by Carl Wickland

Experiences Of The Selfish Spirit On The Other Side

THOSE whose earthly interests have been superficial, who have been dominated by pride, vanity, greed, ambition and selfishness, are held in the earth sphere after transition until these tendencies have been conquered and love and sympathy have been developed through service for others.

Frequently spirits whose earth lives were spent in pursuit of pleasure and the pastimes of wealthy society have attained realization of a higher life through our psychic circle. (more…)

by Ruth Mattson Taylor, Margaret F. Tweddell (channel)

My father, the Reverend Alvin Daniel Mattson, S.T.D., a Lutheran theologian, died on October 19, 1970. Affectionately known as “AD” by hundreds of former students, colleagues, and friends, he was a pioneer among the clergymen who sought to awaken the organized church to its responsibilities in the area of social justice.

Not quite five months after AD died, Margaret Flavell, a close friend from London, was visiting us. She is one of the most respected clairvoyants in England and has a remarkable record of accomplishments in the field of psychic communication. On the morning of March 2, 1971, we decided to see if we could get in touch with AD from the world beyond and to tape-record our attempt. We had expected to make contact with him and to get evidence that he does survive, but little did we expect the quantity and quality of very significant communication and information that we received. (more…)

by Ruth Mattson Taylor, Margaret F. Tweddell (channel)

My father, the Reverend Alvin Daniel Mattson, S.T.D., a Lutheran theologian, died on October 19, 1970. Affectionately known as “AD” by hundreds of former students, colleagues, and friends, he was a pioneer among the clergymen who sought to awaken the organized church to its responsibilities in the area of social justice.

Not quite five months after AD died, Margaret Flavell, a close friend from London, was visiting us. She is one of the most respected clairvoyants in England and has a remarkable record of accomplishments in the field of psychic communication. On the morning of March 2, 1971, we decided to see if we could get in touch with AD from the world beyond and to tape-record our attempt. We had expected to make contact with him and to get evidence that he does survive, but little did we expect the quantity and quality of very significant communication and information that we received. (more…)

by Ruth Mattson Taylor, Margaret F. Tweddell (channel)

My father, the Reverend Alvin Daniel Mattson, S.T.D., a Lutheran theologian, died on October 19, 1970. Affectionately known as “AD” by hundreds of former students, colleagues, and friends, he was a pioneer among the clergymen who sought to awaken the organized church to its responsibilities in the area of social justice.

Not quite five months after AD died, Margaret Flavell, a close friend from London, was visiting us. She is one of the most respected clairvoyants in England and has a remarkable record of accomplishments in the field of psychic communication. On the morning of March 2, 1971, we decided to see if we could get in touch with AD from the world beyond and to tape-record our attempt. We had expected to make contact with him and to get evidence that he does survive, but little did we expect the quantity and quality of very significant communication and information that we received. (more…)

by Franchezzo – Transcribed by A. Farnese

The Frozen Land—The Caverns of Slumber

I was next sent to visit what will indeed seem a strange country to exist in the spirit world. The Land of Ice and Snow—the Frozen Land—in which lived all those who had been cold and selfishly calculating in their earthly lives. Those who had crushed out and chilled and frozen from their own lives and the lives of others, all those warm sweet impulses and affections which make the life of heart and soul. Love had been so crushed and killed by them that its sun could not shine where they were, and only the frost of life remained.

Great statesmen were amongst those whom I saw dwelling in this land, but they were those who had not loved their country nor sought its good. Only their own ambitions, their own aggrandizement had been their aim, and to me they now appeared to dwell in great palaces of ice and on the lofty frozen pinnacles of their own ambitions. Others more humble and in different paths in life I saw, but all alike were chilled and frozen by the awful coldness and barrenness of a life from which all warmth, all passion, was shut out. I had learned the evils of an excess of emotion and of passion, now I saw the evils of their entire absence. Thank God this land had far fewer inhabitants than the other, for terrible as are the effects of misused love, they are not so hard to overcome as the absence of all the tender feelings of the human heart. (more…)

by Franchezzo – Transcribed by A. Farnese

Twilight Lands – The Valley of Selfishness – The Country of Unrest – The Miser’s Land – The Gambler’s Land

When my period of work in any place was finished, I used to return to the Twilight Land to rest in another large building which belonged to our brotherhood. It was somewhat like the other place in appearance only not quite so dark, nor so dismal, nor so bare, and in the little room which belonged to each there were such things as we had earned as the rewards of our labors. For instance, in my room, which was still somewhat bare-looking, I had one great treasure. This was a picture of my love. It seemed more like a reflection of her in a mirror than a mere painted image, for when I looked intently at her she would smile back at me in answer, as though her spirit was conscious of my gaze, and when I wished very much to know what she was doing, my picture would change and show me. This was regarded by all my companions as a great and wonderful privilege, and I was told it was as much the result of her love and constant thought for me as of my own efforts to improve. Since then I have been shown how this living image was thrown upon the light of the astral plane and then projected into its frame in my room, but I cannot explain it more fully. Another gift from my darling was a white rosebud, which I had in a small vase and which never seemed to fade or wither, but remained fresh and fragrant and ever an emblem of her love, so that I called her my white rose. (more…)

by Edward C. Randall

What happens at Death? What are one’s sensations, and what meets the vision on awakening? This has been described thousands of times, and I quote from my records something of what I have been told on the important subject:

