Button Up and Lighten Up! Apports!

 [First posted 4/18/2024]

I recently attended 3 days of physical mediumship sittings with my great friend, physical medium Kai Felix, as he is fondly known in the séance room by Spirit. The sittings were at a venue near Lily Dale, NY. The third day was spent experimenting in a rousing table-tipping exploration, which was highly and quickly successful with the tables dancing, exhibiting spirit lights, and prolonged levitation, as well as an elegant gemmed pendant apporting onto the table as the sitting closed. There were enough sitters to be able to split into two groups, so that while Group 1 was sitting at the table, Group 2 sat behind Group 1 to observe and lend energy. We sat in total darkness as the usual protocol calls for.

We sat in the same room where the cabinet was placed the previous two nights. Although Kai sat entranced in the cabinet for the first 2 nights, for the table-tipping he sat with everyone outside the cabinet and at the table, non-entranced. 

My group sat with our hands resting on the table top. When the lights came on, a folding chair that had been across the room next to the unoccupied cabinet was sitting on the center of the table top! One leg rested between the thumb and forefinger of my left hand, and the other leg between the right thumb and forefinger of the sitter to my left. Somehow it had levitated up and across the room, silently and without detection, to unobtrusively settle on the surface of the table, which was over 3 feet high!

The other group then exchanged places with us, and experienced the table levitating as well as several "species" of spirit lights emerging out of the darkness, and often closest to Kai. A fellow sitter and I saw several spirit lights from other places in the room, which escaped the notice of those sitting at the table. Thus it was an important aspect of the exploration to have as many witnesses in as many places as possible.

As my group then sat for the next round at the table, the shaman's drum and its drumstick emerged out of the cabinet from across the room, and hovering above out table, began drumming in a very sophisticated and loud pattern for over a minute, and then fell onto the table with a loud bang. Even though everyone's hands were still firmly planted on the table, not one finger was touched by the drum in the pitch blackness.

My group then switched places and I was once again sitting behind the sitters at the table. I cannot recall much of that final round, and I can only surmise I was in some kind of non-ordinary state - perhaps "trance". We had been sitting in the room expending much energy for well over an hour and I had grown quite hot, so decided to take off the beige corduroy shirt I had been wearing over another, lighter shirt of black corduroy. Instead of just being able to slip out of it, which should have been easy as it had been unbuttoned, instead I found myself struggling to get it off, and after a minute of that, discovered that the top shirt had been buttoned to the lower shirt! Here was a Spirit Trickster at its finest! Kai noted that this was an exceedingly rare thing to happen, so a photo was taken of it later outside in the light for the archives.

This reminds me of when some mediums have their clothes removed or reversed in the dark. I have received no confirmation that my "trick" was done by a Spirit Person or not, but my intuition is that it was very likely a Lakota Nature Spirit, since that same room had hosted several Lakota yuwipi that I had attended in the past, and where I had been received and befriended by Iktomi, the Spirit Trickster. So I strongly feel this was Iktomi again reminding me, as they had before, to lighten up and "just be happy." Their button magic did the trick!

Here is a photo I took of the apports that were manifested via the medium's hands and eyes, as well as a very beautiful piece of jewelry brought through especially for one member of the sitters. Hans, the Spirit Control, described the glittery surface (material as-yet unknown) as "a screen" which will project some kind of image or scene to the wearer when the time and place are right. The very unique object was brought through something currently being termed as a "portal" - which was an intense blue light that appeared as a kind of opening in or near the medium's outstretched hand, just outside the cabinet. The recipient was asked by Han, the Control, to sit on the floor before the medium, and then told to reach up until she felt it and then to carefully pull it through the portal. She later shared with me that if felt like she was pulling it out of something that felt like "jelly", but it was completely dry as it came fully forth into her hand.

August in the Cabinet

[First posted July 2014] - (all photos © Shannon Taggart)

I've finally recovered from my chaotic return to the US from Southern France, apparently at the height of an especially powerful and bothersome Mercury retrograde. International flights were made incredibly difficult by a sudden strike of the French air traffic controller's union. I will be happy if I never see an airport baguette ever again.

I attended several physical mediumship seances at Mont Cabirol, the beautiful 12 century estate near the medieval village of Mirepoix (which had its own Avenue de Victor Hugo - thank you, great-great-great, etc. grandad!) The well-known spirit photographer and lecturer, Shannon Taggarty, was my wonderful traveling companion, and was allowed to take photographs - including infra-red - during the sittings, including a private one where I sat in the cabinet. Shannon has been asked to exhibit some of the very unique photos from these sittings at a special exhibition held by Abraxas Publishers in England this autumn. It is hoped that Shannon will have the opportunity to discuss in detail and at length her amazing work. We had many long discussions about the often baffling and confusing nature of the "magic" of photography, which apparently photographers understand on much deeper levels in terms of time and light than do those of us who are merely looking at the images to see what we can see.

