March 1, 2006

Vol. 05 No. 03, Ed. 01   

Dr. Atwater is back on tour promoting her latest book, Beyond the Indigo Children: The New Children and the Coming of the Fifth World. There will be a delay while she looks over her accumulated e-mail. But she will try to keep up with her correspondence. And is available for consultations, readings, talks, workshops, or her Prayer Chaplaincy service.

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Dreaming -- whether in pleasant reverie or nightmarish angst -- has long been accepted not only as a real physiological phenomenon but as a common human experience. But when the dying describe open-eyed visions of long-dead relatives and friends, those who don't "see" the extra people in the room usually grow skeptical. "Demented," "crazy" or "lost it" are the labels, whether whispered or silent. Yet some of those who work most closely with the dying report such events as highly spiritual experiences that occur across faith traditions and cultures, and includes agnostics and atheists. And though it is still taboo to validate such things in clinical or academic settings, science is making some room for near-death experiences beyond the tangible, physical world. Meanwhile, hospice chaplains watch such "pre-death visions" play out daily as their patients slip away.. [Read more]

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In this article first some general aspects of near-death experience will be discussed, followed by questions about consciousness and its relation to brain function. Details will be described from our prospective study on near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest in the Netherlands, which was published in the Lancet in 2001. In this study it could not be shown that physiological, psychological, or pharmacological factors caused these experiences after cardiac arrest. Neurophysiology in cardiac arrest and in a normal functioning brain will be explained. Finally, implications for consciousness studies will be discussed, and how it could be possible to explain the continuity of our consciousness. Scientific study of NDE pushes us to the limits of our medical and neurophysiologic ideas about the range of human consciousness and mind–brain relation. [Read more]

Although we have all heard a great deal about near-death experiences in the past 25 years, much of this has been debate and controversy centered around whether they are hallucinations or a glimpse of an afterlife. The true significance of these experiences may soon finally be revealed through scientific research. Recent medical studies in cardiac arrest patients have begun to shed light on this fascinating phenomenon and have indicated that the mind and consciousness may in fact be what remains of us after death. If proven, this will of course have huge implications for all humankind. In this article I will examine our understanding of NDE during cardiac arrest and their significance for the wider debate on the nature of consciousness. [Read more]

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Until now, heaven has been just a matter of faith. But a new documentary, "The Evidence for Heaven," available exclusively through WND's ShopNetDaily online store, offers scientific evidence for the afterlife. It includes medical testimonials, first-person accounts of "resurrections" from the dead and the latest developments on the scientific front. Is the inevitable conclusion to life's exciting journey the termination of the human spirit and a plot in the local cemetery? Or is there something beyond this life -- a spiritual realm of some kind where the soul resides when we lay this body down? [Read more]

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Amazing, because when Michelle was 2-years-old something devastating -- and miraculous -- happened. "We were out having a picnic and me and my older brother, who was 4 at the time -- I was 2 -- we went across the street to throw rocks into the steam. I was a clumsy two-year-old. I fell into the stream," Michelle recounts. She was carried downstream, swept through a culvert and trapped under the frigid water for a terrifying one hour and six minutes. "I was clinically dead. They didn't think I would ever survive when they pulled me out. I was an ice cube. I was blue," says Michelle ... Michelle made the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest underwater submergence for surviving being under water for 66 minutes.. [Read more]

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If it could be proved beyond a doubt and in an entirely convincing way, if it could be proved scientifically, that life and love are eternal: Would your love be enhanced? Would your fears vanish? Would your purpose in life be magnified? How would life be different for you if you knew that just as patterns of dynamic light from distant stars continue to expand into the universe, our light - our dynamic information and energy, our soul and spirit - not only continue to expand into the universe, but live and grow just as we do on the Earth? That the living soul can be likened to a dynamic living rainbow, a vibrating spectrum of visible and invisible energies that shimmer and shine forever? Consider a time when eternal life is an accepted part of our universe. Imagine when the continuum for all of our human relationships can be extended beyond the physical years spent on Earth. This book presents the scientific possibility that all this, and more, has been proved and is real. How you handle this information is up to you; even skeptics will begin to evolve as a result of these findings. [Read more]

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To some Americans, eyebrows raise at the very idea of suicide bombers believing their heavenly reward will include sex with beautiful virgins. But aren't the 75 percent of Americans who believe in an afterlife concerned that there might not be any sex in their heaven? Mark Twain thought about this. In "Letters from Earth," he writes of humankind: "He has imagined a heaven and has left entirely out of it the supremest of all his delights -- the one ecstasy that stands first and foremost in the hearts of every individual of his race -- sexual intercourse!" For any sane person, he wrote, heaven would be an intolerable bore ... Whether anyone gets to hook up in heaven depends on whether you believe in immortality of the soul or a full resurrection of the body, said Segal, who is author of "Life After Death: The Afterlife in Western Religions." [Read more]

