One day, a woman came to see André to ask his help for a poor man who was out of work.

“Maybe you could do something for him.

He has no money, but we can’t leave him to fend for himself, because he is suffering terribly.”

André asked his master what he should do.

Alcar told him: “You can learn a lot from this patient, but you will not enjoy dealing with him, as you will find out later.

However, I advise you to make yourself available.”

How strange, André thought.

Whenever Alcar saw that he could not accomplish anything for a patient, he was never allowed to help.

Why this sudden change?

What did Alcar see in this patient?

André told the woman to send the man over to him.

The incident preyed on his mind, but his master gave him no further explanation.

André was already looking forward to seeing the man.

What would he be experiencing this time?

The next day he was confronted with the spiritual problem.

The man began his lamenting at the front door.

He was about forty, slender and extremely nervous, with eyes like glowing embers.

Not very pretty eyes, André thought.

He read madness, passion and terror in them, and he understood that he was up against a serious psychic problem.

As soon as the man was inside, he began to moan.

“Oh, sir, I’m so unhappy, my suffering is more than I can bear.

I would be so grateful if you could help me.

Everybody sends me away.

I get no help from the doctors.

They say nothing can be done.

And they get hold of me day and night; nowhere can I find peace.

Oh please, help me, don’t send me away, don’t say you can’t help me.”

André told him to sit down.

He would see whether he could do anything for him.

Was this just an odd character or was the man possessed?

Who had got hold of him?

He was a poor soul, André thought, a very pathetic creature.

He took the man’s hand in his as a means of contact for the trance, and waited to hear what his master would say.

The examination did not last long and Alcar said to him:

“Now see, André.”

André attuned to the patient.

Surely this can’t be true, he thought.

He was witnessing a terrifying phenomenon.

He saw astral beings within and around the man.

What was the meaning of this?

These astral human beings occupied his organism.

It was ghastly to look at.

These people were using an earthbound consciousness – this man – to run wild.

There was a young woman who was particularly overbearing; she had him completely in her hands.

André was up against a mountain of difficulties, because he knew what this meant.

Five additional people, sinister elements, lived within this poor soul.

The immensity of the problem, which these people would be confronting him with, could hardly be fathomed.

‘Good Heavens’, he thought, ‘am I to take this on?

Do I have to set him free from these ominous beings?’

His master asked:

“Do you see his condition, André?”

“Yes, Alcar, it’s horrible.

I cannot understand why this man has not gone mad.

Can you explain this to me?”

‘In our world, everything is possible.

Now listen.

Not only must we release him from all these beings; we must also build up his nervous system because he has lost control of himself.

His body was not built to withstand this five-fold impact.

Sooner or later, he will collapse if we do not help him.

Do you hear his heartbeat?

To the doctors, he is quite a mystery; he is overstrained, and neurotic.

And what’s more, also abnormal.

But you can see why he is no longer himself.

His illness was also brought on by the dark astral world; he is under astral influence.

There is a lot you can learn from this illness, André – as I already told you – but it is impossible to make him fully and completely aware of his condition.

By this, I mean that we cannot give him the feeling that he is able to offer resistance.

Besides, this treatment will take quite some time.

You must either adapt to that or not start at all.

Nevertheless, we can accomplish a lot, and what is more, this will be an excellent learning experience for you.

You will shortly disembody, and you will become familiar with this multiple astral influence.

He has the power within to hold his ground; otherwise, he would have gone mad long ago; however, it will never get that far.

If you mainly treat his nervous system, I will do my share of work from this side.”

André had already decided to help the man, and he now focussed his powers of concentration on the patient.

After a short while he felt the heartbeat relaxing and he observed that those astral beings had to let go of the man for a moment.

His powers enabled the patient to gain personality.

André understood what his patient lacked and what caused him to be attacked.

He needs to acquire power of feeling.

But how much could a being like that learn in one day?

All the same, André’s intervention, and that of his master, would make the patient learn, provided that he could stand on his own feet again and become completely released from the lethal influence that weighed him down.

André thought he was a pitiful figure and would do all he could for him.

Due to his powers, and especially those of his master, the astral beings had been forced to let go of the man for the moment.

In a short while they will attack him anew.

But in the meantime, the patient would learn to adapt, his will power would increase, and he would be able to offer resistance, although his sensitivity would remain.

André felt and saw through his master that this man had the dormant talents of a medium, yet he also saw that he did not possess the strength this demanded, and he would collapse under the weight of it.

It would turn his mind.

The condition of this patient was similar to that of the woman whom he had treated some time ago, yet there was a difference because he had various astral beings inside of him, and they each lived by virtue of one another.

His inner being was total chaos.

Hell used this person to manifest itself.

This was a loathsome thought for André.

His leader magnetized the patient and began to close him off to the astral world.

Alcar asked:

“Do you see, André, what I am doing?”

“Yes, I am able to follow you in everything.”

“I am closing him off to the astral world.

We must repeat this process several times if we want to accomplish anything, because his condition is very serious.

His nervous system has been destroyed, and in addition, his inner life is spiritually unconscious.

I must remove all those beings from his aura, which will be far from easy.

Anyway, we are able to do something for him, André, but this will require all the powers that you possess.

You have magnetized him enough by now.

Tell him to come back again in three days.”

André returned to his own day-consciousness.

Immediately after the sick man asked: “Can you help me?

Oh, sir, please don’t leave me alone, I can’t stand it.

I’m shown the door wherever I go.

Please don’t turn me down!

Whatever you did has done me so much good.

I feel much more at ease.

You’ll see, I’ll get better.

My heart no longer talks so much either; it has already calmed down.

Will you help me?”

The man was asking a dozen questions all at once.

He sat there begging for help, crying while he spoke and gasping for breath.

“You had better begin by sitting there quietly for a while, and don’t talk too much.

I cannot answer all those questions at the same time.

Tell me first of all, what is it that’s talking inside of you?”

“It’s my heart, sir, how can I explain it to you?”

“Your heart?

So you think your heart is able to talk?”

“Yes, sir, it’s my heart, I can understand every word.

Now it’s talking again.

Do you want to know what my heart says?”

“I already know”, André answered.

All the same, he thought this case was very strange.

Yet he understood the condition the sick man was in, and he also felt that the man did not understand what was happening to him.

He told André: “Yes, my heart talks, I hear it clearly.

Can you help me?” he asked once again, out of fear that André wouldn’t treat him.

“I will help you.

Have no fear and try to remain calm.

But you must listen. If you don’t, I won’t be able to help you.

You’ll never get rid of this on your own, so you need help.

Do you want to get better?”

“Yes, of course I do. I would do anything to get well again. Just tell me.”

“Well then, I want you to pray frequently, and I don’t want you to get mixed up in spiritism.

You are not to go to any séances; otherwise, you would be working against me.

If you don’t do as I say, I will stop immediately, and then you will have to wait and see what happens to you.”

“Oh no, sir, I will listen, you can trust me.

I’m so happy that you are helping me.

And I feel that you can do it.

May I come back?”

“Yes, come back on Thursday.”

“You know, I read the Bible day and night and I pray a lot, but she won’t let me be, and she doesn’t want to go away either.

