Joseph Campbell on Reincarnation

Joseph Campbell, was the world’s foremost authority on mythology, a preeminent scholar, writer, and teacher, and his works had a lasting and profound effect on millions. Many of us came to know Joseph Campbell when the PBS television series of six interviews of him by Bill Moyers aired.

For those not familiar with Joseph Campbell’s mythological writings or teachings may be familiar with this well known quote of his, one of my favorites:

“Follow your bliss!”

In The Power of Myth book, with transcripts of the interviews, in the chapter, The Journey Inward, Bill Moyers asks, “And what does the idea of reincarnation suggest?”

Joseph Campbell replies, “It suggests that you are more than you think you are. There are dimensions of your being and a potential for realization and consciousness that are not included in your concept of yourself. Your life is much deeper and broader than you conceive it to be here. What you are living is but a fractional inkling of what is really within you, what gives you life, breadth, and depth. But you can live in terms of that depth. And when you experience it, you suddenly see that all the religions are talking of that.”

He had so much to say that it is difficult to share only a small portion of his words. This is also another of my favorite quotes of his, and it has been valuable in my life several times: “We must be willing to get rid of the life we planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”

Campbell began his teaching career at Sara Lawrence College in 1934 and taught there for nearly forty years. He died in 1987, at the age of eighty-three. Two of his classics are The Hero With a Thousand Faces and The Masks of the Gods.

The Power of Myth DVD at Amazon





~Linda

The Bridge Across

Margaret, an elderly woman who has since passed on, was an extended family member. Her entire family had always been very active within the Catholic Church – one sister was a nun, a brother engaged in missionary work and she herself was a very devout Catholic. She related an experience involving her mother on her deathbed. After sitting beside her mother for hours, praying and reciting the rosary, Margaret had moved to sit at the foot of the bed and shortly thereafter, her mother died. At that moment, she experienced a strong aroma of roses in the room and she was startled to discover, along with the rosary clasped in her hand, were her mother's wedding rings. She never understood how those rings got into her hand but she accepted it as a Divine experience.

I’m not sure I can explain how the wedding rings ended in Margaret's hand with the rosary, except by Divine intervention. The fragrant aroma such as that of roses, or other strong, familiar scents is a common experience which many have. Often the loved one’s favorite perfume, after-shave, or flowers may fill the room.

~Excerpt from my Healing Whispers: Communication with Your Spirit Guides and Angels,.
update:  I hope to have published before long.

Books - Suggestions for Holiday Giving

This time of year can be a difficult time, especially for those who have suffered a loss, or find themselves alone. Winter has arrived bringing the cold weather, rain and snow, nightfall coming early, and with fireplaces burning warm, it can be a good time to read, either for enjoyment, for learning, or for new spiritual understandings. I’ve made a list of books, of books I find interesting, (including some of my own writings). I hope you will find one or more (even all) of the books ones to add to your reading list or to give as holiday gifts. Most are available in print, or Kindle, at Amazon.com, or PDF download at healingebooks.com . Also Amazon Kindle can be downloaded free for your PC, and other devices.

Near Death Experiences: The Rest of the Story. What They Teach us about Living, Dying, and our True Purpose by P.M.H. Atwater; Based on over forty years of research and in-depth interviews by a noted authority. Print Kindle

To Dance With Angels by Don and Linda Pendleton, New Edition. A Book Brimming with Inspiration, Angelic Wit and Humor, and Ageless Wisdom Structured around in-depth interviews with Dr. James Martin Peebles (1822-1922), the grand spirit shares his spiritual psychology. Print Kindle PDF

The Fourth Awakening by Rod Pennington and Jeffery A. Martin, Ph.D.
Fiction. This novel, The Fourth Awakening, is grounded in cutting edge science and an emerging new spiritual reality. It offers readers a glimpse of their future in an exciting, fast moving story of mystery and a spiritual quest. Print Kindle PDF

A Walk Through Grief, Crossing the Bridge Between Worlds by Linda Pendleton
This book is written for those in mourning but also as preparation for loss and, most importantly, for a greater understanding of the life and death process. Linda Pendleton’s story of her personal walk through grief following the sudden death of her husband, author Don Pendleton, in October of 1995, is a walk of a universal nature filled with emotions, pain, questions, fears, and is a journey most people are forced to take at various times throughout their lives.

Print Kindle PDF

One Last Time: A Psychic Medium Speaks to Those We Have Loved and Lost by John Edward. John Edward's remarkable account of how he came to be one of the most popular psychic mediums of our time. Now with a brand new workbook section written specially for this edition! His television appearances have made millions of people believe in the afterlife--and in his ability to reach it. Now John Edward's legion of fans can read his remarkable true story and compelling accounts of his most important readings, how they helped heal the scars of grief and gave way to more fulfilling lives for the living--lives where loved ones never cease to love you, and never really die... Paper

The First Year of Grief: Help for the Journey by Marty Tousley, Bereavement Counselor. Loss creates an emotional wound, but it is an injury that can be healed. With help and understanding, the pain of loss can be transformed into a challenging new beginning, and your grief experience can become a healthy, positive and healing process. PDF

Coming Back: A Psychiatrist Explores Past-Life Journeys, Dr. Raymond Moody, and Paul Perry. Have we lived before? Are memories of past lives stored deep inside our minds? Dr. Raymond Moody, the world’s leading authority in the field of near-death experiences, turns his attention to these fascinating questions. Kindle

The Cosmic Breath: Metaphysical Essays of Don Pendleton, Intro by Linda Pendleton
“Is there a reason for the existence of the world? This is perhaps the most basic question of metaphysics.” ~Don Pendleton. Don Pendleton’s Metaphysical Essays dramatically explore the human experience and the spiritual meaning of existence. In Don’s inspirational examination of religion, science, and philosophy, his findings are thought-provoking, inspiring, and, perhaps, even transformational for the true seeker. Print Kindle PDF

