2. Gateway to the Spirit World
FOR thousands of years the people of Mesopotamia believed the gates into and out of heaven lay at opposite ends of the great curve of the Milky Way, called the River of Souls. After death, souls had to wait for the rising doorway of Sagittarius and the autumn equinox, when day and night are equal. Reincarnation back to Earth could only take place during the spring equinox through the Gemini exit in their night sky.
My subjects tell me that soul migration is actually much easier. The tunnel effect they experience when leaving Earth is the portal into the spirit world. Although souls leave their bodies swiftly, it seems to me entry into the spirit world is a carefully measured process. Later, when we return to Earth in another life, the route back is described as being more rapid.
The location of the tunnel in relation to the Earth has some variations between the accounts of my subjects. Some newly dead people see it opening up next to them right over their bodies, while others say they move high above the Earth before they enter the tunnel. In all cases, however, the time lapse in reaching this passageway is negligible once the soul leaves Earth. Here are the observations of another individual in this spiritual location.
Case 3
Dr. N: You are now leaving your body. See yourself moving further and further away from the place where you died, away from the plane of Earth. Report back to me what you are experiencing.
S: At first … it was very bright … close to the Earth … now it’s a little darker because I have gone into a tunnel.
Dr. N: Describe this tunnel for me.
S: It’s a … hollow, dim vent … and there is a small circle of light at the other end.
Dr. N: Okay, what happens to you next?
S: I feel a tugging … a gentle pulling… I think I’m supposed to drift through this tunnel … and I do. It is more gray than dark now, because the bright circle is expanding in front of me. It’s as if… (client stops)
Dr. N: Go on.
S: I’m being summoned forward …
Dr. N: Let the circle of light expand in front of you at the end of the tunnel and continue to explain what is happening to you.
S: The circle of light grows very wide and … I’m out of the tunnel. There is a … cloudy brightness … a light fog. I’m filtering through it.
Dr. N: As you leave the tunnel, what else stands out in your mind besides the lack of absolute visual clarity?
S: (subject lowers voice) It’s so … still … it is such a quiet place to be in … I am in the place of spirits
Dr. N: Do you have any other impressions at this moment as a soul?
S: Thought! I feel the … power of thought all around …….
Dr. N: Just relax completely and let your impressions come through easily as you continue to report back to me exactly what is happening to you. Please go on.
S: Well, it’s hard to put into words. I feel… thoughts of love companionship … empathy … and it’s all combined with … anticipation … as if others are….. waiting for me.
Dr. N: Do you have a sense of security, or are you a little scared?
S: I’m not scared. When I was in the tunnel, I was more … disoriented. Yes, I feel secure … I’m aware of thoughts reaching out to me of caring … nurturing. It is strange, but there is also the understanding around me of just who I am and why I am here now.
Dr. N: Do you see any evidence of this around you?
S: (in a hushed tone) No, I sense it-a harmony of thought everywhere.
Dr. N: You mentioned cloud-like substances around you right after leaving the tunnel. Are you in a sky over Earth?
S: (pause) No-not that-but I seem to be floating through cloud stuff which is different from Earth.
Dr. N: Can you see the Earth at all? Is it below you?
S: Maybe it is, but I haven’t seen it since I went in the tunnel.
Dr. N: Do you sense you are still connected to Earth through another dimension, perhaps?
S: That’s a possibility-yes. In my mind Earth seems close … and I still feel connected to Earth … but I know I’m in another space.
Dr. N: What else can you tell me about your present location? S: It’s still a little … murky … but I’m moving out of this.
This particular subject, having been taken through the death experience and the tunnel, continues to make tranquil mental adjustments to her bodiless state while pulling further into the spirit world. After some initial uncertainty, her first reported impressions reflect an inviting sense of well-being. This is a common feeling among my subjects.
Once through the tunnel, our souls have passed the initial gateway of their journey into the spirit world. Most now fully realize they are not really dead, but have simply left the encumbrance of an Earth body which has died. With this awareness comes acceptance in varying degrees depending upon the soul. Some subjects look at these surroundings with continued amazement while others are more matter-of-fact in reporting to me what they see. Much depends upon their respective maturity and recent life experiences. The most common type of reaction I hear is a relieved sigh followed by something on the order of, ” wonderful, I’m home in this beautiful place again.”
There are those highly developed souls who move so fast out of their bodies that much of what I am describing here is a blur as they home into their spiritual destinations. These are the pros and, in my opinion, they are a distinct minority on Earth. The average soul does not move that rapidly and some are very hesitant. If we exclude the rare cases of highly disturbed spirits who fight to stay connected with their dead bodies, I find it is the younger souls with fewer past lives who remain attached to Earth’s environment right after death.
