This evening I went next door to ask our neighbors – the identical twins – if they could watch Noah and feed our cats for two nights while we’re out of town. I mentioned that we had gotten the cover for the new synchro book about afterlife communication and suddenly, the twins were telling me one of the best ghost stories I’ve heard in years. While they were relating the story, I was taking mental notes, then got home and started telling Rob about it and realized I needed more details. So I called next door and Annette answered the phone and I plied her for more details.
It happened, Annette said, about five years ago. She and Janette were on a Royal Caribbean cruise – five nights – and had a cabin on the fourth level deck. “As soon as we opened the door to the cabin, Janette said she felt we weren’t alone, that there was a presence. Janette thought it was male.”
They didn’t think any more about it at the time and went about their business, doing whatever it is people do on these cruises – eat and drink, dance and socialize. The twins have been taking these cruises every summer, around their birthdays, and always pack to the hilt – fancy clothes, multiples pairs of shoes, jewelry, the whole nine yards. On this cruise, they had spread their jewelry out on the top of the dressers – necklaces, matching earrings. So that first night, after they had turned in, Janette suddenly heard a swooshing sound. “It was like someone was sweeping their hands through the jewelry and the necklaces and earrings were falling through the person’s fingers,” Janette said.
She immediately turned on the light and sat up. The jewelry was undisturbed, just where she and Annette had left it. She was a bit freaked out, but turned off the light again and lay back. She heard the noise again, turned on the light once more, but the jewelry was undisturbed. Annette also heard the noise.
“We only heard that sound in the dark,” Annette said. “We both heard it. We both identified it as the same thing, hands sweeping through the jewelry.”
Later that night, Janette was sound asleep when she suddenly felt something grab her ankle – where she recently had been tattooed – and was jerked to the floor. “Annette, what the hell are you doing?” she shouted angrily.
Annette turned on the light and saw her sister on the floor. She swore she hadn’t grabbed Janette by the ankle.
The next morning, Janette went to the captain, told him their cabin was haunted, and that she and her sister wanted to different cabin. “You should’ve seen the way he looked at me,” Janette said. “Like I was a total nutcase.” The captain told them to check with the cabin attendant about finding another cabin, so Janette went to him and told him what had happened.
“He sort of laughed and said the ghost was a blonde woman who had died in our cabin of a heart attack. He said she roams the fourth level deck and has been seen by other people who have stayed in our cabin. And oh, he added, there were no other cabins available, so we would just have to stick it out.”
Janette says she was the blonder of the twins at the time and felt certain that was why the female ghost, who was blonde, had picked on her. But Annette has a different take. “I’m the alpha twin, stronger and more stable. I’ve been the caretaker all my life. That’s why the ghost didn’t mess with me.”
On their third night in the cabin, while Janette and Annette were asleep, Janette woke suddenly, certain she was suffocating. “I couldn’t breathe, something was pressed over my face, and I panicked.” She bolted upright, hurled off whatever was on her face, groped for the light. Next to her bed on the floor was a pile of towels that hadn’t been there earlier.
“It was a stack of towels like what they leave at the foot of your bed after your room has been cleaned,” Annette explained.
“And it had been pressed down over my face,” Janette went on.
“So what’d you do?” I asked.
Annette says she brought out her new testament, flipped it open – and the pages fluttered and the book shut. On its own. So Annette opened it again, to Ethesians, 6:10-6:18, and put a shoe on either side of the book so the ghost couldn’t shut the book again.
The Ethesians passage, Annette says, is about “the armor of God.” Then she recited it.
Out of curiosity, I looked it up on Google. That passage reads:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
After Annette read the passage aloud, the twins pushed their beds together and they slept undisturbed that night and the last night of their trip.
This story led to the type of discussion I try to avoid about God, the universe and everything. But some statements are so personally offensive that to say nothing implies tacit agreement.
Annette: There are demons, Trish, who fell out of heaven when Satan became jealous of God. If you don’t believe in Christ as your personal savior, then you’re headed for hell. The world is going to end and then God will create paradise on earth.”
Me: I can’t buy into the Satan/demon thing, Annette. I can’t buy into the angry God thing, either. Heaven and hell, satan and demons: it’s too simplistic.
Annette: I’ll be praying for you , girl. Because you’re wrong.
Me: Suppose you’re wrong?