Whispers From the Soul, The Divine Dance of Consciousness by Don and Linda Pendleton. A definitive examination of mankind's search for the wellsprings and moving forces of In the exploration of spiritual understanding and awareness, Linda and Don Pendleton probe the wisdom of the sages, miracles and angelic influences, aliens and UFO's, the Mars and Moon phenomena, crop circles, death and near-death experiences, reincarnation and past life therapy, the religious instinct, spirituality and the history of spiritualism, creativity and the body/mind/soul connection, meditation, spirit communication and spiritual encounters-a wide range of what is considered by some to be the paranormal, while many others consider these experiences to be extraordinary and awe inspiring but within the norm of the human experience. Print Kindle PDF

~Linda

Angel Meditation

Angel Meditation: Meet Your Angel or Spirit Guide Today

By Linda Pendleton

Begin this angel meditation with an open heart to receive the messages of love awaiting your recognition and acceptance. Ask God/Spirit/the Divine... to surround you in white Light and for messages of love and purity - for the highest good and growth. With pen and paper in hand, close your eyes for a moment and imagine you are sitting on a bench under a shade tree in a beautiful garden, filled with colorful, fragrant flowers, lush deep green grass, and singing birds. As you open your eyes, imagine that a beautiful angel, male or female, walks toward you and joins you on the bench. Say hello, and ask, "Do you have a message for me?" Listen for an answer, any answer, and write it down, without judgment, without filtering what you hear, or what you might have previously imagined an angel would say. Close your eyes, and softly thank the angel. Then open your eyes and read what you have written. Does it have meaning for you? If so, then write out what you believe the meaning and/or purpose to be in your journal. You might want to try this once or so a day, to see what messages filter through your mind and onto the paper. Keep your daily writings and read them over again in a day or two, and see if any new perspective or understanding occurs to you.

Excerpt from the online course Healing Whispers: Communication with Your Spirit Guides and Angels. Copyright © 2006 Linda Pendleton. All rights reserved.  Ecourse no longer available. 

Update:  2017.  Now in my book, Softly With Love, Communicating with your Spirit Guides and Angels, Linda Pendleton. 

  Amazon Kindle and Print

Life is Growth ...

Life is growth, from our first helpless cry at birth to our last breath. Life is also a personal journey and we make our choices along the way, and observe our outer world in the way we choose.

“The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness,
and the power of contemplation
rather than upon mere survival.”
–Aristotle (384–322 B.C.)

“We arrive at truth, not by reason only,
but also by the heart.”
–Pascal (1623–1662)

“Our happiness depends on wisdom all the way.”
–Sophocles (c. 495–406 B.C.)

“Truth is the only safe ground to stand upon.”
–Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)

“Dignity does not consist in possessing honors,
but in deserving them.”
–Aristotle (384–322 B.C.)

“Keep what is worth keeping–
And with the breath of kindness
Blow the rest away.”
–Dinah Mulock Craik (1826–1887)

“Three things cannot be hidden, the sun, the moon and the truth.”
–Buddha (568–488 B.C.)

“No man ever prayed heartily without learning something.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers:
for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”
–Bible, Hebrews 13:2

“First say to yourself what you would be;
and then do what you have to do.”
–Epictetus (c. 50–120)

“The best thing about the future is that it comes
only one day at a time.”
–Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)

“The important thing is not to stop questioning.”
–Albert Einstein (1879–1955)

Medium John Edward

Today Anderson Cooper had a special show with best-selling author and medium John Edward. It was the best I have seen of a TV program with John sharing his gift. (other than his own TV shows). It was so nice to see mediumship presented by one of the best, on a network show without the need to bring in the debunkers as part of the show. The energy there with Anderson, his mother Gloria Vanderbilt, John, and the audience was relaxed, humorous, and emotional.

Anderson’s new daily talk show “Anderson” is very good.

From the show today:

Vitamins, Fears, Illusions of Separation, and Unconditional Love

"Don't move the way fear makes you move.

Move the way love makes you move.

Move the way joy makes you move. ~Osho

Nancy over at Life in the Second Half Blog wrote an excellent blog about "Living Fearlessly." Her blogs are always good and informative and often deal with current topics.

And today's topic was Vitamins--and Fear. I myself, wrote comments the other day on FB about an article that claims vitamins are no longer good for us. Following the publication of the supposed study, the next day another article came out about men, their prostates, Vitamin E, and cancer. Not curing cancer but causing it! Upping the risk of getting cancer, instead of the Vitamin E being beneficial...May help the heart but gives you cancer. When I read these article my thoughts were how contrived this all is. The pharmaceutical companies and the FDA have apparently for some time been aiming an attack at over the counter supplements, nature supplements and vitamins. In the U.S. alone, sales of nutritional supplements are more than 23 Billion Dollars a year.

These reversals on the use of beneficial supplements seems to be so prevalent any more and I believe it is one way to generate fear and take away our choices. And guess who will fill the void--the pharmaceutical companies. They will come up with something to replace nutritional supplements and will spend some of their 90 billions of dollars with TV and print ads, telling us how wonderful their product is, and then if you listen or read carefully, it will also tell you how many ways it may harm or kill you. But that is to be expected, of course....

But Nancy also posted an inspirational and incredible interview with Anita Moorjani, a woman who had 4 stage lymphoma cancer, was in a coma, hours away from death, and she had a Near Death Experience, and during that time she came into the awareness that we are one with the universe, with the God energy. She came through the near-death experience healed. Her tumors had reduced and then were soon gone. She is coming out with a new book in March, Introduction by Wayne Dyer.

The youtube Interview is long but so worth it. Take a little time away for the fear generated by our media, politicians, and government agencies, and listen to what Anita has to say about her experience, fear, life's purpose, and unconditional love.

