Beyond the Threshold
Deathbed scenes
- Scene 5 -
A young lady of fashion
6 August 1847
Here follows another early death, that of a young lady of fashion, who during a ball indulged too much in dancing with a view to securing a young and rich bridegroom. Instead, she only gained an early death.
A young, physically very attractive girl of nineteen years was invited to attend a grand society ball, which invitation she gladly accepted, with the permission of her parents. At once the fashion stores were gone through, which luckily amongst a thousand articles still had one which found the approval of our invited beauty. Now came a visit to a first-class dressmaker with the intention of making the gown not only according to the latest Paris or London fashion, but if possible after the latest fashion of Madrid or New York. In this way she would appear at this glittering ball in an outstanding outfit, thereby arousing the greatest attention and being regarded as of extraordinary appearance
The dressmaker, knowing his client and the dozens of capricious ideas cropping up on such occasions, was in quite a bit of trepidation on account of this order. Therefore, he did his utmost and actually made a masterpiece of a ball gown to the fullest satisfaction of his client; for the gown could be worn without a corset.
However, the many fine elastic bands could compress the body to such an extent that our heroine's waist became thinner than her round neck.
This gown according to the New York fashion was actually the cause of her early and very sudden demise. For, being the beauty queen of the ball, she danced with a young, rich dandy, who suited her fancy, so much so that a large blood vessel in her compressed lungs burst. Owing to the enormous loss of blood, she was dead in a few minutes.
When she broke down on the dance floor and a stream of blood gushed from her rosy mouth -to the horror of all girls and ladies, who were also tightly corseted -her parents, relatives and doctors came running, undressed her, poured icy cold water onto her and gave her medicine, which she, being totally dead, could no longer take.
Everybody wept and lamented loudly. The parents and the attentive dandy of a lover tore their hair in despair. Some cursed such a fate, others again pitied the unfortunate one. Many left the dance hall caring a reminder home, but of course not much better than the sparrows that are scattered by a shot from the roof.
In this case we shall not see much that is of interest in the spirit world. Notwithstanding all this, you shall see how such transitions proceed in the spirit world.
Look, there is our heroine still crouched down on the bloodspattered floor, and there at a little distance you see an angel spirit standing with crossed arms. His countenance shows dejection, meaning a kind of sadness, which such a guardian spirit feels in cases of extreme human folly, where he can no longer help the people with his loving care.
What will this mourning angel be doing here? You see, he approaches the girl, who is also in the spirit world recognizable as a corpse. Now he has reached her and says: "O you foolish being! What shall I now awaken in you, since everything is dead within, wherever I turn my eyes? O Lord, look graciously down! Here the strength is not sufficient with which you have endowed me; therefore, do stretch out Your almighty hand and do to this foolish girl according to Your liking!"
Now look, there comes another, fiery-looking angel! Now he is there, and look, his fire seizes the dead girl and consumes her instantly to ashes. (In the natural/material world this cannot be observed, since this act concerns only the soul/body or: psychic body.) Now something in the ashes begins to stir. The angel is praying over these ashes. The last words of his prayer are: "Lord, Your will be done!"
Now the second angel leaves the ashes, which are more and more stirred up, but the first angel remains. This stirring is nothing else but a new gathering together of the totally destroyed, scattered and utterly deranged soul specifica and is directly effected through My power. Now we shall see at once what is left over from this girl's soul!
Look, a dark-gray little cloud is rising! The little cloud takes on more and more form. And now look, there we have a form! You can compare it with nothing else on earth. The head looks like that of a bat, the body like that of a giant grasshopper, the hands are like the feet of a goose and the feet like those of a stork! How do you like this fashion, being the fruit of that worldly one? The fashion is not what is so extraordinary; but it is a different matter that this foolish girl, quasi a suicide, will hardly ever enter the luminous realms of heaven!
It may take hundreds of years till she will attain a human form, and then only in a most painful manner. Afterwards she will be in the spirit-realm, as what the albinos are on earth, namely, she will shun the light. With this one, nothing further can be seen and learnt, so another example next.