"The union begins at the moment of conception, but is only complete at the moment of birth.

From the moment of conception, the spirit designated to inhabit a given body is united to that

body by a fluidic link, which becomes closer and closer up to the instant of birth; the cry then

uttered by the infant announces that he is numbered among the living."

"The union between them is definitive in this sense namely, that no other spirit could replace

the one who has been designated for that body. But, as the links which hold them together are

at first very weak, they are easily broken, and may be severed by the will of a spirit who

draws back from the trial he had chosen. But, in that case, the child does not live."

"He chooses another body."

"Such deaths are most frequently caused by the imperfections of matter."

"In such a case, the new being's consciousness of his existence is so slightly developed that

his death is of little importance. As we have told you, such deaths are often intended mainly

as a trial for the parents."

"He sometimes knows it; but if he chooses it on this account. it is because he shrinks from the

trial he foresees."

"Not always immediately. The spirit requires time to make a new choice, unless his

instantaneous reincarnation had been previously decided upon."

"If you mean to ask whether, as a man, he may complain of the life he has to undergo, and

whether he may not wish it were otherwise, I answer, Yes; but if you mean to ask whether he

regrets the choice he has made, I answer, No, for he does not remember that he has made it. A

spirit, when once incarnated. cannot regret a choice which he is not conscious of having

made; but he may find the burden lie has. assumed too heavy. and, if lie believes it to be

beyond his strength, he may have recourse to suicide."

"He does so more or less according to the various periods of gestation; for he is not yet

incarnated in his new body, but only attached to it. From the instant of conception confusion

begins to take possession of the spirit, who is thus made aware that the moment has come for

him to enter upon a new existence; and this confusion becomes more and more dense until

the period of birth. In the interval between these two terms, his state is nearly that of an

incarnated spirit during the sleep of the body. In proportions as the moment of birth

approaches, his ideas become effaced, together with his remembrance of the past, of which.

when once he has entered upon corporeal life, he is no longer conscious. But this

remembrance comes back to him little by little when he has returned to the spirit-world."