403. Why do we not always remember our dreams?
"What you call sleep is only the repose of the body, for the spirit is always in motion. During sleep he recovers a portion of his liberty, and enters into communication with those who are dear to him, either in this world, or in other worlds; but as the matter of the body is heavy and gross, it is difficult for him to retain, on waking, the impressions he has received during sleep, because those impressions were not received by him through the bodily organs."
404. What is to be thought of the signification attributed to dreams ?
"Dreams are not really indications in the sense attributed to them by fortune-tellers; for it is absurd to believe that a certain kind of dream announces the happening of a certain kind of event. But they are indications in this sense-viz., that they present images which are real for the spirit, though they may have nothing to do with what takes place in his present corporeal life. Dreams are also, in many cases, as we have said, a remembrance; they may also be sometimes a presentiment of the future, if permitted by God, or the sight of something which is taking place at the time in some other place to which the soul has transported itself. Have you not many instances proving that persons may appear to their relatives and friends in dreams, and give them notice of what is happening to them? What are apparitions, if not the soul or spirit of persons who come to communicate with you ? When you acquire the certainty that what you saw has really taken place, is it not a proof that it was no freak of your imagination, especially if what you saw were something which you had not thought of when you were awake?"
405. We often see in dreams things which appear to be presentiments, but which do not come to pass,-how is this?
"Those things may take place in the experience of the spirit. though not in that of the body; that is to say, that the spirit sees what he wishes to see because he goes to find it. You must not forget that, during sleep, the spirit is always more or less under the influence of matter; that, consequently, he is never completely free from terrestrial ideas, and that the objects of his waking thoughts may therefore give to his dreams the appearance of what he desires or of what he fears, thus producing what may be properly termed an effect of the imagination. When the mind is much busied with any idea, it is apt to connect everything it sees with that idea."
406. When, in a dream, we see persons who are well known to us doing things which they are not in any way thinking of, is it not a mere effect of the imagination?
"Of which they are not thinking? How do you know that it is so? Their spirit may come to
visit yours, as yours may go to visit theirs; and you do not always know, in your waking state, what they may be thinking of. And besides, you often, in your dreams, apply to persons whom you know, and according to your own desires, reminiscences of what took place, or is taking place, in other existences."
407. Is it necessary to the emancipation of the soul that the sleep of the body should be
complete?
"No; the spirit recovers his liberty as soon as the senses become torpid. He takes advantage, in order to emancipate himself, of every moment of respite left him by the body. As soon as there occurs any prostration of the vital forces, the spirit disengages himself from the body, and the feebler the body, the freer is the spirit."
It is for this reason that dozing, or a mere dulling of the senses, often presents the same images as dreaming.
408. We sometimes seem to hear within ourselves words distinctly pronounced, but having no connection with what we are thinking of,-what is the cause of this?
"Yes, you often hear words, and even whole sentences, especially when your senses begin to grow torpid. It is sometimes the faint echo of the utterance of a spirit who wishes to communicate with you."
409. Often, when only half-asleep, and with our eyes closed, we see distinct images, figures of which we perceive the minutest details,-is this an effect of vision or of imagination? "The body being torpid, the spirit tries to break his chain. He goes away and sees; if the sleep were deeper, the vision would be a dream."
410. We sometimes, when asleep, or half-asleep, have ideas which seem to us to be excellent, but which, despite all the efforts we make to recall them, are effaced from our memory on waking,-whence come these ideas?
"They are the result of the freedom of the spirit, who emancipates himself from the body, and enjoys the use of other faculties during this moment of liberty; and they are often counsels given you by other spirits."
- What is the use of such ideas and counsels, since we lose the remembrance of them, and cannot profit by them?
"Those ideas often belong rather to the world of spirits than to the corporeal world; but, in
general, though the body may forget them, the spirit remembers them, and the idea recurs to him at the proper time, in his waking state, as though it were an inspiration of the moment."
411. Does the incarnated spirit, when he is freed from matter and acting as a spirit, know' the epoch of his death?
"He often has the presentiment of it. He sometimes has a very clear foreknowledge of it; and it is this which gives him the intuition of it in his waking state. It is this, also, which enables some persons to foresee the time of their death with perfect exactness."
