would be delayed if he could _not_ communicate. It
would be decidedly to his advantage to free his mind of the matter.
Until he has done so he may remain in a restless condition and his case
falls into the category of what the spiritualists call "earth bound." He
may have left undone something that a message will set right, if he can
get it through, or he may have secreted something that cannot be found
because he died suddenly and had no opportunity to speak of it. Or it
may simply be a case of desiring to prove to materialistic friends the
fact that the so-called dead are not dead, and are close at hand. It is
sometimes possible for the important information to come through into
physical life in the form of a dream by the living, and thus the
recovery of valuables has followed.[G] In such a case the dream is a
memory of facts well known in astral life but hidden from the waking
consciousness by the unresponsive material brain.

It sometimes happens that one who thus most earnestly desires to
communicate but is wholly ignorant of how to accomplish his purpose
causes a good deal of annoyance. His blundering attempts to use psychic
force may be wholly abortive and result only in meaningless noises,
raps, the tumbling of books or dishes from shelves or the aimless
movement of furniture. Annoyance is sometimes caused also by intention,
on the part of those who think it is humorous to play pranks. It must be
remembered that passing on to the astral life does not improve one's
common sense. If while living here, he thought it amusing to astonish or
delude somebody, or trick a friend into seriously accepting some absurd
assertion as a fact, he still regards the same course as entertaining.
This accounts for many of the foolish, and sometimes startling messages,
or answers to questions, received at seances.

It has often been asked why, if communication between the physical and
astral planes is possible, we do not receive information that might lead
to valuable discoveries and inventions. The very fact that death does
not confer wisdom explains it in part. But an even more important fact
is that communication is easy with the lower levels and correspondingly
difficult as the higher levels are reached. All who have had much
experience with seances are familiar with the fact that "guides" or
"controls," that is, the persons in the invisible realms who direct the
seance and frequently speak through the medium, are very often Ind