CHAPTER 1

Any Questions?

Writing Stories from the Other Side generated manyquestions, first among them, what is the point of thisbook, and what message do I want to convey?

What I really want from writing and publishing Storiesfrom the Other Side, as well as the many other booksstill in their infancy, is the same thing as when peoplecome to see me for private hypnotherapy sessions:to help people achieve comfort and peace of mind,whatever that may mean to them. Being at peacewith oneself is truly the key to mental health, sounddecisions, a pleasant life and peaceful death. How youwill achieve this by reading Stories from the Other Sideis up to you. I am presenting you with a candle, andyou alone can light your way.

For whatever reason, many cultures regard death as adefeat, losing the battle of life. Listening to what mostpeople say when talking about death, it is no wonderdeath is looked upon as the final stage of life. In fact,it is simply a transition from life with its encumbranceof all the physical challenges we had planned toexperience, back to our place in the Energy Field. Yes,there is an afterlife, and once there, our consciencemakes us reflect on all we have done.

Connecting with the spirits of dead beings has broughtthe experience of physical death into light. There aretwo stages to go through once the spirit has discardedthe physical body. The first stage is staying earthbound,close to home. As it disconnects from the body, thespirit evaluates the life it just left, and whatever is on itsmind then will make it come back to another physicalexperience. As they move from a physical experienceto a non-physical experience, the Energy will take theform of what the spirit expects to see or encounter,until the earthbound entities come to their senses.

As explained in the movie The Tibetan Book of theDead available at the National Film Board of Canada,at the time of death "... we project our own emotionalstate and then we believe it is the real world".

Earthbound entities (most commonly referred toas ghosts) taught me in our encounters that the bestway to get their cooperation is to regard them andtreat them as I would have in their physical body.That includes respect and, most of all, making themtalk about themselves and letting them explain thereason they did not move on to the next plane. Whenearthbound, the spirits are mostly preoccupied withthe life and activities they just left and are sometimesscared to move forward to what they perceive as theunknown, stretching their comfort zone.

The second stage is returning to the pure Energy Field,a place most commonly known as eternity or heaven.

The experience of moving into the Universal Energyis always the same, regardless of religion or lack ofit. Reuniting with one's pure essence, moving intothe Energy Field can be compared to swimmingunderwater and then breaking through the surfacefor a breath of fresh air. It is a portal perceived as asoft bright light. From what I was made to understand,breaking through is a most exhilarating experience,and once there it becomes an individual experience.Then comes reflection of what happened during the lifejust left; often spirits realise they were on a treadmill,doing the same thing over and over again.

That time of reflection then becomes unbearable.One could call it pure hell, as the soul experiencesregrets for what happened or did not happen, fromseeking forgiveness to seeking revenge, and anythingin between. Being of pure essence, pure energy, hasnothing to do with being holy. Pure in this contextmeans maximum potency, not holiness or sainthood.

As inconceivable as it is, it is at that time that youmake a detailed plan of what you want to experiencenext, wanting to release what sits so heavily on yourconscience, your soul. Whatever your reason, youare a spirit wanting to have a physical experience.What you are planning to release is the result of yourthoughts as you physically died. Yes, your thoughtscount, especially at the time of death. Hell and heavenare not places, but states of being. And you are theone who creates them. You are the most cruel whenjudging yourself.

Compare your soul to a diamond in the rough. Withoutrealising it, and not paying attention to the details andhow you want to experience it, you then choose toexperience a life abrasive to you, to polish your soulinto what you perceive as a most beautiful diamond.Think about it: what is the difference between wantingto experience forgiveness and wanting to have thepleasure of experiencing forgiveness? Wanting to havechildren and wanting to have the pleasure of havingchildren?

I did my best to include case studies about all this,editing only personal information to keep theconfidentiality of my clients and students intact. Partsof the transcripts have been summarised to removerepeated comments. Listening to what the spirits of theones who passed away had to share was an enlighteningexperience, the reason I am publishing Stories from theOther Side. Choosing from thousands of recorded orfilmed sessions was not an easy task. I did my best tochoose the experiences to enlighten you as well.

When do I see and converse with spirits? Am I psychic?Did I always possess the psychic abilities I have now?It all depends on how one perceives what it is to be apsychic. Personally, I don't think I am psychic. Whenchoosing to do so, I see, feel, hear and smell what goeson when in a hypnotic trance facilitating one-on-onehypnotherapy sessions. The clearest connection Iexperience is when I am a surrogate in a deep...