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.
A widely respected theologian, AD speaks bringing us his message from the spiritual world. AD always believed that truth, wherever it is found, is universal. In keeping with this belief, this material is intended for all men, whatever their religious or philosophical beliefs.
The Planes Of Existence
Much literature deals with the concept of different planes of existence or levels of consciousness. Even the Bible refers to the heavens in the plural and, in 2 Cor.: 12, St. Paul refers to being caught up to the third heaven.
AD stated, “The world in which we find ourselves immediately after death we call the ‘astral world.’ From this point we can progress to higher planes – to higher levels of consciousness. By ‘higher’ planes I do not mean spatially higher but rather those planes which have a finer vibration.
“All of the various planes of consciousness have different frequencies of vibration. For instance, you assume that the matter of earth is composed of atoms and that these atoms are composed of energy which vibrates. This matter of earth is denser than the matter of the higher planes. As you can see light waves which vibrate at a ‘visual observing’ rate, so you can see the matter of earth. However, as you cannot see radio or television waves which vibrate at too fast a rate to be seen, so you cannot see the matter of the world beyond, unless you are clairvoyant.
“The spiritual bodies of those who have died vibrate at a rate too fast for your physical eyes to see. However, they can be viewed by clairvoyants whose sight has been opened to receive this faster vibration.
“You know, the world beyond is not up there somewhere. It’s here – a change of condition. It is all in one space like a big sponge, containing all the different frequencies of vibration – like soapy water, salt water, clear water, the different densities of water – you can relate it to the different densities or vibrations that I have here. I can be soapy water and I can come down and see you. I can be salt water and I can stop on the mind level. Or I can be clear water and I can zoom through the mental plane without any trouble at all. Someday I’ll try to make it more lucid than that, but that is how it appears to me at the moment. You have to realize that I am a novice over here, very much a novice. But I must tell you that I know nearly as much as some of the oldsters who have been here a long while; I did my homework before I got here. The more you know about it when you are in the physical body, the easier it is for you when you get here.
“However, I still have the feeling that I am ‘up’ somewhere and I am sending this ‘down’ to you. I haven’t yet fully realized, as my teacher here tells me, that I don’t have to project my communication downward. I just have to consider that I am sending it out from me and that it is being picked up at the same ‘altitude.’ I still have the feeling that I must thought-power it ‘down’ somewhere. You see, old ideas don’t fade very fast.
“I have taken a number of trips out into the mental plane, and it is most interesting. You get there before you know it, whereas in the astral plane you are conscious of your going.
This is due to the difference in the rate of vibration of the two planes. For example, if you can send a thought around the world in no time at all, this can be compared to the mental plane. If you send a picture around the world, it takes longer than the thought – and this can be compared to the astral plane. In the astral body you are slower when you are moving, because you are moving through denser atmosphere – denser vibrations but not as dense as the physical world.
“The astral world is almost a replica of your world, except that it is of a finer substance and we are not ‘bound’ by our objective reality as you are.
“On the astral plane we are conscious of our personalities and the modes of life we carried out on earth. Therefore, we have denominations on this plane and we continue to practice the rites of our respective churches.
“On numerous occasions since I arrived here, I have been permitted to go into the higher planes where there is a unity of God-praise, not a segregation of the praise of God. However, I feel very strongly that there is work for me to do here, helping to break down the barriers which segregate the churches. Therefore, I shall be a sojourner on this astral plane but in the higher planes, where there is a unity of God-praise, will be my spiritual home.”
The Spiritual Bodies
On numerous occasions, AD described the experience of functioning in a spiritual body. He stated, “I am now aware of the fact that man is composed of a series of bodies which interpenetrate each other. A proper body is provided for each plane of consciousness – each body composed of matter which vibrates at a rate compatible with the matter of the plane in which it was made to function.
“As I have told you, I have been permitted to go into the higher planes but am still able to return to my astral body on the astral plane. The process is similar to that experienced by man on earth when the physical body is in the sleep state and the astral body temporarily leaves the physical body to enter the astral realm, still attached to the physical body by a connecting cord of power. However, when man returns to his physical body and awakens, he usually has no conscious recollection of these contacts with the astral realm during sleep, due to an etheric web between the physical and astral bodies, which blocks conscious recollection. Most people would not be able to function effectively in their daily tasks on earth if they were consciously aware of their astral experiences during sleep. It would be like trying to deal with two worlds at the same time. The experiences and knowledge man gains on the astral plane during sleep are stored in the subconscious and are drawn upon by him as he lives his life on earth.