After sitting in complete darkness behind closed curtains for a few minutes, the curtains were opened and this photograph was taken after a very dim red light was switched on. Shannon and the other sitter reported seeing a good deal of what's technically called "transfiguration," which is where Spirit, or the Risen as I say, utilize various energies of the entranced medium to manifest their own faces and forms over that of the medium's. Although I can't see any such forms in this photo, Shannon has much to say from a photographer's viewpoint about odd things going on. The other sitter's descriptions of the forms seen clearly matched a very special friend who had transitioned over 8 years ago and had been trying to reach me in various ways.

Although you might see some strange things here, I share this photo not to illustrate transfiguration, but to provide as contrast to the next one, when infra-red was switched on. Click on it to enlarge.

Above is a photo taken during the transfiguration sitting. The hands of my etheric body can be seen emerging alongside my physical body's hands. The etheric hands are handling more photoplasm between them, which is seen as a kind of elastic cord. My etheric skull can be seen in the figure to the left, and to the right can be seen Tim's etheric body emerging - his skull and also his hands are engaging with the photolasmic cord. Photoplasmic "mist" is seen above our shoulders, and more mist also traveling down my lap towards the floor, between the legs.

Here can be seen very bright light pouring out and completely obscuring me but for my legs and feet sticking out in their sandals. My colleagues, the resident mediums, believed that this is a  doorway opening from behind/above me to a Summerland. "The Summerland" is a Victorian term for the Other Side, but in my Celtic, non-christian tradition, it's the sphere also sometimes known as "faerie" -  And this is what I believe it is, as I had intentionally gone into the cabinet deliberately with my two Guardians (not Guides) who are of the ancient pre-Celtic race known as Aes Sidhe, who are said to have retreated into the Otherworld or a parallel universe when Ireland was successfully invaded and conquered by the Milesians. The Milesians were from Iberia, and are the present-day Irish people. The Aes Sidhe, who are 8-9 feet tall and present as shining, silvery beings ("The Shining Ones") are not the tiny elementals most people think of as fairies. They are said to have left portals throughout Ireland and Scotland in the many mounds and stone circles that pre-date the Milesians.

This outpouring of light did not show up on any of the other many photos Shannon shot at several sittings. Here is the same photo seen through a different-colored filter, and interestingly, none of the spirit-figure details seen above are visible, although the white light from the Summerland portal is still apparent. Also it's clear, when looking at the valance of fabric running across the cabinet, that there is something disturbing the fabric on the left side, as if a breeze is flowing out.

When I was looking at the infra-red photo with a friend, we thought we could see faces of elemental spirits at my feet. But later, when looking again on my own I was very startled to actually see my two cats -- Bridget, who passed over, 15 years ago, and Oolong, 11 years ago, both about 17 years old. The enlarged section is placed at the upper right. Those who have read The Risen book will have read about my relationship with them. Oolong, to the left and the larger of the two, is a seal-point Siamese, her classical dark markings clearly visible on her face and paws, and Bridget is grey with a white chin, chest and paws; she was quite petite and half the size of Oolong. I showed them to my best friend who had known them both well, and he immediately recognized them. Bridget's facial expression is so clear, I can see all kinds of emotion in it.

A couple weeks later, I was again startled to see that there are two human faces appearing just between my two sandaled feet - a man to the left, and a woman with blond hair in a 60's hair-style to the right (Enlargement on upper left). I'm not yet sure exactly who they are, but strongly sense they are transitioned family members -- the man may be my maternal grandfather and the woman is his daughter --  my Aunt Carolyn, who passed at the age of 58 about 8 years ago from a brain tumor, and with whom I had a special relationship as she was close to me in age. Here is a link to a blog about her as she was transitioning, and one about after her passage, where I met her and she shared her fascinating experience about her illness and transition.

However, that being said, I can also see yet more faces transparently projected over the human ones! One is a family dog that transitioned many years ago, and other, 2 kittens that I can't identify. I don't know how to graphically show this layered dimensionality to anyone else, but perhaps more sensitive viewers may be able to see what I mean. I've often written how Spirit will try to compress as much data as possible into the smallest space - what Tim and I've called "infospheres" - and this is a good example of such information compression.

In the meantime, other faces may become more obvious as I continue to study the photo.

Readers might recall that The Scole Group's initial work culminated in the discovery and opening of an inter-dimensional portal, through which terrestrial humans, the Risen, and other beings could physically pass. It had to be shut down after it was discovered a malevolent being from our future had also discovered it and was trying to appropriate it for negative purposes. The work is now being continued under the auspices of The Norfolk Group.

One significance of the photo above is that here and elsewhere, such portals to other dimensions -- not just to where many of us think of as "The Afterlife" -- are increasingly opening up. I have been hearing quiet reports from various sitting circles that their guides are speaking of such inter-dimensional doorways more and more, and expect to hear more about it as we move forward in exploration.

