Thomas wrote:
I think I made a mistake in supposing the "One of the strange things about living in the world . . ." passage was spiritualistic, because nature is speaking to her and not the dead, even in memory. It's her assurance of personal immortality. There's no seance nor clear sight.
Then a discussion of
spirituality (personal spiritual experience) and also of
spiritualism (a belief in immortality through contact with the deceased) ensues for the next several posts.
I think both of these are themes in the text, although I would argue that it's possible to take the "ghostly presence" of Mrs. Craven, especially in dreams, to be an expression of the individual's psyche where it connects to universal consciousness; it uses the dream character of a loved one no longer living as a "bridge" or metaphor about the permeable, connected nature of the human Self among selves, the collective Mind among minds. I guess this is a kind of neo-Jungian reading and admittedly brings something of an outside "lens" to the text.
If it is possible to make an eternal contribution to thought, to understanding, to humanity's civility and wisdom -- or to a family's love and interdepent nurturance, within a lifetime that spills over the brim of a single personality to touch and fill others with its love and power, then we
do live forever through one another -- the truest, best parts of ourselves do. This can be experienced in dreams, in fleeting impressions, messages felt to be from "beyond the grave" -- or in more mundane forms, like diaries or other writings, or the passing down of an ancient lullabye. Whatever is still held in the living mind and heart is not dead, not lost. It sings in new throats and looks out of new eyes; its whispered tales give new skin the gooseflesh. Like a constant, seasonal wind breathing through new lungs and into every cell, spirit has a tangible referent. Is this magical thinking? Maybe. But it seems to be quite literally and clearly true.
Personal spirituality, a belief in spiritualism -- different, but possibly connected and referring to a concrete social and personal phenomena.
"Where can I find a man who has forgotten the words so that I can talk with him?"
-- Chuang-Tzu (c. 200 B.C.E.)
as quoted by Robert A. Burton