You are all such deep thinkers and feelers, and have so much insight. Thank you for sharing your experiences. They are helpful. I have a couple of things to share. They're pretty basic.
For decades and in different circumstances, people whom I have never met before will call me by my mother's name. Patients I've taken care of in the hospital, people I have met through family members who would have no idea of my mom's name. It is the strangest thing to be working in a patient's room and have the person say, "Gloria? Can I have a glass of water?" My name is Gail. My mom was Gloria. But it is so comforting to me!
Does anyone know why that happens?
My mom had dementia and I was her constant and only close companion for years after she went into the nursing home. Often I felt like I WAS her. Like she was feeling, seeing and doing through me. Is that like being an empath? I loved her very, very much. She died two years ago.
Another experience came through my cousin in a dream. My dad died in 2015. He always had a boat, loved fishing and some of my best memories of us are of fishing and being on the boat with him. Anyway, in 2016 my daughter-in-law miscarried her baby boy Justin when she was 5 months pregnant. She had had multiple miscarriages in the past. This would be her last pregnancy. My cousin dreamed while this was happening that my dad came to her and asked her to help him tow his boat out to the river where we used to fish. He was desperate to get to the river. In the dream she towed his boat and got him out to the river. It was striking to her how insistent he was that he get to the river.
I took this dream to mean that as a river flows, and as the baby was flowing from my dear one's body, he needed to be at the river to receive the child and to let us know that our little one under construction would be safe with him, and he would take him on to his next destination. Is this crazy? It seems so obvious and real to me. And very comforting.
Thanks for listening with your hearts. I think that is something we all do very well.
@lowtide I love your dream about your father carrying the baby to his next destination. I have seen beings in the other side while giving readings. These are experiences, not explainable. I’m not religious so I don’t have beliefs about the afterlife but I have had many sense experiences of beings on the other side. In 2001 when my father laying dying with me near his bedside, and he was gasping for breath, in my anxiety for him, I heard myself cry out to him, "Grammy's here! Grammy's hear!" I hadn't quite realized it, but he had been especially close to his mother who had died decades earlier. I felt her presence on the other side as he was about to cross over.
I don't know of any NDE's that can't be explained in some way, namely that the person wasn't really dead. Yet in my deep knowing states, I "know" spirits of people are there. I can explain it away as just part of the unconscious, but my experience of beings on the other side feels very real in my inner knowing state. And one thing I've learned from reading people for 35 years is that it is difficult, maybe impossible to cognitively know something we haven't got an explanation for. But we can "know" things intuitively. Do I sound contradictory? I'm just saying it's a mystery but I do not argue with my more powerful intuitive experiences.
Also logical explanations, although they satisfy many atheists and non believers, don't preclude the existence of an afterlife.
True wisdom is probably somewhere between embracing the mystery and embracing our intuitive experiences.
One incident in the NDE literature that jumps out at me is the case of Pamela Reynolds, a woman who survived a 95 minute surgery in which they stopped her heart and drained all the blood from her body and her EEG was flat. It was an experimental procedure to save her life from a brain aneurism. She was for all purposes dead. It is reported in a 1988 book by Michael Sabom, M.D. Light and Death, p. 43:
What is remarkable about Pam‟s experience was not that she survived such a daring surgical procedure, but that during the entire time, although she was totally unconscious and “her electroencephalogram was silent, her brain-stem activity was absent, and no blood flowedthrough her brain” (Sabom, 1998, p. 49), she reported having an out-of-body experience and an awareness of events what were occurring in the operating room! As Pam‟s attending surgeon, Dr. Robert Spetzler, Director of Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, said: “If you would examine that patient from a clinical perspective during that hour, that patient by all definition would be dead. At this point there was no brain activity, no blood going to the brain. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing” (Sabom, 1998, p. 5). As Neal Grossman (2002) remarked about the case:
A brain in this state cannot create any kind of experience. Yet the patient reported a profound NDE (near death experience). Those materialists who believe that consciousness is secreted by the brain, or that the brain is necessary for conscious experience to exist, cannot possibly explain, in their own terms, cases such as this. An impartial observer would have to conclude that not all experience is produced by the brain, and that therefore the falsity of materialism has been empirically demonstrated (Grossman, 2002, p. 31).
