In this condition André experienced very strange phenomena that made him familiar with the psychic powers of those who have shed their physical body.

‘Listen, André’, Alcar said to him, ‘this is what the prophet Joel meant when he spoke: (between brackets in first edition: God says) ‘And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophecy; your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.’ (footnote in first edition: Joël 2: 28. Hand. 2: 17.)

André experienced miracles and was therefore able to understand the meaning of these words, and it became increasingly clear to him that when a medium commits himself, body and soul, to higher powers, miracles can be performed through him.

His help was called in for a twenty-year-old girl who was extremely ill. The diagnosis which Alcar let him make, said: paratyphoid fever.

When he asked if he was allowed to help her, Alcar answered, ‘We can ease her pain and reduce her temperature, but in this case earthly assistance is indispensable.’

So her family called in medical help and after a few days the practising physician decided to have his patient taken to hospital.

Afterwards André experienced wondrous things of which he couldn’t grasp the meaning.

No matter how much thought he gave it, he couldn’t shed any light on this situation which seemed so obscure to him.

Whenever he was allowed to heal a patient, or when the treatment was stopped for some reason or other, he would always unburden himself completely in order to dedicate his entire self to other sick people, as a diagnosis can only be made when the mind is free of all disturbing thoughts.

But he was unable to do so now, because her image kept appearing before him and he felt obstructed in his work.

Day in, day out his thoughts went out to the sick girl, and he often wondered what this meant, because he had never felt such closeness with a patient whom he had been obliged to abandon.

The girl must surely sense this too, he thought, as these powers are often highly developed in sick people.

He neither heard nor saw his leader but he felt that this must have some meaning which would sooner or later be revealed to him.

A week went by.

Annie’s cousin, Cor, whom he was treating at the time, kept him informed of her condition, and one evening she came to ask him on her behalf if he would come and visit her some time.

That assured him that she too felt the affinity, even though she might not be aware of it.

Her body was stiff all over, Cor told him, and she had a permanent high temperature.

Her mouth was numb and her blood was poisoned.

She could hardly talk because her throat was very swollen and her face was as blue as lead.

The doctors had no more hope that she would recover and so the family had given up hope too.

After André and Cor had agreed to go to the hospital the next evening, he felt how the bond lessened and the tension turned into an ardent longing to once again be allowed to help to save a young life; Alcar, the high spirit, was of course also watching over this life, even if he didn’t show himself.

He decided to wait in confidence, and sooner than he had dared to expect this problem was also solved for him, and he got to know even more about the great, sacred love of those who, behind the veil, exert all their powers for the sake of mankind to perform the task assigned to them by God.

It was during the following night that he suddenly awoke because he heard his name being called.

He looked around but saw no-one and so he decided to go back to sleep.

But after a few minutes he heard his name being called again, and at the same time he discovered that he had been released from his physical body; he had evidently disembodied.

This had never happened before in such an unexpected way, because until now Alcar had warned him beforehand so that he could prepare himself.

For the third time he heard: ‘André!’

And when he looked towards the spot where the sound was coming from, he saw two spiritual beings he had never seen before, one of whom was beckoning him to follow them.

Should he comply with their request?

In his mind he asked Alcar and immediately felt a salutary peace come over him.

This felt like the answer to his question, and he knew the power behind it.

His leader was keeping watch; he was the only one with whom he could be linked in this way.

And when they dwelt in the spheres together, Alcar would converse with him in the spiritual language which is used by those who have preceded us, the language of the mind.

Alcar naturally knew what was going on and let him experience this problem in his own way.

So he decided to go along, and together with the two intelligences he went downstairs and followed them outside at a few paces distance.

It was a pitch-dark night, not a single earthly living being did he meet on the way, nor was a word spoken to him.

Would anyone believe him if he told them later that he had walked around during the night as a spirit, following intelligences who were unknown to him?

Wouldn’t they all call this mere fantasy, even though it was the perfect truth?

He felt blessed that his spiritual body was able to release itself from the physical one and could move about freely in this condition.

After the lesson he had received during Doortje’s illness he had become so firmly convinced of Alcar’s invisible presence that he now felt able to submit himself in full trust to those who walked ahead, even though he didn’t know why they had come to fetch him.

As if to reply to his train of thoughts the spiritual being who had called his name turned around and looked at him with such love that he felt a flow of warmth surge through him, and he would have gone through fire and water for these spirits of love, who maybe needed him for their task on earth.

Suddenly they glided into a street that led to the hospital where Annie had been admitted.

Did this nightly disembodiment have something to do with her?

In that case he could understand why he was so intensely linked up with her.

When they had arrived at the entrance of the hospital the spirit who had called him beckoned him to come closer.