I would like to add my great thanks to my dear and gracious friends at Mont Cabirol who had arranged for this monumental experience of my life. Many other powerful things happened to me while there, which I cannot share at this time, but perhaps will be able to at some point in the future.

From The Archives: Winter Solstice ~ Beauty in The Darkness

FROM THE ARCHIVES (orig. published 12/20/20)

Milioni di Orvs ~ "Millions of Orbs"
© photo by Shannon Taggart, Sardinia 2015

______________________________________

“In the midst of winter, I finally learned
that there was in me an invincible summer.”

~ Albert Camus ~

The small mediumship circle that I sit with recently had some development with the two trumpets that are a regular part of the sitting. We always align them with specific positions where they rest on the floor, in a way that shows a particular point on them faces direct North. This is to associate them with the glass dome that rests on a table in the center of the circle, and which holds 5 “Herkimer Diamond” quartz crystals, four of which are aligned in a North/South/East/West configuration, while the larger, center crystal is aligned with North/South. Although the trumpets have slightly moved before in the quirky ways that Spirit likes to do, they have remained stationary for many months. And lo! After the lights came on at the end of our last sitting, we were startled to see that the trumpets had not only moved several inches away from their positions, but each had rotated a perfect 45 degrees so that they were now precisely facing East. Perceived more closely, their movement actually outlines a small and gentle spiral. We have mused about this action for several weeks now, wondering if this was some kind of message. My ponderings led me to a long-forgotten reminiscence, which then led to this writing … so perhaps this was our Spirit Team’s intention all along. Or at least part of it, for another message always there is that Spirit moves in mysterious ways

I found myself immersed in one of my most cherished memories of childhood Christmases—that of my grandmother playing and singing “Star of The East” on the timeworn upright piano in her parlor. I was likely no more than five years old. The fragrant scotch pine in the corner was alight with large, old-fashioned bulbs, and wrapped in many narrow garlands of silver tinsel that was made from actual tin. It was also encircled by strings of popcorn and cranberries some of my cousins had made for it. Resting peacefully on top of the piano was a tiny cardboard village of houses and a church with snow-capped roofs, illuminated by tiny lights inside.

A medium herself—albeit a timid, reluctant one—my Grandma was completely untrained and couldn't read music, yet somehow just knew how to play the piano with great accomplishment. She never had a voice lesson in her life either, but still sang with complete abandon to the spirit of the song. I had never seen or heard this side of her before, and became completely entranced by Spirit as she sang.

This shortbut enchanting video of a Mennonite family singing it at their kitchen table comes close to capturing the sense of Spirit moving through voices raised in song.

Star of the East, Oh Bethlehem's star, Guiding us on to Heaven afar! Sorrow and grief and lull'd by thy light, Thou hope of each mortal, in death's lonely night! Fearless and tranquil, we look up to Thee! Knowing thou beam'st thro' eternity! Help us to follow where Thou still dost guide, Pilgrims of Earth so wide. Star of the East, un-dim'd by each cloud, What tho' the storms of grief gather loud? Faithful and pure thy rays beam to save, Still bright o'er the cradle, and bright o'er the grave!

Smiles of a Saviour are mirror'd in Thee! Glimpses of Heav'n in thy light we see! Guide us still onward to that blessed shore, After earth's toil is o'er! Star of the East, thou hope of the soul, While round us here the dark billows roll, Lead us from sin to glory afar, Thou star of the East, thou sweet Bethlehem's star. Oh star that leads to God above! Whose rays are peace and joy and love! Watch o'er us still till life hath ceased, Beam on, bright star, sweet Bethlehem star!

~ Lyricist George Cooper, 1890. Music Amanda Kennedy, 1883. ~

There has been an unprecedented amount of fear on this planet for quite some time, especially this past year. This hymn soothes us with the promise that the storms of grief cannot dim the promise of the Star of the East, and that we can rest assured that our fears will fade and our hearts return to the true tranquility that is the birthright of each and every person on this planet.

Purposely focusing our consciousness into an increasing mindless circling of fearful thinking will intensify the mindlessness and the fear, a downward spiraling that takes us further and further away from the light of pure, unafraid consciousness. This descent into mental darkness is not only unnecessary, it is a denial of the Light, which is All There Is. “Darkness” is but a misperception caused by certain beliefs that become the veils we place or allow to be placed over our spiritual vision. Because we think we cannot see anymore, we decide that we are “lost.”