Most of my subjects report that as they emerge from the mouth of the tunnel, things are still unclear for awhile. I think this is due to the density of the nearest astral plane surrounding Earth, called the kamaloka by Theosophists. The next case describes this area from the perspective of a more analytical client. The soul of this individual demonstrates considerable observational insight into form, colors, and vibrational levels. Normally, such graphic physical descriptions by my subjects occur deeper into the spirit world after they get used to their surroundings.
Case 4
Dr. N: As you move further away from the tunnel, describe what you see around you in as much detail as possible.
S: Things are … layered.
Dr. N: Layered in what way?
S: Umm, sort of like … a cake.
Dr. N: Using a cake as a model, explain what you mean?
S: I mean some cakes have small tops and are wide at the bottom. It’s not like that when I get through the tunnel. I see layers … levels of light … they appear to me to be .. translucent… indented…
Dr. N: Do you see the spirit world here as made up of a solid structure?
S: That’s what I’m trying to explain. It’s not solid, although you might think so at first. It’s layered-the levels of light are all woven together in … stratified threads. I don’t want to make it sound like things are not symmetrical-they are. But I see variations in thickness and color refraction in the layers. They also shift back and forth. I always notice this as I travel away from Earth.
Dr. N: Why do you think this is so?
S: I don’t know. I didn’t design it.
Dr. N: From your description, I picture the spirit world as a huge tier with layers of shaded sections from top to bottom.
S: Yes, and the sections are rounded-they curve away from me as I float through them.
Dr. N: From your position of observation, can you tell me about the different colors of the layers?
S: I didn’t say the layers had any major color tones. They are all variations of white. It is lighter … brighter where I’m going, than where I have been. Around me now is a hazy whiteness which was much brighter than the tunnel.
Dr. N: As you float through these spiritual layers, is your soul moving up or down?
S: Neither. I am moving across.
Dr. N: Well, then, do you see the spirit world at this moment in linear dimensions of lines and angles as you move across?
S: (pause) For me it is … mostly sweeping, non-material energy which is broken into layers by light and dark color variations. I think something is … pulling me into my proper level of travel and trying to relax me, too …
Dr. N: In what way? S: I’m hearing sounds. Dr. N: What sounds?
S: An … echo … of music … musical tingling … wind chimes … vibrating with my movements … so relaxing.
Dr. N: Other people have defined these sounds as vibrational in nature, similar to riding on the resonance from the twang of a tuning fork. Do you agree or disagree with this description?
S: (nods in assent) Yes, that’s what this is … and I have a memory of scent and taste, too.
Dr. N: Does this mean our physical senses stay with us after death?
S: Yes, the memory of them … the waves of musical notes here are so beautiful … bells … strings. such tranquility.
Many pirit world travelers report back to me about the relaxing sensations of musical vibrations. Noise sensations start quite early after death. Some subjects tell me they hear humming or buzzing sounds right after leaving their physical bodies. This is similar to the noise one hears standing near telephone wires and may vary in volume before souls pull away from what I believe to be the Earth’s astral plane. People have said they hear these same sounds when under general anesthesia. These flat, ringing sounds become more musical when we leave the tunnel. This music has been appropriately called energy of the universe because it revitalizes the soul.
With subjects who speak about spiritual layering, I mention the possibility that they could be seeing astral planes. In metaphysical writing, we read a lot about planes above the Earth. Beginning with ancient Indian scriptures called the Vedas, followed by later Eastern texts, astral planes have historically represented a series of rising dimensions above the physical or tangible world, which blend into the spiritual. These invisible regions have been experienced by people over thousands of years through meditative, out-of-body observations of the mind. Astral planes also have been described as being less dense as one moves farther away from the heavy influences of Earth.
The next case represents a soul who is still troubled after passing through the spiritual tunnel. This is a man who, at age thirty-six, died of a heart attack on a Chicago street in 1902. He left behind a large family of young children and a wife who was deeply loved. They were very poor.
Case 5
Dr. N: Can you see clearly yet as you travel beyond the tunnel?
S: I’m still passing through these… foamy clouds around me.
Dr. N: I want you to move all the way through this and tell me what you see now.
S: (pause) Oh … I’m out of it … my God, this place is big! It’s so bright and clean-it even smells good. I am looking at a beautiful ice palace.
Dr. N: Tell me more.
S: (with amazement) It’s enormous … it looks like bright, sparkling crystal … colored stones shining all around me.
Dr. N: When you say crystalline, I think of a clear color.
S: Well, there are mostly grays and white … but as I float along I do see other colors … mosaics … all glittery.
