ROMANCE IN THE AFTERLIFE

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IS THERE ROMANCE IN THE AFTERLIFE?
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The Elysium's Passage novel series has many themes, but perhaps the most central is about the afterlife. Of course, the novels are fictitious, but some of my real-life encounters over the last ten years have been with those who have passed on to the spiritual dimension.

Have you ever wondered if, in the afterlife, you will be with those you once loved? Or, if your departed parents still remain together in some fashion? I've been curious about this, especially since my mother passed over a few years ago.

I got my answer to that recently so I thought I'd give an account of my experience.

The picture below was taken of my parents in 1945 on their honeymoon, just after my father returned from London in World War 2.

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On March 20, 2022, a friend of mine invited me to attend a session conducted by a professor friend of hers from the University of Lethbridge who does some mediumship work. However, he wasn’t feeling well, so another medium, Sarah, took his place in facilitating ‘interactions’ with a few people in the audience whose departed loved ones showed up, each with a message. Apparently, this is a regular Sunday evening occurrence at this Spiritualist church.

Near the end of the session, just when it was time to close the meeting, she sensed a couple was waiting to ‘come through,’ possibly a husband and wife. This seemed to surprise her since it doesn’t often happen where two appear together. That’s when I suspected this might be my mother and father wishing to contact me.

Sure enough, Sarah, who I had never met before, pointed to me in the audience and said she thought this was for me. As things turned out, it certainly was.

Last year, my mother had passed away on March 18, 2021. Surprisingly, she sent me a message through Deb, a retired banker and intuitive I happen to know. Though my mother didn’t know of her, she went directly to Deb just two days after her passing. In the blog post I wrote last year commemorating my mother; I disclose the contents of this fascinating email message Deb forwarded to me. In it, my mother thank me for being there for her just minutes before her parting and to let me know she suffered no pain, despite appearances to the contrary.

Now, back to the meeting last night. First, my mother spoke through Sarah and left no doubt in my mind that it was her.  Among other things, she commented on how this must have been quite the year of change for me. I didn’t think it was, but after reflecting on it later, this was a rather eventful year.

For one, her absence allowed me a lot more time in not having to attend to her a couple of afternoons each week. Also, last year, I travelled out of my province to see my son and his family a couple of times, and I also had a house guest for four or five months. So, yes, there were changes, all good, even as I continued with my writing.

During the session, I mentioned to Sarah how my mother’s orchids were blooming profusely with thirty blossoms, just in time for her one-year departure date. Rather than go into this sidebar story, I have pasted this message below from Facebook, along with a photo of the flowers.

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My mother told me to be sure to keep watering the orchids since they would be in full bloom about this time each year. (Obviously, she really loved/loves orchids.) It was humorous when I mentioned to Sarah that my mother had passed last year at 98 years of age. Immediately, my mother said she was 97. I had to laugh… true to form; she always did that with me, claiming to be a year or two under her actual age.

My mother was a bit of an extravert, and so had the floor. Because my father was more reserved he seemed to be content to remain in the background. He passed away from cancer at the age of 33, shortly after returning from WW2. (You may find the link to my tribute to him below.) At the time I was just two years old, so didn’t know him except for what I was told. However, since beginning my novel series eight years ago, I’ve had several opportunities to speak with him, so this wasn’t new for us.

Sarah had many glowing things to say about my father, confirming everything I heard about him. She was quite taken with his strong moral character and ‘beautiful’ appearance inside and out, and so it was rather flattering when she said I was very much like him.

He seemed to make some positive references to my writing while enjoying being involved with me in my literary expressions. When I told Sarah I was a novelist and that my father was one of the main characters in my Elysium’s Passage series, she said this made sense how he could become involved with my writing through this character.

From what I understood, he suggested the eloquence of the novels reflected his passion and inspiration. Not to say he claimed the writing for himself but was somehow part of the effort. I wish I had a recording of how beautifully this was expressed to me through Sarah. 

