Invisible Community Books

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The author, Evelyn Elsaesser-Valarino, has studied near-death experiences for over twenty years. On her website she states that she wrote the book “with the aim and the desire to make the findings of recent NDE [near-death experience] research accessible and profitable to those who are facing a major life crisis.” She has presented scientific works on this in the past, but here she has taken her considerable knowledge and distilled it into a work of fiction which Kenneth Ring, in his introduction, describes as experiential rather than didactic.

The central character of the book is a girl – we do not know her name or even her age – who is suddenly smitten with leukaemia. The book takes us into a one-way dialogue with her, and as we enter her mind-stream we are taken through the minutiae of the trauma of leukaemia, the anguish of her parents, the effects of chemotherapy, a new alienation for her former friends who cannot understand, and the fear of death. On the other side is the selfless love of her parents, the wonderful care of the nurses and doctors, and new friends among the other patients. And of course, Angel.

Angel, her favourite doll, talks to her as she tries to make sense of what is happening. Her words of wisdom give the girl comfort, but cannot answer all her questions.

The core and triumph of the book comes in the form of a letter written to the girl by James, a boy and fellow patient who describes for her his experience during some minutes of clinical death after a cardiac arrest. Elsaesser-Valarino’s description is one of the clearest I have come across. For a full account you’ll have to read the book, but the boy’s journey culminates in a meeting with a being of light who radiates indescribable unconditional love. James knows he has always known this being who in turn knows him through and through and loves him completely despite his defects and imperfections. In the presence of the being, James begins a review of his whole life in minute detail, but from a higher perspective and with an intensity of feeling unknown on earth. Looking at his life James writes: “My perception of the situation is perfect; I see from everyone’s perspective which allows me to be aware of the causes and consequences of each of my actions, words, gestures, looks, thoughts, emotions and sensations, and that for every minute of my life. The amount of information released is extraordinary and utterly amazes me. I’m at the same time myself and other people, and I realize that the good or the ill that I have done to others, I really did to myself.” There are inevitably some sequences which are painful “mainly because I’m ashamed of what I have done to other people. In these moments, the being of light loves me quite simply all the time it takes for me to bear the consequences of the film of my life.” And James realises that he is responsible for every moment of his life.

James’ experience encompasses meetings with dead relatives, and a wonderful city of light. He longs to enter this city, but is told he must return to complete his life. He rebels vehemently against this, has absolutely no wish to return to the earth, but is finally persuaded. At that moment the resuscitation team in the hospital gets his heart beating again and he is back in his body.

The girl has difficulty accepting this story, but Angel come to her aid. Angel explains that this other world is completely different from the physical one. It is not ‘a sublime replica of life on earth.’ But in order to explain it, to describe it, people who have near-death experiences have to use earthly pictures and words. She explains that ‘James found himself in a dimension which is incomprehensible to the human mind, so it’s represented in such a way that he can understand it.’ Even the relatives he meets ‘put on almost earthly appearances without really being so, so that he could recognize them. They are in the other world, but in a form that he wouldn’t be able to understand if they hadn’t presented themselves in ways that are familiar to him.’ And Angel also points out that ‘it is only the telling of what he perceived which is human, which has to be human since he’s here in flesh and blood to talk to you about it.’ In this way Angel is able to shed light on the girl’s questions, and gradually a new hope grows for her which enables her to move towards the future with serenity.

Although the detail of the illness at the beginning of the book may be hard for some readers, by accompanying the girl in her suffering we are able to appreciate how this process might hold a hidden gift. “I surprise myself,” she says, “thinking that thanks to, not despite, my illness, I’m finally touching the very essence of life.”

A mere review cannot do justice to the depth and wisdom of this book. From the initial distress, we progress into ever richer fields of hope. Talking with Angel can surely offer much help and comfort to anyone dealing with the question of death.

[Evelyn Elaesser-Valarino’s website: www.elsaesser-valarino.com]

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Love Lives On has been written by a man who has devoted his life to counselling the bereaved. If one wanted to go straight to the heart of this book, the reader might well open to page 111 where the following paragraph, which incidentally also contains the book title, may be read:

'As I've said before, death is doorway, not a wall. People die, relationships do not. Love lives on. You have to move forward, but you don't have to forget. You can say 'hello' to the person and everything he or she represented, paying tribute and celebrating his or her life and wisdom, carrying on his or her legacy in any number of ways.'

Think of what your loved one saw in you, inspired in you. What characteristics have you developed because of the relationship you had? These are things you might have forgotten in the turmoil of your grief. In quiet moments dwell on the fact that your loved one is always walking the paths within your heart. If you feel the need, go ahead and talk to him or her! Say whatever you're thinking, feeling, or wondering out loud. I believe conversations with deceased loved ones should include questioning, disagreeing as well as agreeing. In the end you'll have the wisdom to make the right decision.'

With its relatively large type size and spacing between lines, the reader might at first sight be tempted to think that this book is little more than a quickly written 'follow-up' publication. In fact, it is teeming with precious advice just like the quote above. In Love lives On, LaGrand has clearly called upon all his experience as a grief counsellor to produce a book that is a perfect companion for anyone who is suffering from the effects of bereavement, especially if they are unable to find a friend or a counsellor in whom they can share their despair.

LaGrand introduces this book by emphasising the importance of mystery. He quotes Chet Raymo: 'Knowledge is an island in a sea of inexhaustible mystery', and suggests that it is by opening ourselves to the mysterious - and the extraordinary encounters that form the bedrock of this book are an important part - that we discover hope. This in turn enables us to forge meaning in our lives. And meaning says LaGrand 'is a major factor in health, as it profoundly affects our physical bodies, longevity, as it influences stress levels and the aging processes'

This is a carefully crafted publication which, chapter by chapter, unravels the various aspects and stages of grief and discusses ways to live with and heal the wounds that the death of a loved one inevitably brings. Everywhere the advice is enriched and amplified by one or more of the extraordinary stories that LaGrand has collected.

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For many years, Jean Francis ran a catering company for events such as weddings and funerals, and during that time came across many unusual ceremonies. Since the funerals were often very moving, she started to keep a record of the them. Now she has brought them together in this little book which is a mine of information for those seeking inspiration.

Time to Go in fact contains some thirty stories of funerals, ranging from the very young to the very old, and involving a variety of coffins, religions and ceremonies. They include a motorcycle hearse, a burial at sea, and the story of a little girl buried in a hand-painted, cardboard coffin. The author closes with a description of her personal wishes. The book benefits from a carefully considered layout in which each story is told through a series of subtitles: introduction, coffin, flowers, location, ceremony, refreshments, etc. This means the book doubles as a handy reference book and a volume of short stories!

The reference side of the book is further supplemented by a useful list of funeral advisory services and a bibliography of recommended reading. Hopefully Time to Go will be an inspiration to many so that funerals start to become creative occasions when everyone can take part in a mood of spiritual light!

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For anyone concerned to understand the nature of life after death this little book is an eye opener. Filled with anecdotes about his progress during the first year beyond his death, this is the account of a young musician killed during the First World War in 1915. His communications were recorded by his sister, but not in a mediumistic way - she was fully conscious during the process

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I absolutely love this book. In the way it is written it reminds me of Intimate Death by Marie de Hennezel; you get a sense of the quality of presence which Anderson has when vigiling for the dying.

This book is a handbook about bringing spirituality through ritual into the physical act of dying. Anderson says,

Rituals help heal the pain of letting go, offering reconciliation and peace, while at the same time connecting us with the divine. When I vigil with the dying, I sometimes use formal religious rites from specific faith traditions - the last rites- but more often I create rituals of my own, drawing from the circumstances of each situation.

Traditional religious rites all too often fail to provide satisfying closure either because the rites have lost significance for the participants or the clergy are not available to perform them.

Sacred Dying's most important role is taking the attention from those survivors who are going through grief and loss and placing it onto the person who is at the point of death. The focus here is on the dying experience itself, as the last of life's great transitions. Sacred Dying attempts to reclaim death and dying for the person going through it.?