Oh, she teases me so much, sir.

If only my soul kept its mouth shut, then things wouldn’t be too bad, but my soul keeps on talking and so does my heart.”

André smiled and asked:

“Do you know anything about these things?”

“Yes, sir, sometimes I see her, and the whole gang along with her.

Yesterday they forced me out onto the street like a dog and I hadn’t the strength to refuse.

If I had offered any resistance, they would have roughed me up.

Can you imagine anything like that?

If I tell the doctors that it’s not my nerves, they scoff at me.

They’re not familiar with this illness, but you are, you know about my condition, don’t you?

Oh, sir, I will do my utmost, because it’s horrible.

I want no more dealings with them, and yet they keep on pestering me.

Can you see these beings?”

“Yes, I see them, and I’ll try to remove them from your body.”

“Thank God that you know.

At last somebody understands me.

I’ll do everything and I’ll pray often, that, I promise.”

The sick man left, but would return.

What chaos, André thought.

His heart talks, his soul talks and he talks too.

He is aware of the astral impact, he hears them talking.

It’s his heart, and sometimes it’s his soul.

But to me these are the devils that misuse his body to run wild.

The man dwelt in darkness.

He spoke the veritable truth, he wasn’t making anything up.

His material body was used by all of them as a means to indulge in their lusts.

This man had no say in the matter.

André sensed that his mediumistic abilities enabled them to drain him dry.

The astral young woman dominated all the others.

Her link with the patient was strongest; the others clung to her.

They gained physical contact through another.

André felt how difficult it would be to free him out of those hands, and yet he couldn’t leave that poor soul alone.

André wanted to put all his powers to work for the man.

His heart spoke and his soul spoke.

He was amazed at the perplexities and the illnesses he encountered.

According to earthly standards, the man uttered a lot of humbug, just as all others like him did, but to the astral world it was the truth.

What could a doctor do to help him?

Could a learned man take his nonsense seriously?

And yet, how clearly his heart spoke.

How naturally his soul addressed mankind!

But mankind still had to awaken to be able to understand this poor soul.

The earth had no cure yet for his illness. As yet, that healing power could only be found on the Other Side.

Unfortunately, people on earth wanted nothing to do with the Beyond.

Mediums were ridiculed, just as this poor soul was.

A medium that moved too far beyond the scope of the earth was considered to be possessed.

He asked his master:

“Was I correct in all that I felt, Alcar?”

“Certainly, André.

He hears his heart speaking due to the astral personality.

He hears that talking within himself, and he imagines that it is his own heart that is speaking.

He picks up this conversation through clairaudience, although it is gibberish to the earth, but he is forced to experience this because it takes place in his own life.

What he hears are conversations between these astral persons, which are far from agreeable, as they want to indulge in their passions.

One of them sends him to the prostitutes, while another wants him to be with a man.

Do you feel what that means?

He is everything at once.

He encompasses astral as well as physical sexuality, which means that these beings satisfy each other in their lusts, but they send him to the women as well.

At the same time, they stir him up to homosexuality.

This soul dwells in ten worlds at the same time, and he can thank God that he is still conscious of himself.

He still knows what is happening inside of him, although they are breaking down his physical body.

He still has himself in hand, in spite of the fact that the beings do as they please with him.

He talks a lot of nonsense when the astral beings overrule his will, but he speaks the truth when he refers to his own thinking and feeling.

When he goes along with them, he hears nothing, but whenever he resists, all the astral beings rise in revolt and drain him dry.

Nevertheless, I have to admire him, because do you know what they need him for and what they want to experience through him?

All the wickedness that prevails on earth!

He is possessed to the hilt, and yet he is still aware.

If his day-consciousness were to sink just a trifle deeper, André, he would have to be locked up.

At the moment he is comparatively quiet, yet he feels ill.

He cannot help but hear those inner voices, because they take place within his own attunement of feeling.

He is in the midst of it and has to submit to it.

He is forced to hear them, whether he wants to or not, because he cannot rid himself of this.

Likewise, you hear me talking inside of you now, and yet you have no part in this process.

He also hears these conversations, and it takes his breath away.

You receive knowledge, whereas, he gets all the earthly vileness that man and woman can experience through each other if they are attuned to passion and the urge to possess of organic life.

Consequently, female and male feelings alternate in their dominance over him, although his own sexual feelings are normal. But the astral world makes use of him to run wild.

So, it is not really him, it is the astral world!

Psychologists believe that he is homosexual and yet their view on the matter is entirely wrong.

He has mediumistic talents, and this sensitivity enabled the Beyond, the dark world, to take possession of this physical individual.

When the young woman established a link with him, she in turn attracted other demons and now she enjoys her life, but she does so through him.

He did not offer his organism for that purpose, André; his mediumistic sensitivity enabled them to catch him off guard!

That woman inside of him wants to possess a man, and the astral man is after a woman.

Would you call that homosexuality?

I will explain these problems to you on this side.

Soon, when you have disembodied, you will get to know all these possiblities for the dark astral world.

However, this man already experiences this on earth.

Do you understand, André: his inner life, his personality, gives them the chance to run wild.

The male astral personality sends him over to the women.

The female personality also wants to use his organism to satisfy herself, so he is made to mingle with homosexuals.

All this is going on inside of him, they are the facts that I have been able to follow, and this disintegration is now destroying him.

Yet I tell you that there is still consciousness in him.

He knows what he is doing, but he is unable to counter this overwhelming force, and we will therefore have to help him.

We will set him free from these dark beings.

Once we have accomplished that, he will have to fend for himself.

I cannot rid him of this sensitivity that will force him to keep on fighting for the rest of his earthly life.

He would be open to these passions for the next twenty years.

Then his body would be worn out and wrecked, if his nervous system does not give way beforehand.

His nervous system has to absorb and experience all this misery.

However, as a personality he experiences this passion.

He knows nothing about our world; otherwise, he could take precautions.

That level of consciousness dwells on this side, way beyond his reach.

The deeper he descends into this chaos the closer his link becomes, up to the point of total insanity.

He could serve as a medium, like the woman you treated a while ago, but all these people are too weak to put their spiritual gifts into practice.

They would collapse under the weight.

You know the requirements one must fulfil to be master of one’s spiritual gifts.

You went through that yourself, and it was not easy.

All the same, the sensitive mediumistic powers are present in him; otherwise, he could not have been reached.

Every insane person is mediumistic; because of this they could be attacked.

You will soon get to know these people also, but seen from my life, and from where I will explain the astral laws and occult problems from that same standpoint.

It will enable you to gain a better understanding of everything.

At the moment he is in a spiritual chaos.

And yet, do you feel how courageous he is, André?

He is sent out onto the streets, but what for?

The man has not the nerve to tell us.

He is under attack, night and day.

They want to use him to experience the physical body, which all those astral beings were once familiar with, yet lost when they died.

That is what makes this into a hell to him; inhabitants of hell use him to run wild; all this is real in our life, and of which we have got to know the laws.

Of course, he is also to blame for all this, because he is open to passion himself.

Even though this passion aims at the experience of physical love – the conjunction of organisms, which every mammal wants to experience because that is what the body claims – man must nevertheless face astral reality.

