Some of you seem to have been very greatly interested in the report in my last book, "Candlelight", about Jesus going to Japan and about the report of the brother of Jesus being crucified as a substitute. So perhaps I should do what so many of you have asked me to do - say a bit more about some of the old Bible stories. A surprising number of people have written to me asking - More, more.

Obviously you must keep in mind at all times that there isn't much mention of any of this sort of thing except in the Bible. For example, none of the great writers of round about two thousand years ago wrote anything at all about Christ. That's a thought worth pondering; any event nowadays is written up everywhere in inaccurate detail, and with all the trimmings that the press can devise. But throughout history great writers invariably wrote about events of moment, and the fact that none of the writers of crucifixion days wrote anything at all about crucifixion, implies that Jesus wasn't known except to a very few people.

Just remember this; Christianity did not come until long after Christ. Actually the foundations of Christianity were set at the Convention of Constantinople sixty years after the date of the alleged crucifixion. In the opinion of great Greek and Roman writers of the day Jesus was a sort of trouble - maker, one who had certain ideas and at the present day we should say, "Oh, he's just a member of a hippy gang or the leader of a set of robbers."

Shocked? Well, you shouldn't be, you know, because you were not there, you do not know the facts, you only know what has been peddled ("solgt") to you through the Bible and Bible stories. Great writers of the day whose words have survived and reached us now made no mention of Jesus.

Another thing to be considered is this; if a person were to be crucified and then at the end of the day the person was removed from the cross he could be revived, THE CRUCIFIXION DIDN'T KILL HIM! Actually, being suspended by the arms as on the cross there were very serious difficulties and obstacles in the matter of breathing. It was impossible to take a full breath because to take a full breath means to expand the chest, and when one is suspended by one's arms that cannot be done. I have been so suspended in a prisoner - of - war camp so I can speak from experience. So the crucifixion wouldn't kill. Instead there would be extreme exhaustion and soon the person would sink into a coma during which his breathing would become very very shallow, growing shallower, so eventually you could say that he died of suffocation (kvelning).

I understand much the same sort of thing occurs when a person is electrocuted. The muscles controlling breathing are paralysed or impaired, and so there is not enough air taken in to make available to the brain the necessary oxygen with which to sustain consciousness. So in that case a person lapses into unconsciousness, and IF NEGLECTED the person would eventually die. If he could be removed from the source of electricity and artificial respiration given he would in most cases revive.

I was going to tell you some very interesting things - true things - about certain aspects of prison life in the U.S.A., but for some reason my publisher seems to think what I originally wrote would cause great alarm to American readers. In deference to my publisher I have to leave out certain parts, but I will suggest you get hold of a book or two written by former prison Governors in the U.S.A. Some of these men have written very revealing books about certain aspects of prison life in the U.S.A. and although my publisher will not let me mention these facts, the American publishers of the prison Governors' books are not so nervous. So - go along to your Public Library and see if you can find some titles of books by prison Governors in the U.S.A.

Do you know that in bygone (svunnen) days there was a definite law that when a person was crucified the body should be removed at nightfall? Before removal from the cross the legs had to be broken so as to give the body an extra shock and an extra strain on the chest, and thus upon the breathing muscles. But let me remind you that in the case of Jesus it was specifically stated that His bones were not broken. So if His bones were not broken and if He did not get that extra shock, then possibly the body could have been revived.

As I have said above, in the case of Jesus the body was removed without the legs having been broken and the body - no one has said it was a dead body, remember - was hustled away to a cave and there it was received by a very special, very gifted, band of men and women.

You have heard of the Essenes, you have heard that they were a very special band of most knowledgeable people who had training and skills beyond the under - standing of the average person in the street.

They had an extraordinarily high knowledge of life and death, they knew what chemicals to use, they knew how to revive bodies. So in the cave very quickly pungent aromatics were administered to the crucified person, and chemicals were injected, and eventually the body - whether it be Jesus or the brother of Jesus or someone else, it doesn't matter - was revived.

To refresh your mind a little further, remember the case of Lazarus. Lazarus was reportedly revived from the dead, wasn't he? Now, there is that definite report. There is the report, also, that Jesus revived him. Jesus was a member of the Essenes, so it is very likely that Jesus, a "White Magician", had certain herbs or powers with which He could accomplish these seeming miracles, and such a miracle was worked upon Lazarus who may have been in a coma. After all, there is a possibility that it could even have been a diabetic coma. Let me tell you something; I am diabetic, I have been in diabetic comas, and in such a state in certain conditions one can easily be taken for dead.

