physical body and its
necessities; while as it ascends through the fifth and fourth
divisions it becomes less and less material, and is more and more
withdrawn from our lower world and its interests.

The scenery of these lower divisions, then, is that of the earth as we know
it: but it is also very much more; for when looked at from this different
standpoint, with the assistance of the astral senses, even purely physical
objects present a very different appearance. As has already been
mentioned, they are seen by one whose eyes are fully opened, not as usual
from one point of view, but from all sides at once--an idea in itself
sufficiently confusing; and when we add to this that every particle in the
interior of a solid body is as fully and clearly visible as those on the
outside, it will be comprehended that under such conditions even the most
familiar objects may at first be totally unrecognizable. Yet a moment's
consideration will show that such vision approximates much more closely to
true perception than does physical sight. Looked at on the astral plane,
for example, the sides of a glass cube would all appear equal, as they
really are, while on the physical plane we see the further side in
perspective--that is, it appears smaller than the nearer side, which is, of
course, a mere illusion. It is this characteristic of astral vision which
has led to its sometimes being spoken of as sight in the fourth
dimension--a very suggestive and expressive phrase. But in addition to
these possible sources of error matters are further complicated by the fact
that astral sight cognizes forms of matter which, while still purely
physical, are nevertheless invisible under ordinary conditions. Such, for
example, are the particles composing the atmosphere, all the various
emanations which are always being given out by everything that has life,
and also four grades of a still finer order of physical matter which, for
want of more distinctive names, must all he described as etheric. The
latter form a kind of system by themselves, freely interpenetrating all
other physical matter; and the investigation of their vibrations and the
manner in which various higher forces affect them would in itself
constitute a vast field of deeply interesting study for any man of science
who possessed the requisite sight for its examination.

Even when our imagination has fully grasped all that is comprehended
in what has already been said, we do not yet u