COMMENTARY: THE INCREASE IN "NO RELIGION" This week in Australia the results
of last year's census were revealed and they confirm what many of us had already sensed - a significant increase in the number of people who ticked the "No Religion" box. Thirty-nine per cent of Australians now identify as non-religious, up from 30 per cent in 2016 and almost double the 22 per cent of Australians who ticked the “no religion” box a decade ago.
Of course, the conservatives are horrified and the headline in one Sydney paper proclaimed "Abandoning God: Christianity plummets as ‘non-religious’ surges in census" with the article beginning "Australia has become strikingly more godless over the past decade".
But are people really abandoning God? Or are they abandoning religions whose concept of God has grown too small for them. There is an important clue in a new video about near-death experiencers by Professor Bruce Greyson (see next item).
He notes: "Most near-death experiencers say they are more spiritual, but not more religious. They tend to look on organized religions as being simplifications of what the spiritual world really is. That what's important to them is the interconnections, not the dogma that goes along with it, and they think that the type of deity they encountered, if they did, is not as limited as the God they were taught about in church. It's much bigger than that, much more inclusive. It leads them eventually to the 'Golden rule,' which is actually part of every religion we have: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." But they feel that this is not for them anymore - a guideline we're supposed to follow but a law of nature".
NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES KILL THE PERSON THAT YOU USED TO BE According to Professor Bruce Greyson, "Most near-death experiencers say that they have trouble speaking about the experience because there just aren't words to describe it. It's like trying to draw an odor with a crayon. Experiencers describe a sense of connectedness to other people, to nature, to the Universe, and to the divine. For them, this changes everything. For instance, it makes them much less interested in power and fame. Experiencers almost always say, 'This is the most important thing that's ever happened to me, and nothing else in my life compares to it.' The most common change is that they are no longer afraid of death".
EXTREME BEAUTY OF THE AFTERLIFE
DIMENSION "Every single soul who comes to this realm is awestruck by its utter beauty, harmony and sense of emotional wholeness. It is as though any negative elements which are encountered on Earth have been completely eliminated, and the beauties and joys of the Earth plane have been multiplied a hundredfold." (J.Laddon, 'Beyond the Veil').The picture is by out-of-body experiencer Jurgen Ziewe.
REUNION EXPERIENCE AT THE BEDSIDE OF A DYING CHILD Dr. Scott Taylor, a senior trainer at the Monroe Institute, recounts his very profound experience of being taken into the light with a dying child.
HIDING THOUGHTS IN THE AFTERLIFE?
Can spirits hide their thoughts from each other? Can they hide themselves from one another?
"No; with them everything is open, and especially so with those who have attained to perfection. They may withdraw from one another, but they are always visible to each other. This, however, is not an absolute rule, for the higher spirits are perfectly able to render themselves invisible to the lower ones, when they consider it to be useful to do so." (Spirits Book, A.Kardec)
THE SPIRITIST VIEW OF FORGIVENESS
Julio Carvalho is an experienced psychotherapist and prolific speaker. He is the founder and co-director of the Spiritist Center Divine Light in Newark, New Jersey. He has helped Spiritism dissemination not only in the Tri-State area but also in the Union County Jail where he works as a Mental Health Counselor. This video of a talk he gave to the Spiritist Literature: Directed Study group (see our zoom groups for details) on June 25th 2022 is set to open at the beginning of his talk where he explains how Spiritists view forgiveness. See more of Julio's talks "In the Light of Spiritism".
WHAT IS PHYSICAL MEDIUMSHIP?
In physical mediumship the spirits communicate directly with people present in a way that everyone can hear, feel and sometimes see.
There are many different types of this rare kind of mediumship, from the moving of objects, apports, table tipping, transfiguration, direct-voice mediumship (like Leslie Flint) to, in the most developed cases, full materialisations.
