My Library

Thus comes into existence the class of entity which has been called"The Shade”—an entity, be it observed, which is not in any sense the real individual at all, for he has passed away into the heaven-world ; but nevertheless, it not only bears his exact personal appearance, but possesses his memory find all his little idiosyncrasies and may therefore very readily be mistaken for him,as indeed it frequently is at seances. It is not, of course, conscious of any act of impersonation, for as far as its Intellect goes it must necessarily suppose itself to be the individual, but one can , imagine the horrcc and disgust of the friends of the departed, if they could only realize that they had been deceived into accepting as their loved one a»mere soulless bundle of all his lowest qualities.
The length of life of a shado varies according to the amount of the lower mind which animates it,but as this is all the while in process of fading out, its intellect is a steadily- diminishing quantity, though it may possess a great deal of a certain sort of animal cunning; and even quitd towards the end of its career it is still able Jo communicate by borrowing temporary