such is life, Brother S. You now have seen that which 
 has made an impression on you. You, too, will comprehend 
 intuitively why the material manifestations have no attrac- 
 tions for you. Your band is above that plane. Your calling 
 is above that plane. Consequently, your spiritual inclinations 
 and desires reach forth to the higher. The Nazarene said, 
 " Ye have the poor always with you ; but me ye have not 
 always." The undeveloped you have at any time you 
 desire them ; being so much of the earth, they require the 
 magnetic emanations of the earth, which gives them strength, 
 and they are ever ready to manifest their power, often unob- 
 served by mortals here. But the intellectually gifted and 
 pure ye have not the power (to bring them to you at once), 
 but they must be invoked through pure magnetic conditions. 
 Let this be impressed upon all true seekers and sincere phil- 
 
FIFTEENTH COMMUNICATION. 1 03 
 
 osophers. True they will feel it themselves, even as you 
 have felt it. Nevertheless, have charity for all. 
 
 God bless you ! and remember the work we have before us 
 is of no ordinary character. Could you see from our stand- 
 point, you would not be surprised at our not making a more 
 rapid progress. The misrepresentation of a personal deity, 
 of Pagan forms of worship, which are all no more sanctioned 
 than the misrepresentations of spiritual characters in the 
 materializing seances which you attended. 
 
 Are not God and Christ misrepresented to millions of indi- 
 viduals ? Yes ; over two-thirds of the population are this day 
 deceived by misrepresented spiritual ideas (coming) through 
 sincere individuals. Think of it, and I will unfold many im- 
 pressions. 
 
 The world at large is deceiving each other. And it is on 
 this account we work. If you could view the conditions from 
 our standpoint, you would think that our chances for success 
 were as a drop of water in comparison to the sea. But we 
 have hope, which gives us strength to work on. Work in the 
 great cause of truth, and spiritual light will interblend and 
 give the soul its development, to realize and comprehend the 
 truest God, the Infinite Deity, and the mother of all produc- 
 tive power. This is the light, this is the hope, this is the 
 power : we never weary. Good-day. 
 
 " Skywauke. Me come, chief. An honest medium never 
 gets materialization ; all who stand upon a low plane get 
 benefit there." 
 
 Fifteenth Communication. 
 
 October 70, 1870. 
 
 HOW can fraud ever result in producing a benefit to mor- 
 tals ? was a question upon which my mind had been, 
 and was dwelling upon when, sitting down to the seance table, 
 Ben Haman announced himself as usual with, — 
 
104 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 Good-morning, my son ! we are happy to communicate this 
 morning. I require some moments to collect my faculties ; 
 the nervous condition of the medium causes this. I will first 
 refer to the interview you had at the materializing seance at . 
 
 The characteristic nature which the medium displayed, is 
 not sanctioned by ourselves, consequently, we opened your 
 eyes to the deception. I have told you before that she is a 
 medium upon the trance order. Had she abided by the 
 development of the trance power, she might have accom- 
 plished more good. But, being wrapped up too much in self 
 and mammon, she forsook the holy and pure, threw them 
 off as it were, and accepted the undeveloped, fraudulent 
 influences of a lower plane. 
 
 The assuming of characters under spirit control, providing 
 a truthful explanation is given of how it is produced, is sanc- 
 tioned by the superior developed powers, and is often assisted 
 by them. There are many minds which cannot accept the 
 intellectual at first, but require tangible objects to make an 
 "impression, which is necessary. They, too, are also required 
 to develop thought, and direct the attention to spiritual things. 
 The A B C of spiritual development lies in the material 
 surroundings of the individual. Consequently it is imparted 
 through the cruder material and forms a tangibility, through 
 which satisfaction is imparted to the searching mind. 
 
 These manifestations do a great deal of good upon that 
 material plane. They are the phenomena for which the 
 majority seek, and if conducted upon a pure, truthful plane 
 work out good effects. 
 
 However, the majority of mediums allow themselves to be- 
 come influenced by those sceptical influences that are brought 
 to them by investigators. These very influences, being 
 anxious to make an impression on their friends in the mate- 
 rial, will impress the medium to give herself up to their de- 
 signs ; she being a negative, readily yields to their wishes. 
 Procuring the material, she will apply it in such a manner 
 
FIFTEENTH COMMUNICATION. 105 
 
 upon her external body, and on other objects, necessary 
 in producing the desired effect. Those influences throwing 
 their magnetism over her, while imitating character after 
 character with their magnetic power in connection with her 
 will, can and do represent the character which they claim to 
 be present. 
 
 In this wise, deception is practised upon the community. 
 It is deception in one sense, and yet spirit influence in an- 
 other. First the additional part which the medium performs ; 
 second, the assumption of the spiritual influences controlling, 
 in personating a character which they are not, is the decep- 
 tive part of the manifestations. The medium is not entirely 
 to blame for this ; she subjects herself to those influences in 
 her negative condition ; she, being sensitive to every thought 
 which is emitted from the spiritual influences in attendance, 
 is therefore readily controlled by their designing will ; in 
 addition to which the material object, in making money and 
 gaining notoriety, which to some minds is very gratifying. 
 Taking all these things in consideration, the spiritual intelli- 
 gence cannot change it. 
 
 We must have time. Time with proper conditions will 
 gradually develop the human race. With the gradual de- 
 velopment of the minds in mortal form, we shall be able to 
 show them and to give them a clearer insight into the spirit- 
 ual philosophy. You must learn to sift the pure from the 
 dross. Those very manifestations, with their designing in- 
 fluences, in their tendency develop good effects. Out of the 
 undeveloped material there develops, when properly applied, 
 the most superior effects. The untutored mind must first 
 learn the alphabet before it is able to spell a sentence. The 
 sentences spelled out in an object convey a different mean- 
 ing in reality to that of the single letter. Therefore from the 
 crude material, the spiritual is developed. Particle after par- 
 ticle of the refined is converted into the more refined, and 
 interblends through a chemical process, according to nature's 
 
106 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 laws, with the purest essence, which we apply for spiritual 
 use in our spiritual spheres of progress. 
 
 There is no evil ; there may be a wrong. Wrong committed 
 through undeveloped organs will certainly be set right when 
 the individual development realizes and recognizes the true 
 course through conviction. This constitutes progression. If 
 it were not for this undeveloped condition, there would be no 
 need for development. If your organism was made perfect, 
 so that your spirit could accomplish a perfection in every ex- 
 perience, there would be no progression made by you. 
 
 You must consider the undeveloped state of this planet 
 itself. Mortals placed here to vegetate in the flesh, partake 
 of all those crudamental particles, consequently mortals are 
 given to the wrong more than to the right, more to the un- 
 undeveloped than to the developed. The undeveloped, when 
 applied, benefits the material body, through which the mate- 
 rial sense is gratified. When I say material sense, I mean 
 the spirit in its undeveloped material state. There are thou- 
 sands upon thousands who live to gratify the material appe- 
 tite, the cravings of the material body. In such persons, the 
 spirit interblends entirely with the soul propensities which 
 enjoys the material experiences and conditions applied to it, 
 and has no desire for the loftier aspirations of spiritual life. 
 
 Now for such persons those very material manifestations 
 are beneficial. The pure essence of spiritual culture could 
 not be imparted to them, could make no more impression on 
 them than you can on a dumb brute. 
 
 Everything is presented from the spirit-world in a true 
 light and for a good purpose. Time only will have power, 
 as before stated, to change those conditions. 
 
 The philosopher has no interest in the alphabet. And so 
 with yourselves, who have obtained a higher degree of 
 knowledge, you cannot take much interest in the material 
 manifestations. 
 
 Having received perfect instruction, and by careful obser- 
 
FIFTEENTH COMMUNICATION. 107 
 
 vation, you have developed that sense, which many others are 
 seeking to develop, called the sixth sense, or spiritual part of 
 man ; the unfolding of which imparts a power to the percep- 
 tivity of your individuality. 
 
 When thoroughly interested, the spiritual guides impart 
 knowledge which is information from the inner life, through 
 and by which you become convinced of facts which exist in 
 the spiritual laws of nature. That which you cannot grasp 
 materially is all spirit. Mind is a spiritual essence, the pro- 
 duction of which lies in nature's laws. Consequently it is 
 matter refined and indestructible, though subject to changes. 
 Consequently, I have told you, it is the duty of all who have 
 attained the higher forms of development, to have charity 
 for those who are struggling for light. Light is knowledge, 
 and has a power to work out effects. Darkness is ignorance, 
 and gropes its way carefully, and must have gleamings of 
 light, the faintest ray of which will assist those groping their 
 way into the light. And it is the duty of those who have 
 obtained the power to work out effects in the light, to assist 
 those still grovelling in darkness. , Send them a ray of light, 
 which is sympathy ; have patience with their prejudices, even 
 with their arrogance, for they cannot bear the bright light at 
 once. There are crooks and by-ways through which they 
 must be led carefully, until they reach the gleam of light, in 
 the brilliancy of which they will be assured that they are on 
 the right road. Even as the mother has patience with the 
 faltering babe in teaching it the first step, so the superior 
 intellect must have patience, and with perseverance assist his 
 fellow-man, in bringing him up and placing him in the right 
 road of progress and of power. 
 
 Out of evil there developeth good. Evil, so called, is un- 
 developed good. If it were not so, there would be no out- 
 growing from the undeveloped into the spiritual state. That 
 which seems deceptive to the most advanced investigator is 
 but a physical display, assisted by undeveloped powers to 
 work out good effects. 
 
108 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 Sixteenth Communication of Ben Haman. — Reincar-^ 
 
 NATION. 
 
 October 17, 1879. 
 
 GOD bless you, my son ! We come with all the happiness 
 I can bestow to say a few words about the ante-natal. 
 
 I have revealed to you a portion of the philosophy of 
 reincarnation, being well aware of the fact that there are but 
 few in the material who have advanced sufficiently to apply 
 this knowledge with persistent and patient investigation. 
 
 You have now developed this power, through which you 
 can receive and comprehend that mortals must live many 
 lives in order to perfect themselves for the spiritual spheres. 
 
 " Verily I say unto you, unless a man be born again, he 
 cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." This heaven, this 
 summerland which Christ spoke of, lies far beyond this 
 material sphere, and cannot be reached until the individual 
 spirit has developed sufficient self-sustaining power. 
 
 Then again, " In my Father's house are many mansions. I 
 go to prepare a place for you." Those mansions vary in 
 degree; they are conditions applicable to the mortal nature 
 of man, attainable according to his degree of unfoldment. 
 Many there are who enter those mansions or degrees, and 
 live centuries satisfied with the conditions or degrees they 
 have attained on earth. Presently, on awakening to the 
 reality, a desire to advance develops itself, and they find, in 
 order to accomplish it, they must return and work out effect- 
 ually experiences on this material plane. This material 
 sphere being in close proximity with those conditions or 
 mansions so called, they add and take according to the 
 development of the spirit while in the material form. Many 
 failures there are and have been in those experiences. 
 
 Immortals return with a desire to accomplish a purpose. 
 If the organization of the material body is weak and dis- 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN II AM AN. IOQ 
 
 eased from too great an excess of material influences, which 
 produce defective conditions, the body wastes and decays, the 
 spirit returns, without having accomplished much in its de- 
 sired experiences, and enters upon the same plane or sphere 
 which it has occupied before. 
 
 Perseverance of the will, which has its marked effects 
 upon the spirit while in the form, will cause them to return, 
 oft times immediately, and with more successful effects. 
 
 That it is a general thing is demonstrated to the material 
 senses of man by the difference in their development. Many 
 in their youth are far superior to others in an advanced age ; 
 many there are who are far advanced spiritually, with the 
 spiritual experiences by which their individuality is made 
 perceptible to a close observer. Observing these conditions, 
 so normal to the sense, you cannot help but see that where 
 one perfects himself or herself, they are more sympathetic, 
 more charitable to their fellow-men. The individualized 
 spirit bears no arrogance, no malice to his fellow-man; all 
 is harmony and love, concentrated with a tendency to assist 
 through sympathy wherever he can. 
 
 Your own life has been a round of changes. Impressions 
 which I tried to impart to you in your youth were thrown off, 
 because you thought they were fancies of an unnatural 
 character; ani yet in their tendency they conveyed to you, 
 in the form of development, the unfoldment of your inner 
 nature. 
 
 It was not until you had passed through many changes 
 and experiences that I was able to impress you in the light, 
 to seek for the true material power, through which the 
 spiritual could be imparted. Change after change. The 
 restless spirit sought for the power through which this truth 
 could be verified. 
 
 Eventually I brought you here. Through the channel of 
 this magnetism I am now enabled to convey to you facts 
 through which you will be enlightened, and by which the 
 
IIO WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 veil will be lifted ; revealing to you the true causes, the 
 effects of which you have always considered shrouded in 
 mystery. 
 
 Passing by these changes I will first speak of your last 
 and present one. With careful guarding I have guided you 
 from the moment of material birth. And before this change 
 it was I who sought your earthly parentage. Being endowed 
 with large spiritual perceptiveness, I could penetrate the 
 material, and saw in the material parents, father and mother, 
 moral and intellectual gifts sustained by charitable purposes, 
 from which I knew they would be enabled to produce good 
 organizations and perfect souls. 
 
 Not all guides or guardians in spirit are developed up to 
 this standard, consequently the many failures. If we can 
 see clearly, we certainly can choose the more perfect organs 
 for the perfecting of a soul. 
 
 I observed with carefulness your youthful training. There 
 were some immoral impurities, which intercepted for the 
 'time being your development, which had to be permitted in 
 order to bring about other effects. Mortals did censure you 
 in their ignorance : they knew not why we often permit unde- 
 veloped effects to take place, in order to bring out the more 
 perfect and good. 
 
 This was your experience at college, an experience you 
 were compelled to pass through ; without it your spiritual 
 sympathetic nature never would have developed. Suffering, 
 with its evil effects, is produced for a good purpose. (See 
 note A at end of this Communication.) 
 
 There is but one great God, or principle rather, and he 
 created both good and evil, which is developed and unde- 
 veloped. Man has been created to work out the effects of 
 both. The undeveloped, being related more to his material 
 organization, which is matter in an undeveloped state ; he is 
 drawn more to the material or to the undeveloped, and must, 
 through many experiences, develop out of that condition to 
 the more perfect. 
 
COMMUNICA TION OF FEN HAM AN. 1 1 1 
 
 This is the law of reincarnation : you are planted, the 
 spiritual essence is planted in the material essences, and 
 through the exertion in encountering those experiences you 
 eventually perfect yourselves. 
 
 The infinite mind has created good and evil, and reigns 
 supremely with intellectual power over the whole. The 
 spiritual and intellectual are above in the purer atmosphere 
 which surrounds this planet. The material and undeveloped 
 are in the midst of you and your surroundings. There is but 
 one great cause which produces those effects, and the sense 
 of man, which is spirit combined with the material, must 
 strive, through exertion of his will, to control the material, 
 and to raise himself above it. The further he ascends 
 above it, the more his comprehension reaches out into the 
 spiritual ; and through the potency of this great electric 
 power with which he comes in contact, the stronger and 
 more potent the will becomes. 
 
 In this wise, knowledge is obtained. Knowledge when 
 obtained can be applied to controlling spiritual as well as 
 material things. This is power so-called, and is only obtain- 
 able by those who have lived many lives in this material 
 atmosphere. 
 
 Your material parents were moral and pure ; striving to do 
 their duty by their offspring, as near as they understood to 
 be right, they performed the material functions necessary 
 for the happiness of yourself. Their guides being in spirit- 
 ual relation with myself, I frequently conveyed my ideas 
 through the monitor of their impressiveness, instructing 
 them what course to pursue with yourself, so that this life 
 might not prove a failure. 
 
 You had large sympathy and love, and all the respect due 
 to a dutiful offspring. However, your restless spirit was not 
 satisfied. The experiences which were impressed upon you, 
 you sought to realize. We found that in the professional 
 avocation to which you had applied yourself with so much 
 
112 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 vanity, you could never accomplish or work out the effectual 
 experiences. Consequently, we carried you into the forest, 
 burying you from the many hurtful influences, excluding you 
 entirely from the treacherous influences of undeveloped 
 individuals. There in the deep-tangled woods, with the 
 voice of the loved ones in their spiritual sympathy around 
 you, and the voice of nature responding to your inner devel- 
 opment, I found we could physically develop you for a good 
 cause, the purpose of which is now being fulfilled. 
 
 A guardian in spirit, who will guide and protect the mortal 
 from evil as near as he can, admitting only such suffering as 
 may be essential for a good purpose, — in such a spiritual 
 guardian's love there is something more than mere material 
 affections, something more than that fictitious love which 
 changes with the shift of the wind. This guardian love, this 
 spiritual attention, is the love of a spiritual parent made so 
 perfect through earthly ties at first. 
 
 And now since your spirit has unfolded, and can compre- 
 hend the gleams of light which I have imparted to you, and 
 can be guided by the loving will of one who has striven to 
 do his duty, may you work out in every sense the will, of him 
 who ordained it, who stands highest of all. O my son, strive 
 to realize that we are all" workers for that great central 
 Power. I am portraying to you this divine truth, through the 
 assistance of some who are my superiors, and are doing my 
 duty, and but assisting the great Father to accomplish and 
 perfect his children, the human family. 
 
 This is why, when you went to see the Anderson medium, 
 your mind was fixed upon the portrait of your father, your 
 material parent. True, I impressed that affection upon you, 
 which must and will remain even to eternity ; but, through 
 the interblending of my power, which claims its right from 
 the more perfect source, I presented myself. My head and 
 face conveyed to you through magnetic influence a feeling of 
 love and admiration. I wished it to be so. That feeling 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN II A MAN. 113 
 
 developed thought after thought within your mind, until you 
 have arrived at the very pinnacle of spiritual knowledge, 
 and attained that which unites us closer in strength, to work 
 out more effectually the great good to our fellow-man. 
 
 You are the material instrument through whom we can 
 accomplish much good ; and by thus giving yourself up, you 
 are outgrowing the experience of the past, and fulfilling the 
 mission assigned to you. 
 
 The relation of this spiritual attraction is very remote. It 
 is not essential that I should pass through (i. e., relate) the 
 different changes since its first development. Suffice it 
 when I say, I was once your material father — not only 
 once, but twice. The first impregnation of your spiritual 
 identity was intrusted to my material care. Centuries after 
 centuries have rolled on with their unmitigated changes. 
 
 You have conquered as a ruler, as many others have, with 
 the iron wrath of a material brute. So much so, that in your 
 last life you made very little progress, owing to the reproaches 
 of those victims you held in bondage. As Archibald, you 
 were stern and severe. I strove hard to guide you aright. 
 I then, too, lived on earth, but the iron will of your positive 
 nature could not be influenced by me. Consequently, you 
 perished under the sword, — assassinated. That dates back 
 before the birth of Christ. (See note B.) 
 
 However, you were Persian again. In that life, the sec- 
 ond, was the first spark of your spiritual development. 
 Having made so many failures, caused so much suffering, 
 you were brought into the same atmosphere, with the same 
 conditions to control, in order to test the ability of your indi- 
 vidual development. When the remorse of a soul is so great, 
 it is sure to throw itself back at once, to escape the tortures 
 of influences that reproach it. Those tortures are called by 
 the Catholics, purgatory. The prayers offered up in good 
 faith, in the performance of high mass, frequently harmo- 
 nize the influences, and relieve the spirit for the time 
 being. 
 
114 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 In your second life, I find you made a little more prog- 
 ress. I was attracted to you immediately after my death, 
 and passed through changes with you, — experiences which 
 were a benefit to me ; and, as I gained power, I imparted 
 assistance to you. 
 
 In the German life as Rozono, I determined to influence 
 you against your own will. I knew it would be better for you. 
 You were too material — too positive, and destroyed yourself. 
 I met you iri spirit. An understanding was had that you 
 would produce certain conditions in the working-out of ex- 
 periences, through the medium of another source, by becom- 
 ing my material son again. 
 
 I immediately incarnated ; found myself in the character 
 of an Italian nobleman, Signior Rubenes, the sculptor. You 
 were born with the same name and profession. I had no 
 recollection of what had transpired in spirit between us, but 
 I felt a sacred duty impressed upon me — that of having 
 you educated. Being sincere and spiritual myself, having 
 large individuality, I had you educated as a priest of the 
 highest order, under the careful instruction of good Father 
 Burno. 
 
 You were promoted to bishop, and from bishop to cardinal, 
 Cardinal Lasseno. Your life proved a failure, by being de- 
 stroyed through Borgia, who poisoned you with a ring while 
 supping with him in the monastery of Saint Lucia. The 
 times were very rebellious. Pope after pope was dethroned. 
 You strove to ascend to the power of pope. Lucretia Borgia 
 was in love with you. Borgia, her brother, was jealous of 
 your ambition and destroyed you. 
 
 When entering spirit life I found you in a very weak state, 
 being full of vengeance. You threw off a great deal of mag- 
 netic power. In that way you were injured, or injured your- 
 self, nor would you listen to reason from me. You deter- 
 mined to avenge yourself, and came back to earth with a full 
 desire to attain the power of pope, but failed. 
 
COMMUNICA TIOX OF BEN HAM AN. I I 5 
 
 Hovering around in the same atmosphere, you were di- 
 rected and assisted to the accouchement of an humble peasant. 
 Through the assistance of your spirit guides you entered upon 
 a new life, much upon the same plane with the material sur- 
 roundings of your previous life, excepting that your parents 
 then were Romans — at least, the father. You were educated 
 and trained in the Roman school of architecture, but being 
 brought within political influences, you gave your attention in 
 that way, and became involved in the rebellion of different 
 nations. 
 
 You joined the ranks of artillery. Your energy, ambition, 
 and revengeful spirit were displayed in the great battle of 
 Buerns, in which General Litchera fell. Litchera was your- 
 self. You displayed some noble feats there, from which good 
 effects developed. Since then you have repeated yourself 
 twice, once in France. Passing through a great deal of 
 suffering, you came to spirit life humble and receptive. 
 
 After that, in the English character, in Queen Mary's 
 time, you played a part as Burk. In the persecutions on ac- 
 count of religious dogmas you saved the lives of several who 
 had been condemned by various acts and devices, through the 
 spiritual assistance of myself and others. At the end of that 
 life you committed a wrong. At the latter part of that life 
 you were married to a young woman who confided greatly 
 in you, but you contracted a love for another, and had her de- 
 stroyed — instigated the murder. He who instigates a murder, 
 who conceives it in his mind, is more a murderer than he who 
 strikes the dagger to the heart, and the expiation of this 
 crime you are now working out. Having good traits of char- 
 acter at that time, your spirit had attained knowledge which 
 incited you to strive hard to accomplish good works, yet in 
 assisting those you saved you caused others to be punished. 
 Your spirit was yet in a very undeveloped state, and you 
 died of grief, broken-hearted for the wrong act against your 
 physical conjugal. 
 
Il6 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 You lived in spirit with me numbers and numbers of 
 years, progressed in many things, enjoyed the bliss of the 
 spiritual life. You sought the object of your love, your 
 soul's affinity, which can only be obtained through progres- 
 sion. You might have remained but for your attraction for 
 an affinity in a higher sphere. 
 
 This affinity is with you. She assists me with your daily 
 experiences, not always, but gives you strength when she 
 comes, understanding the laws which assist the immortal soul 
 to happiness through progression. You were willing to take 
 upon yourself the physical cross, with its material experi- 
 ences, and, with faith in your future happiness, you returned 
 to this life ; the rest you know. 
 
 Any questions to ask ? I was too much astounded to ask 
 any. 
 
 I want you to understand that we are co-workers. My 
 love is the outpouring of the great Infinite Creator's. You 
 are now ready to understand it. 
 
 You have a pure nature, which I have been instrumental 
 in unfolding, and will be enabled to guide you aright, and 
 assist you to impart to others by impregnating your magnet- 
 ism in their system. A pure nature is spiritual ; an impure 
 nature is material. Abide by that which is good and 
 pure. You cannot do otherwise. You are conscientious, 
 true, and sincere, and I thank the All Infinite Power 
 for giving me strength to unfold your nature, and lead 
 you up higher, where spiritual purity interblends with your 
 thoughts. Abide with the pure, with the good in heart, for 
 they shall see and enjoy the happiness of the summer 
 spheres. 
 
 God bless you, my son ! and may his protecting care 
 and love ever interblend with your soul, as it does with us. 
 Amen. 
 
COMMUNICA TIOX OF BEN JIAMAN. I 1 7 
 
 Note B. — On the advice of Mrs. Watson I called on a 
 Mrs. Manly of Erie, Penn., for a sitting. She handed me 
 some eight pages of note-paper covered with writing of such 
 an allegorical character that I could make nothing out of 
 it. Years afterwards mentioning the same to Mrs. Glading 
 she advised me to send it (I had only a copy) to Dr. Cooper 
 of Bellfountain, Ohio, for a translation. He returned it say- 
 ing, " I do not know whether you believe in reincarnation or 
 not, but I am impressed that you were an Eastern potentate 
 in a former life — 'a lover of songs.' You were an admirer 
 of Ovid, a contemporary with you." 
 
 Note A. — In 1838 I received a summons to appear be- 
 fore the faculty of Jefferson College, Pennsylvania. I was 
 charged with being the wildest boy at college, going on an 
 occasional spree, and neglecting my regular studies, and was 
 suspended from college. I was then in my eighteenth year. 
 I immediately wrote a long letter to my father, palliating my 
 conduct, and asking for money to meet some of the debts I 
 had contracted, intending upon receipt of the money to take 
 it and hide myself in the far West, as, when he would realize 
 the total amount of the indebtedness I had contracted, he 
 would be justly incensed and angry with me. Just as I was 
 about to mail the letter, as I stood on the post-office porch, 
 I received a letter with a black seal — it announced the 
 death of that father ! 
 
 Was it necessary for a supernal power to intervene, and 
 at the expense of the life of that father to snatch me from 
 destruction ? was a thought which haunted me for years. 
 How will my poor mother bear the double infliction of 
 father's death and my disgrace ? The thought led me to ask 
 the faculty to withhold a notice of their action from my 
 mother. Returning to my mother's now desolate home, who 
 with meagre means was left with a large family of small 
 children on her hands, I strove hard to assist her in fight- 
 
Il8 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 ing the wolf from the door. I ate many a plate of mush, 
 salted with tears of regret that I had been the cause cl 
 loosing her stay and support. A confession never before 
 made to mortals, but alluded to in the foregoing, when 
 speaking of " your experience at college." 
 
 Seventeenth Communication of Ben Haman. 
 
 October 31, 187 g. 
 
 ARCHIBALD I., same as Archilaus, was before Christ, 
 nearing the birth of Christ during the reign of Herod. 
 
 If mankind go about development, they will find that man 
 . . . must perfect himself through experiences. 
 
 The histories I have given you of all those lives, were 
 given merely to convince you of this fact that, there are 
 changes in spirit life as well as in the material, not that you 
 derive any material benefit from it. Oh, no ; in purpose it 
 is purely spiritual. It has aroused that dreamy nature of 
 yours into consciousness, through which you realize why 
 you live, and to what purpose you can make this life an 
 advantage, not only for yourself but for others also. 
 
 As before stated, through the development of those per- 
 ceptive organs of yours you become more impressive ; and 
 I will in future be enabled to impress upon you with identi- 
 cal firmness the true character of the ante-natal lives which 
 you have passed through. The sufferings through failures 
 have also made their impression on you. Now that this life 
 is more perfect than any of the others ever were, you will 
 be enabled through the assistance of myself and others to 
 accomplish the work for which you returned, and work out 
 the mission urged upon you. 
 
 Change after change takes place in this material life, like- 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HAM AN. 119 
 
 wise in the spiritual. We are constantly working, and through 
 the energetic power of our wills we impart assistance to 
 mortals here. Every one imparts according to his degree of 
 development. In your workshops you have inventors, in 
 your seminaries you have philosophers, the laboring man 
 has his attractions in that sphere to which his development 
 corresponds. The philosophic draw the intellectual to their 
 assistance, etc. 
 
 But there is a time when we desire to perfectly accomplish 
 our work in order that we may leave earth's sphere and 
 locate permanently with those minds with whom we inter- 
 blend. 
 
 You have now had many experiences ; your desire has 
 naturally developed sufficient in strength, the will of which 
 acts as a potency in locating yourself. 
 
 This we desire to accomplish. Many centuries have 
 passed. Your spirit is very old, and the many and various 
 experiences have individualized you sufficiently, so that your 
 strength is drawn from the reservoir of nature. The foun- 
 tain of purity which has developed this individuality within 
 you, has given you strength to throw off the iron shackles 
 of dogmatic creeds, and freed you from all material attrac- 
 tions and interests. 
 
 Not until a mind liberates itself from those material errors 
 can it comprehend the intellectual power which is imparted 
 through this fountain of life, the magnetic-electric power, 
 which emanates from the great Creator. The electric, which 
 is the creative power and positive force, impregnates the 
 magnetic and more negative force, the two interblend as one 
 and produce the growth of vegetation which emanates from 
 the soil of this globe ; likewise the semen of man, which con- 
 tains the life-germ of electric power, impregnates the female 
 ovary, which is the negative-magnetic power, the two elements 
 interblending constitute life ; animal life on a higher plane. 
 
 Man is a composition of the various elements ; there is not 
 
120 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 one within the mineral or vegetable kingdom which the hu- 
 man body does not contain. It is composed of a variety cl 
 elements, in particles or germs. When the physical body 
 becomes deficient or weak there is a lack of one or two or 
 more of these elements ; consequently suffering sets in, and 
 the body becomes weakened, and unless restored by external 
 applications or substitutes, it must continue to lose. One 
 after the other are thrown off, and return to the elements 
 through the exhalation of the porous system. You breathe, 
 not only through the nostrils, but through numerous cells, 
 which are in constant activity, throwing off the impurities 
 of the body ; these are drawn in through inhalation, and 
 again thrown off to the elements, to return again through 
 a purified process of this magnetic law. * 
 
 Oxygen contains the purest electric force. Hydrogen 
 gives the magnetic force. The two interblend with much 
 power, and benefit the animal kingdom. One of these alone 
 is too positive, and cannot give the full benefit which the 
 human system requires. When the soul leaves the body- 
 along with the spirit, life is extinct. Then oxygen and hy- 
 drogen are of no avail. Then the electric-magnetic power 
 acts in a different manner : instead of imparting life, it con- 
 sumes it, disintegrates and carries off the whole of the body 
 in a vapory form ; being consumed, it returns to the elements 
 from which it was composed. Every particle, though buried 
 out of sight within the soil, is attracted to that of which it 
 was composed ; change after change in various forms take 
 place. 
 
 This, man must consider the great reservoir of nature, the 
 electric-magnetic power of which I would be able to give you a 
 full description in its pure state, both before it impregnates 
 your atmosphere and after, if the medium will comply with 
 the requests now appealed to her. 
 
 There are laws in nature which would be of great benefit 
 to the intellectual mind if it comprehended them, or would 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN II AM AX. 121 
 
 make them a study. There is but a tithe of knowledge i in- 
 put ted from the great spiritual source, and there are still, at 
 the present day, as many souls annihilated as there were 
 thousands of years ago. Science constitutes progress ; 
 knowledge is power, and power constitutes the spiritual 
 development. The human family will now learn, through 
 the spiritual development, that they must perfect themselves 
 here in knowledge, and can attain only through experience 
 that happiness which the spirit craves, but which none can 
 fully realize until they have developed or advanced out of 
 the earth's sphere. 
 
 For this reason I have given you the ante-natal parts' of 
 your lives. You may well say it lies with the past. But the 
 spirit buries nothing. Out of the material sight it may be, 
 out of the material mind, or the mind while living in the 
 material body ; but when the spirit enters upon a new life, 
 this life of activity, it unfolds itself gradually, and the ener- 
 getic nature of the spirit will again perceive and compre- 
 hend according to the desire, according to the will and 
 nature of the individual. 
 
 Just so the unfoldment of the mind in recognizing the past, 
 which, in a dreamy condition at first, cannot realize or com- 
 prehend perfectly that which your orthodox ministers call 
 a union in heaven. Spiritual teachers err there. Those 
 unions in heaven do take place in the spiritual spheres, but 
 not in reality, as they claim and portray them to mortals. 
 Many come and seek their friends, provided they have 
 individuality sufficiently developed to realize that they have 
 friends or relatives here. They may know them, if they 
 are drawn magnetically to them ; otherwise they do not. 
 
