Masters of the Spirit World

Q. Masters, you have said in the past that humans frequently leave their bodies at night and travel to other locations. I have watched my pets while they sleep, particularly my dogs, and they twitch, growl, and move their legs as if they are running. Do animals also leave their bodies during sleep?

A. Some animals do travel out of body at night. The soul that inhabits your pet retains memories of other experiences just like a human soul. They like to go and visit other places and other times.

Not all of the activity that you are noticing has to do with outside movement. Animals also dream just as you do. When they are dreaming they cannot tell that they are not awake so they react to the activity. It is very similar to humans walking, talking, or crying out during sleep. The more active animals are during their awake time the more active they are during their sleep time. As pets get older, and have difficulty moving, their sleep activity sometimes means that they are reliving the glories and triumphs from their prime, and their degenerating bodies don’t exist in those memories.

Q. Masters, I sense around the holidays that my deceased relatives are near. Is this just wishful thinking?

A. The energetic excitement on planet Earth can be felt in the “ether” or on the Other Side, as we refer to it, with an intensity that creates vibrations that cannot be ignored. Each soul has its own distinct vibrational pattern, just as each body has its own vocal identity. When you get excited, particularly in the extremes of happiness, anticipation, and love, it’s like sending out invitations to those who once had contact with you, for the celebration of a special event.

You have the habit of enjoying the company of friends and relatives around the holidays for whom you don’t have time during the rest of the year. Your deceased friends and relatives relish the opportunity to share being not only with you but with the rest of the group that you have gathered around you. 

Even during the times when you are alone, the season brings memories of your dear departed. These thoughts send an invitation to them to share the love of your feelings for them. They like nothing better than curling up next to you or across from you as you think about them—while they send you the sense of their love and presence. Enjoy their visit!

Q. Masters, more and more people are talking about Near-Death Experiences. Most of their reports seem to follow a pattern of going through a tunnel and people coming to greet them, but others are totally different. First, what is a near-death experience? Why do people experience them? How do you know if you have had one? Is it necessary to have one in order to get a true sense of oneself?

A. A near-death experience (NDE) most often occurs when human beings experience a traumatic event that allows their soul (with its consciousness), to almost completely exit the body-just leaving the tiniest filament connected to their physical body. It is at this time that some souls make the decision to return Home to start a new life in a different body.

The people you have heard speak of their NDE are those who, at the moment of evaluation-the “go/no go” point-exercise their freedom of choice to return to their bodies and carry on with their current life. This decision may be made after conferring with relatives and friends who have passed over, and who meet them in the “tunnel” connecting the physical with the spiritual dimensions.

When someone starts to reach into that space between the dimensions, their perception is determined by the prior experiences and energetic connections that are most important to them at that moment. They may see what their current life is really like, and how closely they are intertwined with other people, and may assess what effect their leaving at this time would have upon those others. They are likely to see just about anything that will help them to choose whether to continue going Home, or to stay on Earth and finish what they have started. Their destination is always wholly a matter for their free choice.

Most people have these NDEs because they are at a crossroads in their life and need new direction. They may even have had an NDE arranged for their present life as a reminder of why they are in that life and what they wanted to do when they came down to Earth. Some have made arrangements to have an NDE occur if they ever spin out of control. (Their “death” may result from an accidental overdose, a car accident, carbon monoxide inhalation, or the like.) One thing that occurs almost one hundred percent of the time after an NDE is that the person is changed. They are more connected to their own feelings, more introspective, more aware in the spiritual sense.You will always know when you have had one-unless you consciously suppress the memory because you don’t want to face what it presented to you.

You do not have to have one in order to know yourself, however. Just meditate and connect with the stillness inside of you, and get to the point where you regularly contact your Guides to help find the answers to the same questions that present themselves during an NDE.