Posted on 02 July 2015, 19:14

“In conducting my experiments, I have always insisted that they should be done in my own home under such conditions only as I should provide,” Edward V. Randall wrote of his more than 700 sittings with Emily S. French, a direct-voice medium (see my blog of two weeks ago for more about Randall and French).
 
Randall, a prominent Buffalo, New York lawyer, said he heard from hundreds, if not thousands, of discarnates during the 20 years he studied French.  “Each voice has individuality,” Randall explained. “When a new spirit comes for the first time and takes on the condition of vocalization, there is often a similarity in tone quality, but this soon passes away, as they grow accustomed to speak, never change, and are easily recognized.”  Randall added that the strength of the voices varied greatly, one of them loud enough to fill a great auditorium, others almost whispers.  The voices were in different tones, expressed different ideas, different personalities, and sometimes spoke in foreign languages.
 
On one occasion, again in Randall’s own house, when a window shade was accidentally raised, there was enough light in the room for him to see the spirit being talking.  “I saw his form perfectly,” Randall recorded.  “Without a break in his discourse, he stepped to one side toward the corner where it was darker, continuing the discussion, simply saying, as the place where he stood became partially lighted, ‘We have promised the time should come when you should see us, but we scarcely expected it would be this morning.’  He stood there in full materialized form, else how could I have seen him?  He was a spirit, for Mrs. French and I were in the room alone, and no other man could have come in without opening the door and letting in the full light of day.  I not only saw him, but I heard his spirit-voice, as I have heard it many times since.  This is a fact: I saw, I heard, I know.”

On another occasion, one of Randall’s friends in spirit told him that his spirit friends wanted to give him a test of their reality and power.  This was in a room in his house with only Mrs. French and himself present.  After the communicating spirit instructed Mrs. French to stand and for Randall to hold both her hands, Randall witnessed flowers coming from every direction.  “I immediately opened the door and hurriedly called for others of my household to see the display,” Randall recorded.  “We found upon the table, chairs, and carpet, upwards of one hundred pure white sweet peas, fresh, with dew sparkling in the petals.  The stems had been twisted off.”

When Randall asked the communicating spirit how that was accomplished, he was told that it involved a physical law that mankind had yet to discover and that it involved spirit people taking the flowers from a garden where they grew in abundance, changed their vibratory conditions, as water is changed into steam, conveyed them into the room, altering the vibration back to the primary stage, thereby restoring the flowers to their original condition and color.

“At other times when alone with Mrs. French,” Randall continued, “I have been told to take both her hands and to hold them firmly, during which time spirit people have come in full physical form, stood beside me, and put their hands on my head.  Their hands are warm and firm, but the touch is strange because they are in a state of intense vibration; they do not tremble or shake, but they seem to pulsate with a rapidity that I have no words to describe.”

Randall heard from many apparently advanced spirits, naming them as Channing, Beecher, Talmage, Ingersoll, Hough, Dr. Hossack, Segoewatha, and others.  While Mrs. French, a widow living with her daughter, was a frail, meek, uneducated, and somewhat deaf woman, the words that came through her mediumship were sharp, vibrant, and eloquent.  “Lectures from such men, speaking in their own independent voices, materialized for the time, leaves no doubt as to what follows death,” Randall wrote.  “I have never heard such matchless oratory, such sermons, such thoughts expressed by the living as I have from the so-called dead.”

Over those 20 years of sitting with Mrs. French, Randall asked many questions of the spirits.  Here is a little more of what they had to tell Randall, as set forth in The French Revelation, Riley Heagerty’s anthology of Randall’s five books about his experiences.

God:  “A God whom limited intellect could comprehend would not be a God; the intellect would be the greater.”

Subconscious Mind: “The sub-conscious, or super-sensitive, mind, which so many people know not, although they possess it, is a fourth dimensional mind, or the mind of the astral body, contained within your three-dimensional physical body. ...The subconscious mind is always right.  From the subconscious mind comes the ‘still small voice,’ that thing which people know as the conscience.  The conscience is a definite manifestation of the subconscious mind, trying to dictate to the conscious mind that it is in some way or other in error.” 

Grief: “I will give you a description of the place in which I found myself when I awoke after what you call ‘death.’ It took me some time to realize the beauty of my surroundings, as my eyes were blinded by the sorrow which my going had caused on earth.  The grief of my people kept me so sad at first that I was not able to see or think of anything but earthly sorrow.  That is why grief for departed friends and relatives is so wrong, and is so harmful, both to those on earth and to those who come over. The longer the grief continues and the more hopeless it is, the more those mourned for are kept to earth. ...Fortunately, the grief of my people on earth was not of this desperately hopeless variety, and I was enabled in time to rise above it and get on with my work of helping others.”

Spirit World: “The realities of the spirit world are beyond description.  I might spend hours telling you of it and not reach your minds with any conception of its glory, its greatness, its grandeur.  It is so vast in extent, so marvellous, that any attempt to give you more than a faint idea would be futile.  Not until you get here and see for yourself can you have any conception of the home of the soul.  We have our mission – to try to get knowledge through to the shore line of your earth.  We are working our best to enlighten the world and prepare its people for the death change.”

The Spheres: “In the lower sphere one sees much suffering among those still earth-bound.  They, too, are busy working out past faults and they are often heavy-hearted.  Generally speaking, the first sphere is the one where restitution must be made, and where the final wrenching away from earth conditions takes place. The second is one of instruction, a period of study, during which the spirit gains knowledge of self and natural law.  The third is one of teaching those in the lower spheres, as I have said.  The fourth sphere is one of trial and temptation.  The fifth is truth, where error and falsehood are unknown.  In the sixth, all is harmony.  In the seventh, the spirits reach the plane of exaltation and become one with the great spirit that rules the universe. ...We are told that the spirits in the sphere of exaltation do not even there lose individuality.  They are embodied in all the beauty and good of the universe. ...It is difficult to understand or appreciate what this last sphere is, the development is so beyond our comprehension.”

Religious Beliefs:  “In the lowest of the spheres, that is, in the earth-bound spheres sectarian strife and religious movement are just as strenuous among the people as they were before these persons left the physical body.  That state of transition is but little removed from the physical, for, while the majority there knows they have left the body, others have such an imperfect appreciation of the change, or have led such immoral lives that they are not conscious of the fact. Here the dogmas of orthodoxy are dominant, and the old religious teachings are promulgated, and the priesthood still holds power.  One would think that an individual having passed through the portal called death and finding nothing as he had been taught, or as he had believed, would give up old notions and try to comprehend the economy of the natural law under which he continued to live; but, strange as it may seem, many even then cling to the old beliefs as if in fear, as if to doubt it were sacrilege, and in many ways excuse their failure to find what they expected.  They go into your churches and mingle with other people, a great invisible host, hear the same old teachings, say the same creeds and continue in the same mental attitude until some condition is brought about them that guides them into the avenue of knowledge, and as time goes on, one by one they break the shackles about their mentalities…”

Other Planets:  “Some of the planets are much higher in vibratory action than in your earth, and if you were to go to them, and could still retain the earth conditions surrounding you, as usual you could not see any life because your vibration would be so much lower.  The need of this condition is so apparent when once one grasps the immensity of the universe and the harmony of its laws.  If you were able to see all the conditions and people beyond you, life would be chaos and confusion – each sphere mixing with another – with no regulation or harmony anywhere.  As it is, each has its own place in the scheme of progression, and this visible wall of vibratory force is the safety guard to continued rational living.”

Living for Today:  “It is well that mortals should live the earth-life in accordance with the laws of nature, and not spend too much time in speculative thought as to the why and wherefore of his being; but good being the desire of all, of the necessary condition of all for achievement, a true knowledge of the future state of the spirit is necessary that errors of life may not occur, through your own unguided actions.”

Michael Tymn is the author of The Afterlife Revealed: What Happens After We Die is published by White Crow Books. His latest book, Resurrecting Leonora Piper: How Science Discovered the Afterlife is now available on Amazon and other online book stores.
His latest book Dead Men Talking: Afterlife Communication from World War I is published by White Crow Books.

Next blog post: July 13

Leslie,

I agree with Amos. While none of us knows for sure how it will play out, the great preponderance of spirit communication strongly suggests that it is a matter of the degree to which the consciousness, i.e., the spiritual consciousness, has been awakened during this life time. Based on your various comments at this post and other posts, I would guess that you have achieved a fairly high degree of consciousness and should have nothing to worry about.

