Helen Writes a Short Note That Many Dark Spirits Had Been Present But White Eagle Would Not Let Them Write

January 28, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your own true and loving Helen.

Well, dear, the influences have not been good tonight, and many dark spirits have been present. The one who wrote was very dark and brought with him others who were all anxious to write. But White Eagle would not let them write, although he did not force them to leave.

I desired to write, as I told you last night, but under the conditions did not think it best to try to do so. I will try tomorrow night and hope you will be in condition. I will not write more now, as it is best not to draw on you. So love me and believe that I love you and am with you very much trying to help you.

Do not forget to pray more and more often to the Father for His Love.

Your own true and loving
Helen

Professor Joseph Salyards Writes that Law is the Unchangeable Factor in Determining the Status of People on Earth and Spirits

January 21, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Prof. Salyards.

I am here and I have waited a long time for you to give me the opportunity to write and now I fear it is too late to write as I desired to do. I was not with you and, of course, do not know why you did not come earlier, but I suppose you had some good reason for not doing so and, hence, I make no complaint at the delay.

Well, do you think that we had better try to write tonight? Under that condition, I will try to give you my ideas on a certain topic which I have had under consideration for some time, intending to give you the results at the first opportunity, and I hope that I may be able to do so in an intelligent manner.

I desire to write you about the importance of learning that Law is the unchangeable factor in determining the status of men on earth and spirits in this life. And when I speak of Law, I mean the Law established by God at the time of the creation of man and, which ever since that time has been in continuous unchangeable existence operating upon the same condition of facts at all times in the same way and producing the same results.

I have been in the spirit world now for some years and from having given considerable of my time to the study of these Laws and their influences and dominating effect upon mankind in their relationship to one another and to God, my investigation has resulted in the discovery of many important truths, which men should know and attempt to apply the benefits of to themselves and to their relation to one another as members of society.

First, let me say that, in compliance with these Laws, men should observe the rights and duties which all men possess and are under obligation to perform to one another and to try with all their best efforts to understand. There are many of these Laws operating upon these rights and duties of men, and to know them men are obliged to study first the rights of others and then the rights of themselves and in applying these laws, the rights of the former are of no greater importance than the rights of the latter, for these rights are correlative and an understanding of these rights is necessary in order for men to understand the relative duties resting upon them.

I feel that this subject is one that is in its nature very dry, yet it is of no less importance to the well being of man than are many truths of much seeming greater importance. These Laws are, I know, to a very large extent, not comprehended by men nor are these rights that I speak of, yet, if men will only attempt to get into the right attunement with the Father, they can understand the Laws and the rights and duties without much fear of making mistakes in their comprehensions.

I will not tonight go into great detail because it would require too long a writing, and I merely write in this general way as a preliminary to what I desire to write hereafter on the subject indicated. So if I stop now and wait until I have more time for entering into the spirit and heart of my theme, you will not be disappointed. So if you will excuse me, I will stop now.

Your old friend and teacher,
Joseph H. Salyards

Galileo Writes that He is in the Sixth Sphere, Has Met Jesus and is Not Interested in Learning About Divine Love

January 21, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am the spirit of Galileo and come to you to tell you a few things pertaining to the spirit world of science.

When on earth, I thought that my invention of the telescope was a most wonderful thing and that it would revolutionize man's knowledge of astronomy and the solar system, and to some extent it did. But what I saw and anticipated then was as a mere drop in the bucket to what I have learned of these matters since I have been in the spirit world, not bound by the limitations of space and sight.

I have explored these Heavens, among the planets and the stars, and have discovered many truths in reference to them not even conceived of by men. I desire to come sometime and describe to you and explain to you these hidden truths so that man may have an enlarged conception of the great God whose creatures they all are.

It is too late tonight to commence my discourse and, with your permission, I will come at a later date. I live in the Sixth Sphere, where the intellect rules supreme and the wisdom of the ages is congregated.

Yes, I have seen Jesus, and sometimes he comes to our spheres, but he is not so much interested in these scientific matters as in disseminating the Divine Love, as he calls it. I do not know what this is and am not much interested, as I find great happiness in the pursuit of my studies of the material universe.

I will stop now and say good night.