Another type of complaint, which simulates death, is the complaint of catalepsy. Many people suffering from that have actually been buried - buried alive - because the true cataleptic can undergo all tests except one; he has no responses, no reflexes, and a mirror held to his lips will not fog. There is only one test infallible in the case of the cataleptic - the test of decay. If a body dies it starts to decay, and after a certain time, one's eyes and one's nose give complete assurance that the body is indeed dead, but that does not happen in the case of a cataleptic. So possibly Lazarus was in a coma or cataleptic state and Jesus, as a member of the Essenes, realized the condition and had the ability to treat it. If we do not know the technique of a thing, then it becomes a miracle, doesn't it, particularly if, according to our own concept, it is against established law or belief or knowledge.

Well, just remember that there are a certain number of books in the Bible, but there were many many more books, which had to be omitted from inclusion in "the Bible." The Bible, of course, is just a collection of books as the word implies.

Many other "gospels" had to be left out because they contradicted the testimony of the few who were published. Think of this; it is nowhere said that the Bible is true. Instead you have a statement "The Gospels ACCORDING to St. Somebody." In other words, we are getting fair warning that this is not necessarily a true book, instead it is a book which has been reported ACCORDING to the words of a certain person. It is much the same as saying, "Well, he told me that he thought..." That is not saying that you know it for a fact. Instead, according to the language of the lawyers, it could be classified as hearsay evidence, not something which is given to you as utter truth, incontrovertible truth, but as a statement according to someone else.

If you could get hold of other old books, papyrfi, or stone writings, you would find that there were truly remarkable divergencies. Do you know, some books say that John never lived? Some people say that John was just a symbolical, a mythical, figure like John Bull in England or G.I. Joe in the U.S.A., or - what is it? - Kilroy Was Here.

If you would do astral travel as I suggest - you shouldn't have much difficulty in finding out these things for yourself, because there are still quite a number of documents going back two or three thousand years or even longer which have not been discovered by physical Man. But Man in the astral - and Woman in the astral, too - can find these things and can read them. There is a great advantage because many of these papyrii are stuck together with age, and if you tried to unroll them now in the physical they might shatter into dust, but in the astral you can go through them layer by layer without disturbing their physical structure.

If you find that difficult to understand get hold of a microscope somewhere and look at, let us say, a piece of rough stone. You can carefully focus your microscope and you can see different layers of the stone coming into focus, being quite clear, and then disappear to provide space for another focus. Anyone with a microscope can explain that to you.

My wife has just read this and she has made a worthwhile suggestion. She said, "why not tell them that some people believe that Sherlock Holmes was a living person?" Well, that's a good point, a very good point, because Sherlock Holmes has been accepted as a living person and people still write to him. I suppose the letters go to the estate of Conan Doyle, but Sherlock Holmes was a figment of the imagination of Conan Doyle. We know there was no such entity as Sherlock Holmes, but popular imagination has clothed that imaginary entity with an existence, in fact in England there is, I believe, a Club devoted to perpetuating the legend or myth of Sherlock Holmes.

Well, I have mentioned using astral travel to get to see some of the undiscovered manuscripts, etc. During the past twenty years I have had an enormous number of people write and tell me that now they can do astral travel, they can experience the reality of what I have been writing about. They tell me that after the first initial struggle they felt that they had 'broken free" and they could travel at will anywhere at any time.

Unfortunately a number of people have written to me calling me a fake, etc., and saying all manner of things, which I am sure they will regret, because they personally could not do astral travel. And I can only assume that if a person has the wrong attitude - if a person makes the wrong approach - and has doubts or fears, then it's not so easy to do astral travel. To me and to thousands and thousands more there is no problem, or rather, the only problem is how to tell others how easy it is. ( It is likewise easy to swim, to ride a bike, to go on a line etc - WHEN YOU HAVE LEARNED IT - but NOT BEFORE!! R.Ø.remark.)

Let's have a look at this astral travel thing again, shall we. You want to do astral travel; first of all, do you believe in astral travel? Are you convinced that there is such a thing as astral travel, which you can do given such and - such conditions? If your answer is "No" then go no further because you will not be able to astral travel unless you are thoroughly convinced of its existence. You have to convince your sub - conscious because to my way of thinking the sub - conscious and the astral body are something like a boy holding a helium - filled balloon; as long as the boy holds on to the balloon it is quite literally attached to his body, but if the boy can be induced to let go the string then the balloon will float upwards. The astral travel condition is like that So - first of all you must believe that astral travel is possible. Secondly you must believe that you can do astral travel.

When astral travelling it is quite impossible for any entity or anything to cause you harm unless you are afraid. Now, if you think that is strange just think of this; if you sit back comfortably in a chair and you think of some imaginary ailment (sykdom), and you think of all the pain and distress that such an ailment could cause, you then think that you may have it so your heart starts to palpitate (banke) and you might feel a bit upset. Then you are sure you have something wrong with you and your heart races even more, and soon, because of your heart racing, you will get a gastric condition, you will feel bilious or some - thing else. So it's quite possible for you to make yourself definitely ill if you believe you have some illness, which is perhaps incurable. In the same way, if you try to do astral travel feeling sure that some bogey (busemann) is going to jump out and pull your tail feathers or something, then you will be afraid to do astral travel and, in that case, it is a waste of time trying. So a third condition is that you must have no fear of astral travel. Fear will definitely prevent you from getting out of the body.