And because we have also decided that we are powerless—another belief of misperception—we allow ourselves to be pulled further into the mindless darkness until we hit a kind of bottom, where we black out in some psychospiritual way. “Psychospiritual” means inwardly and privately experienced, but not necessarily outwardly, physically observable. The misperception, a “mis-seeing” has often been referred to as “sin”—a word whose roots mean “missing the target.” Not just missing the bull’s-eye, but missing the entire target altogether. Of course, how could we aim our intentions of good, for a life of well-being, if we cannot see because of the veils we have allowed to fall over our spiritual eyes? The center of the target is none other than our Self, and is our direct awareness of Self-Divinity. Not being able to connect with the center of our self-intention also increases the sensations of helplessness and hopelessness. The joy of being Centered seems lost forever. We then begin to tell this story of darkness over and over until it becomes etched into our brain, like the grooves of a vinyl record, or the magnetic impressions on a computer disc, and our story of everlasting life has now been turned into one that includes the belief in an inevitable darkness and death.

Ancient people drew a correlation between this inner, psychospiritual descent into darkness and their outer material experience of our planet’s seeming withdrawal from the light, culminating in the winter’s solstice. They also noticed that this shortest day of the year—the “bottom”—did not go on forever but then began to become illuminated once again by the Sun’s return. The Sun had never actually abandoned them; it had been there all the time. But because of their seemingly stationary position on a seemingly unmoving Earth, it only appeared as if the Light had deserted them. They had mistakenly placed the evidence of their physical experience over the evidence of their spiritual understanding, forgetting that the Light is always there, always available. The joy of living had become the worry of uncertainty and the fear of death. All along, there was beauty in the darkness.

Certain wise souls amongst these ancient people saw how quickly we can forget about the Light by our increasingly paying attention to, or focusing on, the contrasting play of light as it differentiates our world of forms, which we label as “shadows” and “darkness.” When it seems like a situation becomes “less light” most people somehow quickly forgot that this doesn’t mean the light is going away. It wasn’t so long ago when people even became anxious when watching the sun leave them over the western horizon. Indeed, in some cultures, it is still said that a person “goes West” when they transition and relocate via the darkest shadow known as “death.”

The ancient wise ones redirected everyone’s attention by pointing outward and up, toward the horizon that was also always there before them. And lo! There appeared a Star in the East, which had been rising all that time right behind them, but they had been too focused on watching the sun apparently abandoning them in the West. This star was also referred to as “the Christ within us”—or in other words, The Forever-Risen Light, or “the nonexistence of darkness.”

As with all spiritual words that attempt to articulate non-verbal spiritual truths, the word “Christ” is complex and meant to convey a particular emotional energy that vibrates at a certain level. It is vibration that conveys information to us not only through our physical senses which interpret and manifest form, but also through our spiritual senses which manifest that which is beyond form—but not separated from—the fullness of our individual experience of Life.

“Christ” is a Greek word that means “The Anointed One.” Anointing is a symbolic physical act of placing a little oil on someone’s forehead, where the seat of consciousness was sometimes believed to reside. The Greeks knew all about oil, especially that pressed from olives. The olives had to be crushed in a labor-intensive procedure, and even then, the result was still a bitter liquid, clouded by unwanted substances and contaminates, which then had to be filtered out through even more rigorous labor. Who wouldn’t be clouded by such bitterness after getting crushed by something seemingly more powerful than us, and against our will? Who wouldn’t most likely resist allowing that higher power to continue to mess around with us, filtering our lives through ever-more refining life circumstances? Surrender my bitterness? No way! Everyone knows, or should know, that life is nothing but a bitter bowl of olives.

The good news that the wise ones might want to convey about anointing is that we don’t have to go through a life-crushing process in order to find relief. The pure oil—sweet, clear, and never bitter—has already been prepared. In fact, it was always pure to begin with. No matter how often we forget this, if we can find a way to remember it, which is letting ourselves be touched or anointed by the purest of thoughts and feelings, the living of life will become sweet once again.

Material, earthly life often distracts us from the light and sweetness of our spiritual existence. The sun, the moon, and the stars are there to help us remember this. Let us set our intention to remember to look outward and upward at least twice a day—once in the morning and again at night. Know that even as we appear to be falling asleep, we are also waking up. The afterlife is not something that is going to happen—it is happening now. When we can live more and more in the mindful awareness that our story is one of never-ending awakening, we will become anointed by the ecstasy of our own spirit, enjoined with The Cosmos, never to be separated unless that is what we might want. And if that should be the case, may we rest in the knowing that there will always be kind and watchful Helpers in Spirit, awaiting for us to give them a sign that we are ready to wake up at any time.

From The Archives: Cristes Mæsse

[First posted 12/24/10 - a reader recently wrote about finding it "evocative" . . . the summer, as least in this part of the world, is past its zenith, and before we know it, we will be crossing the threshold of a new year. Perhaps this previous post can continue to offer some reflection of who and where we are, in this moment.]

When the tips of the pines
Touch the twinkling stars
On the cold, crisp nights of December,
May your blessings be more
Than you've ever hoped for,
And your Christmas a warmth to remember.

