The third great power of the spirit manifested in the mind is the power of memory, which is, in fact, the power of man’s spirit to visit those places within the sphere of his mind where the impressions of former experiences are preserved, and thus to bring them again within the field of consciousness. Whatever function the physical brain may exercise in using this faculty of the spirit, the brain is no more the memory than the eye the sight; it is merely an instrument for perception, but not the perceiver nor the object of perception, nor the perception itself. To remember a thing is to see its impression or image in the _astral light_; to recollect a thing is to gather together one’s own attention at the place where its impression is stored up in the mind, and the power which enables a person to do so is the relation which exists between the creator and his creatures; man having formed a thought or idea, or perceived an image, is able to recollect it, because the impression is his creation—having issued from himself, it is a part of his world. It depends upon the degree of spiritual power of perception in man, whether he can clearly and vividly see these images in the Astral Light, or whether they appear to him dim, uncertain and indistinct; but in the vast majority of men and women in our present generation this power of perceiving does not penetrate deeper nor rise higher than the Astral Light, while the spiritually developed man can penetrate deeper, and behold the memories of not only his present incarnation, but also those referring to his previous states of existence. Will, Imagination and Memory are the cause of many diseases and such may be caused by one’s perverted use of those faculties, or by being practised upon another. A thought of any kind, be it wicked or virtuous, if rendered strong and substantial by the consent of the will, becomes born in the inner world as an elemental being, which grows by being cultivated, so that it may ultimately obsess its own father and produce visible effects upon the physical frame. The imagination of animals produces change in the colour of their offspring, the imagination of a mother can produce marks upon the child; the recollection of evil events and keeping such memories constantly in the mind gives rise to melancholy, ill temper, and despondency, anger, greed, lust, avarice, etc. All forms of evil will produce not only morbid states of the mind, but also certain definite changes in the physical body; all of which offer a vast field for a science of psychology in the future. An exposition of such a mental science cannot be attempted within the limited space of this work; but there already exists a vast amount of literature on this subject ignored by official science. V.—ENS DEI. _Diseases arising from eternal Retribution._