THOSE WHO CAME BACK
FROM THE DEAD

Jozef Rulof

Chapter II
There is no death, there is only life

World Wide Web version
© 2014 'De Eeuw van Christus'

ONE day a woman came to see me, requesting a diagnosis. The diagnosis which I was allowed to assess through my leader Alcar implied: ‘Nothing you can do about it, but you can give her relief.’

How am I going to tell her, I thought, but while I was thinking of this she interrupted me saying: ‘I know what you are going to tell me.’

I looked at her and thought: Does she know her condition?

‘The doctors’, she said, ‘have given me up, I need not tell you any more.’

It was overwhelming, the courage to admit her illness and to accept this fate, few people were able to. It required strength and personality.

Then she asked me: ‘But you can give me some relief, can’t you?’

I wondered whether she was clairvoyant and clairaudient as she had read my thoughts and diagnosis so accurately. She was certainly sensitive and extremely susceptible.

I answered: ‘I can’t restore your previous condition, but I can most certainly ease your condition.’

She placed herself in my hands. After two months, however, I had to continue the treatment at her home as it had become too tiring for her to visit me. Her illness deteriorated visibly. I told her that my first book was being published and she became the first person to order it.

How surprised I was when my leader said at the same moment: ‘She will not live to read it!’ His words were short, but to the point.

Not read it, I thought, that means that she will soon pass over, for my book would appear in two months. This was a most remarkable message, it meant the death of my patient with whom I had become such good friends. I did not doubt for a moment the truth of what my leader had told me, but I did not discuss it with her.

Jeanne, as she was called, was convinced of eternal life and we often had stimulating conversations. She told me a lot about her life but her conversation always returned to life after death, she was profoundly interested in it. I got to know her as a strong personality. She was broad-minded for she had learned in life to acquire the positive powers. When she told me about her life she was like a little girl even though she was past fifty. Inwardly she carried a great treasure, she had an unaffected nature, loving everybody who came to her, gentle in feeling and ready to help others.

‘You never know’, she said, ‘how you may need them yourself one day. I have always kept that in mind.’

One morning she told me: ‘When I have arrived in the hereafter I’ll come and visit you from there. You will see me, won’t you? Or don’t you think so?’

I said nothing, but smiled and thought: How does a person, a patient arrive at such an idea?

‘Don’t laugh, I’ll come back to the earth’, she continued. ‘Would you like that, Jozef? Just imagine how beautiful, how marvellous it would be to be allowed to experience that. At least’, she added, ‘if I may, for you just cannot do there what you want. I have read about it and know quite a lot about the difficulties connected with it. So many say that they will return but you don’t see them or hear from them. Others come and manifest themselves to their relatives and tell them that they are happy and alive. Yes, life there must be wonderful. People should think deeper about these things, but most of them are afraid. How lovely to be there, to know that you are alive and still know everything about your life on earth, don’t you think so?’

‘Yes’, I said, ‘it is mighty and it makes you happy.’

‘One must have led a good life’, Jeanne continued, ‘otherwise it is not possible. What’s your opinion about it?’

‘I agree with you’, I answered, though meanwhile I thought of other things. They were beautiful words I was listening to and many people could take an example from it.

I knew of people who had no appreciable illnesses and who were already afraid of dying. Jeanne spoke of death as a real friend, she had great strength, it convinced her of an other life.

I continued: ‘It is there as you say. You must inwardly possess the power to return to the earth. Not everybody who arrives there can make contact with people on earth right away. That is quite difficult and we have to acquire it. Those are laws, Jeanne, is spiritual property, love that we must feel for all life that God has created. That is why so many people cannot come back, they don’t know themselves. They may indeed be in the sphere of the earth but do not have and know the power to reach material beings. They wander in our vicinity impatiently waiting for the moment to come into contact. That is a terrible situation, having to live in it means much struggle, sorrow and grief. They thought that life in the spirit would be like this life, but that is not true. It depends on the radiation man has which is power of love, personality or however you want to call it.

There are people living on the side beyond who do not even know that they died on earth. You can imagine how far these people are away from the truth. They should first realize that they discarded their material body and that is very difficult. Oh, if people only knew how natural life on the side beyond is, how real, how human; they would change their way of life and be prepared to learn to know themselves. But they live their material life and who does so cannot connect himself with people on earth. However, they will also receive help, that’s why there are higher spirits. They escort them to the earth to connect them with their relatives. But to do this individually spiritual assets are required.’

‘Don’t you find it sad, Jozef, not to know that you have died on earth? It seems to me something terrible.’

‘Indeed, Jeanne, it is spiritual poverty. These are people who have forgotten themselves and never thought of eternal life.’

‘Then I am a happy one, Jozef, for I already know a lot about it, and I’m not afraid of death.’

Jeanne was lost in thought and spoke on.

‘Why’, I heard her say, ‘Why don’t people want to be convinced? When they hear talk of death they shudder with fear and yet it can be so lovely.’

‘What do you mean by lovely, Jeanne?’

‘I was thinking of this world. It could be so beautiful here if people knew, really knew that they will live on and attune to that other life. Then there wouldn’t be so much sorrow, there would be happiness for everyone, a great and mighty happiness. They would not kill their fellowmen and love everything alive. That is how I visualize the earth and that is what I was thinking of.’

Jeanne was a searcher of the good. She expressed my thoughts and I wanted to give myself entirely for that purpose. Yes, the earth would then be a lovely place and all would be children of God.

‘Oh’, Jeanne continued, ‘I don’t know where I shall arrive, whether I possess light or darkness, but I’m certain of one thing, I have never been bad. I haven’t done anybody harm, at any rate not consciously. If people talked about me or if they annoyed me I left and ignored them. Then you can remain calm and they can’t hurt you for you are in control. I learned that from my mother. She was brave, wise and sensitive. People who can’t do that have to learn it. Mastering this is not so easy, it takes half a lifetime and many still fail. They get angry for no reason at all and in the life beyond we are not allowed to get angry, for there is only peace. If it were not like that, life would not be worth living. No, Jozef, I have not been bad, at least not intentionally. But people sin without being aware of it, isn’t that true? And sometimes we commit very great sins, which we have to make up. God will know where my place will be. Every human being sees light and receives his place according to the way he lived. He assigns his own place in the hereafter. That is the way I feel it, that’s how it will be. Isn’t that so, Jozef?’

‘That’s right, Jeanne.’ I wondered how she had received all this wisdom.

‘God knows all people’, I continued. ‘Nobody can hide from Him. However thick safes and buildings are, God sees through them. He knows all His children.’

‘I really enjoy talking to you about these matters, it never bores me and I could carry on forever. Through talking you realize that you are alive and you feel your blood circulate. ‘Accept life’, my mother used to say, ‘and don’t be afraid if things do not turn out the way we want to.’ Yes, mother was wise. Oh’, she continued, ‘I have no fear of death even if I had to start that unknown journey tomorrow. The sooner the better! Life on this earth is not so pleasant! You work day and night and you have no rest, always faced with misery. There hasn’t been much sunshine in my life. For years I lamented things I had wanted to experience, but weren’t destined for me. God’s will be done. There is nothing we can do about it. I often thought of what my mother used to say: Accept, child, and take things as they are, it could be a thousand times worse. I learned that too and my dear mother spoke the truth. When you look at other people you do not want to swap your own misery. They have even more struggle, grief and misery. You must learn to carry your own cross, others can’t help you with it. Isn’t that so, Jozef?’

‘You are brave, Jeanne’, I said, ‘very brave.’

‘People always look at others’, she continued, ‘but when they know what the others have they don’t want to change places with them. Usually they are cured straightaway. Most people always burden others, which I never did. Wherever they come they tell about their grief, yet nobody can help them. They must cope with it themselves and that is a good thing, otherwise one would lean on others. In this way lives pass without really living. Knowing everything about someone else you feel how happy you still are and you can accept your life which – unnoticed – has become a little lighter. For a while you don’t complain. The sun shines again which does not occur so frequently in man’s life. There are times when you think sorrow is over, but then it returns and you are faced with it again and you begin to worry again. ‘We are here to learn’, my mother said, ‘and what you learn here you don’t have to learn with our Lord.’ Don’t you think that was sensible of her, Jozef?’

‘Very sensible, Jeanne’, I replied.

‘During my life’, Jeanne continued, ‘I have always been like that. What other people did I don’t know, for I never had many friends. When the sun shone I enjoyed it. Soon enough dark clouds would dim the light again. For my mother it was better in the hereafter than on earth, for she was a good person.’

‘Your mother was a wise woman, Jeanne.’

‘Yes, she was, she helped many people, rich and poor. She was not educated but she possessed worldly wisdom. How she knew all this I don’t know, but she always gave advice and every question was readily answered. I believe I have inherited a lot from her, if that is at all possible. In some things I am exactly like her, for in my character I see qualities she also possessed. To her dying was not the end. She said: ‘That is the moment you really begin to live.’

‘It is splendid when people can think that way’, I said, ‘for life is not so difficult then. That is to have great faith which we should all have, then everything becomes easier.’

‘When my mother passed away, Jozef, I was the only one who could control myself. My brothers and sisters had lost their heads and were brokenhearted. I accepted it all as a law and said to them: ‘We surely meet her again.’ But they did not have my faith and had no confidence. To them it was a great loss, for me a short parting. Yes’, Jeanne continued her thoughts, ‘it is indeed a large journey you are going to make, far, very far from the earth and yet it is so near. But you should feel that, clearly feel that or it would be meaningless. For all of us that time will come and we have to pack our cases.’

I could not help laughing, but she continued: ‘You don’t need much for it, though. It is the cheapest journey you’ll ever make and yet it is the biggest. I lie in bed thinking about it a lot, then I get a peculiar feeling and I often dream about it. Some people, I imagine, go through valleys and over mountains and enjoy beautiful scenery on that journey quite distinct from what they see in their own country. They can enjoy them if they are not nervous, for most people will have lost themselves and are afraid of what is ahead of them. I sometimes saw many travellers in front of me and I followed them one by one. Among them I saw people who did not want to make the journey at all. They resisted but they were pushed into the train and went ahead towards the unknown. I saw others who were very sad because they left so many friends and loved ones behind. Especially those who had many children did not want to because those children were left behind by themselves. I saw people who behaved like wild animals, they did not want to go on this journey at all. It all happened so unexpectedly. They would rather stay at home enjoying a glass of wine and a lot of other things. They had such good life on this world and I could well imagine that. Who wants to go to unknown regions if you have such a good life at home? But I also saw people who packed their cases straightaway and started the journey. My own mother for example, she said goodbye to all of us and the journey commenced. I hope that I may depart the way she did. She left in silence and that was splendid, very beautiful. It was exactly as if she was carried into the train. She longed for it, too, and I knew that there were many who accompanied her on her journey. Though I did not see these invisible beings, I did feel them. I also saw people who had gone on their journey without having been able to take leave. They were already on their way before the relatives heard of it, who were naturally stunned by it. Yes, they were sad, very, very sad.’

Suddenly Jeanne said: ‘Do you think I’m talking too much, Jozef?’

‘Not at all, Jeanne.’

Then she went on: ‘Don’t forget that there is nobody here with whom I can discuss these things. People are afraid and when you lie alone like this many things go through you mind. I have seen people travelling through dark tunnels which I could see from far away. Then I thought: Oh, what a difficult time you’ll have because I saw no other way, they had to go through it. Don’t you think what I tell you is silly, Jozef?’

‘No, Jeanne, I enjoy it.’

‘But now the most remarkable thing of it all. I usually dreamt and I saw people in front of me and I knew already what I had been dreaming about. Yes, I knew many people who had to make the journey. Sometimes I heard it a few days later and I wondered if it had any connection with my dream. That won’t be possible, will it? What do you think?’

‘I’ll tell you what I think. In the first place it is possible. Those dreams are imposed. Dreams given you by intelligences who are spirits. I personally feel and see that it can’t be otherwise. A reason that you saw many people start a journey is that the spirits wanted to tell you beforehand so that you experienced their passing away. Those dreams are quite remarkable, you should have recorded them.’

‘Among those I saw pass away were several relatives and this gave me a real fright.

When I have to make my journey I hope there are a lot of mountains around me as I like mountains. I would climb to the top and then look over the entire surroundings. That is lovely! Even as a child I used to climb on anything and my mother had to take me down because I carried out daredevil feats. When I had climbed on top of something I told my mother what I imagined. Yes, they were happy moments with my dear mother. No, Jozef, I’m not afraid to go on the journey.’

‘Where do you get all that wisdom from, Jeanne, from books?’

‘Not all of it, but I feel a lot for nature and, as I said, I learned a lot from my mother. I’ll tell you something which will explain why I am not afraid of death any more. Isn’t that what you mean, Jozef?’

‘Yes’, I said, ‘that’s what I mean.’

‘In former days, as a child, I saw a lot, but when I grew up I did not see much any more. What I want to tell you happened not long ago. At the time I was very frightened, for it happened so unexpectedly. They think that I am out of my mind, or that these are hallucinations but I know what I saw. I do not hallucinate for I’m much too sensible. A person who does not believe in these things and can’t see anything himself thinks that you imagine things. But listen.

A friend of mine died some time ago. It happened quite suddenly and I was very shocked, for I spoke to her only a few days before she passed away. Her name was Greetje and she was a famous artist. You would recognize her name if I mentioned it. She had an accident. I was very upset about this sudden departure and I cried for days on end. I could not understand the reason for it. I was convinced of life after death, but I could not shake this sadness off. A number of times I had spoken with her about spiritualism, for she had a gift, she often saw very clearly though she did not want to have anything to do with it, also because life took too much of her time. This sadness lasted quite some time. Now and then it became a bit easier but suddenly it would return with great intensity. I prayed a lot for Greetje, but that did not help either. Don’t you see her?’ Jeanne interrupted herself, ‘I often get the feeling that she is here.’

