Late in life, Davis wrote his autobiography. He called it "The Magic Staff," referring to the inner support that had carried him through all his trials.
He described his poverty-stricken childhood, his struggles with health and with the incomprehension of those around him. He described his first trance experiences, his bewilderment at what was happening to him, his gradual understanding of his gifts.
"I did not seek these powers. They found me. At first I thought I was going mad. The visions, the voices, the knowledge that came from nowhere — how could I explain these to myself, much less to others? But gradually I came to trust what I was receiving. It was consistent, it was coherent, it led to healing and to wisdom."
He described his meetings — in vision, not in body — with the spirits of Galen, the ancient physician, and Swedenborg, the mystical scientist. They became his teachers, guiding him through the complexities of the spiritual world.
He described a night when, in semi-trance, he found himself transported forty miles from his home. He woke in a strange place, with no memory of how he had arrived there. Such experiences taught him that the categories of ordinary reality — space, time, causality — did not apply to the Superior Condition.
"I tell these things not to glorify myself but to encourage others. What happened to me can happen to anyone who seeks sincerely. The doors are not locked. They open to those who knock. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you."
Davis lived until 1910, writing, teaching, and healing for over sixty years after his first revelations. He saw the Spiritualist movement he helped inspire rise and, in some ways, decline. But he never wavered from his core teaching: that the universe is good, that consciousness persists, that love is the law, and that transformation is available to all who seek it.