~ a poem on a card sent by Aunt Doris ~

For some reason, as I began cooking this morning of Christmas Day Eve, I was impressed to put on a CD of Mozart's Requiem Mass in D Minor – a strange kind of music for Noël . . . nonetheless, it affects me deeply, evoking complex emotions, all tinged with sadness.

The turnips are peeled and roasting – my contribution towards tomorrow's cozy gathering of friends, coming together to celebrate many things – consciously aware living, loving, and sobriety. Together, we manifest and share a "field of gratitude" that spontaneously arises from our gathering together.

In The Risen, we explore the idea of "fields" – realities that interpenetrate our material one, and which we often can sense emotionally, psychologically, spiritually and even physically. This idea is practically no longer abstract, but is quickly becoming a realized fact by primarily quantum scientists, many inspired by theoretical biologist Rupert Sheldrake's understanding that there is no "inside" or "outside" to one's mind. It is further noted in The Risen:

"Sheldrake suggests that memory is not stored in the brain, which is a kind of tuning system, rather than a device for storing memories. Our brain resonates within a morphic or morphogenic field. This resonance is a form-shaping field, an invisible organization structure wherein all experiential information is recorded and stored.
"Morphogenic fields are patterns that structure our reality. Older, primal societies have been well aware that the forms of our experiences are shaped by something greater than us, and of which we are simultaneously a part. Modern, 'civilized' societies have contracted the mind into the idea that the mind exists only within the confines of our physical skulls."

Sheldrake would likely agree with the idea of the spirit of a holiday—that it’s a morphic field containing the memories and rituals associated with that holiday.

Viewed from this perspective, the spirit within a human being resonates from within the larger spiritual morphogenic field. From their perspective, the Risen suggest that the so-called boundaries of any field are arbitrary and subject to one’s perceptual awareness, meaning that the fields are infinite in space and time. Thus, Risen fields interpenetrate non-Risen fields, which also interpenetrate." (pp. 137-138)

In 21st century terms, this is "non-locality". Non-locality is one of several important principles of quantum physics, and has given rise to the concept of nonlocal space, explained by Pim van Lommel, MD as “ … a multidimensional space, with nothing but possibilities … and without certainties, without matter, and without a role for time and distance … (and) represents a hidden reality that, at the quantum level, exerts a continuous influence on our physical world, which is the complement of nonlocal space."  While interpenetrating the local consciousness of the physical brain, non-local consciousness expands unbounded beyond it, and is believed by many to support perceptual reality. This concept underlies theories about after-life survival, remote viewing, and other out-of-body experiences. (From his book, Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience, pp. 227-28) [Highly recommended.]

 Mozart claimed that he heard the music in his head and that all he had to do was transcribe it; he did this in near-perfect notation in a very brief window of time. Van Lommel suggests that such creativity, inspiration, and sudden scientific insight might be explained by unconscious, or even conscious contact with non-local consciousness. His book explores in great detail how near-death experiences bring the person into contact with other fields of consciousness – other worlds – in this way.

It's clear to me that I'm experiencing "fields within fields" – or worlds within worlds, as the Risen say. Obviously I'm not in the land of sleigh bells and candy canes, but somewhere in the Deep. I wonder what is is that  I'm accessing in the field of Mozart's Requiem. As I ponder more I begin to realize that there is sadness is the memory of the story of a little baby who will grow up, and as a young man,  "die" a seemingly tragic, lonely death, abandoned by the world he loved so much; I think of his mother as well. Mozart was dying as he struggled to finish this piece, and transitioned before it could be completed. He captured these complex ego-mind feelings of  the direct experience of his own transition, along with the "tragedy and loss" that are believed to be inseparable by death. Surrounding Requiem is much controversy and confusion, unanswered questions and myth. While the story of the man who was also a Christ clearly embodies the almost inconceivable news that there is no death, only more life, much myth and confusion surround the drama as well.

Many fields of spirituality and religion converge around this time of the year, a few according to the light reaching the earth from the sun, and others because someone once did or said something that continues to resonate with millions of still earth-bound souls. One funny question that I get asked often is about my "religion": "Are you Christian? Jewish? Buddhist? Pagan? Democrat? Vegetarian?"  My answer has always been the same: "I don't remember." There is the potential for magic and miracles of wonder in them all. Krishnamurti once said,  "Religion is the frozen thought of man out of which they build temples." He also said, "I maintain that Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect."

