Written by Wes Annac, The Culture of Awareness

The Spirit World Chronicles is an ongoing series based on channeled accounts of what the afterlife is like. Some of the material examined in this series dates back to nearly a century ago, and the referenced sources discuss a wide range of topics that have to do with life after death and the conditions of the realms beyond.

Here, I’d like to look at the idea that newly departed spirits actually attend their own funerals. I might’ve written about this subject before, but I want to explore it again because it’s very interesting.

Most people automatically assume someone who passes away is gone for good, but as we’re learning, death isn’t the end of life by far – it’s more like the beginning. Our real, etheric senses come online after the physical body ceases to live, and we’re able to witness unfathomable spiritual marvels we would’ve never witnessed on earth.

A lot of people who pass on tend to stay bound to the earth and their families who still live here, and one of the ways spirits are encouraged to let go is by witnessing their own funerals and seeing, once and for all, that their physical body truly has stopped living.

I don’t know what it’s like to see this, but I’d imagine it can be both frightening and liberating – frightening because one no longer inhabits a physical body, but liberating because they see that they’re still very much alive. Hopefully, seeing that one’s physical body has died is empowering, but I could see it going the other way.

I’m sure everyone’s eventually able to cope with their physical deaths, and once they do, they can begin their etheric exploration and really start their process of spiritual evolution. It’s unfortunate that it takes physical death for so many people to grasp the spiritual nature of existence, but most of humanity is still unaware of the fact that higher spiritual realms even exist.

Humanity obviously has a lot to learn, especially about the fact that our reality (and the realities beyond it) is/are primarily spiritual, and death helps a lot of people see that something exists beyond the limitation of physicality.

It probably goes without saying by now that the accounts we’ll examine come primarily from channeled spirits in the fourth dimension, and in our first quote, Alice Gilbert (who channeled her departed son, Philip) describes a telepathic encounter she had with Philip during his funeral.

Alice wasn’t a channeled source – she was a medium who brought through a lot of departed souls for us.

“At the funeral, I felt [Philip] standing over on the right, in front of me, and at that very serious moment when the coffin was being lowered, I heard a voice in my mind very clearly, –

‘Whatever is he bleating like a sheep over that thing for – it’s not me!’” (1)

The real Philip was out of his body, hovering around his dear, grieving mother and even communicating with her. It’s great that Alice had already been open and receptive enough to feel his energy and even communicate with him, and her communications with him would eventually become notorious.

I’m reminded of Suzy Ward, who channels her son Matthew Ward, who died in a tragic accident when he was only a teenager.

Matthew Ward gives us monthly updates related to the spiritual nature of our existence, our ongoing ascension and the fall of the powers who’d keep us in the dark forever if they were allowed, but Philip’s communications were for the purpose of describing the fourth dimension, as were many other departed channeled sources’.

Ethel Mclean describes what it was like to attend her own funeral, which she did with her departed dad and uncle by her side.

“I attended the funeral and admired all the beautiful flowers. Dad and [uncle] Buffalo were with me. We, three, found it a solemn occasion because, to me, it was the ending of a chapter.

“Both had already experienced this and so understood my feelings. I was reluctant to leave you, children, as I felt that there were many things that I should have done and had not completed. But, as Dad pointed out, there was nothing I could do about it now. Thus, there was no point in lingering.” (2)

The departed family of someone who just crossed over will apparently accompany them to their funeral (and to plenty of other places, I’m sure), and one of their primary purposes seems to be to remind the recently deceased that they’re in a new sphere and they can no longer influence the earth like they once did.

I have a feeling that influencing this dense, physical reality is difficult in a higher state of consciousness, and this is one reason so many souls want to incarnate here. Like others have said, we can learn things here we just won’t learn in other places, and we might miss our ability to influence this reality when we’re back in the higher realms.

We might miss our family and everyone else we left behind on earth, but luckily, we’ll get to enjoy the company of our family who departed before us. It’s almost like trading one set of family members (the living) for another (the deceased), and I’d imagine it’s bittersweet.

Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson tells us how some departed souls react to their funerals.

“And how does the departed soul view all these adjuncts of ‘death’? Sometimes with disgust, sometimes with amazement at their stupidity, sometimes, and especially with those whose sense of humour is well-developed, with undisguised mirth!

“And what of all the paraphernalia of ‘death’? Has it availed the departed soul anything? No, nothing. Black garments, drawn blinds, ponderous solemnity, hushed voices, and countenances of exaggerated gloom are utterly worthless to help the soul upon its way. Indeed, the reverse can, in many cases, be the result.” (3)

If you think about it, all of the unavoidable gloom and sadness that takes place at funerals is probably a huge bummer for the recently deceased. ‘It’s bad enough that I’ve left my body – everyone I love is grieving me!’ If I pass on before ascending (which won’t happen), I’d want people to celebrate my life instead of mourning my physical transition.

