by Anthony Borgia

Of all the types of buildings to be found in the spirit world, and those which will interest my friends on earth, the most numerous, by far, are the dwelling houses, the ‘private’ houses and cottages in which we live. They are of all kinds known to you on earth. But the appearance of our houses is very different from the appearance of earthly houses. The principal distinction is, of course, in the building materials, as I have indicated to you in the case of the churches here.

Although we have houses constructed of brick or of stone, as well as the half-timbered variety which is so popular here, your mind will inevitably be drawn to your own acquaintance with such buildings upon earth. But bear in mind what I have told you about the quality of the materials with their particular and colorful external appearance, and you will see wherein lies the very great difference between your houses and ours. But there are other and important distinctions.

You must know, then, that we are never crowded for space here. You will never see rows upon rows of dwellings, each contiguous with its neighbor upon both sides, each built upon precisely the same plan and design, and altogether presenting to the eye a dreary, unimposing, unimaginative line of depressing uniformity. In these realms each house stands completely detached in its own grounds or garden. There is adequate space in which to move freely around and about the house without the constant feeling of being hemmed in.

In the spirit world we are not governed, or hampered by certain conditions of the first importance which must be considered when building an earthly house. Firstly, upon the outside of our houses we have no unsightly pipes to carry off rainwater or the water that is used for domestic purposes; nor do we have gutters upon the edges of the roof. We have no rain here or snow. So that feature will be absent in our houses, and they look all the better for it, as you can imagine.

Now as regards the aspect of our houses. We have no need to think about which point of the compass our residence shall face. With you upon earth, it is the desire of most folk to obtain as much of the sun’s light and warmth as possible, hence the desire that the home shall face towards the sun, with the principal rooms situated on the sunny side of the house. But here, the sun shines perpetually, a great central sun, and it shines with equal intensity from all directions. Its light penetrates with the same constant luminosity into every room in the house, irrespective of the room’s position. The front of the house will be as bright during every moment of its existence, I cannot say during every moment of the day, because we have no day, and therefore the phrase in its earthly sense becomes meaningless from our point of view, the front of the house will always be as bright as the back.

And in speaking of the back of the house, here again I can show you a notable difference between our houses and yours. Strictly speaking, our houses have no backs to them as do yours. With you, the chief entrance is usually situated in the front, and architectural features are more pronounced in front than they are at the rear of the house. With our dwellings we make no such distinction, chiefly because the interior disposition of our homes omits certain features that are superfluous in the domestic life of the spirit world. As you know, we have no need for food and drink, so that we do not require the indispensable earthly kitchen. The space, therefore, that would upon earth be occupied by this culinary necessity, is devoted to other purposes in the spirit world homes. We have no lack of uses to which we can put such rooms.

I am giving you this description of our homes in a somewhat detailed form. Although many of you may be cognizant of the fact that we have houses in the spirit world, yet many important considerations are apt to be overlooked regarding these houses of ours. Such details may seem trivial to some minds, unworthy of a moment’s thought, yet, to others the import of what I am telling you, and of what I am going to tell you, will present itself in all its fullness.

These very details help to make up our life in the spirit world because they concern our homes, and our homes concern our lives, just as they do with you. And that is my very point. You who are upon earth do not know what it is to live, really to live. And you will never know until you come here. So that it is only by comparing some of the ‘trivial’ details of our respective modes of living that you can gather any kind of idea of this perfect land in which we live. Merely to give a broad sketch of our life in the spirit world might be satisfactory as far as it goes, but it would leave a great deal unsaid. Much detail would be missing, and it would thus be left to your imagination and speculation to supply the missing information necessary to make a fuller and more comprehensive picture.

To wave aside such particulars as I am giving you because they seem trivial and very earthly and unworthy of consideration when ‘heaven’ is under discussion, is to hold a totally wrong conception of spirit lands. We are live people living in a beautiful land, a land far more solid than the earth. We love the countryside and the city; we love our houses and gardens, we are blessed with delightful friends. But the country and the city; the houses and the gardens, and, lastly, our friends have more substance about them than can be found upon earth, and this substance is made up of such details as I am describing to you.

It is of no use assuming a lofty attitude, as do so many people of earth, and say, in effect, that if ‘heaven’ is like that, why then, it is no better than the world in which we are living now. Or, at least, it is not much better, with its houses and churches, and rivers, and so forth. I would ask such people to be honest with themselves, to be truthful with themselves, and consider, if they do not like the things I am sketching to you, to formulate clearly and distinctly in their minds exactly what they would like. In other words, to specify, exactly and in detail, just what they want and just what they expect in their mode and form of life after they have ‘died’.