This means that he will attract whatever he longs for.

The desire to gain love leads a human being into astral danger, which you and I will see confirmed on this side.

That is the danger, which dwells in and around the earthly being, who becomes linked up because these longings exist within the life of the soul.

The personality either wants to procreate, or it wants to give birth; it wants to experience good and evil to the extent in which it is geared to the plan of creation.

Men and women hold this miraculous happening in their own hands, but human beings are not aware of their self, and they attract astral beings from our world, who once lived on earth.

These beings are not free of those same physical desires and they return, because on this big earth they find their own grade of life represented in full measure.

Our patient is neither bad nor good; for example, he is not capable of killing anyone.

It is his hypersensitivity that got him into this situation.

As you can see, André, he prays and he reads the Bible, but all that does not help him.

These laws must first be dissolved; these creatures must vanish from his life.

Only then will he be able to pray if he feels the need, and the Beyond can then protect him.

Nevertheless, tell him that he must keep on praying, and in the meantime, we can release him from all these influences, these astral beings, and ban them from his life.

Passing over into another human being, André, means taking over another personality, and that is what this poor fellow is going through.

If his life had been attuned to animal passions, believe me, he would have been locked up long ago.

At present, he is still holding his ground, but his nervous system will not last much longer and then he will collapse, both spiritually and physically.

However, up to now his spiritual condition has saved him from total ruin.

The young woman forced him to submit to her.

She made such headway that he felt overpowered and surrendered completely.

But he has already conquered that.

At the moment, he recoils from her sexual impulses.

He refuses to let his body be made into a hell.

He would rather suffocate, and even considers taking his own life.

He tells himself that this would be better than having to listen to all these demons.

Now that he is poor, with no money to finance those extravagancies, the astral world searches to provide him with the means.

But again he has the upper hand over them.

They want to get him to steal.

It takes money for them to indulge in their passions, but he refuses.

He is not up to stealing yet, but they are trying to make him do so.

He has to pay those women.

These are the desires of the astral men whom the young woman attracted.

And all those creatures now indulge in their lusts.

They have all chosen the path that leads to spiritual decay.

Their miserable lives speak for themselves.

The atrocity of their impulses leads you into the deepest hells that exist on this side.

Accordingly, she forces him to do things that are wrong, and this is what he is battling against.

So you must have patience with him and talk to him in all seriousness.

It will strengthen his will power, because he knows that you can help him.

He has suffered terribly, André.

All that misery has made him shrink back, both from himself and the astral monsters.

He forcefully resists all these evil inspirations, but he cannot prevent them from taking effect.

He squirms and writhes, chastises his poor body, but it does not help him in the least.

He does not possess the power to keep control over himself yet, and that enables them to link up with him.

He has contrived the most horrible things in an attempt to free himself from these astral tormentors, but to no avail.

He has tried to hoax them, but that didn’t help either, because all this misery has consciously tuned in on him.

He is open to it.

They cannot reduce him to apathy, because that’s just beyond the brink of his personality’s ability; he is still himself and will remain so.

It is his good fortune that has saved him; otherwise, he would have been lost long ago.

All these problems seem incredible, yet they are very simple to understand.

At the moment he is hovering between two worlds, and these determine the life he lives.

He is frequently thrown far beyond his own field of vision, beyond the laws and powers of his life, because the astral world has taken over.

Yet from within his prison he sees and feels what they are doing to him, and he experiences all that lechery.

He cannot escape that.

He sees and feels it, although he is still aware of himself.

Nonetheless, he is being tortured by the others.

Every wrong thought is like a stab at his poor heart; every time one of these beings expresses its will, it sends him in the throes of death, but he remains alive; he is forced to live, because this is his spiritual attunement.

And the young woman wants to draw him into her own world, because only then can she experience in the way she really wants to.

However, then he will be completely insane.

She is not making any progress, but she still will not give up.

She has to settle for her present means of satisfaction, because he has put a spiritual stop to her lewdness.

He said to himself and to all of them: ‘This is the limit!’

That is the reason, André, why I wanted you to help him; otherwise, I would have kept you far from all these horrors.

However, I did tell you that you would learn a lot through him, and you already feel what has descended into his life, something all mankind knows nothing about, nothing at all!

So, he won’t go insane as long as he manages to keep up his present resistance.

But woe unto him if his nervous system collapses, because, from that moment on they could overpower him spiritually as well as physically.

Do you feel, André, how deep all this is?

And have you understood that in spite of everything, his own physical, earthly life will emerge?

And that this life still has the possibility to keep on winning?

When pure love finally enters his life, wanting to extricate him from physical love as a passion, then other conscious beings will be at his side, ready to help him.

Do you feel this?

You will get to know all these laws on this side.

I will point them out to you and explain them.

Only then will you understand the physical and spiritual condition of human life.

I once told our readers: ‘Do not be afraid of death, because you bear life everlasting within.’

Do you now see, André, that the things this man is going through are doubtlessly genuine, yet that they are diabolical and fatal to this life?

It is all very real, and more malicious than any animal could ever experience. This holds true for him as well as for others. This situation teaches mankind what hell is like.

A hell, where people dwell who are not burnt alive, yet they perished due to their own passion.

This man is getting a taste of it.

If he were to fully undergo the passionate fire of hell, it would scorch his life and he would have to accept total destruction.

He will waste away if nobody helps him, and his conscious self will go out like a candle, because they are draining him dry.

The astral beings do not like to dwell in constant darkness.

He enables them to see the light on earth shine again, and his human body provides them with bodily warmth.

There are millions of people like him on earth, André.

Men and women have gone to ruin due to the dark spheres.

Some hold out while their lives are lived for them, others collapse, are declared insane and are locked away.

And all these people have to master the conscious material feeling and must learn to hold their ground, because the spiritual love leads us all through material insanity.

They are far too weak to stand up to life on earth.

They long to experience some of all that material, physical beauty, but it leads them into the hands of obscure characters that have parted with life on earth.

It is this unity, André, that will destroy them all, because no-one, not a single human being, can extricate himself from this astral menace on his own.

A physical human being who possesses feelings is marked by sensitivity, but this causes many to lose themselves!

Millions of people on earth experience this misery, and once they are in the hands of these demons, their lives are overtaken by astral passion.

Once the astral personality has entered their spiritual dwelling, it takes over and this astral being becomes entangled in the physical aura.

Only a cosmic psychologist can disentangle this muddle.

Scientists on earth don’t know themselves and so they are incapable, and so they are incapable of helping these people.

These scientists put ointment on the material wounds, which however are not there, so their ointments will not help.

Their deeds have no significance, and they are afraid to lose their esteem.

They conceal themselves because they do not want anyone to become aware of their ignorance.

But is that any help to their patients?

All these learned men stand empty-handed, and yet they would like to get to know themselves.

Then let them disavow death, and free themselves from their own puny ‘self’.

It will allow them to experience the stars and the heavens, because only then will the God of all life speak to their own consciousness.

But who, out of those many thousands, is capable of that?

Earthly man holds the astral beings in bondage.