After the meeting, Sarah indicated she would like to see some pictures of my mother and father that I could access on my cell. Since I had left it in my vehicle, I went out to get it and was rather amused when my opener beeped and unlocked the door even before I had the chance to press the button. Then, just as I opened the door, my cell immediately lit up without me even touching it. Maybe it’s just crazy electronics, but still… two in a row?

Perhaps my biggest ‘takeaway’ from the evening was that they were together, at least for this occasion. That makes me happy. After being parted for 70 years, it was good to know they were with each other once again, something she, as a single widow, had waited for all these years.

There’s more I could say, in fact, a good deal after recently having another visit with them... all good. But these are the highlights from before then.

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Below is from my Facebook post, March 18, 2022

My mother passed away one year ago today. She loved orchids so I would buy them for her on her birthday, but they never got more than one or two blossoms each. So, after bringing them to my place after her passing, the fuchsia suddenly bloomed with six full flowers within a few days like popcorn even though I hadn't noticed any buds on it.

The other one didn't do anything... at least until now. As of this date, the fuchsia-coloured orchid has fifteen flower blossoms (with another five buds), and the other one has 20. That’s 35 so far. Not bad, considering I’ve never had living plants before.

Aren't coincidences fun? Actually, no coincidence. As a friend of mine mentioned when she saw the orchids at my place: "This is her saying she's happy:

Anyone interested in reading the tribute I posted on her last year may find it here. Maybe it will be of some inspiration. You may read about many other interesting ‘happenings’ after her departure last year.

Commemoration to my Mother
https://digitalbloggers.com/.../mother-s-commenoration...  

Also, here is a link to my father’s tribute.
Commemoration to my Father's 100th
https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/my-father-s-100th 

This topic of the afterlife is explored in the following posts
How Old Are You?
https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/not-my-first-rodeo 
What is Elysium?
https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/meaning-of-elysium   

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Excerpts on the afterlife taken from ELYSIUM’S PASSAGE: THE SUMMIT
 

Chapter Two. Not My First Rodeo.

I sat down on a flat stone to reflect on what a Buddhist friend said to me about life after death. After living at an ashram in Tibet for several years, he returned to London, firmly entrenched in his newfound beliefs on how life continued on the wheel of samsara.

He tried to explain his version of the afterlife to me, but I told him he was wasting his time since I didn’t believe in the afterlife. Still, a few things he said got my attention more than I let on. For example, he suggested how well you understand what goes on after death depends on how well you understand the state of your soul’s essence.

He also indicated there was much more to this since the soul is not limited to time and space, and therefore, it’s not the body that incarnates; instead, it’s one’s soul in a body.

‘Suppose,’ he said, ‘the earthly body is just one representation of an over-soul that incarnates as a variety of souls on earth or somewhere else in the universe. Now, think of the individual as a stream that has separated from the river to go its own way, yet, the soul, in its essence, remains connected with its oversoul source at all points in what appears to us as linear time. Its individuated identity remains intact. Though the part is contained in the whole, the whole remains contained in the part. By this, identity is never compromised. Instead, it is expanded into what appears to be a multiplicity of individuated states.’

At that time, much of what he said I found entirely too metaphysical and abstract since I had no frame of reference for what the concept of soul meant, other than a metaphor for self-awareness! Nevertheless, I found these concepts intriguing, even if they weren’t for me. 

But now… oh my, how things had changed! Here I was now, in a spirit body, wondering what happened. Had I fallen into a parallel universe or some lateral stream of consciousness... I still didn’t know. Maybe it was something else, such as what some physicists postulated.


You may read the full chapter here https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/the-ascent-chapter-fourteen 

Chapter Eight:  CHAMPS-ELYSÉES

‘Are you aware it was prophesied long ago that there would be a new heaven and new earth? Nothing remains the same where creative thought eternally flows and expands into manifested existence. Unfortunately, earth has limited itself to a narrow spectrum of consciousness with its insular navel-gazing, which is why humanity remains in such disharmony.

