by Frederick C. Sculthorp

THE BRIGHTER SPHERES

Simplicity of Bright Planes

As I mentioned before, my travels became very different and at first were mostly to the lower spheres or dull states, but before coming back to my body I was generally taken to a brighter locality or sphere. There is a reason for this as the condition of the lower state is apt to cling, and this might produce a disagreeable after-effect.

The vibrations of such places have a very pleasant effect on the sensitive spirit body, and to be with others of that plane is better still as they emit a feeling of great friendship.

This radiation of friendliness is very sincere and noticeable owing, I expect, to the greater extent of their auras, which I cannot see in these bright states. I have been able to see the auras of the advanced ones only when they show in greater contrast to the dull astral planes.

This continuously emitted friendship towards others can be interpreted as unselfishness and consideration for others in all ways.

This sounds simple but it can mean a great deal. There is a complete absence of “class”, “sets” or “cliques”. There are no critical thoughts or lionizing some to the exclusion of others. There are no sects, dogmas, or denominations with their earthly trimmings that have led to so much division and bloodshed throughout history.

It is all very simple. These people are doing what a few spiritual teachers down the ages have taught, and which translated means: “Love one another”. We can imagine the improvement there would be if we did this “on earth as it is in heaven”, because it has a wonderful effect there. Millions have repeated this in their prayers without knowing the real meaning of it. Again, to put it simply, it means that if our attitude towards each other on earth was the same as on the higher planes, the whole standard of earth life would be raised.

This is no miracle. There is a cause for everything, with its consequent effect. The great Mind that is Spirit encompasses everything even to the most remote atom. Sir James Jeans, the scientist, wrote in The Mysterious Universe: “. . . the universe is beginning to look more like a great thought than a great machine”. This is true but belated; there was no beginning. The great Mind always was.

When wireless telegraphy was in the experimental stage, it was found necessary to tune in to a wavelength. Many scientists after passing into spirit life have been astounded to find that an ethereal substance or matter (perhaps particles or the newly designated “sub-atoms”) also exists in space vibrating at different rates. The spirit body has also to tune in to this to receive its impressions. This is probably the substance of the spirit realms and the different rates of vibration would correspond to the different stages of progress.

Objects and places in spirit look the same as on earth and just as solid although at times I have found an added interest on closer inspection. For instance, with full consciousness and in tune with a plane in spirit, the sight is keener than the best earthly eyes can ever be. There is a more stereoscopic effect and things stand out in greater clearness and color, even to the most minute details.

Looking at an ordinary brick wall in spirit once, I could see every grain in the mortar and the rough surface of the bricks, and it was, I thought, rather beautiful. Keen photographers would call it perfection in focus, depth and color.

From the excavations of the early Minos, with their tablets telling of “clairvoyant leaders”, down through history there are records of sensitive people who have contacted these spirit wavelengths of the fuller life. They have belonged to all races and tribes, including the clans with their Highlander’s “second sight”. (The clairvoyant lady I knew on earth and met in spirit, was a simple Scotswoman.)

The various names for the happier states, i.e. Heaven, Nirvana, Paradise, Valhalla, Elysium, Happy Hunting Grounds, etc. all have the same meaning, as well as those for the lower regions, and it does not seem strange to me now that seers of all ages agree in substance.

Divine Justice

After many experiences in the spirit states one becomes a sort of spirit psychologist and guess work is eliminated as one continually senses the inner and real minds of people. As my lessons proceeded, I could see how very necessary it is that all should have some knowledge of spirit and that it is much easier to learn the basic essentials on earth than it is on entry into spirit life.

This must seem strange to some, but if the mind on earth is blank concerning spiritual truths it is still blank on entry into spirit. How long this handicap can last I have shown by the few examples I have recounted in my experiences of the “Plane of Illusion”.

I have said that on a higher plane I seemed to know more or have some broader access to knowledge. On the higher frequencies the mind is open to higher guidance. Bearing this in mind, I once contacted the thoughts of a newcomer to spirit who was sitting quietly and gaining strength in a bright state. The thought seemed to contain, the query, “What have I done to deserve all this happiness and pleasure?”

It was certainly earned in some way; there are no mistakes in God’s laws. A person whose inner nature was friendly and considerate to others during earth life would automatically gravitate to the same wavelength spirit, even if that person was ignorant of spirit or religion. The state would naturally be bright and the spirit would inherit the greater powers and broader access to knowledge pertaining to that state, and progress would be pleasant and easy. It would be as well to remember that this spirit would not be separated from relations and friends not so progressed, as the higher can always go to the lower.

