The Remarkable Journey
by Kimberly Snow
What happens at the moment of death has been one of man's greatest mysteries. Do we perish forever with our physical bodies, from dust to dust, having lived our lives to simply decay like dead foliage nourishing new growth? Is our fate at the end of this miraculous journey called life to lay six feet under and push up weeds for the next generation? Or do we leave our earthly bodies, rise up into the ether to join those souls who have gone before? Do we join once more with a heavenly Creator in a great cosmic exchange of energy?
In the myriad and complex world of human mythology, there are commonalties among various cultures across the globe in regards to life after death and the journey one takes when one leaves his or her earthly body. In Western mythology, the Greeks and Romans believed that when one dies, his soul is guided to the Underworld where he stands on the shore of the River Styx and awaits the ferryman, Charon, to take him across to the other side. This belief was so prevalent that those who mourned the dead would place coins in the mouth of the deceased, for the soul to give to Charon as a toll or fare. For without the proper fare, the soul would become a ghost and haunt the earthly realm for a hundred years. In legends of India there is also a river, called the Vaitamee, filled with boiling water that souls must traverse. If they are good souls, their passage is harmless. If they are bad souls, they will be tormented with horrendous pain and suffering.
This passage is a common theme, and often parallels the theory that death is not finality, but a beginning; a symbolic birth--and perhaps even a real one--into a new reality the likes of which we can only imagine. This myth of death as a birth can be found in cultures all over the world. In Nordic mythology, death is another level that we reach; it is not the end of our lives, but a continuation. This idea of birth, or rebirth, is perhaps most prevalent in the beliefs of the Tibetan Buddhists. For them, death leads to enlightenment, and is merely a phase of transition on the path to rebirth. Some religious death myths parallel nature itself, such as that of the Celtic people who believed during the winter solstice, the Goddess gives birth to the new Divine year in an endless cycle of life and death. As the snake sheds its skin, so too, our physical death is a mere transition, a shedding of our soul's shell or tabernacle, leaving us renewed and vital.
Perhaps one of the most universal themes of life after death is the belief that when we die there are levels or steps that we must climb to reach the Source once more. In Western culture, there is the familiar Biblical story of Jacob, in which he sees a ladder that leads up to heaven. In some ancient medieval texts the soul also is escorted through levels, through the seven heavens toward its final judgement before God. The Muslims share the belief there are eight levels to paradise, which they call al-Junnah. When Muhammad undertook his journey to heaven from the Jerusalem based al-Aqsa mosque, he rose up on a ladder made of light. Muhammad himself said that this ladder was "that to which the dying man looks when death approaches."
Tunnels, vortexes and spirals are common death themes as well. Again, Muslims believe that heaven is a brilliant cosmic center of light. Native Americans tell of the near death experience of Black Elk as a boy. During the experience he was shown a vision of a circle or hoop, which included the four directions and the world's center which was positioned on an axis that ran from the earth up to the sky--a typical Native American Mandala. Mandalas are geometric patterns that represent the universe or cosmos and are often seen by near-death experience survivors during their death experience. In some religions, mandalas are meditated upon as a means for enlightenment or to receive revelations about the personal journey of the soul.
So what does happen at the moment of death, when our physical human bodies cease functioning? PSI TECH recently tasked its students to find out. The cue employed was Human Physical Death Event/Ethereal Activity.
Each week students of TRV University's Technical Remote Viewing courses are given a blind target of the week. They do not know what the target will be. It could be anything--a person, place, event, object, or idea-in any space or time. The students begin their session with nothing more than a stack of paper, a pen, and a randomly chosen eight-digit number that has been applied to the target for administrative purposes only.
The results were amazing, and the corroborated data on many of the sessions were so startling, that even the most hardcore skeptics would be hard pressed to deny their significance.