Much of what she experienced is what Dr. James Martin Peebles, spirit guide, teaches with his spiritual psychology: illusion of separation, fear, creating our reality, etc. Her awareness of her healing is fascinating. She came back from the other side knowing her purpose to be here.

I preordered her book. I want to read it! I bet you will be interested, too, after hearing her.

Her website: http://anitamoorjani.com/

~Linda

Healing Grief

“The conquest of the fear of death is the recovery of life’s joy. One can experience an unconditional affirmation of life only when one has accepted death, not as contrary to life but as an aspect of life.” –Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

I am often asked to recommend books on grief, usually because people know I have written about the journey through grief and about communication with the other side.

Grief is a personal journey, but it is a universal walk filled with emotions, pain, questions, fears, and is a journey most people are forced to take at various times throughout their lives. I have hoped to present in my spiritual writings not only my own spiritual experiences, but those of others in hopes of lending credibility to the belief that consciousness survives the death of the physical body.

Grief may take many forms. As we go through it, we discover that it comes in all shapes and sizes and is capable of doing many things. It will attack us when least expected, may devastate us, immobilize us, shock us, bring up guilt feelings, keep us awake at night, drain us, make us angry, fill us with regret, make us think we are a little crazy, encourage us to withdraw, bring up many fears, make us forgetful, confuse us, bring deep sorrow, tempt us to lose faith. It can also persuade us to lash out at God, question the purpose of our life, depress us, try to take away meaning, make us feel hopeless, make us insecure, discourage us from moving through it, make us reluctant to speak about our feelings, intensify our sexual feelings when we do not want to even think about sex, make us feel powerless, makes us believe we are winning the battle before hurling us backward three steps–and overwhelm us in a variety of other ways.

Grief will have its way with you and me, but we can also learn from it and discover that we can take from it strength, new understandings, courage, peace, contentment, joy, deeper faith, love, empathy, spiritual enlightenment, honesty, deeper and more meaningful relationships, healing, growth, creativity, among many other things.

Grief can come not only from the loss of a loved one, but from the loss of a pet, a divorce, a job, a home, financial loss, relationship challenges, and each of those experiences can bring pain and sorrow, and may require time to emotionally heal.

Here is a list of books that may help on your journey, through grief, in preparation for grief, or for spiritual understanding that live lives on, and "living" can go on.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross: On Death and Dying;On Children and Death; Death: The Final Stage of Growth.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and David Kessler: On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss
John Edward: One Last TimeGuggenheim, Bill, and Judy Guggenheim. Hello From Heaven!C.S. Lewis: A Grief Observed

Marty Tousley: Finding Your Way through Grief: A Guide for the First Year, Second Edition;Children and Pet Loss: A Guide for Helping.Raymond Moody: Life After Life Raymond Moody, with Paul Perry: Reunions;Glimpses of Eternity.
Morse, Melvin, with Paul Perry. Closer to the Light;Transformed by the Light; Parting Visions.
Norman Vincent Peale: The Power of Positive Thinking.Bernie S. Siegel, M.D.: Love, Medicine and Miracles;
Peace, Love and Healing.

James Van Praagh: Talking to Heaven; Reaching to Heaven;
Healing Grief.Linda Pendleton: A Walk Through Grief: Crossing the Bridge Between Worlds; 

Linda Pendleton and Dr. Fred Bader: Expressing Love: Remembering a Life 
Linda Pendleton: Three Principles of Angelic Wisdom
Linda Pendleton: A Loving Presence: Signs and Symbols from Your Angels and Spirit Guides 
Don and Linda Pendleton: To Dance With AngelsLarry Dossey, M.D.: Recovering the Soul: A Scientific and Spiritual Search;Healing Words.

Linda Pendleton: Softly With Love, Communicating with Your Spirit Guides and Angels;
Journey to the Heart: Exploring the World of Spirit and Our Connection to It.

These books should be available through Amzaon.com and Barnes and Noble, and many may be at your local library. Most of the listed books are available in e-book format.

Are there other books that have helped you through grief? If so, please feel free to share.

~Linda

Kindness

"Life is a pilgrimage; let us kindly help each other along the tiresome journey; for soon, perhaps, shall we put our sandals off, and lay our weary burdens down by the cypress-trees that shade Death's peaceful river. And when that tremulous hour comes, as it must to each and all, precious will be the memories of kind words spoken, and the good that we have done."

~Dr. James Martin Peebles, 1880

Dr. Brian Weiss..Evolution of the Soul

The Fourth Awakening Series of New Age Mysticism

The Fourth Awakening, by Rod Pennington and Jeffery A. Martin, Ph.D., has been #1 for over 100 weeks in the Kindle category of “Best Sellers in New Age Mysticism.”

“While a work of fiction, The Fourth Awakening is grounded in cutting edge science and an emerging new spiritual reality. It offers readers a glimpse of their future.”

The second novel in The Fourth Awakening Series, The Gathering Darkness, has just been released on Kindle. Both books are only .99 cents.

Today I posted an interesting Interview with author Rod Pennington. Read the interview and also learn Fourth Awakening Series and Rod Pennington .

Linda

Gloria Vanderbilt and son, Anderson Cooper

Today on Anderson Cooper’s new talk show, he had on his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, now 87 years of age. I love Anderson Cooper; love his compassion, his humor, and I see how he got a lot of those traits from his mother. It was a good show.

They discussed the suicide of Anderson’s brother in 1988 at the age of 23. (He fell from a 13 story balcony, his mother unable to stop him.) Anderson mentioned how difficult it is facing life’s tragedies, and asked his Mom to share how to survive loss. This is what she said:

“You breathe in and out; you breathe in and you breathe out, and you live one moment into the next moment, and then time goes by, and you find you’re able to put one foot in front of the other.” ~Gloria Vanderbilt, 2011.