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Discussion by a cardiologist of how both he and a dying patient had a spiritual experience which convinced him that death is a transition, not an ending ... But as he began to intermittently lose consciousness in the Coronary Care Unit, the pain that had oppressed him throughout his life began to fall away. Father More had begun an astonishing series of healing experiences that led to his religious and spiritual awakening. Father More was simultaneously dying, and moving into another realm, an inner journey that opened him to a oneness with the divine, and an absolute peace he had never before imagined. His prayers had been answered. At the moment of his passing, Father More's last words were, "I'm coming home to God." [Read more]

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"I felt myself leaving my body," said Bob Shutter. Shutter is a guidance counselor in Bucks County. He was eight-years-old and enjoying a summer day in a pond with his older brother when he slipped on a rock, hit his head, and went under. "I could see a real bright light," said Shutter. "Felt as if I was walking down a path of love." Shutter's journey was interrupted when his brother finally pulled him up. "I heard a voice and it said to me, 'It's not your time, you gotta go back, it's not your time,' and my brother pulled me out of the water," said Shutter. It was a heavenly experience he will never forget and according to recent polls, most of us believe in, but will it really be like it is in the movies and why the fascination? "Heaven is a place everyone wants to go," said Anthony Destefano (www.travelguidetoheaven.com). Destefano has a degree in theology and is the author of "The Travel Guide to Heaven," that is a best-seller in 19 countries. [Read more]

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One of the most surprising discoveries of modern physics is that objects aren't as separate as they may seem. When you drill down into the core of even the most solid-looking material, separateness dissolves. All that remains, like the smile of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, are relationships extending curiously throughout space and time. These connections were predicted by quantum theory and were called "spooky action at a distance" by Albert Einstein. One of the founders of quantum theory, Erwin Schrödinger, dubbed this peculiarity entanglement, saying "I would not call that one but rather the characteristic trait of quantum mechanics." [Read more]

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Dr. Gary Steward Jr., associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts, is receiving national attention for his recent study of trends in paranormal beliefs among college students. The study was conducted with colleague Dr. Bryan Farha at Oklahoma City University. Farha has appeared on "Larry King Live" and "National Geographic" to present his findings. "He actually had the idea," Steward said. Steward said Farha found a 2001 Gallup poll that listed 13 paranormal beliefs such as extrasensory perception, psychic or spiritual healing, telepathy, haunted houses, demon possession and aliens ... Areas that relate to Christianity, however, such as demonic possession, remained almost the same both locally and nationally. Steward said he expected more skepticism as people attained more education, but he found that a greater percentage of believers in all paranormal categories. [Read more]

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From this beginning, the authors weave together compelling scientific evidence, ancient spiritual teachings, and dramatic personal stories - from witnessing mysterious folk healers in the Philippines to performing psychic experiments between Moscow and San Francisco - while exploring the potential of our "nonlocal" mind. In the book's first half, Targ presents the conclusions of his 20 years of remote-viewing experiments for the Stanford Research Institute, and reveals for the first time the results of recently declassified, CIA experiments in psychic spying during the Cold War. He details extraordinary demonstrations of the mind's psychic abilities, where people were able to describe distant places and activities in precise detail. [Read more]

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On January 10th 2003, 8-year-old Richard Powles sat in a soundproof room in a London television studio in front of a table on which there was a cardboard box and a plastic bucket filled with ice-cold water. On command, he rolled up his sleeve and plunged his arm into the near-freezing water, giving a gasp as he did so. In another studio well out of sight or earshot, his identical twin brother Damien was wired up to a four-channel polygraph (lie-detector) which, under the expert supervision of polygrapher Jeremy Barrett, was monitoring his respiration, abdominal muscles, pulse and galvanic skin response (sweat on the hands) ... [Read more]

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Two opponents in a Birmingham, Alabama city council race clashed five years ago when one accused the other of murdering his wife, backed only by the fact that the former had seen it in his dreams. Rod Spraggins, who says he's psychic, accused Barry Waites of the murder, a charge that seemed politically motivated at the time. However, now a CNN report says Waites has been arrested for the of the 1998 slaying of his wife, who was found dead in their home. [Read more]

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Lisa Posluns' ghost appeared in front of a janitorial superintendent and gave him a clue about the identity of her alleged killer, court heard yesterday. The first-degree murder trial of Nelson DeJesus took a supernatural turn at the University Ave. Courthouse when Rui Marques testified that Posluns appeared before him about four months after she was killed Nov. 2, 2002. "Lisa came to you?" defense lawyer Mitchell Chernovsky asked Marques during cross-examination yesterday. "She was like a shadow person," Marques said. "An aspiration ... apparition." He said the vision pointed to a black table in an office he was cleaning at 94 Cumberland St. "I was trying to figure out what was the meaning of all that," he said. "She pointed to the desk and she faded away very quickly. [Read more]

