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“The Afterlife: Hereafter and Here at Hand http://amzn.to/2Em3JnS and Looking Beyond the Fishbowl: A New Comforting Perspective on Reincarnation http://amzn.to/2E4fQmb OUT NOW #Afterlife #Reincarnation #prize #giveaway”
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This giveaway competition opens today and will close on Thursday 31st May 2018. Please read the terms and conditions above and good luck!
Having always been curious about the Afterlife, I have spent most of my life researching it from various angles, by:
Reading firsthand accounts by deep-trance mediums from the 19th and early 20th century
Attending classes held by professional mediums
Interviewing people who had had near-death experiences
Reading books and articles by other Afterlife researchers
Exploring the Afterlife with the aid of meditation, lucid dreams (dreams in which we are aware that we are dreaming) and out-of-body experiences
Teaming up with other Afterlife researchers to obtain mutual evidence about our findings
The most moving years involving regular exchange of evidence with other researchers were those ranging from 2002 to 2012, when I was able to actively take part in an American forum with about 20 members from around the world, all with an interest in spiritual matters. It was more than a forum: we were a group of friends, although in most cases we had only met each other online and spoken on the telephone. Each of us had lost at least one person who had been dear to us in life.
The founders were David and Judy Pierce, an American couple whose lives were shattered and changed forever following the sudden loss of their precious 14-year-old daughter Lilli, due to an accident as she was crossing the road on her way back home in the late afternoon of a tragic Friday, on 12 November 1999. David and Judy are also the founders of the social movement Friends Along the Road, which has been working in the field of bereavement support ever since 1999, through the administration of dedicated message boards and Facebook groups and all sorts of activities and events designed to offer sanctuary and caring support to those in grief, a physical or virtual space where to rest and seek comfort along one’s path.
One of the many activities of this very private forum was what we called an ‘Astral Party’, a kind of virtual gathering that could last for several days. It was sometimes held around someone’s birthday, but could also be unrelated to any particular occasion. Each of us took part according to our own inclinations, be it through meditation, dreams, OBEs, and so on. After the event, we would discuss our experiences on the forum. Very often, these meetings allowed us to focus our intentions like a laser beam, which had miraculous effects.
Many people who are interested in after-death communication are put off by the idea that astral travel is not necessarily easy to achieve. Our Astral Parties were a great opportunity to find out for ourselves that out-of-body experiences are in no way essential for ADC purposes: in fact, they showed how the same piece of information can be conveyed in different ways and how apparently different accounts could lead to the same conclusions and shared evidence.
The most fascinating aspects about our Astral Parties had to do with situations in which:
We found we had done something on the astral plane we did not recollect but which another member of the team could describe.
Participants did not need to belong to the core group, as we occasionally invited drop-in guests who could not read or write in English but were nonetheless able to participate and benefit from the gathering. Of course experiences were then reported in the Astral Party thread.
Here are a couple of examples:
In one case I had invited an Italian friend who desperately wanted to have news about her stillborn baby. I explained to her on the phone how the astral gathering worked and simply asked her to tune into the party that night. The following morning I was amazed to hear from her something I had no recollection of. She told me that, during the night, I had been at her side, awoken her from her sleep and taught her how to have an out-of-body experience, something she successfully had even though she had never read anything about it. This had a unique effect on her, because she got firsthand evidence that we are not necessarily one with our physical bodies and are able to travel to other dimensions. Thanks to this acknowledgement, she was able to break out of the mental prison that had prevented her from hearing from her daughter in dreams and lucid dreams, as she has excitedly reported to me over the years.
In another case I invited an Italian friend who had just lost her 39-year old husband in a motorcycle accident. Even though her 15-year old son had had constant dream visitations by his dad since his death, she felt so devastated she only experienced nightmares. So she tuned into our gathering that night, and, as she was dozing off, she had the most striking experience I have ever heard of. She heard her deceased husband turn the front door key, walk into the flat and along the corridor up to the bathroom. After that, she heard the familiar sound of him taking a shower as he used to do at the end of a day’s work. Then she heard him walk towards the bedroom and felt him get into bed and hug her. He also spoke to her before she returned to a full waking state and found she was alone in bed. During the experience, she was fully aware that her husband was ‘dead’, yet this was an absolutely solid experience which permanently deleted the memory of the shocking sight of her husband lying motionless in a coffin.
These two stories are just an example of how teaming up with other Afterlife researchers can enhance results: they go to show how powerful these gatherings are, because of the dedication our small group could direct towards the outcome of each participant’s experience, irrespective of their individual path and circumstances. The forum in question was Lilli Pierce and the Big Trip and a number of the experiences mentioned in my books were the result of teamwork.
…Needless to say, when interpreting the telepathic message in which the Being of Light reveals the heroic nature of incarnation, Dannion seems to suggest that a similar need to ‘progress’ exists in both the incarnate and disincarnate form. This once again raises the issue of linear time, although Dannion does not suggest that spirit guides live within it. While, admittedly, linear time is not the only yardstick available to us for measuring events, it is nevertheless part of the ‘big picture’ and, without it, certain ideas could not have come into existence. If a discarnate spirit is dealing with a recently discarnate spirit who, as in Dannion’s case, is about to go back into time, I believe the former must have shared its common purpose with the latter, covering all things, including the sensation of making progress and the notion of time.
What I want to emphasise here is the message that, while these spiritual entities appear not to ‘have the courage’ to enter the physical plane, the partnership created between those who come to this world and those who follow us from the other world is a win-win situation. It is a shared victory involving two mutually beneficial approaches, free from judgment and hierarchy.
Hence, if incarnation involves refining our personal identity in the heroic act of co-creating with God, then developing this illusory conviction of being separate from God and from each other is the inevitable guise we must wear every day during our time on the earthly plane – at least at this stage of the creative process we have apparently chosen to take part in.
This guise – the part of us that is responsible for keeping this illusion alive – is what I call the Ego or the ‘earthly self’. The Ego is a guiding voice that enables us to operate efficiently in our everyday lives. It directs us through the plethora of situations in which we find ourselves.
This guiding voice seems to be an integral part of our physical reality, with the specific purpose of keeping us soundly anchored to all that is material, even in the subtlest of ways. The main purpose of the Ego is to reinforce constantly the illusion that only the physical/material plane is real, and that everything on this plane revolves around suffering, everything is transient and time is master. Anything else is an illusion, the imagination, a hallucination, a dream, or even disease, psychiatric imbalance, dissociation or schizophrenia….
Here are some of my findings on what we usually refer to as incarnation or reincarnation:
Past life regression sessions are often laden with ‘leading questions’ (i.e. questions that tend to prompt or encourage a specific answer) and hence project researchers’ beliefs in earthly drama into the Afterlife.