Annette: I’m not wrong. I’ve been touched by the holy spirit. And if I’m wrong, at least I’ll be going to heaven.
Me: And others have different names for those kinds of experiences. And I don’t believe in hell.
And so it went, one of those looped conversations, no one giving an inch. I reminded Annette that after the earthquake in Haiti, she or someone else in the room had said that the quake happened because the Haitians practiced voodoo. To me, that’s the epitome of religious hubris. Why would God do that to a country that is the poorest in the western hemisphere? What kind of God is that?
I finally went home and wondered how to write this up. In the end, I think it boils down to beliefs. Annette believes so deeply in the bible, in its literal translation, her belief was powerful enough to keep the female ghost away from herself and her sister.
Janette seems less convinced of the religious stuff, is more intuitively receptive to alternate explanations. It’s not about who is the alpha twin; if anything, the law of attraction seems to be dominant. Which brings around another loop: in search a good ghost story, why did I attract what essentially became a discussion about religion?
And what about the spirit of that poor woman on the fourth level floor of the Royal Caribbean? Is she doomed to forever wander through that strange netherworld?
Fascinating story, I wish Ghost Hunters were around! I bet they’d love to visit the haunted cruise room.
I remember once sitting at a restaurant in the middle of Kansas, overhearing a couple of church ladies discussing various people they knew who were not saved, and thus on their way to an eternity of fiery torment and misery. It seemed to me they were awfully smug about such a dreadful fate for such poor local souls, not to mention, say, the entire nation of Saudi Arabia or Nepal, who also don’t share their faith.
There’s an odd logic in it all – God is “Love”. He loved his son (who never had the benefit of a mother because sex is bad) so much that he sent him to earth to be tortured to death so that everyone else could get into heaven. However, if you don’t happen to believe that (and join the club)……..then inspite of God being so “loving”, you’re doomed to sadistic torment. Not just for a day, or a year, but all eternity.
With a God like that, who needs religion?
Nic, I forget to put in my comment that I had truly loved the book WHAT DREAMS MAY COME, read it more than once, and I think that’s why I was so disappointed in the movie. The film bore so little relationship to the story in the book that it seemed a travesty to me. But, again, I did love the book. It ruined me for the Hollywood take on the tale.
Wow…I really agree with you CJ on both the Mormons and the movie “What Dreams May Come.” First, about Mormons…I’ve always gotten along with them…so much so that I even went to BYU for college. We share similar values and they are good people and a lot more tolerant of others than most people who are in conservative religions. So, I don’t mind if they come over to my house to talk or share a meal! The Jehovah’s Witnesses are another story, though. They have what I consider to be the most depressing religion I’ve ever come across. They don’t celebrate birthdays, Christmas, Easter, anniversaries, Thanksgiving…how sad life is to not take time out at various points in the year to celebrate life and tradition!
I loved the novel “What Dreams May Come” and had a film been more loyal to the novel, it would have been an awesome film. Instead, you only get bits and pieces of the novel in the film and its not well done. The novel answered every question I had about God, spirituality, the purpose of life, and what happens when you die. I credit this novel for influencing my spiritual views. I wish the movie would have stayed true to the novel’s vision. As it stands, I think “Defending Your Life” remains as the undisputed champ of afterlife films.
As for the Cary Grant views…its not surprising. I know a guy who has done some drugs, so he believes that spiritual experiences are nothing more than a chemical reaction in the mind, deluding people into thinking that its real. From my understanding, though, drugs may give visions or euphoric bliss, but its not coherent like those who have had near death experiences. Drugs are about giving a good feeling, not about gaining knowledge or understanding about life.
