The Ground
of Faith
*Exploring Science,
Mysticism and Experience Together
Note: Contributions to this journal need not reflect the views of the Editors or of the Panel
The mediumship of Icelandic Indridi IndridasonInterview with Montagu Keen
Montagu Keen Materialises
End of life experiences: Simon Raggett
Spend hours exploring these very important links
Other relevant e-journals
Pseudo Skeptics
Public Parapsychology
Spend hours exploring these very important links
August 2011 What is the Afterlife like?
Editor:
The Rev. Michael Cocks
Advisory
Editors:
The
Rev Victor MacGill
Asst.
Nate Cull
Continue reading previous issues
NOTE: Something went wrong in sending notices about our June issue. If you missed out, then do have a look.
Editorial on "What is the afterlife like?"
What is truth? Truth is the present moment, that we live and love and have experiences. Truth is the testimonies of others about their experiences as they understand them. There is no doubt here, except with the degree of reliability of those testimonies. Churches accept many of the testimonies of their spiritual ancestors as recorded in the Scriptures. We often forget this when we do theology, philosophy or the sciences, and use abstract language. The closest we get to truth in fact is through experience. Good theology, philosophy, or any science will recognise this.And so the purpose of this journal is to help spiritually orientated people to take modern experiences into account, when they are thinking about the faith. "What is the afterlife like?" This is a thoroughly basic question for people belonging to Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, or any other religion. We can avoid going astray in our thinking, if we appeal to experience.
The Afterlife Revealed: What Happens After We Die (Book Review)
See website for ordering and further reviews
In
his introduction to Michael Tymn’s book, Professor Stafford Betty writes,” Michael
Tymn is one of the world's foremost living experts on afterlife studies. His
earlier book The Articulate Dead, a study of apparent spirit accounts
reaching us through mediums, presented evidence in support of the “spirit
hypothesis.” ... In this new book Tymn takes the next step. It is one thing to
argue for the reality of life after death, but quite another to picture it.
That is exactly what Tymn does here.”
Michael Tymn is deeply frustrated with the Christian churches for their failure to investigate what is to be known about the afterlife from responsible study of present day experience. Read the whole review
A Must-Read Blog : Subversive Thinking
Michael Tymn is interviewed
"By subversive thinking, I'm referring to a critical approach to many controversial topics, including (but not limited to) paranormal phenomena, afterlife research, pseudoskepticism (debunking), reductionistic materialism, dogmatic atheism, philosophy of consciousness and religion/spirituality. Ocassionally, you'll note some broken english expressions of mine... I'm sorry, I'm japanese and I'm learning the english language."
Jime: 1-Michael, tell us something about your background.
Michael Tymn: I grew up in Alameda, in the San Francisco Bay Area, and graduated from the San Jose State University School of Journalism in 1958. Because newspapers were closing right and left due to the growth of television in the years following college and military service, there wasn’t much of a future in print journalism. Therefore I ended up with a career .....[Those who have been enjoying Michael Tymn's articles, will find this personal interview of much interest. ]
An interesting NDE : David Parsons
View this YouTube video
ASPSI:Louis LaGrand: Using the Extraordinary Experiences of the Bereaved in the formation of a new identity
Why
are Extraordinary Experiences an important part of the grief process
for millions of mourners? Simply put, they serve the human spirit and
the tasks involved in grief work by causing mourners to consider where
they originate, their purpose, and who controls when they occur. The
brush with mystery is a significant source of comfort and peace. More
specifically, EEs convince the person who has the experience that they
are still loved, there is an afterlife, and there will be a reunion.
These are powerful antidotes to ongoing sadness and depression.
Mourners consistently approach this mystery with gratitude, awe, and
respect. Read the rest of this conference lecture
The New Sciences of Religion: Exploring Spirituality from the Outside In and Bottom Up (Book Review)
William GrassieAmazon reference
William Grassie is founder and executive director of the Metanexus Institute, which works to promote the constructive engagement of religion and science. Metanexus currently works with some four hundred partners at universities in forty-five countries. Metanexus publishes a monthly online academic journal with over nine thousand subscribers. Grassie is a frequent contributor to the publication.
Reviewed by Clay Farris Naff, Science & Religion Writerwww.claynaff.com First aired on "All About Books," NET Radio, January 13, 2011
For millennia the study of religion was conducted from the inside. Clerics, monks, imams, and other devout and scholarly believers pored over the sacred texts of their religion to know the will of God. If they devoted any time to alternative religions, it was to learn where the others had gone wrong. Read the Review
Choir of the Crickets
http://youtu.be/ujBTOPhGLMoWhen the sound of the crickets is slowed right down, it sounds like a human choir singing the praises of the Source of all Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFguHRdUlk8&NR=1
The mediumship of Icelandic Indridi Indridason
Despite the marvellous phenomena produced by the physical medium, IndridiThe mediumship of Icelandic Indridi IndridasonIndridason (1883-1912), there is little awareness of this outside Iceland. Indridi's
mediumship was unusual because it appears that he was the first person known to
have had these abilities in Iceland; secondly, he was found by academic researchers, and his mediumship was developed by them.
The source of this work was the Experimental Society that later became the Icelandic Society for Psychical Research.