‘No, I don’t see her, but I see someone else, I’ll tell you about that later.’

She continued: ‘One night I saw Greetje and I startled terribly. It was exactly four o’clock in the morning when I woke up. I thought to myself, what is up, why am I wide awake? I clearly felt it was something unusual. While I was lying thinking of this I saw her standing in front of me. There she stood, Jozef’, and she pointed to the place where she had observed the apparition. ‘Right in front of my bed! Terrible, I thought and I screamed out for help. My sister who sleeps in the next room came running in and asked what was the matter. ‘What is wrong with you’, she said, ‘you look white?’ My whole body trembled. When I had become calmer I told her what I had seen. Do you know what she thought? ‘Come, child’, she said, ‘you just imagine things. Go back to sleep, I’ll tuck you in.’ But I did not allow myself to be talked out of it. ‘I was not dreaming’, I said, ‘I was wide awake, I have never been more awake. She stood right there!’ But my sister looked at me as if I was Greetje myself. I did not want to frighten her and said no more about it. I did not think I would fall asleep again as I thought about her all the time. Yet I must have fallen asleep for suddenly I woke up again. I immediately thought of Greetje and of what I had seen and sure enough there she stood again in front of my bed. This time I was not frightened at all and remained calm. She looked at me and smiled. Oh, that was lovely, how happy I was, for I felt great happiness come within me which I cannot possibly describe. That moment my sadness and fear of death disappeared. I first rubbed my eyes and I thought: Is it you or isn’t it? But it was Greetje! She smiled again but when I mentioned her name she disappeared the way she had come. I did not understand it and I remained thinking of it for quite some time. I could not find an explanation and I have never seen her again. Did I frighten her and was it my fault that she vanished again so suddenly? Shouldn’t I have mentioned her name? Do you know, Jozef? Can you give me an explanation? Why, I thought, did she show herself to me to disappear straightaway? I found it strange, for I wanted to ask her a lot of questions. Shouldn’t I have mentioned her name?’

‘Listen’, I said, ‘I’ll explain this to you. What you experienced is most interesting. When a spirit manifests itself it does so under its own power. Did you think you saw Greetje through your own ability, through the gift of clairvoyance?’

Jeanne thought about this and said: ‘Yes, because I saw her.’

‘Right, that is what I want to explain. It is just the other way around, Greetje wanted you to see her. So you saw her because she wanted to. Why don’t you see her now? Do you have this gift? Yes, in a small way, because you are sensitive. But now you don’t see anything and that is my point. The spiritual world is now invisible to you because you don’t have the level of sensitivity which the gift of clairvoyance implies, otherwise you would be able to see all the time. Do you understand?’

Again Jeanne thought about it and said after a short while: ‘No, I don’t understand, I can’t grasp it, I really saw her.’

‘Now listen. The moment you saw Greetje you were connected with her, your feelings were united, you felt what Greetje wanted you to feel. That is why she could wake you up so suddenly. During your sleep Greetje contacted you but when you rubbed your eyes this contact could already have been broken because you returned to your own sense of feeling. However, Greetje maintained this contact. You had the same feeling and she could manifest herself as she wanted. She brought you to a higher spiritual level, which was clairvoyancy. In this condition one can only feel. So when you began to speak and mentioned her name you returned to your own thoughts. Your concentration was again focused on yourself, the contact was broken and you saw nothing anymore. For why didn’t you see her later? You were clairvoyant at that moment, weren’t you? You should be able to see her now also, but that is not possible. That is why it is usually the other way around. You broke the connection with Greetje. Most people think they have become clairvoyant but this is not yet their own gift. It is marvellous and a mighty bliss to be allowed to have such an experience, that is if you enjoy it. Greetje may have been there for quite a while, but she could not reach you any more. That was only possible in that unconscious condition. You had returned to your day-consciousness and out of reach for Greetje. In your sleep, as I said, you and Greetje were one in feeling. The way you saw Greetje I can see in my day-consciousness. I can see all the time but only if my leader wants me to. You see, again through contact.

When the spirits must pass on a message they must want to make contact. I open myself and receive and pass on what they have to say to me. It is not so easy to open myself completely, but my leader taught me. When I see, I consciously pass into their life but Greetje pulled you into her present life. Do you understand now why she did not return?’

‘Yes, now I understand, Jozef, it is quite simple.’

‘I know the way I see, Jeanne, and I know all those degrees of clairvoyancy. There are seven degrees, but no clairvoyant on earth can reach the seventh degree. There is a great deal more to tell about this.’

‘You have explained all this to me very clearly. I see, feel and hear that it is true, there is no other explanation. And you see those wonders all the time?’

‘All the time, Jeanne and I can understand that you were frightened. I was also frightened when I saw my leader for the first time and he is even a very high spirit.’

‘Greetje looked wonderful, she beamed all over, but it was such a surprise to see her.’

‘Most people who see something in this way usually break the connection at the same moment for they tried to see it better. But that means returning to their own sense of feeling which disrupts the contact. Greetje probably stayed with you for a long time to see how you would react. This is how our loved ones are around us while man is unaware of their existence. They would love to tell everything about that beautiful and mighty life in which they live, but people are beyond reach. They are around and within us but man does not feel or see them.’

‘Greetje was rejuvenated and beautiful, I saw her as a woman of thirty. If all people could only see for a moment they would not be afraid of death any more. Then the earth would change, because they would live a better life. And that is why I am not afraid any longer. Did Greetje take this sadness away from me? Did she know I felt sad and that I often cried? Can you explain that to me as well? I would like to have heard her voice for a moment. Nevertheless, I thanked God that I was allowed to see her.’

‘I’ll explain this. So it was Greetje?’

‘Yes, nobody else.’

‘She must have been in contact with you, presumably from the moment the accident happened. When we pass over we’ll first of all think of those we loved most of all. The power of love binds us together and we will learn about these spiritual powers only in that life. When Greetje woke up in that life she will certainly have felt that you were mourning. Because she felt that you pulled her back to the earth.’

‘I did?’

‘Yes, you.’

‘How is that possible?’

‘It shows you how strong the power of thought can be. You’ll experience that later when you enter that life. You disturbed her happiness because you were mourning and was connected with her. This is a great handicap to those who arrive there. Greetje came back but saw that you did not see her, yet she tried to change your sadness into happiness in a way you now know. When she showed herself all that misery disappeared and you returned to your own level.’

‘How beautiful that is, Jozef.’