For some reason I’ve never been able to articulate, I didn’t like the movie WHAT DREAMS MAY COME, although I do like Robin Williams very much. The movie seemed like an animated cartoon too me, with little substance. Regarding atheists, it’s been my experience with contacts from spiritual entities through mediumship that there are unlimited dimensions in the afterlife. (the Many Mansions?) The soul of my father in this lifetime is not in the same dimension as my mother in this lifetime, but both are deceased and have visited me separately on occasion. From what the discarnate Teaching entities have expressed to me, if a person truly believes that death results in black nothingness, that person will initially experience black nothingness very, very briefly, immediately upon the permanent breaking of the cord. Then, because nothing is ever destroyed but only changes form, the soul (which is eternal) quickly stirs itself toward wakefulness and as that happens, the soul begins to emit its light, however dim at first, which brings the Helpers for that soul who will assist it in whatever individual manner it may need assistance towards understanding its circumstances and moving forward. It’s my understanding that no soul remains in black nothingness regardless of its personality/ego belief system while in a particular, always temporary, life experience and body. The ever-present awareness of the Higher Self is All-Knowing in terms of that fragment of the Whole Soul’s specific level of evolution. Different fragments of the Whole Soul make countless journeys in and out of countless bodies over time, and the OverSoul has the awareness that the condition of death is not a black nothingness, no matter what temporary belief construct its incarnate fragment may have embraced in its current embodiment. Anyway, this is my understanding.
oh, just as an aside – the past few times i’ve come over to this post, the “dot” is turning into the beautiful blue and phases into green by the time i get down to the body of the post – while ago, still again, it was the exact color of the sky in the image – and then made its way into blue – neat –
as louise hay would say about that color…all is well.
Let’s hope it stays that pretty bluish green.
Love the hummingbird, D! Sansego, it isn’t Mormons who come to my door. It’s Jehovah’s Witnesses, bringing their little pamphlets about the end of the world. I simply politely tell them I’m quite happy with my spiritual path, thank you very much! Often they become insistent, and when they do that, I quietly say, “I’m Pagan. You and I have nothing to talk about.” They leave. I have friends who are Mormons. Great folks, and we get along like peanut butter and jelly. No problems. They accept me, I accept them, and we enjoy. Had a long talk with hubby tonight after he saw I’d put the bumper sticker back on my SUV. He just shook his head, aksed me why. I told him he married a Wiccan forty-odd years ago; his children were raised Wiccan by their own choices, (and their were given free rein spiritually to choose their paths), and that I’ve reached an age where I’ve earned the right to let folks know who and what I am. End of conversation. 🙂
This is a great ghost story! I hate getting into these religious conversations as well! I always get into them with my father-in-law who is very Christian and would never in a million years entertain the idea of ghosts and spirits. He probably would have chalked this kind of experience up to the natural motion of the ocean… 🙂
just a side note of my childhood – when i was about 5 years old i got the chickenpox – i don’t mean that i got them – they got me! it was a horrendous case – they were EVERYWHERE on my body – even the bottoms of my feet – and i remember being so ill i threw up and my father carried me out of the bathroom and said “it’s going to be alright – jesus is going to make you feel better” – and i said: “why did he let me be sick in the first place?” as you can see, i was never ever in the mainstream of that thing called christianity – and never cared to be – now, the fact that my own father made such a remark is even more incredible as the longest day he lived he was a non-conformist and would not set foot inside a church – perhaps he was just trying to comfort me – [in some sick way!] – and when the zealot do-gooders knock on my door, just as i’m closing it in their faces, i always ask when was the last time i knocked on their door to convert them –
well, anyway, i digress – but i did love the ghost/spirit story here – especially that she played with the jewelry – and i do hope that she is set free soon –
That’s funny about your dad. I sometimes think parents do stuff like that because they don’t know what else to say!
oh, yes, and i’m quite sure that was it in the case of my father – i remember wanting to console him – he seemed lost – as to how to comfort me – and was very very rarely allowed by our mother to take on that role in our family – so – i’m sure he really was fumbling for words –
In regards to religion, I remember being a young child at church and thinking, “does it really matter to God if I wear a hat?”
I also remember being “yelled” at during sermons and in my little mind I remember knowing that it was hogwash. I really do remember thinking, “no, God loves us, you are wrong!” and then looking around and thinking “where did that come from?” yet I believed that.
Church never made any sense to me especially since I had an abusive father, but we went to church!
I was told once when i asked in meditation about atheists, “when an atheist dies, God takes them by the hand and says “so what was it like to not believe in God during your lifetime?”‘ So I’ve never worried. We are here experiencing.
I remember sitting in catholic catechism as a nun described what death was like – and heaven. You know, god on a cloud, angels everywhere, and judgment. And I thought, nope, it’s not like that. I was 12 and none of what the nuns taught made any sense to me.