Assuming, though, that you are convinced of the truth of astral travel, and assuming that you are convinced that you want to do it, and being certain that you have no fear, then really there shouldn't be any obstacle unless you want to astral travel for a bad purpose. For example and this is true - I have had men of a sort write to me telling me they wanted to astral travel so they could see girls undressing and so on. I had one man write to me and tell me that he wanted to astral travel so that he could be sure his girl was a virgin before he married her! That, I assure you, is absolutely true, and it is a good way to make sure you don't astral travel at all.

But assuming that you are able to satisfy the conditions, you believe in astral travel, you believe that you, given a bit of help, could travel easily, you have no fear and you have no intention of using the ability for anything wrong - then you should sit down somewhere where it's not too light and not too dark. It must be just neutral. Sit down so that you are completely comfortable, so comfortable that you are not aware that you are sitting down or lying down, and there are no sharp edges sticking into you. And then you definitely visualize yourself getting out of the body. Breathe regularly, make deep and rhythmic breaths, and then let your eyes (which are closed) roll up so that you are, in effect, gazing at a spot somewhere near your hairline - if you are bald you have to imagine where your hairline would be!

Your eyes, then, should be squinting to a slight extent so that their focus converges, as I have said, about the hairline. Just take things easy, there's no point in rushing things, no point at all, let things go at their own speed. Then either one of three things will happen. You might suddenly find that you have made a jerk (rykk). If you jerk then you might come back straight into the body because it means that you got out of the body and then took fright. The fright will have sent you right back in again. There is nothing to be worried about in that. You can, if you like, sigh with exasperation (sukke av ergrelse) and start all over again.

The second thing that can happen to you is that you might feel a very very slight - well, I can only say numbness (nummenhet)- which might start at the feet and spread upwards. It isn't quite a numbness, really it is indescribable unless you have actually had it happen to you. It could be numb (lammelse), it could be a slight tingling (prikking). But, anyway, it is something different, and you have to try to ignore it. It is perfectly normal, anyway. Some people after this find that they are almost in a cataleptic state, their muscles tighten up, they will not be able to move. Well - be careful, whatever you do don't panic here - that is a very very good sign because you have your eyes shut, remember, and yet here at this stage you will find that you are able to see through your eyelids, but everything will have a golden tinge (anstrøk). And then, when you have reached that stage, you will find a swaying sensation and out you will go straight into the astral and you will see things brighter and more vivid and with a greater range of colours than you ever thought possible.

In the third condition, when you have rested you will find, possibly, a swaying. You will experience a sensation that you are going through a tunnel toward a light at the far end of the tunnel. (This is well known today - but remember that this book came out before such things were known here in the western world. R.Ø.remark.) You will be drifting upwards like a piece of thistle down on an evening breeze. Keep calm, that's all to the good because soon you will find the light is growing larger and larger, and then you will drift out of this tunnel and find yourself in a far greater light, you will find that you are actually in the astral world. The grass about will be greener, far greener than you ever thought possible. And the waters about, perhaps a lake or a river, will be so clear that you will be able to see the bottom. It's a wonderful feeling, a wonderful sensation, and if you think of going to a certain place there will be a sort of "link" and you will be at that place.

Suppose, for instance, you've got out into the astral and for a time you float a few inches above the ground - just looking about you, marvelling at the conditions, wondering what to do next. You may want to explore in the astral world where everything is brilliant, where the colours are brighter, where there is a tingling sparkle in the air. Well, do so. It certainly will revitalize you. It will build up your psychic powers enormously. It is far better to do this and have some "spiritual feeding". If you do that you will find you will have no difficulty whatever in getting into the astral on any other occasion, but if you want to rush off somewhere for some materialistic purpose, then you will find few shocks.

Suppose you want to go and see XY to see what he is doing; immediately you think of him and think of his location you get there, but you have left the brilliant surroundings and the healthy atmosphere of the astral world, instead you are back on Earth again - in the astral state, admitted - still seeing things as people see them on Earth, dull colours, dull people, muddy water, and if your friend, XY, is in a commercial mood (at han "tenker penger") you will find that his colours are pretty dim too, and you won't like it a bit.

The big difficulty is with most people that they start off very well indeed, they start getting into the astral, and then their body creaks (knirker), they feel strange tugs (rykk) and swayings, sometimes they get almost airsick because they are in such a state of nerves. Well, they get out of the body and then they panic, "Oh, what if I can't get back in again?" Immediately they have the thought - BONK! - and they are back in the body feeling, perhaps, a bit dizzy. And if you do ever get back into the body like that and you feel sick and dizzy, then make sure you lie very still and try to have a sleep, even though it be of only a few minutes, because until your astral body can get out of your physical body and realign itself and so enter correctly, you will have quite a bit of indisposition. So - no amount of aspirins will help you, all you need is to get out of your body again and back in properly. It's like getting up in the morning and finding you've got the wrong shoe on the wrong foot, you wouldn't want to go about all day like that so You change your shoes to the right feet. In the same way, get out of your body again and back in properly.

