The communications in this little volume, purporting to come from disembodied spirits, came in the manner hereinafter stated, and all that I had to do with them was to faithfully and to the letter transcribe them from the slate on which they were written into blank memorandum books which I procured for the purpose. Before laying before the reader the _modus operandi_ of their delivery, I deem it proper that I should give a brief outline of my own history, especially do I feel the importance of this since I am little known outside of the circle of my immediate acquaintances. It has always been my aim in life to live uprightly before God and man, and as to the success of this noble purpose, formed in early life, I may confidently refer to my neighbors, and many of the leading citizens of Cincinnati, Ohio, with whom I have enjoyed an intimate social and business acquaintance for nearly forty years. I do not know why I should have been made the recipient and custodian of the truly remarkable spirit communications contained in the following pages, except from a long lifetime of honest endeavor to do right I was deemed worthy, and from the additional consideration that the spirits interested in the work knew I would cordially co-operate with them in laying the matter presented before the world, and that, happily, I possessed the pecuniary means to do so. I was born at Grafriset, near Fahlun, in the kingdom of Sweden, March 1, 1811, and have now passed my seventy-first year. At the age of sixteen I entered the Swedish army, and at nineteen became a student at Upsala University, where I remained for two years. After rendering military service for five years, and passing a successful examination, I was permitted to enter the civil service of my country. In the capacity of land surveyor I served for over ten years, when a desire to personally witness the workings of republican institutions induced me to make an application to travel in foreign countries, which permission I obtained for the period of two years. In 1844 I left my native land for the United States, and in 1845 located at Cincinnati, Ohio, and soon thereafter engaged in the art of daguerreotyping, and afterwards photographing, and in the following year married Miss Annie E. Franks, daughter of Frederick Franks, a leading and influential citizen of the city, who is still remembered as the proprietor of Cincinnati's early famous museum. In religion I was raised a Lutheran, but at the time (1879) of embracing spiritualism and for thirty years preceding I was a devout and earnest Swedenborgian. I commenced the investigation of spiritual phenomena in 1879, and soon became convinced of the sublime truths of the spiritual philosophy. As in the following pages the exalted spirit of Madam Fredrika Ehrenborg imparts, among other things, marvelous information in regard to the Planet Mars, of our solar system, it is deemed fitting that somewhat of her history should be made known in this connection: