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THE ASTRAL BODY AND ETHERIC BODY 127 The chief danger of passive mediumship is that it lays the medium open to invasions from the astral plane without the subject having acquired the poise and stability which enable him or her to control such invasions.
The advice to cultivate mediumistic capacities so often advocated by spiritualists, should not be followed by those who are ignorant of the nature of the astral body and its liability to contact forces and influences which may prove disastrous to its owner. The poet who directs his thoughts and aspirations to lofty ideals, the devout worshipper, of whatever sect or faith, the soldier whose activities are centred on his conception of duty, the physician devoted to the service of his fellows, will develop an astral body of sufficient stability to resist the wandering hordes of the astral plane. Such strength and stability are an adequate protection at all times, even in times of panic and universal distraction.
Physical life on earth demands that our energies should be directed to the work which, by the law of Karma, falls to our lot. In due course, such capacities and latent powers as we possess will be developed in orderly progression. At death the astral and etheric bodies withdraw from their association with the physical body,