So that's all there is to it. I say that anyone who can comply (etterkomme) with the conditions can do astral travel - anyone at all. But if you are afraid or if you are doubtful - hen don't waste time because you won't astral travel.

Let me return to the original theme of this Chapter; religion. I have said a few things about the Christian religion and about the various fighting factions of that religion. I have said that I have no religion as Buddhism is not a religion, it is a Belief instead. All right, what do I think of Buddhism?

The more one studies Buddhism the more one can appreciate the intrinsic (iboende) value of it AS A GUIDE TO LIVING, and the more one can realize that Gautama was negative in his outlook.

My personal Belief, which I have never put in print before, is that Gautama, the Prince, was too utterly sheltered from the hard facts of life, and then when he suddenly became confronted with suffering, pain and death, then it "turned his brain," it gave him a severe psychic shock, it upset his sense of values, it destroyed something essential to his being. So the Prince Gautama left the Palace, left all the comforts he had known, and became utterly disillusioned. My personal Belief is that he became "negative."

If one studies the Teachings of Gautama (let us say "Buddha" which is more normal to Western people) one will appreciate that Buddha was negative, everything was "no - ness," "all life is suffering." Well, we know that isn't true, don't we? There are good times in life as well as bad times. So I believe that Buddha became far too negative in his outlook - but at the same time he did produce for the world some very very valuable precepts - and it was founded on the much older religion of Hinduism.

People write to me and ask me if they should flee to the Rockies or should they go somewhere else, and they get quite offensive when 1 tell them that in my opinion they will be quite safe where they are. Think of an old fellow of seventy writing to me in a horrible state of fright because he thinks the land is going to sink and he is going to get the top of his head wet. I say that where the man lives there will be submergence IN THE YEARS TO COME, but I do not think that there will be a submergence in his lifetime. If you are thinking of your grandsons, okay - move out fast, move into the Rockies, the Canadian Rockies of course. You will have to do a lot snow clearing first because as I am writing this book I can look out and see the Rockies and there really is a pile of snow at the top. But, seriously, the average person who writes in doesn't have to worry, these disasters won't be in your lifetime unless you are writing on behalf of a small child! (Rampa had long ago moved to Canada when he wrote this book.)

Hello Shelagh McMorran, so you have decided to send me some questions, have you? You ask me, "what must one do to be able to communicate with Nature Spirits or fairies?"

That's easy enough. You have to live what is called a "pure life" in order that your vibrations are increased. You have to live as a hermit (hermitess?) because if you mix with a lot of people - your personal vibrations will be slowed down otherwise you won't be able to get on with other people.

Then you will have to practise telepathy because it's no good speaking to Nature Spirits in vocal words. The vocal system of speech is too crude, too gross, for Nature Spirits. All you can use is telepathy. But if you can communicate with your cat then you can communicate with Nature Spirits.

You also say, "People cast about looking for salvation and enlightenment Could it be that the answers we seek, lie not in any outside source, but only within us?"

Oh yes, definitely. We are what we make ourselves. If we believe in a thing then that thing can be, and I would say that by far the easiest method of finding "salvation" is to obey the Golden Rule - Do only unto others as you would have them do unto you.

So many people think they are going to get salvation in some holy book or by following some Teaching which is thousands of years out of date. If you are going to follow some of these early Christian beliefs then you will have to agree that women are inferior articles, chattels. But our Women's Libbers wouldn't like that, and, of course, they are right. My own belief is (should I whisper it?) women are in every way the equal of men but they are different creatures, almost a different species. Men are suitable for some things, women are suitable for others. So why don't women do their particular task and look after the nation; look after the discipline and training of the forthcoming race? They would find they would get salvation that way!

"Humbleness, sincerity, harmlessness, forgiveness, uprightness, devotion to the spiritual master, purity, steadiness, self - harmony . . if a person is trying to live these precepts could he (or pardon me, also she) have faith that he is progressing rightly even though no visions are seen and no occult powers are made manifest?"

Definitely, because if you are obeying the Golden Rule then you will be on the way to getting all these abilities, and there is nothing "holy" in being psychic, there is nothing particularly spiritual in being clairvoyant, it is just an ability. For example, you wouldn't say that a person is necessarily spiritual because she can sing or paint or write books, they are abilities. Spirituality has nothing to do with it, so it doesn't matter how pure or holy or upright a person may be, if he or she does not have the necessary physical make - up to be psychic, then he or she won't be psychic. You can be psychic even if you are bad, but it's better to be psychic and good.