Unconditional Love

"Unconditional love, not only for yourself, but for God, for every man, woman, and child who walks the earth, and for all who live in other dimensions is the mission of life. It is also the foundation of the universe. Love for each and every one of God's creations. That is the movement of the universe–the spiral of love, which enfolds, embraces, All that Is."

~Dr. James Martin Peebles, Spirit Guide, From Three Principles of Angelic Wisdom by Linda Pendleton

In Memory

In Memory We will always remember those who lost their lives and those who so gallantly risked their lives to save others. May peace and healing come to the families and friends of those lost, and to the many rescue workers and others who were touched by this tragedy. – Linda "America, America! God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!" Katherine Lee Bates (1859-1929) "The land of the free and the home of the brave." –Francis Scott Key (1779–1843) "I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murders, and for a time they seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of this. Always." –Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear–not absence of fear." –Mark Twain (1835–1910) "This land is your land, this land is my land, from California, to the New York Island From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters This land was made for you and me." –Woody Guthrie (1912–1967) "There is nothing we cannot live down, rise above, and overcome." –Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1855–1919) "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." –Bible, 2 Timothy 1:7 "Okay, there's a group of us and we're going to do something... If they're going to drive this plane into the ground we've got to do something." –Thomas Burnett (1963–2001) Passenger, Flight 93, Sept. 11, 2001 "We've decided, we're going to do it." –Jeremy Glick (1970–2001) Passenger, Flight 93, Sept. 11, 2001 "Are you guys ready? Let's roll!" –Todd Beamer (1917–2001) Passenger, Flight 93, Sept. 11, 2001 "Imagine there's no country, it isn't hard to do, nothing to kill or die for, and no religion, too. Imagine all the people living life in peace." –John Lennon (1940–1980) "Never in this world can hatred be stilled by hatred; it will be stilled only by non-hatred–that is the law Eternal." –Buddha (568-488 B.C.) "If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." –Seneca (c. 4 B.C.–65 A.D.) "We should always be at war with injustice. Always." –Maya Angelou (1928–) "Only the just man enjoys peace of mind." –Epicurus (371–270 B.C.) "To correct the evils, great and small, which spring from want of sympathy and from positive enmity among strangers, as nations and as individuals, is one of the highest functions of civilization." –Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) "When written in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity." –John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." –Sun Tzu (c. early 4th Century B.C.) "If you want to heal, give. When you need comfort and strength, give to others. By helping other people, you can begin to heal." –Dr. Phil McGraw "Until you have become really in actual fact a brother of everyone, brotherhood will not come to pass. Only by brotherhood will liberty be saved." –Feodor Dostoevski (1821–1881) "Life has its ups and downs. When you are down, the angels are waiting to lift you up." –Linda Pendleton “We must be willing to get rid of the life we planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” –Joseph Campbell, (1904-1987)

“I believe that peace becomes possible when we choose to make peace

an attitude and a habit. I believe that the reality of peace begins within each of us….” ~Mattie J. T. Stepanek, (1990-2004) Just Peace, A Message of Hope

Twenty-Four Years Later, To Dance With Angels

"This great book correlates with all that I have learned in my own longtime studies of life and death. It should be read by all who wonder about the magic of life. It is powerful, it is beautiful, and it rings with truth. I loved it!"—Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D.,Famed Thanatologist and Author of On Death and Dying

A new edition of our book, To Dance With Angels, is now in Kindle and in print. I have written an Introduction for this new edition. The book was first published in hardcover in 1990, then in tradepaper, paperback, and again in tradepaper. I regained my rights recently, and this is the new edition, twenty-four years after we first wrote the book.

Twenty-four Years LaterIt is often difficult for me to realize that it has been twenty-one years since To Dance With Angels was first published. Our book was written in 1987 and we celebrated the hardcover publication in August of 1990.

Over these nearly twenty-five years, some things have changed, some have not. Life is never static, although we often think of it in that way. Time moves on, and change takes place. The wise Dr. Peebles, who you will learn a lot about in our book, often told us from his home on the spirit side that change is inevitable and much of the pain we experience in life may be because we resist change instead of embracing it and allowing ourselves to flow with it. He also tells us that embracing change is what spiritual growth is all about.

I write this now with my husband, Don Pendleton no longer at my side in a physical sense, but still very much a part of my life. Don passed on to the other side in October, 1995. He now dances alongside Dr. Peebles, and I’m sure they often get together and kick up their heels in joy! My connection to Don has not been broken. I am even more convinced than ever that consciousness survives the shedding of the physical body.

Thomas Jacobson retired from his spiritual work with Dr. Peebles a few years ago, but two of his students, Summer Bacon and Athena Demetrios have each, for a number of years, carried on Dr. Peebles’ communication with us here on this side of the veil through their channeling and mediumship. We wrote about both Summer and Athena in our book.

James Martin Peebles was born in Vermont in 1822, and died in Los Angeles, days short of his one-hundredth birthday. While writing about Dr. Peebles’ spiritual psychology I became fascinated with his terrestrial life. He was a teacher, clergyman, physician, prolific author, world traveler and lecturer, a leader in the worldwide Spiritualist movement of the 19th century and was himself, a medium. Throughout his life he was surrounded by what he called his "band of angels," and often received communication, inspiration, and guidance from them.

He was active in anti-slavery, temperance, and women's suffrage movements; a member of the American Indian Peace Commission; a delegate to several international peace commissions; and was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant to serve as Consul to Turkey in 1869.

In 2000, I published Three Principles of Angelic Wisdom, a follow-up to this book. The e-book edition of Three Principles of Angelic Wisdom was chosen as an EPPIE Nonfiction Finalist in 2002, awarded for excellence in electronic books. I enjoyed writing the book with Dr. Peebles and having the opportunity to delve more into his terrestrial life and the parallels between his long life on Earth and his life now on the other side.