“It is a privilege to tell you of my transition. The last physical sensation that I recall was one of falling, but I had no fear—it seemed so natural. At the same time I heard voices speaking words of encouragement, voices that I recognized as those of loved ones that I thought dead. For a time I had no recollection. Then I awoke in this spirit sphere, and never will I forget the joy that was mine. I found myself, saw my body, which appeared as usual, except lighter and more ethereal. I was resting on a couch in a beautiful room filled with flowers. I looked through a window and saw the landscape, bathed in rose-colored light. There was a quiet that was impressive, then music, the harmonious vibration of which seemed to rise and fall softly. Then one appeared, and, though she spoke no words, I seemed to understand and answered. (more…)

by Michael Newton

While in trance, my subjects describe many visual images of the spirit world in earthly symbolisms. They may create structural images from their own planetary experiences or have these images created for them by guides seeking to raise their comfort level with familiar surroundings. After discussing this aspect of unconscious memory at lectures, I have had people say that, regardless of the consistency of these observations, they strain credibility. How could schoolrooms, libraries and temples exist in the spirit world?

I address these questions by explaining that past observational memory is metaphoric as a current perspective. Original scenes from all our lives never leave our memory as souls. In the spirit world, seeing a temple is not a literal record of stone blocks but rather a visualization of the meaning the temple has to that soul. Back on Earth, memories of past events in our soul life are reconstructions of circumstances and events based upon interpretations and conscious knowledge. All client memory retrieval is based upon observations of the soul mind processing information through a human mind. Regardless of the visual structures of spiritual settings, I always look to the functional aspects of what a subject is doing in them. (more…)

By Harriette & F. Homer Curtiss

The Awakening

In the case of the majority of persons, the first emotion on awakening in the Astral World is an intense and weird loneliness, a confused consciousness of being surrounded by vague shadowy forms, and of being watched by innumerable eyes, yet without the ability fully to formulate their thoughts or understand by whom or what they are watched. For at this stage the awakened ones have not yet learned to use their astral senses or to discriminate among the strange sights, sounds and feelings. It must be remembered that in the Astral World for a time they are in the same relative position as is a new-born babe when it first opens its eyes to earth life. Could we enter into the babe’s feelings we would find vague memories of the life it had left, a sense of just awakening from a deep sleep (the period of gestation) and a newborn and uncomprehending wonder at the strange sights and sounds surrounding it. If, however, the ones passing over have studied or have had at least some understanding of what they are to expect, the confusion is but momentary. And if they have prepared for the change by having some wise Soul gather together their loved friends and relatives to meet them, it is a joyous reunion. (more…)

by Rev. Gary Duncan

When I was twelve years old, my brother – a Funeral Director – began introducing me into the business. Over the next several years, he taught me anatomy and physiology, principles of mortuary science as well as other aspects of the profession. By the time I was twenty-one, I had completed my mortuary apprenticeship, but decided to leave the profession and pursue a degree in psychology.

Working in the funeral business gave me a rich understanding of the dying process, people’s experiences at death and personal experiences preparing the body for burial. It was here that I became acquainted with a phenomenon I call “the watchers.” Both my brother and I, at times while preparing the body, would feel the soul of the departed watching us. It was as though there were three people in the preparation room rather than two. (more…)

by Swami Panchadasi

Life And Work On The Astral

What I have said regarding the nature of the astral scenery must not be taken as indicating that the Astral, itself, is merely imaginary or unreal in any sense. Nor is the substance of which the scenery is composed any less real than the substance of which the material world is composed. On the material plane, substance manifests as matter; while on the astral plane it manifests in a finer form of “stuff” or material. Again, on the material plane, the material, or matter, is shaped by the physical forces of nature, or, perhaps, by the mind of man using the original material in order to build “artificial” structures or forms. On the Astral, on the other hand the astral material is not thrown into shape by physical forces, but is shaped and formed only by the thought and imaginative power of the minds of those inhabiting that plane. But these shapes, forms and structures of the astral material are not to be thought of as existing merely in the mind of the astral dwellers. They have an independent existence of their own, being composed of astral material, though shaped, formed and built up directly by the mind-power of the astral dwellers, instead of by the physical forces of nature. The astral scenery, etc., survives the passing away of the mind which built it up, and disintegrates only after the passage of considerable time, just as do the material things on the earth plane. As for the power of the imagination of man, do not be deceived for a moment – for this is one of the most efficient powers in nature, and operates strongly even on the material plane, though on the Astral its power is more easily recognized by the senses. To the dwellers on the Astral, their scenery, buildings, etc., are as solid as are those of the material plane to the dwellers thereupon. (more…)