There are yet another sort of Machine, which I never obtained a sight
of, till the last Voyage I made to this Lunar Orb, and these are
called Elevators: The Mechanick Operations of these are wonderful,
and helpt by Fire; by which the Sences are raised to all the strange
Extreames we can imagine, and whereby the Intelligent Soul is made to
converse with its own Species, whether embody'd or not.
Those that are rais'd to a due pitch in this wondrous Frame, have a
clear Prospect into the World of Spirits, and converse with Visions,
Guardian-Angels, Spirits departed, and what not: And as this is a
wonderful Knowledge, and not to be obtained, but by the help of this
Fire; so those that have try'd the Experiment, give strange Accounts
of Sympathy, Prexistence of Souls, Dreams, and the like.
I confess, I always believ'd a converse of Spirits, and have heard of
some who have experienced so much of it, as they could obtain upon no
Body else to believe.
I never saw any reason to doubt the Existent State of the Spirit
before embody'd, any more than I did of its Immortality after it
shall be uncas'd, and the Scriptures saying, the Spirit returns to
God that gave it, implies a coming from, or how could it be call'd a
return.
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