emain upon the plate and may be
reproduced under proper conditions. Such is the subconscious memory, and
it is generated automatically by each of us during every moment of time,
independently of our volition, in the following manner.

From the first breath which we draw after birth to our last dying gasp, we
inspire air which is charged with pictures of our surroundings, and the
same ether which carries that picture to the retina of our eye, is inhaled
into our lungs where it enters the blood. Thus it reaches the heart in due
time. In the left ventricle of that organ, near the apex, there is one
little atom which is particularly sensitized, and which remains in the
body all through life. It differs in this respect from all other atoms
which come and go, for it is the particular property of God, and of a
certain spirit. This atom may be called the book of the Recording Angel,
for as the blood passes through the heart, cycle after cycle, the pictures
of our good and evil acts are inscribed thereon to the minutest detail.
This record may be called the sub-conscious memory. It forms the basis of
our future life when reproduced as a panorama just subsequent to death. By
removal of the seed atom--which corresponds to the sensitized plate in a
camera,--the reflecting ether of the vital body serves as a focus, and as
the life unrolls slowly backwards from death to birth the pictures thereof
are etched into the desire body which will be our vehicle during our
sojourn in purgatory and the first heaven where evil is eradicated and
good assimilated, so that in a future life the former may serve as
_conscience_ to withhold the man from repeating mistakes of the past, and
the latter will spur us to greater good.

A phenomenon similar to the panorama of life usually takes place when a
person is drowning. People who have been resuscitated speak of having seen
their whole life _in a flash_. That is because under such conditions the
vital body also leaves the dense body. Of course there is no rupture of
the silver cord, or life could not be restored. Unconsciousness follows
quickly in drowning, while in the usual post-mortem review the
consciousness continues until the vital body collapses in the same manner
that it does when we go to sleep. Then consciousness ceases for a while
and the panorama is terminated. Therefore also the time occupied by the
panorama varies with different persons, according to whether the vital
body was strong an