Destiny of Souls (9 page)

astral plane 52 *a Destiny of Souls around Earth through the gateway into the spirit world. It does not matter if my subject is a young soul or a highly advanced older soul, right after death they all tell me their soul passes through a dense atmosphere of light around the astral plane of Earth. This light has patches of darkish gray but no impenetrable black zones. Many describe a tunnel effect. All souls from Earth then quickly move into the bright light of the spirit world. This is a single ethereal space without zones or barriers around it.

In the spirit world itself, all the so-called spaces or places available to the reincarnating soul are congruent. For instance the *Akashic Record traditions of Eastern thought don’t appear to my subjecs as being on some fourth causal plane separate from other functional areas. My subjects call these records Life Books, which are stored in symbolic libraries that are seen adjacent to other spiritual places.

I acknowledge there is much beyond the spiritual experience of the reincarnating soul and therefore out of my range of inquiry. Perhaps the whole idea of cosmic planes is basically an attempt to conceptualize stages of ethereal awareness as opposed to movement prevented by barriers. Historically, specific demarcations of planes that enclose the “underworld” designed for certain unworthy souls have been more prevalent in human thinking. I will discuss this further in chapter 6.

When my subjects tell of traveling inter dimensionally I suppose one could interpret this as soul movement through planes. The term “plane” is not used nearly as much as the words levels, edges, borders and divisions, except when a client refers to Earth. People in hypnosis report that within the astral plane surrounding Earth, alternate or coexistent realities are part of our physical world. Apparently, within these realities, nonmaterial beings can be seen by some people in our physical reality. I have been told of multitudes of inter dimensional spheres that are used by souls for training and recreation from the spirit world.

Spiritual boundaries can be as small as the glasslike” divisions between cluster groups, or as large as the zones between universes. I am told all spatial zones have vibrational properties that allow for soul passage only when their energy waves are attuned to the proper frequency. The more developed souls explain that absolute time as we know it does not seem to exist in these areas. Does the physical world

of Earth Earthly Spirits *. 53 have similar characteristics that are unseen by most of us? I had a thoughtful client who wrote me the following after his session:

Working with you has made me realize that our reality is like a movie projector showing us images on a three dimensional screen of sky, mountains, and seas. If a second projector, with its own imprint of alternating light frequencies and space-time sequences, was synchronized with the first, both realities could exist simultaneously with material and nonmaterial entities in the same zone.

If what people in a trance state tell me about this system has validity, *etheric beings would be capable of existing in different realities within the same astral plane surrounding Earth indeed on Earth itself. The vibrational energy forces around Earth are in constant flux. It seems to me that if these magnetic fields change density, they would produce cyclic variations over centuries of human time. Therefore, we may be more or less receptive to viewing spirits on Earth in any given century. Perhaps the an cents really could see more than we do in the modern world.

Nature Spirits On a national TV show, a woman reported that she had seen elves in her vineyard. She said that in the beginning she only heard them and was a little concerned about her sanity. In time she was able to talk to them and a few became visible to her. She described them as being about two feet high with pointed ears and wearing baggy pants. Of course, many people in her area thought she was crazy when this news got out. The advice she received from these beings about what to use in her soil to increase the quantity and quality of grape production over that of the neighboring farms soon caused many of them to take her more seriously. When the story was released, this woman was invited to have her brainwaves tested. When her senses were stimulated it was found that portions of her brain were capable of a much higher energy output than normal.

I had a client who also claimed to have such abilities. She was an old soul and in a deep tranc state said, “Fairy folk were here long before the rise of *ou civilizations and have never left. Most of us do not see them today, as in ancient times, because they are so old their

density 54 Destiny of Souls has become very light, while our Earth bodies still have heavy energy.” I questioned her further and she added, “While a rock has a
1-D (density), a tree would be a
2-D and our bodies are at the 3-D level. Thus, the beings of nature would be invisible with a transparency registering between
4-D and
6-D.”

