ians
or others at a low level of evolution. The majority of the inhabitants
of the astral levels with which communication is easy are not the type
capable of furnishing ideas of any great value. It is on the higher
levels that the man of intellectual power passes most of his astral
life. The scientist or the inventor who has given so much thought to his
work that he has been in some degree successful here is not likely to
have much consciousness on lower levels. It is the highest of the seven
subdivisions of the astral world that is the habitat of the person who
has followed intellectual pursuits, during physical life, and with that
level it is practically impossible for the ordinary medium to
communicate.

One of the objections to indiscriminate communication with the astral
plane lies in the very fact that the lowest class of entities are most
accessible. That not only accounts for the commonplace messages in such
abundance, but it is frequently a source of actual danger, especially
where people form "circles" for the purpose of rendering themselves more
sensitive to psychic influences. In such cases it is common to accept
every message as absolute truth. There is no doubt that as a rule the
astral people in charge of such a gathering are earnest and honest. But
they are neither all-wise nor all-powerful, and it sometimes comes about
that some of the sitters are partially or wholly obsessed by astral
entities, and that may prove to be an exceedingly serious matter. Some
people have thus lost their sanity and others their lives.

It is, of course, only the gross type of astral person who has a desire
to seize upon the physical body of another. The purpose is to gratify
desires that have outlived the physical body. The dead drunkard is
perhaps the commonest example of the obsessing entity, and if the
obsession is only partial it may lead to nothing worse than strong and
perhaps irresistible impulses toward alcoholic stimulation. Obsession
may, of course, occur without the psychic door being opened
deliberately. But no obsession is possible, in any case, unless there is
something within the victim responsive to the moral defect of the
obsessing entity.

Partial obsessions are rather common and there are frequent inquiries as
to the best means of treating such a case. It may amount only to the
slight annoyance of astral people hanging about and refusing to depart
or to actual persecution. In all such cases the victim i