No, this spiritualized envelope is not what some of Earth's people term the astral sphere, but it is a constituent of the first or so-called astral sphere, within whose limits abide spirits not sufficiently evolved to gravitate to a higher plane of being. In a sense such spirits are _confined_ within the limits suited to their several conditions. Confined, not through the arbitrary sentence of a just or an unjust judge, but through an inevitable process of Natural Law, which is God's Law. Around all planets inhabited by Spiritualized humans and other organisms, the first Spirit Sphere, so to say, materializes. As ages pass and humanity evolves to higher Spiritual Planes other and in all directions greater, grander spheres, suited to the requirements of more highly evolved beings are formed, each succeeding sphere surpassing the preceding one. Gentola--Do you know if there is a limit to the number of spirit spheres surrounding any or all inhabited planets? De L'Ester--I know there is no limit to the questions you can ask, and for the present I must end our conversation by saying that we know of no planet having more than seven spirit spheres, and by the time you or we shall have arrived at the highest, Ento and Earth will have been added to the list of dead worlds, and we may have become archangels. Gentola--Please allow me to ask one more question. Am I to understand that there is a law compelling spirits to abide in certain spirit spheres? De L'Ester--Spirits freed from the physical body, each according to his or her evolvement inevitably go to "their own place," the only place they are fitted for. No spirit can long remain in a sphere with whose _vibrations_ he or she is not in harmony. Spirits from the higher may, and do, enter the lower spheres, but, speaking from experience, not with pleasurable sensations. You once were adventurous enough to descend to the lowest level of one of the deepest mines on your continent. You may recall the sense of oppression and difficulty of breathing which nearly overcame you. Well, that is the best illustration I can offer of the sensations experienced by spirits of higher spheres who, for instance, enter our Earth's First or Spirit Sphere. Why, then, do we return to mortal environments? Oh, my friend, you yet must learn many sad lessons. You, whose destined work is to serve as a teacher to spirits in darkness, will find the answer to your query. You will learn, as we are learning, that only through loving, unselfish service for those more needy than ourselves do we find the stepping-stones by which we shall ascend to the heights where are the exalted ones, who, through self-sacrifice and deepest self-abasement, have attained knowledge and bliss unspeakable. It is they who inspire us to strive for a like beatific state of being.