Interesting thought about atheists when they die. I’ve read that when people die on earth, the beliefs they had at the moment of death stays, so the person who believes his religion is the correct one will find himself in a heaven with like minded souls who all believe the same thing. Those who don’t believe in spirituality, though, are prime candidates to be earthbound spirits because part of the process of crossing over is realizing that one is dead, not alive. Its like the scene in “Ghost” when Patrick Swayze still thinks he’s alive and doesn’t understand why no one will talk to him. I believe atheists might be like this when they die. From all that I’ve read about the topic, God gave us free agency, so God will never violate our belief system. We have to make the choice to take the next step, to believe, to get out of our own hell or our own narrow-minded version of heaven. In other words, the more open minded one is, the easier it is to cross over to the spiritual realm where most of the souls reside.
Sounds like everyone is experiencing Mormon missionaries at their door. Be nice, invite them in to eat. They are only 19 to 21 years old. What do they really know about anything? Most of them were indoctrinated with Mormon theology since 3 or 4 years old.
The hummingbird incident was hilarious! Gosh, that would be a huge hint to the person getting attacked. I wonder if it caused him to question his beliefs at some point. The movie “God’s Army” is an excellent Mormon film about what Missionary life is like. I highly recommend seeing it. One character starts questioning his faith and some of the missionaries come across interesting people in their door to door canvassing. My favourite scene is when a guy who obviously hates his domestic life asks the Mormon missionaries about heaven being “sealed” to his family for eternity, because that would be his idea of hell. So true for some people! Its not a black and white world.
Did you see what dreams may come? Based on Richard Matheson’s novel. Robin Williams was in the movie. This felt “close” to what the afterlife is…except that by the end of it, the movie seemed to veer toward traditional “hell” stuff.
Sansego, don’t be so quick to invite the Mormons into your house. They might want to stay. As a result of my book THE FOG, Bruce Gernon, my co-author, and I had a family of penniless Mormons descend on us asking us to take them to Bimini where we would not only see UFOs, but encounter aliens. They were very serious, and the man carried around a 500-page manuscript about contact. UFOs and ETs are a part of the Mormon cosmology, probably the most interesting part of their beliefs, IMO. They wanted to stay with us and make that trip to the island. We bought them lunch, but sent them on their way. It was kind of sad, a young couple with two children, no money, just a strong belief. (We thought they were seriously deranged, and if WE thought so, I can only imagine what most folks they encountered thought of them.) – R
Sansego, your comments about what happens to atheists when they die reminded me of an incident years ago when Trish and I were just getting started as freelance writers. I had the opportunity to talk to Cary Grant and ask him one question. It was just weeks before he died. So I asked him if he believed in life after death.
He launched into a long rambling spiel about his experiences with LSD in the 60s, which surprised me, but then he concluded by says there was no after life, there was nothing once you died. I’ve always suspected that when he died that in fact was what he experienced. Nothing. But at some point, he probably started to ponder that if he was experiencing nothing, what was it that was experiencing nothing? From there, he gradually came to a conclusion – I hope – that there must be something since he still existed. And help and love came his way.
The young men came to my door a couple of weeks ago, as they do from time to time. Having grown weary of this, and also of living in a closet with my spiritual hands, feet, and voice bound, today I replaced the bumper sticker on my SUV and will DARE my husband or anyone else to touch it or remove it. As mentioned previously, it is not a large bumper sticker. It’s an ordinary-sized one, with the pentagram on each side of the words “BORN AGAIN WICCAN”. I’m hoping that as the young men pass it on the way to my front door it will give them pause, and they will turn around and backtrack down the driveway. It has taken me a lot of years to finally come out of the closet spiritually among people who are not of like mind, and by george I’m coming out of this closet not with a whimper but with a roar. (Only in terms of refusing to never again be preached at by the baptist in-laws, or listen to them attempting to convert me.) I do not and will not argue with them. But….I won’t be a silent mouse anymore, either. I’ll just sweetly smile and say, ‘You have your faith, I have mine. Enough said.”
