In connection with the revelation contained in this book concerning the physical characteristics of Mars, the compiler of this volume, as well also as the medium, was given much information concerning this advanced planet by means of clairvoyant visions. These pictures were given the writer at different times, commencing early in 1920, and continuing until the book was finished.
As has been explained by the controls who have been instrumental in giving the information about Mars, the purpose of these clairvoyant pictures was to give the compiler of this book real visual evidence as to life on Mars; and in particular, real pictures setting forth its topography, which could be elucidated in no other way.
Written descriptions of scenery and of human activities necessarily fall short of the reality, especially when an attempt is made to record a series of events or a point of view outside the realm of our experience.
The first picture realized by the writer, and for that matter the most important one, was the view given him of Urid the Beautiful, one of the most important centers of population on the planet Mars.
It was while lying in bed one morning the writer was contemplating the many messages being received from the Martian, who is the dictator of the subject matter of this book, that he found himself at a strange place, suspended as it were in the air over a beautiful lake of blue water, whose surface was broken by gentle ripples, due to the soft, balmy breeze blowing over the surface of the water. The writer was facing what seemed to be a westerly direction; and at a distance of about five miles there arose a series of small mountains about 2,500 feet in altitude. These mountains skirted the shores of the lake. The sky was a beautiful blue, bluer than the sapphire-tinted skies of our own desert lands. The mountains were tinted red from base to top, except where the moisture near the shores of the lake had stimulated a vegetal growth, whose green contrasted most harmoniously with the red of the soil. Two white clouds floated majestically near the peaks of the highest mountains.
The atmosphere was impressively clear and all objects seemed to stand out in sharp definition, a condition seldom seen by dwellers on our Earth except in extremely dry and arid regions.
On top of a small plateau, forming the crown of a low-lying hill at the base of one of the highest mountains, and about 1,500 feet from the shore line, I was startled to see a large city. The thousands of closely nestling buildings seemed to be built of white stone. The writer was lost in admiration, for there in front of him the pure white of the city, contrasting so vividly with the red soil of this faraway planet, stood the habitations of an advanced race many millions of miles removed from my own world.
The writer was impressed with the fact that, with but few exceptions, the buildings of gleaming white were all one story in height, and it became instantly evident that crowding is not tolerated by the inhabitants of this progressive planet. A few structures towered above the rest. These, as the writer was informed later, were the public buildings dedicated to the use of the people as lecture halls, centers for music and art, etc.
On a subsequent occasion the writer was shown a close-up view of Urid. Flowers, grass and green foliage abounded everywhere. The long streets were broad and well paved, and flanked on two sides with long rows of one-storied buildings of white stone, beautiful in their simplicity. No extreme ornamentation is carried out in the erection of buildings on Mars. On the contrary, the simple square outlines characteristic of our own Old Mission architecture seems to prevail on the planet Mars. The same simple style prevails with the public buildings, except that massive stone columns marked the portals of same, reminding one of our own early Grecian architecture.
Many palm-like trees grew all over the city, especially in the neighborhood of the public buildings.
A week after the occurrence of the above incident the writer was shown, in the same manner as before, one of the many canals that gridiron the Martian globe. This particular canal is one of the main waterways on Mars, and appeared to be about a mile wide at the point of observation. The water was of a deep blue color, denoting great depth. Along the banks of this waterway could be seen many houseboats or floating dwellings. Some of these houseboats were very large and evidently housed large families. The writer was informed that many Martians who have charge of the waterways dwell in these habitations.
The banks above the canal were covered with green grass and many flowers.
On subsequent occasions I was shown other canals and reservoirs, and the manner in which some of the canals were cut through the mountains. In some instances the walls of the canals were almost perpendicular. Steep cuts, even in soft ground, seemed to be characteristic of all the waterways observed by the writer.
On another occasion the writer was given a view of the North Polar regions. At that time the deep snows that covered the ground everywhere were melting. The country seemed to be very hilly. As far as the eye could reach I observed low-lying hills covered with a white mantle of snow. Patches of reddish earth here and there indicated that the thaw was general and that the snow had thinned out in spots. Between the hills I observed a large body of water, and was informed that this was an artificial reservoir which had been created by the damming of a large valley. The sky on this occasion was hidden by a mist, a very natural phenomenon in view of the fact that many thousands of square miles of the country, covered with snow on this part of Mars, was undergoing a rapid thaw.
That the large dark-colored areas on Mars, supposed by early observers to be seas, are nothing more or less than low, swampy land covered with rank vegetation, was evidenced to me on one occasion when I was permitted to see the true character of these portions of the planet.
The rank vegetation was about three feet high and of a greenish red color. Interspersed throughout the mass of coarse-leafed plants were high, dry stalks the remnants of an earlier crop of Martian flora. The season seemed to be advanced and all plant life was taking on autumnal tints.
It was in December 1919 that I saw the first close-up picture of a Martian--a woman. Her head was covered with a thin veil which came down to her well-formed mouth. She seemed to be a most beautiful woman with most expressive eyes. Her hair was black. Her skin was unusually white, which contrasted with the dark hair. She wore no jewelry, or other ornaments that I could see.
On a subsequent occasion I was permitted to see a Martian male. He was playing a flutelike instrument, and as he was quite close to me I could observe the wax-like texture of his skin. This semi-transparency of the skin is characteristic of the Martians, and evidences a life that is free from the many bodily ailments that afflict humanity on our Earth. The Martian was dressed in graceful but loose-fitting clothes of a reddish-brown color. His eyes were a deep blue and his lips seemed to be unusually red. In respect to stature he was, I would say, about five feet nine inches in height. In fact, on subsequent occasions I have observed crowds of Martians gathered together and they appeared no different from the inhabitants of our own world except as to clothing, which is much simpler, but more graceful than our styles.
