During the state of Death Trance, an individual always sees, and hears what is taking place around him, but at the same time he is unable to manifest himself through the outward organs, but it is not through the bodily senses that he has received the impressions of his earthly environments, for they are received by and through the Occult faculties of the soul, and the reason why the individual cannot express himself is because the state of his body prevents him from doing so, and this peculiar state of the physical body and its organs demonstrates that man consists of something more than a material body, for right here we have an illustration of the body and its organs that no longer work, for they are completely inactive, yet the spirit and soul has perfect action and great freedom, also wonderful intelligence. The human soul in this peculiar state of lethargy or coma can entirely separate itself from the physical body so as to give the latter all the outward appearances of death, and afterwards come back and inhabit it; for while in this state the body itself is not dead as it still continues to accomplish its functions and coagulation will not take place in the circulatory system.

The body's vital powers, as in chrysalis, are not annihilated and the spirit will remain connected with the physical body as long as it remains alive, and the body will remain alive as long as the spirit and soul is linked or connected with it, and it is only when this strand is snapped asunder, that death and disaggregation of the bodily organs take place, it is then that the separation of the soul and body, soul transition and death, as it is termed in this country, takes place. After this the spirit can never come back into the body, and in any case where one has apparently died comes back to life again, it is because the strand which unites body and soul has not been broken, or in other words, the process of death has not been entirely consummated. It is also possible by means of timely spiritual help to strengthen these ties which were about ready to part, and to give back life to a person who but for this help would have died. Death Trance precedes from the temporary loss of sensibility, power and motion, which is psychologically explained in this chapter.

In the condition of Death Trance the suppression of the vital powers is complete and gives to the body all the appearances of death, but in catalepsy this suppression is localized and may affect the whole or less extensive portion of the body, while leaving the intelligence free to manifest itself. Lethargy or coma is perfectly natural, that is to say, that it has its origin in natural law. Catalepsy is, strictly speaking, a condition which has been produced spontaneously, and may be produced and dissipated by artificial means, such as hypnotism, etc. The Lethargic state or Death Trance is an independent condition or Coma-Somnolentun state which is characterized by the diminution of the powers of voluntary motion, and from which it is very difficult and at times impossible to arouse the patient; for having once passed into this comatose state he ceases to be "en rapport" with those around him and having passed completely from his physician. This condition of Coma when induced by hypnotism is the result of the operator permitting his subject to remain inactive too long after he has induced somnambulism. This is an extremely dangerous state, and the operator should guard against it by keeping his subject interested and doing something.

He should be kept engaged and active by inducing various delusions. This employs his imagination and keeps him conscious of his environments and susceptible to suggestion; but if left to himself and preoccupied his eyes will assume the trance-like or vacant state and he is very liable to pass into the Death Trance or State of Coma, If the hypnotist has more than one subject under control at the same time he should be very careful to keep them all busy by doing something to attract their attention, and if he cannot use them all at once he should awaken some of them before they pass into this apparently lifeless condition.

There is no doubt that many people have been in this state of Coma when the autopsy has been performed upon their supposed dead body, and their heart and other vitals will give unmistakable signs of life during the autopsy if in this state.

This strange psychical condition of profound trance or Lethargy, which so accurately counterfeits and resembles death that living interments are often made, is a form of suspended animation, there being an absolute suspension of the heart and lung action attending the induction of this profound degree of lethargic sleep. This phenomenon of suspended functions is characterized by an absence of bodily warmth; accompanied by all the ordinary indications and usual evidences of departed life, and giving the body every appearance of a corpse. The duration of this death-trance before the spirit or soul takes its final leave and passes from the body, is very indefinite, being governed by conditions decidedly complex in character and assuming various aspects, determined by the different mental and physical phases with which it is associated. There can be little doubt but that there are many persons buried alive while in this comatose state. Its duration being indefinite and the characteristics similar to those of death, the attending physician, if he has no knowledge of medical Psychology or Spiritism, will, after administering the usual stimulants and means of provoking reaction (and these fail of course) unhesitatingly pronounce the patient dead and the unfortunate being is placed in his coffin, where he regains consciousness and dies a horrible death, suffering agony of suffocation or dies under the knife on a dissecting table.