The Requiem's saddening minor chords of the last movement of the sequence, the Lacrimosa, breaks off after only eight bars, unfinished. One can only wonder if Mozart was simultaneously having near-death experiences as he struggled to complete his mission. He transitioned on December 5, 1791. Perhaps I'm accessing something of his world, his field, his non-locality while listening to his final offering to our terrestrial world. The lovely little Christmas card from my Aunt Doris also brings me in contact with some kind of field. Now in her upper-eighties, she is one of the few remaining, older relatives still on the earth (once there were so very many!) There is, at first, sadness with this thought, but if I stay with the sadness, while letting the ego-mental thinking fade away, I'm brought to an awakened awareness of Authentic Self, and then through some sort of door, an entryway into a deeper aspect of another reality, and more light begins to shine through what I first perceived as shadow. This is the door to the Risen lands, and not only light, but laughter and joy beam forth from it, and suddenly I begin to understand the meaning of Cristes mæsse, which means literally, "the anointed one's mission." We all have this mission, as anointed with spirit by Creator Source, to find the door to Home, for "blessings more than we ever hoped for."

Tim made his transition on a Christmas Eve, falling deeply asleep here and slowly awakening there. Although my mental grief about it has been worked through over the years, and it seems nothing more than the dream it was, my body still remembers in its own way, and accesses biological fields that are inherently part of a terrestrial existence. So a little sadness is there too, wistfulness, really, which also becomes a door to where Tim actually is now, the present, which is all we every really have.

Animals in Paradise

"(Life) ... a majestic, unceasing, unhurried, forward movement

brings things stage by stage to the condition we know them by now."

~ Thomas Troward ~

[First posted 6/22/13]

Risen reader Debbie shares:

August, Tim, finding The Risen came at just the right time for me. I feel the light and truth emanate forth from all of you, and your writing is exquisite. I cannot fathom how you put everything you did into words, and did so beautifully. I felt that I was carried along by soft, gentle waves, and even what portions of material felt intense to me - and some I do not yet fully comprehend, I admit - I know that in time I will.

Your love for your cherished animal friends I share with you, and to know they are safe in the arms of The Risen gives me great comfort.

I wish to ask you something that has been on my mind for some time now, even before I got your book: I would like to know if there is a special prayer you might recommend or suggest, or a Risen team I can call on in prayer to help animals on Earth who are unloved and who do not experience a dignified passing. Do they receive help immediately upon passing, animals such as those in factory farms and shelters? I think of them almost constantly and want to know if you may have suggestions for prayers. Or do I rest in the knowledge that The Risen gather these sweet souls into their arms and I am worrying and fretting for nothing. Any perspective you might have I am grateful for. Animals are so precious, so close to The Risen world, and it pains me that a single one suffers in any way.

 Debbie, we are grateful for your kind and beautiful words about your experience with the Risen material, and we rejoice that you have found something of value in our book. We know that many find it daunting in its density, but as we have noted before, it's not meant to be "Metaphysics 101" or "Mediumship for Dummies." In many ways, it was written out of time for those not yet in it, which is another way of saying "for the future." Like you, those who view their life with a posture of open and conscious awareness, and with lack of fear and worry, are able to face living with a forward perspective, knowing with total trust that "my good goes before me and prepares the way."

Our furry, feathery and leathery fellow creatures occupy much of our lives. Whenever I look into the eyes of an animal, I see the gaze of Creator Source looking back. Thus have I come to understand what "love" is, through the indeterminable depths of their souls. They have never lost their innocence, and unlike us, never will. They can lead us back to Risen pastures, where life is always good, and grazing and water as perfect as the calm and peaceful skies overhead. Many of us will be met first by our beloved animals as we step from the terrestrial to the Risen lands, for each and every one has as divine a purpose as we do. I have met many animals in the Risen geographies whose intelligence and understanding far passes my own, and at whose feet I sit in wonder, a grateful disciple.

We share your sadness about the unconscionable injustices done to animals on this planet. Pray ... always pray. It might gladden you to know that all the profits from our book (plus a good deal more) go to a special organization in our city that provides free veterinary services to those who can't afford them. This is one concrete and immediate way in which we can help. Other friends volunteer at a special hospital and sanctuary for the wild birds that stray into the city and become injured. Still others, like our friends at The Forever Family Foundation, are directly involved with rescuing feral cats, spaying them, and finding homes for the kittens. There is no lack of work to do, is there?

You may recall from your reading of The Risen what Tim revealed about our "dwelling places" that await us in The Summerlands—

“You know of the mind’s powers, August, as you’ve been creatively manifesting your own dwelling places all along. It’s similar to how living spaces are manifested on earth. The place you live in now did not exist until you decided to find it, and then your mind began to conceive of possibilities—from there your inner vision proceeded to externalize them. Your entire world experience is one immense, complex manifestation on the material plane. Cities, towns, and houses on earth previously existed only in people’s minds. Granted, the external manifestation process is much slower and tedious on your material plane than it is in the Risen states, but the principal is the same—mind manifests reality. All the fantasies about places where you would love to dwell not only become possible once you transition into Risen life, but they can begin to manifest even before your transition. It depends on one’s mental and emotional clarity, one’s will, and especially one’s self-evolution, which together bring enlightened understanding of Mind and its unlimited abundance.