 It is for this reason that spiritual-magnetic circles should 
 be holden with perseverance, so that men and women can 
 learn the laws which control the universe through the posi- 
 tive force, magnetic and electric ; when this can be demon- 
 strated, man will gradually realize, through the development 
 
122 woman; and her relations to humanity. 
 
 of his physical organs, the true source from which happiness 
 is obtained. 
 
 It is by being led the wrong way, guided in the same man- 
 ner his progenitors were guided, that this dogmatic doctrine 
 and error, soul salvation, has blighted his life, as it has 
 previously that of thousands of others. Through disappoint- 
 ments and errors, the spirit lives and returns, and lives again, 
 with little or no better success. 
 
 Not until, the uprooting of this evil error, which men and 
 women have clung to with great tenacity, even to desperation, 
 can they make spiritual progress. Incited as it is, this 
 dogmatic error conveys to it a hopeful and trusting confi- 
 dence; and when it enters spirit-life, it finds but little benefit 
 from its effects. In darkness, regret and disappointment 
 develop sorrow, with many in an undeveloped state a feel- 
 ing of revenge; and more often they are the first to take 
 advantage of an opportunity, and immediately reincarnate. 
 
 This is why you have at the present so many materialists. 
 ►They are mostly individuals who have through some great 
 disappointment thrown themselves back to work out their 
 vengeance against the dogmatic doctrine of soul salvation. 
 
 Be hopeful, and learn to realize the individuality which 
 your soul has attained through this development. This can- 
 not be revealed to all. The ignorant herd must continue 
 with the surging mass, who are striving to gain their salva- 
 tion through sectarian creeds. Not until they realize disap- 
 pointment in spirit, not until they return with the impression 
 it makes upon all truthful, energetic minds, — not until then, 
 I say, will they be enabled to comprehend the true source of 
 happiness. True enough, it lies within the reach of all, but 
 they who cannot grasp it, certainly cannot be benefited 
 through its subilme power. 
 
 He who always looks upon the dark can never see the 
 light. 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HA MAN. 1 23 
 
 October 31, 18/g. 
 
 Upon asking for medical advice for my wife, who at the 
 time was somewhat indisposed, B. H. said, " Don't fear or 
 have uneasiness. I think we can arrange the domestic sur- 
 roundings. The mother who performs or fills such a large 
 mission in the household, is somewhat crushed in spirit and 
 physically debilitated. We have directed our attention upon 
 her. We must impart proper conditions, that she may yet 
 remain in the bosom of her family. True, the ante-natal 
 germ is trying hard to develop itself within her system ; but 
 with proper remedies, along with rest and care, she will be 
 able to baffle the disease. She has positive will-power, which 
 is a great boom to her physical health. Be hopeful, that 
 which you desire the most will surely be worked upon ; in 
 accomplishing those purposes, you will be enabled to over- 
 come those material defects which have so long obstructed 
 your way to spiritual progression. Gradually the unfolding 
 organs of the material body feel the consoling effect, which 
 this healing band imparts to you, and through this power 
 you are enabled to assist those loved ones intrusted to your 
 care. Through this vital power you have given strength to, 
 and prolonged the life of the dear mother. She has bene- 
 fited largely from your magnetism, and can still be 
 benefited, now more than ever. The magnetic unfolding of 
 your physical organs imparts to her the vital life, through 
 and by which she has been sustained these many years, and 
 also imparts to the little ones alike the same. The elder 
 youth, who is absent at present, misses this magnetic band 
 and surfers in consequence thereof. We will establish a 
 battery to convey the magnetism of yourself to him (at 
 Evanston, 111.), which is highly essential and must be attended 
 to with care and strict attention on your part. Direct your 
 thoughts to him every morning before arising from your bed. 
 Your thoughts must be directed upon his head. In this wise 
 
124 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 the magnetic current will penetrate him through ; no matter 
 where he may be he will become stronger and not suffer from 
 this debility. 
 
 Eighteenth Communication of Ben Haman. 
 
 November 14, 1879. 
 
 MIND is an essence which cannot be destroyed, and 
 requires material aid to assist in its development. 
 Being an essence highly refined, constituted of forces that 
 hold in their possession the power of oxygen and hydrogen, 
 electric and magnetic elements combined, it presents itself 
 as all gaseous forms do. Yet through this process of devel- 
 opment it becomes inert in the human body, because the 
 human body being composed of a combination of elements, 
 vegetable and mineral particles, the essence of spirit-mate- 
 rial comes in contact with every kind. Through its develop- 
 ment it partakes of these different elements. They impart 
 strength to the spirit through the development and growth 
 of the body. The body being matter destructible neverthe- 
 less contains all those elements so essential to the strength 
 of the spirit. If the body is weak and diseased, it does not 
 impart to the spirit any nourishment, hence the spirit feels the 
 deficiency and is unable to work out effectually its natural 
 experiences. 
 
 This law proves itself in those mortals who have diseased 
 physical bodies ; they have no energy, no will, and become 
 depressed and irritable. Health and strength of the phys- 
 ical body are essential. All intellectual minds should 
 observe this, and pay strict attention to the organic devel- 
 opment of the material body. 
 
 By observation you will see that for all who perform mental 
 labor where mind is more employed than material organs, 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HA MAN. I 25 
 
 more animal food is essential. Why? simply because the 
 spirit must be- nourished by the body. The body must feed 
 the mind. Mind extracts the essences of the body. There are 
 three divisions of the food ; namely, that which goes to the 
 spirit, the refined, that which is imparted to the blood; and 
 the cruder waste, which is thrown off through fecal 
 discharges. 
 
 This law is not yet understood. As a general thing, mortals 
 do not realize that by neglecting or abusing the material 
 body they are sinning against the spirit. For, as before 
 stated, the spirit depends solely upon this material body for 
 sustenance and strength. Much can be added, and a great 
 deal taken away, by a neglect of this law. Bright intellect 
 can be developed; mind can be cultivated if the material 
 body performs its natural functions. No one should, under 
 any consideration, neglect the material body ; every condition 
 necessary to its growth, health, and strength should be com- 
 plied with. This should be the first lesson taught to the 
 child, and firmly impressed upon his or her mind as a reli- 
 gious duty; for without the material there can be no advance 
 of the spiritual, and without the spiritual the material would 
 perish, for it would have no life. 
 
 Mind when disembodied, when freed from these material 
 substances, is powerful. Material experiences are essential 
 for its growth in this power. The soul, which partakes of 
 the whole of the second form of essenic development in the 
 body, adheres to the spirit. The blood in these material 
 organs promotes the growth and is the life of the material 
 body. 
 
 Spirit being essence divine, the formation of which I have 
 already explained, soul, which is electric life, material, which 
 is animal life, together constitute man. The electric main- 
 tains the material, for without the electric force there could 
 be no material ; this element gives vitality and activity which 
 constitute life. This power inert within the body through 
 
126 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 material development imparts the substance to the spirit, 
 which develops its power and gives it strength to work out 
 material effects and spirit as one. In this wise the soul, 
 while encased within the physical body, imparts to the spirit 
 the conditions necessary for the development of individuality* 
 
 At the death of the material body, when the cruder matter 
 is thrown off, the soul unites itself with the spirit, and the 
 two interblend as one. The soul is then the envelope of the 
 spirit, the external ; the spiritual intellect controls the whole, 
 even as it controlled the material whole or body, but having 
 more power to produce effects upon the elements, in the 
 positive force of which it now has full control. 
 
 But this power can only be attained through material expe- 
 riences, which impart power towards its development. Expe- 
 rience after experience is necessary for cultivating the spirit's 
 growth. You require soil in which to plant seed. The seed 
 could not expand and develop without the material soil ; 
 even so the spirit essence must be planted within the body, 
 and the body develops the soul by partaking of solid sub- 
 stances which are produced from the soil, equalizing its 
 nourishment, drawing from the elements the mineral, and 
 from the soil the vegetable, and grows according to its adap- 
 tation and composition. If the germ of disease is imparted 
 to the fetus it cannot develop the same strength and vitality 
 that it would if that germ had been omitted. 
 
 The rising generation should make this a study. Sexual 
 intercourse for the production of offspring should not be 
 indulged in unless the bodies are healthy and vigorous. 
 Nor should anything of the kind ever be permitted where 
 the natures of the individuals are not opposite. Two dispo- 
 sitions that are mentally alike should never unite in the 
 bands of wedlock, for the organic substances which develop 
 the fetus are in similarity the same, and permit of no varia- 
 tion of the elements required for the production. Children 
 produced from such parents have not the organs, the phreno- 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN II AM AN. \2J 
 
 logical organs, thoroughly developed. They are more or less 
 indolent in nature, devoid of energy, and subject to care- 
 lessness. 
 
 All depends on organization for future progress, material 
 success, and spiritual culture. This should be looked to by 
 all who contemplate matrimony. For much happiness could 
 be attained, and much suffering and sorrow be avoided, by 
 strictly observing this inert law. 
 
 If the human race would strive to acquaint itself with 
 proper information in regard to reproduction, if it would 
 but give one-third more of its attention to perfecting its 
 offspring, there would not be so much degradation and 
 corruption among them. I tell you, mortals can and have 
 produced Gods. 
 
 The spirit that awaits incarnation, if he is intellectual, and 
 desires to make an intellectual or spiritual experience in this 
 material world, will investigate closely, and inform himself 
 correctly of the organization and spiritual nature of the 
 parents whom he has chosen. 
 
 Why do those persons who are brought up with very little ' 
 of this world's goods produce the best, and often the most 
 intellectual children ? 
 
 Because living a simple life, complying with the natural 
 laws of nature, and living on the plainer productions of the 
 soil, more natural and more in accord with the material body, 
 their physical organs contain the purer elements, and conse- 
 quently produce healthy offspring, who, in their simplicity 
 and unobtrusiveness, are easier controlled through spiritual 
 impression. 
 
 You will find, through investigation, that they who have 
 too many of this material world's goods become neglectful 
 of their spiritual duty ; they forget that which forms the 
 principle part of happiness ; viz., the unfolding of the spirit. 
 Living a luxurious life, giving all to the material, every crav- 
 ing desire of the material body of any nature they gratify. 
 
128 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 By thus doing, they weaken and abuse the body , becoming 
 devoid of the even balanced elements, which should exist in 
 its organization and consequent power, it fails in health. In 
 this wise it suffers. Nature, in her laws, deals out fearful 
 retribution for such violations. All is harmony in the laws 
 of nature. Every mortal born attracts the same elements, 
 but man with his undeveloped nature chooses the cruder 
 material always, because it is more pleasing to the senses, and 
 often does not realize the error until too late to remedy, then 
 he passes out. 
 
 The spirit, having made no experience whatever, regrets 
 the folly of his course ; if sufficiently developed, it will seek 
 to return immediately. But many times there are obstacles 
 thrown in its way. He must and does abide his time in spirit 
 life. Sometimes, according to his development, he works 
 out his growth here in spirit life by coming in contact with 
 earth ; and if he has proper conditions given him, he can ac- 
 complish his purpose. He must have the material substance, 
 . which is matter refined, to give him strength. 
 
 Spirits draw heavily from mortal bodies ; the food you 
 prepare they partake of. Your spirit friends dine with you 
 many times, and you know it not, unless you are clairvoyant 
 and can see them with your spiritual eye. They partake of 
 the aroma of all material substances. That which evaporates 
 is the substance which nourishes the spiritual souls that sur- 
 round you. 
 
 Even the infant that passes out prematurely is brought to 
 the mother daily, and partakes of her magnetism, which 
 gives it strength, and develops its soul growth. The infant 
 grows to maturity, but it could never do so without the mate- 
 rial magnetism. This magnetism is as essential to its growth 
 as your material substances are to yours. All who have 
 passed out prematurely must inevitably return ; those who 
 are more advanced, if they are self-sustaining, return to work 
 out experiences ; the little ones are conveyed here to the 
 
COMMUXICA TIOiV OF BEN HAM AN. I 29 
 
 parent stem to draw the life substance, which is magnetism, 
 and assists in developing its growth. 
 
 This philosophy, when more thoroughly comprehended 
 
 (we do not expect it to be thoroughly comprehended for 
 
 many centuries), will enable mortals to develop more purity 
 
 of character, more conscientiousness, and their duty toward 
 
 ,each other will be better understood. 
 
 Infants grow in spirit life with matronic care from the 
 fifth sphere, where there are matrons and maidens who per- 
 form the duty of instructing and cultivating them. All this 
 care is assigned to females ; they, being spiritually adapted, 
 perform this duty with love and sympathy. The maiden 
 must have the experiences of a mother. She passes through 
 every experience that a mother in the material body passes 
 through upon the higher order. Those little ones that are 
 reared in the fifth sphere are sent to the earth daily; they 
 are sent in circles, with proper care, and with magnetic con- 
 ditions, which are always regulated by their spiritual guides. 
 They receive from the material, they must have material 
 experiences. And they are the guardians of many of earth's 
 children. A lesson : Even as they assist you, even so should 
 you assist each other in the material. The law of charity, 
 the philanthropic development, and the generous principles 
 are the attributes of the fifth sphere. 
 
 Nineteenth Communication of Ben Haman. 
 
 November 27, 1879. 
 
 ELECTRICITY, or material magnetism, furnishes strength 
 and substance for the soul's growth, which is the spirit 
 body, the same as the material body requires solid substances 
 combined with elementary fluids which are drawn from the 
 atmosphere ; those same fluids are impregnated in the mate- 
 
I30 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 rial magnetism. It is a higher substance, containing oxygen 
 and hydrogen combined with electric fluids. Those three 
 elements impart substances for the growth of material bodies. 
 As before stated, the spirit, while in the material body, ob- 
 tains its substance from the blood; the blood being inocu- 
 lated with those essences which add largely to the strength 
 and vitality of the material body. Nevertheless, when sepa- 
 rated from the material body the soul is an identical sub- 
 stance, which interblends with the elements, but is more 
 refined than any solid substance which you have here in the 
 material. It is lighter and more ethereal than your atmos- 
 phere, being a compounded element, the very essence of the 
 separate forces which in uniting purify themselves, and pro- 
 duce a more ethereal body ; it attracts immediately, draws 
 as a magnet does steel. 
 
 This magnetism impregnates the spirit body, gives it a more 
 material aspect ; holding itself within this magnetism for a 
 certain length of time, it becomes electrified, the same as 
 you may be by a shock from an electric battery. Children, 
 therefore, who have to grow and develop to maturity, are 
 brought in contact with this material magnetism, that they 
 may receive the proper conditions, and inhale the magnet- 
 ism, which imparts to them vital power or physical strength. 
 They are not permitted to remain long at a time ; there is a 
 certain portion necessary every day, the same as with your- 
 selves ; you must every day have fresh air, and if you do not 
 have it, you suffer, becoming weak and debilitated. 
 
 Nor is this requisite for children alone, but adults, young 
 and elder ones also, require this material magnetism. Not as 
 long a period to all ; but that depends upon the spiritual nature 
 of the individual. If the soul is very material, it requires 
 more material assistance. What we mean by material, is 
 when the physical body is given to gross desires, if there is 
 more attention paid to the material than to the spiritual, and 
 every passion of the soul is gratified with sensual and gross 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HA MAN. 131 
 
 desires, then the material body becomes saturated with the 
 cruder parts of the electric elements. For be it clearly un- 
 derstood, that the body is nourished by the essences which are 
 extracted from the solid food. Those essences, in the form 
 of gases, permeate the blood, and if there is too much of 
 one kind of food taken, that becomes an overbalanced power, 
 and produces inharmonious effects in the blood, arousing 
 passions, and not unfrequently disordering the whole system. 
 The brain being the base of the physical body, those essences 
 in their evolutionary growth stimulate that organ, and produce 
 various diseases, when not in harmony with each other. They 
 must interblend in equal proportion to each atom •, they 
 then develop a regular circulation, and add beneficial effects 
 for the growth of the soul. 
 
 The spirit is many times controlled by the material propen- 
 sity. The majority of human beings are more likely to be 
 controlled by the material desires of the physical body which 
 germinate from the soul, which is more animal, and is drawn 
 to the material being ; fed and nourished by the material, it is 
 essentially material. 
 
 Therefore, humanity should learn the laws of nature, and 
 learn that by cultivating the physical appetite, by abstaining 
 from the grosser material, they impart a more perfect essence 
 to the soul-growth. The soul imparts the essence refined to 
 the spirit, which in its action stimulates and develops intellect. 
 
