Many people report personal experiences which they interpret as being influenced by beings from the beyond. These experiences can be very real and significant. People can feel, hear or see invisible beings and experience events that cannot be explained logically. Many cultures believe that deceased ancestors can protect, advise or even punish the living. In spiritualist sessions, the other side tries to explain the existence of God and higher spirits, creation, and the meaning and purpose of life. It happens all over the world that relatives are told of the imminent death of a loved one. Sensitive people report encounters with the deceased to show them that they are not really dead. Some deceased people cannot part with their possessions and appear as poltergeists.
Because it is also an indication of a possible life after our earthly departure, I would like to mention ancestor worship, which is widespread in many cultures around the world, especially in Asia, Africa and among indigenous communities.
Ancestor worship holds that the souls of the deceased continue to influence the lives of the living and can act as intermediaries between the human and divine worlds. Worship often involves rituals such as prayers, offerings and ceremonies to appease the ancestors, seek their blessings or ask for their guidance. In some cultures, such as Chinese Confucianism, ancestor worship plays a central role in the family structure, helping to maintain family ties and moral values. In African traditions, ancestor worship is often associated with the belief that ancestors are still present in everyday life. As well as strengthening cohesion within families and communities, ancestor worship reflects a belief in the continuity of life after death. It is an expression of respect, gratitude and the belief that the dead have an important place in the lives of the living.
Ancestor worship - the veneration and commemoration of deceased ancestors - also has a long and varied history in Europe. The Germanic and Celtic peoples worshipped their ancestors as protectors and intermediaries between the human world and the world of the gods. In Greek and Roman culture, ancestors were honoured with offerings, prayers and rituals. With the Christianisation of Europe, many pre-Christian ancestor cults were either suppressed or incorporated into Christian traditions. For example, on All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, graves are visited and decorated with candles and flowers. The veneration of saints can also be seen as a form of ancestor worship, as they are often seen as mediators between humans and God.
There are many reports of apparitions following the death of a loved one. mediator Manou Gardner tells of people who have had a profound personal encounter with a deceased person. I quote from the chapter 'Encounter with the deceased grandmother':
“In Gothenburg there lived Emma, a young woman whose heart was full of grief and longing for her deceased grandmother. Emma had grown up with her grandmother after the early death of her parents. This special woman was not only Emma's family member, but also her best friend, teacher and the source of countless happy memories. They shared everything from quiet afternoons in the kitchen, where the smell of freshly baked cakes filled the air, to long walks along the harbour, where they shared stories and dreams. When her grandmother died, Emma felt a void that could not be filled. She missed the warm hugs, the wise advice and most of all the unconditional love her grandmother had given her.
One dark and cold winter night, Emma was awakened by something indefinable. When she opened her eyes and saw her grandmother's figure at the foot of her bed, she was frightened at first. But she saw her grandmother's loving gaze, saw the translucent figure, and her fear disappeared. And even though her grandmother didn't say a word, Emma knew why she had come.
It was a sign of the infinite bond that exists beyond death. Her grandmother stood there, bathed in soft light, with a smile that seemed to dispel all the worry and sorrow in Emma's heart. In that moment, Emma understood that the love that had bound them together would never fade. Her grandmother's appearance was proof that their souls were forever linked, regardless of the physical world. For Emma, this nocturnal encounter became an unshakeable sign of her belief in life after death and the certainty that "love is the strongest link between worlds”.
Although there can be wonderful experiences with 'deceased' relatives, I warn against getting involved with beings from the other world. The beings who can make themselves known in the earthly realm are those who have not yet found their way to the higher spheres and sometimes do not even realise that they do not live on earth. They manifest as poltergeists, bothering people, making them hear voices and becoming more and more intrusive the more attention is paid to them. People who have been abused or neglected in childhood and suffer from mental illness are particularly at risk.
I have had many years of experience with inspiration in dreams. In the early years of my search for truth, I received dreams that answered questions I had asked myself. In time, I found this pleasant and began to ask questions consciously. The strangest thing was that I always woke up at exactly the same time, down to the minute. If I didn't wake up myself, I was awakened by a noise, like a child crying.
When I started questioning the answers, I kept having dreams - maybe 50 of them! - dreams in which I was outside a city (I think it was Vienna) trying to get home. But I was always wandering around and couldn't find my way home. When I woke up, I had the feeling that I was mentally on the wrong track. But here's the kicker: just when I thought I just wanted to know the truth, I was told clearly and unmistakably in my dream: 'The fucking truth'. That was definitely too much for me, I was outraged and didn't want any more of that information. Now they leave me alone.
Why did I engage in this lengthy 'communication'? Because I needed to find out what kind of otherworldly beings were manifesting and because I wanted to make contact with everyone who had written the factual report. I wanted to know who these beings were who were involved in transmitting the information about Christ. But obviously these beings were not interested in me.
At the beginning of my search for the truth, I also wanted to find out if it would be possible to make contact with beings from the beyond by electronic means, in order to avoid the influence of the mediator in the transmission of information. After all, computers and all sorts of electronic components already existed, and beings from the other side could influence them. If their influence was sufficient to cause people to hear voices in their heads, to affect objects or even to make themselves partially visible, then influencing sensitive electronic components should not be impossible. Obviously, these thoughts were not perceived, not understood, not commented upon, or not considered significant.
Surely there are ancestors who care about the welfare of the family, who are still in the near-earth spheres and who are perceived by humans as guardian spirits. People who have had near-death experiences also report important spirit beings who help them and enable them to return to earth. However, these spirits are already further away from Earth and - it is said - can only be reached through a kind of tunnel.
I have the impression that these 'higher' and helpful spirits once lived on earth too. They seem to already know what is really important in life, which is to live lovingly with all living beings. But even these spirits still have certain earthly ideas and believe in archangels and other 'higher' spirits. Just as there are countless different deities believed in on earth, so it seems to be in the hereafter. People who have lived as Catholics on earth believe in Jesus as the Son of Almighty God, others believe in Christ as the true God. There seem to be mixed forms of all kinds. As time passes, their ideas change, and it is understandable that otherworldly communities are formed which believe the views received by Kubasek and published by Woller as a factual report to be true.
I don't want to leave a negative impression of spiritual beings in the afterlife. People who have had near-death experiences describe beautiful landscapes and loving spiritual beings. They are so impressed that they cannot forget the experience and change their lives as a result. However, these are experiences that say nothing about how life is lived in the longer term in the afterlife. It would not be enough for me to always be in a state of the most glorious sensations; when I leave this world, I would like to meet beings who not only live happily and in love with each other, but who also take on tasks and responsibilities and who are aware that spiritual changes can take place at any moment and can also go in the wrong direction.
You must realise that those who find themselves in spheres close to Earth have interests just as we humans do. There are also psychopaths who find satisfaction in a person's suffering and persuade them to jump over the bridge because they are worthless and useless anyway. Others make themselves important and are happy when the victim follows their instructions. In order to avoid being institutionalised, victims often avoid confiding in others.
One should not believe that everyone has a certain number of guardian spirits. There is no guardian spirit that whispers in your ear that you will fall from the fifth floor while cleaning the windows. There are exceptions, of course, but I don't know of many.
I would like to end this chapter with an excerpt from the MDR documentary 'Leben mit Schizophrenie - Anna und die Stimmen in ihrem Kopf' (Living with schizophrenia – Anna and the voices in her head):
“Jump, Anna, die,” commands a female voice that Anna hears in her head. “Hey, don't,” interjects a male voice. The female voice again: “Yes, be dead!”
Anna describes the process: “Most of the time it really feels like someone is standing behind me and whispering in my ear. The female voice is more dominant, I have it more often. With the male voice I hear: Help me, Anna, help me. Or: Come here. Or something like that. I gave them names, Eva and Demian, after my favourite book by Hermann Hesse. It's a difficult relationship, I'd say. Especially with Eva, who is very negative. Sometimes I think to myself: Oh, just shut up for once. I think I would pay anything to make her go away. If you say you have brown hair, it's true. If you say you have blue eyes, it's true. I have this diagnosis now and I suffer from it. I would use the word suffering because it is not something nice or pleasant. The problem is that you don't even know that you are ill. You think that everyone is lying to you, that everyone is conspiring against you or trying to harm you, trying to drive you to suicide. It is quite threatening and frightening.”
You can also find out more about hearing voices in the Arte documentary 'Schizophrenia / Voices in the Head'. Physicist and psychologist Dr Dr Walter von Lucadou says: “Hearing voices is a very common phenomenon... and there are many more people who hear voices than people who suffer from schizophrenia.” The documentary goes on to say: '”ecent research shows that most voice hearers are mentally healthy and lead perfectly normal lives. Nevertheless, voice hearers continue to be stigmatised and few speak openly about their experiences...”.
Hildegard of Bingen attributed all her healing knowledge to visionary voices. Joan of Arc, Giordano Bruno, Rainer Maria Rilke, Winston Churchill, Virginia Woolf and Andy Warhol were all voice hearers.