AN EXAMPLE OF DIRECT-VOICE MEDIUMSHIP IN AN INDIGENOUS CULTURE? According to Mark Macy, "In 1901, US ethnologist Waldemar Bogoras traveled to Siberia to visit a shaman of the Tchouktchi tribe. He brought along one of the earliest recording devices ever made. In a darkened room, he observed a spirit conjuring ritual. The shaman beat a drum more and more rapidly, putting himself in a trance. Startled, Bogoras heard strange voices filling the room. The voices seemed to come from all corners and spoke English and Russian. It was the first known case in which spirit voices were caught in a recording." See Mark Macy's "Phone Calls from Beyond the Veil".
PARENTS REUNITED WITH THEIR SON RUSSELL THROUGH A PHYSICAL MEDIUM Gwen and Alf Byrne explain how their son Russell, who died from cancer at the age of 9, came through hundreds of session with physical medium Rita Goold (later Rita Lorraine). Segment starts at 3 minute 12 secs.
Part 5 - Interview with Gwen Byrne continued Part 6 - Interview with Alf Byrne
Alf mentions the scientists who attended who were not able or willing to make their participation public.
FREE BOOKS ON SPIRITUALISM The Online Books Page is a website that facilitates access to over 3 million books that are freely readable over the Internet. It also aims to encourage the development of such online books, for the benefit and edification of all. Originally it was founded in 1993 by the current editor, John Mark Ockerbloom (onlinebooks@pobox.upenn.edu) while he was a student. The collection on Spiritualism
contains many wonderful classics. Check it out.
One that paticularly caught our eye was a transmission through automatic writing from Robert Ingersoll - the greatest orator of his day. He describes his entry to the spirit world, his life review, and the opportunitites of spirit life. Read A Mesage From Robert G. Ingersoll.
MORE STUNNING EVIDENCE FOR THE AFTERLIFE Afterlife researcher Dr. R. Craig Hogan, author of "Evidence Beyond a Reasonable Doubt that You will Never Die" presents little known evidence of spirits in the afterlife making direct contact through precipitated art, automatic writing, direct writing, precipitated writing, slate writing, independent typewriter and automatic keyboard. https://youtu.be/UUD817mtDdo
THE ZETA PERSPECTIVE - PAUL AND SY ANN DISCUSS THEIR EXPERIENCES Paul and Syann are physical mediums who have life-long experiences with both spirit and ET contact. They continue to emphasise the importance of asking for evidence in every kind of mediumship. Here is the latest episode of their weekly live-streamed program with Rebellious UFOlogy.
Times:
Pacific and Phoenix time: 5 p.m. Thursday
Mountain time 6 p.m. Thursday
Central time 7 p.m. Thursday
Eastern time 8 p.m. Thursday
London 1 a.m. Friday
Sydney/Melbourne 10 a.m. Friday
New Zealand 12 noon. Friday Check time in your city.
zeta_events@hotmail.com https://zoom.us/j/7595442928.
Saturday July 2nd 2022 / Sunday July 3rd Australia
Coming soon: Join Irish medium and best-selling author Karen Frances McCarthy CSNU for the second of three monthly sessions exploring communication with our own loved ones in spirit form and how we can continue those relationships in a healthy way. These gatherings will be part discussion and part experimental practices, using mediumship, prayer and meditation to understand the intimacy of this form of communication.
Saturday July 2 and Aug. 6 at
New York Time 10:00-11:15 a.m.
Register at http://bit.ly/june0422
This session will be will live streamed (speaker view only) in case people can’t get in.
Saturday July 2nd 2022 / Sunday July 3rd Australia
Spiritist Literature: Directed Study with Ana Castro.
Every Saturday. A free Zoom group about Spiritism, Kardec, and Chico Xavier.
See videos of previous meetings. Times:
Pacific and Phoenix time 1 p.m. Saturday
Mountain daylight time 2 p.m. Saturday
Central time 3 p.m. Saturday
Eastern time 4 p.m. Saturday
London 9 p.m. Saturday
Rome 10 p.m. Saturday
Sydney/Melbourne 6 a.m. Sunday
New Zealand 8 a.m. Sunday Check time in Your city
Co-ordinator: Ana Castro
Just click this link to join.
Sunday July 3rd 2022 / Monday July 4th Australia
Global Gathering on Healing.