Actually, Rob, the Nicea Council overlooked a couple of references to reincarnation in the version of the scriptures that they eventually settled upon and released. In one of those references, Jesus asks the disciples whom they believe He is, and they reply that they believe Him to be the one of the Old testament Prophets, re-born. In another somewhat lengthy chapter, it speaks of being reborn but in terms of reincarnation, not “born again” as in acceptance of Christ. They (Council )either did this deliberately, or it was a mis-step. But there are definitive positive references to reincarnation in the KJ Bible in several places. I have them marked. My comment wasn’t that the Christian woman said everyone would meet Jesus due to reincarnation. That was MY facetious comment on her remark…..considering that the only way the head-hunters, for example, would meet Jesus would be via reincarnation into another lifetime, because no missionaries, Christian or otherwise, can go into their deep jungles. Same with people born 7000BC. Only thru reincarnation into other lives could they meet Jesus. Christianity is a contradiction of its own tenets and doctrines in so many ways that one loses count of them all.
Exactly, CJ! As I tell fundys, its absurd to believe that an all-knowing God would require imperfect humans to believe events happened that they did not personally witness as a condition for eternal life. History is written by the victors and the biggest problem with believing in the Christ story is that there is 2,000 years of human distortions, the biggest being Emperor Constantine and the Council of Nicea. So, I feel pretty confident that God will not hold it against me if I reject the standard Christian mythology in favour of a spiritual view that works for me.
My standard reply to the young men in white shirts and ties who come to our door and ask if I’ve accepted Jesus Christ as my savior is that I have a difficult time accepting a savior who demands allegiance or condemns you for eternity. That sounds suspiciously like medieval kings dealing with their feudal wards. Have we not moved beyond that way of thinking? – R
We have the missionaries here too. I always tell them not to worry… my soul is well taken care of.
They stopped coming after one of our hummingbirds attacked them. The guy said “He let us know we don’t belong here.” Good show from the hummers!
A hummingbird? Wow, Debra. I’ve never heard of a hummingbird attacking people. Talk about a message!
They (the males) are very territorial and can be aggressive.
I like that answer! That is the kind of thing my husband would do, while I just tend to look out the peep hole and seeing who it is, go back to what I was doing without opening it!
Having had an older sister who attended a large Southern Baptist University and who majored in Religious Education and minored in Chemistry before she switched to Medicine, and having read her thesis on The Dead Sea Scrolls when I was so young, it set me on a path of unending inquisitive discovery. I’m so grateful for that, and my journey continues…..interrupted by more than one NDE, so my mind is an open book that reaches to absorb as many schools of thought as it can possibly hold, weigh and balance, as a means of comprehending the experiences in life. Like Gyps and DPage, Vicki and Nats and the others, this existence has been filled with multiple challenges that require at the very least a willingness to expand and grow. I’m blessed to have found so many friends here, and to have such vivid and enlightening discussions on such a litany of subjects!
Trish, last night I emailed you the material about ghosts and hauntings and the woman on the ship so won’t repeat it here. Regarding your conversation with the Christian neighbor, however, I do want to make a couple more comments. The concept of “accepting Jesus Christ as Saviour”, that He “died for our sins”, and that if one doesn’t accept that doctrine he or she is doomed to hell, is a doctrine that was created by a large gathering of various religious, (pagan), scholars in 325AD. This was called The Council of Nicea, and it was there that the doctrine of Jesus as Saviour was “created” and was adopted as a means of controlling the masses by FEAR. Anyone wishing to learn more about this can simply google The Council of Nicea, or the Emperor Constantine, who brought that group together and who was the primary person responsible for creating the propaganda, re-writing what little scripture was available at that time, adding and deleting much, and thus it began. The “Christian Bible” was then later re-written yet again by King James, and we acquired The King James version most accepted as inviolate truth by Christiandom and even more was added and deleted by KJ. Very very very provocative and relative historical facts. If it is true that “everyone will know Jesus”, that is a pretty significant supporting argument for reincarnation: if ya didn’t meet Him in a past life, then ya gotta meet Him in a future life. Hhhhmmmmmmm. And I repeat what I mentioned earlier, if humans were created in God’s image, God is imperfect and flawed, because humans are certainly imperfect and flawed. Getting a bit technical here, one might REALLY upset the Christian points of view by suggesting that the red, yellow, black and white races inhabiting the planet could only have been seeded from off-of earth,
or by gods of differing images, which accounts for differences in color, body structure, etc etc etc. and their presences on different continents around the globe. Or, God is a speckled bird. HHhhmmmmm again.
Thanks, math! Intriguing insights as always.
