The Survival Of The Soul and its Evolution after Death by Pierre Emile Cornillier

Book Overview:

I want to make the world aware of a ‘new old’ book titled, The Survival Of The Soul and its Evolution after Death; Notes of Experiments by Pierre Emile Cornillier, published in 1921. Cornillier (1862 – 1946) was a French artist who had an interest in psychical research when, in 1912, he realized that an 18- year-old model he had been employing, Reine had psychic abilities of some kind. Soon he began some experiments with her and when she was in a “hypnotic sleep” she was able to go OBE (out of body) and report on things and happenings in other places. In the ninth séance a “high spirit” named Vettellini emerged and continued as Reine’s primary guide through 107 seances.

The series of experimental séances were conducted between 1912 and 1913 and ended due to the start of World War I. Not much is known about Cornillier, however, it is apparent that he treated this adventure into the beyond as a scientific experiment and was very determined and meticulous to gather as much evidence as possible to try to provide proof to the skeptics.

I found it fascinating to be along for the ride; it was like being there! The results of the séances, as he called them, became more in depth as the team of Cornillier, Reine the Medium, and the Spirit Guide Vettellini become better acquainted with each other. They always began with the process of Cornillier hypnotizing Reine which could take as long as 45 minutes. Once under, he would ask her to project her consciousness somewhere. (These days this is actually called Remote Viewing.) Once at a given location he would ask her to describe what she sees. In many instances, he was later able to get verification of the location that she was sent to observe.

After gaining more experience Cornillier would try to obtain information about what life is like in Au-Delà (the Great Beyond); the experiences that lower evolved beings are having vs. higher evolved beings. Throughout these sessions Reine the Medium was always ‘unconscious’ and would not be able to recall anything that happened while she was under. (This same technique was employed by Dolores Cannon in modern times.) The reason for this separation in consciousness, according to the guide, Vettellini, was to protect her from experiences she, as a young girl, would not understand or be afraid of.

I think that I can safely say that they were able to answer one of the big questions of life, namely, Why Are We Here? The answer is quite simple: We are here to evolve! Unfortunately, much of the evolution must come through suffering. No suffering = little evolution. If you stop and think about it, this absolutely makes sense.

Understanding this concept helped me to understand the answer to that age old question people often ask when they observe unexplained suffering such as, Wars, the Holocaust, children born with a deformity, a rare disease, murder, rape, poverty and all the rest. By way of argument, try asking yourself how much you would evolve if everything were perfectly blissful?

My favorite section of the book had to do with Reine’s visit to a French maternity hospital called a “Refuge Maternel.” She is not told about the character of the house, nor the purpose of her visit in advance. Cornillier: “After a few seconds she says she is in a house; in a room, where women are seated, working, sewing, etc. These women are all in different stages of pregnancy. Women are received there, where they are given some light work to do —and two days before the probable date of delivery they are sent to another house for their accouchement (delivery). I order Reine to observe carefully, and to try to perceive the captured Spirits in course of incarnation. After some moments of examination she begins to speak. I will give only the conclusion that may be drawn from it, as a theory of the process of incarnation. ”The sexual act is really the snare in which the Spirit is caught. Whether in complete ignorance (the case of inferior Spirits), or whether in conscious purpose (the case of superior Spirits), he is captured; and henceforth he belongs to the earth.”

During the first two or three months he is relatively free, and it is only occasionally that he comes to visit his house (body) that he is building, but as time advances and his dwelling takes form, his visits become more frequent. He comes to give his measures, to intimate his desires, to make, in short, his own personal imprint. Towards the seventh month he takes possession of his little body, establishes himself in it, and makes it his. From this time on he rarely leaves it and, finally, at the moment of delivery, becomes its definite prisoner; not only because of his intimate union with the organism, but also because his own individual conscience, memory, etc., is completely veiled and stupefied by the physico-chemical condition in which he is plunged. This is the general rule. Such is the theory that Reine’s observations, and her innate knowledge, have allowed me to establish on this subject.”

Cornillier was interested in learning how things worked in the spirit world: the nature of the spirit body, how spirits awaken on the other side, what they look like, their faculties, grades of consciousness among spirits, activities in the spirit world, spirit influence on humans, God, reincarnation, astral travel, difficulties in communication by high spirits, deception by inferior spirits, premonitions, dreams, time, space, animal spirits, materializations, apparitions, cremation, and other concerns that Cornillier had about the non-material world. This book has it all. Enjoy!

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