Our guest this week will be physical medium and healer Gary Mannion who will talk about his experiences as a tested healer and go into a trance and allow his guide Abraham to answer questions about healing and the state of the world, facilitated by Inge Crosson. See Abraham answering previous questions.
Times:
Pacific Daylight Time 2 p.m. Sunday
Phoenix 2 p.m. Sunday
Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) 3 p.m. Sunday
Central Daylight time 4 p.m. Sunday
Eastern Daylight time 5 p.m. Sunday
London 10 p.m. Sunday
Amsterdam 11 p.m. Sunday
Sydney/Melbourne 7 a.m. Monday
New Zealand 9 a.m. Monday Check the time for your city
Co-ordinators: karynjarvie@ozemail.com.au and wendyzammit@gmail.com https://zoom.us/j/7595442928
Monday July 4th 2022 /Tuesday July 5th Australia
Sheri Perl's Distant Healing Prayer Circle
No Meeting for July and August
Monday July 4th 2022 /Tuesday July 5th Australia
GOSH: Gatherings over Strange Happenings with Kim Parker When: Every two weeks on Mondays (UK EUROPE and USA) and Tuesday 7 a.m. (Sydney).
A small group that meets to share and explore the meaning of strange experiences like missing time, seeing scenes from another time, interacting with a person who suddenly wasn't there, bi-location etc. If it's something you cannot share easily with others, bring it to this group to get validation and speculate on its cause. See short video about GOSH
Times
Pacific Daylight Time 2 p.m. Monday
Phoenix 2 p.m. Monday
Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) 3 p.m. Monday
Central Daylight Time 4 p.m. Monday
Eastern Daylight Time 5 p.m. Monday
London 10 p.m. Monday
Rome 11 p.m. Monday
Sydney/Melbourne 7 a.m. Tuesday
New Zealand 9 a.m. Tuesday Check the time in your city.
Email: Kim at kmrainbow57@yahoo.com https://zoom.us/j/7595442928
Tuesday July 5th 2022/ Wednesday July 6th Australia
Question and Answers on Mediumship
with Nicole Newman
A series where guest mediums share experiences and tips for developing mediums held on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month US time. We have a guest speaker and questions for an hour and then those who wish to stay have the opportunity to move into small groups to give and receive practice readings.
Pacific and Phoenix time 6.00 p.m. Tuesday
Mountain daylight time 7.00 p.m. Tuesday
Central time 8.00 p.m. Tuesday
Eastern time 9.00 p.m. Tuesday
Perth time 9 a.m. Wednesday
Sydney/ Melbourne time. 11 a.m. Wednesday
Auckland time 1 p.m. Wednesday Coordinator: Wendy Zammit wendyzammit@gmail.com Check time in your city https://zoom.us/j/7595442928
Tuesday July 5th 2022/ Wednesday July 6th Australia
Army 4 Love Every Tuesday/ Wednesday
No meeting this week.
Wednesday July 6th 2022 / Thursday July 7th Australia
Automatic Writing and Mediumship Discussion
Share resources and discuss what participants are experiencing
1st and 3rd Wednesdays.
5.30 p.m. Pacific Time
5. 30 p.m. Phoenix
6.30 p.m. Denver
7.30 p.m. Illinois CTD
8.30 p.m. New York EDT
10.30 a.m. Thursday Sydney/ Melbourne Check time in your city Coordinator: Sheila Lowe sheila@sheilalowe.com https://adelphiuniversity.zoom.us/j/94407990221 NEW ROOM!!
Wednesday July 6th 2022 / Thursday July 7th Australia
Physical mediumship development group
Every Wednesday with Rob Blackburn and Craig Hogan.
Participants sit in a darkened space in their own homes; the group has been going for some time and members are experiencing phenomena. This is a long-term commitment.
