289. Questions on the Future.
7. " Can spirits tell us of the future ? "
" If man should know the future* he would neglect the present. And there is where you always insist upon having a precise answer; it is a great wrong, for the manifestation of spirits is not a means of divina tion. If you will, absolutely, have an answer, it will be given to you by a foolish spirit ; we tell you so always." (See Book on Spirits —Knowledge of the Future, No. 868.)
8. "Are there not future events sometimes spon taneously and truly announced by spirits ? "
" It may happen that the spirit may foresee things he thinks it useful to make known, or that he has a mission to make known ; but there is greater cause for suspecting it to be deceiving spirits, who are amusing themselves by making predictions. Only by taking all the circumstances together can we ascertain the degree of confidence they merit."
9. " What kind of predictions should we most mis trust ? "
" All that have no motive of general utility. Per sonal predictions may almost always be considered apocryphal."
10. " What is the motive of spirits who announce spontaneously events that do not come to pass ? "
" Most often it is to be amused by the credulity, the terror, or the joy they cause ; then they laugh at the disappointment. Yet these lying predictions have sometimes a more serious aim —that of putting to the test him to whom they are made, to see how he takes them, the nature of the sentiments, good or bad, they may awaken in him."
Remark. Such, for instance, as the announcement of what might excite cupidity or ambition, the death of a person, or a prospective inheritance, &c.
11. "Why do serious spirits, when they predict an event, ordinarily fix no date ; is it because they cannot, or will not ? "
" Both ; they may, in some cases, predict an event ; then it is a warning they give you. As to giving a precise date, often they ought not ; often, also, they cannot, because they do not know themselves. The spirit may foresee that a thing will take place, but the precise moment may depend on events not yet accom plished, and which God alone knows. Trifling spirits, who make no scruple of deceiving you, indicate the days and the hours, without troubling themselves with the issue. For this reason, all circumstantial predic tions should be distrusted. "
Once again, our mission is to make you progress ; we aid you as much as we can. He who asks wisdom of the superior spirits will never be deceived ; but do not believe that we lose our time listening to your nonsense, and telling your fortunes ; we leave that to frivolous spirits, whom it amuses, like mischievous children.
" Providence has imposed limits to the revelations that may be made to man. Serious spirits keep silence on everything forbidden to be made known. By in sisting on an answer, you are exposed to the impos tures of inferior spirits, always ready to seize every occasion to lay snares for your credulity."
Remark. Spirits see, or foresee, by induction, future events ; they see them fulfilled in a space of time which they do not measure as we do ; in order to give the exact date, they must identify themselves with our method of computing duration, which they do not always judge necessary ; this is often a cause of appar ent error."
12. "Are there not men endowed with a special faculty, which makes them foresee the future ? "
" Yes ; those whose souls are disengaged from mat ter ; then it is the spirit who sees ; and when it is use ful, God permits them to reveal some things for good ; but there are more impostors and charlatans. This faculty will be more common in the future."
13. What must be thought of spirits who predict a person's death at a certain day or hour ? "
" These are malicious jesters, — very malicious, — who have no other motive than to enjoy the fears they cause. Never believe them."
14. " How is it that some persons are warned by presentiment of the time of their death ? "
" Most often it is their own spirit, who knows it in his moments of liberty, and preserves an intuition of it on awakening. These persons, being prepared, are not frightened nor moved. They see in this separation of the body and soul only a change of situation, or, if you like better, and to be more common, the change from a thick coat to a silk one. The fear of death will dimin ish as spirit belief is extended."