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This article by Carlos Alvarado Ph.D. was originally published in the Journal of Near-Death Studies, 23(4), Summer 2005 ... Italian psychical researcher Ernesto Bozzano (1862-1943) was a well-known student of parapsychological phenomena and a strong defender of the concept of survival of bodily death. This paper includes an excerpt of what Bozzano referred to as the phenomena of bilocation, a term he used for the phantom limb sensations experienced by amputees, autoscopy, out-of-body and near-death experiences (OBEs and NDEs), and a variety of luminous or cloud-like emanations that clairvoyants claimed left the body at the moment of death.. [Read more]

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In the world of the paranormal, experts say there are many phenomena that can occur involving light. But one North Texas church has reported not only the appearance of orbs, but other religious manifestations ... He said, "We'd started taking pictures at church and almost everyone would just take a picture and these orbs of light would show up." We decided to pay a visit to the church and take our own picture. It revealed a very large blue orb hovering over a woman's head as she was being prayed over. [Read more]

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Up and coming R&B singer and Reverend, Tony Davis, left the secular music world to produce gospel music. In 2002, Tony Davis was given a prophecy by Pastor Paula D. Johnson that he would soon be writing a book, which was strange because Tony had no idea what such a book could possibly be about. Then in July of 2003, Reverend Davis was shot five times at close range. As he lay in the middle of the Los Angeles street near-death, the Reverend had an out-of-body experience and saw heaven. The Reverend testifies, "That same night, I died and saw heaven. It was an experience that will be with me for the rest of my life." While being given CPR by medical personnel, the Reverend was able to clearly see a brilliant kaleidoscope of heavenly colors and images. He gives vivid descriptions of his experience as well as his miraculous recovery in the book he authored which he was prophecies to write. The book, entitled “Heaven Is Real: The True Story of Tony Davis”, has also been made into a documentary. [Read more]

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An uplifting masterwork of comfort and compassion exploring the ultimate questions of existence and transcendence. Nothing has riveted humanity's interest more -- nor has anything been more frightening or awe-inspiring -- than the experience known as death. In "Home with God," the final installment of his bestselling "Conversations with God" series, Neale Donald Walsch asks the questions that everyone has longed to ask and receives the answers readers have all been waiting for. Through his profound and personal dialogue with God, Walsch explores the process by which all human beings must end their days here on Earth and begin their new life in God's Kingdom, to which all eventually return, regardless of their earthly deeds. This astonishing spiritual work offers hope, comfort, and surprising revelations for all humankind. [Read more]

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Communication with those who have passed over has developed hugely over the last 50 years. In this thought-provoking book, Roy Stemman explores the main developments, from channeling spirit guides to the amazing popularity of today's television mediums such as John Edward, Gordon Smith and Derek Acorah. As well as many intriguing facts about the history of spirit communication, this book includes fascinating information about different types of mediumship, spiritual healers, psychic surgeons and their amazing claims, how crimes have been solved with help from the spirit world, the Spiritualist view of reincarnation and the afterlife, and how mediums have influenced generations of royalty and world leaders. [Read more]

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This provocative study explores what happens to those who commit suicide. Drawing on communications from the spirits of more than 100 "successful" suicides, it offers an intriguing look at what the dead themselves say about suicide, its repercussions, and their experiences in the afterlife. Bringing together the channeled messages of three types of suicide -- traditional suicide, assisted suicide, and the suicide mass murder adopted by terrorists -- the book covers a wide range of topics, including why people commit suicide, what it is like to cross over, adjustment problems, what suicides would say to those left behind, and what they would tell others thinking of taking their own lives. Additionally, the book conveys powerful messages from suicide bombers, warning potential terrorists of the serious karmic consequences that await them. For anyone contemplating suicide or euthanasia, the book offers profound, sometimes unsettling, insight into the ramifications of these acts. [Read more]

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Share Sheryl Glick's journey from no belief in eternity; through a visit from her deceased grandfather; to understanding that afterlife is real ... and "coincidences" are life's signposts. Sheryl writes, "I am very ill. I sense my deceased grandfather's presence. He is trying to tell me something. Am I about to die? Has he come for me? I shout into the dark, "I cannot hear you!" He tells me I must write something for my father. Thirty-six hours later, I learn my father just passed away. I am to write his eulogy." That visitation opened wide swaths of understanding for author, Sheryl Glick. She ultimately learned we all have the ability to communicate with our guides … spirits of loved ones, guardian angels, saints, or just "coincidences" that show us the way. [Read more]

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