Math, good stuff on the history of Christianity. But you present a catch-22 with the reincarnation scenario. Interesting idea that they would think or say that everyone will know of Jesus because those who lived before him will be reborn. However, the Council of Nicea removed the concept of reincarnation from Christian belief. You can’t have one concept without the other! – R
not quit on topic,, except for the general one….
have a friend,, o well guess on topic from a few days ago,, have a friend who does some flying,, just recently was gonna work on one of his plans,, bozo came along to hang out,, certified mechanic had to postpone,, so friend decided we show go for a fly in other plane,, since bozo (I) have another friend who lives in the neighborhood of the little “air port”, I asked if I might C if he wants take a ride….. what day???
I loved Annette’s comment: “If I’m wrong, at least I know I’m going to heaven!” Um…if she’s wrong, wouldn’t it be possible that she wasn’t going to heaven?
Do you think its possible that they embellished their story in any way? It just sounds absurd to me. I knew evangelical Christians who were so certain of Satan sending a storm to prevent them from attending a spiritual retreat (I had driven through the same storm and I can attest that Satan never once entered my thoughts).
What I love about the spiritual view I’ve come to believe is that we aren’t here to convert other people or to “save” other people. Each person has their own “dramas” going on. Life is about gaining experience, which leads to knowledge and understanding, and ultimately our souls evolve from the selfishness and self-preservation of the basic human nature to a more open, loving way of being.
Like CJ, I too was troubled by the Christian view of Jesus as an atoning sacrifice that all must accept in order to be admitted into heaven. It simply does not make sense, as CJ pointed out. I call that view “spiritual chauvinism” because if you take the most rabid fundamentalist Christian and had him or her born in Saudi Arabia, they would be the most rabid fundamentalist Muslim. They can’t seem to understand how one’s family, friends, and culture influence one’s beliefs…thus why most people in the Middle East aren’t converting to Jesus. To the Muslim’s credit, they view Jesus as a prophet of God, but many Christians seem to view Muhammad as evil.
This is just one more reminder why I’m so glad that I don’t deal with these narrow-minded folks anymore. The paranoia, fear, xenophobia, and outright hatred of any other idea that doesn’t fit their worldview is something I don’t want in my life. Whenever I come across a proselytizer who is trying to scare me with visions of eternity in hell, it doesn’t work on me because God is not about fear. Eternal life is our birthright, not a reward for believing absurd ideas that have no basis in logic.
I don’t think their story was embellished at all, sansego. These kinds of things happen fairly frequently to them.
Great story. Perhaps it was Annette who attracted the discussion on religion and you were there to provide her with food for thought.
I go along with some of what Maths says in above comment. The Bible says that God created man in his own image – so he wouldn’t/couldn’t destroy a part of himself. We can surely only be all eternal or all ‘doomed’.
For some reason I woke this morning wondering who Cain in the Bible married. With everything starting with Adam and Eve it must have been a sister (or a neice). I read somewhere that a Jewish scholar reckoned that Adam and Eve had 33 sons and 23 daughters – interesting numbers! It’s mainly myth.
wow 33 sons and 23 daughters! Interesting numbers, for sure, even if it’s myth!
I like your take, Mike, annette attracted it!
My experience with departed souls is that they usually find who is receptive to them, and if they are a bit mischievous will find the one who reacts.
I have had experience with evil, I was repeatedly pushed down the stairs in an old Victorian house we lived in. The presence there really targeted me and my sister, the ghost had hung herself. After literally being shoved down the stairs at the age of 15 or so for the second time I learned to hold on tight and never to stand at the top of the stairs. We eventually moved out because my mother realized something was going on and was afraid Of what might happen to me.
In regards to religion, all of my dealings with departed souls has been positive. Even two suicides I have communicated with have never mentioned hell , just schooling, resting etc. The only hell I have been told about is one we choose to create and it is usually feeling very alone and unloved but we are watched over and as soon as we want out it’s over and then we discuss it with our guides.
This is just a short version of course.
Maybe she talked to you about religion because “someone/some soul” knew you wouldn’t be afraid to speak your truth to her. It may be something she needed to hear!
Vicki – that’s pretty scary, especially for a 15 year old! Good for your mom, though, for recognizing something odd was going on. I like your take on hell!
My mom has never wanted to believe in ghosts etc. she would always say things like “I knew something was going on” or “she just seems to know things” etc. But at that house I was being tormented and it was right in everyones face and she only told me that she knew we had to get out after we had moved.