Unless we are comfortable about it, there is no need to paint a picture of the Afterlife as a sequence of different lives lived one after anotherwithin linear time, ruled by guilt, judgment, punishment and fear.
Discarnate beings have no way of understanding the true nature of human suffering, though they appreciate the heroism of those who choose the leap into the darkness that incarnation involves.
Conversely, those who choose to experience one or more physical incarnations, are not bound by linear time and are always connected with our Divine Source, their Whole Self and their discarnate guides, in a win-win partnership that is free from judgment or hierarchy.
Some of the most important points I make and provide evidence for in my book on reincarnation are:
At all stages of our multidimensional existence we are co-creating with our Divine Source thanks to our unique and eternal personal identity, and are constantly reaping the benefits of past, present and future.
We have boundless reserves of spiritual energy and vitality that we have access to at all times on the earthly plane, provided we understand that unconditional love is the source and end of all things and always see in others the reflection of ourselves.
In spite of death and multidimensionality, we never really lose the people dear to us, not even in our darkest moments. The spirit world is in fact our world and we have amazing creative powers we only need to acknowledge and tap into.
As co-creators with our loving Source, we all have a mission in life, which guides us every day and always, even through the circumstances and with the people who seem to cross our paths by chance.
Once we realise all this, we also realise that our point of power is always NOW: it is now that we can free ourselves of any unhelpful memories or emotions, gain control over our choices, affect any past, present or future outcome, achieve apparently impossible goals and make the most of our physical adventure.
Whenever we catch ourselves regretting the past or fearing the future, it is always a relief to realise how brave we are for being here and now and for taking advantage of the tools that all human beings have on this physical plane to really make the difference for all Creation.
In other words, we are not all robots placed unwillingly in an overpowering and overcomplex system of life, death and rebirth that is beyond our control. At the same time, we are not here because we have been kicked out of the Garden of Eden, but are divine sparks bravely exploring/creating this denser/physical plane to better appreciate aspects that are taken for granted in the finer spiritual dimensions. As Mellen-Thomas Benedict found out in his NDE, ‘we are literally God exploring God’s Self’.
The Afterlife: Hereafter and Here at Hand and Looking Beyond the Fishbowl: A New Comforting Perspective on Reincarnation by Giulia Jeary Knap are available from http://amzn.to/2Em3JnSand http://amzn.to/2E4fQmb. Find out more here: http://fracieloeterra.org/en/
Like many other people, I have always been fascinated with the idea of time travel: I have come to the conclusion that this stems from a need for confirmation as to whether or not life continues after death and whether or not the soul is eternal. I believe it also comes from a need to have a certain degree of control over our lives, irrespective of what mistakes we make and the misunderstandings we create in our dealings with the people around us, often in spite of ourselves. In other words, it coincides with our interest in the concept of reincarnation. This, in turn, has led to a series of hypotheses concerning karma and the cycle of rebirths.
Moreover, to some extent, the concept of reincarnation provides a credible escape from the fear of judgment after death, much dreaded by almost all traditional religions. As Andy Tomlinson says in his book, Exploring the Eternal Soul – Insights from the Life Between Lives, an examination of discoveries made under hypnotic regression regarding the existence of the soul between lives:
The ancient Egyptians were obsessed with ensuring that they would gain a favorable ruling when they came to the ‘Judgment Hall of Osiris’ and their heart was ‘weighed in the balance’. This would ensure their soul’s immortality because an adverse ruling would necessitate its destruction. Indeed the elite of their society spent considerable sums having inscriptions on the walls of their tombs and their sarcophagi that contained all the spells they would need to pass the ultimate test.
At least in Ancient Egypt they had a sense of how to draw things to a conclusion, with unworthy souls destroyed. By contrast, their Mesopotamian counterparts believed that those who obtained an adverse judgment from the gods who ‘decreed their fate’ were destined to live on in the ‘netherworld’, in a kind of gray limbo state. Even worse, by the time their influence had filtered down through Judaism and into the Christian Church, we find that unworthy souls are condemned to everlasting torment. It seems that the primary motivation for this development was not new spiritual insight, but instead the desire to keep the uneducated masses under control. After all, what could be more successful than to threaten them with eternal damnation and torment if they stepped out of line?
Therefore, since ancient times, the concept of rebirth has been a stratagem to avoid eternal damnation, or even the annihilation of the soul.
However, the traditional concept of karma as a process of ‘action and reaction’ and the ‘payment of debts’ is currently being replaced by those who study hypnotic regression to so-called past lives. A far less reductive and simplistic concept, it is based on the idea that, immersed in the beatitude of what people under hypnosis often define as ‘light realms’, the soul becomes impatient and longs for learning and growth, often through the experience of overcoming difficult circumstances. To do so, it works with a group of companion souls or soul group, to design a custom set of circumstances, challenges and lessons to learn in each incarnation.
Reincarnation also helps soften the blow of losing a loved one. For instance, I have known people who found great relief in the idea that their misfortune may be a way of making up for evil deeds committed in a past life.
However, the accounts provided by near-death experiencers and by discarnate spirits who have described their transition through deep-trance mediums, tell us that three-dimensional space and linear time only govern our physical waking life. This notion is also backed up by the latest findings in the field of quantum physics.
In particular, near-death experiencers who have had access to this notion describe past, present and future lives as all taking place ‘simultaneously’while they observed them from the point of view of their own indestructible personal identity, which I like to refer to as our Whole Self. When we exclude the notions of space and time as we know them (something we can also experience in our dreams), it is very difficult to find logical, rational, analytical explanations (as prenatal regression researchers feel obliged to do) for the multidimensional nature of the soul. Even the concepts of evolution and growth lose substance once the concept of linear time is removed from the equation. This is because, at least in our dimension, both are inextricably linked to the linearity of time.
As I researched the topic, I realised that, in order to cope with this linearity, we develop the illusory conviction of being separate from our Divine Source and from each other, something that newborn children are unaware of, at least until they are taught the difference between ‘I’ and ‘you’.
I realised that we humans have probably chosen to express our exquisitely spiritual qualities through a limited and limiting view on life, like goldfish who only see what lies just outside their bowl. This is what I call ‘the fishbowl perspective’ in my book on incarnation.
It may sound cruel to deliberately abide by this illusion, which unfortunately includes the fear that death may be the end. However, by examining life as if through a magnifying glass, we can appreciate things that in the world of pure spirit we simply take for granted, even if this means temporarily losing our bird’s eye view.
Here is why I started viewing man not as a an arrogant being challenging God’s authority, but as a hero who is actively co-creating with our Divine Source.
I realise that the issue is not a simple one and that it is often much easier to deal with adversity by turning to the unfathomable plane of the divine. On the other hand, if I had not had direct experiences giving me glimmers of light on this subject, I would most likely have no opinion on incarnation, let alone reincarnation.
The Afterlife: Hereafter and Here at Hand and Looking Beyond the Fishbowl: A New Comforting Perspective on Reincarnation by Giulia Jeary Knap are available from http://amzn.to/2Em3JnSand http://amzn.to/2E4fQmb. Find out more here: http://fracieloeterra.org/en/
I clearly remember there was a stage in my life, until I was around five or six years old, when I was always happy and never felt I really missed anything. Life was filled with bliss and magic and I felt anything was possible. Then, for no apparent reason, there was an almost overnight change and I realised that blissful period of magic was over for good: I guess I had started growing up and sadly started being taught that I was separate and disconnected from the rest of the world.
Nonetheless, my keen curiosity about life’s great mysteries was very strong and I soon started reading all sorts of books illustrating scientific theories about the universe and the history of mankind. In particular, I found it strange that scientific research should be based on the assumption that everything is separate from everything else. I took an interest in romantic science fiction too, for the same reason. For instance, I loved the idea that it might be possible to travel into the past and make a different choice, to avoid an undesirable outcome, such as saving lives.
I remember I was around nine when I started experiencing intense episodes of déjà vu. When the movie Déjà Vu was released in 2006, I realised this was only one of the many sci-fi stories that linked in with my research about our multidimensional nature and my effort to bridge the gap between my early years in which I knew anything was possible and my adult understanding filled with questions. I discuss this matter at length in my book Looking beyond the Fishbowl: A New Comforting Perspective on Reincarnation.
I have recently come across a presentation by author and speaker Gregg Braden, internationally renowned as a pioneer in bridging science, spirituality, and the real world. He explained in plain terms my non-technical mind could understand how for thousands of years ancient, indigenous and spiritual traditions have simply assumed that everything is connected, whereas science and later quantum physics have been struggling for the last 300 years to come to the same conclusion, starting from the opposite assumption: that everything is separate.
The recent conclusions of a number of scientific experiments seem to be coming close to proving that some sort of intelligent field of energy (who some refer to as the quantum field, the matrix or God) actually exists. In Gregg’s words:
The field is the container for all things: from the perspective that science sees it now, everything exists within this field, the universe exists within the field, nothing exists out of the field. So all things that are happening are happening within this field.
The field is a bridge between us and the world around us, between our inner and our outer worlds. This is important, because, when we offer healing energy or a prayer to a person on the other side of the world, we are able to affect things thanks to the field.
The energy of this field is a mirror in the world around us for what we claim to be true in the world within us: we all have beliefs and expectations about what is true and is possible in the world – sometimes they are conscious, sometimes they are not – but, irrespective of this, the world is always telling us what our true beliefs are.
Quantum physics is now studying how and why:
we are all connected;
we do not simply observe reality but actually create it through our emotions;
we can be in more than one place at once and actively travel between dimensions.
These notions really bridge the gap between my inner knowing as a child and my deeply rooted desire to obtain firsthand evidence about the possibility of doing apparently impossible things. These include visiting the Afterlife, checking on my loved ones and opening up to spiritually transformative experiences that have led to further insights about the power of positive expectation.
I now realise that the need to read about these topics and then seek firsthand evidence must have been a reminder set up by my Whole Self for my earthly self, beyond space and time, so that I may not lose track of my real purpose for experiencing this physical life: rediscovering that we are powerful spiritual beings with an eternal and indestructible personal identity… and sharing the good news with as many as possible.
I realise that a person in grief who is seeking confirmation that a departed loved one is alive absolutely needs to tap into the power of positive expectation. Here is why I feel that firsthand evidence confirming my gut feeling that death is just an awakening from a temporary illusion may prove of critical help at such times.
As mentioned, meditation is a simple practice, usually performed by sitting in a quiet room or outdoor setting, at a time when we are reasonably sure we will not be disturbed. Most people find it easier to meditate with their eyes closed, so that their attention is directed inwards. All we need to do at this point is focus the mind on something, such as:
following or counting one’s breath
a meaningful word or phrase
visualisation of a peaceful place
In our case, the purpose of meditation is threefold:
Relaxing
Silencing our mind and inner dialogue so as to disconnect from the outer world
Loosening our reducing valve and increasing our inner awareness so that we may increase the chances of having a lucid dream
As J. Alexander suggests in his books on the topic, starting with two-minute sessions at a time is an excellent way of approaching a new habit (or resuming it) because two minutes is such a short time that we would really have no excuse to avoid it. Even a person in deep grief, who may suffer from concentration problems, cannot be put off by this exercise. Once we feel confident about the practice and realise how beneficial it can be, we may find ourselves naturally extending the session if we so desire.
There are three ideal times to use meditation in order to plan our dreams and then enter a lucid dream directly from our waking state:
Just before going to bed.
This is usually a time when we are probably too tired to enter a lucid dream directly. However, meditation will help us fall asleep and will grant us the opportunity to plan our lucid dream visitation for later on.
After 5 or 6 hours of sleep.
At this stage, our body will be refreshed enough for our mind to easily enter a lucid dream. This is the best time to resume our evening meditation and use it to observe the fleeting visual, auditory and perceptual sequences that we usually experience during the stage known as the hypnagogic state, which takes us directly from wakefulness to sleep – in other words, from a state in which we are mostly aware of physical reality to one where we are asleep, disconnected from most of the stimuli of the physical world and have access to the finer dimensions known as astral plane and spirit world.
With exercise, we will find that we can extend the hypnagogic stage and, sooner or later, we will be able to hold on to this twilight state of awareness and actually enter a dream in which we are aware of dreaming with no interruption in our waking consciousness.
Upon waking up in the morning if we have no urgent engagements.
At weekends or on days in which we have no pressing commitments, we may count on an added bonus. Our mind will be even more refreshed and relaxed and we will have extra time to train.
All the above suggestions also apply to out-of-body experiences (or OBEs). Indeed, during a lucid dream our mind is aware enough to actively seek greater awareness and reach a stage called ‘mind awake – body asleep’: in this state our physical body is disconnected from the physical world but our mind is in a state of daytime wakefulness. The only difference between lucid dreaming and a full-blown OBE depends on the degree of ‘mind wakefulness’ we reach while asleep: the greater our awareness, the more solid and tangible the experience, as well as our recall upon waking up.
One last piece of advice: take a few minutes to write down your dream or OBE memories as soon as you wake up, before your reducing valve shuts down and you are back to waking-time consciousness.
Having always been curious about the Afterlife, I have spent most of my life researching it.
What really made a difference for me over the years was the fact I had started my research before suffering any severe loss. In fact, I remember being lucky enough to discuss the topic with both my grandmothers as a child and then as a young woman.
The reason I mention this is because I have found that we experience problems with after-death communication when we lose somebody dear to us. Grief over the physical loss of a loved one can shock us out of any belief system we might have put together over the years and cause us to seriously question any certainty we might have previously had. As I have also found out for myself, it can really take a lot of patience to process the physical loss of a loved one, even when you already have plenty of firsthand evidence that an Afterlife exists.
In particular, out-of-body experiences and vivid lucid dreaming helped me gain first-hand experience-based knowledge that our physical bodies are just a temporary vehicle, and that our consciousness can explore other dimensions that are just as real and solid as the physical plane.
Here are 5 myths I can dispel about the Afterlife, and the actual truths that lie behind them:
1. There is nothing morbid about feeling the urge to stay in touch
Having been brought up within a religion that discourages after-death communication and any attempt to understand what actually happens after death, I remember that no questions could be asked on the topic at Sunday School. The standard answer was that the dead should not be ‘disturbed’, they should ‘rest in peace’, they should not be ‘distracted’ from their path and that we should simply pray for the speedy evolution of their soul.
In fact, what I have found from all my sources and personal evidence is that our departed loved ones are eager to let us know they are alive, healed or uninjured, happy, safe and willing to take part in our lives, watch over us and guide us. I have also found that feeling their absence or suddenly thinking of them are both two clear signals they use to let us know that they are close.
2. Every religion or belief system centring on love is equally precious
According to some new age enthusiasts, following a specific religion or holding a certain belief system may cause trouble in the Afterlife, as our beliefs shape our destination. Religious fundamentalists like to use this argument too, in order to project the feeling of potential separation (which is typical of the physical world) into the Afterlife, so as to keep their believers in check. Hence the idea that we may end up in hell, be forced to reincarnate or even experience a ‘second death’.
In fact, according to the evidence I have put together, there is nothing wrong about holding a specific belief system during our physical lives, because those who have experienced death and reported back, in one way or the other, tell us that love is the essence and death is a joyful get-together.
3. Death is a time of reunion, not separation
When we leave this physical world and reawaken from the illusion that living a physical life involves, we also exit three-dimensional space and linear time. Even though our departed loved ones may go through a ‘period’ of rest and adjustment upon transition, through a ‘time’ of reflection or a life review, this does not hinder their presence around us, because the way they perceive time has no impact on our earthly time. In other words, death is an extremely gentle process, it is like walking from one room to another, knowing that those we have left behind, so to speak, will be with us in the blink of an eye. Even people who have been very evil (such as the former Nazi mentioned in the book Into the Light, by Dr. John Lerma) and experience the darkness of guilt for what appears ages, are not subject to our earthly time. In this specific case the patient was in a coma, when he had a near-death experience and ended up in a hellish environment. The time he felt it took him to overcome his sense of guilt and forgive himself for taking an active part in the genocide appeared to last for centuries. However, when he awakened from the coma, shortly before his death, and asked Dr Lerma how long he had been unconscious, he discovered the whole experience had taken place within 48 hours.
Last but not least, humans are multidimensional beings and may experience life on several levels and in several ways: hence the notion of reincarnation. However, based on my research and understanding, ‘if’ more than one life is recalled, they all come across as taking place ‘simultaneously’. This means that we never lose our loved ones, whatever the case may be. My book Looking Beyond the Fishbowl: A New Comforting Perspective on Reincarnation is entirely devoted to this topic.
4. There is no such thing as ‘earth-bound’ spirits
Death does not involve the need to move on to ‘another’ place. The living and the dead are all made of the same essence: spirit. This means that, when we awaken from our physical life dream, we are instantly in our spirit home and realise that the physical plane is just the denser surface of a wonderful whole. Because of this, unlike near-death experiencers, those who die for good do not need to make a choice about it in order to be close to their loved ones in the physical world. They know that we are always together and it will take ‘no time’ for all their living family and friends to be aware of this too and be together in spirit.
The idea of ghosts and earth-bound spirits, along with the idea that unless a spirit ‘crosses over’ it will not be able to progress, is just a way of projecting earthly drama into the Afterlife.
While it is true that strong feelings of grief, anger, sadness and frustration experienced by the living can give rise to so-called poltergeist phenomena, which are the result of bottled up feelings, the dead only convey their presence in gentle, loving ways and do not take an active part in our lives unless we agree to it. The intrusive phenomena reported in connection with popular haunted sites are created by the psychic energy of living visitors and are nourished by their expectations.
5. There is no danger of getting off-track during the death process
Another popular way to project earthly drama into the Afterlife is to imagine that when we die we might not realise that we are dead, we may be unable to see the spirit guides or relatives who are on the other side to welcome us and may need to be rescued or retrieved by living people or by discarnates who have only recently died.
Once again this misconception is based on the idea that the Afterlife is ruled by linear time and earth-like forms of separation.
While it can be very beneficial for the living to connect with their loved ones after death and take part in their reawakening and adjustment process, it is by no means essential. Just as we have midwives to assist newborns, gentle spirits specialise in assisting us at times of transition if we so require, and every single detail is taken care of in the best of ways.
But is it true that our loved ones no longer exist and cannot be reached? What if we are simply tuned into the wrong channel? What if our loved ones are actually calling us, speaking, showing us things… but we do not notice? Perhaps they are right here next to us and we do not realise it, because we think they are in a completely different, inaccessible place.
This book will explore what it feels like to be ‘discarnate’ and how it feels to try to communicate with our loved ones here on the physical plane, who are sad, possibly depressed, crying and do not see us. We will read several descriptions of the wonderful world of Summerland described by many discarnate spirits, where our loved ones wait patiently for us to notice their presence, right here in our midst; and how they themselves say it is much easier to communicate with someone with whom they have a personal connection (a friend or relation) than with an ‘expert in communications’.
We will also explore three proven methods, designed to work at different times and in different situations and states of mind, which can be used to consciously control and keep track of a contact that continues unshakeably, despite the dissolution of the physical body.
The three methods we will look at in this book will be presented in three separate chapters. These are:
1) contact while awake in a quiet meditative state
2) enhancing our awareness while falling asleep
3) dreams and lucid dreaming
With all three of these methods, readers are advised to get into the habit of recording what they remember from their experiences in a notebook, diary or on a voice recorder, which they should always keep handy. As our contact with the Afterlife often happens while in a partially modified state of consciousness, it is hard to remember all the details once we return to ordinary or ‘normal’ consciousness, however simple it may seem at the time.
More importantly, we will discover that the chosen method or methods are within our grasp. They are extremely easy to apply, as long as we are committed, focused and ready to redirect some of our physical and mental energy away from the daily role-play in which we are trapped, and towards the immensely freer, lighter and precious bonds of affection that are always alive and connect us to our loved ones, whether in this life or the next.
The Afterlife: Hereafter and Here at Hand by Giulia Jeary Knap is available from http://amzn.to/2Em3JnS. Find out more here: http://fracieloeterra.org/afterlifebook
I have now worked as a professional translator and interpreter for over 30 years, here in Italy. In fact, ever since I was a child, everyone used to ask me to assist when English-speaking people were around, as my mum is English. Therefore, I found out from a very early age how delightful it felt to help people understand one another. I guess this is one of the reasons I have always been extremely interested in after-death communication and mediumship, as mediums too are trained to help people communicate with one another even though one of the parties involved is in the Spirit World.
From a young age, I have also always had a keen curiosity about life’s great mysteries. I remember I was around nine when I started experiencing intense episodes of déjà vu. I later ascribed these to my fascination with time travel and being able to move instantly in space or between dimensions in order to pursue my dreams. Here is why I believe that, during my teens, I started experiencing sleep paralysis, though it was only in my late 20s that I found out that this phenomenon could lead to astral travel and the possibility of actually ‘visiting’ the Afterlife and checking on departed loved ones.
I was 14 when Dr. Raymond Moody’s groundbreaking book about near-death experiences, Life after Life, was first published and this opened up for me a whole new world I wished to explore. Reading led to further reading and I was able to fuel my fascination with the idea that our lives are not merely the products of chance, but are part of a bigger plan.
The most exciting experience involving my work was acting as an interpreter for professional mediums in the ‘90s, during the Italian Week organised by the Arthur Findlay College in the UK, and other similar events. This gave me the opportunity to witness hundreds of private sittings, dozens of public demonstrations of mediumship, as well as lectures and workshops about how mediumship works. The sittings did not only provide me with moving evidence about the fact that life continues after death and professional mediums can make communication with our loved ones possible, but also offered me the delightful chance of personally contributing to these get-togethers, in my capacity as a translator.
The Arthur Findlay College in Stansted (UK)
The three most important things I learnt during those years in which I was exposed to constant firsthand evidence provided by professional mediums were:
Not only does life safely continue after death, but our personality is indestructible. Freed from the limitations of physical existence, those who were close to us in this physical life are even closer to us when they leave this world and their love for us increases in an immeasurable way.
Whereas professional mediums are specially gifted and trained to offer this evidence on behalf of third parties, everyone is able to safely stay in touch with their loved ones on the so-called ‘other side’ as we are all made of the same essence – spirit – and we are all connected beyond (that is before and after) our entry in three-dimensional space and linear time. Also the departed find it easier to stay in touch with those they love than with people they never knew.
Firsthand accounts about transition, after-death existence, near-death experiences and death-bed visions hugely expand our chances of connecting with our loved ones: this happens because beliefs and expectations play a key role in determining what is possible for us, as also quantum physics has at last been able to prove.
I felt an urgency to share these powerful understandings, so I wrote The Afterlife: Hereafter and Here at Hand. This book focuses on three different approaches to staying in touch – while awake, while falling asleep and while asleep. However, before tackling techniques, it addresses some very straightforward questions and doubts readers may have about what happens at the time of physical death: where we go, what we do, what sort of existence we have and how we relate to our incarnate loved ones. This information is drawn from firsthand accounts mainly coming from three different sources:
My own personal experiences during meditation, while falling asleep or waking up, lucid or ordinary dreaming and astral travel.
Mediumistic accounts about transition and life after death.
Near-death experiences and deathbed visions.
I have found that (especially at times of deep grief, when our whole system can be shocked out of its everyday balance and patience with ourselves is of paramount importance) reading firsthand accounts about the Afterlife can work as a powerful reminder that after-death communication is just as natural as any other form of communication.
A handbook on how to stay in touch with our loved ones once they have crossed over to the Afterlife might seem a bold proposition, especially in an era when we are seeing growing numbers of certified mediums. The increase in qualifications through specialist theory and practical courses would seem to mark a net distinction between ‘ordinary’ people seeking the mediation of a professional and those who have not only received the ‘gift’ but have also studied to hone their skills. However, things are not quite like that.
This book does not invite you to become a professional medium—although the idea is not as far-fetched as it might seem, provided one has a genuine passion for and is patiently and devotedly committed to the discipline, as well as having access to professional training centres.
Instead, the purpose of this book is to bring awareness of the tools that are available to all human beings, to enable us to stay in touch with our loved ones, once they have crossed over to the Afterlife.
As I will often say in this book, we are all—the so-called ‘living’ and the so-called ‘dead’, as well as animals, plants, our homes and our planet—essentially made of spirit. Spirit is the ‘raw material’ from which we are made. Thanks to spirit, we are never truly separate from each other or our environment and surroundings.
The only reason it may seem a challenge to tune into the spiritual dimension of existence, whether it be to communicate with the physically living or with the so-called ‘dead’, is that we are conditioned from an early age to believe we are separate from one another. We are taught the pronouns I and you, e.g. ‘I am a child and you are my mother.’ This linguistic distinction carries the implication that, although we may be surrounded by those who love us, we are ultimately alone.
As we grow, we then take on further roles, or labels, and commit ourselves to fulfilling the expectations that come with those roles. For instance, a teacher must invest great energy into maintaining discipline and assessing student performance; while children are expected to behave and perform to a certain standard, and may even be labelled as suffering from an attention deficit disorder if mainstream education methods fail to make them feel involved in classroom activities. Another example is the working mother, who is expected to be professional during the day and a loving supportive mother (and, perhaps, wife!) when she comes home.
Juggling all these roles can make us feel exhausted and inadequate by the end of the day. This spiritual depletion stems from the false identification with our bodies, which makes it difficult to conceive that there might be something ‘beyond’ this physical plane. The roles we play are reinforced by our culture, our interpersonal relationships, our daily commitments, our state of health, the media and so on. We are under the spell of what I have come to see as a form of mass hypnosis; we tend to take these roles for granted, and dutifully play our parts day in, day out…until something apparently irreparable happens. A loved one is swallowed up by a mysterious black hole called death.
Suddenly, we no longer see them, we do not hear from them, they do not call us, they no longer talk or write to us. Their personal effects are here; their clothes are still in the wardrobe; their home, furniture and knick-knacks are still in their place; their car is in the garage; their phone is on the bedside table; even their Facebook page—if they have one—is still online; but that dear loved person is suddenly no longer here.
We are here and they are there. We are busy, often swamped under the weight of our daily tasks, and they are immersed in eternal rest. We are preoccupied with a multitude of stressful obligations and they are absent, closed in a tomb or in our photo albums…
The Afterlife: Hereafter and Here at Hand by Giulia Jeary Knap is available from http://amzn.to/2Em3JnS. Find out more here: http://fracieloeterra.org/afterlifebook
Ever since I was a young girl, I have always been fascinated by life’s great mysteries, especially death and the afterlife. I started reading about near-death experiences when I was a teenager. When I was 9 years old, I began experiencing strange phenomena, including sleep paralysis. At the time, these felt confusing and frightening, so I tried my best to avoid them. Eventually, when I grew up, I learnt how sleep paralysis could lead to astral travel.