This pitiful, afflicted patient would be glad to get rid of this monster, yet he cannot do without her because he wants to indulge in his passion.

His own longing draws the demons to him.

Do you feel the chaos in the personality of this human being?

Have you any idea what it means to wish to be released from that astral misery, and at the same time to attract it?

He is like that woman.

She did not ask to become possessed either.

But they all have their longings; their inner life wants it that way.

This experience amounts to passion, the wish to possess the life of another human being.

That is not bad in itself, as long as we act in accordance with God’s creation, but God never said that life was only intended to experience ourselves.

That is forgotten, and all this is not known on earth, yet this is the cause of mental illness in people!

Does this seem so improbable?

I will show you how true this is, André, and on my behalf and that of millions on this side, you will pass it on to mankind.

We will supply the necessary proof.

And at the same time, those pieces of proof constitute a spiritual wonder, because we will shortly throw these beings out of his body.

One by one, they will have to let go of him.

I can now assure you of that.

This man will see it happen.

Let people think whatever they want.

I am telling you: this sick person could not accomplish this on his own, but we will serve to deliver him from this astral illness.

That will prove that life continues after death and is everlasting.

We are not dead, we are alive, and since we have not lost our own conscious­ness, millions of us return to earth to experience in keeping with our own level of consciousness!

Is that so strange?

Does that seem so improbable?

So unearthly?

Who are these people who go insane, and what do they do?

They merely experience under the power of others!

They are lived!

These people are your friends, your sisters and brothers, your fathers and mothers, who left the earth but had not yet discarded their physical passions.

It does not trouble me, because it is the truth.

I do not pity them, since we once lived through this spiritual misery too, and in the end we learnt from it.

Now we have reached the spheres of light.

Yet I keep on fighting, for their sake and for yours, because it was my own battle that got me that far.

I talk to you now as a conscious person.

I am fully aware of the things I pass on to you, André, and to the world, to mankind!

Follow him in all his thoughts, André, because through him you will get to know the astral laws.”

Humbly and mannerly, the patient returned.

André sensed fear in him, fear that he might let him go after all.

Nevertheless, the patient felt that André understood him, because he immediately put the same question to him: “You will keep on helping me, won’t you?

I can’t give you anything in return, and I feel how difficult this is for you.

What should I do?”

“Quietly sit down there on the couch, I’ll help you.

Don’t worry, and get rid of those thoughts.

I will help you until you are better.

How are you feeling?”

“Still the same, but my sleeping has improved.

I haven’t slept like that for years.

Oh, don’t send me away, sir, you can help me.”

“Now stop your whining, man.

Put those thoughts out of your head, I won’t send you away.”

André magnetized the patient’s nervous system.

While he was treating him, he concentrated on the astral beings that lived inside of him.

What a bunch of devils they were, he thought.

They had retreated deep within the man to conceal themselves.

André now witnessed spiritual wonders.

He felt himself being connected with these terrible beings.

But they felt it too.

He tuned his powers of concentration, descended into the life of the soul of the poor man and entered the home of the soul. As soon as he focussed the astral light, the beings withdrew.

They sensed his presence, and light entered their dark existence.

They acted as if they were his prisoners.

But the greatest wonder of all was their size: they had made themselves smaller.

They seemed like insignificant sparks, tiny, minified people.

Alcar let him feel how they could withdraw in that manner.

The home of the patient’s soul was now a prison to them.

They would soon tune in to physical life again.

However, André saw what his master was accomplishing.

Master Alcar enveloped the patient in a shroud of astral power, so that the astral beings could no longer reach him.

That wall of astral power was erected during the treatment and this took time.

It couldn’t possibly be done in one go.

The patient interrupted him:

“Hey, that’s doing me a world of good!”

“Shut up, man. You can talk afterwards.”

Yet André still heard him stammer: “My chest doesn’t feel as constricted as before.”

He had to let that out, and it calmed him down.

This proved to André that relaxation was setting in.

A moment ago, he had seen the cause of that relaxation: the astral beings were already retreating.

Their powers were on the wane.

The woman who lived inside of the patient now lived below his consciousness.

She wanted to take cover from this astral light.

The vixen backed out into the astral world.

This eased the patient’s breathing, since they were responsible for his shortness of breath.

Their lecherous urge to live had smothered his inner life.

Now that his breathing organs relaxed, his rapid heartbeat, causing him to feel like a hunted animal, slowed down.

Those feelings stirred up the physical organs, and he, as a physical human being, was forced to stand this.

André understood the patient’s condition because he was able to observe his illness.

A spiritual silence descended into the poor man.

André and his master were now in for a battle against these demons.

And by keeping on the right track, by praying and offering constant resistance to them, the patient would be helping himself.

Master Alcar’s aura now encompassed the patient.

André saw how his master began to densify the aura, so that the patient could no longer be attacked.

The male beings had abandoned him, but the woman still had him in her power.

He could sense this problem too and check it.

After all, André reflected, she had been attracted due to the longings of this earthly personality for a woman.

The patient now had to reject her, or set his inner life straight, and then she too could be removed.

André saw this being beside him and he addressed her.

“Go away, poor child.

Leave this organism and begin another life.

Do not tear this life of the soul apart.

Free yourself of your passions and do not do wrong again.”

André felt that she thought: “Shut up, it’s none of your business!”

When he had finished the treatment, the patient asked:

“You spoke to her, didn’t you?”

André looked at him in surprise; after all, how could he know?

Yet he had heard the conversation, even though it had been held in the mind.

The man would make a good medium, but how could he survive if he had to cope with a life like André’s?

André knew that he would be possessed after a single day; all the same, he had sensitive feelings living inside of him.

“You know what she says, sir?

I am not going anyway.

He thinks that he can send me away just like that, but I am not going."

Yes, sir, that’s the way she always talks.

So how do I get rid of her?”

“You’ll have to be patient; slowly but surely she will vanish from your aura.

It can’t possibly be done all at once.”

“It gives me a good feeling when you help me; my breathing is easier now.

That’s wonderful.”

André advised him above all to stay calm and offer resistance.

He didn’t need to explain all these symptoms to him because it would only confuse him.

The man had enough to digest as it was, and any explanation of his condition would be a tremendous burden on his inner life, and that was not what was wanted.

The man’s whole life seemed like a spiritual miracle, he mused.

André thought of all the things he had experienced through him.

He felt glad that he had set out on this case.

Nobody on earth would believe this man, because a lot of people would think he was talking nonsense.

However, if one accepted eternal life, then all these laws would become clear, and these symptoms would show themselves to be quite natural.

It was a fact that a human personality could be drawn up into the world that follows after death, and that’s where our deceased live.

Those who had sought darkness returned to the earth and used these weak in spirit to run completely wild.

It was very sad, and serious too.

People on earth didn’t really behave differently.

None of these people had changed in any way.

They wouldn’t be able to return if life didn’t continue, and still mankind can’t accept eternal life.

These beings wanted to free themselves from darkness, from the hell in which they dwelt, yet they destroyed someone else’s happiness.

It was all so horrible, yet on the other hand it was also very interesting.

It gave André the chance to learn; it was his master who conveyed this enormous wisdom to him.

