behind it the scale
of humanity, and has advanced into god-like states, its consciousness
becomes fuller and fuller, and time and space are transcended in a
wonderful manner. And at last the goal is attained--the battle is
won--and the soul blossoms into a state of Universal Consciousness, in
which Time and Place disappear and in which every place is Here; every
period of Time is Now; and everything is "I." This is _Nirvana_.

QUESTION V: "_What is that which Occultists call 'an Astral Shell,' or
similar name? Is it an entity, or force, or being?_"

ANSWER: When the soul passes out from the body at the moment of death
it carries with it the "Astral Body" as well as the higher mental and
spiritual principles (see the first three lessons in the "Fourteen
Lessons"). The Astral Body is the counterpart of the material or
physical body, although it is composed of matter of a much finer and
ethereal nature than is the physical body. It is invisible to the
ordinary eye, but may be seen clairvoyantly. The Astral Body rises from
the physical body like a faint, luminous vapor, and for a time is
connected with the dying physical body by a thin, vapory cord or
thread, which finally breaks entirely and the separation becomes
complete. The Astral Body is some time afterward discarded by the soul
as it passes on to the higher planes, as we have described a few pages
further back, and the abandoned Astral Body becomes an "Astral Shell,"
and is subject to a slow disintegration, just as is the physical body.
It is no more the soul than is the physical body--it is merely a cast
off garment of fine matter. It will be seen readily that it is not an
entity, force or being--it is only cast off matter--a sloughed skin. It
has no life or intelligence, but floats around on the lower Astral
Plane until it finally disintegrates. It has an attraction toward its
late physical associate--the physical body--and often returns to the
place where the latter is buried, where it is sometimes seen by persons
whose astral sight is temporarily awakened, when it is mistaken for a
"ghost" or "spirit" of the person. These Astral Shells are often seen
floating around over graveyards, battlefields, etc. And sometimes these
shells coming in contact with the psychic magnetism of a medium become
"galvanized" into life, and manifest signs of intelligence, which,
however, really comes from the mind of the medium. At some seances
these re-vitalized shells manifest and