When my first husband died by suicide (it's out now in Mary Ann Bohrer's book so I might as well accept that I can't keep it private), I had a life changing death experience that opened me to the other world. It wasn't just that voices were talking to me constantly during that terrible traumatic time.
Spirits explained to me that everything was ruled by the laws of physics and, like Coyote's NDE, something cyclical and mathematical was at play that included Warren's violent death and near-killing me, and my own instinct to protect myself from getting killed. Voices told me I would be okay, eventually, and would change back to my maiden name and start a new life. Some voices were loud and clear, others were whispers and flowing. All were loving and helped keep me from going crazy during that traumatic time.
Because we were close in the way that twenty-somethings can be, when he passed, I felt a connection to that world. I knew he was there behind the veil, as much there as when someone you know is in another state or country, just not in the room with you, but still there. (I must add that he hurt me, it was an abusive relationship, and I had left him just a few weeks before, and would never ever be in a relationship like that again, but we were very close nonetheless.)
But the closeness with someone who has died, connects you with the other side. I felt I could peer into the air and he was there behind a veil. I have never lost a sibling or a child, and while I loved my parents, I was not that intensely close to them when they passed, but I expect that that closeness of sibling or child is similar to what I had with Warren, and it takes you to the other world. Viktor Frankl described in Man's Search for Meaning how when he was in Aushwitz separated from his wife and parents, he had psychic conversations with his wife, even though she was probably dead by then. It felt like that for me, although I think spirit guides were talking to me more.
There is more to tell but I'm suddenly exhausted and can't post any more. :-)
"Most world religious have some iteration on the "communion of saints" imagery conveyed in Christian texts: a cascading, multi-tiered (multi-dimensional) depiction of radiant souls of many different types appearing in a vast and glorious geometric architecture of pure unity. This imagery shows up as a "heavenly choir of angels"; a profound convergence of bodhisattva beings; a vast array of multi-armed, multi-eyed Hindu deities; a conscious totemic structure or constellation among certain indigenous, and in many other forms...
I don't claim to understand it much, but since 2016, I've felt these vast constellations of awakened beings all around us/the Earth, and have more than once found myself lifted into the center of a brilliant formation made up of many distinct individuals who were simultaneously radiating a profound collective intelligence. A many/Oneness. Baffling in its expanse and shattering in its overwhelming energy of love."
Reading your post reminds me of the imagery that Baba sometimes receives during her meditations on the White House. She has seen "choirs of angels" and great multitudes of light-bearing individuals surrounding it. Here is a recent example from 8/6:
"I see the White House. It is dark inside. Outside the WH fences, I see rings and rings of light workers spaced out emitting a blue/white light from each ring. Their heads are bowed and they are concentrating on sending light and healing to the people. The sky is red and black and there is purple lightning in the distance. I heard the word, “reckoning”."
This is all fascinating.
You my friend, are a beautiful soul.
I have a lovely artist friend who experienced the devastation of the Northridge Earthquake in 1994. Included in the items destroyed by the strong quake were most of her china, tea cups and glassware as well as some beautiful artwork she had created over the years.
My entire extended family also went through this monster of a quake which struck in complete darkness as it tossed the ground violently. There were months of clean-up and PTSD to deal with before life seemed more familiar to them again. For weeks I helped sort their damaged and shattered items from the things that were still usable. It was a process, physically and emotionally. It was dirty and dusty. Sharp edges were involved and the mess seemed to go on forever. The dumpster pile grew tall and wide each week on the curb awaiting the garbage trucks to come haul away the debris. Eventually the houses were repaired and the needed items that were broken were replaced.