I was informed by the spiritual control that the fauna of Mars is varied, but that all animal life is domesticated, there being now no wild animals on the planet.
It was shortly after I had seen the Martians, described in the foregoing paragraph, that I was shown two cat-like animals, which at the time of my vision were engaged in playing about the feet of a Martian. They did not exactly resemble cats, but were more feline than canine. They were about the size of a large Airedale, and of a dark, reddish-brown color with deep black stripes, similar to the markings of our tigers. They were very playful and cavorted about just as our own dogs and cats do when endeavoring to attract the attention of their masters.
On the morning of January 20, 1920, I was shown another Martian canal. On this occasion I observed a large building on the banks of the waterway near my point of vision. This building was more of a grandstand with a roof than anything else I can compare it to. It consisted of a large framework painted white, and was as high as our two-storied structures. A multitude of the people were inside the building, some sitting, some standing. They all seemed to be intently gazing in a Northerly direction, up-stream.
Much green foliage and varied-colored flowers lined the banks of the canal, especially in the neighborhood of the building. The people all seemed to be attired in holiday garb, and it was evident to me that a celebration was going on.
Later I was informed that what I had witnessed was an annual celebration observed by the people of Mars on the occasion of arrival of the first water from the North Pole after commencement of the Martian Spring. It appears that this occasion is a very important event with the Martians. as the arrival of the life- giving moisture from the Arctic and Antarctic regions of the planet insures a season of plenty for the inhabitants. The water arrives at the equatorial regions in a little less than a Martian month (60 days) after the commencement of the Polar thaws and after a season of thanksgiving to the Father has been held by all in appreciation of His bountiful gifts. The Spiritual leaders of the different communities preside at these gatherings.
The foregoing is in remarkable agreement with a statement on page 375 of the late Professor Lowell's book titled "MARS," as follows.
"The Canal quickening on Mars occupied 52 days, as evidenced by the successive vegetal darkenings which descend from latitude 72 degrees North and latitude 0, a journey of 2,650 miles. The rate of progression is remarkably uniform, and this fact that it is carried from near the Pole to the Equator is sufficient tell-tale of extrinsic aid, and the uniformity of the action increases its significance."
On the morning of January 21 I witnessed another interesting Martian scene, which was almost identical with the previous vision of the Arctic regions of this planet, except that the warm season was more advanced, and I was permitted to see the country from another angle. I was facing East. Most of the Polar snow had disappeared, and the low-lying hills were now covered with a growth of dark green vegetation, except at a few isolated points which showed small patches of snow. The sky was less misty than on the previous occasion.
On the evening of January 21 I was shown a flock of Martian sheep. The herd was small and I observed five of the animals at close range. I call them sheep for the reason that the animals resembled our sheep in every particular. The wool was very long and of a dark reddish-brown color, except underneath their bellies which was yellowish.
On the evening of January 29 I had a vision of a beautiful woman with a child kneeling at her feet. She was seated on a chair and held a book on her lap. The symbolism of the vision was later explained to me by the controls. who said: "Verily I say unto you whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." God's truths are perceived only by those who can acquire the simple faith of a child.
It was about the same time I had a vision in which I saw Sergius for the first time distinctly. He is the principal control dominating the writing of this book. He appeared very patriarchal with a long beard. His features were decidedly semitic. His countenance was most spiritual and beautiful.
On February 10 I had my first vision of Mars' two moons, known to our astronomers as Diemos and Phobos. The latter appeared as a satellite about half as large as our full moon, and the former like a star brighter than the first magnitude, and could be compared with Jupiter as seen from our Earth during a favorable opposition of that planet. The latter satellite sheds considerable light on her primary. An interesting explanation of these two moons will be found in a later chapter of this book.
On February 17 I was shown the actual appearance of our sun from the planet Mars. What I saw disproves the theory that owing to the distance of Mars from the sun the latter would be viewed by the Martians as a disk about half the size as seen from our Earth. The Solar Orb appeared as to size and brightness, about the same as viewed from our Earth, and seemed to give forth its heat with the same intensity. I was facing the sun and its brilliance blinded my eyes for an instant.
On the evening of February 29 I had a vision of a strange looking creature ape-like in appearance. The form was about five feet tall, very hairy, his body being covered with a thick coat of woolly hair of a grayish color. He was smoking what appeared to be a cigar-like roll of something, probably some sort of leaves rolled up into a convenient form for smoking. On the tips of his pointed ears were little tufts of long hair, which gave his head a lynx-like appearance. There were quite a number of large yellow spots on his hairy chest. His nose was very stubby, and his entire face was decidedly apelike.
I was later informed that I had seen an inhabitant of the planet Mercury, where life has not yet evolved to a very high degree, and where man has not yet wholly emerged from his primary beast-like state.
Concerning the flora of Mars I have on various occasions viewed orchards of growing fruit trees. The trees were set out in rows similar to the methods adopted in our own orchards. The trees were dwarf-like, being not over five or six feet high. I was informed that this particular species of tree was cultivated for its fruit and for the fiber obtained from its large leaves, which is made into cloth, thread and cordage.
On one occasion a short time after the chapter dealing with the transmission of Electro-magnetic energy by wireless was received, I was shown two immense towers on the planet Mars which are used for the purpose of distributing power throughout the planet. The two towers were very close together, probably 100 yards apart and 100 feet high. They resembled two immense round smoke-stacks, such as are common in our factory districts. The tops of the towers were surmounted by oval caps, transparent as if made from glass, and protected by a system of grill work. While I was intently observing the towers there occurred a blinding flash of light simultaneously from the two oval caps.
The surrounding country was covered with high trees, and it was impossible for me to observe the base of the two structures.