The patient arrived punctually for his next session and immediately began talking again.

“I’ve had a few splendid days, but last night they got to me again.

They certainly made me suffer.

My body seemed to grow longer, and deep within I received severe shocks as if they were pulling me apart.

I already experienced all those symptoms before.

They’re terrible!

I broke out in a cold sweat and you should have heard my heart beating.

It was horrible!

This went on for about four hours and it prevented me from sleeping.

I prayed all night, but it didn’t do me any good.

They scoffed at my prayers.

Whenever I turned on the light, things became a little easier, but as soon as I turned it off again the misery increased again in force.

It felt as if they were fighting inside of me, and I experienced that fight.

I’m dead tired, I’m sure you can feel that.

At the moment I can hardly breathe, and my chest hurts too.

They attack me from the left and right, from the front and from behind, so that it’s impossible to fight back.

Sometimes I feel heavy blows.

I feel blows wherever they can get at me.

And I can’t hit back, because I can’t see them, they’re invisible to me and remain so.

When you hit them, you go right through them and then they start yelling with laughter.

That’s the kind of monsters they are.

This started yesterday morning, when they drove me out onto the streets at an early hour.

However, I can offer more resistance outdoors.

It’s strange, yet I feel that it’s true.

But in those moments, my head is burning hot and I start to pant like a dog.

When I’m out in nature, I feel better again.

They seem to get a better grip on me indoors.

I feel exactly what they want.

Yes sir, I feel that very clearly.”

The poor fellow looked terrible.

André felt sorry for him.

What caused him to fight with the astral beings.

How had this battle taken place?

He would ask his master.

“You had better sit down, I’ll help you.”

Alcar connected himself with the patient and told André:

“Do not lose courage.

I told you that we would have to keep on starting all over again, did I not?

And yet we will win.

That fighting starts when the astral spirit is being attacked by others.

Those beings want to take him away from her.

This fight takes place in the home of his soul.

So he is connected with it.

This frightful dishar­mony then enters his organism, causing his inner life to become stirred up, so that his nervous ­system can barely cope with it.

His blood then surges to his head, his heart begins to beat like mad and he gets terribly overwrought.

The feeling that he is being pulled apart is a spiritual fight, because they want to throw him out of his organism, which is impossible.

But he feels this distinctly.

They want to cast him out of his body, but that would turn him insane.

The woman who still dominates him, resists this attack but at the cost of his strength.

I already explained to you what the others want.

The sick man is also battling their oncoming passions with all his might.

Astrally, he senses the blows which he is now receiving.

As well as with speaking, he also reaches spiritual oneness with this.

His personality has now split up; he lives in the state of half-waking consciousness, between life and death.

Yet he remains aware of his own life; otherwise, it would not be able to know anything about it.

This is a monstrous fight, André, his heart cannot stand it much longer.

You know what we are in for.

So treat him with great care while I continue to close him off from her and the whole astral world.”

After the treatment, the man felt calmer.

“You see? You’re capable of helping me.

If you couldn’t, I would be lost.

If only my soul kept silent, then things wouldn’t be so bad, and I would probably soon be better, yet my soul keeps on talking with her and it cherishes her.

But I don’t want to have anything to do with her.

I am fighting that monster day and night, and she won’t get the better of me.”

André understood but did not respond, and he sent him away.

He was always on about his soul talking, he thought.

His soul cherished her!

Anyone who heard him talk like that would believe that he’d gone mad.

How could his heart and his soul talk?

He was hearing himself talking.

André felt through his master that the man’s longing had built up a second self, and that was the part in him that felt, understood, and talked.

This personality had split!

One half was within reach of the astral world, but the other half, the day-conscious personality, remained dominant.

The woman who dwelt within him merely had dominion over the inner life that belonged to his second self, which was the part in him that heard her speak.

That was also the part, André saw, which this other creature inhabited and ruled over.

One half of him was in the hands of the astral world; the other half was engaged in a life-or-death struggle and could not free itself.

This required help and Master Alcar provided that help.

He could see how much progress his master had made by now.

All the same, the whole procedure was terrifying!

All this served to increase André’s knowledge.

The wisdom he received through this sick man was awesome.

He learnt that a split personality is caused by longings that are attuned to disreputable character traits, which provided the dark astral world with an opportunity to attack the human being in order to indulge in its passion.

Now that his leader let him feel and see what went on behind the veil, it all seemed quite simple.

If it were not so horrible, André would even have considered it to be very instructive to mankind, because it made people get to know themselves.

This man was being attacked from within.

His other half received the blows and he felt that con­sciously.

It was remarkable, miraculous, spooky even.

That’s it, André thought, his inner-life is being haunted.

Some ghosts needed room.

They haunted his organism and had their fun.

And their experience was nurtured by their desire to possess.

It was passion.

Nothing else.

They used him, poor man, to make love.

Several spirits dwelt inside of him; they had completely taken over.

But now he’d had more than enough. He couldn’t stand it any longer.

The astral beings ran wild within his naked inside, and now they were quarrelling over him, this prey of theirs, whom they had used in order to link up with the earth.

He ought to have closed his inner life off from them, but he didn’t possess the necessary strength.

There were still unconscious traits in his life, which now demanded to be experienced.

This doesn’t look good, André thought, but thousands of people would shrug their shoulders at it.

But were all these people, including their feelings, different from him?

Were all those earthly people ahead of him on the road upwards?

Had all these millions at some time also experienced a split personality?

His master would probably show him all those laws too.

How awe-inspiring everything was!

The next time the patient came to see him, he began to relate the misery he had gone through.

All the same, he was feeling a lot better now.

“It’s getting better”, he started, “I’ve been feeling very peaceful.

Do you know what they are doing now?

They want to hit me, but they can’t touch me.

I hear slapping sounds all the time and it is just as if they’re no longer able to reach me.”

“That’s marvellous, and I understand what’s happening”, answered André.

“You know what this means?”

“My master has closed you off from them.

This has become your protection and in the meantime your nervous system will recover.”

“That’s great.”

These made it clear to André that not all the things the poor fellow was experiencing make the slightest sense to him.

While he was busy treating the man, he heard Master Alcar say:

“You must now adjust to me, André.

Your keen concen­tration will now enable us to expel some of these astral beings from his aura.

He must pray for strength too.

It will prevent him from having thoughts and attracting certain forces.

The woman has drawn the others around her again, but she feels, just as we do, that the moment has come to show what she wants.”

Now a fight on life or death followed.

The patient sank into a state of half-waking consciousness, and he was more dead than alive.

He heard savage howls deep within and nearly choked because he could barely breathe.

He shivered and shook with fear and didn’t know what was happening to him.

“Start praying and think of me, otherwise, you would be thwarting me in my efforts.”

“I feel awful, I’m almost choking”, he groaned.

“Now, exert a bit of self-control and remain your true self; you’ll soon feel different.

I’ll explain everything later.”

It was a terrible fight, as André watched.

It seemed as if all hell had broken loose inside the life of the patient.

His life aura was torn apart.

This caused the sick man to feel a burning pain.

He had the feeling that he was being ripped apart.

However, André saw that his master was busy removing the astral beings.

The poor man collapsed under his hands and turned dead to the world.

André continued to magnetize him until there was no power left in him either; he felt completely exhausted.

The patient opened his eyes and called out:

“I’m so tired.

Whatever did they do?

I’m so tired.

What made them do this to me?

What’s the matter with me?

It is getting worse all the time.”

The female being was still present; the others had gone.

“My chest, oh my chest”, the patient lamented.

André paid no attention and continued to watch how his leader freed the man from darkness.

That eased the tension and the man was able to breathe again.

“Is that better?”

“Yes, thank God, it feels better.

What happened a moment ago?”

“It was your aura of life tearing apart that gave you the feeling you were choking.

It caused the tension in your chest, but that’s dissolving now.

Go and take a walk in nature for an hour or so and keep calm.

We’ve already conquered the worst part of this misery.”

“What a horrible illness this is.

Have you cured others whose lives were under the same influence as mine?”

“Very many, but they all differ in some respect.”

“And do the spirits talk to them too?”

“Not always.”

“You know, I’m slightly familiar with these matters.

You witness these things at séances.

Yet I always remained myself.”

The man wanted to talk and tell André that he knew about these phenomena, but André sent him away.

So he had experienced certain things at séances?

People who attended these meetings were driven mad.

They’re showered with a lot of nonsense, and what does their trust get them in return?

This patient was going through terrible times.

In order to cure him, André would have to stake everything he had.

Previously, healing cases of astral influence had proved to be mere child’s play to him.

One single treatment would suffice for his master to hurl the astral personality out of the patient’s life aura, and the sensitive person would feel cured.

However, in this case, quite a few laws were obstructing the healing, and yet he too would soon be better.

Alcar asked:

“Still tired, André?”

“I’m exhausted, Alcar.”

“Do not worry about that; you will soon regain your strength.

Think of the higher life.

It will raise you up, and you will receive fresh strength, which God will grant you because you use your life to serve.

And that power is inexhaustible.

Have you been able to follow this process?”

“Yes, Alcar, but I thought it would make me suffocate too.”

“You felt that constriction in your chest because you got unity with him, for I had connected you with his life.

His inner life was disturbed, which made him fall into a half-trance, and he lost consciousness.

At that moment, I removed the demons out of him.

He would have choked, had it lasted any longer.

So it had to be done quickly.

I descended into his inner life.

I accomplished this with the help of my strong concentration, my firm will power and my knowledge of the occult laws.

His inner life became confused by an overpowering force, and that was me.

His blood circulation speeded up, his breathing became impeded and he felt his heart throbbing in his throat, all because I was intervening in his life with all my might.

Since the inner life is directly attuned to the organism, he experienced this disturbance, the symptoms of which you felt yourself.

And because you remained connected to him, you also experienced those disturbances; after all, it is due to your intermediation that I am connected with him again.

Still, this was a wonderful afternoon, André.

It provided you with vital wisdom.

You learned a few things about the astral and the occult laws.

On this side, people will do their utmost to gain wisdom of this kind.

There are people dwelling here who lock themselves inside psychopaths to get to know these laws.

There is nothing to beat that as a method of learning.

And you are experiencing the laws of our life in the same way.

A spirit of light pays the price to reach his radiant sphere with his own life’s blood, and that means that you do not get anything for nothing.

We are also required to invest every bit of our own self; otherwise, we will never attain cosmic height.

We will get there through our willingness to serve.

However, I needed astral help for this case.

Some of my pupils assisted me; otherwise, his organism would not have survived.

Disturbances would have cropped up in his nervous system, and I prevented that from happening.

My assistants watched over his organism while I expelled all those astral forces from his life.

This could not have happened until today.

Is it not wonderful, André, to be allowed to experience this as a physical human being?

We will now continue and prepare ourselves for his final battle.

There is only the female being to deal with and then we are finished.

As soon as she has been removed, he can begin to lead a different, harmonious life.

I will tell you in advance when this may happen.”

When the man returned he had changed entirely.

“I’m making good progress. We’re on the right road, because I feel fine.”

“We are not quite there yet, dear fellow. Don’t holler it from the rooftops!”

“But I’m so glad that we already got this far.

I’m no longer being attacked in such a brutal way.

If you only knew what it means to be able to sleep quietly and have the feeling of being on your own.

I was never alone!

And the food tastes fine again.

I’m so happy!”

André treated him, and Alcar was satisfied.

After the treatment the patient told him:

“I don’t think I’ll experience any more of those nocturnal fights, because I’m very familiar with my illness and at present I’m able to tell whether it’s coming on.

I feel that I’m my real self again, as that woman no longer has as much say in the matter.

Everybody says that I look a lot better.

Nowadays I go for lovely walks and that does me a lot of good.

Am I ready to go and visit a spiritual lecture?

I love to attend lectures about these things.”

André did not allow him to go, and he told him:

“You have experienced enough of these things.

Later on, when you’re entirely yourself, it’ll be no concern of mine what you do.”

However, Master Alcar suddenly showed him that the man had, in the meantime, been messing about.

He had to admit that André saw correctly and he promised not to do it again.

“What a dangerous domain this is”, the man said.

“Do you know what made you fall into their hands?”

“No, I don’t know”, he lied.

“Do you want to hide it from me?”

He acted submissively, yet he replied: “Isn’t it human?

Doesn’t every human being have longings?”

“True enough, but what you were looking for, led you into darkness.

You can have as many longings as you wish.

You possess enough resistance, but do not do anything foolish!”

“But surely it isn’t a sin to have these longings, sir?

After all, I have a body and that makes its demands too.

Do you really believe that I don’t want a home of my own, and a wife and children?

That’s what we’re here on earth for.

And when you don’t get it, what do you do then?

You have your longings.

And so they came to me.”

“You were attacked because you are extremely sensitive.

It may not bother other people, although they have longings too.

Those people still have to acquire this sensitivity – as I hear now – but you were already that far.

You are a medium, just as I am, but you don’t have the necessary resistance; it would put you into a mental hospital.

Is that clear to you?”

“Yes, I understand what you mean.

As a child, I already saw into that other world, but I was never understood.

During my childhood I wandered around for hours searching for something without understanding what is was.

I was sent to see a doctor, but he couldn’t help me.

I kept on running away from home, although I didn’t really want to.

Was I already under astral influence in those days?”

“They were already chasing you when you were a youth, and when you grew a little older that world was able to reach you.

You know best what happened to you next.”

The man blushed.

He felt that André saw through him, but he also understood that this was quite natural.

“If I’d known you at the time, it wouldn’t have got that far.”

“I couldn’t have helped you in any way, dear fellow.”

“Why not?”

“Because you had to get to know all this misery.

After all, you longed for it yourself.

Your inner life was open to it and you wanted to indulge in those longings.

Your passion led you to the astral laws.

Now that you’ve had enough of it – you’ve become familiar with the dangers and the misery – you’re fighting to get rid of it.

In those days you had your longings, but only now, after these longings have been smothered, were we able to help you.”

“What made me deserve this?

Is this some kind of a curse?”

“It has nothing to do with a curse.

Your own sensitivity led you into the astral world.