When I think of the woman who saw elves in her vineyard, I see a picture in my mind. If we could look at Earth with x-ray vision it might resemble a series of overlaid, clear plastic topographical sheets. These vibrational energy layers vary in density and denote alternate realities to me. Certain gifted people might be able to see within these layers, but most of us are unable to do so.

It is also my belief that much of our folklore comes from the memories souls have of their experiences on other physical and mental worlds. What they have to say about these experiences while under hypnosis conforms in some respects to the myths and legends of Earth. These soul associations include spirits in trees and plants as well as connections to the elements of air, water and fire. Folklore and soul memory will be explored further in later chapters.

Ghosts Many researchers into the paranormal have written about ghosts. I do not consider myself proficient in this field, although I have had some exposure with souls as ghosts. At my lectures I am often asked how benevolent spirit guides can allow these beings to wander around lost, unhappy and alone. My contribution to the study of ghosts will be to review what I feel are some misconceptions and to explain this phenomenon from the perspective of the ghost rather than from those who see them on Earth.

When I began to devote my hypnotherapy practice exclusively to the study of life between lives, it took years before a client came to me who had been a ghost for an appreciable amount of time after a former life. I don’t consider short-timers ghosts in the traditional sense. For instance, I had a client who died young in a schoolhouse fire while saving the children. This teacher stayed around town for some months afterward just checking on the kids and other people who were grieving

at her untimely death. When I asked what prompted her to finally leave Earthly Spirits 55 she said, “Oh, eventually I got bored.” I have come to the conclusion that only a small fraction of souls have ever been ghosts, beyond the normal amount of time it takes for the new *discarnate to adjust before leaving Earth. I don’t believe we are being haunted by that many ghosts around the world.

The cases which follow will demonstrate that our guides do not compel or coerce us to move into the spirit world if our unfinished business is so overpowering that we do not want to leave Earth’s astral plane. I find this is especially true if the soul has a permissive guide. Some guides have much more of a hands-off approach. Then, too, our guides typically don’t make personal appearances next to us at the moment of death at ground zero.

For most souls, the pulling sensation right after death is gentle and only grows more deliberate as we leave Earth’s astral plane. There is no question that higher beings are instantly aware of our death. Yet the wishes of the deceased are respected. Keep in mind that time means nothing in the spirit world. *Discarnates don’t have a linear clock in their heads so staying behind for days, months, or years doesn’t have the same relevance as with incarnates. A ghost who has haunted an English castle for four hundred years and finally returns to the spirit world may feel in spirit time this amounted to forty days, or even forty hours.

Some people have the misconception that ghosts don’t know they are dead or how to escape their situation. Yes, in a sense, they are trapped but this is a condition of mental obstruction rather than any material hindrance. Souls are not lost in some confined astral plane and they do know they have made a transition out of life on Earth. The ghost’s confusion lies in the obsessive attachment they have to places, people and events where they can’t let go. These actions of self-displacement are voluntary but special guides, called Redeemer Masters, constantly watch for signs that the known disturbed spirits are ready to exit. We have the right to self-determination, even with our death experience. Spiritual guides will honor poor decision-making.

From what I have been able to observe, ghosts are less mature spirits who have trouble freeing themselves from earthly contaminations. This is particularly true if their stay in limbo is for prolonged periods in Earth years. The reasons for staying behind are varied. Perhaps the

life ended in an unexpected manner, which caused a deviation from a 56 *’ Destiny of Souls major path. These souls may feel their free will has been thwarted in some way. Quite often there was a terrible trauma connected to the ghost’s death. Perhaps they want to try and protect a person they care about from danger.

In 1994, a young woman driving at night on a road not far from my house in the Sierra Nevada Mountains tumbled down a steep embankment and was killed. No one had seen the accident or noticed the wreck fifty feet down the hill where for five days her three-year-old son clung to life. This accident attracted national attention when it was reported that a passing motorist saw a ghostly apparition of a nude young woman lying on the highway directly above the wreckage. This was a dramatic way for this ghost to be noticed and it worked because her child was found just in time to save his life.