The response we have received from readers of To Dance With Angels over the years has been very heartwarming. Apparently, for many, not only was the book inspirational, but also life-changing.

Enjoy the angelic wit, wisdom, and love of Dr. James Martin Peebles as the veil between worlds is parted within these pages. The book is structured around in-depth interviews with this grand spirit through the mediumship of Thomas Jacobson, hailed as “the clearest window to the other side.” These frequently startling, always entertaining and illuminating conversations touch upon every facet of human (and non-human) experience as Dr. Peebles freely and candidly regales the reader with his thoughts on birth and death; heaven and hell; past and future lives; ghosts and guardian angels; love and sexuality; cosmic realties...and that is only the beginning.

Our contact with Dr. Peebles through the mediumship of Thomas Jacobson was life-changing for both of us. As writers and researchers of many areas of the paranormal, our studies into near-death experiences (Don had two of his own), past life regression, spirit communication, miracles, angel encounters, was invaluable. Don and I both looked at life in a somewhat different way as a result. The magic and beauty that we both believed life held, was intensified by our new discoveries.

As we wrote more than two decades ago, “This was a book that had to be written as we could not keep this information to ourselves.”

I am pleased to be able to continue to share our book in this print edition, along with an e-book edition.

It is my hope that To Dance With Angels will be considered a classic in spiritual literature for generations to come.

Enjoy the dance!

Linda Pendleton,
August, 2011


Excerpt from To Dance With Angels, by Don and Linda Pendleton; 2011 Edition
© Copyright 2011 by Linda Pendleton, All Rights Reserved.

The Bridge Across

In our book, Whispers From the Soul, the Divine Dance of Consciousness, Don and I wrote about the spiritual experiences of a man we called "David," and I share it here with you:

"THE BRIDGE ACROSS
We met a most absorbing man a few years ago, who here we will identify only as David. He served in Korea as a combat medic then entered the seminary following the war, became an alcoholic, and later was a leader in the Alcoholics Anonymous Twelve-Step Program. He is an unusual man in many ways but we were particularly moved by his wartime experiences in Korea, which especially meet the theme of our book. As a young medic in Korea, David had shielded many wounded soldiers with his own body while attending their injuries and carrying them across mine-fields and other combat hazards to sanctuary, often to the point of total exhaustion. During one of those mine-field rescues, in the middle of a snow storm, confused even as to his exact position and the direction of safety as he crawled along with a wounded soldier slung onto his back, he became convinced that his mother's voice was guiding him toward safety. He followed that advice and completed his mission without harm. Even today, all these years later, his face becomes wet with tears as he recounts this story. This young medic's mother had died when he was but nine years old. This was not his only encounter with a guiding hand on the battlefield. Another time, totally emotionally drained and probably on the verge of combat shock, he had staggered to the ground and was just sitting there, unable to continue, when a uniformed stranger paused beside him for a moment to reassure him with a smile and a nod, and said, 'It'll be okay.' The stranger went on his way and somehow that brief encounter with a kindly face amidst all the terror reinvigorated David and gave him the strength to return to his unit and safety. It was not until later that he realized that this 'helping hand' was not dressed like the other soldiers in the area and displayed no recognizable insignia on his uniform. To this day, David believes that he had been given the strength to go on, by an angel."

Copyright, 2000, 2003 by Linda Pendleton.

The Divine Hologram?

In his sensitively insightful book, Earth In The Balance, Vice President Al Gore wrote, “It is my own belief that the image of God can be seen in every corner of creation, even in us, but only faintly. By gathering in the mind's eye all of creation, one can perceive the image of the Creator vividly. Indeed, my understanding of how God is manifest in the world can be best conveyed through the metaphor of the hologram.”

His book is essentially centered around environmental concerns but these issues are crucial to the entire human race. It is particularly striking that he used the hologram as a metaphor which best illustrates his own sense of connection to the eternal.

He went on to state, "If we are made in the image of God, perhaps it is the myriad slight strands from earth's web of life–woven so distinctly into our essence...that reflects the image of God, faintly. By experiencing nature in its fullest–our own and that of all creation–with our senses and with our spiritual imagination, we can glimpse, 'bright shining as the sun,' an infinite image of God."

Long before the advent of supercomputers and holograms, another splendid thinker arrived at similar but much more dramatic conclusions. Dr. Gustaf Strömberg's The Soul of The Universe, was published in 1940 and again in 1948 with additional appendices. His book was endorsed by none other than Einstein himself but it received less than glowing praise from the scientific community per se, perhaps because the book smacked uncomfortably of mysticism done up in scientific garb. Strömberg, an American of Swedish birth, was an astronomer and astrophysicist associated with the Carnegie Institution's Mount Wilson Observatory. His stunning thesis is a prime example of genius unacknowledged in the context of its time.

Perhaps it took an Albert Einstein to recognize it. Einstein's cover blurb for the jacket of the book reads, "Very few men could of their own knowledge present the material as clearly and concisely as he has succeeded in doing." In his native Sweden, Strömberg was highly respected and the flags throughout Sweden were flown at half-mast in observance of his death in 1962.

Here is a brief sample of Strömberg's vision: “Matter and life and consciousness have their "roots" in a world beyond space and time. They emerge into the physical world at certain well defined points or sources from which they expand in the form of guiding fields with space and time properties. Some of the sources can be identified with material particles, and others with the living elements responsible for organization and purposeful activity. Some of them exist in our brain as neurones, and some of them have a very intimate and special association with their ultimate origin. They are the roots of our consciousness and the sources of all our knowledge."