‘Conversely, each soul existing in the heavenly state remains consociated with those who remain united in the same quality of affections and purposes. These communities exist in dynamic states of loving relationships where the exchange of service reflects, sustains, and develops the qualitative essence of each soul. Because of this, everyone tends to evolve towards higher stages of peace and happiness.’

‘‘So, tell me about what goes on there in your land of perfect bliss and peace. Even if it’s only a caricature of reality, I’m sure many would like to know more since philosophy and religion seem to have little to say about this. Often the former denies the afterlife while the latter utters unctuous platitudes that mean little to anyone. For me, I don’t care as long as I don’t have to put up with all the stupidity on earth.’

‘Even if you were able to explain things in a way they could understand,’ Eli said, ‘few would believe you. How many even bother to read what Swedenborg had to say about this reality or would care to know. Even among your philosophers, few today are aware of what he had to say even though he too was a philosopher. Among many others in the past, he was greatly admired by no less than his contemporary, Immanuel Kant.


 
 
QUOTES ON THE AFTERLIFE
 

   
What man dwelling on the decaying mortal plane, having approached the undecaying immortal one, and having reflected upon the nature of enjoyment through beauty and sense pleasure, would delight in long life? The Upanishads

Time is not what you think. Dying? Not the end of everything. We think it is. But what happens on Earth is only the beginning.” Mitch Albom. THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN

All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses,
And to die is different from what anyone supposed, and luckier.  Walt Whitman

Of course, you don't die. Nobody dies. Death doesn't exist. You only reach a new level of vision, a new realm of consciousness, a new unknown world. - Henry Miller 

I believe that when death closes our eyes we shall awaken to a light, of which our sunlight is but the shadow. Arthur Schopenhauer

Death - the last sleep? No, it is the final awakening. Sir Walter Scott

Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because dawn has come. - Rabindranath Tagore

When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. When you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. - Buddhist saying

To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

No one knows whether death may not even turn out to be the greatest blessings of human beings. And yet people fear it as if they knew for certain it is the greatest evil. - Socrates

Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight. - R.W. Raymond

What happens after death is so unspeakably glorious that our imagination and our feelings do not suffice to form even an approximate conception of it. The dissolution of our time-bound form in eternity brings no loss of meaning.
Carl Jung

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SUMMARY OF ELYSIUM'S PASSAGE NOVEL SERIES

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This is a series of seven Elysium Passager novels regarding a young British philosopher named James Phillips, who finds himself living in an altered state of reality while still remaining on earth.  

After experiencing a near-fatal fall while climbing to the summit of a remote mountain in the Andes, James awakens in a new dimension. He soon encounters two mysterious beings who provide him with a very different perspective on the nature of his existence. Over the next year, before his body recovers from the coma, he is challenged to re-examine his understanding of life’s meaning and purpose far beyond anything he previously believed or could believe.

An engaging and sometimes surreal adventure with intimations of impending romance, the narrative explores the most important questions about life, death, reality, and our ultimate destiny. 

The Plains of Elysium (Champs-Élysées) was described by Homer, Hesiod, Virgil, and many other poets as the paradisiac afterlife realm reserved for heroes. As the title suggests, this is about a journey through a passage that leads towards Elysium’s exciting realm of adventures.

To read a sample press review at https://www.prweb.com/releases/2018/05/prweb15515775.htm  


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ELYSIUM'S PASSAGE: READER REVIEWS

The following comments are excerpts from among the first readers, including a number of Amazon five star reviews. To read the full reviews, go to READER REVIEWS on www.elysiumspassage.com or directly at https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/reader-reviews 

"A delightful mix of fantasy, reality, conjecture, and humour; Mr Meyers draws the reader into the story with a gentle narrative that captures the imagination, leaving one anxious to get to the next page drawing you into his exceptional world.”

"Quietly, gently, and without imposition, the Author unfolds the pages, creating an intricate, interlocking bridge spanning the chasm between mind and heart. Renewing, refreshing, restoring. In my bereavement, it was vigil and light…."

