Q and A with P. M. H. Atwater, L.H.D., Ph.D. (Hon.)

An in-depth look at the near-death phenomenon

September 2005

P. M. H. Atwater, L.H.D., is one of the original researchers in the field of near-death studies, having begun her work in 1978. She is one of the very few top NDE researchers who have actually had an NDE . Her website is filled with very interesting NDE research information and articles of hers. Her contribution to near-death studies is considered to be one of the most important as her first two books, Beyond the Light and Coming Back to Life, are deemed the Bibles of the near-death experience by researchers and a multitude of experiencers and enthusiasts. Using her firm understanding of police investigative techniques as a protocol, she has specialized in original fieldwork and research that also included sessions with significant others. Her findings are contained in six books (see right). Some of her findings have now been clinically verified. Her research is referenced in the distinguished Lancet medical journal, December 15, 2001 (the landmark Dutch study by Pim van Lommel, M.D.).

AID TO KATRINA VICTIMS:

P.M.H. Atwater received this message from the Unity Church:

"Dear Friends, In response to many questions we have been receiving about how to help people affected by Hurricane Katrina, this just in from the Association of Unity Churches: Many have called to ask how can I help, and we first ask you to join us in prayer and secondly if you want to bless folks through gifts, our Association of Unity Churches International has set up a Relief Fund. Be guided by your own Christ Spirit and send gifts marked clearly to: Relief fund / Association of Unity Churches International, P. O. Box 610, Lee's Summit, MO 64063. This fund will be set up specifically for aid to those affected, and will not be used for general operating expenses. Blessings, Revs. Don and Patricia."

SPECIAL NOTICE FROM P.M.H. ATWATER:

"As You Die" and my video "Beyond the Light" are both produced and distributed by Focus Worldwide in Metairie, Louisiana. I have been trying to reach Focus, but so far have been unable to. If you have already sent them a check or paid for either of my items over their website, please be patient. If you are about to make an order, wait a little while. Their phone number is (504) 840-9898. Try phoning them first before sending money. I will let you know their status as soon as I know. In the meantime, please include Focus Worldwide in your prayers for the people directly affected by Hurricane Katrina. Date of notice: 9-2-05. Thanks, PMH

"BEYOND THE INDIGO CHILDREN" TO BE RELEASED THIS MONTH:

P.M.H. Atwater's latest book "Beyond the Indigo Children: The New Children and the Coming of the Fifth World" will be released this month. You can order the book now from these sources: (1) The Inner Traditions Publishing website (2) P.M.H. Atwater's Beyond the Indigo Children page (3) The book's listing at Amazon.com (4) Go to your local Barnes & Noble Bookstore (5) Phone your local Barnes & Noble Bookstore

If people contact their favorite local bookstore and order the book there, it will build demand for the book and more bookstores will carry it. This book is a powerful treatise on the new children, their characteristics - positive/negative, generational markers; but more importantly it puts their appearance on the earthplane in perspective to the advance of root races (our gene pool as humans), the great shifting, and the great ages. Should your group want P.M.H. Atwater as a speaker on this subject, refer to her website for details then contact her directly at atwater@cinemind.com.

FREE BEYOND THE INDIGO CHILDREN "EXTRAS":

P.M.H. states: "I am very excited about "Beyond the Indigo Children," so much so that I have created a Beyond the Indigo Children EXTRAS web page and FREE ebook so some of the ideas and resources left over from the original printing could be listed. Of concern to me is that you read everything in the Notes Section of the book. That's because Notes functions as a Resource Guide, filled with wonderful books, websites, contacts, and groups of all kinds that will be most helpful to you and to kids. EXTRAS is really more of a hodgepodge than anything else. Enjoy scrolling through it." The Beyond The Indigo Children EXTRAS web page can be found at http://tinyurl.com/8x4yp

FREE "CHALLENGE OF SEPTEMBER 11" MINI-BOOK NOW AVAILABLE:

Visit the web page at http://tinyurl.com/8mmpp to read the free 28-page mini-book by P.M.H. Atwater, L.H.D. It is the full account of what P.M.H. saw on the "inner planes" over New York City while she was there in spirit form as the second plane hit the North Tower. This material was originally part of a book on death and dying, but was immediately censored by numerous New York publishers, as they felt the public was not ready to hear such things. States P.M.H.: "The publishers are wrong, so here it is in mini-book form, free to all. This Memorial may be quoted and used by anyone who is respectful of what it contains. Just give proper credits." It is also available in PDF ebook format at this address: http://tinyurl.com/agsnp.

EMAIL ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM PMH ATWATER NOW AVAILABLE:

Keep informed! Sign up now to receive the latest announcements from P.M.H. Atwater. Drop her an email today at: SubscribeAtwater@cinemind.com.  Privacy is respected and addresses are never shared. If you would like to be removed from the mailing list, just send an e-mail to: UnSubscribeAtwater@cinemind.com

A BLESSED GOODBYE TO DAVID MCKNIGHT FROM P.M.H: 

David McKnight died early morning July 19 of a stomach aneurysm. No one knew he had a problem in that area of his body, his death was totally unexpected. His wife Mary applied CPR; he revived only to die at the hospital - without pain, easily. He died the way we all want to die. You know about his wife, Mary Morgan McKnight. She has a section in the Marketplace Section on my website. Now, let me tell you about David.

I met David because of Wabun Wind, then a Medicine Helper to Sun Bear, a Chippewa Medicine Man. Wabun had said in a letter to me, once she knew I was moving East, that I must met David McKnight. She didn't know why; I just had to know him. Once settled in Falls Church, Virginia, I called David on the telephone. I managed a silly "hello" and then blurted out Wabun's message. This excited him as if he knew in advance that we would meet. He suggested the weekend. "Come down for Octoberfest," he quipped. "I'll pay your gas. Plan to stay overnight." It was a low time in my life. I was having great difficulty making any sense of Eastern mentality, the customs and ways of the people. I felt as if I had somehow left the United States and was now in "Greece," that's how different the East was to me, me a good Idahoan who was used to wide open spaces and wide open people. When I called David, I had a full tank of gas in my car, $10 in my purse; no job, no place to turn for help. Accepting his invitation meant spending the last of my resources. I gulped. Fear grabbed at me. I accepted anyway. He gave directions.

The drive to the Shenandoah Valley, where he lived, cut through Civil War battlefields. I could hear the soldiers from the past, the guns, the screams, and I started crying. By the time I reach the trailer where he lived I was a basket case. David immediately took me around to meet people and participate in the festivities. He didn't give me one moment to be sad, nor did he acknowledge my tears. He seemed to sense what I needed most and provided just that. He paid my expenses and sent me home with a silver dollar, affirming that I would find a job the next day, and that's exactly what happened. From that day on David was a part of my life, always ahead of me, always sensing where I needed to be, who I needed to meet.

A few weeks later a fellow called who taught classes in Middleton. "I'd love to have you talk to my students about your near-death experience," he said. I went. After my talk I met four other experiencers. It was there that I began my research of near-death states. That night with those people. I later learned that David had arranged the whole affair. Throughout the years that followed David was there, checking on what I was doing and how things were progressing with my research. He arranged for me to meet more people, always at the right time when that meeting made the most difference. It was as if he were an angel assigned by God to make certain I did the work I was to do and stayed on track. Yes, David was a wonderful friend, as wonderful friends can be, but he had this other persona, too, complete with "wings."

I can honestly say that the research I have done in the field of near-death studies depended on this one soul. He got me started and he kept me on track. I couldn't fail. He wouldn't let me. David, with a smile as big as the sun and a laugh that hung on around your shoulders like a warm cloak, did the same thing to everyone else he knew. He was a connector, a go-between, a savior, a listener, an advisor, a counselor for more people than I can count. He tripped up in his own life many times, made a mess of things as human beings often do, yet he always came out on top - and always put other people before himself. Before he died, he moved his beloved wife Mary back to Canada where she was from. With her, sold their house in Virginia and signed all the papers. Every detail was attended to, their new digs in Canada perfect in every way. He left with all his jobs done, his mission in life completed.

I have never met anyone quite like David McKnight. He was a rare soul who shone with an inner light, even when he was filled with doubt and in pain. The man glowed. I am honored to say not only that I knew him and called him friend, but that I was wise enough to see beyond his personality and recognize the great light he was. Thank you, David, for being a part of my life. I am richer because of it and so are the millions of people who have been helped because of what I did.

Much love, PMH

A POINT OF CAUTION FROM P.M.H.:  Intuition, near-death experiences, and deathbed visions are not accepted as valid by many people. Here are some recent surprises that strike a note of caution:

  A seminar for nurses I was to participate in later in September of this year and located in Phoenix, Arizona, was canceled because the two backers, both banking institutions, withdrew their funding because they felt the subject matter was "unchristian."

  An evidential case of a near-death experience involving a young girl was recently "dumped" as an article to appear in "Seventeen Magazine" by the final editor before publication, because that editor felt the child was having mental problems and needed to see a shrink. I am very familiar with this case and consider it to be typical of what one can find with child experiencers. I felt it was an excellent example and was surprised at the editor's comments.

  My trip to China in late October was cancelled because the university and hospital where I was to have presented my work on the near-death experience were both concerned that I might mention the "afterlife" in my presentation.

NEED A BOOK COVER PHOTO:

I will be reissuing my book "Beyond the Light" either as an ebook or print-on-demand. I need a cover photo for it. Sorry, can't pay anyone, but I will gift you an autographed copy of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Near-Death Experiences." You will be given credit for the photo. Must have your written permission though to use it. If you can scan a color photo to me, that would be fine, but will also need actual glossy in color sent via snail mail. Send to: P. M. H. Atwater, P. O. Box 7691, Charlottesville, VA 22906-7691. Please rush photo to me. Selection to be made September 27th. Thanks, PMH.

P.M.H. ATWATER'S REPLY:

I cannot vouch for the accuracy of every near-death account. Who can? What I can do as a researcher is carefully consider each one, then look for patterns that repeat throughout the populace - no matter the culture or society or location or age or education or belief system of experiencers - to see if what I found fits in some way or deviates and if so in what manner. Many times repeating patterns will tell you more than individual cases. I especially pay attention, though, to languaging and body/facial/eye movements. This tells me a great deal about outside influences that may be affecting the individual and about his or her interpretation of what occurred. I do not restrict myself to experiencers, as I also investigate the response of significant others as relates to the individual involved.

In doing this I have learned to be very careful of experiencers who make absolute statements, whether based on their own interpretive notions or supposedly "backed up" by holy writ as declared in a book like the Bible or by ministers, priests, etc. An individual's opinion or sense or feeling about the meaning of his or her near-death scenario is very important. Granted. But it's not gospel to anyone except the individual who experienced it. We all need to remember this before we put anyone on a pedestal thinking them a saint or flee his or her presence thinking them misguided or possessed of the devil. Truth is the purest when you look at the overall patterns and how that episode affected the individual overtime.

Some experiencers have been known to embellish their stories, alter it, or make changes as their memory became more focused. This is actually quite common, as the majority simply do not remember everything initially. They recall the main things, but details can be lost only to pop up later - sometimes unexpectedly. Years later, in fact, something will trigger their memory and the whole story or additional aspects suddenly emerge. This does not make near-death experiencers liars or egotists. It just means that memory is a tricky thing. Even when it seems to be reliable, often it really isn't. You find this a lot with child experiencers. Full memory of their episode seldom surfaces until the child is an adult, and until around 20 years have passed. Children compensate; they do not integrate. Most tuck their story away, unable to make the types of links or connections that might be helpful to them as they mature. They don't as a rule "connect the dots" as a youngster - "growing up" has priority. Lucky are those, however, who are able to make sense of what they went through and are then able to design their lives around what they learned on The Other Side.

Sadly, there are near-death experiencers who do lie, even make up stories that never occurred. Some of the more well-known of the published cases have also been subject to criticism in this regard. This has happened more times than researchers admit. As a brief aside, it is easier to fool researcher than a fellow experiencer. Experiencers tune in to each other and are quick to notice anything that doesn't feel or sound right. I have often said I could not have done the research I did for the last 26 years, if I were to begin my work today. People today are not the same as they once were. Too many folks put protecting the "copyright" to their story and writing a book about it and becoming famous ahead of volunteering for a research project. They don't seem to realize that participation in research in no way violates their right to their own material.

On the bright side, the vast majority of near-death experiencers return more honest than they were before and much more willing to help, to serve, to somehow make the world a better place. They volunteer at a moment's notice and are a delight to work with. Don't let a few "bad apples spoil the sauce." By the same token, don't let a few adamant or insistent experiencers lead you to believe that only their experience and their interpretation of it is the real truth. The spectrum has many colors - not just one.

Many blessings,

P. M. H. Atwater, L.H.D.
www.cinemind.com/atwater & www.pmhatwater.com

"We cannot keep the life we have on the earth realm, not our possessions or attachments or relationships. What we can keep is our memories and our feelings of what we have integrated into our heart of hearts from the experience of being here, plus the love we have shared with others." - P.M.H. Atwater

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