At least I can give them this hint: from long experience I can positively assert that these particular people of whom I am speaking would be thoroughly miserable in the ‘heaven’ fashioned from their ideas of what ‘heaven’ ought to be. Many such people have told me that they were profoundly thankful to find things as they are and not as they stupidly thought things ought to be.

Once again, I am afraid, I have digressed. But I have been urged that it is necessary to stress the fact that the spirit world is more real and its inhabitants more alive than the earth and its inhabitants can ever be. And, moreover, I must stress the fact that the world and the life I am trying to describe to you is not the impossible imaginings of pure Utopianism. The spirit world is a real world, peopled with real individuals.

Life upon earth is composed of many items, and they are familiar to you as part of everyday life. So it is here with us.

Now think for yourself just how many such items will constitute one day in your earthly life. Begin with the moment of your rising in the morning, and continue until you return to your bed at night. You will be surprised at the sum total of details consisting of various actions and experiences. It is the same with us here, but with us all those harassing and troubled minutes of daily life are absent.

And now let us return to the house which I was describing for you.

As you have seen, by the omission of certain features necessary in your earthly houses, we are enabled to have greater space in our houses and to devote it to much pleasanter occupations and purposes.

It might be queried: what do you actually do with the extra rooms now that you have them? The answer is a simple one: we use them! They are not merely ‘spare’ rooms, useful when a visitor comes to stay with us, or convenient to use as a lumber room. We have no lumber!

Let us examine the matter more closely. From whichever quarter of the house one may look, there is a magnificent view to be seen. Here then upon the ground floor are the possibilities of a number of distinct and separate viewpoints from which to see the beautiful countryside. The number of rooms upon the ground floor is amply justified by the different views that are to be obtained from them, apart altogether from the variety in the planning and arrangement in the rooms themselves and the several uses to which they may be put.

Now let us mount the stairs and investigate the upper regions. The first thing we shall want to do is to gaze out of the window from our new and higher point of vantage at the same glorious countryside that surrounds us.

Apartments which, on earth, would be bedrooms are, in the spirit world houses, used as sitting-rooms or living rooms, or utilized for whatever purpose takes our fancy, a study, perhaps, or for some form of recreation and amusement. Our friends will like to come and see us in these or in any other of our rooms, and we often find that our friends have a strong predilection for one or other of the apartments, which affords them pleasure in some way. And that alone is sufficient justification for our having that particular room. They may like our individual style of decoration in any or all of the rooms, and that, too, will add to their joy.

As far as the rooms themselves are concerned, they will vary just as much as do those in earthly houses, both in their size and their appointments. The beauty of the building materials is not confined merely to externals. Every fitting, every fixture (to use familiar terms), every thread of upholstery, the carpets on the floors, all are alike beautiful. The chairs in which we sit, in fact, the furniture in general, are in keeping.

You who have only seen earth world furniture can have no possible conception of the richness of spirit world furniture.

We have no mass-production methods; each piece of furniture, from the simplest article to the most elaborate, is the work of a master craftsman whose pride in his work is only exceeded by our pride in the great dispensation that can provide such treasures for our greater joy and happiness. Much of the furniture which I have since added to my home contains some of the most exquisite carving it is possible to imagine; such carving, indeed, one could never believe to exist. Even the simplest piece of furniture can be so treated as to make it fit for a king, to use the old expression.

There is absolute freedom of choice as to what type of house one shall inhabit. Once you have earned the right to own a house which is to be your home, you are at liberty to choose just the style of domicile that pleases you most. It may be one that you have longed for all your life upon earth, but thus far you have been unable to gratify your long-cherished desire. Here in the spirit world your wishes are at length fulfilled. Or you may wish to have your spirit home in the same style as your earthly home, if by chance the latter suited you and brought you contentment and satisfaction. That is what I did, not because my old earthly home was particularly beautiful. It was quaint, it still is, and it suited my temperament and desires, and I grew attached to it. When I came to the spirit world I found my new home to be the exact counterpart of my ancient earthly home, but with all the various alterations made to it which I had been unable to carry out upon earth, and which I had been desirous of doing, and no doubt would have done eventually had I not left the earth.

Houses, again, vary in size, from the small but picturesque cottage to the larger mansion-houses that I have already touched upon. One must not be misled by appearances in regard to the size of dwellings here. That is a rule I learned very early in my life in the spirit world. Frequently, what on earth would be termed a ‘humble’ cottage, is here the home of a celebrity in some particular branch of human endeavor, a name that perhaps was a household word on earth. In the spirit world it is most unsafe to judge of the inmate by the size or shape or style of his dwelling. It is not that the owner of the cottage or small house is glad to live thus after living on earth in some rather palatial residence. It is rather that the charm of the cottage type of dwelling appeals to him, and no one will dispute his right to do as he pleases, and he will exercise that right still further when it comes to the matter of internal arrangements of whatever nature.