When I was 27, something happened that shook up my life completely. My grandmother passed away. Her death was a great shock for me and it brought up deeply troubling thoughts and emotions. For the next 5 years, I had frequent nightmares about her. My mind was in pain. I simply could not believe my grandmother no longer existed. But if she was still alive somewhere, I had no idea where that might be, or what she might look like. This event made me question the whole concept of physical death, but there was no one near me who could answer my questions. Growing up in Italy, we were discouraged from thinking too much about what happens after death. Moreover, we were taught that trying to communicate with those who have passed on was considered morbid – or even sinful.
Then in 1993, I visited the Spiritualist Association of Great Britain, based in London. There, thanks to a very good medium I met, I broke through my mental prison, and realised that my grandma was not dead, but still very much alive. At first, it was almost inconceivable, and my own mental filters prevented me from seeing her clearly. But as I gradually let go of my preconceptions, I had vivid contact not only with my grandmother, but with many others who had left this world.
As soon as I made this breakthrough, all my nightmares ended and I also realised that I could use astral travel for specific purposes. I grew bold, and my mind opened to a new world of possibilities. I started studying everything I could find – in Italian and in English. I learnt about the philosophy and mechanics of mediumship.
The following year, I started working as a translator at mediumship training events in the UK and Italy. I attended hundreds of private sittings, as well as dozens of lectures, workshops and public demonstrations of mediumship. I studied with many certified mediums, and did volunteer work in the field of bereavement support. I also teamed up with other afterlife researchers, experimenting with after-death communication and how it works.
Over the years I found out that many people who are interested in the subject of mediumship are, themselves, deeply bereaved. They have lost someone important in their lives, and are full of questions, just like those I had been asking myself. In their hearts, they don’t want to believe their loved ones no longer exist. But in their minds, they want practical evidence of life after death.
Seeing and feeling their pain and frustration, I felt a powerful urge to do something to help answer their questions, so people suffering from loss could find some peace. That’s why I wrote my book, The Afterlife: Hereafter and Here at Hand. Three Tried and Tested Methods to Stay in Touch with Those Who Have Gone Before Us.
In this book, I show you how death is not the end of life, but the reawakening from an illusion. I explain how and why it is possible to stay in touch with those on the other side, and how the departed find it easier to stay in touch with those they love than with people they never knew.
Finally, I show how your departed loved ones are closer to you NOW than they have ever been, and how they are only too willing to reassure you, watch over you and guide you.
The book teaches three different approaches to being in touch with our departed loved ones:
while we are awake,
while we are falling asleep,
and while we are asleep.
‘Being in touch’ means different things to different people. Some might physically see or hear those on the other side. But your unique way of ‘being in touch’ could be a flash in your mind’s eye, a fleeting thought, or an intuitive feeling. Or it could simply mean knowing your loved ones are always with you. This book will give you the spiritual understanding and practical skills to find your own individual way of gently and lovingly reconnecting with those you thought you had lost.
What’s more, these skills will help you deepen your connection with living loved ones. After all, we are all made of the same essence (spirit) and there really is no difference between the living and the dead.
I launched this book in Italian in March 2014. An updated version was issued in 2016. The English version will be made available on 5 June 2017.
This will not be a plain translation of the book I published three years ago, as it will include additional thoughts on the topic and has in fact been re-written for English-speaking readers.
But the synopsis has not changed, and this is what the book is about.
THE AFTERLIFE: Hereafter and Here at Hand
Three tried and tested methods to stay in touch with those who have gone before us
Is mediumship a rare talent or does each of us have the potential to stay in touch with loved ones who have crossed over before us? According to the author, who has attended several courses held by professional mediums and is an expert astral traveller herself, we all have the potential to maintain links that might appear to be broken as a result of the death of our physical body. This book contains plenty of evidence to support the idea that, irrespective of death, we are always in touch, even though we might not realise.
A clear difference exists between trained professional mediums and what this book is about, and this is something the author makes absolutely clear from the beginning, having had the honour of working closely with a number of them as a translator and of finding out how many studies and how much effort and daily dedication a professional medium needs to devote to his/her work.
Before presenting methods for pursuing the goal of staying in touch with our loved ones on the so-called “other side”, this book looks closely at the themes of transition, death and life after death, drawing on evidence provided by mediumistic accounts and the fascinating discoveries made by those who have glimpsed beyond the threshold during Near-Death Experiences.
Thanks to her personal meetings with deceased family members and friends, through dreams, lucid dreams, astral travel, as well as other mystical experiences, the author offers her own conclusions on the Spirit World. She suggests that the spiritual plane constantly interacts with the physical, and is, in fact, both emanation and essence of it, despite our unfortunate tendency in everyday life to consider the two dimensions as separate compartments.
Based on this, we discover that our loved ones find it much easier to stay in touch with those they have been close to on this physical plane, are closer to us than ever and only too willing to reassure us, watch over us and guide us.
Aside from the techniques themselves, which are within everyone’s grasp, the book is a great source of comfort, not only for those who have suffered a loss but also for anyone who, as a human being, has questions or doubts about this subject, which regrettably, many still consider a great taboo.
As suggested in the article devoted to unlocking our dream memories, our deceased loved ones are not living somewhere up in the clouds. They are much closer than that, only a thought away: it is as if they were living in the room next door and the door is never locked. However, when we speak about the room next door we are just using a metaphor, as the spirit world is not bound by our physical notions of three-dimensional space and linear time.
Being free from linear time means that, when we die, our greatest desire is to reassure our loved ones that we are safe, healed, happy and above all alive, but this is not a pressing need as it would be, for instance, if we had escaped a disaster in a foreign country and did not have the means to let our family know we are OK. It is not the same as many near-death experiencers report the moment they are pronounced dead and suddenly realise that, even though they are feeling perfectly well, they are invisible to relatives and friends who keep focusing on their dead body. Once we realise we are truly dead we also find out that time is not an issue and we will be back with our loved ones in the blink of an eye.
Being free from the notion of three-dimensional space means that there are no distances, walls, fences or doors that can separate us in the spirit world: indeed on a number of occasions, during out-of-body experiences or dreams, I have met deceased relatives or friends in non-existent extra-rooms placed next to the one I was in, or in non-existent extra flats located on the same floor as the one we live in. This means that the non-physical plane can manifest in the form or extra rooms or buildings we are not usually aware of while awake on the physical plane.