There is no hope of getting by with the crowd. Each of us is a separate unit, each has to learn, however long it takes. To any person we can say: “You are unique. There has never before been another person like you, nor will there ever be, because no two persons during their existence have had exactly the same thoughts. Therefore you have made your own personal wavelength and that is why a telepathic thought reaches its objective. Only your receiving and transmitting station has that wavelength.”

Our present-day knowledge of radio helps us to realize the exceedingly fine divisions in any wave band that would be needed to allot a personal wavelength to each one of so many millions of people. Truly, as a spirit visitor to a circle said: “Spirit is like electricity, only more subtle.”

I should at this point draw attention to the fact that all my experiences in the next world mainly concern the British or European states. This was, no doubt, because I could more easily follow the lines of thought and way of living of my own kind. When it is realized that every race and country on earth has its own wavelength in spirit, each conforming perfectly to the spirit law, the vastness of the God-thought does indeed surpass all imagination.

The “Great Mathematician” and the “Great Architect” are but two of the appellations given by the advanced ones in spirit to the “Great Creative Thought”.

Free Will

There is free will on the earth plane and also in the spirit planes. “Will” means to “wish” or “desire”, whether it is followed by action or not. The exercise of free will on a spirit plane cannot affect those of any higher plane, but on earth, as we all know, acts can affect any of us, and even the thoughts of others can impinge upon us because we are all living on the same material plane.

However, the spirit body that encompasses the physical body, (which St. Paul called the natural body), during earth life need not be affected by the thoughts of others if they are not good.

A thought is an electric impulse that flashes out, and is retained by the “tape-recorder” properties of the spirit body. Only one’s own, self-generated thoughts have the power to make this lasting impression, and it is these cumulative thoughts that determine the status of the spirit body. In other words, “It is not that which comes in that defiles, but that which goes out.”

About Time

The higher speed of thought, and life on the bright planes, compared with our set ideas of time, is hard to understand, but it is relative and only noticeable when comparisons are made. In the summer 1957, I spent a week’s holiday with my wife in spirit – in one night!

I had been projected and joined my wife in a place that I can only describe as a sylvan fairyland of trees and water. We were on the grassy banks of a placid stream overshadowed by trees. Shadows are hardly possible on this bright plane, but the beauty of light and shade was enhanced by the shafts of light from the brilliance overhead which emphasized the fresh greenness of everything.

A poet or writer could fill chapters with descriptions of the beauties of this idyllic scene and it would still be incomplete because, as always, there is the sensitivity of the spirit body which is infused by the vibrations of the sphere. As worry or distraction is a vibration of thought and happens to be a lower wavelength of thought, my feelings on this higher vibration of being was of extreme happiness and love – a general love of everything, so it seemed.

Before we left this place, I was impressed with the idea of “one week”, and it seemed as such, although there are no nights to mark the passing of days. We were transported and then I saw that we were hovering over an area on the Sinai side of the canal near Suez, called Shallufa. It was a place where I had some happy times bathing during the first world war, and I was glad to be able to show my wife one of my “cushy” spots during a war period and not a battlefield.

We rose high, and with a panorama of the desert beneath us, I said to my wife: “There are some nice beaches near Alexandria”, where we at once went. We ended our “holiday” standing on one of the sandy stretches and looking at the sea; then I was taken back to my physical body.

In contrast to the higher planes, the dull astral localities seem to have a kind of time in regard to the duration of an activity that is nearer to our earthly state.

Telescopic Sight

One remarkable faculty of the spirit body that is soon noticed is the power of telescopic sight. It is quite automatic like the focus of the physical eye in the desire to see more clearly. If one is interested in a person, perhaps 200 yards away, all the personal features and color of the eyes can be seen, yet the image is not enlarged nor is the surrounding landscape, as it would be with a telescope. It seems as if a portion of one’s own aura projects a surge of inquiry.

After writing the above, that same night in bed, I projected and my spirit helpers, as if to emphasize this faculty, gave me an opportunity to exercise it more fully. I was taken to the side of a mountain which overlooked a wide valley. The vibrations were pleasant and uplifting, and denoted a higher plane of existence. It was like a bright summer’s day and as my sight took in the scene I noticed miles away two figures seated on a grassy knoll. As my interest focused on them, so did the automatic power of telescopic sight gradually increase and I saw two people seated side-by-side.

