422- Lethargic and cataleptic individuals generally see and hear what is occurring around them, but they cannot express it. Do they see and hear through the eyes and ears of the body?
“No, through the spirit. The spirit is conscious but is unable to communicate.”
– Why is it unable to communicate?
“The state of the body prevents it. This peculiar state of the organs proves to you that there is something more to a human being than just a body because, although the body is not functioning, the spirit continues to act.”
423- In the state of lethargy, can the spirit separate itself entirely from the body in such a way as to give the body all the appearances of death, and then return to it?
“The body is not dead in the lethargic state, because there are functions that continue to operate. Vitality remains in a latent state, like in a cocoon, but it is not extinguished. The spirit is always connected to the body while the body is alive, but once the ties are broken by real death and by the decomposition of the organs, the separation is complete and the spirit no longer returns. When an apparently dead person comes back to life, it is because death had not actually been consummated.”
424- Through care given in time, can one strengthen the ties that are about to break and bring back to life a being who, without such attention, would definitely die?
“Yes, of course; you have evidence of this every day. In such cases, magnetism is often a powerful means because it gives the body the vital fluid needed to keep its organs functioning.”
Lethargy and catalepsy have the same principle, which is the temporary loss of sensitivity and motion due to an as-yet unexplained physiological cause. They differ from each other in that, in lethargy, the suspension of the vital forces is generalized and gives the body all the appearances of death, while in catalepsy it is localized and can affect a larger or smaller portion of the body so as to leave the intelligence free to express itself, a fact that would not permit it to be confused with death. Lethargy is always natural; catalepsy is sometimes spontaneous but it may also be artificially induced and undone by magnetic action.
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