Every human being, my master tells me, has to go through that phase, because only then can one acquire astral sensitivity, which is a spiritual attunement that belongs to the Beyond.

It’s very natural, but when we long for it without really knowing our true self, and don’t possess enough resistance – as you yourself experienced – then that world will attack us.

What you must do now, is to remain your true self in everything you turn your thoughts to; otherwise, you’ll maintain a steady contact and you will undoubtedly be led back into this misery.

Please bear that in mind, it’s for your own good, and for the benefit of your health.”

The man left, and André pondered over all these problems.

Life on earth was very dangerous.

The more a person’s sensitivity increased, the greater the dangers he encountered on earth.

And yet everybody wanted to possess this sensitivity, but who would still be able to hold his ground?

Where did this sensitivity end?

When could a person say ‘I made it’?

In due time, he might learn about all these laws and human problems.

Wasn’t everybody entitled to some happiness?

Was it so wrong for people to long for wife and children and their own home?

It deranged thousands of these people and then they fell into the hands of astral personalities, of dark spirits.

Were we here on earth with a fixed destiny?

Did everything in life have an astral significance?

André was unable to answer these quest­ions, but Lantos’ life had presented him with some understanding of these laws.

However, there were still so many things he wanted to know, and so did thousands of others.

But he was sure that Alcar would show him all this later on.

Was this man now destined to go to ruin because he wanted to experience love?

The love that burnt inside of him like a blazing fire.

This made him susceptible to their attacks.

It was all very deep, yet on the other hand, it was quite natural.

He understood these laws, which man had to master.

Life on earth served to develop one’s personality, which would then pursue its course and continue its existence on the Beyond.

It marked the release from all physical passion.

This man loved, but that love also included passion.

He was open to it and so they could reach him.

One day the astral woman came to him. He hadn’t expected that, and it was too late by then.

She was able to unify with his life of the soul, and André felt that this had been the moment the agony set in.

How many years had he already spent under these circumstances?

During their talk he had seen several scenes from the man’s life.

It wasn’t exactly glorifying, but André could understand.

The sick man had to overcome those feelings before he could be restored to health.

The lesson he had just learned would help him.

He also felt that the human soul is unfathomable for the material consciousness, and actually nothing is yet known about this on earth.

This was a great pity, but his master told him that such a thing, as ‘pity’ did not exist in the Beyond.

It betokened the consciousness of all mankind, all those millions of souls, still had to awaken to the next life.

Science was still unaware of these laws.

‘Well’, André thought, ‘I do wish Alcar would explain these laws to them.

It would present them with a very fine field of learning, and scientists would no longer be so helpless.’

Life on the Beyond harboured the truth of all these problems.

Man went to ruin because of his longings, because he aimed for a consciousness that was above and beyond his reach.

The soul as a personality was not ready yet for these experiences.

It seemed very simple to him, but would people be able to accept it?

Would it be of any concern to those who cherish deep longings?

He didn’t think so.

Even sick people wanted to experience this physical union and produce children.

Yet what were these children like?

They were physically and mentally ill.

How could that be?

Could the spirit be made even sicker than it was already?

These presented problems to him, which his master could answer, but they preyed on countless people’s minds and caused them to go to ruin.

Those who kept on searching during their life on earth were destined to break down.

The life that was given to all mankind to accept could be difficult at times but behind it all, André felt the righteousness of God.

While he pondered all these problems, his leader drew him up into his own life and the answer came to him as a vision, so that he could immediately accept this explanation.

If all those people could experience this, it would serve to protect them.

But even this was beyond their reach.

They continued on a downgrade track.

Those who searched vigorously squandered their physical energy until their self had been overcome.

This usually ended in total breakdown, but afterwards the soul, as a personality would move on to a greater happiness.

André felt that this typified the normal kind of material life that belonged to physical day-consciousness.

Only after he had reached the other side, could man get to know his true self.

This knowledge was totally lost on him on earth, although he needed this most of all to experience physical life consciously.

Months went by.

The man diligently went to call on him regularly and made good progress.

His nervous system relaxed, and recovered completely.

Now and then he had a slight relapse, but he kept his ground, and was attacked anew in this condition.

The female being was still present in his life, yet slowly but surely, the moment was approaching in which his master would be able to expel her from his aura too.

One afternoon he experienced once again how these auras were torn apart.

She fought for her possession with such fierce intensity that the man thought he was about to die.

However, she had to give up her prey and the patient could start a different life.

At that moment, the man felt as if he had lost a few thousand pounds of weight, which showed how intense the pressure on his own balance had been during all those years.

The astral personality had blemished his life of the soul, injected her astral poison into him that weighed down on his chest so that he had hardly been able to breathe.

Now she had disappeared out of his life, along with all the pressure that belonged to the darkness, and he wept with joy like a little child.

The man danced around the room, overjoyed that the darkness had let go of him, physically as well as spiritually.

From now on, he would watch over himself.

Her wretched passion had kept him from sleeping, but now he slept as he used to, which he had not been able to do for years.

However, the Beyond continued to keep an eye on him.

He had to overcome his weaknesses, and this had to do with his character.

André had treated him for eight months.

When the man moved away, he was attacked again.

He would have preferred to run away from those powers but that was impossible and now he had to continue to offer resistance.

This resistance lived in him.

During the time that André had treated him, his will power had increased and his personality had developed.

What was he in for now?

Once again, he was faced with all that misery.

His housemates, who didn’t really know him, called the First Aid to get him into a hospital as quickly as possible.

There, they believed he was dying, but it was the astral woman who had got hold of him again.

The doctor wasn’t familiar with his condition and made the wrong diagnosis.

He was unable to look behind the veil that covered up the problem and decided on a heart condition.

The man was checked in as they thought that he was about to have a stroke.

In the hospital, the patient wrote André the following letter:

“I’ve been attacked again.

I did everything I could, believe me, but she went on like a wild cat.

She called me all sorts of names and hit me wherever she could reach me, but I did remain my own self.

However, the people where I live thought I was going to die and phoned the First-Aid station.

And now I’m here, lying in a nice white bed, with good food and drinks, being treated, as I never was before.

The doctor examines me every morning but he can’t find any­thing wrong with me, because my heart is at rest again and she has taken to her heels.

But she did say:

‘What do I do with you now, you fool?’

I suppose that it’s clear to you; I immediately understood what she meant too, but I pretended not to hear her.

Since then, I’ve had my peace.

Do you think it’s wrong of me not to help the doctor? After all, I like this place a lot.

In fact, I told them all about myself, but they don’t believe me.

They think I’m a psychopath and yet, when they talk with me like that they shake their heads and keep on searching.

Will you write to me some time?

Will you keep thinking of me?

Do you think she will bother me again?

Yours gratefully, B.”

André wrote back that he shouldn’t worry about anything.

He has good food and drinks now, and could enjoy taking it easy.

The patient wrote:

“Of course, I could easily get used to this place.

I first thought that I ought to leave of my own free will, but now I’ve changed my mind.

In that other place the food was very bad, but here I’ve added weight, and that’ll certainly benefit my resistance.

I do feel sorry for the doctors though.

What do they know about these kind of problems?