I then saw that one was a man, an Indian, very splendidly dressed and I sensed a prince who was spiritually advanced. His turban and three-quarter-length coat were white and had jeweled decorations which I knew were earned in spirit. By his side sat a lady with beautiful features and typically Indian, who was also dressed in white and there was some flimsy silken material draped over one side of her head and face. I knew she was his wife and I could even see the small mark on her forehead which is seen on some Indian women today.

There was a path across the valley which went near the grassy bank and now and again I saw a visitor call on this Indian couple and greet and converse with them for a while. The beauty and serenity of it all stayed with me as I receded from the scene. This was a short projection during the night and when I returned to my physical body, I realized that this was a lesson as well as a privilege.

This remarkable faculty which enables one to see details at such a distance, and in this case sense the personality without even moving from a position, is like telepathy, quite easy and natural in the spirit world. It seems that the spirit body is like an electrostatic condenser and charged with power. This power is at the disposal of the mind, and in the case of telescopic sight or telepathy, a fluidic feeler or surge seems to be projected naturally and automatically to wherever the thought is directed.

In likening the spirit body to an electrostatic condenser which is controlled by the mind, the mind can also insulate or open it to spirit influx or knowledge, and this can happen on earth as in spirit. How this insulation was penetrated in a drastic but successful manner is shown by the example of Paul’s conversion on his way to Damascus, changing him from the orthodox and deeply zealous Saul to the Christian teacher Paul.

Many of his teachings are not understood by most people; what he called “discerning of spirits” is now usually known as clairvoyance or sometimes as extrasensory perception. Many people often acquire this faculty after having had evidence that it is latent within them. I believe, this opens the mentality (which may be electro-spiritual) thus automatically lessening the barriers or insulation that was previously adopted. Many fully-developed mediums can open or close the senses to the higher spirit vibrations at will.

Meeting My Higher Self

In my early projections I used to be taken to lectures, but I could never bring the subject matter back to my physical mind like other experiences. I was told that the lectures were to do with the higher knowledge and corresponding wavelength of spirit, and could not be understood or held by the slower physical mind. I can well accept this, as for instance, no spirit has ever explained in earthly terms why or how prediction is possible.

What is learnt at the lectures is retained by the spirit mind, because when I entered the lecture room I used to have a flashback of previous lectures. The remarkable thing about this spirit memory is that the lectures were remembered in sequence, yet the thought was instantaneous. That is the speed of spirit mind; no wonder I only had hazy recollections when I returned!

An amusing thing happened at my first lecture. It was a small hall, with blue plush seats arranged in circular formation. As a new boy I felt a certain reserve and chose an outer seat, but I had no sooner sat down, than I was wafted upwards and deposited in a front seat!

The later lectures I attended were more like the usual classrooms at schools, and at one of these sessions I happened to glance at what I thought was another student beside me, when I found that I was looking at myself! I was quite interested until I realized that I was admiring myself, then my two bodies at once reunited.

A few weeks later, the same thing happened in the lecture room, but this time the teachers were fully prepared, and my two spirit bodies were kept separated and I was made to observe fully my other spirit self. I appeared to be a very healthy looking young man of about 23 with a full head of hair, which in the physical body I lack.

This meeting one’s higher self is a very curious phenomenon, with far reaching implications; I have heard of other persons, who have experiences of astral projections and while in spirit, have met a separate “double” of themselves. This shows that the spiritual being of man is also a complicated structure.

The main building had several lecture rooms, and once, when passing the open door of one, I recognized the lecturer. He was my company officer in the army in 1914 and I was pleased to see that his personal appearance denoted a progressed state. He evidently received my thoughts, for he turned and smiled towards me.

Wonderful things are demonstrated by some of the advanced ones. I brought back a few recollections of a meeting or lecture I once attended and I noticed that my father was in the audience with me. We were shown a map of the sea from Spain to the Gulf of Mexico, but I could not retain what was said about it. Then there appeared a series of events like a stereoscopic cinema film, and I remember seeing a number of strangely dressed horsemen who were suddenly overwhelmed by a tremendous wall of water like a tidal wave.

When I returned to my bed I could not remember more but I thought that it was connected with some great upheaval like the “Atlantis” legend. This may have been my own surmise as, had I not seen the map, I might have associated it with the Biblical flight from Egypt.