My artist friend approached her clean-up process a bit differently. Before throwing everything that shattered away, she gathered up the broken pieces off the floor, sifted through the remains and examined them with care. She sorted. Thought. Contemplated. She saw the pieces gathered around her in a new light. After some time and reflection, 3 piles remained. The first pile was filled items which no longer served a useful purpose in her life journey. They were placed for disposal. The second pile was filled with things that could still serve their purpose They were mended, cleaned, dusted and placed back into her home with greater appreciation and some joy.
The third pile was different. To the casual observer, it also appeared to be a collection of broken "things" with no possible further purpose and destined for a rubbish bin as well. But my friend found beauty in these shattered remains. These fractured pieces would be instruments for her healing process. Day by day, week by week, month by month and over the years, she would create meaningful and expressive artwork form these pieces that had been destroyed by that massive quake. Some would become mosaics, others collages. She had all the material she needed to create, invent, discover and re-imagine. Day by day her spirit healed and grew more peaceful as she connected more fully to her soul. She had been given everything she needed to heal and begin traveling on her next journey. She became a beautiful firebird, a Phoenix.
Jeanne, you found all the material you needed to heal , re-imagine, invent and discover. You sorted through your 3 piles left from your own tragedy. Sharp edges were involved and the mess must have seemed to go on forever. And yet, look a what a beautiful, love filled, purpose driven life you have created, What a remarkable journey you have taken.
You realize you too are a magnificent firebird soaring through the sky don"t you?
My mom had dementia and I was her constant and only close companion for years after she went into the nursing home. Often I felt like I WAS her. Like she was feeling, seeing and doing through me.
Hi @lowtide. I believe that, because your mother felt most comfortable in and near your energy, she may have stayed here with you after death, always standing in or very near your biofield. Your energy is bright and warm, and to a recently departed spirit, that feels safe and good. You were a comfort to her in life and she has been a comfort to you. She's only wanted to guide and protect you.
It's possible, though, that your mother may still need to cross over so that she can fully integrate her life experience at the soul level and gain further insights into her purpose. After she does that, she can come back to guide and teach you, or to simply be near as a comfort to you when needed.
This is a vitally important process. In a period of about three days after death, a beautiful light portal opens for most people, and relatives and higher spirits from the other side arrive to ferry the soul forward. But when a spirit is highly attached or fearful of neglecting what they believe is their duty or responsibility to a close loved one, they may avoid crossing over, believing they should stay behind to help. (It must be incredibly hard to leave our children.) Other times, the living person's grief keeps them here.
Unfortunately, the presence of an uncrossed-over spirit can inadvertently drain the energies of the living. When they cross over and do their work, the bright wholeness that they become is only beneficial to the living if they later choose to return. (In my experience, crossed over loved ones ALWAYS return the instant we think of them; whether we choose to perceive their presence is another matter.)
I feel a change has recently occurred or soon will for you, and that your mother's spirit is going to be a wonderful guide for you. (She will also be assisting her confused ancestors in the process.)
As to your cousin's dream, I have many, many times heard from spirits that they perceive a river at the point of crossing over, which I take to be a great channel of flowing energies, like a portal. There's also AMPLE cross-cultural/historical evidence of this found in world mythology and religions. The River Styx is just one powerful example. The river itself is a crossroads between the Earthbound plane and the true spirit world. I believe your dad came to your cousin in her dream to convey the message that he would be serving as the infant spirit's psychopomp—a person or spirit who safely guides souls across. ?
I'm so happy you noticed this. Many times I've observed it too, and @Baba and I have actually spoken about it once or twice. I'm enthralled by her powerful visions and her clear connection to these beautiful beings.
I'm so deeply moved by your story. Thank you for your willingness to share it with us. It's clear that your soul chose an incredible trial by fire in this lifetime. You've survived those fires and learned to channel their energies toward your higher purpose. You have both my awe and gratitude. ?
What a BEAUTIFUL story, as was your telling of it. It reminded me of the Japanese art of Kintsugi. When treasured tea cups and other ceramic vessels are broken, the shards are carefully restored using gold to fill the cracks.
It's believed that a vessel isn't truly beautiful—or adequate to its true purpose—until it's been broken and lovingly repaired.
And what is healing, if not that? ?