I find the underlying cause behind disturbed spirits to be a sudden change in their planned karmic direction that they perceive to be not only unexpected but unjust. The most common cases of ghosts appear to involve souls who were murdered or wronged by another person in life. My next case begins as a typical ghost story but then reveals how these matters are resolved constructively for the ghost.

The Abandoned Soul Belinda came to see me because of an overwhelming sense of sadness she was unable to comprehend based upon her current life experience. During my intake interview I learned she was forty-seven and had never been married. She moved to California from the East Coast after a stormy breakup with a man called Stuart some twenty years before. Belinda cared for Stuart but she had broken off their engagement after making a decision to change her life and come west to pursue a new career. She asked Stuart to come with her but he did not want to leave his job and his family. Stuart pleaded with Belinda to marry him and stay in the area where they had both grown up but she refused. Belinda told me that Stuart was devastated by her leaving him but he wouldn’t follow her. Eventually, Stuart married someone else.

Some years later, Belinda said she met Burt and they had an intensely passionate relationship for a while but eventually he left her for

another Earthly *Spi woman. I wondered if this was the source of Belinda’s unexplaine ness but she told me no, she had been hurt, but that it was a good thh she hadn’t married Burt. Belinda now realized that besides his being an unfaithfu lover, she and Burt were temperamentally unsuited. Belinda added that, for some reason, long before her reationships with men began she had these strange feelings of abandonment and loss.

Case 14 It is my custom to move subjects into their most immediate past life before we enter the spirit world. This hypnosis technique alows for a more natural mental passage following a death scene. I asked Belinda to pick a critical scene to open our discussion about her fomer life. She chose one of great mental anguish. She said she was a young woman by the name of Elizabeth living on a large farm near Bath, Engand in the year 1897. Elizabeth was on her knees holding the coattails of her husband, Stanley, who was dragging her through the front doorway of their manor house. After five years of marriage, Stanley was leaving her.

Dr. *N: What is Stanley saying to you at this moment?

*S: (now begins to sob) He says, “I’m sorry about this but I need to get away from this farm and go out to see the rest of the world.”

Dr. N: How do you respond, Elizabeth?

S: I am imploring begging Stanley not to leave because I love him so much and that I will try harder to make him happy here. My arms are aching from holding his coat and being dragged down the hall to the front steps.

Dr. N: What does your husband say?

S: (still crying) Stanley says, “It’s not you, really. I’m just sick of this place. I’l be back.”

Dr. N: Do you think he means it?

S: Oh … I know a part of him loves me in some way but his need to escape this life and all he has known since he was a boy is too overpowering (after this statement my subject’s body begins to shake

uncontrollably) 58 Destiny of Souls Dr. *N: (after soothing her a bit) Tell me what is happening now, Elizabeth.

*S: It’s about over. I can’t hold him any longer *… my arms are not strong enough they hurt. sub ect rubs her arms) I fall down the rest of the steps in front of the servants I don’t care. Stanley gets on his horse and rides away while I watch helplessly.

Dr. N: Do you ever see him again?

S: No, I only know he went to Africa.

Dr. N: How do you maintain yourself, Elizabeth?

S: He left me the estate but I do not manage it well. I let most of the staff and workers go. In time we have almost no livestock and I am barely subsisting but I cannot leave the farm. I must wait for him should he finally decide to come back to me.

Dr. N: Elizabeth, I now want you to go to the last day your life. Give me the year and the circumstances leading up to this day.

S: It is 1919 (subject is fifty-two) and I am dying of influenza. I haven’t put up much resistance in the last few weeks because I have just been existing. My loneliness and sorrow *… the struggle to keep the farm going *… my heart is broken.