e
consciousness from the physical body. When the separation occurs in the
case of the medium it is called a trance. The cause of the inert
condition of the physical body is the same in both cases--the withdrawal
of the consciousness of the ego. The physical body is then unoccupied,
but the consciousness maintains magnetic connection with it. In death
that tie is severed and the consciousness can return to the body no
more. Instances in which the apparently dead are brought back to life
are cases where the magnetic tie is not broken, notwithstanding there is
every appearance of death.

In form and feature the physical body has its exact duplicate in the
astral body, and in it we function in the astral world whenever the
separation between the two occurs, whether from sleep or death. In sleep
the consciousness, expressing itself in the astral body in the astral
world, may be turned dreamily inward or it may be turned outward and be
vividly aware of the life and activities of that world. But there is
small chance that any memory of it will come through into the physical
consciousness upon awakening. Occasionally, however, it does occur and
then it is usually remembered as a very vivid dream. In illness, and
other abnormal conditions, the connection between the physical and
astral consciousness is much closer. At a comparatively high point in
evolution the two states of consciousness merge. The man is then
continuously conscious, and has a full memory in the physical brain of
all his activities in the astral world during the hours when the
physical body was asleep.

Consciousness is, of course, at its worst when expressed through the
limitation of its lower vehicles. Any person, whether brilliant or
stupid, will be much abler and keener on the astral plane than on the
physical, because in sleep, and after death, he has lost the limitations
imposed by physical matter. But the degree of restriction is variable
and depends much upon the _kind_ of matter of which the brain and body
are composed; for the physical atoms vary greatly, and as they come and
go in the passing years the body may either become purified and refined
or it may grow grosser and coarser. By careful attention to food and
drink, and by control of the emotions, the limitations of physical
matter may be lessened and a much higher and more efficient state of
consciousness in the physical body can be attained.

FOOTNOTES:

[E] The Succession of Forest Tree