A heavenly being was standing in front of him, young and handsome, that smiled at him and told him: ‘We have come to fetch you, André, because we need your help as a medium.

We came and disturbed you in your night’s rest because this was necessary, as you will shortly understand.’

The other being moved a few paces away from him and then the speaker put his hand on his shoulder and continued: ‘Look towards the entrance, my son.

Those whom you see going in and out once lived on earth too and are now trying to help the dear ones they left behind, and others too, in every possible way, while they also guide those who recently passed on towards the place of their attunement, which means great happiness for some, but for others unfortunately it spells deep darkness, depending on the way they spent their earthly life: either for a good or a bad cause, since no mortal who arrives in the Hereafter can escape God’s righteous law of cause and effect.

He will reap whatever he sows.

You will visit the spheres with your leader again at a later date, the higher areas as well as the lower ones, so that you will be able to inform the people on earth of even more things that await them on our side after their earthly training has been completed.

Mediums who understand that the messages we convey are sacred to us are able to perform blessed work, as they can be good instruments in our hands, merely by giving love and by being fully aware of their task.

Remember that the treasures of the spirit are eternal and cannot be compared to those on earth.

Your leader wants to make that increasingly clear to you.

So follow the path we are taking without lingering.

We will help you.’

After this speech André heard loud cries.

Someone called out: ‘Life will awaken, life is eternal.’

‘Do you hear them, my boy?

They are sisters and brothers who have already left the earth and live on our side.

They want to convince those who stayed behind of their eternal, sacred happiness.

This will urge you on to use all the power within you to help us make them happy.’

Again voices could be heard.

‘Man must awaken’, he heard someone say.

‘Help us, help us, you mediums, who possess the power to do so.

Help us to make those happy who are ignorant.

It is God’s will.’

This moved André to the depths of his soul, because he felt the intense longing of those who had passed on to be allowed to convince their loved ones of their continued existence.

‘Now look upwards, André.’

He looked up into the dark sky yet couldn’t discern anything at first, but then, after a few seconds, he thought he perceived a faint ray of light.

Yes, he had seen correctly; a light appeared in the darkness.

Everywhere around he noticed flashes of light that set the sky aflame.

It was a mighty spectacle but it didn’t scare him because he knew he was in safe hands.

Suddenly he heard a loud bang; the heavens seemed to split apart and opened up on a beautiful light-blue sky.

A radiant white light broke through and lit up the earth in a golden glow.

‘The Light’, he heard again, ‘the Light, God’s holy Light!’

‘God’s Light’, the intelligence beside him repeated. ‘We will heal her with this Light.

Trust, my boy, trust.

God is Love.

It is His will that the spiritually dead will be raised to life.

Let them live, shake them till they awake.’

Suddenly he saw a small white light – it looked like phosphor – floating towards him in the shape of a globe.

But when it was close to him, it floated away from him again and then came back again, which it repeated a few times.

It seemed to ask him to follow.

And when he had decided to do so, it floated ahead of him, into the hospital and along a few corridors into a room where the door had been left open.

He carefully entered too, but to his surprise he no longer saw the light.

Yet he felt how an invisible force guided him along.

‘Should Annie be here?’, he thought.

He cautiously looked around the corner of the screen that had been put around the bed and got a terrible shock, because yes, there she lay.

How old she suddenly looked!

He wanted to dash over to her, but he felt how he was being pulled back.

So he stayed behind the screen and immediately became aware that his invisible companions were lessening their powers of concentration.

Poor Annie!

She seemed to be suffering intensely.

How else could she have aged that much within a couple of days.

This was a matter of life and death.

Her colour really was like lead, and her eyes lay deeply in their sockets.

He heard her moaning softly.

Thank Goodness!

He saw the light appearing again, with its beautiful, pure radiance.

It remained floating above the patient’s head and then merged with her.

Now tones sounded.

It was like a sacred song.

It was miraculous to be allowed to experience all this.

‘André’, he heard a voice whisper, ‘look at the light.

It’s alive and it’s God’s will that she shall be healed.

Help us to accomplish this miracle.

God granted us His holy power for this purpose.

His will be done.’

Then the light disappeared and he felt himself being lifted and return into his physical body.

Then he fell asleep again.

The next evening he went to fetch Cor to accompany her to her sick cousin.

When he arrived at her bed he had to keep a grip on himself not to show his feelings and he had to exert himself not to let her notice how her appearance shocked him.

She looked at him enquiringly, grasped his hand and tried to speak.

But she couldn’t manage because her throat was too swollen.

Then she tried to convey to him with looks and gestures that she wanted to hear from him what he thought of her condition.

She looked at him with the expression of a dying person, a look that moved him deeply and which forced him to give her hope for recovery and to give her courage, although he sensed that a miracle would have to happen before there could be any thought of betterment, because her eyes were misty and were already beginning to break.