“The same principle applies in going from the astral plane to the mental plane or higher planes, except that conscious memory is retained. For example, the astral body is left in a state similar to sleep and the mental body is then used to enter the mental plane. This same principle applies for all of the successively higher planes.
“When a person has fulfilled his purpose and development on the astral plane, he may then proceed permanently to enter the mental plane and the higher planes, in succession, to work and develop more fully there. In that case, the astral body is cast off, as is the physical body at death, and its particles disintegrate to be reused in the creative processes. However, a person who has gone into the higher planes in this way can still communicate through to earth and can still manifest himself on the astral plane through materialization.”
The Astral Body
The astral body in which we live immediately after we have died is a duplicate of our physical body, except that it is made of a fine, tenuous substance. The creative power of God – the Life Force – radiates through and powers our spiritual bodies.
“We don’t think of putting food into our mouths, because it isn’t needed. Therefore, the whole of the astral digestive tract and the elimination organs, like the kidneys and colon, cease to function – I guess you could say they become paralytic. However, we continue to use the psychic centers of the body. These become much more active because they are now free of the physical body.
“These psychic centers, the chakras, are sources of spiritual energy and each has certain colors it contributes to the aura, of magnetic field of light which emanates from each person. There is an aura of light around the physical body which is visible to those, such as clairvoyants, who are attuned to see it. There is also an aura of light around the astral body. The light and color characteristics of the aura of a person at a given time depend on which chakra or chakras are activated at that particular time. People trained in this area can often diagnose physical or mental disorders by the color of the aura seen. They can determine which part of the physical or emotional body is malfunctioning by the auric pattern and color which is evident. There are a number of books on this, and I would refer people to these other sources on the subject since I am not intending to give a scientific treatise here. However, I do want people to be aware of this phenomenon of the glow of the magnetic field, of each person and of the significance of changes in the appearance of the aura.
“Love, here, is experienced as a glorious mingling of the vibrations of the auric fields. (This, also, on occasion may be experienced while still in a physical body.) Loving widens one’s aura and field of contact and leaves a deep glow and warmth of affection.
“After death we see with the inner sight that is always within all earthly people. It is the same sight that is used when you sleep at night and dream. This is also the sight of clairvoyance. Clairvoyants are able to still the vibrations of their physical bodies, and they use this special sight to see the bodies of those in the astral world.
“The sense of smell is still with us. We can smell all the wonderful perfumes of the flowering trees and flowers.
“People who die when they are old can go back to a ‘prime’ age of life by a process of revitalization. Likewise, people who die at a young age can mature and progress to what they consider a ‘prime’ age.”
In progressive sittings with AD, Margaret observed changes in his appearance. During the 1972 sittings she said that he looked considerably younger than in the 1971 sittings. In October 1972 AD said to me, “I want you to understand that I am now a middle-aged man again. I am not old anymore.”
He also said, “The spiritual bodies are whole and perfect. Even a person who has lost a limb by amputation while in the physical body can function as a whole person in the spiritual world. The limbs of the spiritual bodies are not lost through amputation of physical limbs.
“However, people who have been physically ill for a long time on earth, or who have had a limb amputated before death, often carry that illness or disability over with them in their minds. They feel that they still have the disability in their astral bodies, and it is difficult for them to realize that they are whole persons.
“There are hospitals on the astral plane for the treatment of people who are not able to function effectively when they first pass over. The healers and physicians on the astral plane concentrate their treatment on making those persons realize that their illness is only in their minds and that the mind is influencing the astral body, producing a simulated illness.
“However, drug and alcohol addictions actually do carry over into the astral bodies. Withdrawal treatments must take place on the astral plane in these cases before a sense of wholeness can be achieved. It is far easier to break these habits while still in the physical body.”
Travel by Thought
In April 1971 AD dictated a communication to Margaret in London in which he stated, “I grow stronger in mind directive daily and am still aware of day and night. I still utilize night for resting and meeting with all of you who still live in physical bodies. I presume that eventually resting need not mean ‘sleep’ – losing sense of self – but resting could be in the form of relaxing, meditating, listening to music, poetry, or fine prose, and thus recharging oneself.