‘It is really worthwhile for these conditions have a deeper meaning. You realize that thousands of people who have passed over are pulled back and when they visit their loved ones they find that they cannot reach them. That is awful and a sorrow springs up so intense and forceful that only spiritualism can solve it. That is why spiritualism is sacred and it is a mighty grace for people to have received this from God. People on earth still know so little about all these laws. So there was only one being who knew that you were mourning and that was Greetje. She knew, she felt it, you were one with her, one in feeling. If Greetje had not been able to reach you and you would have suffered that grief for a long time, life would have become unbearable for you. Those who keep mourning perish and that is not God’s intention, in particular when man is aware of eternal life.’

‘It is touching, so beautiful, Jozef, to see them.’

‘So it is, Jeanne.’

‘How blessed you are that you can always see them.’

‘I am and I would not like to part with my gifts, not for anything in this world.’

Suddenly she said: ‘What is your opinion of me?’

‘My opinion of you?’

‘Yes, I mean about my illness. I won’t get better, for I know what’s wrong with me. There is no cure for me. Do you know that too?’

She looked me straight in the eyes and I felt that she wanted to know the truth, but I looked at something else and pretended that I had not heard her. What makes her think of that so suddenly, I thought. Her question was to the point and too drastic for her condition. I considered this in a split second. I was not yet allowed to tell her this, although she knew much about life after death and was prepared to die. So I avoided the question and kept looking in the other direction where I observed something.

Then she asked: ‘Do you see something?’

‘Yes’, I said, ‘I see an intelligence, a woman. She has been here for quite a while and is waiting to be connected. I already saw her when you began to talk. I think you’ll know her, for you look like her. I’ll describe her.’

I had hardly finished telling her all the particulars of the being I observed when she called out: ‘Oh, mother, are you here? Mother, is it really you? It can’t be anyone else, it is my mother.’

The spirit showed me something, and simultaneously Jeanne said: ‘Here, Jozef, look, here it is.’

She showed me a medallion she was wearing and in which was a portrait of her mother.

‘Where is she, Jozef?’ Jeanne’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I feel mother, Jozef, she is near me. Is that possible? Does she not say anything?’

I saw the spirit who was her mother put her arms around her child and kiss her.

When I observed this Jeanne suddenly called out: ‘I feel her, Jozef, it is as if she has put her arms around me, just as she used to when she kissed me, I can feel it on my cheek!’

I trembled with emotion. Jeanne was clearfeeling, one degree higher and she would be clairvoyant. However, this connection was broken and there followed a short silence. Jeanne felt the peace of the spirit which had entered her as a result of the arrival of her mother. She had to digest all this first, but after a short pause she said very unexpectedly: ‘Do you know, Jozef, what I feel now that my mother and Greetje have come to me?’

‘No’, I said, though I felt what she wanted to say.

‘That I’ll soon be leaving, – die’, she added.

It is amazing, I thought and again her eyes pierced me. How right her words were, but I resisted her gaze and calmly continued: ‘Oh, well, what can I say about it, it is not always connected with death. Suppose everybody would pass away when the relatives manifested themselves. That is not possible, is it? They are often in the sphere of the earth to do work here.’

Meanwhile I thought that in this case it is indeed to come and fetch you, for it won’t be long now. Jeanne was becoming very sensitive. She spoke and felt the truth because it was within her.

But she was not satisfied and said: ‘Is that what you think? I have become so sensitive of late. Sometimes I think I see them, but then I am afraid that I imagine things and I don’t want that.’

Alcar directed me not to tell the truth and to leave. So I completed my visit and left.

It is remarkable indeed, I thought, that she felt the spiritual world now that she was soon to leave the earth. However, I knew all these conditions, with many people I had been allowed to observe these powers and actions. When they were about to start their great journey, as Jeanne phrased it so beautifully, they felt in the spirit and passed over into that life. The sensitivity she already had as a child and had always been within her had now become conscious. I thought she was very brave, I only heard a few speak the way she did. She was not afraid of death, to her death was a trustworthy friend.

One morning when I entered she asked me straightaway: ‘Do tell me, Jozef, when I die will I be loose of my material body at once?’

‘Are you starting again? First good morning and then we’ll see.’ And I first began to treat her.

However, after the treatment she referred to it and asked: ‘Well, what do you think, will I be free from my body? I’ve read about it you see.’ She looked at me like a child and smiled.

A splendid question indeed, I thought. Sick people would not often ask this question for they do not want to hear about death. I admired Jeanne for the way she accepted her situation so completely.

Then I said: ‘Yes, you’ll be free.’

‘Do you know that straightaway?’ She looked at me in surprise and waited for an answer.

‘I’ll tell you how I know: I see and feel it. Are you satisfied now?’

‘No, not yet, I would like to know why and what is the cause of it, you know what I mean.’

‘Well, listen. The way I feel you, I observe your spiritual attunement and see your radiation, I can tell you that you will be free from your material body.’

‘Oh, that is quite simple, I expected to hear quite a story. I am happy, though, for I have been lying and thinking of it for the last few days, it occupied my mind. Suppose, I thought, that I would not be free from my material body! Can you tell me more about it?’

‘I told a lot of it in my book.’

I looked at her and wanted to know how she would react. But she ignored it, and I felt that several problems were occupying her mind.

She was full of the great journey she was going to make and said: ‘If only I don’t have to wait long, I’m prepared to make the journey.’

She had already forgotten her first question and she burst out laughing. Jeanne had a very strong sense of feeling.

She continued: ‘I’m not going through dark tunnels, oh, no, I can see myself already in a beautiful nature! I only hope that I don’t have to suffer too much, then I am most grateful.’

You are a dear, I thought, a real darling. She had a strong faith and profound conviction. I would do everything I could to comfort her as much as possible.

Suddenly she asked: ‘Has your book been printed yet?’

‘No, not yet, but it will soon be.’

‘Fine’, she said, ‘lovely, I like to read it. It is so nice and quiet here.’

Poor Jeanne, she would not read it. It moved me deeply.

‘Tell me something about your book, Jozef, will you? Or can’t you spare the time this morning?’

I had already prepared myself to talk to her. These conversations, as my leader Alcar said to me, would give her the strength to go through everything. They would support her during the difficult hours ahead and also upon her arrival in the spheres.

‘Just ask me something’, I said, ‘what would you like to know.’

She did not need any time to think, she immediately asked: ‘When I die, will I see mother and Greetje right away?’

‘Yes, you’ll see them.’

‘Lovely, I’ll be so happy. I am very curious to know how everything is over there. Will they be waiting for me?’

All we need, I thought, is her asking me whether they would come and fetch her. However, I did not have to tell her as she continued talking herself.

‘Do you believe that I’m looking forward to it? What is there for me in this world? Nothing! Always alone with my sister I cannot relate with. I love the peaceful silence, they have written so much about. Oh, that silence! Have you felt it there? It is hard to believe but I feel it must be true. To be connected forever! Jozef, just think of that. Aren’t you envious that I’ll soon be going there?’

Jeanne was a philosopher, her thoughts were taking her far. She amazed me again and again. Indeed, I would very much prefer to die. Death was the most beautiful thing I could receive on earth. She had the same strong desire. Yet, she had never been in the spheres, she was not clairvoyant and did not possess that great contact I had. I felt nevertheless why she was so sure of everything. Her journey was coming nearer and nearer and the more that time approached the more sensitive she became. It was quite natural, all people should be like that, they should open themselves, death would be no agony but a journey to eternity.

‘How mother will coddle me, Jozef.’

‘What is that?’

‘Coddle’, she repeated. ‘That is a word she used, a word many people have to express something dear. I’m going to live near a high mountain in the hereafter that I can climb whenever I want to. Is that possible?’

‘Yes, that is possible. People build their own homes in the spheres. We have started that on earth, at least those who want to enrich themselves spiritually. Others live in darkness and cold and suffer from spiritual poverty.’

‘I’ll tell you about it when I’m there and may return to you. I’ll pray for it, Jozef, and I know that I can reach you, it would seem quite easy to me. I feel you are a brother and therefore I’ll be able to reach you easily. It is as if I have known you all my life, even though we only met a few months ago. You are so familiar, so open, Jozef, you give yourself entirely, you are like a child and yet you are an adult person. Oh’, she went on, ‘if I am allowed to tell you how I arrived there and how my life is, as well as mother’s and Greetje’s on the side beyond, I can’t imagine how mighty it will be to experience all this. Yes, I’ll pray for it and keep on praying that God will hear my prayer. I also pray that it will not be long now, for I’m longing to be with mother and Greetje.’

‘It is wonderful that you can talk about it with such relaxation.’

‘For that I’m most grateful to God and I’m happy that I have met you.’

Jeanne lapsed again in deep meditation and when I concentrated on her I saw and felt that she had entered into spiritual contact.

‘Did you see it too?’ she asked unexpectedly, as if she knew that I followed her.

‘Yes, I saw it.’

‘What did you see, Jozef?’

‘Eternity.’

‘Really, was that eternity? I saw an other country, a country quite different from the earth and I saw light, a great powerful light. Then I saw people dressed in beautiful garments and it looked as if they were floating. Look, I thought, they are not earthly people and I felt they were spirits. My God, how beautiful that was. How much you can see in a few seconds. I felt I was there and that I experienced everything myself. Did you feel that too? How did that happen so suddenly?

‘At that moment you were clairvoyant!’

‘Now I understand even better what you meant, when you explained to me about Greetje. Now I understand, I feel it, it is deep within me. My journey, my great journey!’

She spoke softly word for word, gazing in front of her, lost in thought.

‘I am being warned, I feel it, no, I know it. They are packing my cases.’

Then, as if waking up, she said: ‘I talk a lot, I heard myself! What does that mean, Jozef? Please explain that to me.’

All the time I had been listening to her quietly and attentively and meanwhile I had contact with Alcar. Jeanne spoke in half-trance, she was taken up in spiritual life though still in her material body. That was the way many mediums spoke and I knew this condition.

‘Well’, she said, ‘say something.’

‘I have to think first and concentrate on my leader’, I said, but in fact I didn’t know how to keep the truth from her any longer. ‘My leader connected you with the spheres, he let you see this because you are so brave.’

She was as happy as a child and said: ‘That is nice, Jozef! How kind of your leader to show me a glimpse of that mightiness. Tell him that I’m very glad. How beautiful death is. Shouldn’t people be happy now? What more do they want? What a blessing to be allowed to leave this valley of tears. It is unbelievable and yet I saw that it is the truth. Many are afraid, but I’ll gladly go. Isn’t it marvellous for you to be able to talk to people or patients who are not afraid of death? Who are prepared to die? No, I’m not afraid, don’t you think that’s marvellous, death stood in front of my bed and smiled at me. But death was mother and Greetje my friend, my sister! Who is afraid of death now? Not me and nobody would be if they experienced all this. To many death means sorrow and grief, the loss of their possessions, nothing but misery. Since I know it all my life has changed and become fuller and I feel the meaning of life on earth. Before that I was a living dead. Spiritually I was in an unreal condition, now I’m beginning to live, now that my end draws near. That is how I see it and feel it, Jozef.’

I looked at her full of admiration and Jeanne continued her deep human conversation.

‘Death in the shape of Greetje is sweet. Greetje whom I knew for years and who died stood there in front of my bed and lived, she was young and beautiful. She lived in a way she had perhaps never done before. She had awakened, I clearly felt that. If she can return so can I. She’ll show me that way and I’ll learn it. I’ll find you, Jozef, I’ll come back to you!’

She looked at me, tears flowing down her cheeks.

‘I am so happy, so very happy that I have been allowed to see for a brief moment all this mightiness that awaits me. How can I thank God!’

She took both my hands and shook them warmly.

‘When you think deeply enough of death’, she resumed, ‘nothing remains of its misery. Death was rejuvenated and had become more beautiful. It took away all misery from me. People find it cruel and hard because they don’t understand death. But I know death now and we’ll soon know it completely but with a different beauty. How great it all is, Jozef, but the best thing of it all is that those who are dead know more than we do who are alive.’

She’ll soon be there, I thought. Another few weeks and my book would be published. She was not to read it, was she? While I was considering this she suddenly asked a question that startled me: ‘Is it possible, Jozef, that I could read the proof sheets?’

‘The proof sheets?’ I repeated her question, ‘what makes you think of that so suddenly?’

‘It just crossed my mind.’

How sensitive she got, for she had adopted my thoughts.

Jeanne continued: ‘I thought that if I pass over soon I won’t be able to read your book. Perhaps the printers have advanced far enough so that I can read the proof sheets. Haven’t they finished yet?’

With all my strength I had to try to conceal my inner feelings. Jeanne had become clairvoyant, clairaudient and a clairfeeling medium. Death, the passing over to the spiritual world was the driving power for these gifts. The process of dying inspired her because she innerly wanted, which made her feel and see the new life. It was remarkable, indicating that her end was very near. The printers were nearly ready. Another fortnight and she would be able to read the work.

‘No’, I said, ‘they have not yet advanced that far.’

‘What a pity’, was all she said. It seemed as if she felt that her end was coming near. ‘Don’t you see Greetje or mother?’

‘No, at the moment I see nothing.’

‘How do they come to the earth, Jozef? Is that straight forward?’

‘By power of thought’, I said.

‘So, through your will you go to where you want?’

‘That’s right, but there are still other conditions and laws we have to acquire after arrival.’

‘Oh, I thought as much’, she continued, ‘for it seemed too simple otherwise.’

You are amazingly astute, I thought.

‘But I know that too, Jozef.’

‘So you know that too? What do you know?’

‘The way they move about.’

‘How do you know this?’

‘I experienced it once. Listen, if I wanted to go very fast it went automatically. In my dream I floated over mountains and valleys and I was conscious of everything. Is that because I am so fond of mountains? I went as fast as the wind. Is that possible? Had I departed from my body?’

‘Yes, that is possible.’

‘Is it really?’