Now, Shelagh McMorran has a question here which applies to a lot of people, a lot of people have written similar type of things, so here's the complete question: - "It has been said by you and other wise men that when the student is ready the Teacher will appear. It has also been said that for one to progress on the Path and awaken the latent divinity within oneself - one must have a Teacher. How best may one prepare for the meeting with a spiritual Teacher, can this meeting take place in any walk of life or must certain things be done or given up before it can take place? Would it be true that one might prepare now for a meeting to take place in some future life?"

Yes, it is perfectly true that when the student is ready the Teacher will appear, and it is not for the student to say when he or she is ready. What happens is this; as the aspiring student develops, he or she (oh, bother, let's just say "he" as a generic term) increases in basic vibration. That vibration is like a bell sounding in the etheric, so a Teacher who is always ready for a student, and who may appear in the physical or who may not, goes to the aid of a student. And I want to make it clear that it doesn't necessarily mean that the Teacher is going to sit opposite the student and rap him over the knuckles every so often to secure his attention; the Teacher may be in the astral and may teach the student when the student also is in the astral.

So many people write and insist that they are ready - they are quite positive that they are ready - so why do not I or someone else rush over land and sea to their assistance?

I dispute (bestrider) that people should have physical Teachers. I am definitely opposed to all these correspondence courses alleging to teach one metaphysics, spirituality, etc., etc. If you need a Teacher you will get one in the astral, and I'm going to tell you this; when you die, that is, when your physical body is finished with this Earth and your astral entity goes on to the astral world - it has to stand alone and answer for successes and failures, and it is useless to think that because you once took a correspondence course in boot licking that the chief bootlicker is going to come and speak on your behalf explaining why you can only lick black boots and not brown boots. No, when you pass over you have to stand alone and answer to yourself alone, so the best thing to do is to get used to it now, rely on yourself, rely on your own resources. You don't want to be just a slave or shadow of some correspondence course or some stupid cult leader, do you? You are an entity so act as one.

You ask, Shelagh McMorran, if certain things have to be given up before one can advance, and the answer is of course - yes. You have to give up things like intoxicants (rusgifter) because they can affect your psyche. You have to give up drugs . . . not YOU, of course, because you don't have these things, perhaps I should have said "one" must give up these things. One must give up the things which harm the astral body - because if you are harming the astral body, then all your vibrations are wrong, aren't they, and if your vibrations are wrong, you will not get an astral or physical Teacher, so you are back where you started from.

"Throughout the ages Initiation has played a vital role in the progress of a soul. In the present age how, and under what circumstances, may this Initiation take place?"

Well, I am not much in favour of initiations because usually it is just a mumbo - jumbo ceremony which doesn't mean a thing except to scare some poor wretch half out of his life. All you need, really, is a simple straightforward affirmation, a statement of intent, a promise that one is going to do certain things or study certain things; and I maintain that it is just plain stupid to dunk a person in dirty water or give him a swig of wine, or put bits of coloured cloth on him. That merely is a theatrical act of mumbo - jumbo. A simple affirmation is all that is necessary as an initiation ceremony. It is merely an understanding that a person is ready to take certain steps, which will increase his psychic ability.

"Jesus and other World Leaders had followers and friends other than their immediate disciples. You have said in 'Chapters of Life' that a new World Leader is to be born in 1985. Would it be possible for a person to do anything now to be worthy of becoming a helper, supporter, follower or friend to the new World Leader in that future time, or will those close followers all be on a different cycle from the rest of us?"

The only way that one can prepare is by living a decent life, a spiritual life, a "correct" life, and so setting an example to those around you. Nowadays we live in a truly horrid age where everybody is trying to beat down everyone else, and things are going to get much worse, unless enough of us make sure that we are examples of the benefits that can be derived by leading a decent life. Most people will only do a thing if there is some material gain for them. That sounds shockingly cynical, I know, but I believe it to be a fact, and so at the outset at least one has to show others that there are material benefits from calmness, peacefulness, and honesty, and until the "opposition" can be convinced of those benefits - then they will not follow the strait and narrow Path.

Buttercup has just been reminding me that I am not doing much toward answering psychic questions so far in this book. I don't know what I am supposed to have been doing, then, because I thought that that was what the book was all about Anyway, how about this for a question? "How would a person know if the Kundalini had begun to rise other than by having his aura observed?"

The person would know, and if the Kundalini had risen through the result of wrong practices the psychiatrist would know also! If a person meddles (befatter)with the Kundalini - and he can - then he can induce very severe mental disturbance. A person should never try to raise the Kundalini but should always wait for it to occur naturally. It is a very dangerous thing indeed to interfere with the Kundalini.