Perfection

My first actual meeting with my wife in my fourth projection, which I related earlier, was one of two outstanding experiences which have been deeply imprinted on my mind. The indescribable spiritual perfection that I saw in my wife when we were face to face, the sacred intensity of the high vibration, and the later explanation of “God’s image” caused me a great deal of quiet thought for days afterwards.

I somehow knew that it was one of the eternal and unfailing spirit laws and that it was simple and natural. I also knew that I would be helped by my spirit teachers in my meditations, and this was so, for gradually the simple truth came to me.

When I met my wife and our auras intermingled, there was a beautiful and gentle harmony, and we both thought alike and as one mind, so I am able to relate what we both thought. In that wonderful meeting there were no thoughts of self. Each thought of the welfare of the other, and each saw that all was well. Each mind gave a blessing for the privilege of having had the loving companionship of the other on earth.

Each mind was full of the wonder of the meeting; then a heartfelt thankfulness for the Loving Power that made all this possible. “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy mind” – we did just this and really meant it. Then came the transformation. Naturally and unknowingly we had opened ourselves to that Power that is always around, and with the power came the higher vibration of spirit.

“God’s image” I can still only describe as perfection, yet we are not stereotyped. All the best personal features are beautified and enhanced in some wonderful way and retained, so that we are known and recognized, and the personal wavelength makes each a unique unit.

In our subsequent meetings my wife appears young and has the finely formed features of spirit, but I have not seen her since in that sacred perfection that our fervent thankfulness brought about. I believe that state of being is many planes ahead.

A Horse Ride In Spirit

My longest contact with an animal in spirit was with a horse and I consider the occasion one of my greatest privileges. I had been projected and my consciousness of the state on arrival was very gradual but I became aware that I was firmly seated on a horse.

My spirit body sensed the vibration of the place. It seemed to be perfect and beautiful. Then I noticed that there were many people walking about. They all wore colored robes and looked serene and graceful. These robes worn on a higher plane do not look out of place when seen from the same plane and one does not even think of earthly clothes.

I sensed that a ceremony had just concluded and that they were mingling and greeting one another before leaving. The vibration of sincere friendship and love was so perfectly in tune that they seemed to be of one mind, yet each was a separate unit, a lovely personality whose presence was greatly desired by every other unit. This is the real meaning of company. It takes several souls to make company, yet where is “company” when there is division? This is the spirit version of brotherhood.

The vibration of this place held me and had a very remarkable effect. There were hundreds of people here whose faces I had never seen before, yet I could not see a “stranger”. We all “knew” one another. I cannot attempt to explain this.

Soon I thought – or was impressed – that it was time to be moving and glanced down at the horse, which seemed to be waiting expectantly. Realizing that during the wait it had not fidgeted in the slightest, I felt well-pleased with it. There was an instant response and I felt an answering warmth of affection which seemed to contain “happiness”, “friendship” and “willingness” and I knew it was the reciprocation of thoughts as our auras were mingling.

I saw my chance to leave through a lane in the assembly, but my friend the horse started to move before I could give any outward indication that I wished to go forward, as by that same interchange of thought it knew my desires.

And so it was, through a clearing on to a long path through the bright countryside, this lovely animal anticipated my every wish and the reins were simply provided for my earthly habit of thought, as even when loosely held, they are reassuring. I sensed that this horse had been long in spirit and was used to the love and kindness in the thoughts of the people of this plane.

To describe a ride on a spirit horse seems to call for some swift, Pegasus-like ride, but it was not so. Although there is no fatigue in spirit, we were on “holiday”, and we had all “time” in this timeless state. We simply walked, and I did not wish for anything better. Sometimes I would be attracted by the beauty of a scene and, my desire being known, the horse would halt and give a half-turn so that I could dwell on it and then on again.

We seemed to be of one mind. The happiness this apparently simple ride gave me is hard to describe. Every time my thoughts strayed to the horse there would be an answering thought which was an utter love for humans. I could not detect the slightest trace of “subjection by mastery”.

Considering the lives of some horses on earth and their treatment which I have seen in different countries, perhaps part of my pleasure was in knowing that such simple bliss could be reached by an animal and that this was another of God’s perfect laws.

We went a considerable distance, turned and meandered pleasantly back. Nearing the end of the ride, I began to have that drowsiness that happens to me when being on a high vibration, and drifted back to the physical body. This was a single excursion to one plane only and happened at night.

Although none of my spirit travels affected my rest at night, this experience refreshed me bodily as if I had been on a holiday.

Excerpt from Excursions To The Spirit World

See Part II here.

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