Galileo

Helen Writes About the Conditions Surrounding a Medium Who James Padgett Visited

January 21, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Helen.

Well, sweetheart, we were somewhat disappointed tonight that we could not have the opportunity to write as we had agreed, and you were also, I know. I was with you at Mrs. Miller's and saw and heard what took place, and while there was nothing very edifying in the proceedings, yet it was a little enjoyable because of the great number of spirits who were present and their evident happiness in being able to communicate.

The spirit who was writing through you was one that I did not know, and who was of the lower planes, and had not much of the development. The guides of Mrs. Miller actually talked through her, and Minnie is a very cute and spiritual little Indian and is very faithful to her medium.

The other Mrs. Miller was much interested and the advice given her by Rolling Cloud is good, and if she will procure the medicine and give it to her mother, she will find some relief. These Indians know a great deal about healing and very often help mortals in their sickness. Yes, she was very anxious to hear about the prospects of her becoming a free woman and, while I can hardly blame her, yet, the spirits are not permitted or inclined to give much comfort to mortals who have in their souls the desires that she had.

I know the condition of Mr. Miller, and it is a very precarious one, for he may die at any moment. His heart is not in a good condition and his kidneys are very much diseased and worse than that, he is obsessed by a wicked drunken spirit who will not let him get out of their power if they can prevent it; and because of his circumstances and surroundings, it seems to me that they will be able to retain their control of him. Well, we have some power, but not all that you may think. Unless he puts himself in condition to accept our help, we can do nothing for him, for his condition is what gives these spirits the power to control him, and unless he makes some effort himself to break the rapport between him and them, we can do him very little good. Such is this Law of Attraction that I have written you about.

Well, she is a good-hearted woman, but not one that would benefit you in a spiritual point of view, for she is very worldly in her desires and thoughts and scarcely ever gives the future any consideration. I know this from not only what she said, but from the condition of her soul development, which shows that not often does she permit her soul to have any communion with the higher things of God's universe; and I tell you that the condition of the soul is a sure index of the thoughts and aspirations of the person.

Yes, of course, she has a soulmate, but who he is I don't know, and it is not important at this time to find out, for she is not thinking of soulmates, but of the material things of life, and her chief desire is to obtain money.

Well, I must not write more and you must go to bed. The others of the band will come at a later time and write you. So with all my love I will say good night.

Your own true and loving,
Helen 

Albert G. Riddle Writes About His Soul's Progression from the Earth Plane to the Seventh Sphere

January 19, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your old partner, Albert G. Riddle.

I desire to write to you tonight upon a subject which I think will be interesting, but it is so late now I hesitate to do so. Well, as you think it will be all right, I will do so. I want to write on the subject of the soul's progression as I have experienced it.

As you know, when I first came into the spirit world, I was an unbeliever in things pertaining to the soul, except that I thought that the soul, which in my then opinion was the equivalent of that part of man which survived death, would continue to exist, and progress as the mental qualities of the man should be developed. That the mind was the great and only thing in the future existence and, as the mind was developed more and more on earth, the condition of the man in his progression would be determined.

I had no conception of the soul as a distinct and independent existence from the mind, and I thought that all the qualities and attributes of the mind were those which belong to the soul, and that I had none others. And so I say, I entered the spirit world and did not change my beliefs until a long time after I became a spirit.

But as I continued to live in the spirit world in this belief, I found that the mental faculties and their development did not bring to me the satisfaction which I had anticipated; and also, met some of my friends of earth, who had preceded me by long years, men of great mental acquirements. I found that their condition was not as satisfactory a nature as I had led myself to believe that they should be, for many of these friends were only in the earth plane and some were in darkness, which was wholly contrary to what they should be if my theory of the 'allness' of the mind was true. All this caused me to think and in thinking, I commenced to realize that there might be something wrong in my theory, and that the soul might be a distinct thing from the mind in its nature and functions.

I did not find that these intellectual friends of mine had any very great happiness nor were they satisfied with their condition, and yet they could not by the exercise of any mental progress get out of their condition of darkness. Of course, they were engaged in pursuing studies of one kind or another, and such studies gave them considerable happiness and satisfaction, yet, notwithstanding all this, there was some restraining force that prevented them from going to spheres higher than they were then living in.