Of course one can observe the aura and see what is happening to the aura and to the Kundalini, but then we come back to the old problem of how to part people from their panties. It is a most extraordinary thing because as I write this in an extremely hot temperature of 90 degrees - there are people out in their swimming pools or paddling pools or whatever they call the things, and some of them are barely clad. It seems that they will take off most of their clothes for the sake of display, but wben it comes to a serious thing like studying the aura - no, they would like to have clothes painted on. Anyway, by what I have seen of people around in nearby bathing pools it's a darn good thing some of these women do keep their clothes on, they would look better in a completely shapeless garment than they do in their bikini things, or whatever they call them. It reminds me of fat women with tight pants - - - ohhh! - but I'd better not get on a subject like that!!

Another question, "Is it possible in the present age to have the third eye opened in the manner in which you did, or must this be the result of gradual awakening of the chakras?"

Well, would you have your appendix (blindtarm) removed by an amateur? Or would you do it yourself? If you've got any sense, and you must have or you wouldn't be reading this book, you would try to get the best specialist you could to do the job for you. In the same way, you would need to get a real specialist to open your third eye, and they are about as rare as raspberries on gooseberry bushes in the West. Actually, it is not at all a difficult matter if one can look at the aura at the same time -because by looking at the aura one can tell precisely what is happening, and so it is possible to control everything.

Actually, though, I would never, never advise a Western person to have the third eye opened by operation. In the same way I advise Western people not to have acupuncture. It works just fine for Easterners because they have been brought up to it and because in many ways they are quite a lot different from Westerners. So - don't have your third eye opened by operation or you may end up spiritually blind.

Someone here is interested in pendulums... oh, it's our friend Shelagh McMorran. She writes, "would it be possible or likely for an elemental or somesuch to control the responses of a pendulum?"

Yes, its quite possible for mischievous entities to do almost anything, they could easily control the pendulum, for instance. In case you wonder how this can be, let me say that a man is driving a school bus; now, he's got a rowdy lot of school kids with him and after a time they might whisper together and gang (sammensverge seg mot;

overfalle i flokk) up on the driver. Then one schoolboy, more foolish or more adventurous than others, would take hold of the steering wheel and try to control it in spite of the driver's efforts. It might even be that some of the other boys would even pull the driver's hands from the wheel. Kids nowadays will do just about everything so why shouldn't they do that? But that is a similar state to when a mischievous (skøyeraktig) entity takes over control of the pendulum. The user of the pendulum for some reason has lost control, or never had it, and that is why I always stress that you should make the pendulum yours and no one else's, because if YOU control the pendulum no other entity can possibly do so - so it all depends on how much control you have.

Now, here is a question...

"In 'Chapters of Life' you made predictions about events which will occur during this end period of the present world cycle. During this period do you think the Gardeners of the Earth will return to weed and prune this tangled and twisted garden, or is it more likely they will return after the cataclysms have taken care of most of we weeds (or is it us weeds?)?"

It is my belief that the Gardeners of the Earth are getting heartily sick of conditions on this world because, you know, humans, basically, are getting more and more selfish, and instead of people trying to do each other a good turn - they nowadays seem bent (tilbøylighet) for destruction.

I believe that round about (I said "round about") the year 2000 we may see quite startling incidents during which, possibly, the Gardeners of the Earth or their special messengers will come to take a look at our world. (other contacts and wise men tell that as the time is relative, there is at least a five years "elastic" on such - and other talk that the year on the MAYA CALENDAR - 2012 - is a kind of division. Not easy to foretell exactly from the view a generation back. R.Ø.remark.)

In past cataclysms the surface people of the Earth were driven so they could enter the interior of the Earth through the holes at the Poles. Naturally, people inside the Earth will be quite safe from atom bombs which devastate the exterior because I believe that the thickness of the Earth between this and the inner layer is 800 to 1,000 miles, much of it iron ore and various hard rocks. (Rampa seems to believe in a inner civilisation in the earth - he other compare the earth to a hallow coconut - but other think this "inner space" must be on another dimension or frequency. R.Ø.remark.)

If you want to see the fun, then, hang around until round about the year 2000 then you will get a free firework display. (fyrverkeri…. Well - what will become of the hate in the middle east? R.Ø.remark.)

Now for a complete change of theme This is a question from a South American country, and the question is a very sensible one. It is, "when praying what should I really call my Overself? I do not like a human name, would it be all right to say 'God', 'Lord', or 'Guide; or just 'Overself? You have mentioned that the Overself has several puppets to manage, does that mean he manages other people as well and not only me? Then it is not only my Overself but also other peoples. Are these people in any way related to me or not?"

Well, that's a stunner (prakteksemplar)! I started out thinking that was one question, instead it's a whole bunch of questions, isn't it? Never mind, let's get on with it; it really does not matter what you call your Overself any more than it matters what you call your sub - conscious, because so long as you get over the idea that you are addressing the Overself or that you are addressing the sub - conscious, then you could even have a number, number one for Overself, number two for sub - conscious. Of course, that is not necessarily too facetious (morsomt) - because it just doesn't matter what you call the Overself - provided that you are consistent. You must always use the same name.