Nothing!

But I let them go on searching; they don’t believe me anyway.

Only they know.

And in the meantime, I have my meals and enjoy my rest.

I’ve never had it so good.

I’m pretty sure that once I’ve regained my strength, she won’t get at me as easily.

I’m ready to fight.

However, this demon isn’t easily defeated.

She’s on the lookout for me, like a cat ready to pounce.

What a terrible person she is.

Last night she came back.

I took the opportunity to really give her a piece of my mind.

And guess what she did.

She started to swear and whimper at the same time.

She never used to whine.

So I gather that she no longer has any power.

She doesn’t give a damn about me, she says, and sooner or later she’ll get hold of me again.

I’m telling you, I’ll not stop fighting. She won’t see me again; you can count on that.

Thank you once again for everything you’ve done for me.

I’ll never forget you.

Yours, B.”

Months went by.

André heard nothing more of the patient, but one afternoon he was standing at the door.

He looked like death warmed up; he was in a cold sweat and his expression showed the misery he was in.

“May I come in, sir?

She’s got hold of me again.”

André let him in.

He then told that he had been discharged from the hospital.

He was then taken care of by other people, and that’s where she returned to him.

It had already started in the hospital.

“First they wanted to send me to an institution, but I refused.

I told them that I was normal.

But it’s my own fault.

I should have kept my mouth shut.

The doctor began to understand me and decided that I didn’t belong in a hospital.

Now I’m under supervision after all, and I want none of that.

I want to be my own master and remain so.

Will you help me again?”

André asked his master what he should do, and now he heard his leader say:

“You are not to give him any more help, André.

He can stand on his own two feet now.

This is what I predicted, when I told you that you would not enjoy dealing with him.

He will now have to take his stand.”

“I’m not helping you anymore.

It’s up to you now to show what you’re worth.”

The patient was on the verge of tears, but at that moment the doorbell rang.

A gentleman wanted to know whether this man happened to be with André.

When he entered the room he said:

“So this is where you are, my lad?”

And to André: “Allow me to introduce myself.

My name is D.H., I’m a male nurse.

He has been entrusted to me; but he ran away this morning.

I had a hunch he might go and see you again.

And lo and behold, here he is.

Now come along, dear chap, we’ll take good care of you.”

The man left with the patient, but arranged to come back at a later date, because he was interested to get to know all about this case.

When he returned a week later, André asked him:

“How is your patient getting on?”

“Not bad at all, he’s actually doing very well, but he doesn’t want to give up his freedom.

He doesn’t give me any trouble, but this morning he suddenly disappeared again.”

“Have you got through to him in the meantime?”

“Yes, I believe I know him by now.

He loves to talk, and I know that he’s not uttering nonsense.

Nonetheless, I don’t take up the issue.

I’ll do anything for the people in my care, but they must listen.

I’ve heard your name mentioned, and since I knew that you were treating him, I came straight here.

When I’m certain that he’ll return to the ward, I’ll allow him to visit you, because he wants to know all about himself, or so he tells me.

You can still help him, he says, but I doubt it.”

“You sensed that correctly, because I’m giving him no more help.

He must now assert himself.

My task is finished.

I did all I could and should have done to help him.”

“All he wants now is to take to the streets.

He’s looking for ways to do that, but I’m watching over him.

In three months time he can do as he pleases; afterwards, I no longer have to care for him.

But in the meantime, I want to keep him in check; otherwise, the patient will become a burden to me and we don’t want that to happen.

As I see him, I feel that he has spent his whole life under some sort of influence.

I have read your books and so I know a little about the topic.

He is now heading for his own conscious life, if that’s what he really wants, and he must begin to fight the astral influence.

All the same, I do believe that he is still in need of your help, because you can talk with him.”

“I don’t want to see him anymore.

Now he must show his colours.

I no longer need to help him.”

The man left.

But weeks later, around ten o’clock in the evening, the doorbell rang and there was the sick man standing outside.

“Oh, I’m in such a mess again, sir.

Please don’t send me away; they’ve got hold of me again.

And I was doing so well.”

André tuned in to Master Alcar and began to see.

He looked right through the man, but saw no astral influence; the man was making this up.

André remembered Master Alcar’s words: ‘You will not enjoy your dealings with him.’

Here before him stood this man, lamenting, shivering and shaking, even though he was in no way in the hands of the astral world.

The patient begged him for help, but André answered:

“No, dear fellow I won’t help you.

Now is the time for you to show what you’re capable of.

And you’re not doing that yet!

What you’re feeling now is merely make-belief!

There is nothing wrong with you.

Nothing can happen to you because they can’t even reach you.

Go home quietly and put it out of your mind.

You’ll have to conquer this, but that’s in your own hands, not mine.

It’s either do or die.

If you don’t put up a fight, you’ll end up in a mental hospital.

Is that what you want?

You’ll get no more help from me.

At the moment, you’re fooling around with your health.”

The patient wept, but André paid no attention.

Alcar had made André feel that he ought to lay a heavy hand on him.

The man was to leave, because his inner life had been set free.

He sneaked down the stairs like a beaten dog.

André thought it was awful.

It hurt him, but he wasn’t allowed to act differently.

A few months later he met him again on the street.

The man didn’t see him. He was whistling a tune and seemed on top of the world.

André went up to him and asked:

“The world seems to be treating you well.’

“You were right after all, I got it over with.

She has stopped bothering me.

I did think that she had a hold on me that evening, but the next morning I was entirely myself again.

And that same night I even slept well, which I had never expected.”

“You must go on fighting.

Constantly bear in mind that she may take you by surprise.

In that way, you keep your concentration tuned and you’re ready to retort.

When you get used to it, you’ll be building up your own protection and you won’t even feel that you are attuned to her.

I act in the same way towards my patients.

Will you keep your chin up and continue to fight?

You know that if you don’t, the mental hospital will be waiting for you.”

“And that’s the place I definitely don’t want to go to.

I’ll do my best, sir.

I’ll never forget what you have done for me.”

“You’d better thank the Lord for that.”

Months later, André met him again.

The man had found a job and the work suited him well.

He was entirely himself and experienced no more trouble from the astral world.

He would watch over himself and his mediumistic sensitivity.

The mediumistic sensitivity remained within him; although it wasn’t put to use, it still left him susceptible to astral influence.

He was to take an unremitting stand against it.

He felt this himself and went all out to do so.

Whistling a tune, he bade André good-bye and disappeared in the crowd.

‘An odd customer’, André thought, ‘and yet he’s to be pitied.’

Some time afterwards he heard that the man was out of work, so he would have time to himself again, which André regretted.

And when André asked his master whether he could still do anything for the man, Alcar also told him:

“It is sad, André, he is imagining things again, which is obviously bad for his condition.

He should work, and if that were possible, he could start to live a normal life.

But this is what society is like, and there is nothing I can change about that.

Mankind has not reached the stage yet where it is prepared to help this kind of people.

But sooner or later he will find work.

You need not worry about him.

From now on he will remain himself.”

André understood his master and awaited further developments.

He was to disembody again and he would learn all about these illnesses of the spirit.

He had learnt a lot through this patient.