“Excellently written with an exceedingly deep understanding of this world and the next. The characters are very well written and engaging. I can't wait to complete this book!"

“Takes the reader on both a philosophical and spiritual journey, a journey that at times is both disquieting and tranquil. James, a British Philosopher, can be irreverent and caustic, traits that should have left me cringing but instead made me laugh out loud. Elysium’s Passage is a fun, enlightening and remarkable book.”

“This is a masterful fantasy, becoming a real possibility, as the reader is drawn into the story. The Summit leaves you anxious for the next book in the series, yet also leaves you totally satisfied with the world you have just visited. Genius! An exciting yet calming experience that is not to be missed."

"There was hardly a page on which I did not find at least one sentence worthy of hi-lighting for future reference. In addition, I thoroughly enjoyed the main character, James, whose personality and passionate verbal exchanges with the other characters kept me coming back for more. I am reading the book for a second time while I wait for the next one in this series to be made available."

 “N.G. Meyers has clearly put a great deal of research and thought into what the afterlife may look like, and I like his perspective. It’s an altogether welcoming and exciting vision. The book gives one a great deal to think about and a reassuring confidence that the end of our lives is truly the beginning of life in the next. I highly recommend it."

"I am really enjoying your book, it’s fantastic! It is so incredible and diversified that I can’t really explain it to other people, so what I say is just read this book. Thank you so much for the blessings that you’ve given the world!"

“The humour interjected into a serious discussion makes me laugh out loud. Totally unexpected....l may be in the presence of at least a master, if not a genius. A fair ride into reality... seeking that which is unseen, yet absolutely real.”

“An engaging story of adventure embracing man's deepest desire to search for meaning and purpose, N.G. Meyers takes the reader on an adventurous, thought-provoking journey. This book has substance. It is a perfect blend of adventure and fantasy combined with spiritual philosophy. It ignited my imagination. The author magically weaves a good story laced with wit and humour together with deep philosophical wisdom. This book has it all!”

“An evolution in thought is triggered by many fresh philosophical themes which could inspire readers to re-think their reality and former ideologies that have dictated their lives… the author fires readers’ imaginations to view what could be possible when spirit vacates the body.”

“This is the book spiritual seekers have been waiting for. For me, it granted a great read as well as increased inspiration to live every day with a heightened sense of purpose. I highly recommend it.

“The Summit is capable of hooking readers and luring them to search for Book 2 to discover more about Dr Philip’s surreal trek into the mysterious unknown universe. This thick book is well worth the read and to share…”

“Mind-blowing statements and speculation (‘…everyone is a non-physical thought form conceived in the Mind of God, preserved for all eternity because God’s thoughts never die…’). Many will find Meyers’ journey up the Mountain intriguing—and possibly even life-changing.” (BLUEINK REVIEW)

“In its effort to grapple with fundamental questions about the meaning of life, it raises questions that have echoed throughout the ages, including about where we come from, where we are going, who we are.”  (CLARION REVIEW)

 
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PENDING PUBLICATIONS IN THE SERIES

 
The following titles in the Elysium's Passage series are projected to be released as follows in 2024: 

The Ascent: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

The Summit: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

Quantum Leaps: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

Surreal Adventures: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

Mystical Romance: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

The Elixir: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

The Return: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

 

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1. The Ascent is the first novel in the Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage that’s foundational to everything that happens in the following narratives that embark on an adventure that will surprise and delight the reader like no other book.

It all begins with an extreme adventure of climbing a remote and challenging mountain somewhere in the Andean Mountains. Just as James, the protagonist, is about to reach the mountain summit, he falls into an abyss that leaves him in a coma for almost a year.

After being airlifted by a forestry helicopter and flown back to London, where his body remains for almost a year. Eventually, he learns it was not him but his body that was rescued. Several days later, without understanding what happened, he continues to climb to the summit in an alternate dimension of higher consciousness.