Now, I have mentioned many times about the Overself and the puppets. Let's put it this way; you have your body, let's call your body the Overself. And then you have a right hand, a left hand, a right foot and a left foot, let's call them your puppets. So your hands and feet are definitely part of you, aren't they, they are definitely related to each other, so in precisely the same way the other people who are the puppets of that one Overself are related, are connected, are dependent upon each other. And the Overself has to manage each of those puppets in the same way that you have to manage your hands and your feet. For example, if your feet can't get on together - you can't walk, because supposing the puppets which you call your feet, disliked each other and both tried to take a right step at the same time, well you would fall over backwards. I'm not sure it couldn't be done, and I'm certainly not going to try, but you have to keep your hands and your feet on a good working relationship with each other.

Now this question, "when leaving this life must we all pass the place where those elementals, thought forms, or whatever they are try to scare us? Is that something inevitable for all of us, or do the helpers have a chance to save us from that? If we should die suddenly, for example, by some traffic accident or aeroplane crash, etc., do the helpers have time to get to us at once - or must we then drift alone prey to those awful elementals?"

Say! I seem to have fallen on a bunch of multiple questions. Now what have I done to deserve this? Well, anyway, suppose you are going to travel by train or car or bus or aeroplane, then you have to cross a certain area of "public domain" before you get into your vehicle. For instance, suppose you have a car outside your house and you want to get in that car. You have to get out of your house and you have to cross the sidewalk to get in to your vehicle. In the same way, when you leave your body you have to cross an area of "public domain for spirits" to get into the astral, but in ninety - nine percent of the cases you do not see any elementals. If you are not afraid - then you have nothing to worry about, because if you are not afraid, then the elementals can't bother you, they can't approach you. So what is there to worry about, anyway? You might be leaving your house and proceeding to your car and you might see a lot of gaping (måpende) children at the sidewalk, but you don't have to bother about them, do you? So why bother about elementals?

And yes, most certainly helpers have a chance to save you from anything. It doesn't matter if you have a sudden crash, the helpers are still there, because you must remember that time on Earth is a purely artificial thing and it has no meaning elsewhere. For instance, if you wanted to go from, say, South America to Australia while on the Earth - you would have quite a commotion getting tickets, packing up your things, and actually travelling from South America to Australia. You would have all sorts of customs and immigration formalities. But in this other state in the astral, you think of a place and you are there, it's as quick as that. So that a person in the astral can be an uncountable distance from you in miles but he could say, "Oh my goodness, there's Jim Bugsbottom about to have an accident, I'm going." And then the astral helper would be there at the scene of the accident even before the thing happened.

Now for another question about astrals. "You have mentioned at least two different astral stages in the former books, one a little higher than the other, as far as I have understood. Do we all, average, not so evolved people have to go there after dying to Earth? Is it on that plane there can exist a sort of family life you also mentioned in some of the books? Is it possible to graduate directly from one plane to a higher one, or must we all inevitably reincarnate between each higher astral plane?"

We on Earth are in a certain stage of evolution. Here we are in a physical stage in a third dimensional world. When we "die", that is, when our body ceases to function for some reason, we go to "the astral plane," that is a sort of reception (mottagelses-) area, and in that particular astral plane we make an assessment (vurdering) of what we have done and what we have left undone upon the third dimensional world, we take advice from special counsellors, and perhaps we may decide that it will be better if we return to Earth, that is, reincarnate and have another life on Earth.

It may be, though, that we haven't done so badly after all, and in that case we shall be able to advance - to go to a higher plane of existence, perhaps a fourth dimensional, perhaps a fifth dimensional world. But I must again express that time is different when one is off the Earth, and one can stay a long time in the astral and then reincarnate almost instantly according to Earth days on this world. (the same are told in the spiritual teachings from the pleiadian physical contactperson Semjase. R.Ø.remark.) It is very confusing if you are too accustomed to believing that time is a hard and fast 60 seconds to the minute, 60 minutes to the hour, 24 hours to the day, etc. Time in the astral is flexible, but in the astral we can have our friendly associations, in fact we have to have them in order to round out our basic experiences. We can also have suitable love affairs - I'm sure that will cheer up a lot of you!

It really seems that some poor fellow is all gummed (gå i stå) up about this astral business. Look at this for a question; "If one of my children, or any loved one, should leave this Earth before me or after me, and that person is then sent back to Earth in a new incarnation before I arrive there, or I am sent back before they arrive, how is it possible for us then to meet in the astral? And if they or I should have graduated to a higher astral plane how can we then meet? Is it possible to visit one another even being on separate astral planes?"