Earlier in his writings, Strömberg had observed: "All our mental characteristics and faculties have their origin in the non-physical world. There lies the origin of our sensations of light and colors, and of sound and music. There is the origin of our feelings and emotions, and of our will and our thoughts. There is the source of our feelings of satisfaction and bliss, and of guilt and remorse. Our nerve cells seem to be the links which connect our physical brain with the world in which our consciousness is rooted. At death our "brain field," which during our life determined the structure and functions of our brain and nervous system, is not destroyed. Like other living fields it contracts and disappears at death, apparently falling back to the level of its origin. All our memories are indelibly "engraved" in this field, and after our death, when our mind is no longer blocked by inert matter, we can probably recall them all, even those of which we were never consciously aware during our organic life."

It is interesting to see how both the scientific and philosophical points of view today seem to be moving toward complimentary conclusions about the universe and man's place in it with much more coherence than ever noted before. Many brilliant thinkers, poets, philosophers, medical doctors, physicists and scholars are all bringing forward a sharper focus on the nature of reality. Side by side with science, we have had this quieter explosion of spiritual investigation and discovery.


From Whispers From the Soul: the Divine Dance of Consciousness by Don and Linda Pendleton. Copyright © 2000, 2003 by Linda Pendleton, All Rights Reserved.

She Talks to Angels

Do you?




~Linda

OTHER LIVES, OTHER TIMES

During the years since the first wide exposure to past-life philosophies, a virtual sub-culture has developed intimately involving medical practitioners and researchers, therapists and scientists, who have begun to strongly legitimize reincarnationist thought in the Western world.

Not long after Edgar Cayce's work gained worldwide interest, Morey Bernstein's The Search For Bridey Murphy became an international best seller and enthralled several continents with its publication in 1956. This past-life study has become a classic and opened doors within minds everywhere which had been closely sealed by both science and Western religion.

Bridey Murphy was a woman who was reportedly born in Cork, Ireland in 1798 and died in Belfast in 1864, at the age of sixty-six, later born again in Iowa in 1923 as Ruth Mills whose married name was Simmons. Under regression techniques employed by hypnotist Morey Bernstein, Ruth Simmons (as Bernstein identified her), a Colorado housewife, was able to recall events of past earth lives as Bridey Murphy and a short life as an infant in New Amsterdam, which was later to become known as New York. Bernstein's interest in reincarnation and hypnosis was inspired by his studies of Edgar Cayce and had spent time with the A.R.E. in Virginia Beach. He was therefore delighted to find an excellent subject, capable of deep trance states, when he met Ruth Simmons. His book, which recounts in great detail his sessions with Mrs. Simmons, has been hailed by researchers as one of the most thoroughly documented cases ever developed. At the urging of Bernstein's editor, an independent investigation was conducted in Ireland which established the historical validity of many of the facts related by Bridey Murphy while Ruth Simmons was in trance.

A Chicago newspaper ran a highly unfavorable story about the case. Professor C. J. Ducasse, an eminent scholar associated with Brown University and a lecturer at the Universities of California, Chicago, Michigan, Columbia and Cornell, rose to the defense of Bernstein and Simmons in his book, A Critical Examination of the Belief in a Life After Death which included an article titled “How the Case of the Search for Bridey Murphy Stands Today.” Ducasse's conclusions totally exonerated Ruth Simmons of any suspicion of fraud and characterized Bernstein as a serious student of hypnosis and reincarnation. Of course, for many who were aware of the newspaper's attack but would be unlikely to read this scholarly defense by Professor Ducasse, the damage had already been done and many no doubt believe, to this day, that the entire Bridey Murphy incident was some sort of a hoax. So much for responsible journalism.

Another highly interesting study of reincarnation is being conducted by Professor of Psychiatry Ian Stevenson, M.D., of the University of Virginia Medical School. He has documented more than two thousand cases of children who have reported past life experiences and his ongoing work has been published by the University of Virginia Press and in numerous medical journals. His Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation has aroused considerable interest around the world and is regarded as almost a textbook by serious students of the subject. The children reported in his studies cover the full range of ethnic backgrounds, about half from European heritage and with strong ties to the Judeo-Christian ethos where reincarnationist ideas are largely alien to the culture. Among the most interesting cases involve very young children who begin speaking in a language foreign to their present environment (xenoglossy) and never encountered during their present lives. Many have very detailed recall of experiences during a previous lifetime even identifying towns or villages, neighborhoods, family members (some still living and verifiable), personalities and mannerisms–and some can even describe their own death in the earlier life.

Excerpt for Don and Linda Pendleton's Whispers From the Soul: The Divine Dance of Consciousness

As Light as a Feather

My newest publication, in Print and Kindle. This is a collection of my articles and various World of Spirit blog posts over the last three years. I would say I decided to be selfish and publish them in these formats to have my own record of my writings. Hopefully, you will enjoy them, also.

Within this book, As Light as a Feather, Spiritual Tidbits to Ponder, Linda Pendleton shares a number of her nonfiction writings, most with a definite underlying theme of spirituality, and even what many may prefer to call new age or new thought. Actually there is nothing “new” about any of it. Linda has enjoyed blogging for several years and uses As Light as a Feather as another avenue to share inspiration and food for thought. She writes of near death experiences, spirit guides, mediumship, angels, reincarnation, UFOs, spirituality, meditation, grief, life after death, spirit communication, and other areas of metaphysics and the paranormal, in such a way as to lend credibility and normalcy to spiritual experiences. 

The Stream of Life

The bridges across the flowing stream of eternal life may sometimes be more inferred than apparent–a movement more of soul and heart than of body and mind. Is a piano or violin more real than the melody it produces simply because the instrument may be touched, taken apart and examined while the melody which defines its existence lingers only in the mind once the instrument is silenced? Is a life experience more real only because science may examine it or does a finer essence produce its melodies and define its existence?