This metaphor is also used by William Thomas Stead (1849–1912), an English newspaper editor, influential writer and medium who was among the victims of the Titanic disaster. Stead communicated many times after his death, notably in a number of sessions in which he described his death at sea and the nature of the Afterlife through the medium Pardoe Woodman, via automatic writing. These communications formed part of a book, The Blue Island: Experiences of a New Arrival Beyond the Veil (Hutchinson & Co., London, 1922). In his account, Stead says, ‘Death is only the doorway from one room to another, and both rooms are very similarly furnished and arranged.’
In fact, the room-next-door-metaphor is simply designed to help our earthly minds to figure out the complex notions we have just described and understand how we can practically coexist with our departed loved ones on the spirit plane, a plane we are all part of, incarnates and discarnates.
On the other hand, R. Craig Hogan, Ph.D., who is president of the Afterlife Research and Education Institute, Inc., and of the Center for Spiritual Understanding, Inc., devoted to helping people develop their spiritual understanding through Afterlife connections, remarks, ‘Receiving communications from those on the next planes of life isnot like hearing someone speak to you from another room. When someone on this plane speaks to you, you receive the messages involuntarily; you can’t escape hearing the voice. In these efforts to have Afterlife connections, the messages are subliminal, and won’t be in audible voices at all. They will be in thoughts, impressions, feelings, and subtle knowing. You won’t receive them until you bring yourself into a state of mind in which you can let them into your consciousness.’
R. Craig Hogan, Ph.D. is the author of Your Eternal Self (Greater Reality Publications, 2008), presenting the scientific evidence that the mind is not confined to the brain, the Afterlife is a reality, people’s minds are linked, and the mind affects the physical world. The Afterlife Research and Education Institute offers an online self-guided Afterlife connection training programme (http://www.selfguided.spiritualunderstanding.org/) designed to teach and train people how to obtain after-death communication without the aid of a medium, as well as connecting with people still in bodies unable to communicate. As the programme presentation says, ‘you will establish a new relationship or enhance an existing relationship with your loved one living in the realm next door.’
Something I found very helpful about this programme is the way it presents the mechanics of spirit contact, by using another example that efficiently explains how important it is to be aware of what it is we are seeking and also available to tune into the subtler planes of existence in order to hear from our deceased loved ones.
‘To understand what it’s like for them to try to communicate to you, try this little experiment. We know from the research done by Rupert Sheldrake and others that people do have a sense of being stared at. People subtly know when someone is looking at them. The next time you’re in a line of people waiting for something, pick someone close to you, ahead of you in line, who is not preoccupied and not next in line to get to the clerk. They’re just standing idly. Focus on their neck and imagine tickling them on the neck. After a few seconds, some people will turn around and look back, and even brush their necks. They don’t know why, though. The message came through to their minds at a very subtle or subconscious level, but they don’t get the clear message that you’re imagining tickling their necks. They won’t turn around and say, “Why are you imagining tickling my neck?” The message is there, because they respond to it, but it doesn’t rise to the level of their conscious awareness.
That’s what it’s like for your loved one trying to communicate with you. They can communicate through thoughts, mind to mind. They do focus on your mind and try to get a message through, but the subtle messages don’t rise to the level that we can become conscious of them. We’re just too preoccupied with life to quiet ourselves and let the thought message come up from the subconscious into our conscious mind.
At times, you’ll suddenly have a memory, perhaps something you hadn’t thought of for years. That’s your mind connecting with their mind. They’re thinking of that memory, or they’re focusing on you and sending that memory to you. Thank them for it and let the love you feel pour over you. It’s them communicating mind to mind.’
I find this example absolutely brilliant! It explains very well how frustrating it might feel, if our loved ones were not living out of our linear time, to try and connect with us when we are awake and focused on our everyday life. Mind-to-mind communication also happens between physically alive people, of course, between people whose bodies are able to communicate. However our loved ones in spirit have an advantage: they have none of our worries, physical restrictions or conditions, they are young, healthy and pain-free. Their disadvantage, on the other hand, could be having to do with our disbelief, our lack of expectation, a deep sense of grief and loss and, above all, few topics to share that we may comprehend with all our mental filters and scarcity- or fear-based daily concerns, which are so typical on this plane of existence.
Thousands of near-death experiencers have found how little our language can help to describe the blissful mystical knowings they are made aware of while temporarily dead. This means that, in most cases, all our loved ones can hope to share with us is the notion that they are safe, alive and watching over us, advice and guidance about how to handle our daily challenges and a sense of protection at difficult times. The good news is that this is all most of us would really hope to get from after-death communication. So let us try and step into our departed loved ones’ shoes and imagine how it feels to try and convey such messages to us while we are engaged in our daily activities. They focus on us conveying their love and reassurance, just like a person standing in a line of people and staring at somebody else, and all they obtain in response to this, most times, is triggering a memory that will possibly cause us to feel nostalgic. Let us just stop and think about it and of any past experiences in which this might have happened to us and we discarded the thought as a memory or fantasy.
For instance, you might have been shopping at a supermarket, wondering whether to bake a new cake because you have never felt good at cooking, and you suddenly hear the speaker on the radio suggest it is time to try out a new recipe which is sure to prove as delicious as grandma’s cake used to be. Is this a coincidence?
In my case, it has happened more than once that I was feeling down because I was desperately missing my grandmother, who used to be so sweet and caring, whereas now I felt lonely and unable to handle the idea of having to shoulder too many responsibilities… She was the only one who used to make me feel absolutely special… And, as I was parking my car in the street or driving along, I happened to notice that the car right in front of mine displayed the name in italics “Giulietta”, which was the nickname she always used for me as a child. Was this a coincidence?
An even more significant form of spirit contact is the case in which you may suddenly remember something you had not thought about for years, a happy memory connected to somebody very dear to you who has passed on. That old incident might have come to mind out of the blue and you realised you had not thought of it for a long, long time: this may actually be a mind-to-mind contact by that person who is thinking of you and of that special time.
These are all special opportunities to become aware that after-death communication does happen even when we are not expecting it. Can you imagine how it may feel for our loved ones on the other side if, instead of acknowledging the thoughts and feelings they are trying to convey, we simply shrug them off as a sign of weakness on our side, or as a pleasant memory of a time that is lost forever?
Once we are convinced that spirit contact is absolutely natural and only requires to be acknowledged with a sense of gratitude, we can consciously start thinking of ways of seeking guidance from our loved ones in a quiet meditative state. If they are so clever at getting through to us when we are busy with our daily multitasking, how more effective will the process be if we actively create the best conditions for it to take place?
For those who feel like trying the online self-guided Afterlife connection training programme (http://www.selfguided.spiritualunderstanding.org/), which is also available with the aid of binaural beats, I recommend you carefully read through the conditions you must evaluate before going through the procedure.