Throughout my books I have tried to put over the idea of astral travel, I have tried to get over to people the thought that they can if they want leave this body and go into the astral plane and meet people in the astral plane. It seems I have not succeeded too well, doesn't it? So if the person who asks these questions will read my books - well, the answer is there plain enough; if you want to meet a person in the astral then you can, by telepathy, arrange such a meeting, and you can get out of your body for that purpose.

If a person is in a higher plane and he or she wants to meet you in the astral, he or she can travel downwards to your own astral plane. There is no problem at all provided that both persons want such a meeting.

I have just been looking at another question and wonder if I should quietly drop everything and retire to a monastery. Perhaps in view of some of these questions it would be more appropriate to retire to a nunnery (nonnekloster). Anyway, you judge for yourself. Here is the question, and how would YOU answer it?

"At what stage exactly, or more or less exactly, does the spirit enter a baby to be born? There are thousands of women on this Earth with that question on their mind. Some have been blindly, romantically in love and have been led too far by the boy or man that confessed eternal true love and marriage but couldn't dominate his passion, and so the tragedy has occurred. He still loves her but cannot yet afford to marry her and she must get rid of it, etc. Nowadays it is probably carelessness and just indulging in sex for pleasure and not caring for anything, I don't know.

But can you answer that question, do you know? Sex is not sin, nor bad if connected with love, as you yourself have said in the books. Sex without love is meaningless and just animal pleasure but is still practised mostly so. Is it not murder to abort before the spirit enters the embryo of a child? When is the moment when an abortion becomes murder?"

Well, well, and well again. After being "exposed" to some of these questions I feel like one of those Aunt Fanny's who write in certain newspapers purporting to answer all assorted manner of questions. Poor souls, I know exactly how they feel. But I feel that I am being "put upon" to answer questions which are not connected with metaphysics.

I will give my own opinion, though, and it is this; if people want to know about birth control, abortion, etc., then why not go to a family planning clinic and get all the information free, and perhaps a free sample of something which will "gum up the works" for the desired time. You would find it much better to go to a family counsellor or some clinic, or to a doctor, so that you can discuss your own case and all its ramffications, and all and every bit of detail about it. Then you will get information, which is applicable to you and all your circumstances.

But I cant see, really, that people need to have abortions nowadays when they have so many alleged safeguards available. If they are in any doubt - well, don't!

Further, the entity who is going to take over the body does not take over at any specific time, it depends on the degree of evolution, it depends on the need, on the type, and all that sort of thing. So you could say one abortion could take place at a month and another at six months. Every case depends upon its own individual circumstances, and our Estimable Publisher will throw a fit and he might even blush if I go into any more details, so I suggest that if you do want details go to a doctor or a family planning clinic - they'll tell you all you need to know.

The temperature is getting hotter and the day wears on. I suppose it is almost a case that eggs in a shop window are becoming hard - boiled. Certainly I need to be hardboiled to face up to some of these questions, and I am wondering whether the temperature of over 90 or the questions are the hottest. Get ready for the next one: 

Divorce - if two people who have been in love and married and truly have believed that they would never part in this life nor in the next, little by little get hurt by each other, bewildered and desperate, and all of a sudden realize that they cannot understand each other any more but seem to develop into two strangers who are unable to communicate, what shall they do?

Shall they go on living together, but almost starting to hate each other and the cleft being greater and greater, the atmosphere in the home being heavier and heavier, or shall they separate and at least not live together hating each other? How can this happen when both could swear from the bottom of their hearts that they would never stop loving each other? Each of them feels that the other one has changed horribly by some mysterious fate. He and she doesn't think as before, doesn't react as before. He or she are only criticizing all the time where they before saw no fault, and when also physical problems enter in the picture and there seems to be no way out, what to do? Is it bad to separate? Should they go on living together just because they signed some documents and some priest told them to? Or should they be honest and split up and let time cure the wounds, and at last at least be able to forgive and understand that both erred, and not only one of the parts? What is wrong, what is right?"

Many people ask me this, so I will give my own honest opinion about it. I believe that in the Christian belief the priests meddle (blander seg) so much in marriage that everything in marriage is distorted. For example, in the Catholic belief, if a woman doesn't have enough children the priests get thoroughly unpleasant about it and threaten the husband and wife with all sorts of horrible things. I know that is true because I have seen it happen myself, and in Ireland I have learned the meaning of the old statement, "The priest had his hat on the doorknob so the husband stayed out"!

If two business partners cannot get on together, then they part. It is the only sensible thing to do, and marriage nowadays really IS a business! My personal opinion is that people should never separate; they should divorce and part definitely, deliberately, and irrevocably. Afterall, if you have an aching tooth you don't go to a dentist and have it half pulled, do you, you have the thing yanked straight out so that you can forget all about it. Well, if you've got wife trouble or husband trouble and you can't seem to make any sense of it, then don't waste any more time - get divorced, never mind what the stupid clod of a priest says, he is not going through it - he is not suffering - you are.