 This philosophy is very deep ; the analysis of it in a per- 
 fect way would produce a volume in itself, but we must begin 
 at the lower. Our object is to teach mankind to know them- 
 selves, and learn the anatomy of their physical bodies ; then 
 by understanding the formation of themselves, they will be 
 enabled to realize the essentiality of cultivating the physical 
 body, in order to perfect the soul and spirit. 
 
 The intellectual require assistance in development, and re- 
 ceive it through the channel of the soul, which is the monitor 
 that replenishes the vital power of the spirit. When in a 
 
132 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 crude, material body which is given largely to the use of 
 stimulants containing more gaseous substances, especially 
 in liquid form, they inflate the soul, and make it weak, with- 
 out any solidity whatever. 
 
 When such a soul enters spirit-life, it is necessarily drawn 
 to the material, for the purpose of nourishing itself, more 
 often from the same substances which it draws from the ele- 
 ments surrounding the individuals who are given to the use of 
 stimulants ; they scent it, the same as a hound does the mag- 
 netism of his master. Care should be taken that this law be 
 generally understood, for many times those weak, debilitated 
 creatures consume individual bodies by goading them on to 
 excessive drink, feasting off the emanation of the highly 
 charged and poisonous vapors which are thrown off in the 
 respirations of their diseased bodies. 
 
 When such an individual passes over, they are mere nonen- 
 tities. The soul in its single separate fluidic state can take 
 no form ; there being but one elementary atom, the other two 
 being consumed through the influences of those beings, the 
 spirit then seeks a body, and will take the very first opportu- 
 nity to reincarnate. 
 
 Rarely ever is there a spirit which enters this life perfect in 
 the formation of the soul ; there is a deficiency of either one 
 or the other of those elements, — oxygen, hydrogen, or elec- 
 tric magnetism. They must essentially perfect that body, and 
 are drawn to your earth for that purpose. The most of them 
 are put under treatment immediately. Experienced spirits, 
 who are well-informed, take them in charge. They are 
 nursed and carried hither and thither until strength is re- 
 stored. Medicines are rarely ever resorted to in this treat- 
 ment. They depend principally upon the manipulating power 
 of material magnetism, and in time, with proper instructions 
 from the physicians who have them in charge, they are en- 
 abled to cultivate the will, the strength of which enables 
 them to exercise power over themselves, and learn to use the 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN II AM AN. 1 33 
 
 spiritual will in controlling such objects as are necessary for 
 their own development. 
 
 Many of them, yes thousands of them, are brought to old 
 mother earth without seeing or realizing their condition. It 
 all lies in development ; and those who are too weak to de- 
 velop their faculties are left in a position in the spiritual 
 sphere where they locate, the soul or spirit body not develop- 
 ing. For its development depends entirely upon the will of 
 the spirit. And if there is too little will-force, there can be 
 no soul-growth, and consequently annihilation consumes the 
 soul, or, in other words, the soul is annihilated, wastes away 
 in vapor, and the spirit is guided to take its course in another 
 material experience. The individuality of the spirit is only 
 attained through material experiences ; and not until it has 
 developed a certain degree of will-power can it accomplish 
 anything toward its individuality. 
 
 All depends upon the development of this force. The 
 magno-electric, which controls the whole physical body, is will- 
 force. Intelligence is the magnetic. The electric is the posi- 
 tive. The magnetic is the intelligence. The electric is the 
 positive and is the will, and through the electric the mag- 
 netic is assisted, they interblend and are one. The positive 
 assists the negative ; this is spiritual force, so called, and after 
 disembodying itself from the material it controls all material. 
 
 If it has attained sufficient power through material experi- 
 ences, it will be able to cultivate and perfect the soul, its 
 body ; but if not, it retraces and tries another and still an- 
 other, until sufficient force is attained by which it is enabled 
 to control the spiritual. Out of the material emanations of 
 your planet, spirits are enabled to produce and manufacture 
 objects which are as tangible to them as your material is to 
 yourselves in the material. 
 
 This power, which is so potent in its attributes, must yield 
 flexible to the will that the spirit may design ; and if the power 
 is not sufficiently developed, it cannot be controlled by the 
 
134 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 potent will. Knowledge is power when acted upon by the 
 will ; it is drawn in and controlled, as a solid substance yields 
 to the flexible touch of the material hand. In this wise, the 
 spirits of men and women become creators, gods as it were, 
 endowed with the sublimest forces of nature's laws, and he or 
 she who desires to outgrow the material experiences, can, 
 through the exertion of the will, command spiritual forces and 
 they will yield to their design. 
 
 The immortalized spirit becomes godlike in its attributes, 
 and can attract all that is beautiful to the sense and all that 
 can perfect its happiness. 
 
 Mind you, it lies in the individual's power to make himself 
 or herself happy in this life, as well as in the spiritual. In 
 the spiritual it is glorified by the development of the will- 
 power. None need to suffer in this material life. The all- 
 wise Creator has imparted alike to one and all the attributes 
 through which the spirit develops. 
 
 True enough, experiences alone on this material planet 
 enable the intellectual positive mind to outgrow the sensual 
 and undeveloped. The pure and progressive spirit while en- 
 cased within the material organs, should inform itself that 
 intellect can accomplish nothing without will-force. Will- 
 force constitutes the highest, and many times material effects 
 are attained, if used in a proper direction. And more often 
 if it stands alone, unsustained by intelligence, it follows out 
 its material wrath which causes much suffering and sorrow. 
 Such a course never benefits the spirit, but acts directly op- 
 posite, chaining it to the material, until such wrathful effects 
 are worked out through good pursuits. 
 
 But where will-force and intelligence interblend, where the 
 intellectual negative is assisted by the firm positive, man can 
 and does make his home harmonious and beautiful. He lo- 
 cates where he feels the aspirations of his soul ascending to 
 the realms of the cherubs, where ethereal expressions are sent 
 to cheer him and assist him, where sublime happiness, peace, 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HAM AN. 135 
 
 and contentment ever unite in harmony and love. No suffer- 
 ing, no sorrow, can reach him in that far distant sphere. It 
 is only the desire of your own individual development that 
 attracts you to such a locality. 
 
 Dear Readers, — It is the duty of all to pay strict attention 
 to the cultivation of the material body, abstaining from all 
 things which stimulate the passions, holding them under the 
 spiritual control of the individual will. Then you will be 
 imparting strength to the soul, and the soul will stimulate the 
 spirit, so that your earthly pursuits and experiences will 
 be beneficial to yourselves. Ever remember that you can 
 make your heaven through the working out of those experi- 
 ences. You can make that heaven whatever you desire, a 
 sublimated sphere of happiness, or a hades of misery. 
 
 Men and women must strive to elevate themselves. They 
 can only do so by working out good effects. If their pur- 
 pose be to benefit each other, they will develop the germ of 
 charity. They must strive to throw off the material shackles 
 of selfishness which they have nursed so long with disap- 
 pointed hopes. They must unite in sympathy with each 
 other. They must extend the hand of fellowship, and espe- 
 cially he who has attained a certain degree of individuality, 
 it is his or her duty to strive to comprehend that the true way 
 to progress is to assist his fellow-being in the same path. 
 
 Nothing is more cheering to the spirit when it enters upon 
 this natural life, than to look back to earth and receive the 
 reflections of those whom he has befriended. This is self- 
 elevation, this adds to the aggrandizement of the spirit, and 
 inspires it with a feeling of love and sympathy for all, no 
 matter how low. True, you cannot assimilate with them, but 
 you can befriend and relieve their suffering, which adds to 
 your self-sustenance, and it is only when you are enabled to 
 assist others that you assist yourself, and through the merits 
 of your own exertions you save yourself. This is the doc- 
 trine or philosophy of Spiritualism, so called. Spiritual ele- 
 
I36 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 vation, I term it, and soul growth, for through the growth 
 of the soul the spirit elevates itself. The spirit depends on 
 the soul while in the body, but when disembodied the soul 
 depends upon the spirit. 
 
 There can be no happiness or contentment, until this 
 beautiful philosophy, this divine truth, is better understood. 
 Through the teachings of those superior beings who are so 
 deeply interested with you mortals on this old mother earth, 
 sending their reflections through expressions to you ; through 
 the ever extended care of those loving ones who interest 
 themselves so much for your spiritual happiness, the human 
 family must, and will, progress. The pure expressions of 
 love, virtue, and sympathy of the guides will impregnate in 
 time the spiritual nature of mortals, so that they can realize 
 and comprehend the true course to happiness. 
 
 Twentieth Communication of Ben Haman. — Recogni- 
 tion of Friends in the Spirit Spheres. 
 
 December j", 1879. 
 
 MANY question whether they will know their loved ones 
 when they enter spirit-life, children having outgrown 
 their identity, parents fear that they may not recognize them. 
 The magnetic link of attraction can never be severed. 
 While the parents are in the physical body their children are 
 drawn to them for sustenance. As before stated, the parents 
 impart the proper essences for soul growth, and their chil- 
 dren naturally feel and know their spiritual powers and the 
 true benefit their magnetism imparts to them. Spirit chil- 
 dren are more attracted and attached to their material 
 parents than their physical offspring are. Unclouded minds 
 that penetrate earthly surroundings can see clearer and com- 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HAM AN 1 37 
 
 prehend more distinctly the material surrounding of the indi- 
 vidual. So these little ones, growing up as they do under the 
 fostering care of spiritual matrons, are brought in close sym- 
 pathy with every thought, with every feeling, of the material 
 parents ; and this attraction holds so firm in spiritual rela- 
 tion that it cannot be changed. The minds of the parents 
 become inert, as it were, while the mind of the infant youth 
 or maiden reflects, turns back to the mother; she having 
 the larger portion (of magnetism) to apply, which you observe 
 in the material care and soul interest she takes in her in- 
 fant, or offspring. Every thought conveys to the child a 
 magnetic strength from the fountain of her vitality. Just as 
 she imparts in its fetal development strength and growth, 
 so she imparts in its natural material state not only in food, 
 of which it partakes, but in her very atmosphere which 
 conveys strength and vitality to its growth. 
 
 If you observe many times when a child becomes restless 
 and wails for relief, the mother's soothing-magnetic touch 
 dispels the pain and soothes it to rest. Again, not only does 
 this magnetism impart vitality and strength, but it impresses 
 their characteristic development according to the will of the 
 matron. 
 
 Care should be taken in the rearing of infants (and it 
 should be known by all) that they should be placed in an at- 
 mosphere where pure thoughts with virtuous surroundings 
 permit the pure and most developed spiritual influences to 
 attend and assist them. 
 
 This magnetic link which unites you so closely to the ma- 
 terial, is certainly more effectual in the spiritual ; for, laying 
 aside all temptations and evil influences that work with so 
 much potency in the material the spirit in its sublimer body 
 can work with more effect and unite itself in closer sympa- 
 thy with those who assist them in the material. By this mag- 
 netic chord of attraction parents will know their children, 
 sisters will recognize each other, brothers will unite and vie 
 with each other. 
 
I38 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 This law of attraction interblends with mortals in their 
 material life, and many years of separation frequently work 
 upon the mental capacities of their perceptiveness, estran- 
 ging them, as it were, through forgetfulness, from those loved 
 ones who have passed over, yet unknowingly do they convey 
 material assistance, which is drawn from the emanations of 
 their physical respiration. 
 
 There are different attractions. Parents may have six or 
 seven offspring and not more than one or two are spiritually 
 allied to them, and oftentimes out of lesser numbers there are 
 none ; but they are given to them to cultivate and assist them 
 in having material experiences, which is a mission assigned 
 to the parents, and the better they comply with every condi- 
 tion necessary for their offsprings' advancement and develop- 
 ment in body and spirit, the more power and strength are 
 bestowed upon themselves. 
 
 Every parent has a mission to fulfil in the rearing of souls 
 and preparing them for higher spheres. This work, which is 
 so practical to many, is entirely neglected by others, being 
 largely dependent upon the experiences parents may have 
 had. 
 
 Care should be taken that no restringent force be exer- 
 cised, and that no dogmatic ideas be impressed upon the 
 child. Their observation should be carefully directed to 
 the natural philosophy in nature's laws and the God princi- 
 ple of the universe. Careful teachings of spiritual knowledge, 
 and the identical power in connection with it, constitute the 
 school in which the developing mind or spirit should be in- 
 structed. It will teach them to cherish the truth, to cultivate 
 purity of character and sympathy of mind ; it will impart 
 naturally to the spiritual nature of mortals an aversion to 
 wrong, and make them strive to practise with energy and 
 will generous, sympathetic feelings for their fellow-men. 
 
 When this philosophy is generally understood, there will 
 be a cessation of evil and of wrong-doing. When a mortal 
 
COAfMUN/CATWN OF BEN IIAMAN. I 39 
 
 realizes that every wrong act, whether committed against his 
 fellow-men or against himself, reflects upon himself, and 
 that he must carry the burden of its weight, in this life as 
 well as the after-life, he will strive to practise the teachings 
 of the old philosophers embodied in the golden rule of the 
 Christians — Do unto others as ye would others should do 
 unto you. 
 
 Christ, the Reformer, tried very hard to initiate this rule 
 among the Scribes and Pharisees ; but owing to the ignorance 
 of that day, and the predominating power of the Israelitish 
 priestcraft, he was bitterly opposed, and his moral teachings 
 were for a time crushed into oblivion. Premature as his 
 teachings were in that day, they impregnated the very soil 
 and atmosphere in which he lived. I have told you that 
 thoughts are potent, and that there is nothing lost, not even 
 a thought. 
 
 Thoughts, like expressions, convey magnetic power, and 
 often impress the individuals for whom they are intended ; 
 no matter how far away the individual may be, distance does 
 not decrease their power. So with the influence of this Re- 
 former ; the magnetism of his being, which he cultivated, 
 the thoughts which were inspired by spiritual influences, 
 thrown off in reflections, penetrated the soil as well as the 
 atmosphere ; the result was that more charitable ideas per- 
 meated the atmosphere, and more reasonable natures were 
 reared within it. And thus it has been handed down from 
 generation to generation through nineteen hundred years. 
 
 But what good has been accomplished by it ? There has 
 been in those nineteen centuries as much bloodshed, as 
 much antagonism, and as much variance of opinion, as in 
 the ages prior to that time when pagan ideas held full control. 
 
 The reason of this inharmony and variance of opinions 
 is to be found in the erroneous ideas which the different 
 sects took up, developed, and taught as divine truth, having 
 originated, as they claim, with the great Creator, incarnated 
 
I40 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 in a Saviour called the Nazarene or Christ, and conveyed to 
 earth for the sole purpose of developing the human race. 
 
 This erroneous idea is all undeveloped truth. Truth in 
 this wise : that the divine Creator created the spirit that in- 
 carnated in the body of Christ ; that Christ strove to teach 
 the truth ; that he complied with every condition necessary 
 for his spiritual guides to work out their purposes ; that he 
 set noble examples by his honesty and by his purity of 
 character, and that his whole desire was to benefit those who 
 sought him with sincerity. 
 
 In this wise, the teachings of Christ and the present dis- 
 pensation of spiritual development co-resemble and interblend 
 with the divine truth, which the Creator designed in the 
 very laws of nature ; and they must and will eventually de- 
 velop, purify, and harmonize the human race. 
 
 The antagonisms which have also developed themselves 
 out of the teachings of Christ have been caused by the con- 
 flicting ideas of the remote races in that day. I have told 
 you that there is nothing lost : magnetism is indestructible, 
 *and every mortal who has lived on this earth has left a 
 portion of his magnetism imbedded in the elements, as well 
 as in the soil. This magnetism is applied to the material 
 development of another body. I have told you that bodies 
 growing in the material partake of substances in the at- 
 mosphere, which add to their material growth the same as to 
 the growth of their spirits. Solid food does not furnish the 
 whole substance for growth ; magnetic electric portions are 
 just as essential. Now, drawing in this magnetism, which 
 has been planted in the soil, individuals feel in their nature 
 the effect. Eating of the products of this soil, it imparts a 
 development of organic life. These organs are formed in 
 the likeness of their progenitors ; they deviate but little from 
 the parental germ, consequently they see or comprehend but 
 little more than their forefathers or progenitors did. 
 
 By spiritual aid from intellectual spheres they are assisted. 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HAM AN 141 
 
 They cannot be approached by superior beings at once, on 
 account of the antagonisms which lie imbedded in the sur- 
 roundings of the individual ; but they receive assistance 
 through reflections conveyed to them by impressions. In 
 this wise they are benefited, and are guided to do generous 
 acts. 
 