Of course in our next house we had ghosts but they were fun and mischevious and got me out of trouble a few times.
“You got home early last night!” you see they would periodically walk up the stairs to my room.
Poor Mom.
Great ghost story! I think it came back to the discussion about religion because we are at the juncture where we may actually find out. In my world view we will be judged on our sense of right and wrong, and we may very well be the ones judging if what many of the NDE’s are saying, which is what that bible passage basically says – be honorable, be honest, work for peace in your life. I think the bible gives us a blueprint for a happy life – the Ten Commandments. However, there are other books of knowledge – all of which say basically the same thing before they are hijacked by fundalmentalism. I was listening to a man on Coast to Coast the other day that is absolutely sure the world is ending and being judged on May 21, 2011, so sure that his group is spending tons of money on billboards. Listening to him, I realized he is trying to help as many people as he can before Judgement Day. Maybe he, and millions of others, will attract what they so firmly believe in – I don’t know. But I think his heart was in the right place. And I think that is what it boils down to – make sure your heart is in the right place, because you will become what you think about – and that may very well determine where you go from here, especially if there are many dimensions – or “many mansions.” We are energy, and like attracts like – maybe the blonde ghost was just lonely and knew the sister that was more intuitive was more “open.” I don’t think all ghostly visits are evil, and this woman may have just died – the purser didn’t say when the woman had died…
I will be in an historical graveyard, doing an investigation on May 21 (coincidental timing). It will be interesting to see if those who have been “saved” will rise up, as some fundamentalists believe.
We have the May 21 billboards all over San Diego county.
Can’t wait to hear your take on all that, Debra.
After this was posted yesterday, before it was pulled to be put back up today, I had written a comment. Sorry, DJan, it was another long one! 😉 But I want to mention something here that was touched upon in the post yesterday. Jesus lived approximatly 2000+ years ago. This planet was inhabited by the human species for many centuries preceding the birth of “the Saviour”. (Example, Pythagoras lived in 500BC; never heard of Jesus.) These humans had religious and/or spiritual convictions and practices. One specific culture/religion is Jewish, the Hebrews whom Moses, according to the Old Testament allegorical myth, led out of Egypt to the Promised Land. Jewish people, if they are not Messianic Jews, do not accept Jesus as Saviour. (I’m not Jewish, btw, but am a lifetime student of Hebrew and Aramaic language systems, customs, symbols.) If we are to believe the Christians, everyone who doesn’t accept Jesus as Saviour will burn in eternal hell. Well, hell must be the biggest space or dimension in all the universes combined, because there are millions and millions of humans who lived BEFORE the birth of Jesus, and therefore didn’t know of Him. There are thousands of uncivilized humans now living in deep jungle areas of the Phillipines, (head-hunting tribes), and other obscure locations who have had no access to knowledge of Jesus. Yet the Christian God, who supposedly created all of us, has doomed these millions of humans to eternity in a fire and brimstone hell? I have nothing else to say except bolderdash. Pure and simple and ridiculous fear-based bolderdash. How can any reasonable, intelligent person who has an awareness of the history of this planet and of the human species even begin to consider such an absurdly twisted, life limiting doctrine? Baffles the mind. Baffles my mind, anyway.
Amen sister! I completely agree with you.
About the time you were posting, Math, I was talking with the neighbor woman who I’ve written about previously regarding her jury duty and her unwillingness to give the defendant the basic right of being innocent until proven guilty. This morning she asked me if I had a good Easter and said she went to church twice – once with her housekeeper, a Dominican woman.
When I asked if they went to a Catholic mass, she thought I was joking. She went on to say that she has a problem with Catholicism because of the rituals. So I baited her a bit saying that the Catholic church says it’s the one true Christian religion. She said that was nonsense. So I agreed and said that the Hindus, Buddhists and Jews would say the same about the idea that you go to hell if Jesus is not your savior. Well, she took exception with that and said it is definitely true, because everyone has a chance to be saved.
When I mentioned all the people who lived before Jesus, she offered this: “The prophets knew that Jesus was coming and told everyone. I’m sure they didn’t go to hell.”
No, just millions and millions of others. I think that silly belief, the product of a lifetime of religious and cultural brainwashing, is what produces atheists among the youth who readily see the hypocrisy…then reject all spiritual beliefs.