The following words were spoken beyond the grave by Julia to her friend Ellen as part of a series of letters, Letters from Julia, channelledby W.T. Stead. Published for the first time by the Borderland magazine between 1893 and 1897, Julia’s letters were subsequently published in a single volume called After Death, Enlarged Edition on Letters from Julia, by Stead’s Publishing House, London, 1914.
While my hand was writing a letter to Ellen I thought, “I wonder if the new life surprised Julia much.” Instantly she wrote –
Yes, I was not prepared for such oneness in the life on both sides. When the soul leaves the body it remains exactly the same as when it was in the body; the soul, which is the only real self, and which uses the mind and the body as its instruments, no longer has the use or the need of the body. But it retains the mind, the knowledge, the experience, the habits of thought, the inclinations; they remain exactly as they were. Only it often happens that the gradual decay of the fleshy envelope to some extent obscures and impairs the real self which is liberated by death. The most extraordinary thing which came to my knowledge when I passed over was the difference between the apparent man and the real self.
It gave quite a new meaning to the warning, “Judge not,” for the real self is built up even more by the use it makes of the mind than by the use it makes of the body…
Thought has much greater reality than you imagine. The day-dreamer is not so idle as you imagine. The influence of his idealizing speculation may not make him work, but it may be felt imperceptibly by more practical minds. And so, in like manner, the man who in his innermost heart gives himself up to evil and unclean thoughts may be generating forces, the evil influences of which stir the passions and ruin the lives it may be of his own children, who possibly never knew that their father had ever had a
thought of sin.
Hence on this side things seem so topsy-turvy. The first are last, the last first…
Then there is another thing that surprised me not a little, and that was or is the discovery of the nothingness of things. I mean by that the entire nothingness of most things which seemed to one on earth the most important of things. For instance, money, rank, worth, merit, station, and all the things we most prize when on earth, are simply nothing. They don’t exist anymore than the mist of yesterday or the weather of last year. They were no doubt influential for a time, but they do not last; they pass as the cloud passes, and are not visible anymore.
I want to ask you if you can help me at all in a matter in which I am much interested. I have long wanted to establish a place where those who have passed over could communicate with the loved ones behind. At present the world is full of spirits longing to speak to those from whom they have been parted, just as I longed to speak to you, but without finding a hand to enable them to write. It is a strange spectacle. On your side, souls full of anguish for bereavement; on this side, souls full of sadness because they cannot communicate with those whom they love. What can be done to bring these sombre, sorrow-laden persons together? To do so requires something which we cannot supply. You must help. But how? It is not impossible. And when it is done death will have lost its sting and the grave its victory. The apostle thought this was done. But the grave has not been so easily defeated, and death keeps its sting. Who can console us for the loss of our beloved? Only those who can show us that they are not lost, but are with us more than ever. Do you not think I have been much more with Ellen since I put off my flesh than I used to be? Why, I dwell with her in a way that before was quite impossible. I was never more with her than I have been since I came to this side. But she would not have known it, nor would you have heard from me at all but for the accident of your meeting.
What is wanted is a bureau of communication between the two sides. Could you not establish some sort of office with one or more trust-worthy mediums ? If only it were to enable the sorrowing on the earth to know, if only for once, that their so-called dead live nearer them than ever before, it would help to dry many a tear and soothe many a sorrow. I think you could count upon the eager co-operation of all on this side.
We on this side are full of joy at the hope of this coming to pass. Imagine how grieved we must be to see so many whom we love, sorrowing without hope, when those for whom they sorrow are trying in vain every means to make them conscious of their presence. And many also are racked with agony, imagining that their loved ones are lost in hell, when in reality they have been found in the all-embracing arms of the love of God. Ellen, dear, do talk of this with Minerva, and see what can be done. It is the most important thing there is to do. For it brings with it the trump of the Archangel, when those that were in their graves shall awake and walk forth once more among men. I was at first astonished to learn how much importance the spirits attach to the communications which they are allowed to have with those on earth. I can, of course, easily understand, because I feel it myself – the craving there is to speak to those whom you loved and whom you love; but it is much more than this. What they tell me on all sides, and especially my dear guides, is that the time is come when there is to be a great awakening among the nations, and that the agency which is to bring this about is the sudden and conclusive demonstration, in every individual case which seeks for it, of the reality of the spirit, of the permanence of the soul, and the immanence of the Divine. I said: “But how can I help?”
She wrote: “You are a good writing medium. If you would allow your hand to be used by the spirit of any on this side whose relatives or friends wished to hear from them, you could depend almost confidently upon the spirit using your hand. At any rate, I could always explain why they could not use your hand.”
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In 1892, William Stead discovered he had the gift of automatic writing and it was then that a discarnate entity claiming to be Julia Ames began to write using Stead’s hand. “Sitting alone with a tranquil mind, I consciously placed my right hand, with the pen held in the ordinary way, at the disposal of Julia, and watched with keen and skeptical interest to see what it would write.” Stead wrote at the time.
Julia Ames was a professional journalist who also edited the The Woman’s Union Signal of Chicago. Ames had passed away during December 1891 and she and Stead had been friends. Her closest friend was a woman named Ellen who Stead also knew. Julia told Stead she wanted to relay her experiences from the ‘other side’ so as to help Ellen understand that death, far from being the end, was an event to be worked toward and that although her body had died ‘she’ hadn’t really died at all. Explaining the process of her death Julia wrote; “I did not feel any pain in “dying;” I felt only a great calm and peace. Then I awoke, and I was standing outside my old body, in the room. There was no one there at first, just myself and just myself. At first I wondered I was so strangely well. Then I saw that I had passed over. She added in another communication, “There is no death… Death is only a sense of deprivation and separation which the so-called living feel – an incident of limitation of ‘life.’ Death only exists for the ‘living,’ not for us.”
The letters were dictated during a period between 1892 and 1893 and during this time Julia asked Stead to set up a ‘Bureau’ — a sort of facility where, with the use of mediums, spiritual communications between the living and the spirit world could take place. Julia expressed great importance in our knowing more about our true reality stating; “you may think it strange that the verification of another life should increase the importance of this. But such is the fact, and you can never understand the importance of your life until you see it from this side. You are never, for one moment, idle from influencing eternity. You may think this a figure of speech.
But it is not. You are, far more really than you imagine, making this world of ours in that world of yours.”
The content of the letters included the law of spiritual growth, the mourning of the ‘dead’, life on the other side, and numerous other subjects she felt those living in the physical should be aware of before passing over.
In1893 Stead launched a publication called Borderland, a quarterly psychic magazine that ran until 1897, in which the “Letters from Julia” were published for the first time. The book containing the letters entitled After Death was published in 1905 and was great success with many copies being sold in the UK and the USA.
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