 Only through repeated changes of this magnetic electric 
 power will the human race develop out of antagonism, 
 jealousy, and bigotry. The very essences must first be puri- 
 fied. For as you have lived so the body dies. At the anni- 
 hilation of the material body all the particles of its finer 
 qualities go to the various elements ; the cruder material 
 returns to the soil. That, too, passes through chemical 
 changes, which interblend with the soil, and return in a dif- 
 ferent form through vegetation, fruit and forest trees, the 
 lower grade of animals subsisting upon this product, as well 
 as the human race. 
 
 This law in its various changes implies to man the highest 
 creature because of his intellectual capacities, spiritual power, 
 and superior attributes, and just so far as they are exercised 
 will his faculties develop and his soul be benefited. The 
 spirit will benefit itself through the knowledge it is enabled 
 to attain through this form of development. 
 
 That the human body had its origin in the lower grades of 
 animals is a fact which we trace beyond the moloch — from 
 the very molecular development. Of this I will not speak 
 now, but may some time be enabled to give you the identical 
 origin of man. 
 
 Returning to the Christian spiritual development : The 
 word " Christian " I apply because Christ was the last re- 
 former who diffused so much psychological power to this 
 earth, consisting as it does in magnetic electric forces. 
 
 The present generation holds in faith the outgrowth of his 
 works. Believing as they do, that he died for all, they work 
 upon this faith and attract magnetic conditions to harmonize 
 
142 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 their feelings. In thus doing they are often relieved, if they 
 are sincere, by spiritual attendants, who impart a calm 
 influence, and thus relieve their fears according to their 
 development. 
 
 Mortals should now learn to understand that Christ lived 
 to set a noble example to all who can reach with their mind 
 and comprehend with their reason, that his very teachings, 
 which were founded on facts, lay in the atmosphere of the 
 universe. 
 
 The tangible facts which he taught lay in the works which 
 he did ; the healing of the sick, the curing of the maimed, 
 and the relieving of the oppressed, were traits of his charac- 
 ter, the knowledge of which he imparted to his followers, and 
 his very example should be a lasting lesson to all who in 
 their short-sightedness denounce Spiritualism. 
 
 He will come again in the clouds were his words. He is 
 even now in the midst of this material atmosphere — not 
 in person, I would not have you believe, but in reflections 
 and expressions, the power of which I have explained 
 to you. 
 
 Those very expressions, conveyed in their magnetic descent, 
 will harmonize the magnetic atmosphere ; and mortals devel- 
 oping, striving to reach the fundamental truths of spiritual 
 identity, will attract this magnetism, which unfolds to them 
 the living substances of spiritual knowledge, stimulating the 
 brain through inhalation, and thus assist the spirit to realize 
 the truth. 
 
 The errors of dogmatic sects have caused this vast inhar- 
 mony. The very idea that the blood of one, that the spilling 
 of the blood of one individual can atone for the sins of mil- 
 lions, is sacrilege barbaric, and partakes of the vilest fetish- 
 ism imaginable. That very idea inspires the soul of man 
 with hauteur and burning vengeance. This we are striving 
 to erase. Host after host of spiritual beings are attracted to 
 earth to revise that fearfully undeveloped idea, which is 
 
COMMLW T ICA /VOX OF BEN HAMAN. 143 
 
 founded on the grossest errors, and which has in its vile cor- 
 ruption brought suffering and despair to millions of souls. 
 
 The dawning, as we term it — the dawning of this beauti- 
 ful harmonious philosophy which Christ strove so hard to 
 develop in the midst of mortals, brings happy tidings and 
 joyous greetings to many weary mortals. True enough, they 
 receive it according to their development, and apply it ac- 
 cording to their comprehension ; yet with earnest persever- 
 ance, with determined exertion, mortals will be able to 
 outgrow this error, which the dogma of an immaculate con- 
 ception has impressed on the millions. They will compre- 
 hend the fact that salvation lies within themselves. By their 
 own exertions and true merits alone can they save themselves 
 from suffering and remorse. 
 
 This planet, earth, being the proper sphere to vegetate the 
 material body — having conditions applicable to the soul and 
 spirit of which I have spoken — it is necessary then to pay 
 strict attention to the growth of the soul, so that the spirit 
 entering upon its new life may have a perfect body. With a 
 perfect body, and general experiences combined with con- 
 centrated knowledge, which the mind has acquired through 
 material experiences, the spirit grows in power, and accom- 
 plishes noble works in the spirit spheres. 
 
 Children, therefore, must be made an object of careful 
 parental watchfulness and guidance. You who are advanced 
 in this knowledge should make rules, the law of which must 
 be positive, for supplying and regulating every condition 
 necessary to their cultivation, compliance with which should 
 be imperative. Spiritually they must be instructed. Let 
 them be taught the chemical laws. Let your Lyceums make 
 scientific experiments in chemical, material, and spiritual 
 magnetism. Let them be made acquainted with this occult 
 force ; they must be impressed with every idea of electric 
 power, and the intelligence that can be conveyed to them 
 through it. Give them the highest impressions of moral dis- 
 
144 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 cipline, and above all impress them with the truth: that they 
 are held accountable for every wrong act committed ; that by 
 violating any law of nature, or any law of health, they bring 
 suffering upon themselves ; teach them that every moral pro- 
 pensity implanted in their own nature must be strictly 
 watched and guarded with a holy care ; that for every law 
 broken through weakness or excessive passion, a penalty 
 is attached, which falls upon themselves, and that they fall 
 to the plane of the animal. 
 
 Personal cleanliness is godliness. Godliness so meant is 
 magnetic power which mortals attract to themselves, and 
 which imparts conditions through which the spirit can out- 
 grow material inferiority. By obtaining this power, and 
 adhering to its laws with watchful care, they cultivate will 
 force, which will impart to them everything necessary for 
 their material comfort and spiritual happiness. 
 
 Communication of Ben Haman. 
 
 December 12, 1879. 
 
 LOVE and sympathy have again united us this morning. 
 Prompted by the purest of motives, I have come to 
 reveal to you and the masses general knowledge from the 
 spiritual spheres ; knowledge by the means of which we hope 
 to benefit humanity, and to assist in their future progress. 
 
 Have you the last lecture with you ? I want to connect 
 my present lecture with it. I answered " I have not." 
 Then let me collect my thoughts. In a moment or two he 
 began. I will speak of the love and attraction (spoken of in 
 the last chapter) of children toward their parents, who have 
 been drawn from their protecting care and placed under 
 superior matrons. 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HAM AN. 1 45 
 
 After they attain their maturity, having every advantage in 
 their spiritual pursuits, attracting strength and power from 
 the positive forces, realized by them in those pursuits, they 
 can and often do impart assistance to their material attrac- 
 tions. They cannot benefit them much until fully matured ; 
 then the individuality of their spiritual powers is strengthened 
 by the education which they have acquired in their spiritual 
 training. Experiences of earth add not only to the appre- 
 ciation of the spiritual, but develop large sympathy for those 
 in the material form. 
 
 Arriving at their matured development, they take upon 
 themselves a mission which is pointed out to them by 
 superior guides. That mission is adapted to the spirit, which 
 has acquired particular experiences. If there be need of 
 material experiences, which it may not have fully realized, 
 the pursuit then sought for will be to interblend with the 
 material, and work out upon it effects which prove to be a 
 benefit. If proper conditions are given, the spirit will have 
 opportunities to accomplish its purpose, and strive to remove 
 any obstacle that may be in its way. 
 
 If according to the spiritual development the powers 
 assist, then through its intellectual perceptiveness it can 
 realize and see the necessity of sympathy, harmony, and 
 general reform. They strive to accomplish their purposes, 
 not only for the benefit of those to whom they are attracted, 
 but in a liberal way they unfold and impart to all who have 
 a desire to spiritualize their nature. Knowing, as mortals 
 should, the developing power of spiritual sympathy, which 
 develops perpetual harmony, the culture of this power will 
 impart strength to mortals. If they but turn their thoughts 
 in that direction, they can, by the development of their 
 spiritual faculties, produce any effect they desire to accom- 
 plish. 
 
 In permitting the spirit to control the body when it is 
 educated or developed, as we call it, in the knowledge of 
 
146 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 this science, they will be enabled to control disease, which 
 destroys so many prematurely, or in the reproductive form 
 which lays such sad stress over the majority of the human 
 race — conception, which is to many a mother a burden 
 laden with sorrow. This can all be controlled through the 
 action of the will upon the uterus. There need be no chil- 
 dren born as legal intruders. Unwelcome as such are, the 
 spirit feels the cold formality which is thrown over its body, 
 in fact, formed within the soul. 
 
 This should be studied carefully. If there are a less num- 
 ber of children born, and these with more perfect organiza- 
 tions for the spirit of each to develop itself through, the 
 human race will become more perfect, and the incarnated 
 spirit be provided with better conditions for the attainment 
 of its purpose. However, laying aside all prejudices toward 
 their offspring, parents should consider that they have 
 entered on a high mission when they accept that of repro- 
 duction. 
 
 This act which reproduces the human race, termed sexual 
 intercourse, inust be considered holy, and should not be 
 abused. Look at the lower grade of animals ; incited by 
 material instinct, male and female alike attain their natural 
 periods. The male never imposing on the female without 
 her proper condition and consent. This I am sorry to say 
 we rarely find in the higher development — that of .the 
 human race. Many times offspring are forced upon the 
 female without her consent ; she being a slave to the passions 
 of man, conceives from the semen, which conveys in its 
 germs the very embodiment of his own nature. She resents 
 with feelings of contempt and remorse ; then the fetal devel- 
 opment grows with inharmonious influences preying upon it. 
 In this way children are born into material life with a soul 
 that cannot develop harmony or affection for any mortal. 
 
 Fathers and mothers frequently suffer from the vile natures 
 of such offspring; hatred, revenge, and criminal conduct de- 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN II AM AN. 1 47 
 
 velop themselves in the material growth of such offspring. 
 Let it be understood by the intelligent masses that it is 
 necessary to cultivate the spiritual nature of father and 
 mother before accepting the mission of parentage. Do you 
 wonder at so much misery, so much disobedience, such want 
 of respect for parents shown by their offspring ? Who is to 
 blame for this ? They themselves. True enough it was in 
 ignorance they produced, but ignorance does not exempt 
 from suffering. 
 
 In creating mortals God, the infinite, has given to all 
 alike reasoning powers to be used in compliance with the 
 will, and if they neglect the cultivation of it they must suffer 
 the penalty. This is the sin ; by violating the harmonious 
 law of nature, they bring suffering upon themselves ; they 
 bruise their own heads and cannot erase the scar until they 
 learn to realize that the harmonious laws of nature are not to 
 be trifled with. Earnest and sincere study must be made in 
 order to comprehend laws which are violated every day by 
 the ignorant masses. 
 
 In cultivating the spirit, mind becomes powerful, and the 
 nervous system interblends more with the spiritual than with 
 the material ; consequently there cannot be so much added 
 to the material. Nor are there so many children born from 
 parents who have cultivated intellects. The reproductive 
 organs of the material body are absorbed by the spiritual 
 and intellectual. Mind produces more power by cultivation 
 and becomes more productive in spiritual power. Conse- 
 quently the theory of reproducing from the material to the 
 spiritual builds itself on this fact, that an active mind which 
 plans future objects, designs, will work them out effectually 
 by exerting the will and manipulating effects in the material 
 body. 
 
 The spirit of one individual often sees in advance of an- 
 other. That is owing to the organic development of the 
 material body, and the conditions in which it was conceived. 
 
I48 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 Napoleon Bonaparte's decisive will, his penetrating percep- 
 tion, and his success in accomplishing his purposes, were 
 all attributable to his organic development. 
 
 Spirit guides can impart more benefit and assistance to 
 a perfect organization than to an imperfect one, and if one 
 has more success in the acquirement of material benefit and 
 assistance than another, it is owing to a superior organic 
 development. In every case we trace the advantage which 
 a perfect organization has over an imperfect one. This 
 parents should observe, for they can only blame themselves 
 for the disadvantages and the non-success their children 
 meet in the experience of this earth life. 
 
 From Confucius. 
 
 December 12, 18 JQ. 
 
 Bright hopes now descend upon thee with a power that is divine; 
 Life and light will e'er attend thee from the spheres of the sublime; 
 Truer souls than they ne'er entered on a mission in this life, 
 And we strive here to defend you with the mystic power of life. 
 Oh, thou father of creation ! give thy strength to us in power, 
 And develop with probation this, thy son, in spirit power. 
 
 HOW beautiful is life ! with all its varying changes ! I 
 know that thou hast struggled hard, dear brother, 
 with the cares which often cause sorrow within thy heart. 
 Bear in mind that this is all necessary. The all wise and 
 loving Father has given us strength and power to help thee 
 now, to lift the burdens of care from thy placid brow, and 
 draw thee in closer union with ourselves. 
 
 Heretofore life was a mystery to thee ; but now, through 
 the fostering care of a loving father, who has revealed to 
 thee the true nature and the natural causes, with their eifects 
 in this life, the mystery is disappearing. 
 
FROiV CONFUCIUS. 1 49 
 
 Oh, dear brother, realize that my visit to thee is founded 
 upon the affections of a true spiritual love, which germinated 
 thousands of years ago on this earth. Even as thy material 
 body has vegetated through material surroundings, so my 
 spiritual soul germinates in the spiritual spheres, to work 
 out spiritual effects upon thee. Go forth wheree'er thou 
 wilt, reflections ever attend thee, with love and union here 
 instilled ; may blessings ever surround thee ! . . . My bles- 
 sing reaches thee from distant spheres. . . . 
 
 Skywauke, — Big chief S (my father-in-law) come, he 
 
 say you no keep him promise cause you no bring your squaw 
 
 here. A — chief (brother-in-law) needs help, wants to draw 
 
 magnetism. Chief S better now, wants to keep young 
 
 chief. Little squaw here. "My sister?" yes — she happy 
 
 much power. Mother squaw brings big bunch of flowers 
 
 to you for Christmas present. Can't ship them over. — (A 
 
 good test inasmuch as mother was passionately fond of 
 
 flowers.) 
 
 December 19, 1879. 
 
 The first part of the communication of November 14 not 
 being clear to me, after the medium was in trance, I asked 
 for a clearer statement of the first four or five sentences, 
 when Ben Haman replied, — 
 
 " Mind requires material aid to assist in its development. 
 This condition is imparted to the essence, by the material 
 body which it inhabits. Mind is spirit and requires the 
 material elements of the physical body for its unfoldment. 
 I have told you that the soul and spirit interblend. The 
 soul is the assisting power by which the spirit is sustained, 
 nor could the spirit have material experiences without the 
 assistance of those magnetic elements. 
 
 " The magnetic-electric forces combined constitute the soul 
 principle of the material body. The spirit is sustained and 
 assisted by those elements which constitute the soul. The 
 soul is a part of those elements. The soul develops out of 
 
I$0 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 the material body, and the body being impregnated with 
 those gases, imparts to the soul the substances by which it 
 attains its growth." 
 
 Communication from Confucius. 
 
 December ip, i8yg. 
 
 KIND and noble brother, I greet you with happiness to- 
 day. Your exertions are not in vain. That which 
 you are striving for you will attain. Your Monday stances, 
 conducted as they are in harmony and love, assisted by 
 the friends in spirit spheres who are deeply interested in 
 you, add largely to your spiritual development. Your deep 
 faith, sustained by confidence, holds the power, closely 
 united with yourself and the few friends in harmony with 
 you. 
 
 The persistency and growth of spiritual affections add 
 largely in attracting the true, the pure, the virtuous souls 
 from the inner spheres of the blessed. 
 
 You realized this on last Monday night, when the noble 
 Nazarene, with his pure, magnetic power, imparted to you 
 and your friends the healing balm, and gave you the peace 
 of mind and power to heal the sick and strengthen the 
 weak. Yes, noble brother, your efforts are not in vain. 
 Time alone unfolds this power. Time alone will make con- 
 ditions through and by which you are assisted ; through 
 which the ingrowth of the spiritual unit (link) which holds 
 soul and spirit in close communion with ourselves will be 
 completed. 
 
 Perseverance accomplishes purposes. Purposes attain 
 power from the spiritual, through which good effects are 
 interwoven with spiritual designs that are pure and confiding. 
 