     “While you’re dreaming of that cozy little cottage or even a castle tucked away in some hidden glen, the strength of your desires will cause the building elements to come together in the realm of the Higher Mind, which is your mind, my mind, our Mind—it is all One—and particular elements of light will coalesce into an actuality that reflects those desires. The more it becomes real to you in your mind, the more it becomes ‘real–ized’ on the higher planes where such things are meant to occur. The Risen are capable of manifesting realized wonders of landscape and architecture, which are their dwelling places and are far beyond the physical possibilities of the earth plane.

      “Of course I’m speaking of the positive, spiritually inspired powers of the individual use of Mind. To the extent that one’s thoughts, dreams and fantasies are able to manifest in ways that are beautiful and meaningful evidences the degree of spiritual evolution, of the self-love and self-esteem that enable and support the love and esteem of other individuals, and the level of understanding that Mind is a shared experience as well as an individual one. There are those on the earth, who, for whatever reasons unique to their experience, understanding, and individual evolution, are unable to manifest much more than a Risen tar-paper shack—if even that. While they might be able to fantasize about a sumptuous Hollywood mansion, more than likely the nature of that image is of the earth-bound, ego-mind’s desires and so could not in any real way be imaginally expressed in the higher astral realms.”

So what this mean, dear friend, is that by your good works here, you have been laying up treasures for yourself in The Summerland, which await your arrival and habitation.  "My good goes before me and prepares the way."

I have been aware of my own "Risen estate"—which is rather vast, and indescribably beautiful, for many years, and visit it all the time when my body sleeps. It is rare I can remember much, for such Risen realms do not translate well, if at all, into the meager brain thoughts of a human body; there simply is little for terrestrial memory to grasp and hold for us.

The very special thing about this estate is that it has always been open as a sanctuary for any and all animals that I have had some kind of relationship with—directly or indirectly—and to whom I extend the invitation to go there and dwell, and bid them to enhance it and their own lives with the complete peace needed for recovery from their earthly sufferings. Not only all the dogs and cats I've ever lived with are there, but every little bird that I've come upon that has transitioned or will soon; every squirrel, mouse, snake; every belabored horse I see drawing its heavy load of tourists through Central Park receives my invitation to advance there at any time of their choosing. When I see or learn of the suffering or loss of an elephant, dolphin in the news or on TV, any and all animals receive my prayers for healing and the invitation to go live on my estate. It is good it is so vast, for herds of elephants need a lot of room!

You can do this, too. Simple, isn't it? Yes, always strive to remember that you can ask for help, for there really are Risen teams of healers waiting to hear such requests. They will assist and guide, as well as teach and even themselves learn in the process, for Life—"majestic, unceasing, and unhurried"—is also Learning, Discovery, Celebration.

I close with these words of Tim from our book—his response to Eternity—

"Perfection is not something to be attained; it is something to be realized, to awaken to. Oh, the incredible ecstasy of awakening to the realization that there is no end to awakening! There is no end to Heaven, continually unfolding and revealing itself as we awaken to ever-increasing awareness of having our being in and as paradise.”

Risen Geographies and Dwelling Places

[First Posted 5/18/13]

Beau Lotto, a neuroscientist and founder of Lab of Misfits, gave a TedTalk in 2009 that used optical illusions to demonstrate how we perceive the world.  He investigates "how the human mind makes sense from the senseless." Underlying the fact that we can never truly see what's "out there" but only what's in our head, shaped by how our brain has learned to interpret various signals, are these ideas Beau offers:

"No one is an outside observer of nature ...each of us is defined by our ecology ... ecology is necessarily relative, historical and empirical."

These ideas come startlingly close in some ways to how one may begin to imagine how life is experienced as Risen; especially poignant for me is his demonstration as to how sights can be converted to sounds, using the example of a 6 year old's painting, converted to music. On earth, we have the physical body, acting as a filter for the incoming information from the Universe around us; the ego-mind, generally uncontrolled by Authentic Self and given free reign, makes judgmental choices for our emotional and psychological behavior, according to its own hidden agenda. Without the terrestrial body, which (usually) ends the ego-mind's dominance, our world is revealed to us on a very different level of perceived truth, indeed, many different levels.

Tim shares in The Risen:

"... light is also sound and therefore music is light. Each and every single unit of life is a light-filled tone and tone-filled light. Every thing vibrates and all movement produces light and sound. All universes are an ongoing symphony of infinite drama. Your life on earth and beyond it is a melody. This is less apparent on the earth due to its great density and lower vibration, which dulls and deadens the spirit, greatly lessening the connection every thing has with everything. It becomes more obvious on those planes beyond the Earth as we become more refined and of greater vibration.”

