death
Music Reaches Beyond The Grave
Can the dearly departed hear our music? Can we communicate with the other side through music? I am sure this is possible, as I have personally experienced evidence of it. Music can indeed influence the energy of a spirit or ghost.
When I was a little boy, my mother would always play the hymn Onward Christian Soldiers for us on Sundays, because we were still too young to go to church. Before she passed away she asked to visit her grave site every year on her birthday and play that song for her and I have been doing this every year since her departure from this life.
In those days my dad would go to church alone, while mom stayed home with us. But he was not as much into Christian music and hymns as my mother was. He was putting in many long hours as a fire fighter for the city of Columbus, Ohio, and he usually had hard time keeping his eyes open during services. The only real reason he went to church was to make my mother happy.
Dad did however enjoy the music played by the marching band before every Ohio State football game. We would have to listen to the music with him and it seemed like ‘forever’ for us kids. But we had no choice. The Ohio State marching band are after all the pride of the Buckeyes!
In those days my dad still owned an old-fashioned record player with a needle and a pressed vinyl record. His wish was that once he was no longer with us someday we would rememeber him by playing that very same marching band music. After he passed away, we had a major problem finding and ultimately playing that old vinyl recording, so we had to buy a CD recording instead. But were able to fulfill his wish.
The Special Magic Of Autumn
I’ve often wondered if in a former lifetime I might have had a birthday in the fall? More specifically, I sense it must have been in the month of September, because I typically experience increased awareness and great change during this month.
Being a Gemini, born in June, this makes absolutely no sense, but I don’t always pay attention to what makes sense. I rather go with what feels right.
I feel a special magic in the air in the fall that I do not experience in any other season. In the autumn the world of the living seems to move closer to the afterlife and our deceased loved ones.
Traditionally All Hallows’ Eve on October 31st is believed to be time when the veil between the two worlds is most thin and we can more easily connect with our departed loved ones on the Other Side.
In the Northern Hemisphere September is the time of year when Mother Nature is shedding her leaves as the cooler air moves. Might this also be a time for us to let go of the aspects of our lives that no longer serve us? And could it be that our deceased loved ones in Heaven support and help to facilitate this need for us to surrender and let go?
The energy of September is an in-between state of transition that will ultimately spark us into new beginnings. But sometimes we need a little bit of extra magic, as it takes much courage to let go of the old and familiar to step onto a new path.
Our family and friends in Heaven want to see us progress and grow while in the Earth realm. Our loved ones who have crossed over to the Other Side can see forward and backward in time. They have the ability to open doors for us who are still in this life.
When Spirit Comes To Say Goodbye
Many people assume that their loved ones will say goodbye to them before they leave this earth plane. I beg to differ. In my experience this is not always the case. I know this without a doubt from personal experience.
In 2010, for example, my favorite sister became very ill. She was taken to the emergency room with kidney and liver failure in early August. She was admitted on a Monday, and by the Wednesday around dinner time, I received a phone call from her husband telling me that she had passed away.
Seconds after receiving this awful news, as I turned to my left, I saw her sitting next to me. Her apparition was looking at me, as if to say, “Are you okay? How are you taking this?”
Indeed, she appeared to be more concerned for me than herself. After all, where she was going now, she wasn’t going to have any more health problems or human suffering. Once her spirit saw that I had regained my composure, she left my side and continued her spiritual journey to Heaven.
My dearest sister had merely come to say goodbye, until we meet again. Rather than despair about her passing, I was suddenly relieved her soul was heading to God’s Holy Kingdom. There is after all no finer a place in the entire Universe!
In the summer of 2012, my other sister informed me that she was having difficulty breathing and was seeking medical advice about it. Sadly, at the same time, my mother was also having medical issues. Soon after, my phone rang very early one morning. My heart raced as I ran to answer the call, fearing that my mom had taken ill.
Instead, a man’s voice was saying, “Where is your mother? I need to speak to her urgently!”
Grandma’s Love Was The Best
I remember what Grandma was wearing when she passed away. I also recall exactly what she said and everything else that happened that day, right down to the violets I picked in the backyard to place in her hand. She was wearing an oversized Winnie the Pooh T-shirt that could have been a night dress, I’m not sure. She had her red robe on and black slippers lined with greyish fluff.
She was told she was being taken to the nursing home, but it was actually hospice she would be going to. She could no longer walk and had fallen, and no one was able to pick her up. Not even myself. I wish I could, but I just was not able to.
I sensed she wasn’t to going be with us very much, and I was very upset about it. But constantly having to give her blood transfusions and her being in so much pain, it was the right decision at the time. I have made peace with that now.
Settling her into the hospice, Grandma was adamant the bed be taken out, as it was unbearably uncomfortable. She kept saying, “I just want to go home and die. This is no way to live. I’m ready to go.” She also told me, if I ever needed her after she had gone, all I would have to do is call her name, and she would be there for me. Grandma kept her promise to me. To this day I still feel her around me all the time, especially when I think of her and call her name.
I think the worst thing I ever experienced in my entire life was walking into that hospice room after she had passed and seeing her shell of a body. She was no longer there, obviously, but she was still around. I felt she was somewhere in the room looking at us and saying her goodbyes.
Pain had made her very bitter towards the end of her life. She wasn’t herself anymore because she was on so many different strong medications and invasive treatments. I sensed that she longed to be with her departed husband and her dear mother who passed when she was just a young girl. Her mom was also a psychic and apparently really good with things like Numerology and dreaming lucky numbers. I loved hearing all those stories.
The Origins And Journey Of The Soul
Where do souls come from? Souls are created in a place I know as the Guf, or the ‘Tree of Souls.’ In Jewish mysticism this Tree of Life is located in the Garden of Eden. When this tree blossoms, it produces new souls.
This ‘Treasury of Souls’ is said to be located in the Seventh Heaven. I have seen this place in a dream vision. I could go up to the gold and emerald gates, but could not enter. It is my understanding that all souls are created here by God.
Souls in the Guf are in different stages of evolution. There are young souls and old souls – a diversity of spirit energies waiting to incarnate, reincarnate and ascend.
I can usually distinguish the young, new souls from the wiser and more experienced, because they tend to be a bit ‘wild’ and unrestrained. Young souls are typically eager to experience as many things as possible, and sometimes rush in ‘where angels fear to tread.’ If they are exceptionally gifted, they also need to be guided properly. Many old souls reincarnate to the earth plane to help ground and guide these younger souls.
The old souls also return to provide the physical world with the many things needed for us to thrive, such as advancements in the arts, sciences and technology. Sadly, some greedy, spiritually unconscious humans abuse these gifts to the world for their personal gain. This causes much unnecessary suffering in the world.
When we decide in this life that we would like to have a child, it means our soul wants chooses to take on another soul contract. However, such a soul agreement, like any other contract, is always a two-way process. There cannot be a pregnancy unless the soul of the unborn child also chooses you as parent. In the Guf, souls can decide if they want to join a contract, or not.
Signs, Messages And Synchronicities From Spirit
There has always been skepticism when it comes to psychic phenomena, mediumship and spiritual experiences. However, one instance where I have often seen this kind of skepticism dissolve is at wakes, funerals, or when people gather for the celebration of someone’s life after a passing.
I have attended several such gatherings with skeptical relatives, friends and strangers, listening to the stories of their loved ones and the signs and messages they have received from the dearly departed. I have also noticed that once someone in the group had the courage to tell their story, others feel more comfortable to start sharing theirs.
I have heard many, many stories over the years of angels feathers, symbolic numbers, butterflies, visitation dreams, mysterious phone calls, electrical disturbances, smells, sounds, and apparitions. And when people talk about the signs, messages and synchronicities, I have observed a softening in their voice, face and body. Our body language changes when we discuss these experiences.
Death and bereavement tends to change people’s outlook, even if it is only temporary with the more cynical among us. A loved one’s passing connects us all and affects us all. And like our ancestors before us, we will all go through that door someday. People experience an opening of the heart and mind at these times and are more willing to share their personal experiences.
Most of us have our own unique stories of spirit communication and paranormal visitations. I believe it is vital that these stories be shared, so others may feel more comfortable in sorting through the signs, messages and synchronicities they have received. Instead, those who grieve are often made to feel these things are superstitious or unnatural, and encouraged to disregard their experiences.
Making Peace With Nature’s Plan
Nature’s plan is perfect, whether we understand it, or not. I have been distraught by this much of my life. I have also over-thought it at times, especially when I see animals suffering in nature, or the damage sometimes done to fauna and flora by raging wildfires, floods, and other natural forces.
I often ask myself what the lesson is in all of this for me? Why am I sometimes so profoundly upset by the way nature take its natural course? Apart from humanity’s awful neglect, exploitation and abuse of animals and natural resources, I have often also questioned nature itself, and how animals can be so cruel in their treatment of one another – and not always just for the sake of survival.
I have looked into the subject for some kind of resolution or understanding as to why nature is designed this way. The teachings of Emmanuel, as channeled by Pat Rhodegast, insist that nature’s plan is perfect and that each creature chose the role of predator or victim for the experience it would bring them in their own evolution process.
The Amazing Afterlife of Animals by Karen Anderson suggests that an animal will never depart this world before its their time to go, and that when it is their time to leave, they often prefer to be alone. They wander off and find a secluded place to end their lifespan naturally. They may even be chased away by other members of the herd, or other family pets. This is nature’s way.
This was the case in my home very recently. Ten days prior to my youngest cat, Prince, becoming really ill, my smallest female cat, who never liked Prince, was marking her territory and trying to keep him away from her food. She was hissing at him and tried to chase him out of the house.