In a sense, I’d want the funeral to be celebratory – not of the fact that I would’ve passed away, but of the fact that I did everything I could to spread light in a dark place like earth. I’m sure a lot of departed spirits feel the same way when they cross over, but instead of celebration, they’re met with sadness and heartbreak.

Maybe this heartbreak is an eye opener for those who caused their own deaths with their selfish actions on earth. Maybe it awakens them to the reality of their situation, which is a reality they couldn’t grasp in life. Hopefully, the whole process helps them heal and eventually move on.

As Monsignor tells us, the recently deceased will, in many cases, be saddened by the grief of their loved ones on earth.

“The spirit body may take some days of your time before it becomes completely separated from the earthly body and it may be hindered very much by the combined thoughts of the sorrowers who are participants in the dismal [funeral] rites.

“Instead of departing from the earthly sphere, the discarnate one will be attracted to the scene of obsequial activities and more than likely will be saddened himself by what he is witnessing and by the sorrow of those he has left behind.” (4)

One of the hardest things about it, Monsignor says, is the fact that the deceased can’t communicate with their loved ones.

“He will feel a heavy weight within him of the separation that has come about and, perhaps being ignorant of what has befallen him, he will be doubly distressed, and even trebly distressed by the fact that he speaks to his friends but they cannot hear him. And how great a difference a little knowledge would make.” (5)

I’m sure it can be confusing to attempt to speak to your friends and family only to find that they can’t hear or see you, and that alone is probably eye-opening. For those who’ve always believed death is the complete and total end of life, however, their inability to communicate with their family might not matter much.

They might think they’re in a bad dream or experiencing some other type of explainable phenomenon when, in reality, they’ve physically departed from the earth. This, combined with the collective grief and sadness of the family they left behind, can inhibit them and make it difficult to find any sort of positive or loving frame of mind.

But again, most recently deceased people can eventually come to come to terms with their physical deaths and see what the fourth dimension has to offer, and the more receptive they are to the influence of the transition guides who seek to assist them, the easier their transition will be.

Just like for the living, I’m sure the funereal is the hardest part of a deceased soul’s transition. I couldn’t imagine what it’d be like to see all of my friends and family from this life grieve my very existence, but it’s a necessary aspect of the transition that isn’t to be missed.

Some souls probably do ditch their own funerals, but something tells me the majority of them choose to attend.

Consciousness is eternal, and it continues on after the physical body perishes. The soul who once inhabited the body is taken on a wild etheric adventure, and they learn an uncountable number of interesting and surprising things about themselves and the spiritual nature of their existence.

As we learned here, this adventure can entail visiting their own funerals and solidifying their perception of the fact that they’ve truly died by witnessing the post-death grief of their friends and family. This awakens them to the reality of their transition more than anything else, but again, they can thrive in the fourth dimension if they learn to live for love.

Life can either be easy or difficult in the fourth dimension, and it all depends on our actions on earth and how we choose to be once we pass on.

Those of us who are preparing to ascend into the fifth dimension instead of physically dying into the fourth won’t have to worry about this, but given that anything can happen at any time, we might as well prepare by learning about the conditions of the fourth.

I’ve known a couple seekers who awaited ascension but died of physical ailments such as cancer before it could be achieved, and this goes to show that our plan isn’t as much in our hands as we think. It’s in the hands of our higher selves, our guides and any other greater force that’s partially responsible for deciding our fate, but recognizing that we create our reality will empower us to choose the exact fate we desire.

No matter what happens, it always helps to keep in mind that spirit is far more common and pervasive than physical matter. We’ll continue to realize this as we continue evolving, and our perception of the spiritual nature of our existence will grow with each lighter, more refined state of consciousness we reach.

Footnotes:

1. Philip Gilbert through Alice Gilbert, medium, Philip in Two Worlds. London: Andrew Dakers, 1948, 88.
2. Lesley May, med., Letters from Mother. A Family Biography in Two Worlds. Ed. Edmund Bentley. London: Psychic Press, 1964, 27.
3. Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson through Anthony Borgia, medium, Here and Hereafter. San Francisco: H.G. White, 1968 (dictated in 1957), 15.
4. Ibid., 28-9.
5. Loc. cit.

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I’m a 21 year old awakening seeker and creator of The Culture of Awareness daily news site.

The Culture of Awareness features daily spiritual and alternative news, as well as articles I’ve written and more. Its purpose is to awaken and uplift by providing material that’s spiritually inspired and/or related to the fall of the planetary elite and our entrance into a positive future.

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