‘Everyone departs from his body sometime, consciously or unconsciously.’

‘But I dreamt, Jozef, didn’t I?’

‘You think that, but you were in the spheres and fully conscious. Many people are in the spheres at night. You often hear from them when they wake up in the morning that they have spoken to relatives who died a long time ago. Though they remember everything and speak of the beauty and happiness they can’t accept it. Life on earth occupies their minds and the spiritual forces are wasted. Such dreams are mostly departures from the body, although there are also wishdreams. For example, like you said, that you are fond of mountains. You can experience that spiritually without departing from your body. In that case you are and remain connected with your material body, but in the spirit you make far journeys.’

‘I remember another very beautiful dream, Jozef. One night I dreamt that mother told me that I should see a doctor and that I should not put it off. When I woke up in the morning the first thing that came to my mind was my dream. Yet I did not go because I did not believe my dream, for I did not feel ill. I felt a little pain, but it was not worth going to a doctor. Imagine though, a few days later I dreamt the same thing again. Mother said as if she was still on earth talking to me: ‘Child, do go to the doctor otherwise you’ll need an operation.’ I was startled and wide awake. That very day I went to see the doctor. What do you think he told me? ‘You are just in time, otherwise an operation would be necessary.’ What do you think of that?’

‘Marvellous, Jeanne.’

‘Was this a dream, was it mother or a departure from the body?’

‘It was your mother. She gave you that spiritual truth, it was not a departure from the body. She did not want to run the risk that when waking up in the morning you would forget about it again. She acted upon you consciously and put that knowledge within you, held a spiritual conversation with you and made you wake up after that. You woke up and you knew it had been your mother. You were afraid, the spirit of your mother brought all this about. She made you experience all this, just as Greetje did. You have gone through wonderful things, Jeanne.’

‘Yes, I have. Mother warned me of more things. One morning I wanted to clean up the front room when before I opened the door I heard a voice say: ‘Don’t enter.’ I stood stock-still because I recognized the voice of my mother. I did not see her however much I tried, but you recognize of all people the voice of your mother. Why not enter? I thought. I could also enter that room by way of a small corridor. So I did and when I went into that room I immediately saw that a heavy painting above the door was leaning on the door so that if I had walked in the painting would have fallen on my head. Isn’t that amazing?’

‘You were well protected.’

‘Now I know when these things reoccurred, it was when my health deteriorated.’

Excellent, I thought, grief, sorrow, illness and other phenomena make people sensitive.

‘When I think of it I have actually experienced quite a lot. So I could hear it, Jozef, because my mother could reach me, otherwise the painting would have fallen on my head, wouldn’t it?’

‘Yes, you could be reached. Your mother acted on you and she succeeded completely.’

‘You are like a philosopher, the way you explain everything to me.’

‘And you’, I added, ‘are a know-it-all.’

Jeanne laughed and I prepared to leave.

‘Are you going, Jozef? Bother, then I have to wait another two days.’

‘Yes, I have to go. There are other people who need me.’

This departure was difficult, Jeanne felt it too. She looked at me but said nothing, but I knew what she thought because I sensed her. Not an other word was spoken. Around her lay the death she was waiting for. We both felt it.

When I visited her next time I saw straightaway that her end was nearing. Death was in her face, her friend she would soon get to know. She was spiritually conscious of everything and at once she began to ask questions again.

‘We were talking about dreams last time, weren’t we? I said shortly before you left that I knew when it had returned to me. Do you remember?’

I gathered that she was thinking about these things day after day and I asked her: ‘What do you mean by that?’

‘I want to know how it is possible?’ She was very much to the point with her questions. My leader said not to tire her any more and to take leave. She knew enough now!

‘Well, aren’t you going to say anything?’

‘You are impatient, Jeanne, I must think first.’ In actual fact I was in contact with my leader but she could not hear or see that. ‘The reason you dreamt a lot is that you are ill, it makes you sensitive, but only if you want to learn spiritual life. The more sensitive a person is, the more he can see in the spirit when attuning to the spiritual life. It is not until one has lost a loved one that spiritualism is an asset, until then it was considered to be nonsense. I often experience that, very often, when people come to see me. Then you cannot tell them enough about life after death, they want to know everything about it. It is not until then that they start reading spiritual books and go deeper into it. Their hearts are broken and they can be reached. The more struggle, illness, sorrow and grief people go through, the more sensitive they become, however terrible that may be. Do you see what I mean?’

‘Yes, I understand.’

‘When people could give up their possessions then they live according to God’s will. If they don’t, they are in conflict and often perish.’

‘I may congratulate myself then’, Jeanne said, ‘I’m not attached to possessions.’

When I visited her the next time the general practitioner had spoken to her and had her taken into hospital. She could no longer talk. How fond of her I had become! She had become a sister to me. For a while I stayed with her, we both felt the stillness of the spirit. She did not speak a word, but her eyes asked for strength. With her hand in mine I prayed to God to let her pass away soon. Motionless, with a snow-white face, the marks of nearing death on her lips, she looked into that awe-inspiring space from where a ray of light shone upon her. She had lost her vivacity, her life on earth was drawing to an end. This was a natural passing over, a spiritual surrender to Him we call God. Into your hands I deliver my spirit! This thought occurred to me. Was it hers as well? Was she thinking of it? The great mystery was beginning to be revealed.

Human beings of the earth, do you know that you live eternally? Do you feel that one day we will appear in front of God’s holy throne? That we will stand naked so that everybody will see how we are and how we feel?

A child of God was going to pass over, she did not have to wait much longer. Her cases were packed. Jeanne had fallen asleep and quietly I went away.

‘Farewell, little girl, farewell’, I said in my mind, ‘greet my friends in the spheres, you will soon see your mother and Greetje, both in happiness and eternal beauty.’

My task was finished.

A few days later her sister came to see me. ‘Will you visit her once more? She is asking for you.’

‘Gladly’, I said, ‘I’ll visit her tomorrow.’

‘She has so much deteriorated that you won’t recognize her any more.’

The next day I went to visit her. Jeanne was already unconscious. The light in her eyes had faded. I was glad that I had been able to talk with her so much. That would be a great help when she entered life on the side beyond. Within her she had that knowledge, it was the peace for her spiritual life. She already lived in the unknown, in the spirit, far away from the earth, there where Greetje and her mother lived. Where would she be at this moment?, I thought. Perhaps she saw and heard already in the spirit. Dying is really a wonderful thing if we know where we are going. Death was present in her eyes, which had lost their sparkle. The vitality that used to radiate from her eyes had disappeared. All the discussions we had had together flashed through my mind. How splendid those times had been, how strong she had been and how daringly she had talked about death! Not a tear of sorrow or fear had she shed. Jeanne was a strong character and I was pleased that I had been allowed to meet her. She was a good example, I would not forget her in all my life. She would float to the heights, those unfathomable heights she loved so much. Death made her body unrecognizable but gave her an eternal garment instead, which would become ever more beautiful.

