Dear Daniel, I am not at those steps yet, but I have a feeling that being able to discern what is and isn't you is one of the reasons the soul mirror work is so important - so the Magician can "know thyself". During the previous steps you should have already dealt with many of your issues, made your vibration purer, gained a measure of equilibrium, so that there is minimal chance for any psychological schism. In step five, you can see that you have to practice externalizing your hand before you start communicating with other beings. When you do start to communicate, you would be able to notice the differences in yourself and the electromagnetic vibration of the other being. It is up to you to proove to yourself that you are communicating with another being. Blessings, PAUL > Dear group, > > I've been thinking about this lately, and I could not find > the answer in IIH nor figure it out myself. I'm rather > confident that I'm just missing some important piece of > information which will solve this puzzle for me, and yet it > eluded me so far. > It is only during grade IX and above that the practitioner > can evoke true external intelligences and not just the > contents of his psyche - bearing this in mind, how come the > passive communications of grade V with one's HGA and the > deceased is real and not just brought out of the psyche? > > Thanks, > Daniel >