by is
toothless. Suppose that sounding boards have a period of immaturity and
that the whole mechanism of the instrument is in a state that can only
be characterized as infantile. If a master musician attempts to play on
such a piano his performance would by no means be an indication of his
ability. A competent critic who could hear the performance but not see
the musician would promptly declare that no really great musician was
touching the keys. And that is precisely the mistake we make in assuming
that the immature body of an infant is capable of expressing the
intellectual power of the old soul, or, to put it differently, denying
that a returned, old soul is in possession of the infant body simply
because there is no physical plane evidence of the fact. If pianos
slowly grew to maturity then only when the instrument was mature could
the master musician give a practical demonstration of his skill; and
only when the physical body has reached its maturity can the soul that
is using it fully express itself.

In the early years of the physical body the soul is only very partially
expressed through it. The entrance of the consciousness into the
physical world is slow and gradual. It is somewhat like the growth of a
plant, very gradual, but the analogy is not a good one, for a plant is
very little like a human body. It is impossible to find a material
equivalent of the dawning of consciousness on the physical plane.
Beginning about four and a half months before the birth of the physical
body and continuing for a period of several years the soul, or
consciousness, is engaged in the process of anchorage in the physical
world. For a long time the center of consciousness remains above the
material plane and during the early years of childhood the consciousness
is divided between the astral and physical worlds, with the result that
the child is often somewhat confused and brings fragments of astral
consciousness into physical life. When the physical body is about seven
years old the consciousness may be said to be centered on the physical
plane, but only when the body and brain of the soul's new instrument are
mature has the opportunity come for the fullest expression.

Some of the difficulties commonly associated in the mind with the
thought of the pre-existence and rebirth of the soul will disappear if
we do not lose sight of the fact that the soul is a center of
consciousness, which is always consciousness somewhere, but wh