Times:
Pacific and Arizona time 6 p.m. Wednesday
Mountain Daylight time 7 p.m. Wednesday
Central Daylight time 8 p.m. Wednesday
New York time 9 p.m. Wednesday
Sydney/Melbourne 11 a.m. Thursday
New Zealand 1 p.m. Thursday Check time in your city
Contact Rob Blackburn (rkblack@mtco.com) or Craig Hogan (r.craig.hogan@afterlifeinstitute.org) before joining the group.
https://zoom.us/j/4381898190
Thursday July 7th 2022/ Friday July 8th Australia
Afterlife Book Club
1st Thursday of the month at 6 p.m. California time. Book Club led by Gary Langley
Book of the month: Joanne Helfrich's Afterlives: Firsthand Accounts of Twenty Notable People The author will be in attendance.
Times:
Pacific time 6.00 p.m. Thursday
Phoenix time 6.00 p.m. Thursday
Denver time 7.00 p.m. Thursday
Chicago time 8.00 p.m. Thursday
New York time EDT 9.00 p.m. Thursday
Perth time 9 a.m. Friday
Sydney/Melbourne time 11 a.m. Friday
Auckland time 1 p.m. Friday Check time in your city
Contact: glangley@mcn.org
My zoom link is: https://zoom.us/j/3155117825?
pwd=RWtBOVJRRFJPTmpxWlNKUXo3bWlmQT09
HOW TO MEDITATE ANYWHERE
One way to become more conscious is to meditate. There is a huge amount of research going on about the benefits of mindfulness meditation in reducing the incidence of, and treating, all kinds of diseases, especially heart disease. Even if you do 5 minutes a couple of times a day it makes a huge difference. This cute 1.5 minute video shows how to meditate anywhere, anytime.
TEACHINGS OF SILVER BIRCH
"We give you no creed, no ritual, no ceremony, but only the love of the Great Spirit seeking to express itself through His children. We ask you to follow no book, no dogma, no leader, no authority, no scroll of parchment, no learning, to worship no relic, but only to follow the laws of the Great Spirit, which are the greatest things in the universe. They are the only supreme authority."
(Teachings of SIlver Birch p.84)
INSPIRING RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS
"You can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone".
FEEDBACK (three only)
1) "Thank you Victor and Wendy. I started my after life truth searching exploration journey when my parents crossed over. Your information had given me the empirical and solid evidence that changed my belief into facts about the subject of next life after this life". Rotsen."
2) "Fabulous work as always. Thank you for your efforts in bringing this great truth that there is no death". Rob
3) "The materialist paradigm is often cold and heartless: Here's an example: "Life as a whole has no meaning. Life began, as the best available theories tell us, in a chance combination of gasses; it then evolved through random mutation and natural selection. All this just happened; it did not happen to any overall purpose."
Bioethicist Peter Singer, "Why We Must Ration Health Care," New York Times, July 15, 2009. Also, I thank you "mille fois" for your phrase "hopelessly out of their depth." Analise.
INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC - TRUE COLOURS
The title song, written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, has been covered by many other artists, and was used as the theme song for the 1988 Summer Olympics, the 2003 Rugby World Cup and for Kodak cameras and film.
Lyrics
You with the sad eyes Don't be discouraged, oh I realize It's hard to take courage In a world full of people You can lose sight of it all The darkness inside you Can make you feel so small
Show me a smile then Don't be unhappy Can't remember when I last saw you laughing This world makes you crazy And you've taken all you can bear Just call me up 'Cause I will always be there
And I see your true colors Shining through I see your true colors And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show Your true colors True colors are beautiful I see your true colors Shining through (true colors) I see your true colors And that's why I love you So don't be afraid to let them show Your true colors True colors are beautiful (they're beautiful) Like a rainbow Oh oh oh oh oh like a rainbow
Ooh can't remember when I last saw you laughing Ooh oh oh oh This world makes you crazy And you've taken all you can bear Just call me up 'Cause I will always be there
And I see your true colors Shining through I see your true colors And that's why I love you So don't be afraid (don't be afraid) To let them show your true colors True colors are beautiful (you're beautiful, oh) Like a rainbow Oh oh oh oh oh like a rainbow Mmm mmm
Whilst we encourage and we publish many papers and reports by afterlife researchers, we are not in a position to guarantee the accuracy of all claims. ALL WORK IS COPYRIGHT BY THE CONDITIONS SET AT THE GENEVA CONFERENCE ON COPYRIGHT.