However, my interpretation of Summerland apparently is not the same as yours.  I see Summerland as involving much the same challenges as we face in this lifetime and having the same range of consciousness as we have in the earth life, some understanding much more than others.  As I interpret your understanding, everyone in Summerland will have the same amount of consciousness and no soul at that level will know any more than other souls at that level. That is not the way I interpret it, but I may very well have misinterpreted it all.

I’ll be traveling the next three weeks and will be unable to respond to further comments during that period. 

Thank you for your comments

Oh no, Leslie!  I think you will just look back at your life and smile, perhaps rejoice, thinking what a fulfilling learning experience it was.  You will know that failures you made were an opportunity for learning too and know that you did the best you could under the circumstances.  You won’t be frustrated, Leslie nor will you have to be reprogrammed.  You will feel loved and welcomed and ready to look for more fields to be planted and harvested.  If you need to rest for a while, Summerland just might be the place for you, if not, then you might move on to something else.

If you could bring yourself to consider reincarnation, then you will have ample opportunities to learn more about this amazing planet as well as others and look forward to experiencing another life and opportunity to grow toward God.

Remember that much of the information about the afterlife has come in the form of symbols which had to be interpreted by a medium or other communicator.  Sometimes they don’t always get it right.  That is, the information is always open to interpretation and one is wise to consider the source.  -AOD

Mike and Amos, thank you both for your considered opinions.  I need such opinions as a counter to my interpretations of so much about this subject. 

Because there are great chunks of information missing, all that I can do is try to interpret what the fuller picture might be.  I have looked at other sites and I am appalled by the hostility and vindictiveness that even the most innocuous of questions will draw from the nameless correspondents.

While I am stirring the pot, I will toss in another worry.  The very few communicating entities are specific in trying to convey information that is instructive to us but none of their fellow entities appear to have any interest in anything.  Summerland is frequently portrayed as a place where everyone lives in idyllic conditions and do little more than just swan about.

About my only regret in having to leave this life will be the incalculable number of things that I will never get to know about the amazing planet on which we now live.  The end result will probably be that I will arrive there in a very frustrated state will have to be extensively reprogrammed to forget all that and just swan about!

Leslie,
I have a different feel for reincarnation than apparently you have.  I don’t see reincarnation as ‘being sent back’ as that implies force or coercion to return to life and I don’t think it is like that at all.  There is no Inquisition Tribunal.  I think that free will still exists in any future realm, maybe more so than here, and since time and space do not exist, there is not a time table, schedule or agenda to return to earth to ‘get it right’ as there really is no ‘right way’ to live a life.

I think it is all easier than that as the soul has an eternity to build up a soul desire to return in its own ‘time’ and for its own purposes, either to the earth sphere or perhaps to some other planet. There are many opportunities in this universe and since linear time may not exist, the choice of return may be to return to the past, to a time more congruent with the purposes of the soul.

Such purposes of return may not be monumental at all but may be for simple reasons such as to provide love and support for another person in need.  It might be, for example, that it is just to experience having a child or to experience NOT having children.  Sometimes one doesn’t understand the value of something until that something is denied.  Perhaps the return could be just to live a happy, quiet, peaceful, rewarding life where fulfillment of simple desires was easily accomplished and struggle was minimal.  Whatever learning would be acquired from those experiences sinks deep into the soul consciousness or subconscious and is never forgotten though it may remain hidden from the current conscious mind.

I don’t think anything ‘makes’ the soul reincarnate. Perhaps among other reasons, souls incarnate according to their individual need to learn and grow toward God and ‘to be or not to be’ is a soul choice not a penalty.

I think that the life review is a momentary thing.  Once sees clearly when freed from the encumbrance of the physical body and details of a past life are easily remembered (seen).  This provides a ‘wrap-up’ of the life just lived, a kind of a summary to help imbed the learning experience in the soul but it is over in an instant and the soul consciousness moves on to other things. During that life review one might find that the purpose of a life was accomplished in a brief moment in an otherwise long life but what was accomplished in that moment is a golden thread in the fabric of God’s plan.  - AOD

Leslie,

As I have mentioned several times, I believe in reincarnation.  I just question whether it plays itself out in the way most people who believe in it think it does.  See my blog entry of April 4, 2011 for a discussion of this.  Here again, however, I think it is a matter of something that is beyond our comprehension.  Then again, the subconscious may carries those memories from life to life and somehow provide us with a more in-depth, more rational free will choice as to whether to make the same mistakes again. That is, that little voice coming from the subconscious reminds us that we have faced this situation before and warns us about making the same mistake again.  Whether we listen this time around is up to us.  I don’t see that as sadistic, but maybe we have different definitions of sadistic.