 " Verily, I say unto you, unless you become as alittle child, 
 you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." Those parables 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM CONFUCIUS. 15 I 
 
 are not correctly defined by the learned souls of that latter 
 daw A man in his material growth, with varying experiences 
 and preconceived ideas, imagines himself self-sustaining. 
 But mortals must learn to comprehend, no matter how old in 
 material years, or how well informed in material experiences, 
 that they are often misguided by error. They must place 
 themselves in a humble condition, and make themselves re- 
 ceptive to the higher and more harmonious laws, through 
 which spiritual knowledge is imparted to man humble and 
 simple in notion and mind. Mortals must bow in obedience 
 to the positive law, through which they attain this knowledge. 
 Wisdom interblends and constitutes a potency through which 
 the will is developed, and this can only be obtained through the 
 perseverance of your individual desires. As you hold the 
 sceptre within your grasp, hold it with firmness and with a 
 decisive desire to work out the noble effects which the 
 Christian mind strives for — truth, firmness, and implicit con- 
 fidence in the great Creator. Through confidence alone can 
 you attract this power. Faith and will will come to your 
 assistance. The trio interblend as one and constitute the 
 spiritual will. 
 
 Yes, noble brother, through perseverance and a desire to 
 do good with confidence and love you have drawn the Naza- 
 rene hither, who interests himself as much now as he did 
 in his travail while on earth. Even more and greater is the 
 power which emits its effulgent rays to illume the pathway 
 of struggling souls who seek to find the spiritual path, in 
 which they will be guided to a higher and happier life. 
 
 Persevere and do not become weary. Hold your will 
 firm, and all you desire will be realized. Farewell, and be 
 happy. 
 
152 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 Communication from Ben Haman. 
 
 January 2, 1880. 
 
 MORTALS should be particularly instructed what course 
 to pursue and how to live a more perfect life. The 
 spiritual body is developed out of the soul. The soul growth 
 develops out of the material body, consequently the soul 
 partakes of material substances, for without them it could 
 not develop. The grosser the food the coarser the develop- 
 ment, and it should be understood that natures endowed 
 with a high degree of knowledge can and do develop a high 
 spiritual power. 
 
 As before stated, gross material, let it be in substance of 
 any kind, will injure the spiritual sense, making it weak in its 
 perceptions. Those who live simply upon vegetables and 
 fruit develop the perceptive power and are very impressive. 
 The physical body must be properly cared for. If you 
 desire to develop the spiritual nature, you must obey this 
 law, for by its observance, which is so essential to present as 
 well as future happiness, much suffering and disease will 
 be avoided. 
 
 Alas ! the weak, debilitated nature demands with craving 
 appetite the grosser ! By the majority this depraved appe- 
 tite is gratified. 
 
 We desire to call your attention to this law. Purity with- 
 in can only be developed by the practice of external purity. 
 Regular habits in the mode of living are essential. When 
 the physical body is cared for, the spiritual nature of the 
 individual interblends with the purer elements, and is as- 
 sisted by the more developed spiritual powers. You will 
 often observe in debilitated persons those who are very 
 sensitive to external surroundings, the appetite failing ; they 
 partake of very little gross food, nourishing on very simple 
 diets. Such persons become very sensitive to visions and 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM BEN II A MAN. I 53 
 
 impressions. All mediums are more or less of this character, 
 nor are they ever entirely restored to a robust physical state 
 of health. They must be relieved of pain, which can be 
 drawn from them by magnetic manipulations of their spiritual 
 guides in attendance ; but the more sensitive the physical 
 body becomes the more ethereal it becomes in its percep- 
 tions. You will find that most of the mortals who are sensi- 
 tive in their natures are delicate in their organizations. 
 
 All more or less could develop this power if they gave 
 their attention to it. Over two-thirds of the human race 
 might become independent mediums by giving attention to 
 the laws of nature. All are endowed with mediumistic 
 power ; but, as before stated, it is destroyed by a gross man- 
 ner of living. 
 
 To observe, as we do, the present inharmonious nature 
 which mortals encourage and develop, would make you 
 despair of ever accomplishing much good ; but we view it 
 from a different standpoint ; we who are workers in this great 
 harmonial philosophy never become weary. The persistent 
 energy of our will interblends with the magnetism of mortals 
 with such positive force that it must make an impression ; if 
 not at first, it will at last. 
 
 This power is well understood by all scientific minds, but 
 they do not apply it to the right purpose. We may get 
 weary at times when the individual will of those whom we 
 desire to influence is too positive, when it holds itself askance, 
 influenced or attracted to the material, giving vent to pas- 
 sions, and giving themselves up to angry demonstrations. 
 When such is the case, the pure, sensitive spirit withdraws 
 for the time being, and the more undeveloped press forward 
 and hold high carnival with the power they are permitted to 
 display. Angry passions should be suppressed ; they are 
 more injurious to the spiritual nature than all else combined. 
 They are not only composed of the incensed passions of the 
 mind, but impregnated with a low order of spiritual force, 
 
154 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 and often under the impulse of the moment mortals are 
 given to crime, the dark stain of which cannot be erased. 
 When such is the case they place themselves under heav 
 responsibility to the injured individual. This nature is ge 
 erally developed in the physical organs of the individual, and 
 can very easily be modified by spiritual magnetism which is 
 imparted at every seance. If mortals sit in harmony and 
 sincerity those evil defects can be removed, and the good, 
 harmonious powers will interblend and give strength and 
 happiness. 
 
 This philosophy is the true religion, if you wish to call it 
 such, of nature. It has always existed, and in the remotest 
 days exerted greater power upon the human family than now. 
 Through misconceived ideas which mortals themselves form, 
 through the passions and selfish motives it has been under- 
 mined, and the influences drawn hither could not impart 
 their intellectual power to mortals, for they in their positive 
 spirit designed and worked out the effects according to their 
 views. 
 
 This is why you ha"ve such a variety of sects. Each nation, 
 according to its intellectual capacities, has formed its own 
 God, and made its own heaven. Error is at the root of all 
 evil, and not until this can be eradicated, and the true phi- 
 losophy established in its place, will there be harmony and 
 peace among earth's children. 
 
 There are many ways by which spiritual truth is imparted 
 and made known to the children of earth. The greatest of 
 all is the electric inventions, concerning which truths are 
 imparted with double force to students who seek to acquaint 
 themselves with this elementary power. 
 
 Spiritual light imparts strength and vitality to the physical 
 body of man, and gives power and strength to the spirit. It 
 is the life fluid upon which the spirit subsists while in the 
 material body, and through its demonstrative power it acts 
 upon the material sense of mortals, convincing them of the 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM BEN II AM AN. I 55 
 
 greater power beyond. Even the most undeveloped minds 
 would stand aghast at the explosive power of this electric 
 force. Your simple batteries which are used for electrifying 
 the nervous system, are proofs of the positive life force ex- 
 isting in this element. It is only through scientific develop- 
 ment in nature's demonstrative laws that the human race 
 will eventually harmonize and grow more spiritual. 
 
 The earth is gradually passing through a change, perfect- 
 ing itself and developing a purer atmosphere. Those obnox- 
 ious gases which are being thrown off constantly are being 
 consumed by the electric positive force ; and as this purifica- 
 tion proceeds the purer life forces will have more power to 
 impregnate with greater force, or strengthen the individual 
 body as well as vegetable matter. Gradually this vapor be- 
 comes less, and the elements surrounding your atmosphere 
 become purer, and the electric forces are not weakened by 
 the poisonous gases emanating from the soil. 
 
 This law, when rightly understood, will largely aid in 
 developing the spiritual sense of man, for man or mortals 
 cannot see, as many of them claim, a body develop out of 
 nothing. The spirit body is composed of physical organized 
 electricity. These substances, it is true, are not perceptible 
 to the eye in a negative state, but when acted upon by posi- 
 tive force are perceptible; for instance, when the elements 
 are inharmonious. This results from an excessive power of 
 the vapory substances which arise from the earth and pene- 
 trate the atmosphere. Coming in contact with oxygen and 
 hydrogen they innoculate the electricity, which is the purest 
 force and the most positive, and immediately destroy the 
 negative — consume it. This is what you call the lightning 
 flashes, which the eye can see flashing through the atmos- 
 phere in a thunder storm. This will cease, but many thou- 
 sands of years hence, when the earth's soil will have 
 developed out of this crude state. Vapors will never cease ; 
 moisture is essential to animal and vegetable life, but they 
 
156 WOMAN, and her relations to humanity. 
 
 will become purer, the air will not be innoculated with those 
 poisonous gases which are so destructive to human and ani- 
 mal life. Throwing these off incessantly, as the earth is 
 now doing, they will eventually be consumed by the creative 
 force, which is electricity. This force, so purifying in its 
 process, creates other planets out of the very substances 
 thrown off in a more refined form and drawn from this and 
 other planets. 
 
 Communication of Ben Haman. 
 
 January g t 1880. 
 
 THERE is nothing lost in material. Substances not 
 perceptible to the eye interblend with other forces, and 
 are used to produce material objects. The chemical analysis 
 of different substances which men have made a study proves 
 this. It is a demonstrated fact, not only in spiritual sciences, 
 but in material observations, that the magnetism thrown off 
 from the sun, which illuminates this earth, contains this 
 creative power largely developed, the force of which is per- 
 ceptible in the development of animal and vegetable life in 
 the material. You find that plants perish without the sun's 
 rays ; they wither, fade, and die. Human life also depends 
 upon the electric-magnetic rays of the sun. If mortals would 
 but use their faculties to think, they would convince them- 
 selves of this law of nature. But the great majority (weak 
 and ignorant creatures) allow others to do their thinking for 
 them ; they do not use or exercise their faculties any more 
 than if they did not possess them. How can any spiritual 
 identity be developed in such material bodies ? None can 
 think for you. You must acquire your own individuality by 
 exerting your faculties and striving to comprehend. That 
 the sun possesses creative power is a positive fact demon- 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HA MAN I 57 
 
 strable to all scientific minds, or minds endowed with a 
 comprehensive knowledge. 
 
 All matured planets follow in direct rotary motion round 
 the central force of a sun. Those magnetic rays draw them 
 in their orbitary rotation, and some of them have been entirely 
 consumed. When drawn within the rotary current of the 
 positive which consumes, what becomes of the entire mass ? 
 It is transferred or conveyed to other planets which are in 
 direct rotation, and assists in their development or construc- 
 tion. 
 
 The magnetic power of the sun's rays throws off a great 
 deal of substance in a gaseous form, which comes in contact 
 with other electric-magnetic substances of the atmosphere, 
 from which other planets develop themselves. 
 
 In the first formation of a planet it is a vapory or gaseous 
 substance, composed of these concentrated forces. It grad- 
 ually expands in dimensions. As additional atoms are 
 attracted to it, it becomes a luminous body, drifting hither 
 and thither until sufficient positive elements are attained ; 
 then it becomes more solid, and attracts, like a magnet, more 
 solid substances thrown off from planets already matured. 
 Those solid substances are consumed immediately by the 
 electric force, and aid in developing a yet more solid material. 
 In this way the planet on which you live was made. The 
 forces of nature are both positive and negative. The positive 
 electric force cannot create without the negative magnetic 
 force. The two are as essential to each other as the light 
 of day is to distinguish the darkness of night. 
 
 Life has indeed been a mystery to men. They know not 
 whence it comes nor whither it goes, and yet they know they 
 live. Is it not then a duty to learn to comprehend why you 
 live, and what you live for, not simply vegetate and die as an 
 animal or as a plant? Mortals must learn to realize that 
 they are not mere animals, to live merely to gratify their sen- 
 sual appetites and then perish ; but that they are spiritual 
 
158 WO MA AT, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 beings, possessing a life that is indestructible, that is above 
 everything existing on this planet, the immortal soul or spirit. 
 
 Therefore, attention must be given in this direction. Men 
 must learn to comprehend that it lies within their power to 
 cultivate the spirit and soul ; that for this purpose they live 
 in the material body. Now, with this positive knowledge, 
 they begin to recognize the hidden germ which lies within 
 the material body. 
 
 Efforts are now made by spiritual guides who are endowed 
 with power, through the changing conditions of nature's laws, 
 to approach earth's children. They come in bodies, in large 
 circles, to assist in the development of spiritual power. True, 
 the elementary forces are still doing their work, as they have 
 been for millions of years, but not with the same results. 
 For, through the changing laws or atmospheric conditions 
 before spoken of, they are losing power ; but much depends 
 on yourselves in developing out of their power. 
 
 Mortals must turn their attention to the purer, to the har- 
 monial and sincere spiritual, and put confidence and faith in 
 their immortal disembodied friends, for they possess power 
 to assist them. " Let there be light, and there was light." 
 Faith, confidence, and sincerity will assist mortals, all of 
 whom fully realize that they must pass away, in developing 
 this spiritual knowledge. Everything that lives in the flesh 
 or has a material origin is perishable. The pressure of the 
 electric forces eventually consumes everything material. 
 
 Therefore mortals must learn to realize that it is vain folly 
 to lay up stores for their material glory. It is only by doing 
 good to one another that they can lay up rich stores for 
 material fame and spiritual glory. Doing good to one another, 
 forgetful of self-aggrandizement, doing it as a labor of love, 
 and a spiritual glory follows. They who strive to assist each 
 other will find when they enter spirit life that they have 
 many times helped a dear and near one in spirit, many times 
 an own spirit offspring, sister or brother, possibly a father or 
 mother. 
 
COMMUNICATION OF BEN HAM AN. 159 
 
 " Ye know not whence ye come nor whither ye go," but let 
 the spirit of truth abide with you forever. As the spirit 
 develops and outgrows the material desires, it becomes 
 more sympathetic, more harmonious, and more Godlike. 
 The highly cultivated and intellectual are more charitable 
 and more sympathetic with their fellow-beings. They see 
 through a clearer light and comprehend through a purer 
 sense. Through progression they learn to realize that they 
 too, in one period of life, stood on the lower planes of material 
 experiences, and that through repeated changes with advan- 
 tages in spirit they were drawn higher. Exertion of the 
 faculties, with power of will, will assist largely in outgrowing 
 material conditions. 
 
 What have they who give themselves up to material pleas- 
 ures, gratifying the material cravings of the physical body, 
 and feeding themselves with all the grosser substances, 
 gained ? Nothing but disadvantages deleterious to the spirit 
 and soul. Failure after failure of the spirit is produced in 
 this wise. 
 
 The ecclesiastics of various denominations give themselves 
 up to this destructive power, which is a weakness of the flesh. 
 Their education consists in memorizing purely theological 
 dogmas, which pertain entirely to the material. Consequently 
 nothing spiritual can develop out of it. Their God or Deity 
 is a material being, endowed with passions of various char- 
 acters, inciting to wrath and punishment. Do not wonder 
 that they themselves in their researches are weak in faith ! 
 They have no staff upon which they can lean ; their faith is 
 of a material origin and must perish. 
 
 We find many sceptics, many atheists, among the clergy. 
 " Let us live well while we do live. We know not what the 
 morrow may bring," is the motto of many. They have 
 searched the Scriptural philosophy, have acquired a historic 
 knowledge of traditions, and they find very little comfort in 
 a perusal of the lives of undeveloped nations, — nations 
 
l6o WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 springing up in fungal growth and perishing in the rays of 
 the sun. They cannot be teachers. Such men are as weak 
 as the infant in your arms. It is simply ridiculous to build 
 hopes and trust your future to the spiritual assistance of 
 such ; they hold no power within their atmosphere. 
 
 Teachers by whom the spiritual philosophy is advocated 
 and diffused must be pure themselves, pure and sincere. A 
 sceptic can make no impression. There must be that inner 
 conviction which knowledge alone imparts, to make an 
 impression with intensified power. This inner conviction 
 which strengthens the soul is a positive force, originating 
 with the supreme Creator. 
 
 This is the fountain of life, and can be attained by 
 every individualized soul who strives to comprehend. And 
 this is life. Knowledge is life ; combined with power it gives 
 force to the will, which/ when acting upon the positive forces 
 of nature, can create objects. 
 
 Thousands upon thousands lead a mere vegetable or 
 animal life. They cultivate no soul; they perish with the 
 animal. This does not mean that they do not live after 
 death, but in what state or form (?) is well known to us. 
 They merely exist, the elements imparting conditions by 
 which they sustain themselves. They return not endowed 
 with power to develop or progress, but simply to live in a 
 state of apathy, constantly fearing everything which ap- 
 proaches. It is a dread, a fear, an agony over which they 
 have no control, either to throw off or develop out of. And 
 in thus moving hither and thither, they are caught within the 
 current of revolving force, many times consumed and de- 
 stroyed, and then again brought in contact with the material 
 conditions of this planet, and are assisted to reincarnate, 
 which is an assistance to them. The next lecture will explain 
 why mortals cling with such tenacity to life. 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM BEN HAM AN. I 6 1 
 
 Communication from Ben Haman. 
 
 January, 16, 1880. 
 
 GOD bless you, my son ! The bright sun rays shower 
 down their atoms, giving life to the vegetable and 
 animal kingdom. 
 
 Invocation. — O nature! in thy bountiful unfoldment 
 we trace in every object the love of the great Creator. As 
 the attributes of all that is good, all that is pure, emanate 
 from thy divine power, we ask a blessing upon these loved 
 ones before us. May they be strengthened by the rays of 
 this magnetic orb, and guided through life by thy most 
 supreme love. May the attributes of thy will unfold their 
 natures with charity toward earth's children. May they feel, 
 through thy positive will, that the development of their 
 patience must unfold to suffering humanity, with assistance 
 from the spiritual spheres. O Father and Mother God ! 
 may the attributes of thy omnipotent will inspire their souls 
 with love, truth, and knowledge, linking them closer to the 
 great affinitized power, through which they will be enabled 
 to work out thy infinite purposes. Father of love and truth, 
 give us power through thyemanative love to guide their foot- 
 steps in the path of duty ; and may they ever feel through 
 our guiding care and our administrative love, that they are 
 led higher and higher in spiritual aspirations. May they 
 feel that by overcoming the material cares and burdens 
 imposed upon them, they are gaining victory over death and 
 sin. This we ask of thee, O Father and Mother, thou 
 dual of all that is good, of all that is holy. Amen. 
 
 " Have you the book with you," asked Ben Haman. " Yes," 
 I answered. " Please read the last sentence, so that I may 
 connect this communication with the last one. I said, " I have 
 no spectacles with me, and cannot read." — "Then give me 
 the book." I happened to hand it upside down to the medium, 
 
1 62 WO MA AT, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 who, in a deep trance, with eyes closed, took the book, turned 
 over some forty pages, until she reached the end of the last 
 communication in manuscript. After holding it before her 
 face some minutes, it being still upside down, her eyes all 
 the time closed, she dictated the following : — 
 
 Why Mortals cling with Tenacity to Life. 
 
 Life consists or coexists in all things ; all things contain 
 life. There are three distinct forms of life. There is the 
 essence divine, the outgrowth of all material substances, 
 which is spirit, so called, and indestructible. Then the 
 material which exhibits in its development the animeline 
 substance which constitutes growth and has its inflation from 
 the same source. Then the material substances composed 
 from the material soil, inflated with the same material of 
 life, varying only in material substances, such as the mineral, 
 vegetable, and animal kingdoms. The same positive electric 
 forces, combined with the negative creative forces, inflate 
 every living substance on this orb. 
 
 Humanity has outgrown the lower order of development, 
 through incessant repetition, and stands the highest and 
 first of all material life. Developing through spiritual aspira- 
 tions, the intellectual power of the will or mind, it inter- 
 blends with the higher creative power, and with repeated 
 experiences has progressed beyond all other life. 
 
 This power so often spoken of, yet so imperfectly under- 
 stood by mortals, is the creative power of life, and the con- 
 stituted developer of form. These solar rays of the sun, 
 which penetrate the soil, impregnating it with living germs, 
 thrown off from the various planets, and conveyed to this 
 planet, imjDregnates the soil, developing mineral and vege- 
 table life. Without these solar rays there no life could exist. 
 The very atmosphere which surrounds you has living germs 
 developed through the effulgent rays of this solar power. 
 Imbuing the material organs with strength, it also impreg- 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM BEN HA MAN. 1 63 
 
 nates the blood of the human system, inhaled, as before 
 stated, through respiration, not only by the lungs, but by 
 the molecules of the whole physical body externally. 
 
 Life is developed within the germ of everything which has 
 an organic development: consequently, all things have an 
 organic development, even the seed. As the seed develops 
 and matures within the soil from the penetrative rays of the 
 sun, so the acorn, with its tiny unfoldment, matures for repro- 
 ducing the oak-tree. But why do they require darkness for 
 their first development ? Simply because the positive rays 
 of the sun would destroy or consume the life principle 
 developed in the germ. Both positive and negative are 
 essential in the unfoldment and development of life. The pos- 
 itive alone is destructive without the negative. The acorn, in 
 its matured germ, consists in or contains the fullest power of 
 the positive force. It requires to be placed within the soil, 
 where it is not exposed to the positive electric rays, but re- 
 ceives a full portion through the diffusion of the power in the 
 soil. The soil is the reproductive negative matter ; it contains 
 various chemical properties, according to its kind, and imparts 
 the necessary conditions to the acorn, expanding the germ in 
 the negative surroundings. But the rays of this electric 
 power penetrate, as you see, in a milder form the soil, and 
 give it (the acorn) the vigor which sends it upward out of its 
 immured position for more perfect development by this 
 electric force. Invigorated by both electric and magnetic 
 rays combined, it is drawn higher and higher. The soil 
 imparting more of the chemical magnetic conditions to the 
 root, strengthening fibre after fibre, shooting up in its cur- 
 rent to the very trunk, giving strength and vigor to its 
 growth. The electric rays of the sun impart the more posi- 
 tive power, through which it becomes hardened and with- 
 stands the pressure of the elements and the rage of the 
 storm. 
 
 This is the vegetable life, requiring, as it does, the electric 
 
164 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 power for its development. When dead, it returns to both 
 the electric and negative. One portion, the foliage and the 
 sap as you call it, the sap from which the foliage is produced, 
 returns to the positive or electric. It is drawn out by the 
 positive rays and diffused again among the elements. The 
 trunk decays, replenishing the soil with the negative matter, 
 whose particles through intermixing produce the same, vary- 
 ing very little in change of matter from that in which the 
 acorn was first developed. 
 
 And so life repeats itself in every form of the vegetable 
 kingdom, varying very little in quality or kind. Only when 
 man, with his intellectual capacities, studies the biography of 
 this law, i.e., the physiology of vegetation, is he enabled to 
 change and perfect the quality of vegetable growth by 
 applying external conditions which are assisted by the elec- 
 tric forces. Only the negative forces will always impart the 
 same conditions when repeated in the same soil ; but the elec- 
 tric pressure will perfect everything, if you study the law 
 and learn how to apply it. 
 
 The development of life requires darkness, and through a 
 proper study of this science you will observe that it goes 
 back to the remotest germ of mineral unfoldment. If the 
 seed planted in the soil requires darkness to develop it, so 
 with the higher forms of life ; animal and human also require 
 darkness out of which they too are developed. 
 
 The human form is developed out of the animal kingdom. 
 It is a higher form of soul growth, and yet depends upon the 
 same conditions. Nature with its creative power imparts to 
 one and all alike in this particular law of production. 
 
 The fish in the ocean will lay its ova in a secluded spot, 
 where, through instinct acquired by its own development, it 
 knows the exact and proper conditions necessary. True, 
 there are amphibians that place their ova within the solar 
 rays, such as the serpent and the turtle and various other 
 reptiles. But mind you the living germ is incased within a 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM BEN HA MAN. \6$ 
 
 shell, which gives the proper magnetic protection from the 
 more positive element. 
 
 So with the human germ, an outline of which I have 
 already given you in this work — that of conception. The 
 ova, being impregnated with the semen, is drawn within the 
 womb and develops there. Darkness alone imparts the neg- 
 ative condition. Consequently the magnetic part of a mortal 
 is the soul, which can develop only in darkness the life-germ 
 of a material character. 
 
 It is only after the infant is born, expelled from its dark 
 vault, thrown within the positive electric rays of this solar 
 power, that it receives the positive spirit which imbues the 
 whole system with an invigorated power, and sound or voice 
 is developed immediately from the current power of this life 
 force. 
 
 Why is it, then, that mortals cling with tenacity to life ? 
 Simply this : the whole material body, being composed of 
 every substance existing in the mineral and vegetable king- 
 dom, it holds its attraction in assimilation toward its origi- 
 nation, or toward that from out of which it developed children 
 of nature. The spirit intellectually unfolds itself according 
 to the organic construction of the physical body. 
 
 Yet the spirit may have had, and has had, experiences in 
 the spiritual spheres, which often leave a bad impression, in 
 the way of fear, which preys upon the thought, and in return- 
 ing to the material body it makes an impression on the 
 sensorium, or organ of life, and follows it in its experiences 
 through the material life ; and if not lifted, through develop- 
 ment and progression, above this sphere or plane, it continues 
 in this state of fear until it separates from the body, that is 
 called the fear of death, being ignorant of all that follows 
 after the material life, and especially, if the spirit has had hard 
 experiences in former lives, it cannot partake of anything 
 good, but is harassed by reflections of the past, which 
 impregnates the fear of coming in contact with that which 
 may be the same in effect as was the past. 
 
1 66 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 But through knowledge which is self-aspiration and a 
 power the immortal spirit is assisted through the more posi- 
 tive guides to comprehend that they can overpower all evil, 
 and attain through the all-aspiring will a position of inde- 
 pendence by which the soul is strengthened ; for, when it 
 attains individuality, the spirit feeds the soul with positive 
 force. Conviction after conviction follows through this 
 development. The independent spirit cares nothing more 
 for the material and its perishable effects, but strives to 
 attain its individuality through the positive assistance, which 
 you all can attract by exerting the will power in attaining 
 knowledge for your development. 
 
 And thus mortals overcome the fear of death only by 
 striving to acquire knowledge and acquainting themselves 
 with the higher laws of magnetism, which convey a substance 
 for the soul growth and a power to assist the spiritual unfold- 
 ment ; only through self-exertion can they convince them- 
 selves that the change of death is but an aspiration to a 
 higher life. 
 
 If the spirit is not fully matured to realize this change for 
 the higher and more elevated development of an existent 
 futurity, it will repeat itself, to vegetate upon the very soil 
 and in the very atmosphere to which it clings with such tena- 
 city, and from which it can only be separated by the pro- 
 gressive law of individuality. 
 
 All experiences are necessary to bring the spirit upon this 
 elevated position. Good and evil, sorrow and suffering — 
 all are produced by one great infinite soul principle. And 
 evil is as essential as the good, for if there were no sorrow, 
 there could be no joy : it is only by experiencing the deepest 
 sorrow that joy can be appreciated. If you were never separ- 
 ated from your friends or loved companion, you would not know 
 the grief that separation causes, nor could you realize the 
 happiness and joy a reunion imparts. 1 
 
 1 Unless pain follows discord, joy cannot follow concord. — Thefts from a 
 Giver of Tho'ts. 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM BEN HAM AN. \6j 
 
 And so we trace the evil and interblend it with the good, 
 for if there were not this dual, separated as it is, there 
 would not be an established whole of a united and perma- 
 nent power. 
 
 Communication from Ben Haman. 
 
 January 26, 1880. 
 
 MUCH depends upon the soul of the medium through 
 whom we converse. If an operator has a musical in- 
 strument highly strung, in accord with harmony and sound, 
 he can produce perfect music. So with us. This medium 
 is the instrument. Her spirit is not used by us ; the soul 
 remains in her body, but the thought or spirit withdraws, 
 is thrown out. We control the instrument with the remaining 
 life or soul, as you perceive. Our positive magnetism over- 
 casts her whole body. And with psychological force we im- 
 press the words in language on her sensorium. 
 
 Now, if the instrument is imbued with all material pro- 
 pensities, if the soul's desire is merely for gross material, 
 and partakes of them freely, the finer forces cannot make 
 an impression ; for the whole body is subtile to the influence 
 imparted to it, and we cannot produce that which we could 
 if the medium were developed into a more spiritual condi- 
 tion. So does trouble or sorrow of any kind make an im- 
 pression upon the organs of life or brain. 
 
 We find in this medium traits of character, developments 
 which incline purely to the spiritual. Could she be with- 
 drawn from material cares, over which she worries greatly, 
 causing a constant pressure on her spirit ; could she be lifted 
 above these, her development would be of the highest order. 
 And there is no telling of the immeasurable truths which 
 could be given through her ; all consists in development. 
 
1 63 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 You have hundreds and hundreds of mediums, entirely upon 
 a material plane. Few comprehend the law of development. 
 Truly it consists in more than making simple material condi- 
 tions. The soul and spirit must develop into the sciences of 
 nature. The psychic force assists them largely. All mediums 
 who wish to be true workers in this cause must acquit them- 
 selves with the laws of psychology, through which the philos- 
 ophy develops itself, through the comprehension of interior 
 and external force. Unless the medium acquires knowledge 
 from this source, assisted by the will power of his own intuitive 
 nature, he cannot benefit others. A medium must be pure 
 and unprejudiced, in order to impart pure magnetism to 
 others. This evil will be remedied after awhile. Gradually 
 the negatives are drawn within the circle of spiritual sym- 
 pathy, and they will learn from observation that it is to their 
 advantage to develop a pure soul, through the teaching of 
 moral discipline. Physiologists dare not reveal the truth, 
 although they comprehend it. Selfish motives prompt them 
 to keep it to themselves, lest humanity become too wise, 
 and their practice be cut short. The teaching of moral 
 discipline would cause a prevalence of knowledge in all who 
 have intelligence to comprehend, and the spread of diseases 
 be stopped, if not destroyed. Theologians who profess 
 to be teachers of divinity, should not hesitate to speak 
 of those ills which flesh is heir to, and should demonstrate 
 against them. They, too, are dormant, many times owing 
 to their ignorance, but more often to their own sensual 
 nature. 
 
 However, the world moves, and the human race is moving 
 on with it. Eventually in the tide of time a more moral 
 school will be established. Human nature is striving for 
 something above the material. The inclination of those who 
 give themselves the opportunity to think is drawn from the 
 gross material, and feels the disappointment — a vacuum that 
 cannot impart happiness. All, all will follow in one and 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM II. S. 169 
 
 the same rotation, and eventually in the progress of time, 
 the purer souls will emerge out of the darkness into the light 
 of spiritual purity. 
 
 There may be harmony between you and the medium, but 
 there cannot always be harmony between the spirit and the 
 control of the medium. If the control is not developed up 
 to our sphere, we cannot establish that link which is neces- 
 sary to impart the thought, by which knowledge is conveyed. 
 
 Here is an organism, here is a spirit in the body, pure and 
 sensitive in a high degree. She exhausts herself, sacrifices 
 herself for the advancement of others. The perceptions of 
 those standing on a lower plane cannot reach to a compre- 
 hension of those who stand upon a higher one, and they who 
 are undeveloped have no charity for their fellow-mortals. 
 The undeveloped are as poisonous to the developed as the 
 sting of the adder is to the flesh, and the most sensitive are 
 the first to succumb to the poison. 
 
 Communication from H. S. 
 
 February 2, 1880. 
 
 FATHER H. S. — Ed, I come to give you my blessing. 
 Ed, there are many things to learn in the spirit world — 
 things I had not thought of while on earth, which had I have 
 known I might have avoided much suffering and helped you all. 
 I am happy now, made happy through your mother's noble 
 exertions and experiences. Her spiritual soul was developed 
 while in the body, and in spiritual life has made my soul 
 happy. I was always happy when I was in the material. I 
 did not develop much spirituality, simply because I was 
 happy in my home. Had I met some great sorrow, I might 
 have turned my attention to spiritual things. I have not 
 
170 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 suffered any torments. I might have done more to spiritual- 
 ize my children. Ed : you have made conditions. Through 
 your perseverance you attract spiritual beings from a very 
 high plane. While one communicates through the organs of 
 this lady, others are giving instructions. We are inspired 
 by superior beings, who inform us what course to pursue to 
 elevate ourselves. This philosophy is not founded on faith, 
 but on works which are actual and real : and they who come 
 over leaning on faith alone for happiness or salvation will 
 be terribly disappointed. 
 
 I find this spiritual world as active, as real, as the one I 
 lived in with yourself. The only thing which seemed a little 
 strange at first was that I could not approach my children. 
 I could approach your mother nearer than I could approach 
 you. She seemed to know intuitively what I wanted* 
 Through this power I led her to investigate Spiritualism. I 
 found it was the only true way by which I could expect to 
 help her or my children. 
 
 Ed : we are drawn intuitively to those we love. We have no 
 power to control this feeling. It seems to emanate from the 
 soul, to those we love in the material, regardless of the will. 
 You have done us great good. If Rush and Fanny could be 
 brought within the knowledge, how much happier they would 
 be and able to do so much more good to others ! 
 
 You attract many whom I did not know. Spirit bodies 
 strengthen themselves by the spiritual magnetism you attract 
 here. If you had never made these conditions, I never would 
 have been enabled to say I was self-sustaining, and enabled 
 to do some good to others. This seems to be the law of 
 progression. 
 
 Mother sends her love and blessing. Frank and Will 
 send their love. Henry sends his gratitude and best wishes. 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM BEN II A MAN. \J\ 
 
 Communication from Ben Haman. 
 
 February 2, 1880. 
 
 GROSS food is essential in some cases. It depends 
 largely upon the physical development of the body. 
 There are some bodies so constituted that they require 
 gross food, and are benefited largely by the moderate use 
 of it. It should be taken with sanitary conditions, never in 
 large quantities, always with a vegetable diet in assistance, 
 to which the interblending propensities impart to the body 
 the proper essences through and by which the body is de- 
 veloped. 
 
 True, in the spiritual development of mortals very little 
 gross food is required, for, as the spirit progresses, the body 
 develops into the spiritual power which sustains it, through 
 the magnetism imparted by the spiritual beings which sur- 
 round it. This magnetism is nutritious to the material body, 
 and less food is required by those who are spiritual in 
 nature than by those who are more material. As mortals pro- 
 gress out of this material life, the more will they adapt 
 themselves to a vegetable and fruit diet ; for by thus apply- 
 ing their mental attractions to the more spiritual powers, the 
 less will be the desire for gross, sensual things which hold 
 mortals chained, as it were, to the earth sphere. 
 
 These very seances, when conducted on a high plane, with 
 sincerity and confidence by both the medium and sitters, are 
 very beneficial to both the physical body and the spiritual 
 development. The magnetism imparted to them from the 
 spiritual band unfolds the organs of the body, impregnating 
 the soul with those pure elements, and thus develops the 
 spirit into a conscious desire for the pure, the moral, and the 
 virtuous. 
 
 We encourage more stances, but they should always be 
 conducted with the purest spiritual motives. The moral 
 
172 woman; and her relations to humanity. 
 
 development of the human race must come from this source. 
 Spiritual natures, or mortals endowed with the desire to un- 
 fold the spiritual nature, will readily realize and apply the 
 pure knowledge which is imparted to them, through which 
 they become individualized, or their individuality becomes 
 perceptible to themselves by the self-sustaining power which 
 is imparted to them, through the effort they make in seeking 
 for the higher perceptions of immortality. Life, indeed, 
 would be nothing to man or woman if it were all material, 
 if they had nothing to hope for in futurity. It is the abso- 
 lute knowledge which convinces the immortal soul of a 
 future existence. Knowledge conveys clear ideas, develops 
 intellectual perceptions, through which faculty after faculty 
 develops itself, and the mind becomes convinced of a supe- 
 rior force existing in nature's laws, which imparts the all- 
 convincing power of this indestructible matter. 
 
 Through searching with a desire to penetrate the hereto- 
 fore incomprehensible ethers which constitute so much ac- 
 tivity in a tangible form, immortal souls are drawn into the 
 spiritual atmosphere, where a knowledge is imparted to the 
 perceptive mind, imparting to it a self-sustaining entity, the 
 strength of which gives a power to the spirit, through which 
 the spirit is made self-sustaining. 
 
 That which mortal eye has seen in a tangible form it does 
 not doubt ; that which the material hands have grasped of 
 solid substances, the senses cannot question the existence 
 of. So with the spiritual sense of mortals : that which it has 
 penetrated the knowledge of which gives the full assurance 
 of an identity which really exists in a tangible form to the 
 spiritual sense, can never be doubted ; for an impression 
 once made by this ethereal power cannot be otherwise than 
 enduring, for it imparts a strength to the perceptive power 
 of the soul that makes it self-sustaining, and there is no 
 material power on earth that can ever destroy it ; for in sub- 
 stance it supersedes everything which is of a material origin. 
 
1 
 
 COMMUNICA TION FROM BEN HAM AN. 1 73 
 
 Consequently we say, "Knowledge is power," and power is 
 a force through and by which material objects are controlled 
 and spiritual reproduction developed. 
 
 I wish to concentrate the work. The one I will give you 
 will supersede that which I have given before, if the mate- 
 rial conditions of the medium are successfully arranged. 
 She is more flexible than when I began. She is developing 
 — her perceptive organs are developing. If she would keep 
 herself to a few controls, we could more readily impart 
 knowledge. Sir Albrecht (her guide) desires a very few to 
 control her. 
 
 A medium is not acting on her own individuality half the 
 time (I speak of the trance) ; sKe is retarded by being con- 
 trolled by the undeveloped. Remember me to the medium 
 with my best wishes. 
 
 Communication from Ben Haman. 
 
 February g, 1880. 
 
 AGAIN we meet to express our thoughts — thoughts 
 from the invisible to the visible. What a vast differ- 
 ence there is between those who do and those who do not 
 comprehend this beautiful philosophy ! They who live sim- 
 ply for the material ; they who give their minds to material 
 things, cannot realize that it is possible that spiritual 
 beings can have power to communicate with earth's children. 
 
 How much happier they would be if they could compre- 
 hend that friends in spirit form are as tangible to their ex- 
 ternal senses as mortals are in the material form. 
 
 The great Infinite principle created in ourselves and in 
 all finite creatures, the spiritual-essence, is the God princi- 
 ple in mortals ; and if they would strive to know more of them- 
 selves, to comprehend the individuality of their own nature, 
 how much better it would be for each and every one of them ! 
 
174 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 It certainly would lighten the burdens of this life ; it would 
 show them in a clearer light that mortals can and do make 
 their own conditions for happiness or misery. Would that 
 they could but realize with perfect confidence that there is a 
 future life ! 
 
 Too little attention is paid to the cultivation of the spirit. 
 Mortals in their material course neglect their physical bodies, 
 and thereby impoverish the soul, and weaken the spiritual 
 faculties. By learning and observing the true conditions 
 necessary for the unfoldment of the soul, the spirit realizes 
 with true perceptive ability every condition necessary for its 
 development. 
 
 Yes, mortals can and do make their heaven, and make 
 their hell, so to speak. Is it not to every soul's advantage 
 and benefit to make himself or herself happy ? Then why 
 grope along in this way; hither and thither, crushed with de- 
 spondency and overburdened with cares, when it is so easy 
 to reach for the higher and purer development, which can be 
 - imparted to every individual if they desire it. 
 
 According to the unfoldment of the inner nature each and 
 every individual receives and comprehends. Knowledge is 
 applied according to the development of the spiritual facul- 
 ties. Mortals conceive as they comprehend it, or as they 
 have been taught in youth. Education forming character, as 
 you know, it stands to reason that they cannot realize any- 
 thing superior to that which their faculties led them to 
 believe. Knowledge of spiritual things gives strength to 
 the faculties, and enables the perceptive power to unfold 
 itself with more strength and a higher conception of the 
 ' internal possibilities of the spirit. Consequently we must 
 strive to develop more spiritual teachers. When we say 
 develop, we apply the verb, in impressible individuals, per- 
 sons so organized that we can reach them with our influence 
 by impressions or otherwise ; sensitive beings, who will give 
 their time and attention to spiritual pursuits, through which 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM BEN HAM AN. 1 75 
 
 they will be drawn higher into the atmosphere of angels, 
 who will be able to impart to them power and strength to 
 instruct earth's children. 
 
 However, to educate or develop beings, surrounded as 
 they are with all the undeveloped conditions which this 
 material sphere imparts, requires time. It requires much 
 power, much strength, on our side, to protect them from 
 those conditions. This we wish to instil into the minds of 
 those acquainted with this philosophy, those who have been 
 largely benefited through the angel visits of their friends, 
 those who have been led higher into the spheres of wisdom, 
 those whose minds have been expanded by intellectual 
 truths, so that thev will be enabled to remove the shackles 
 from the slave-bound souls of materialism, that they may be 
 enabled to liberate themselves, to break the chains of sec- 
 tarianism, and remove the prejudice which binds the whole 
 to one form of infidelity. 
 
 Yes, my friends, it must and will come. The light which 
 evolves in the surrounding atmosphere of this planet, the 
 reflections of which are thrown over all alike ; this light 
 which has its birth in the intellectual spheres, is imparted as 
 a soothing balm to the creed-bound souls of avaricious 
 orthodoxy, the faith in which so many place their trust and 
 confidence, only to be disappointed again and again when 
 they enter the higher life. 
 
 To these favored ones, who have power to comprehend the 
 divine philosophy of nature's laws, they who are fathers and 
 mothers, we send a voice, an appeal for assistance. As you 
 cherish your future happiness, O parents of souls intrusted 
 to your care, as you appreciate their welfare as you should 
 as well as your own, instruct them in this truth ! 
 
 Take truth for the motto of your labors here ; work it out 
 with effectiveness toward those souls, those finite beings 
 placed under your fostering care ; teach them the true phi- 
 losophy of nature ; let their minds be brought up in the true 
 
176 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 light of the divine laws which control all things, free from 
 creeds and forms and sects of every kind. 
 
 When the young mind is instructed by objects which are 
 with unreserved confidence placed before it, with careful ob- 
 servation and study, it grows stronger and firmer in the 
 spiritual unfoldment, grasping ideas, thoughts, and objects 
 with explicit force, the assurance of which gives double 
 strength to the soul and force to the will, which, when di- 
 rected to mortals inferior, must act like an electric fluid upon 
 the vapory atmosphere, and make an impression upon them; 
 for only superior intellect can control inferior. 
 
 It is absolutely essential that mortals give their attention 
 in this direction. 
 
 That ignorance develops suffering is a vied fact, which is 
 proven to every individual if they will carefully investigate 
 it. Ignorance is sin, for all suffering imparts to the individ- 
 ual a sense of anguish, from which there is no power of 
 escape, unless they discover means through which they can 
 relieve themselves. 
 
 Any crime committed, or any wrong done to your brother, 
 will strike the cerebral nerve of your physical body and 
 cause you to feel nervous and depressed. How will you be 
 able to erase this? Simply by establishing harmony be- 
 tween you and the injured party by confessing your wrong, 
 and his acknowledgment of your sincerity, the ray of light 
 will reflect on your soul and give you peace. The harmony 
 again established gives the spirit guides conditions to 
 remove or erase the suffering, which is remorse. 
 
 O brother man ! brothers of one great and vast principle, 
 would to God I had the power to convince you of the neces- 
 sity for you to strive for the good and omit the evil, to seek 
 for that power which strengthens the soul and gives nourish- 
 ment to the spirit ! How essential it is that you should all 
 comprehend that in order to be happy in your future life 
 you must strive to attain individuality in this life. Unless 
 
COMMUNICA TWN FROM BEN HAM AN. I J J 
 
 you become individualized in this life you cannot fully enjoy 
 spiritual happiness beyond. 
 
 If there be no kind act done to your fellow-man, if there 
 be no good imparted to your suffering brothers and sisters, 
 you can never feel satisfied with yourselves. We find the 
 desire to obtain wealth and position in this life, the desire to 
 supersede each other in material acquisitions, very common. 
 But how little it is understood how it should be applied by 
 those who attain it ! They are blessed indeed who attain 
 and apply it to the right purpose, by imparting to the needy, 
 to those who are your inferiors ; by feeding the hungered 
 and clothing the naked : those hungry ones who have not 
 been gifted with the power to control the reverses of life, 
 who are at your mercy ; and if you have an abundance, it is 
 your duty to share with one and all as far as you can reach 
 them. 
 
 Does not the great and good Father impart to the very 
 lowest the same as to the highest form of development? 
 The sun shines with its warming rays upon the evil as well 
 as upon the just. The refreshing rains impart their vapory 
 substances over the just and unjust alike, withholding from 
 none, but all sharing equally in substance. All are children 
 of one great principle, the father of love, the father of 
 justice, the father of charity, and those who err are the weak ; 
 they are dependent upon the strong to lead them ; and you 
 who are the stronger, who have the intellectual development 
 by which you can lead them, see that ye hold not back, but 
 apply your talents, with all the capacity of your comprehen- 
 sion, to assist them. It is your heaven bound duty, and 
 if you do not realize it here, you certainly will in the higher 
 life ; then it will be too late — not too late to make amends, 
 but, disabled as you are, cut loose from the material temple 
 which was of great assistance in your material works, you 
 will find that very little can be done without it. Therefore 
 the return of the spirit, the desire to loosen the shackles 
 which held you to earth. 
 
178 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 How is this to be done ? You reason with those who are 
 your superiors. They in spirit are not as selfish as you were ; 
 they will instruct you, aye, even assist you, by leading you to 
 the shrine, where you will be able to throw off a portion of 
 the burden which depresses the soul. They lead you hither 
 and assist you to accomplish the work you left undone. 
 
 Yes, brothers and sisters, in the beautiful spheres of the 
 summer land, there is no selfishness, there is no ingratitude, 
 all, all interblend in harmony, peace, and good will toward 
 each other ; and it is the reflections of this beautiful world 
 which casts the rays of spiritual sunlight in your midst, and 
 which is now bringing mortals nearer to the shrine of love 
 and truth. 
 
 The spiritual knowledge which belongs to the soul is no 
 belief, but is founded upon actual facts, identical and ex- 
 pressive, and must convince every earnest investigator. It 
 buoys the soul and strengthens the spirit ; it invigorates the 
 physical body, the temple of the soul, and gives you poweH 
 to make a heaven in the material form ; it casts off all sorrow 
 and suffering, and endows you with the hope which super- 
 sedes all material things ; it is the soul-saving power, built on 
 the highest principles, founded on the sublimest facts, and 
 sustained by the all Infinite. 
 
 Seek it, O brother ! exert your faculties that you may 
 comprehend it, apply it with the right spiritual design, and 
 angel guardians will assist you, stand by you, and protect 
 you. through your material works. 
 
 From the Medium's Spirit -Brother Jacob. — You in the 
 material form must make conditions for your guides to ap- 
 proach you. Mortals cannot conceive of the good which 
 might be done, if they would comply with the direction of 
 their guides. 
 
 I have been very positive with sister Anna the last four 
 months. There were influences that almost consumed her. 
 We certainly have advantages superior to yourselves in per- 
 
MMUNJCATION FROM BEN 11 A MAN. i;q 
 
 ceiving consequences. We study and comprehend the effects 
 upon the nervous system of the medium. We would be more 
 than happy to give you the manifestations you crave with so 
 much spiritual desire ; however, the medium must be consid- 
 ered first. Comprehending the effect that a premature de- 
 mise causes upon the nature of an individual, we have 
 deemed it most prudent to interpose and to guide her into 
 the way, through which her life will be prolonged, and her 
 mission more likely to be fulfilled. 
 
 But that link which has united you with our sphere can 
 never be severed. That knowledge which you have obtained 
 has been well applied, and has brought you two spheres 
 higher into the realms of spiritual knowledge ; not only your- 
 self, but many immediate friends who have lived on this planet 
 with you. Your controls will say the rest. I will now re- 
 tire. I must impress the fact that we are ever ready to min- 
 ister to your advancement, sympathy, and intuitively through 
 the harmonious influence of our medium. 
 
 Extract from " Miller's Psychometric Circular/' 
 
 T. You have designated the human spirit as a Christ. 
 
 G. The word has two meanings. Christ is an illuminator 
 — a fountain of light and life. Such is the human spirit ; 
 such also are those light-giving servants of humanity who, 
 receiving the pure chrisms of interior life, live and suffer to 
 bless the world ; and so through him flows life and light to 
 humanity. Jesus, or Joshua, the deliverer, touched all 
 humanity in the divine sympathy of love, a light in dark- 
 ness dissolving the darkness. What he was all the world of 
 humanity shall be, and greater. 
 
 The Christian world pays him divine honors ; but remem- 
 ber that a human idea of the infinite is an infinite diversified 
 idea. Let us stand by the black African, bowing to his fetish, 
 holding the largest thought of God he can contain. Look 
 into his spirit. The future angel is there, larger than any 
 
1 80 WOMAN, AND HER RELATIONS TO HUMANITY. 
 
 material conception of God man has known. He is our 
 brother. Jesus by love and sympathy for man suffered pain 
 and agony, and in that sympathy his love flowed into human- 
 ity. He loved, and the world was better for it. He was a 
 morning star of mental liberty. 
 

 
 
 
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