I found that there were higher spheres where the mind was developed to a much greater degree and where many spirits, who believed in the supremacy of the mind, lived and enjoyed the pursuits of their studies. At times, some of these spirits would come to our plane and tell of the wonderful development and happiness in these higher spheres and urge us to make the effort to progress and become inhabitants of them, and you may be assured we were willing and anxious to make such progress. But try as I would, and as my friends would, the efforts produced no visible effect and we continued in darkness.

Being of an inquisitive nature, I sought for the reason of our inability to get out of the darkness. At last I found that the mind was not everything, but the development of the moral qualities were necessary to enable us to progress as we desired, and that in order to develop these qualities, something more than the mere exercise of the mental faculties were required.

Conscience must be satisfied and our recollection of evil deeds on earth must be gotten rid of, and our qualities of soul, which determined our position and condition in the spirit world, must be so adjusted to the demands of the Laws of Harmony, so that we could be able to advance in our progress to that place which such adjustment would entitle us to occupy.

I further found that the darkness in which we lived was not created by any defective condition of the mind, for many spirits whose minds were highly cultivated and possessed of unusual knowledge were in just as much darkness as were many spirits of very meagre mentality and information.

All this knowledge came to me and caused me to seek a way to improve my moral nature and to get rid of the recollections of those things which tainted and darkened such nature, and I sought very diligently, but it was slow work and the efforts required were great.

But some progress was made, and if I had continued long enough and used my will powers in urging the cultivation of kind thoughts and love for the truth and affection, etc., I would undoubtedly have progressed from darkness.This had been the experience of many spirits who believed as I did, that the mind was the thing and depended upon their own will and exertions to bring the desired results.

But while in this condition of struggle and slow progress, I would occasionally meet spirits who seemed to be of a higher order and more beautiful than was I, and naturally I wondered what the cause was, although strange as it may seem to you, I never made the inquiry until one day I met some of our folks who had this beautiful appearance and seemed to be so perfectly happy.

Naturally in our conversation, I asked them the cause of their happiness and when they told me, I was so surprised that I gave very little credence to what they said, because what they told me was so similar to what I had heard on earth in the orthodox churches. I supposed that these friends had brought with them their old orthodox faiths and emotions and were deceiving themselves as to the cause of their appearances, and that the probable cause was that they were more moral than I, when on earth and, hence, their recollections of earthly sins were less and conscience was not so severe on them and, therefore, they had gotten out of their darkness into light with the resultant appearance of beauty and happiness. I would not at first accept their explanations of the cause of their conditions and continued for sometime longer in the effort to improve my moral condition and advance in my mental acquirements.

But there was one other thing I noticed and, that is, that while these beautiful friends had not the mental development, apparently, that some other spirits who had progressed out of the darkness into the higher spheres of light, yet the beauty and seeming happiness of these friends were so much greater and of a different nature from the happiness and appearance of those more highly mentally developed spirits.

And again, I thought and concluded that even moral and mental development could not explain the cause of the difference between the appearances and happiness of these friends and those of these more mentally developed spirits; so I again determined to seek the cause and, as a consequence, I sought these friends with the intention and desire to listen more seriously to what they might tell me and to open my mind to the secret as it was to me.

Well, I listened to them and they told me that their progress and condition was caused by the soul development which they had received in seeking for and obtaining the Divine Love of the Father. That the soul is the great and important part of being spirits; that the condition of the soul development determines the position and appearance and happiness of the spirit; that the spirit body and mind are both subordinate to the soul, and whenever the mind submits to the control of the soul and the will of the mind, as you may say, to the will of the soul, that then the progress to the highest sphere will commence, and the spirit who is thus progressing will show the state of his advancement by the appearance of his beauty and happiness.

They further explained to me the nature and power of the Divine Love and its great developing potentialities and the absolute necessity of its entering into and possessing the soul in order for it to make its greatest progress; that as this Divine Love became more and more a part of the soul's possessions, the soul took on itself the Divine Nature of the Father, and all these things which had a lodgment therein, and which tended to make it dark and sinful, disappeared and as these things disappeared, the soul mounted to higher spheres and became happier and more beautiful, and the spiritual body correspondingly manifested this happiness and beauty.

All these things and many more, these friends told me and urged me to seek for the Divine Love of the Father and offered in every way to help me. At first I could not understand what seeking this Divine Love meant, but they took great pains to instruct me, and told me that only through prayer and faith would it come to me; that while this Love was waiting to fill the soul of every spirit and anxious to do so, yet only by earnest, sincere seeking would It enter the soul and fill it with Its Great Essence.

At last they persuaded me to pray to the Father and then prayed with me, but it was hard to have faith in that which my mind did not understand and could not grasp. But they said, the soul has its faculties and is not dependent upon the mind for this faith, and upon my exercising these soul faculties would depend the question of my receiving this love and this faith, for as Love came, faith would come also, which faith was not a mere mental belief, but something greater and different.

Well, I continued to pray for this Love and after awhile, I felt a sensation which I had never felt before within my soul and, as I prayed, this feeling increased and faith in a small degree came to me, and I realized that there was a Love possessing me that was never with me before. I continued, thus, to seek and pray until at last this Great Love came to me in great abundance flooding, as it were, my whole soul and happiness unspeakable came to me and, as these friends said, light and beauty also.

Well, you can imagine that my longings and desires became insatiable. The darkness disappeared. My recollections of the evils of my life became fainter and fainter and suddenly I found myself in the Third Sphere, which then appeared to me to be the very Heaven of Heavens and the very fountainhead of beauty and happiness.

Now during all this time, and it was not accomplished in a day, I gave no attention to the development of my mind, or to the acquiring of knowledge of the material things, as I might say, of the spirit world, but when I found myself in the beautiful sphere that I have mentioned, it seemed to me that my mental faculties had expanded beyond all possibilities of belief and knowledge of things, that I had never before heard or conceived of, came to me with wonderful clearness.

But the soul - and not the mind - was the thing! And Love - this Divine Love of the Father - made happiness mine and everything beautiful and satisfying. He, who seeks only the development of the mind and lets the soul slumber, is poor indeed; but he who seeks the development of the soul finds that as his soul develops his mind does also, and rich he is beyond compare.

Well, I continued in this soul development and in the increased happiness and the attainment of great brightness, and more than all the possessions of this Great Love, until I passed through the Fifth Sphere, where everything was much more beautiful, and Love so more abundant than in the Third Sphere, and entered the Seventh Sphere, where I now am. I will not attempt to tell you the glories of this sphere, for I feel that words are inadequate to do so. Then in a faint, unsatisfying way have I attempted to rehearse to you the soul's development and the wholly sufficient thing that it is.

And my advice to all mortals, based on my own personal experience, is to seek with all their might and earnest efforts the development of the soul, and that of the mind will follow. This they can commence while yet on earth, and they will find that progress after they have crossed the border line will be much more rapid and easier.

Well, it is late and I have written long enough. But I wanted so much to write to you tonight upon this subject of the soul development as I see its vital importance to the future happiness of man and to his immortality.

So with all my love and blessings, I am

Your brother in Christ,
Albert G. Riddle

St. Stephen Writes About the Invisible Church, Which is Composed of the Soul Worship of Men and Women Who Have Received Divine Love in Their Souls

January 17, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Stephen.

I merely want to say a word on the importance of the subject which Paul has written on the resurrection. This is one of the most vital truths in all the plan of God for the redemption of mankind, and for the preservation and existence of the church; and when I say church, I do not mean any church which claims to be the only Church of Christ, but that invisible church which is composed of the soul worship of men and women, who have received the Divine Love in their souls. It is not necessary that there be any formation of congregations and ceremonies of church worship as men understand it, but the true, sincere worship of men founded on a knowledge of the Divine Love and its possession in their souls.

While men on earth may never form large congregations and erect magnificent churches in which to worship the Father with the true soul worship and aspirations, yet when they come into the spirit world, they will find that the Master has established his church in the eternal Heavens, where none but the truly Christian can enter and partake of its glories and happiness.

Jesus is the head of that church here in our Celestial Heavens, as he should be of the church on earth. And as he must be when that church has for its members only those who have had the resurrection from sin and error and death of the soul into the knowledge of the Divine Love and the life everlasting. Jesus referred to this resurrection when he said: "I am the resurrection and the life," and not the resurrection of the body either physical or spiritual.

