The matter contained in this book was received psychically. It was spoken in trance by one whose own thought did not direct his speech. No physical apparatus was used at any time while receiving it, either by him or by us. It was all spoken in the light. Some chapters were communicated in full daylight, as in the case of the chapters by Savonarola, Emerson, and Ella Wheeler Wilcox, all of which were spoken to about one hundred and fifty people in a public hall on Sunday afternoons. Others were dictated in artificial light subdued by exclusion of the yellow and blue rays. Always, the light was clear and strong enough for the stenographers.
     Much of the matter was dictated slowly and written down by the reporter. The rest was taken stenographically by two members of the Inner Circle (Edith Brock, the stenographer of the Twentieth Plane, and Bertram Jackes), to both of whom, for the faithful devotion of their time and skill, we are deeply indebted. All the communicated matter was revised twice by the unseen authors. The reporter read the chapters aloud, in the presence, usually, of some members of the Inner Circle, and the entranced Instrument whose voice was the medium of correction, as it had previously been the medium of dictation.

     The chapter which follows was communicated on February eighth, nineteen twenty, in the presence of several members of the Inner Circle. As it was all reported in long-hand, it required one hundred and thirty minutes to receive it. The first thirty-three messages were received in sixty-six minutes, the remaining twenty-two, after an intermission of ten minutes, in fifty-four minutes.