Dr. N: All right, let's continue. Does anyone come to meet you?
S: (subject smiles broadly) My teacher Karla.
Dr. N: And how does she appear to you?
S: (confidently) I see her coming out of the entrance of the temple towards me ... as a goddess ... tall ... wearing long flowing robes ... one shoulder is bare ... her hair is piled up and fastened with a gold clasp ... she reaches out to me.
Dr. N: Look down at yourself. Are you dressed in the same garments?
S: We... all seem to be dressed the same ... we shimmer with light... and we can change ... Karla knows I like the way she looks.
Dr. N: Where are the others?
S: Karla has taken me inside my temple school. I see a large library. Small gatherings of people are speaking in quiet tones ... at tables. It is ... sedate ... warm ... a secure feeling which is so familiar to me.
Dr. N: Do all these people appear as adult men and women?
S: Yes, but there are more women in my group.
Dr. N: Why?
S: Because that's the valence they are most comfortable with right now.
Note: The word valence used by this subject to indicate gender preference is an odd choice, yet it does fit. Valences in chemistry are positive or negative properties which, when combined with other elements, give proportion. Souls in groups may be inclined toward male and female personages or mixed.
Dr. N: Okay, what do you do next?
S: Karla leads me to the nearest table and my friends immediately greet me. Oh, it's so good to be back.
Dr. N: Why are these particular people here with you in this temple?
S: Because we are all in the same study group. I can't tell you how happy I am to be with them once more. (subject becomes distracted with this scene and it takes me a minute to get her started again)
Dr. N: Tell me how many people are in this library with you?
S: (pauses while mentally counting) About twenty.
Dr. N: Are all twenty very close friends of yours?
S: We are all close-I've known them for ages. But five are my dearest friends.
Dr. N: Are every one of the twenty people at about the same level of learning?
S: Uh ... almost. Some are a little further along than the rest.
Dr. N: Where would you place yourself in the group as far as knowledge?
S: Around the middle.
Dr. N: As to learning lessons, where are you in relation to your five closest friends?
S: Oh, we are about the same-we work together a lot.
Dr. N: What do you call them?
S: (chuckles) We have pet names for each other.
Dr. N: Why do you have nicknames?
S: Hmm ... to define our essence. We see each other as representing earth things.
Dr. N: What is your pet name?
S: Thistle.
Dr. N: And this represents some personal attribute?
S: (pause) I ... am known for sharp ... reactions to new situations in my rotations (life cycles).
Dr. N: What is the entity you feel closest to called, and why?
S: (soft laughter) Spray. He goes flat out in his rotations ... dispensing his energy so rapidly it splashes in all directions, just like the water he loves so much on Earth.
Dr. N: Your family group sounds very distinctive. Now would you explain to me what you and your friends actually do in this library setting?
S: I go to my table and we all look at the books.
Dr. N: Books? What sort of books?
S: The life books.
Dr. N: Describe them as best you can for me.
S: They are picture books-thick white edges-two or three inches thick-quite large ...
Dr. N: Open one of the life books for me and explain what you and your friends at the table see.
S: (pause, while the subject's hands come together and move apart as though she were opening a book) There is no writing. Everything we see is in live pictures.
Dr. N: Action pictures-different than photographs?
S: Yes, they are multi-dimensional. They move ... shift ... from a center of ... crystal ... which changes with reflected light.
Dr. N: So, the pictures are not flat, the moving light waves have depth?
S: That's right, they are alive.
Dr. N: Tell me how you and your friends use the books?
S: Well, at first it's always out of focus when the book is opened. Then we think of what we want, the crystal turns from dark to light and ... gets into alignment. Then we can see ... in miniature ... our past lives and the alternatives.
Dr. N: How is time treated in these books?
S: By frames ... pages ... time is condensed by the life books.
Dr. N: I don't want to dwell on your past right now, but take a look at the book and just tell me the first thing you see.
S: A lack of self-discipline in my last life because this is what is on my mind. I see myself dying young, in a lover's quarrel-my ending was useless.
Dr. N: Do you see future lives in the life book?
S: We can look at future possibilities ... in small bites only ... in the form of lessons ... mostly these options come later with the help of others. These books are intended to emphasize our past acts.
Dr. N: Would you give me your impression of the intent behind this library atmosphere with your cluster group?
S: Oh, we all help one another go over our mistakes during this cycle. Our teacher is in and out and so we do a lot of studying together and discuss the value of our choices.
Dr. N: Are there other rooms where people study in this building?
S: No, this is for our group. There are different buildings where various groups study near us.
Note: The reader may refer to Figure 1 (page 89), circle B, as an example of what is meant here. In the graph, clusters 3-7 represent infrequent group interaction, although they are in close proximity to each other in the spirit world.
Dr. N: Are the groups of people who study in these buildings more or less advanced than those in your group?
S: Both.
Dr. N: Are you allowed to visit these other buildings where souls study?
S: (long pause) There is one which we go to regularly.
Dr. N: Which one?
S: A place for the newer ones. We help them when their teacher is gone. It's nice to be needed.
Dr. N: Help them how?
S: (laughs) With their homework.
Dr. N: But don't the teacher-guides have that responsibility?
S: Well, you see the teachers are ... so much further along (in development) ... this group appreciates our assistance because we can relate to them easily.
Dr. N: Ah, so you do a little student teaching with this group?
S: Yes, but we don't do it anywhere else.
Dr. N: Why not? Why couldn't more advanced groups come to your library to assist you once in a while?
S: They don't because we are further along than the newer ones. And, we don't infringe on them either. If I want to connect with someone, I do it outside the study center.
Dr. N: Can you wander about anywhere as long as you don't bother other souls in their study areas?
S: (responds with some evasiveness) I like to stay around the vicinity of my temple, but I can reach out to anyone.
Dr. N: I get the impression that your soul energy is restricted to this spiritual space even though you can mentally reach out further.
S: I don't feel restricted ... we have plenty of room to go about ... but I'm not attracted to everyone.
The statement about non-restriction, cited by Case 16, seems contrary to those boundaries of spiritual space seen by the last case. When I initially bring subjects into the spirit world, their visions are spontaneous, particularly as to spiritual order and their place in a community of soul life. While the average subject may talk about having private spaces, as far as living and working, none sees the spirit world as confining. Once their superconscious recall gets rolling, most people are able to tell me about having freedom of movement and going to open spaces where souls of many learning levels gather in a recreational atmosphere.