Dr. N: Look into the distance from within this ice palace-do you see any boundaries anywhere?
S: No, this space is infinite … so majestic … and peaceful.
Dr. N: What are you feeling right now?
S: I… can’t fully enjoy it … I don’t want to go further … Maggie (subject’s widow)
Dr. N: I can see you are still disturbed about the Chicago life, but does this inhibit your progress into the spirit world?
S: (subject jerks upright in my office chair) Good! I see my guide coming towards me-she knows what I need.
Dr. N: Tell me what transpires between you and your guide.
S: I say to her I can’t go on… that I need to know Maggie and the children are going to be okay.
Dr. N: And how does your guide respond?
S: She is comforting me-but I’m too loaded down.
Dr. N: What do you say to her?
S: (shouting) I tell her, “Why did you allow this to happen? How could you do this to me? You made me go through such pain and hardship with Maggie and now you cut off our life together.”
Dr. N: What does your guide do?
S: She is trying to soothe me. Telling me I did a good job and that I will see my life ran its intended course.
Dr. N: Do you accept what she says?
S: (pause) In my mind… information comes to me … of the future on Earth … that the family is getting on without me … accepting that I am gone … they are going to make it … and we will all see each other again.
Dr. N: And how does this make you feel?
S: I feel … peace … (with a sigh) .. I am ready to go on now.
Before touching on the significance of Case 5 meeting his guide here, I want to mention this man’s interpretation of the spirit world appearing as an ice palace. Further into the spirit world, my subjects will talk about seeing buildings and being in furnished rooms. The state of hypnosis by itself does not create these images. Logically, people should not be recalling such physical structures in a non-material world unless we consider these scenes of Earth’s natural environment are intended to aid in the soul’s transition and adjustment from a physical death. These sights have individual meaning for every soul communicating with me, all of whom are affected by their Earth experiences.
When the soul sees images in the spirit world which relate to places they have lived or visited on Earth, there is a reason. An unforgotten home, school, garden, mountain, or seashore are seen by souls because a benevolent spiritual force allows for terrestrial mirages to comfort us by their familiarity. Our planetary memories never die-they whisper forever into the soul-mind on the winds of mythical dreams just as images of the spirit world do so within the human mind.
I enjoy hearing from subjects about their first images of the spirit world. People may see fields of wildflowers, castle towers rising in the distance, or rainbows under an open sky when returning to this place of adoration after an absence. These first ethereal Earth scenes of the spirit world don’t seem to change a great deal over a span of lives for the returning soul, although there is variety between client descriptions. I find that once a subject in trance continues further into the spirit world to describe the functional aspects of spiritual life, their comments become more uniform.
The case I have just reviewed could be described as a fairly unsettled spirit bonded closely to his soulmate, Maggie, who was left behind. There is no question that some souls do carry the negative baggage of a difficult past life longer than others, despite the calming influences of the spirit world. People tend to think all souls become omniscient at death. This is not completely true because adjustment periods vary. The time of soul adjustment depends upon the circumstances of death, attachments of each soul to the memories of the life just ended, and level of advancement.
I frequently hear anger during age-regression when a young life ends suddenly. Souls reentering the spirit world under these conditions are often bewildered and confused over leaving people they love without much warning. They are unprepared for death and some feel sad and deprived right after leaving their bodies.
If a soul has been traumatized by unfinished business, usually the first entity it sees right after death is its guide. These highly developed spiritual teachers are prepared to take the initial brunt of a soul’s frustration following an untimely death. Case 5 will eventually make a healthy adjustment to the spirit world by allowing his guide to assist him during the balance of his incoming trip.
However, I have found our guides do not encourage the complete working out of thought disorders at the spiritual gateway. There are more appropriate times and places for detailed reviews about karmic learning lessons involving life and death, which I will describe later. The guide in Case 5 offered a brief visualization of accelerated Earth time as a means of soothing this man about the future of his wife and children so he could continue on his journey with more acceptance.
Regardless of their state of mind right after death, my subjects are full of exclamations about rediscovered marvels of the spirit world. Usually, this feeling is combined with euphoria that all their worldly cares have been left behind, especially physical pain. Above all else, the spirit world represents a place of supreme quiescence to the traveling soul. Although it may at first appear we are alone immediately following death, we are not isolated or unaided. Unseen intelligent energy forces guide each of us through the gate.
New arrivals in the spirit world have little time to float around wondering where they are or what is going to happen to them next. Our guides and a number of soulmates and friends wait for us close to the gateway to provide recognition, affection, and the assurance we are all right. Actually, we feel their presence from the moment of death because much of our initial readjustment depends upon the influence of these kindly entities toward our returning soul.