Born the son a farmer, Indridi received little education as a child, and it was only after his attendance in 1905 at a circle that was involved in table-tilting, that his mediumship became evident. He attempted automatic writing, and following this, his first control then made herself known, and trance became possible. Shortly afterwards, Indridi was able to see next-worldly figures, and able to testify that during OBEs in trance, there were 'two' of him, linked by a cord.
Interview with Montague Keen
This complete, unedited
interview with Montague Keen (who died in 2004) was filmed for the documentary
"The Afterlife Investigations" about the Scole Experiment. He talks about the high standards of evidence required by the Society
for Psychical Research and his experiences with the Scole group. [Apologies for
the ads]. View this 60 minute videoHas Montague Keen Really Returned From the Dead?
MONTAGUE KEEN
MATERIALIZES
Three weeks after he died, a spirit claiming to
be Montague Keen materialized through the mediumship of David Thompson. Montague
Keen's wife, Veronica verified that it was indeed her husband. He was someone
who from 57 years of research knew what to expect- but his words to her were:
"it’s everything that I thought it would be and so much more. So much more, it
is." And interestingly he confirmed that the Scole experiments were everything
he had thought they were. Listen
to audio of Monty's first contact. [ Read transcript] The strange "whooshing"
sound is ectoplasm being withdrawn from and returned to the body of the
medium.
Since then Montague has communicated through David Thompson on a
number of occasions- the most recent being in England two weeks ago. Monty's
wife Veronica (pictured below left with Montague) writes:
" He then took my face in his hands, lifting it to his own, and kissed
me, just as he used to...David Thompson's hands and legs were bound to the chair
and he had been gagged for the séance. There is no way he could have moved or
spoken during the séance. Those present were greatly impressed. After the séance
had ended, many were in tears. It was interesting for me to hear from some of
the men who were present, who said that they found both the materialization and
the love-filled atmosphere of the room, so powerful that they could not stop the
tears. Both Monty and I are deeply grateful to DAVID THOMPSON for giving him
this opportunity to materialize in public. "
Read Danny
Penman's 2004 article about how Montague Keen came through a number of
mental mediums soon after his death.
End-of-Life Experiences
From the Blog of The Scientific and Medical Network
Posted by Simon Raggett
End-of-life experiences can start with premonitions of death up to two years before the time of death. Death bed visitors (DBVs) start two to three weeks before death. These are usually dead relatives, most commonly parents, spouses or siblings, but can be friends or even dogs. This involves language to do with journeys, and a favourable change in the patient's attitude towards the dying process. The DBVs stand around or sit on the bed in real space, but are rarely seen by others, and then usually by children. Read the BlogFrom one of our readers: Dean DeHarpporte
I found your website fascinating. It seems we have similar
views on the the great questions of existence. You might be interested
on how I am introducing your site to some of my friends and
acquaintences who are conversant with paranormal research and to others
who I am trying to influence to take an interest:This article, "Bye Bye Inflation Theory" by Dr. Benjamin Wiker, comes from the Ground of Faith website http://www.thegroundoffaith.net/ which contributes a refreshing addition to the never-ending discussion of the BIG QUESTIONS, including cosmology and paranormal topics. The added voice is that of what I conceive of as the "scientific theologian" whose avowed purpose is to combine the most reasonable aspects of science and religion. Read the rest of the letter
Dean DeHarpporte
Eden Prairie, MN
Other relevant e-journals, blogs and publications
Don't forget to visit these websites: Victor Zammit's site for instance, is updated every week with new material of great interest.
Victor Zammit's Weekly Treasure Trove
Visit the archives of Victor
Zammit's weekly newsletter at http://www.victorzammit.com/archives/index.html
for hours
of fascinating reading. When you open this website
you have the opportunity to request that these emails be sent to
you every week, something that we
strongly recommend.
Spend hours exploring these very important linksarsons
Debunking Common Skeptical Arguments
Against
Paranormal and Psychic Phenomena; Winston Wu
Scientific Committee to Evaluate Pseudo Skeptical Criticism of the Paranormal: SKEPCOP
International Survivalist Society
We strongly recommend this archived site, as a source of much interesting material. See International Survivalist Society
Editors' notes: Public Parapsychology is one of an increasing number of web sites that we should be aware of.. and subscribe to. Try this url: http://publicparapsychology.blogspot.com
http://www.afterlifedata.com/
The Largest Database of Afterlife Description & Analysis on the Internet
“This web site is a compilation of information on the afterlife and other related critical concepts, such as the purpose of life and reincarnation, as they relate to souls here on earth. We have not created this site to convince anyone of the validity of this information, we simply invite you to read through the data, explore the sources we have used and visit other sources to learn more. Using spirit sources from Afterlife101.com and respected authors like Michael Newton, Allan Kardec, Jane Roberts and others, the results of our first investigations reveal 94.8% agreement on a variety of very specific topics. We believe this web site contains the largest correlation of spirit communications about the afterlife, all from respected sources, available anywhere. We will continue to expand this data as information is made available to us and our research expands.”
Click http://www.near-death.com/ for hours of fascinating reading
Read also http://www.near-death.com/experiences/reincarnation08.html A long list of extraordinary coincidences between the lives of Abraham Lincoln and John Kennedy.
Electronic Voice and Instrumental Communication: