form there are of real though temporary beauty, and a visitor who knew
of nothing higher might wander contentedly enough there among forests
and mountains, lovely lakes and pleasant flower-gardens, or might even
construct such surroundings to suit his own fancies.

It may be said in passing that communication is limited on the astral
plane by the knowledge of the entity, just as it is here. While a
person able to function freely on that plane can communicate with any
of the human entities there present more readily and rapidly than on
earth, by means of mental impressions, the inhabitants themselves do
not usually seem able to exercise this power, but appear to be
restricted by limitations similar to those that prevail on earth,
though perhaps less rigid. The result of this is that they are found
associating, there as here in groups drawn together by common
sympathies, beliefs, and language.

An account of the scenery of the astral plane would be incomplete
without mention of what are commonly called the Records of the Astral
Light, the photographic representation of all that has ever happened.
These records are really and permanently impressed upon that higher
medium called the Akasha, and are only reflected in a more or less
spasmodic manner in the astral light, so that one whose power of
vision does not rise above this plane will be likely to obtain only
occasional and disconnected pictures of the past instead of a coherent
narrative. But nevertheless pictures of all kinds of past events are
constantly being reproduced on the astral plane, and form an important
part of the surroundings of the investigator there.

INHABITANTS.

Having sketched in, however slightly, the background of our picture,
we must now attempt to fill in the figures--to describe the
inhabitants of the astral plane. The immense variety of these entities
makes it exceedingly difficult to arrange and tabulate them. Perhaps
the most convenient method will be to divide them into three great
classes, the human, the non-human, and the artificial.

I. HUMAN.

The human denizens of Kamaloka fall naturally into two groups, the
living and the dead, or, to speak more accurately, those who have
still a physical body, and those who have not.

1. LIVING.

The entities which manifest on the astral plane during physical life
may be subdivided into four classes:

1. _The Adept or Chela in the Mayavirupa._ This body is the artificial
vehicle