“Vitality is required to propel our thinking. Eventually when we can ‘think’ ourselves to a desired place, we appear as a spark of light – a comet-like creature – or may even go out like a light and come on again at a desired place. This is an accomplishment and needs practice. Today I came in a horizontal position part of the way and then suddenly must have operated ‘the law’ and arrived in your room.
“Here one can see small and large astral folks floating around or walking – on the ground then up a few inches, down again, up a few feet, and so on – all learning to use these astral bodies to best advantage. There are some who never go beyond a quick gliding walk for they wish to observe things and people around them as they go. They are the observers, the inquisitive ones. This is the mode I use when I go to visit new places or even revisit old familiar ones.”
Classes to Learn to Use the Astral Body
“As I have mentioned, there are classes here which one may join to learn how to use these astral bodies without the feeling of cumbersomeness that comes with the physical body.
“I have inquired into how Donna (a friend of ours who died in 1968) was trained in her classes, and I appreciate that the way I have been trained is slightly different. In Donna’s training she was led by her guide to a group of eight people and a leader. They would sit down, as if for meditation, and their guides sat with them.
“In the group Donna attended the members were told, after meditation and quietness, to extend a thought to each other in turn, beginning with the leader, and to get the feeling of empathy with the other. Then the leader began to make them appreciate that they were communicating with their thinking, without using their lips or words. Donna explained, ‘I would try to say something to someone in my thinking. They would try to receive it and then say something to me.’
“In that group there were mixed levels of development. Some already were far along and communicating, while others were just beginning. Because of Donna’s empathy with people, she found it quite easy and very quickly was beginning to pick up thought. She was then told to go to a certain room, and there she was to look on a shelf for a book. When she was standing in the room, she was to receive instructions by thought as to which book to take, which page to open, which sentence to read, and then to put the book back. Then she was to find her way back to the group by homing in, using swift thought and without walking on her feet. She described her difficulty of trying to walk in air before she could learn to home in without walking.
“It was then suggested that she should go and find someone out of the group in some other place. She was to find them by homing in on their vibration and bring a message back from them to the leader. In this way she was trained to go to a particular place and to come back, guided by the ‘note’ or vibration of a person.”
On May 7, 1971, AD dictated a communication to Margaret in London, part of which dealt with orientation classes to learn to receive color. AD stated:
“Now, let us think of the easiest way to describe these orientation classes. In the group I attend there are eight of us and the teacher, in this case your friend, Donna. She is instructing beginners. We sit, relaxed, on chairs or backless stools, upright, hands on knees. We go into silence and then direct our attention on the leader. She is the ‘broadcaster.’ We are the ‘receivers.’ She projects colors, collects sound, and redirects them toward us. We sit in a widely spaced circle, almost a horseshoe shape. Donna projects the color, the sound. We tell what we have received. She advises if correct or incorrect. If the latter, we try again, remembering that we are to be passive and alert, switched on as a radio. I think the simile of a television set perhaps is more correct. We receive in color sometimes and in black and white on other occasions.
“This learning to receive color is one of the first exercises. To receive sound is the next step. I think I have told you that we have a note, a personal sound, which you in the physical body may hear, if properly attuned. This is the note used to attract our attention, to let us know when we are needed by anyone.
“Remember that color is sound and sound is color, so the exercise is a combined one. I understand this is not equivalent to the sounds made by earthly musical instruments, orchestras, etc. Many people on earth ‘see’ musical sounds as color, as you do, Margaret.
“So far, we are working on the holding of a color and listening for its sound, hearing notes and relating and seeing color. Quite a new field for me, so I am not too quick at it but will persevere.
“We leave the group in turn, and the remaining ones send out a thought, a call. We are listening as we walk about. Then, hearing it, we home in and return to the group, just as bees return to a hive when summoned, or a racing pigeon, released away from its loft, circles until it ‘knows’ the direction to home. It is necessary to become very familiar with this returning to base, for otherwise we could wander around, a lost soul. (If you think about that, we talk of lost souls as being divorced from God – yet no one is lost, not even a sparrow. They only think themselves lost.)
“It becomes easier to find one’s way around when it’s a repetitive action, and I’m doing quite well, but one must not get absent-minded.”
Excerpt from Witness From Beyond
Part II coming soon.