THE SPIRITSâ BOOK
403. Why do we not always remember our dreams?
"What you call sleep is only the repose of the body, for the spirit is always in motion. During sleep he recovers a portion of his liberty, and enters into communication with those who are dear to him, either in this world, or in other worlds; but as the matter of the body is heavy and gross, it is difficult for him to retain, on waking, the impressions he has received during sleep, because those impressions were not received by him through the bodily organs."
404. What is to be thought of the signification attributed to dreams ?
"Dreams are not really indications in the sense attributed to them by fortune-tellers; for it is absurd to believe that a certain kind of dream announces the happening of a certain kind of event. But they are indications in this sense-viz., that they present images which are real for the spirit, though they may have nothing to do with what takes place in his present corporeal life. Dreams are also, in many cases, as we have said, a remembrance; they may also be sometimes a presentiment of the future, if permitted by God, or the sight of something which is taking place at the time in some other place to which the soul has transported itself. Have you not many instances proving that persons may appear to their relatives and friends in dreams, and give them notice of what is happening to them? What are apparitions, if not the soul or spirit of persons who come to communicate with you ? When you acquire the certainty that what you saw has really taken place, is it not a proof that it was no freak of your imagination, especially if what you saw were something which you had not thought of when you were awake?"
405. We often see in dreams things which appear to be presentiments, but which do not come to pass,-how is this?
"Those things may take place in the experience of the spirit. though not in that of the body; that is to say, that the spirit sees what he wishes to see because he goes to find it. You must not forget that, during sleep, the spirit is always more or less under the influence of matter; that, consequently, he is never completely free from terrestrial ideas, and that the objects of his waking thoughts may therefore give to his dreams the appearance of what he desires or of what he fears, thus producing what may be properly termed an effect of the imagination. When the mind is much busied with any idea, it is apt to connect everything it sees with that idea."
406. When, in a dream, we see persons who are well known to us doing things which they are not in any way thinking of, is it not a mere effect of the imagination?
"Of which they are not thinking? How do you know that it is so? Their spirit may come to
visit yours, as yours may go to visit theirs; and you do not always know, in your waking state, what they may be thinking of. And besides, you often, in your dreams, apply to persons whom you know, and according to your own desires, reminiscences of what took place, or is taking place, in other existences."
407. Is it necessary to the emancipation of the soul that the sleep of the body should be
complete?
"No; the spirit recovers his liberty as soon as the senses become torpid. He takes advantage, in order to emancipate himself, of every moment of respite left him by the body. As soon as there occurs any prostration of the vital forces, the spirit disengages himself from the body, and the feebler the body, the freer is the spirit."
It is for this reason that dozing, or a mere dulling of the senses, often presents the same images as dreaming.
408. We sometimes seem to hear within ourselves words distinctly pronounced, but having no connection with what we are thinking of,-what is the cause of this?
"Yes, you often hear words, and even whole sentences, especially when your senses begin to grow torpid. It is sometimes the faint echo of the utterance of a spirit who wishes to communicate with you."
409. Often, when only half-asleep, and with our eyes closed, we see distinct images, figures of which we perceive the minutest details,-is this an effect of vision or of imagination? "The body being torpid, the spirit tries to break his chain. He goes away and sees; if the sleep were deeper, the vision would be a dream."
410. We sometimes, when asleep, or half-asleep, have ideas which seem to us to be excellent, but which, despite all the efforts we make to recall them, are effaced from our memory on waking,-whence come these ideas?
"They are the result of the freedom of the spirit, who emancipates himself from the body, and enjoys the use of other faculties during this moment of liberty; and they are often counsels given you by other spirits."
- What is the use of such ideas and counsels, since we lose the remembrance of them, and cannot profit by them?
"Those ideas often belong rather to the world of spirits than to the corporeal world; but, in
general, though the body may forget them, the spirit remembers them, and the idea recurs to him at the proper time, in his waking state, as though it were an inspiration of the moment."
411. Does the incarnated spirit, when he is freed from matter and acting as a spirit, know' the epoch of his death?
"He often has the presentiment of it. He sometimes has a very clear foreknowledge of it; and it is this which gives him the intuition of it in his waking state. It is this, also, which enables some persons to foresee the time of their death with perfect exactness."