They lay deep in their sockets and yet looked at him pleadingly.

The look with which she tried to fathom the truth was terrible.

This lasted for a few seconds, seconds which seemed an eternity to him.

It really was torture, because if he were unable to withstand her gaze, it might speed up her end.

At last she let go of his hand and remained lying in her cushions, completely exhausted.

At that moment her father entered and went over and sat at her bed, which fortunately soothed her a bit.

But this didn’t last long, because after a few moments she managed to ask her father in a broken voice if he had a mirror on him, which to André’s unspeakable relief was not the case.

But imagine his shock when he heard Cor say: ‘I’ve got one.’

It was unbelievable!

Couldn’t she understand what this meant.

That a look in the mirror could prove fatal to Annie?

Stupid, stupid people!

Annie’s earthly life already hung on a silk thread.

And now she snatched for the little mirror that Cor held out to her, her misted eyes beheld her reflection and with a stifled scream she fell back into her cushions, trembling.

At that moment André felt how a strong influence was being exerted on him.

An enormous power went through him which could have moved mountains.

Then he perceived a beautiful white light above Annie’s head that kept shining upon her.

His whole body vibrated.

Then he felt himself being lifted and put down again beside the sick girl, while he heard a sonorous voice asking: ‘André, André, have you forgotten everything?

Put your left hand on her head and keep hold of her right hand to build up a contact.

Watch out son, remember the vision and all the wisdom you were granted.’

Full of awe he listened to that voice from a higher World, which went on: ‘Heal her, André; God wills that she be cured.

It’s His holy Will.

In you He put healing power.

Help her.’

Deeply moved by these words, he took Annie’s right hand in his, put his left hand on her forehead and glanced upward.

Again he saw the radiant light merge with her.

The room disappeared before his eyes and a beautiful blue heaven became visible.

‘The Light of lights’, he heard a voice say, ‘the Light of God.

Heal her, André.’

He concentrated strongly and so, through thought power, he made his will penetrate into her consciousness.

‘Listen Annie’, he bade her in his mind, ‘I order you not to remember anything about that mirror and to go to sleep peacefully, because it is God’s will that you be healed.’

After three minutes he let go of her hand and moved slightly away from her.

It was an anxious moment; but fortunately the tension only lasted for a short while, because within those three minutes the miracle had come about.

Annie was peacefully asleep and had become young and attractive again.

A miraculous change had occurred.

How happy her father was!

He silently gave thanks to God and let his tears run freely.

The next day André went back to the hospital, where he found Annie in the best of health.

She was very glad to see him and pleased with the bunch of roses he had brought along for her.

She apparently remembered nothing at all of the things that had taken place the previous evening.

‘How terribly ill I’ve been’, she said.

‘I really thought that I would never get better, and now I suddenly feel healthy again.’

That evening, quietly sitting in his room again, he was overjoyed to hear Alcar’s voice.

‘Well my boy’, he said, ‘I’ve got quite a bit to explain to you again.

You were allowed to witness another miracle.

I linked you up to Annie in order that my master could accomplish this.

We knew what would happen and were allowed to intervene at the very last moment.

I remained invisible and wanted to see whether you could distinguish the good from the evil; your complete submission was required.

I let you disembody because my master wanted to show you the sanctity of your mediumship, which will inspire you to make every effort to reach this heightened attunement.

The purpose of this was to keep on increasing your confidence, because the problems you will be faced with will get bigger and bigger.

Know that we will return and that you will then act consciously, and convince science.

Believe me, one day we will convince countless people of the existence of the sacred powers which the Masters possess.

My Master has spoken to you; the small light that was me.

On our side we are able to take on various shapes.

I was with you the whole time to lend you support.

We had linked up with you when we took you over to the hospital, and you obeyed our will.

We were standing beside you but remained invisible.

We were able to follow your train of thoughts, and we owe you gratitude for your love and your trust.

My Master is happy, and so am I.

Now I will explain the miracle that was performed.

The moment you took hold of Annie’s hand and put your left hand on her head, you were both connected with the universe.

The same condition occurred when you were dematerialized, and accordingly the same forces were applied.

Is this clear to you?

It was God’s Will; otherwise we wouldn’t have been capable of performing this miraculous healing.

First of all we showed you in a vision how tremendous these forces are, these cosmic rays, God’s own radiance, which penetrates His entire Creation and without which nothing could exist and no life would be possible.

The people on earth don’t yet know how cosmic rays function, because they can’t yet understand their origin or touch upon their meaning.

I’ll tell you more about this later, and you will be allowed to experience more miracles if you humbly keep on trusting the guidance of spirits from higher areas, who in these hard times return to the dark earth to try in various ways to reach its inhabitants so that quiet and peace and happiness may be their share.’