98 ROSICRUCIANCOSMO-CONCEPTION
are still connected with it by a slender, glistening, silvery
cord shaped much like two figure sixes reversed, one upright
and one horizontally placed, the two connected at the
extremities of the hooks. (See diagram 5-1/2.)
One end is fastened to the heart by means of the seed
atom, and it is the rupture of the seed atom which causes the
heart to stop. The cord itself is not snapped until the
panorama of the past life, contained in the vital body, has
been reviewed.
Care should be taken, however, not to cremate or
embalm the body until at least three days after death, for
while the vital body is with the higher vehicles, and they are
still connected with the dense body by means of the silver
cord, anypostmortem examination or other injury to the
dense body will be felt, in a measure, by the man.
Cremation should be particularly avoided in the first
three days after death, because it tends to disintegrate the
vital body, which should be kept intact until the panorama of
the past life has been etched into the desire body.