For example, we have no use for fireplaces in our houses as a means of warming the room. We have no winter or autumn or spring in these realms.

We have only the glories of perpetual summer. Wintertime on earth can have its beauties and grandeur in the countryside, with its leafless trees and dark earth, with the mist upon the landscape and the feeling of quietness while all nature seems to sleep. But winter can also have its miseries and unpleasantness. The bitter cold, the storms of wind and rain, the fog that descends and narrows the earth till distance is lost. Certain it is that you have the spring and summer to help to compensate for these trials, but who is there who would not wish to prolong the earthly summer far and beyond its allotted period, if it were possible? Now if you were to take the most perfect summer’s day upon earth that you can recall to your mind, in so far as the weather itself were concerned, you would still be far, far below the splendor of the heavenly summer of these realms. And with us every day is summertime.

Incidentally, we never become tired of it. I have not found one single, solitary individual in these regions who has at any time expressed the wish for a change of weather. When you come here and sample it for yourself, you will feel the same about it, I am certain. If not, then you will be the one interesting exception that will prove the rule!

You can see how this will affect not only our lives but our homes as well. Our windows and doors can always remain wide open; there is a genial warmth penetrating into every nook and corner of our houses, just as the light diffuses its rays throughout. There is therefore no need to consider what means of heating we shall employ when ordering the disposition of our home. But a fireplace can itself be ornamental and pleasing to the eye, and for this reason you will find them in many a house. But other people prefer to dispense with them altogether. Their absence in no way spoils the general appearance of the apartment.

In their early days in the spirit world people will often have fireplaces in their homes, but as time goes on and they realize the permanence of the glorious summer, they abolish them. It is purely a matter of choice, and we can all suit ourselves in the matter. But whatever we do, we shall not be considered eccentric if we wish to indulge some fancy. Our friends will recall their early days in the spirit world when they were similarly situated, and, accordingly, we shall have their sympathetic support and cooperation in the fulfillment of our desires, whatever they may be.

And now an important matter arises. How do we arrange for the maintenance of our houses? By which I mean: who does the cleaning for us, and generally looks after things? that is, those of us who need such help.

This is another point which irritates some minds. The incarnate person, upon the mention of spirit world houses, immediately thinks of them in terms of cleaning and upkeep, and the idea of houses in the spirit world then becomes distasteful.

Here again arises a confusion between your world and ours. Recollect what I have said about our world being incorruptible, and you will see at once that the two words dust and dirt, which are such a nightmare to those of my friends on earth who have the care of their own homes in their hands, simply cannot have any meaning in the spirit world. Dust and dirt are merely disintegration in progress, and so, where you have no disintegration, as in the spirit world, so you will have no dust and dirt.

Every house, here in these realms, is of a cleanliness where immaculate is the only term with which to describe it. Without the means to cause the dirt, you cannot have the dirt. With you on earth the gradual but persistent process of decay will always show itself in dust and dirt. You cannot avoid it. The most you can do is to invent and provide mechanical means with which to clear it away. But it will return and continue to return. I am, I know, stating what is a painfully obvious fact to so many good people, but I must do so to emphasize one of the outstanding qualities of our homes in this spirit world, namely, their superlative and everlasting cleanliness. In this respect, therefore, our homes will require no attention throughout the whole period of their existence, and that may be hundreds of years of your time. A house wholly unoccupied for such a protracted period would be, at the end of that time, as immaculate as on the first day of its erection. And that entirely without the least attention having been paid to it.

The fabric of the house comes under the same conditions, and these conditions are a law. We have no winds in the spirit world that will wear away the stones or bricks of which a house is built, nor do we have a smoke laden atmosphere which will eat into the surface of our buildings or cause them to crumble away into dust. We have no rains to cause rot and rust to set in, and so to require various replacements. All our possessions within doors, our furniture and our hangings, our personal belongings, such as our books, all alike are subject to the same splendid law. They cannot deteriorate, receive damage, become soiled; the colors in our hangings and upholsteries cannot fade or become shabby. Things cannot get broken or cracked with age. We cannot lose our small possessions by mislaying them. The floor-coverings on which we walk can never become worn out with constant tread of feet.

And there are people who will say: why, the spirit world has houses with furniture, and so on. It is scarcely better than life on earth! Scarcely better than life on earth, indeed! Very well. Such people are at liberty to spend their spirit life in a field, if they so wish, but for me, and for millions like me, I find immense contentment and pleasure in owning a house to be occupied under perfect conditions, some of which I have recounted to you.

Excerpt from Here and Hereafter