Occasionally, a disturbed spirit does not want to leave the Earth after physical death. This is due to some unresolved problem which has had a severe impact on its consciousness. In these abnormal cases, help is available from higher, caring entities who can assist in the adjustment process from the other side. We also have the means to aid disturbed spirits in letting go on Earth, as well. I will have more to say about troubled souls in Chapter Four, but the enigma of ghosts portrayed in books and movies has been greatly overblown.
How should we best prepare for our own death? Our lives may be short or long, healthy or sick, but there comes that time when we all must meet death in a way suited for us. If we have had a long illness leading to death, there is time to adequately prepare the mind once initial shock, denial, and depression have passed. The mind takes a short cut through this sort of progression when we face death suddenly. As the end of our physical life draws near, each of us has the capacity to fuse with our higher consciousness. Dying is the easiest period in our lives for spiritual awareness, when we can sense our soul is connected to the eternity of time.
Although there are dying people who find acceptance to be more difficult than resignation, caregivers working around the dying say most everyone acquires a peaceful detachment near the end. I believe dying people are given access to a supreme knowledge of eternal consciousness and this frequently shows in their faces. Many of these people realize something universal is out there waiting and it will be good.
Dying people are undergoing a metamorphosis of separation by their souls from an adopted body. People associate death as losing our life force, when actually the opposite is true. We forfeit our body in death, but our eternal life energy unites with the force of a divine oversoul. Death is not darkness, but light.
My clients say after recalling former death experiences they are so filled with rediscovered freedom from their earthbound bodies that they are anxious to get started on their spiritual journey to a place of peace and familiarity. In the cases which follow, we will learn what life is like for them in afterlife.
2
Gateway to the Spirit World
FOR thousands of years the people of Mesopotamia believed the gates into and out of heaven lay at opposite ends of the great curve of the Milky Way, called the River of Souls. After death, souls had to wait for the rising doorway of Sagittarius and the autumn equinox, when day and night are equal. Reincarnation back to Earth could only take place during the spring equinox through the Gemini exit in their night sky.
My subjects tell me that soul migration is actually much easier. The tunnel effect they experience when leaving Earth is the portal into the spirit world. Although souls leave their bodies swiftly, it seems to me entry into the spirit world is a carefully measured process. Later, when we return to Earth in another life, the route back is described as being more rapid.
The location of the tunnel in relation to the Earth has some variations between the accounts of my subjects. Some newly dead people see it opening up next to them right over their bodies, while others say they move high above the Earth before they enter the tunnel. In all cases, however, the time lapse in reaching this passageway is negligible once the soul leaves Earth. Here are the observations of another individual in this spiritual location.
Case 3
Dr. N: You are now leaving your body. See yourself moving further and further away from the place where you died, away from the plane of Earth. Report back to me what you are experiencing.
S: At first ... it was very bright ... close to the Earth ... now it's a little darker because I have gone into a tunnel.
Dr. N: Describe this tunnel for me.
S: It's a ... hollow, dim vent ... and there is a small circle of light at the other end.
Dr. N: Okay, what happens to you next?
S: I feel a tugging ... a gentle pulling ... I think I'm supposed to drift through this tunnel ... and I do. It is more gray than dark now, because the bright circle is expanding in front of me. It's as if ... (client stops)
Dr. N: Go on.
S: I'm being summoned forward ...
Dr. N: Let the circle of light expand in front of you at the end of the tunnel and continue to explain what is happening to you.
S: The circle of light grows very wide and ... I'm out of the tunnel. There is a ... cloudy brightness ... a light fog. I'm filtering through it.
Dr. N: As you leave the tunnel, what else stands out in your mind besides the lack of absolute visual clarity?
S: (subject lowers voice) It's so ... still ... it is such a quiet place to be in ... I am in the place of spirits ...
Dr. N: Do you have any other impressions at this moment as a soul?
S: Thought! I feel the ... power of thought all around me. I ...
Dr. N: Just relax completely and let your impressions come through easily as you continue to report back to me exactly what is happening to you. Please go on.
S: Well, it's hard to put into words. I feel ... thoughts of love ... companionship ... empathy ... and it's all combined with ... anticipation ... as if others are ... waiting for me.
Dr. N: Do you have a sense of security, or are you a little scared?
S: I'm not scared. When I was in the tunnel, I was more ... disoriented. Yes, I feel secure ... I'm aware of thoughts reaching out to me ... of caring ... nurturing. It is strange, but there is also the understanding around me of just who I am and why I am here now.
Dr. N: Do you see any evidence of this around you?
S: (in a hushed tone) No, I sense it-a harmony of thought everywhere.
Dr. N: You mentioned cloud-like substances around you right after leaving the tunnel. Are you in a sky over Earth?
S: (pause) No-not that-but I seem to be floating through cloud stuff which is different from Earth.
Dr. N: Can you see the Earth at all? Is it below you?
S: Maybe it is, but I haven't seen it since I went in the tunnel.
Dr. N: Do you sense you are still connected to Earth through another dimension, perhaps?
S: That's a possibility-yes. In my mind Earth seems close ... and I still feel connected to Earth ... but I know I'm in another space.
Dr. N: What else can you tell me about your present location?
S: It's still a little ... murky ... but I'm moving out of this.
This particular subject, having been taken through the death experience and the tunnel, continues to make tranquil mental adjustments to her bodiless state while pulling further into the spirit world. After some initial uncertainty, her first reported impressions reflect an inviting sense of well-being. This is a common feeling among my subjects.
Once through the tunnel, our souls have passed the initial gateway of their journey into the spirit world. Most now fully realize they are not really dead, but have simply left the encumbrance of an Earth body which has died. With this awareness comes acceptance in varying degrees depending upon the soul. Some subjects look at these surroundings with continued amazement while others are more matter-of-fact in reporting to me what they see. Much depends upon their respective maturity and recent life experiences. The most common type of reaction I hear is a relieved sigh followed by something on the order of, "Oh, wonderful, I'm home in this beautiful place again."