There she lay, the talker! If she could hear me she would laugh at it herself. For her and myself there was no sadness, no sorrow, no agony or misery. Jeanne went to a festival, she made a splendid journey but I had to wait. How I had loved to go with her! Oh, how deeply I felt the happiness of those who were allowed to pass over in this way.

I took her small hand which such a short time ago she had held out so warmly and full of happiness. It was cold, so that it was apparent that she would soon die. I concentrated on her and felt that she had fallen into a deep sleep. I could not find her any more, she was in the spirit, far away from me. Her sister cried, for to her Jeanne was dying. What a difference in spiritual property. They were from the same mother and yet so very distant from each other.

I saw that my leader Alcar stood beside me. Now I can no longer speak with her, I thought. What a pity I had not come earlier but I had not been able to spare the time. Other patients needed my assistance. I did not blame myself as I had previously said farewell to her.

I had been standing for a few minutes in thought when I heard my leader say that I should concentrate on him. I did what Alcar wanted and heard him say: ‘I’ll connect you with her.’ Then I felt myself sink away. Where was I going to? I had no idea where my leader was taking me. I did not understand.

Then I felt something very remarkable. I knew I was holding Jeanne’s hand in mine, that I was standing beside her bed and that her sister was sitting to the right of me. It was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. I felt I was descending all the time and that I entered the world where Jeanne now was. I approached her in the spirit, this was very unusual, I had never before experienced anything like it. Or did I imagine things? Were they hallucinations? But I was conscious of everything. I thought I sensed Jeanne and it was as if I was near her like before when I came to visit her. It was something mighty, something supernatural. I got to know laws of which I had never even heard. It was amazing. These powers were not known on earth, I was quite sure of that.

Then I heard Alcar say: ‘Listen, my boy. They are not hallucinations, not chimera of the brain, not thoughts of your own. I am going to connect you with Jeanne so that you – listen carefully – may speak with her although she is in an unconscious state according to the earth.’

‘Did you say speak with her?’ I asked in astonishment.

‘Yes, Andre. This is not possible for man on earth, but with my assistance and power you may presently speak with Jeanne. Jeanne is alive, she will remain so and because she is alive it is possible to speak with her, even though she is far removed from her earthly consciousness.’

Words failed me, it was all too profound for me.

‘In a flash’, I heard Alcar say, ‘I can connect you, but I want you to experience all these transitions and the depth of her sleep. Her spiritual body lives already in the spirit and because I live on this side and know her attunement, I can connect you with her. I repeat, only through spiritual activity from our side can this wonder be brought about. I also want to show you that unconsciousness does not really exist. Her unconsciousness means that she is entering spiritual life. Consequently, the medium has left the material body, it lives on on this side and it is the spiritual body. Jeanne finds herself in a condition unknown to her, but I see where she lives and I know all these laws. Presently, when she becomes conscious in this life she’ll understand this level.’

Oh, how wonderful this is, I thought, too deep for the human mind, man cannot comprehend this.

‘Nevertheless it is the truth and nature’, I heard Alcar say. ‘All these laws are within us, we are them ourselves, they are the power of love man possesses.’

I now felt a deep quietness coming into me. It was the same peace of the spirit which I felt on the side beyond, when I visited the spheres with my leader. Jeanne was nevertheless still attached to her material body. When this chord, a lighted silver chord which I could clearly see, would break, she would die and be able to leave her material body, it was not until that moment that she would have died for the earth and now I understood the significance of this great enigma.

I felt a soft longing take hold of me and when I concentrated on Jeanne I knew that it came from her. Jeanne had fallen asleep thinking of me. How amazing, how wonderful this event was. For the earth, for her sisters and brothers she was already inaccessible. Who would ever know what dying people were thinking of?

I was allowed to witness it. Mysteries in the spirit were made clear to me and I learned to comprehend them.

The distance between us became ever smaller and I felt Jeanne coming into me, we were spiritually connected. I felt her, I was one with her in soul and spirit. Whether she felt me too I did not know. Then a great happiness came within me. It was like the rising sun, an awakening in the spirit, a resurrection of a deceased, whose life began to awake again through the action of high spiritual powers. That was Alcar, my spiritual leader. Jeanne was happy, she felt me too and now happened the greatest wonder of all that I might ever experience through my gifts.

In this immense stillness I heard Alcar say: ‘Pay attention, Jozef, I’m going to connect you. You will be able to speak with her.’

Suddenly I felt a voice within me saying: ‘Have you come, Jozef?’ It was the voice of a child and I was deeply moved.

‘Yes’, I signaled, ‘it is me, Jeanne.’ It was as if Jeanne spoke to me from behind a veil, her voice was a soft whisper, which I felt and understood.

Then I heard Alcar say: ‘It is the same power as when you spoke with your material body from a great distance.’

Now I understood, I had already experienced it. I felt Jeanne’s voice. She spoke the way spirits speak with each other, it was the spiritual language she already knew and used. How amazing this mighty event is, I thought. I felt that she entered me completely, we were one in soul and thought. I saw her in front of me and the veil I had observed a moment ago was removed. Beaming with beauty I saw her for her spiritual body was already changing. Jeanne was passing into the spirit and because of her good life on earth, of the love she possessed and felt, her spiritual body assumed this marvellous radiation. The words that now came to me nearly took my breath away.

Jeanne said: ‘Now I’m going to die, I am in the process of it, Jozef. Now I’m going on my journey, my cases are packed.’

Oh, my God, I thought, who will ever believe that I experienced this? I trembled, not because she left but because I heard her say it and she was conscious of her passing over. There were hardly words for it.

‘Go’, I said, not knowing what to say, ‘go, dear Jeanne, may God be with you on your way. I’ll never forget you, we have become brother and sister forever.’

The silence became intense and in this silence I felt that Jeanne withdrew from me. I did not hear and saw her any more.

After a while, she returned and said: ‘Are you still there? I was falling asleep again for I am so tired. But I woke up again. Do you know what it is?’

The old Jeanne, I thought, how moved I was by her question. I felt all this through my leader and I said to her: ‘My leader Alcar made me feel that we are in contact with each other through his power. Alcar concentrated on something else and you resumed your previous condition.’

Jeanne did not react but a moment later she said: ‘Jozef, I saw Greetje and mother, they have come to fetch me.’

I was so amazed to hear this that I could not speak. Then Jeanne asked: ‘Why don’t you say anything?’

Moved by all this, I said trembling: ‘You are a wonder, Jeanne.’

‘You think so? No’, I heard, ‘I am not. There, that light that is the wonder.’

Jeanne then said: ‘I was asleep, Jozef. Do you know who woke me?’

‘My leader, Jeanne.’

Alcar made me feel that I would return to my day-consciousness. ‘We must not tire her too much, she needs all her strength.’

Then I said: ‘Have a good journey, Jeanne’ and I felt myself returning in a flash. I also felt that Jeanne wanted to say something, but she could not reach me any more.

I woke up beside her body. Everything was as I had left it in the spirit. In a quarter of an hour I had gone through eternity.

Then I experienced another wonder. Jeanne had wanted to say something, but I had already gone. Yet her will to talk manifested in her material body. I only heard a hik, hik, hik sound of which only I knew the meaning. Her sister told me that she heard this sound several times the previous day, it was a strange unpleasant sound. To me, however, it was not unpleasant, it was Jeanne’s longing to speak to me and her relatives. What a wonder, how clearly she wanted to continue speaking, in the partly cast-off material body. Her body was no longer able to; the spirit no longer had the power over the material body. How simple this problem was.

I subsequently experienced an other wonder. My leader was inexhaustible.

‘Look at the clock’, I heard Alcar say.

I did so and I saw that the hands were illuminated and started to turn. It was a large electric clock which hang on the wall facing me and the hands read a quarter to two. I saw this with my earthly eyes. I subsequently began to observe in a clairvoyant state. I wondered what the meaning of this could be when the hands stopped.

‘Jeanne will pass over at the time I’ll show you.’

My leader could not have made it clearer to me. The hands slowly started to turn again. When they reached seven o’clock they stopped and then crept slowly until they reached a quarter to eight when everything dissolved. I understood and thanked my leader for everything from the bottom of my heart.

‘God, my Father’, I prayed in silence, ‘I cannot thank you enough for all this, but I shall make it known to mankind. This is my gratitude, Father!’

I looked once more at Jeanne, said goodbye to her and left the room. Her sisters were already waiting for me.

‘Don’t cry’, I told them, ‘she is a spirit of light.’

I did not want to tell them that I had been speaking with her. They would not be able to digest that.

‘You’ll understand that she is dying’, I continued, ‘nothing can change that. She has known this herself for a long time and I thank God that I have met her, for she is a great woman and is going on this journey full of joy. When it is all over will you please come and tell me if everything happened in accordance with what I’m going to tell you now? In the first place I advise you to stay here, she’ll pass over tonight at a quarter to eight. You must know this, tell everyone else.’ They promised me to do that and then I took leave.

I went home deep in thought. Who would believe me if I would make this known later? Man laughs at laws he does not know and which he will not know until on the side beyond. What a morning! How fantastic Alcar was. Who would think about it? Those were psychic laws at the fringe of human understanding, but how simple it all really was. My life indeed had been enriched by being allowed to witness all this, the gifts I had received from God were mighty. People should accept these laws though they could not understand them, they could not be felt, to that end people should pass on into the spiritual life. Jeanne wanted to keep contact with me! That hik, hik sound was remarkable. Death is unpleasant, yet it was love. My book was published, but Jeanne was passing over. How true everything was. Spirits can see and know everything about us if they so wish.

When I arrived home, Alcar said to me: ‘This was only possible because Jeanne possessed these spiritual powers. Those who do not have this attunement will not be able to experience all this.’

I understood, a child may understand this but people did not want to. Mediumship is sacred, by being a medium I experienced this beautiful event.

A fortnight later Jeanne’s sister came to visit me. I was very curious what she was going to tell me though I had no doubt about it.

‘I have come to tell you’, she began, ‘that Jeanne died at a quarter to eight.’

How exact everything has been passed on, I thought.

‘How is it possible that you saw this in advance?’

‘I saw nothing’, I said, ‘the spirits can see, we are only instruments.’

‘But you said it.’

‘That is true, but that very phenomenon that people do not want to accept, that’s the point. Once again: It is the spirits who see everything, those with whom Jeanne now lives.’

‘We now feel happy that she has passed over. Her death has made me think differently and I learned a lot during her illness. Oh, she was so brave, she was so spirited. During her last days she talked continuously about her journey, she saw mountains and talked about her friend Greetje. I have begun to believe now that there is more than we can imagine, I have awakened. I used to think that Jeanne was hallucinating but now I know better. During the last days I was at her deathbed all the time. Sometimes she said: ‘Look, there is mother again. Look, mother is here!

No mother, she does not see you, not for a long time, but I do!

Oh, that is too much for me, to what do I owe all this? And Greetje as well?’

I just went away and thought that she would go mad. But she didn’t. She told me such beautiful things when I was alone with her. She often mentioned your name and said: ‘You know that is how Jozef sees all the time. I know why I see things. They come to fetch me, yes, sister, they are coming for me, I may go on a journey, Jozef knows.’

She talked for hours on end, telling me what was around her. I know that she used to be able to, but now everything was quite different. She spoke philosophically and she was more wise than the rest of us. When mother died – I can remember that like yesterday – she acted quite indifferently. We blamed her for that. She said: ‘You will learn to understand that. One day you will realize it. There will come a time that you feel there is no death.’ And then she told about spiritualism. It has opened my and my sister’s eyes. One morning she said: ‘Look what mother brought me.’

I did not see anything and asked: ‘What do you mean, Jeanne?’

‘Don’t you see it?’

She spoke like a child and my heart shrunk when she asked me that. I said I did not see anything and I thought: You see, she’s going mad. At once, as if she had caught my thoughts she said: ‘Do you think I’m mad?’

You can’t imagine how this shocked me.

‘Come and sit beside me’ and she took my arm pulling me close to her. ‘Now listen carefully.’ I’ll never forget the way she looked at me. ‘I’m going to mother.’ I began to sob vehemently. ‘Don’t make it so difficult for me in my last hours, come, be brave.’

She was the weaker one and had to support me, for I felt broken. ‘Come’, she said, ‘look at me and listen. I am going and I am most happy that I may make this journey. Jozef knows too and I know that I won’t be able to read his book any more. Now I know what mother and Greetje told me. Look’ – she pointed at the table – ‘there are flowers, spiritual flowers and they are only for me because you can’t see them. Jozef would see them, but I won’t see him any more. Oh, I am so fond of him. You must thank him warmly when I have died and tell him how highly I think of him and what he has meant for me.’

When I promised her she added: ‘Will you stop being afraid now and think that I’m going mad? I’m not going mad, child. I can see again and Jozef has evoked that in me through his power, otherwise I would not have seen anything. Anyway that’s what mother says.’ Is that possible?’

‘Yes’, I said, ‘that is possible, but the gift must be there. Jeanne was very sensitive.’

‘Finally I wanted to say that we would like to read your book, which she could not but had wanted to so much. Jeanne gave me money to buy the book. For me it would have been a bible’, she said.’

I was greatly moved. I had never received so much love. How great Jeanne was to think of that.

‘I’ll have the books in a week’s time. If you come back then I’ll inscribe a remembrance to Jeanne in it.’

We were both very moved, I because of Jeanne’s love, she because she now really understood her sister.

‘I could tell you a lot more, but I’m not able any more. You knew her better than we did and I’ll love Jeanne even more now.’

Jeanne’s sister left and I sat down and sent many loving thoughts to her. I had gained another sister.