ANGELS AND SHAVING 
363 
animal, as we are; as such, he appeals to all our senses exactly 
as if he were "material." 
But everything sensible is matter in some state or other ; 
how then are we to regard an Angel, complete with robes, 
weapons, and other impedimenta? (I have never known a god 
thus encumbered, when he has been "materialised" at all. Of 
course, the mere apparition of a God is subject to laws similar 
to those governing the visions of angels.) 
For one thing, all the laws that we find in operation on 
various parts of the "Astral plane" are valid. Two things can 
occupy the same place at the same time . They are "swift 
without feet, and flying without wings." They change size, 
shape, appearance, 
appurtenances 
of all sorts, at will. 
Anything that is required for the purpose of the vision is 
there at will. They bring their own background with them. 
They are able to transfer a portion of their energy to the seer 
by spontaneous action without appreciable means. 
But here is where your question arises-what is their "life" 
like? In the visions, they never do anything but "go through 
the motions" appropriate to their nature and to the character 
of the vision. 
Are we to conclude that the whole set of impressions is no 
more than symbolic? Is it all a part of oneself , like a 
daydream, but a daydream intensified and made "real" 
because its crucial incidents turn out to be true, as must 
always occur during the testing of the genuineness of the 
vision? 
It seems to me much simpler to say that these Angels are 
"real" individuals, although living in a world of whose laws 
we have no conception ; and that, in order to communicate 
with us, they make use of the symbolic forms appropriate; 
employ, in short, the language of the Astral Plane. 
After all, it's only fair; for that is precisely what we do to 
them when we invoke them. 
Ha! Ha! Ha! I suppose you think you've caught me out in 
an evasion there! Not so, dear child, not so: this state of 
affairs is nothing strange.