This flowing stream which is life in continual expression throughout the universes is both the instrument and the melody, the cause and the effect, the song and the singer. One may not be divorced from the other because it cannot exist without the other. There is a word which is also a sound; it is Om, which simply means, and simply says, I Am–and with that word, that sound, it is said that all there is was created...in the beginning.

~Linda

From our book, Whispers From the Soul: The Divine Dance of Consciousness

Photo by Linda Pendleton

Meditation and Communication

We all have spirit guides who work closely with us. Meditation is the opportune time for you to communicate, through visual or auditory efforts. Within the slightly altered state of meditation, you hear messages with somewhat more clarity. Do you recall times when you were caught up in negativity and could have used some spiritual insight to move you more swiftly into the positive? Have you been given spiritual answers from time to time? Within the dream state, do you often feel you leave the body and have a communion, an opportunity for nurturing and uplifting of the soul?

“Our life is what our thoughts make it.”
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180)

Effective meditation can help us to become more balanced and centered in our full expression of life’s wondrous gifts, more resilient, more understanding and accepting of other points of view, more compassionate and sympathetic, more intuitive and creative, more responsive to the universal flow of life in which we are immersed.


~Linda

The Loss of a Friend

I lost a dear friend today. So unexpected. I’m still in shock as I know all her family and friends are. I feel the emptiness that her death leaves me with. She was a true friend, the type of friend that we could share any personal thing with the other, and we each understood.

We first met in 1992, and then in 1996 she moved to Sedona where I was living and our friendship grew closer—and then we both, at about the same time, moved back to California eight years ago, and live a few miles apart.

We emotionally supported each other through difficult times--and good times. She often worked for me reading and edited my manuscripts while in process—and did things around my office when it was difficult for me.

She loved, loved, animals and would be happy when she would see a dog or two being walked by their owner. We loved going out for Mexican food. We would cry together when we listened to Susan Boyle sing.

A couple of months ago, she had to put her dog to sleep and just two days ago, her cat. Two days before that we had talked about it being time to put the cat to sleep, something that should have been done before. You know how it is, we hang onto our pets, often much longer than we should. I told her, like my cat, Snickers who I lost last fall, her cat was also telling her it was time to go. She said she knew it was, and would do it on Saturday. She said she was also looking forward to being free. No animals to care for. My thought was that would not last long as she would probably have another before too long.

Tuesday she died. And now she is free.

Too young, with still so much love to give and life to live.

I will miss Anne so much.



Friendship

A friendship
is a special, unique state of being-
an entity readily identified
without resort to vows, spiritual or intellectual,
and without recourse to sacraments,
dispensations, or decrees...
A friendship is a private thing.

A friendship is not a casual thing-
nor, indeed, is it a thing at all:
it is an essence-a source of things-
yet more than an idea, much more
than a suggestion,
and nothing at all like an inspiration;
a friendship is simply a movement, and a meeting,
and a recognition within pure spirit.

A friendship is a romance without flesh-
a love affair with no affair-
a blending of the best that we may offer
one another:
it does not demand, it does not fulfill,
and it does not sustain the members...
But it is there, silent and unassuming,
happy and understanding, always ready
for instant use;
and it need not be fed, requires no special shelter,
and is big enough to stretch across any distance.

So, say not farewell to me, my friends:
farewell is a strange word, spoken in an alien
tongue,
and having no meaning in the framework
of the feelings we share together.

Say, instead: let’s meet again.
~Don Pendleton (1927-1995)


© Copyright 2011 Linda Pendleton

Peace Within

Love, compassion and understanding has to begin with the individual. We cannot have peace throughout the world unless we first find peace within ourselves and with our neighbors next door. If we cannot achieve that, then there seems to be little hope that we can ever usher in a kinder, wiser, and healthier planet. And there we go with that four letter word again–love, love, love!

~Don and Linda Pendleton, from Whispers From the Soul, the Divine Dance of Consciousness.

Mattie Stepanek, Poet and Peacemaker

Tonight I watched Friday’s Oprah show with Jeni Stepanek, the mother of young Mattie J.T. Stepanek, poet, author, and peacemaker. Mattie died in June 2004, not long before his 14th birthday. Again seeing Mattie brought me tears but also smiles. I have always had a place in my heart for that kid with that warm smile and the twinkle in his eyes. I’ve always been so moved and inspired by the wisdom and love he possessed. If you do not know Mattie’s story, please visit his website and read about him. He came into life with such hardship and he lived with pain and yet he set that aside and lived with joy and hope, and dedicated his life to love and peace.

I have all of Mattie’s Heartsongs poetry books, and his book, Just Peace, A Message of Hope by Mattie J.T. Stepanek, with Jimmy Carter, Edited by Jennifer Smith Stepanek.

I also have Messenger: The Legacy of Mattie J.T. Stepanek and Heartsongs, written by Mattie’s mother, Jeni, and with a Foreword by Maya Angelou. This memoir gives readers intimate details about Mattie’s earliest years through his final days of life.

I believe former President Jimmy Carter said it best at the memorial for Mattie when he said, “since I left the White House, my wife and I have been to more than 120 nations. And we have known kings and queens, and we’ve known presidents and prime ministers, but the most extraordinary person whom I have ever known in my life is Mattie Stepanek.”

Although Jeni has the same disease her four children had, she is carrying on Mattie’s cause of peace in our world.

As Jeni’s book says, Mattie was a Messenger. He was an angel and while here on earth he deeply touched many of us. And I’m sure he is now carrying on his inspiration from the Other Side.

One of his last comments:

“Choose to inhale, don't breathe simply to exist." -Mattie J.T. Stepanek (1990-2004), Poet and Peacemaker

Read my review of Mattie’s book, Just Peace.

~Linda

Heaven's a Fairy Tale??