I see that you are anxious to have these truths come and I am also anxious and a coworker. I will now say good night and in doing so say with all my love, God Bless you and keep you in His care now and always.

Your brother in Christ,
St. Stephen

Samuel the Prophet Writes About the Incarnation of the Soul

January 17, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Samuel.

Yes, Samuel, the prophet.

Well, I will not write long tonight, as I merely want to say that you are much better in your spiritual condition, and the rapport between us is so much greater than heretofore. Tonight, I desire to say one word on the subject of my knowledge of how a soul is born into the flesh and becomes an individualized person.

I heard what Luke wrote you, and I agree with him in his explanation of the character and qualities of the soul in its state before its incarnation; but I want to add one other thing to what he wrote and, that is, that when the soul first separates into its two component parts, and one of these parts enters into the physical body, the other part remains a mere soul, invisible even to us, but having an existence of which we are conscious and hovers close to the earth plane seeking the opportunity to also incarnate and become individualized; and this happens within a short time after the separation from the half that has already incarnated. Of course, when I say a short time, I do not mean in a few months or even a few years, because sometimes there is a space of several scores of years between the two incarnations; but such time seems short to us who know nothing of time.

The soul, which remains as Luke has told you, as well as the soul that enters the human body, loses its consciousness of having been a part only of one complete soul, and of its relationship to the other part of that soul and exists in the supposition that it is still a complete soul and needs no other soul to make it complete. This is a provision of the Father's goodness, so that the soul that continues in its pristine existence will not become lonely or unhappy.

You will naturally ask how I know this, as we have said these souls are not visible to us, and I can only answer that we spirits who have developed our souls to a high degree have acquired certain faculties, or what you may call senses, which enable us to know these things. It is not necessary that we should see these unindividualized souls in order to know of their existences and the qualities that they possess any more than it is that we should be able to see the Great Oversoul of the Father in order to understand its qualities and attributes and existence. I know it is hard for you to understand this, and I cannot now satisfactorily explain it, for your senses of the earth life are not capable of comprehending the explanation, but what I tell you is true.

We often see the birth of the two parts of the souls into mortals and know that such souls then, for the first time, assumes a shape and form, for this invisible image of God fills the whole of the spirit body, and from that body assumes or receives its form, and thereby becomes individualized. The soul is the life of the spirit body and never leaves it during the earth life of the mortal; and comes with it at the death of the physical body, and remains a part of it during all the time of the existence of the spirit body in the spirit world. Whether it can ever become lost is a question upon which I shall write you later. You will remember that Jesus said, according to the Bible, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"

I will say this, though, at this time that a man may retain his soul as a fact and yet have a consciousness of having lost it, and he is then as if he had no soul.

I have said to you what I intended to write, because Luke had omitted to speak of the condition of that half of the soul that remained in the spirit world after the other half had been incarnated.

Matters of this kind, though, are not important as regards the salvation of man, or the perfecting of his soul to such a degree that that soul may become at-one with the Great Soul, having what it did not possess before its seeking a dwelling place in the flesh and, that is, the Divine Nature of the Father and immortality as an individualized, never dying person.

As we proceed in these writings, you will understand the importance of the soul's becoming incarnated, and then leaving the flesh and again returning to the spirit spheres. And you will also learn that the doctrine of evolution is to an extent correct, but not as commencing from an atom or from an animal inferior to man. Back of and greater than this doctrine of evolution is the great and more Divine doctrine of involution; for if the soul had not come from above and been placed in the physical man, there would never have been any evolution; and if the soul had never received its individualized existence by coming into the body of the human, it would never have evolved to the Divine Nature, as well as to the individualized being that follows that incarnation.

When I say the Divine Nature, I do not mean that all souls, either on earth or in the great eternity, necessarily receive that Divine Nature, for many of them do not and never will; but all, no matter whether they come into the Divine Nature or retain the nature which was theirs in their preexistence, will become individualized personalities, and which will be theirs so long as that soul and its spirit body shall continue to exist.

I have written enough for tonight, but will come again and write you other truths. So with my love and blessings,

I am your brother in Christ,
Samuel