"Ecology" is highly resonant to the concept of "geography" which the Risen directed me to use in our book. It means not only our surroundings, but because we are inextricably immersed in it, it also means our worlds: the climate, the weather, the air, the light, the sounds, its history(ies), its feelings. One of my brothers is a wildlife technologiest (a fancy name for a park ranger) and he once explained to me about the ecology — or world – of a tree. We can see the tree, rising out of the ground, spreading its branches and leaves up and into the world around it, touching other trees, and their worlds, merging into a collective of worlds within worlds. Each tree is breathing, taking in elements through its roots and leaves, and then releasing others back into the air. Each tree gives off heat in the form of energy and reflective light. Every cell is alive with non-stop activity. Every tree gives harbor to many other life forms.

Beneath each tree, if one observes with patience, are other plants -- grasses and baby trees, fungi, each with its own ecology exactly like the Mother Tree above them, and all immersed in Mother's world, and merging into one another's. These worlds interpenetrate, interact, teach, learn, implant, extract, love. "Worlds within worlds", as the oft-repeated phrase in our book goes.

In the recent posting "Return to Summerland" I attempt to share what it's like being in a Risen geography while not yet Risen -- not easy! Here are some interesting excerpts from the book that Tim shares in his attempts to describe his own ecological experience:

The word ‘live’ is not quite correct in connection with the way dwelling spaces exist here—actually, ‘dwell’ works much better. And the word ‘time’ isn’t exactly right either. I don’t dwell there all the time—hardly ever, actually, for there is far too much beyond it. Infinooty! There are never-ending environments for me to explore or manifest and occupy for as long as I want. 

I see you are wondering what lies beyond this tiny apartment where Bigfoot and I sometimes rest. Nothing and yet everything lies beyond it. When I go for walks through the old neighborhood, it’s the same, yet so much more. Each and every thing is alive, suffused by glowing, pulsating, prismatic lights, filled with life and energy as the sun-filled trees in the parks, effervescent as the fountains which give forth music, their waters welling up and cascading down pieces of sculpture that are never the same. Birds, animals, butterflies, and flowers of exquisite and dramatic beauty populate this geography. It is all a manifestation of my mind, yet infinitely more. 

We are of the same Mind, and so wherever or whenever we are, Mind Is. There is no place or time Mind can’t be. If we move ‘outward,’ that movement can continue without ceasing, manifesting environments within which to dwell. The very movement of Mind is manifestation. If we move in a way that we desire to be ‘inward,’ the result is the same. If I desire to dwell in light or darkness, or seasons and weather, there are no limitations imposed upon my desires except those I place upon them. (1)

Of course I’m speaking of the positive, spiritually inspired powers of the individual use of Mind. To the extent that one’s thoughts, dreams and fantasies are able to manifest in ways that are beautiful and meaningful evidences the degree of spiritual evolution, of the self-love and self-esteem that enable and support the love and esteem of other individuals, and the level of understanding that Mind is a shared experience as well as an individual one. There are those on the earth, who, for whatever reasons unique to their experience, understanding, and individual evolution, are unable to manifest much more than a Risen tar-paper shack—if even that. While they might be able to fantasize about a sumptuous Hollywood mansion, more than likely the nature of that image is of the earth-bound, ego-mind’s desires and so could not in any real way be imaginally expressed in the higher astral realms.

For example, the nature of greed appears to manifest in the earthly realm as an energy that is able to acquire, accumulate, and manifest imagined wealth in all its forms of ego-mind desire. In the Risen Worlds, however, the nature of greed, having been individualized and nurtured through belief and habit on the earth, but now accepted into the infinite capacity of Authentic Self, is no longer a toy in the hands of the limited and now dissolved ego-mind. Instead, through the greater and unlimited power of the Higher Mind, the emptiness of greed is like dry air blowing over a parched landscape. And that is what most likely will manifest—landscapes of vast, empty expanses of dead and dying vegetation, unable to grow or revive from lack of the energy of a loving, serene spirit that is connected to Original Source, whence outpours all sustenance.

I see the greatest gift we have been given by Original Creator Source as the ability to change our mind. Many, many souls, upon coming to a stagnated state of mind, become trapped by their ignorance of their true nature, which is that the Mind of the Highest Self is also their own mind and is shared by all individualized minds. The illusion of ignorance further manifests as an illusion of fear, and thus seems to result in a trap or as ‘hell.’ Many of our spirit rescues here involve the answering of mental and emotional cries for help from souls imprisoned in the illusion of their fears. Others never seem to feel the need to ask for help, and some even knowingly resist it.

It’s greatly comforting and invigorating to know that Nature—that is, flowers, trees, gardens and forests, animals, birds, and people, are awaiting us when we leave this terrestrial experience and transition to the next.



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(1) Tim’s experiences sound very similar to the currently developing theory of biocentrism, which posits that life and biology are central to being, reality, and the cosmos — life creates the universe rather than the other way around.