Physicist/Cosmologist Stephen Hawking is at it again. It seems ever so often he denounces God or anything to do with an afterlife. This time he says that there is no heaven or afterlife and that it is a “fairy story.”

He will be giving a talk at the Google Zeitgeist meeting in London, in which he will address the question: "Why are we here?"

The article in the Guardian states he will argue that tiny quantum fluctuations in the very early universe became the seeds from which galaxies, stars, and ultimately human life emerged. He is quoted as saying, "Science predicts that many different kinds of universe will be spontaneously created out of nothing. It is a matter of chance which we are in."

He also states. “I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.”

Sure doesn’t seem like chance or nothing in my opinion. Life is complex and beautiful, and yes, full of mystery and magic. I would have thought as he aged his views of life and death would have broadened. He made a comment of people being afraid of death. It appears those who do believe in an afterlife and believe that consciousness and love lives on after death of the physical body tend to have less fear and even a sense of comfort. And those who believe in God hold the universe and life more sacred than those who do not.

I feel bad for him that he has not found a sense of connection to a higher Universal power. I wrote a previous blog several months ago about his comments then, and in that I quoted what my husband, Don Pendleton wrote nearly 20 years ago about Hawking, in his book, A Search for Meaning From the Surface of a Small Planet:

"Why do I worry for Stephen Hawking? I suppose it is a fear that I have misinterpreted his moving forces, and that what I have characterized above as "unemotional scientific detachment" is in fact an almost passionate desire to live in an alternative universe without God. If that be true, to whatever degree, then his inner world will almost certainly be at cross purposes to his work in the outer." ~Don Pendleton, A Search for Meaning From the Surface of a Small Planet.

Read more of what Don wrote in regards to Stephen Hawking: An excerpt from A Search for Meaning From the Surface of a Small Planet
Read the Guardian Hawking Interview

Available in Print and Kindle




Linda

Angelic Whispers of Love, Inspirational Messages from the Angels

 Angelic Whispers of Love is now in print and in kindle

We are never alone. We are surrounded by the love, wisdom, and guidance of spiritual Beings of Light-our angels and spirit guides from the Other Side. Within the pages of Angelic Whispers of Love, Linda Pendleton shares messages she has received from the world of spirit, messages overflowing with love and inspiration.

"Listen for the flutter of an angel's wing as it softly touches you with love. Embrace it and join in the dance!" ~Linda Pendleton

James H. Hyslop's Quotation on Existence of Spirits

James H. Hyslop (1854-1920), Columbia University Professor of Logic and Ethics, author, and paranormal researcher, played a major role in psychic research during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In his 1918 book, Life After Death, Hyslop states, "I regard the existence of discarnate spirits as scientifically proved and I no longer refer to the skeptic as having any right to speak on the subject. Any man who does not accept the existence of discarnate spirits and the proof of it is either ignorant or a moral coward. I give him short shrift, and do not propose any longer to argue with him on the supposition that he knows anything about the subject.''

Contacting ~ Communicating with Spirits

I believe many spiritual experiences could be labeled peak experiences or mystical experiences. And that includes contact with spirit, whether spontaneous or by choice. Any contact or communication with spirits can be awe-inspiring, confirming, healing, unifying. Realizing that one is not alone and that there is a connection to the Divine is empowering. Accepting that we are all spiritual beings, whether in the physical body as a spiritual being, or on the other side as a spiritual being; we are all one and the same.

When we begin to acknowledge that we are connected to one another, to the Divine, we have laid the groundwork to sharpen our higher spiritual sense. We are powerful transmitters and receivers. If we learn to think of communication with spirit as an exchange of energy, a radio signal, or an open telephone line, it becomes a normal event, and there is nothing paranormal about it. I personally like Joseph Campbell's explanation of a peak experience as the moments in our lives when we experience our "relationship to the harmony of being."

Have you ever had a mystical or peak experience?
Did it result in positive changes or new understandings?
Have you had a mystical experience that changed your life or your view of life?
Have you experienced a holistic connection during the end of life of a loved one? Or during grief?
What spiritual experiences have you had, either large or small that resulted in healing?

~Linda

 

First Spiritual Temple, Boston, 1885

Founded by Marcellus Ayer

Marcellus Ayer (1839-1921), a teacher, and successful grocer, loved the concept of Spirit and spiritual communication and considered it a doorway into life’s most amazing mysteries and revelations. He considered Spiritualism a gift to Humanity; not limited to one group, nor limited to simple phenomena. It was a gift for all people, of all faiths and denominations.

In the early 1880’s Ayer received inspiration and messages about establishing a church. It was to be a place:

From which the voice of God and Spirit could speak to all people, from all religious and spiritual backgrounds.

From which both the religious and scientific implications of Spirit phenomena and communication could be examined, free from dogma and prejudice.

From which mediumship would not be used to prove one's religious beliefs.

In which the medium would never surpass the message.

He founded the church in 1883, and on April 9, 1884, the cornerstone for the building to be known as The First Spiritual Temple was laid at the corner of Exeter and Newbury Streets, in the Back Bay section of Boston, Massachusetts. It was a beautiful ceremony, with many people in attendance.

The First Spiritual Temple was dedicated and consecrated on September 26th, 27th, and 28th, 1885. Over 1,200 people filled the sanctuary and walked through the Temple's library, lecture hall, and multitude of classrooms. The church grew until about 1910. Soon after the building was converted into Boston's legendary Exeter Street Theatre.

Marcellus Ayer was an avid proponent of the Suffrage Movement and women's rights. He also devoted his energies to expounding health and hygiene. He was very much involved in pioneer psychical research and worked very closely with the renowned medium, Andrew Jackson Davis.

The church and the Ayer Institute is active today in Brookline, MA. The Ayer Institute is “Dedicated to Understanding The Journey of the Soul and the Gifts of the Spirit.”

~Linda