There were some particularly common themes that ran through many of the sessions. The idea of the "ladder" or "steps" was one such theme. Joni Dourif, President of PSI TECH, says that these "steps" or "ladders" have been a recurring image in TRV data gathered over twenty plus years on targets of this nature. She speculates that the vertical or parallel set of lines or steps lining a path or passage that is prevalent in many of the sessions are representative of the steps the soul takes or climbs on its journey in the after life back or to their next destination. This idea or aspect of the death event is so ingrained in the collective unconscious, that it appears universally in religious beliefs across the globe. Some of the data regarding this aspect that appeared in the recent target of the week sessions include: Jacob's ladder, like pieces of a ladder, like a long road to get there, like a flow of something but supported, stairs, stairway to heaven, connecting one to another, like on a step on a long journey, and a step,
Another element that appeared in many of the sessions was the idea that death is not an end, but conversely, a birth into a bigger reality. Some of the corroborating data on this aspect from the recent sessions include: birth, canal, babies, sperm, this is a birth, mothering, coming out of something, pushing it out!, baby, mother, going into a new phase in a big way, a birth, a new phase, a new way, related to an idea or plan involving a rebirth, rebirth, and like the fertilization process for life conception. One student sketched what appeared to be a pelvis and birth canal, a symbolic representation of this new birth or rebirth process. Often on esoteric targets in which the human thesaurus is too limited for understanding the physical data at the target site, the Matrix will deliver up symbols or metaphors in this way.
One theme that appeared in many of the sessions was that of a river or path that the soul journeys on or through after physical death. Some of the data included: a flowing aspect that curved in and out, a flowing, rushing sound, like a flow of something, flowing, a flow of a river, canal, flow, a river, a crossing, cascading, wonderful floating feeling, aqua, up a creek, flows or is transferred, flow of energy, like a mountain stream, winding, rushing, undulating, stream or river, and waterfall. Many of the sketches produced wavy lines--gestalts representing a flowing aspect or liquid. In some sketches, there were lifeform gestalts depicted going into this winding, snake-like flow or path and traveling through it or across it.
The last common aspect, and perhaps the most powerful and prevalent in the sessions, was that of a vast, whirling tunnel-like vortex, or a spiraling, spinning circular force in which lifeforms moved into and through, often with a small circle or opening in the center like an eye. This aspect was most commonly seen in the sketches, but some of the data relating to those sketches include: going into, tubular, funnel, tube, like a lava tube, spinning, rotating, coils, tubular center to it and rotating movement, jet-like, powerful on a huge scale, spiraling, going up into, spinning fast, corridor, vast, eye, the center going down to the heart, volcano, and tornado. The sketches usually depicted lifeforms traveling into this vortex or spiraling aspect, toward the center. It was here that many of the "ride-like" emotion were declared, such as: hang on!, ride, homeward bound, reaching skyward, going for the stars, wild ride, flying or ride in the air, best view yet, weee eeee!, and like a ride.
The steps. The birth. The river. The vortex. These are four themes that appear in death myths across the globe. They are themes recounted by prophets, poets, shamans, and near death experience survivors since the dawn of man. Since the first man walked on earth, death has followed him, and since that time, billions of humans have come and gone, all leaving their physical bodies behind to decay. The human death event is perhaps one of the most ingrained events in the collective human unconscious. Perhaps that is why the data from the recent grouping of sessions showed such remarkable corroboration.
But the analysis of the students are perhaps the most telling of all: The exchange of spirit and flesh from and to this world, the way we come into the world, this is a birth, an almost instantaneous evolution or transition of mankind, the rapture, the end of the world as we know it, the revealing of a higher power that initiates change in the world, upcoming changes in someone's life, souls ascending to heaven, a superior force putting things in proper order, a death process, where you go when you die, a lifeform feels very small compared to physical surroundings and some larger power, a person being saved from destruction, a reminder to fix one's gaze on long-term goals and cycles, the spirit of God initiating life, and the development of consciousness in a person.
Finally, the emotions at the target site perceived by the students during their sessions were consistent across the board--emotions of joy, love, being refreshed, renewed, excitement, exhilaration, an emotional discharge, true love forever, freedom, peace, calm, contentment, celebratory and forgiveness. One student wrote, "This is the first session where I felt a distinct sense of joy."
But perhaps the most overwhelming sensation was that of love. And perhaps it is through our final most important journey, when at the moment of our physical death the soul leaves behind the world as we know it and takes its first step toward home, that we come to realize, and are reminded of, how precious and wonderful life really is.