As for the life review, I don’t recall what the spirits said through Emily French, but the preponderance of spirit communication seems to be that we do NOT remember everything right away (whatever right away means).  It seems to depend on the spiritual consciousness achieved in this life.  The person who achieves a high degree of spiritual consciousness will remember most if not everything in his or her life review, but the person who did not achieve much spiritual consciousness in the earth life may take a long time (however “time” plays out) to recall everything and learn from it.  At least that is my understanding.  It is a matter of degree of consciousness achieved in this life.

There are at least two aspects of the reported next life / afterlife that appear to me to be basically sadistic.

The first is the concept behind reincarnation, which appears to be a process of being sent back time and again to “get it right”.  Given that no knowledge is carried forward from any previous existence, it is conceivable that the process could be repeated ad infinitum.  I have never seen any reference to who or what has the power to make a soul reincarnate but, whatever it is, it appears to carry a good slice of sadism. 

This parallels The Inquisition.  Some hapless soul is dragged before The Inquisition and told “You have committed a crime.  How do you plead?”  Anyone silly enough to ask “What am I charged with?” is simply told “That’s none of your business!  How do you plead?”

And so with reincarnation.  “I am being reincarnated. Why?”  Answer: “None of your business!  Just get on with it!”

The second involves the oft-reported “life review”.  This interests me a lot because it is said to involve every mortal detail of one’s entire life.  I am now 82 and it is a constant struggle for me to remember details of my earlier life.  The ironic aspect is that I can clearly (and often painfully) remember aspects of my earlier life in which I could have been more helpful, more understanding, things that I said or should have said, small actions which were not morally justifiable, actions taken that should not have been and actions that should have been taken but weren’t, etc.

It pains me to be told that I will remember everything with great clarity after I die when I would dearly love to have such clarity now.

The communicating entities that I have read about all have their individual agendas and remain fairly general about many fundamental matters.  No doubt much will be revealed when I get there but it would be useful examine what is coming from the aspect of this life.  There is no lack of words, just a lack of detailed explanation.

Questions, questions, questions . . .

Leslie,

I agree with you.  It is all very confusing.  I think most of it is beyond human comprehension, but the important thing to me that we get the gist of it and realize that there are many levels, not just the humdrum heaven and horrific hell of orthodox religion.  So many spirits have said that there are no words to explain and the best they can do is paint a very abstract picture.

There are aspects of the afterlife/next life that continue to bother me, mainly because of the very wide range of reported structures and conditions.  In particular, I find the third level, frequently referred to as Summerland, to be very puzzling.
The overall impression is of perfect gardens, flowers, streams and houses in which the residents’ principal occupation appears to be swanning around.  So far, I have yet to read anything convincing that explains the purpose of this level.
Several sources declare that this level is a mind construction facilitated by residents of higher levels, which suggests that these higher entities are providing an idyllic situation which most people would desire for themselves. 
One might wonder how many third levels there are in view of the frequent reports that like appears to congregate with like.  The most recent reference to this comes from Randall:
“Religious Beliefs:  “In the lowest of the spheres, that is, in the earth-bound spheres sectarian strife and religious movement are just as strenuous among the people as they were before these persons left the physical body.”
Whilst it is not clear if what he is referring to includes the third level, it does add weight to the congregation of similar discarnates..
The third level is commonly described as the place of “ordinary” souls but one must ask what definition might apply to “ordinary”.  Ordinary society in or here and now has a very wide range, from the saintly all the way down to the self-centred and plain nasty. 
Parts of the world are currently beset by barbaric behaviour in the name of a particular religion.  They murder anyone in their path, even members of the same religion who do not agree with their untrammeled barbarity.
Since they appear to fervently believe that this is what is required of them by their imaginary god, by how much can they be held accountable?  In any event, do they congregate in the next life and continue to maraud and murder?
So little clarity, so many unanswered questions . . .

Thank you for posting this, Mike. Randall and French are among my very favorite sources of afterlife information.