Megory Anderson is a theologian, author, educator and liturgist. Her personal encounter with a life-threatening illness led her to work with people who are facing death. She now runs the non-profit Sacred Dying Foundation in San Francisco. In this book she tells in moving detail of the many different rituals she has created for people, in often difficult situations, as they were dying. She is obviously a person with a special gift, a wide knowledge of religious rituals. In this way she seems to be a true midwife and companion for the dying. Vigiling is not just about performing last rites and saying some supportive words, it is a whole process, a journey and an accompanying of the dying person, towards a peaceful and meaningful death.

She quotes Walt Whitman from Democratic Vistas:

I feel and know that death is not the ending, as we thought, but rather the real beginning - and that nothing ever is or can be lost, nor even die, nor soul, nor matter.?

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This book sets out to provide a compact guide to all aspects of death, and though it does not go as far as considering some of the more unusual forms of body disposal discussed in this issue's leading article, it does at least look at the merits of burial and cremation from a spiritual point of view. In addition, there is a useful appendix that considers laying out the body, legal obligations and even some advice on making a will.

Probably the most important aspect of this guide is that it enables the reader to think about death from the point of view of the deceased through a careful description of the events that all souls must experience during the first period in the afterlife. This is followed up in the final chapter with a discussion on ways that the living can help the deceased on the journey into the spirit land.

Unlike Time to Go, this is not a comparative guide to funeral ceremonies. Instead, it concentrates on the funeral service of the Christian Community, which in my own experience invariably creates a profound and intimate, spiritual atmosphere. Anyone wanting to widen their knowledge about funerals and farewell ceremonies, would certainly profit from reading these two books in tandem.

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In all my work with patients, whether they were chronic schizophrenics, severely retarded children, or dying patients, each one has a purpose. Each one can not only learn from and be helped by you, but they can actually become your teacher. That is true of six-month-old retarded babies who can't speak. This is true of hopeless schizophrenic patients who behave like animals when you see them for the first time. But the best teachers in the world are dying patients.'

Filled with the wisdom of a doctor who has sat by the bedside of countless dying patients, these four essays lead the reader straight to the heart of K

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Here is a book packed with descriptions of clairvoyant experience and presented with a skill that brings the visions to life in the mind of the reader. And although the experiences take place over long periods of time, the author is still able to provide extensive detail about each event, not only concerning the actual visions, but also about what was happening in her life on each occasion. Admittedly, this detail can sometimes make reading a little heavy going, but it does have the advantage that it allows the reader to enter into each vision just as the author experienced it.

During the course of the book you can read a whole range of different types of spiritual experience, that includes the use of prayer, working with the dead and communication with angels. There is also a startling account of a dream in which the author changes sex and is tempted by a juggler and a whore. But the main thread concerns a series of visions that take the author to the place where souls cross over from this world into the next

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We must welcome this timely and inspired introduction to the afterlife, which ably unravels many of the mysteries that have puzzled humanity for so long. Despite its unfortunate choice of cover, which combined with the title, might easily give the impression of some kind of historical account, this is a very up-to-date and scholarly work, clearly written and highly readable. Of course, no criticism of Rembrandt's portrayal of the Angel with St Matthew is intended, but the book surely deserves a more modern look.

From the title, the reader would be forgiven for expecting a book based on the Christian faith, but this is not the intended usage of the word Christian. In fact this book is not based on any particular branch of Christianity and could probably be understood and accepted by anyone, as it draws on the wisdom of many traditions. The reason that the word Christian appears in the title is that it sets out to explain how the deeds of the being that Christianity calls Christ have had such a profound effect on the afterlife

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The story, about arterlife contact, follows the experiences of the heroine, Suzie Salmon after she is brutally murdered at 14, by a neighbour. She then watches over and communicates with her friends and family left behind.

But first Sebold shows how such a tragedy can tear a family apart. The family not only have the loss of a child to come to terms with, but also her violent death. Our house looked the same as every other one on the block, but it was not the same. Murder had a blood red door on the other side of which was everything unimaginable to everyone.?

Later, through the help of the deceased heroine they are brought back together again. Looking down from heaven Suzie says "I came to believe that if I watched closely, and desired, I might change the lives of those I loved on earth." She sees them in such pain, so in various ways she enables them to pick up the pieces and rebuild their relationships and make new ones. She helps her petulant sister (who confronts the sympathetic headmaster with " I wasn't aware I had lost anything.") find love; brings her parents back together again and beautifully gives her first love to Ruth, a girl from her school she only gets to know after her death.

Alice Sebold writes with a great tenderness of her vision of death and the Afterlife - it will stay with you long after the last page is turned.

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The demand for books on death must be high! Having recently reissued Though You Die by Stanley Drake, Floris have now released this study on the same subject, also by a priest. To a large extent the two books cover the same ground but there is a big difference in style and character. While the former might be said to have a philosophical outlook, When Death Enters Life is more practical, in the sense that it sets out to provide helpful insights and experiences for all the different aspects of death that the reader may encounter.

The persistent theme is that death is not the cold endpoint that it appears physically and the book is teeming with quotations which support the ideas and advice of each chapter. Thus, in the chapter on the death of young children, there is the beautiful quotation of Rittlemeyer (see adjacent extract). And likewise, at the end of the book, there are several pages of poetry, verses and meditations.

In addition to the author's sensitive approach to such themes as suicide, violent death and euthanasia, the opening chapters provide a stimulating discussion on the event of death itself. It purports that, while there is a specific moment of death, the process in which the soul withdraws from the body takes place over several days and that this can be physically observed: It is possible to see, especially in the facial features, that there is a marked change in the course of the three days after death. There comes a point when the body seems, in some way, deserted.' (P34)

Another valuable chapter, entitled A bridge from soul to soul, introduces the theme of communication with the departed. This includes an interesting story about an after-death contact made by a woman in Holland which saved her life and those of her family from water poisoning. This story was found in the papers of the author Selma Lagerl

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After all, with few exceptions, after-death communications are essentially expressions of love they are all about helping each other?

The above quote typifies both the mood and the sincerity with which this fascinating introduction to afterlife contact is written. Taken from the author's introduction, it also reveals the nature of the thinking and perceptive ability that makes this book a thoroughly well written study on a newly emerging field of research.

Basically the book contains the answers to exactly one hundred questions about the varied nature of after-death communications (ADC's). Divided into six parts they range from What is the most common ADC reported?' to questions such as Is there any one consistent positive link that you have found between all ADC's?' or What kinds of messages from the deceased do people receive through dreams?' If you have never seen this book you probably have no idea just how wide the range and type of ADC really is. So one quickly arrives at the question as to how the author obtained all this information.

Louis LeGrand is a Professor at State University of New York, College at Potsdam. In his introduction he tells how in 1977 he gave a course entitled Dying and Death: Implications for Growth.' Following this the author was requested to counsel the bereaved and gradually this became an important part of his life. When a woman he was counselling asked if he thought her ADC was real he started out on twenty year period of research. He found that many counsellors knew about ADC's but regarded them as illusions. Over the years he has collected a wealth of amazing stories which, when assembled together in this form, certainly do suggest that the disincarnate have a strong wish to make contact, if we would only let them!

Messages and Miracles reads like a series of interviews and at first it may seem that the format of the book is no more than that. However LaGrand says that the format has been deliberately devised to help readers quickly locate what they are seeking

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This book has been put together by editor Christopher Bamford to give an overview of Steiner's thinking and research in the same field. Of course it does not pretend to provide an exhaustive study of all Steiner's thought on the afterlife. That would be impossible - Steiner gave several hundred lectures on this theme from the most varied viewpoints. But for anyone unfamiliar with Steiner's research in this field it is an excellent introduction. The book is a must' for any serious student of the afterlife.

Those who are not used to reading Steiner should however bear in mind that the contents are lectures or excepts from lectures. Therefore they occasionally contain a passing word on other themes. This, combined with the fact that Steiner expected his listeners to be familiar with the content of his books, means quite a lot of demands are placed on the reader. However, the editor has worked hard to overcome these problems and the various themes are constructively presented. In addition he has provided a useful introduction, and each lecture has a resume at the beginning. There is one unfortunate and confusing stylistic point: At the beginning of Bamford's introduction there is a quotation from Steiner presented in italic. Later in the book the lecture resumes are also in italic - so it is tempting to believe these are by Steiner. It is unclear, but presumably they are by Bamford.

The book is divided into three parts. The first deals with the nature of life after death, while the second is more concerned with influence and interaction between the living and the dead. The third contains examples of actual experience and here one of the most moving extracts is an account, presented in the third person by Steiner, about an incident from his early childhood. A relative who has just committed suicide visits him in the spirit seeking help. In this account Steiner goes on to describe the effect this meeting had on his development.

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A book on death such as this was probably a rarity when first published in 1962. However since Raymond Moody started writing about near-death experiences, the market has become awash with such works. So one might be tempted to ask why Floris Books decided Though You Die was worthy of a revised edition? The answer soon becomes clear when one looks down the list of chapters

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Imagine this situation: you are someone who enjoys life and has never thought much about dying or what happens thereafter. You discover that your partner and yourself both have AIDS and you have the prospect of an early death. You read a number of books on the afterlife and discuss them with your partner. Then you make a pact that whoever dies first will send a signal back to the other to confirm that there really is such a thing as life after death!

This easy-to-read book is a moving story about such a situation - and of course the author does receive a whole series of signals or messages. But what makes this story so moving is that it is the heartfelt account of how someone struggles to come to terms with this disease, then has to face the unexpected suicide of his friend, and yet in the end is able to come out on top. As the book develops, so also does the author's view on suffering. Thus at the end he writes: Things are not always as they appear. Suffering and pain may bring vast beneficial changes tomorrow.' And later he describes the day he lost his friend as the most painful day of my life

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This book is a most unusual kind of autobiography stretching over numerous incarnations going back into pre-history. Jostein Saether describes in detail his breakthrough, on his meditative path, in being able to read the Akashic Record where every event that ever happened is recorded.

Of particular interest to us in The Invisible Community is Jostein's active relationship, in his inner meditative work, with friends who have died. A core "building stone" of Jostein's inner path is building a hut in the elemental world. Once he has built this with the help of particularly two dead friends, it becomes a place in his meditative imaginative life were he is able to meet and interact with those same dead friends as well as others who have passed before him into the spiritual world.

But the building of this hut is a process. Jostein describes how the decision to build a hut in the elemental world first arose from a question he "asked of a dead friend in connection with ongoing Karmic imaginations. During one meditation I had a strong feeling of her presence and immediately asked her how I could go on meeting her and how, if possible, she could best help me find common karmic links between us. I also tried to find out what I could do for her. She gave me to understand that I should create a spiritual space in such a way that it would contain in thought and coloured windows from the first Goetheanum. In an enclosed space of this kind, filled with flooding colours, she would easily be able to find me and pass on my karmic questions in the right way to spirits of higher worlds".

Once having established this building on Jostein's inner life he sets to work regularly within it. The results of such work is the substance of the book. Of particular interest to us is his section entitled Encounters with people who have died. He describes how, wrestling with the question of whether he should publish his research into previous lives he turns to friends who have passed over the threshold for advice and guidance. With one friend he describes an encounter which he calls an "intuitive experience" which the dead friend let "floods of warmth flow right through me and especially into the lower parts of my arms, I felt this right down into my physical body. The whole process was interwoven by a consenting sense of trust as an answer to my question". In a second example he experienced this dead friend pouring warmth and life through his feet.

His description of the third dead friend is very dramatic: "deep inside the earth, like a point, I saw a will impulse which rushed up towards me in a flash and then stretched through the roof of my building right up to the sky as a pillar of light many kilometres high". Jostein emphasises that his encounters with dead friends are numerous and take many different forms and are an essential help and support in the lonely inner path typical of our modern times. He makes it clear that without the intervention and guidance from these dead friends he would not have been appropriately prepared through meditation to encounter events in his earlier lives, which subsequently happened and which are related in this book.

As a dyslexic I read slowly and rarely am able to read a book from cover to cover. Jostein's book was read within the space of week, it flowed remarkably and I can recommend it as a good read.

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This is the latest book by the author of Life After Life, but, unlike the latter, this work is co-written with Dianne Arcangel and, judging by the acknowledgements, she has carried much of the project. However the style is not so dissimilar from Life After Life and there is plenty of Moody

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