Fortuitously, he meets two adventurers on the summit ridge who are no longer of this world. After that, his surreal life leads him to several new adventures in the subsequent chronicles that include a rich mix of adventure, romance, and fantasy, along with profound discussions of philosophy, spirituality and the afterlife.

 
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2. The  Summit, the second novel in the Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage, carries on where James, the narrator and protagonist, is taught more about a multidimensional reality that he finds difficult to comprehend.

Not only does he find he’s not as clever as he imagined, but his off-world companions on the summit demonstrate that much of what he believed about life was not just parochial but wrong. At first, he finds this difficult to comprehend since their teachings are contrary to his limited understanding of non-material reality.

After being tricked into teleporting off a ledge where he was trapped, James becomes aware of the new reality that makes him capable of far more adventures than could have ever been experienced previously in his physical body back home.

Now, if only he would win over the only woman in this life who matters, the nurse on the other side of the veil, who continually demonstrates her unconditional love toward his healing.

Warning: This book may also open the reader’s eyes to a much vaster reality than most might be aware. As with the other Chronicles, there are discussions of philosophy, the spiritual afterlife and what might seem like fantasy.

 
 

3. Quantum Leaps is the third novel in Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage, where James, the philosopher-protagonist, teleports back to London to visit his body and make contact with the special nurse taking care of it in his absence. Immediately, he feels an inexplicable spiritual bond with her for reasons he remains unaware of.

Now aroused by a renewed interest in matters of love, the beginnings of a relationship begin to emerge as he attempts to reach across the chasm of their worlds. But it’s not until the fifth novel, Mystical Romance, that he encounters her in a way that he finds difficult to believe.

However, before that can happen, there is much about his failed relationships that must be resolved before he is ready to move forward in his new life in Elysium’s Passage. It is during this time he christens his comatose body as the fall guy since it took the fall for him down the abyss so he could learn the lessons he’s now learning.

That will be the next focus of his life, where in his next Surreal Adventures, he is given virtual lessons to release many of his past beliefs about life.

 
 

4. Surreal Adventures is the fourth novel in the Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage, which finds James, the protagonist and narrator, escorted by his companions to a remote South Pacific Island, where he is left to reflect on what he’s learned.

During the next forty days, he battles the demons of his past as he works through some rather painful issues from his early youth. Here, in a tropical storm, he encounters an eery suspended spectre of the one he loved yet still resents for abandoning him as a child.

After this, he achieves peace of mind and is ready to return to his lodge to join his off-world companions on the Andes summit. However, just when it seemed things couldn’t get any stranger, a sixteenth-century sea captain sails his ancient ‘ghost’ ship onto the beach. Together, they sail off on a mystical ocean voyage to a couple of virtual islands supposedly in the South Pacific, where he witnesses and, at times, participates in several important life lessons.

Near the end, these encounters help prepare him for a new challenge within the interior of a mountain, where he falls deep into a dark tomb of fear. After being rescued by a mysterious stranger wielding his Excaliber, he continues on to where his life is about to be transformed in the following chronicle, Mystical Romance.

 
 

5. Mystical Romance is the fifth chronicle in Elysium’s Passage, which will surprise the reader with a romantic twist of how love is expressed in higher realms. From this lofty perspective, everything about intimacy is understood as within, so without.

After escaping his tomb, James, the narrator and protagonist, makes his way through a maze of tunnels until he arrives at a large oak door, which he opens with the golden key he had been given. There, he steps into Elysium’s Passage’s Great Hall, where his life and recent achievements are celebrated now that his eyes have been opened to perceive a fascinating interior world of wonderment… and romance.

To say more might risk diminishing the multitude of delightful surprises as circumstances begin to open to The Elixir, where James is about to re-enter his earthly body’s existence.

 
 

6. The Elixir is the sixth chronicle of the Elysium’s Passage series that prepares James, the narrator-protagonist, to awaken and return to his body in London. Before that can happen, however, his off-worlder friend presents a mysterious equation enshrouded with a light code frequency that will stimulate multidimensional DNA strands within him.

Much of this narration is centred in London, where his nurse unknowingly becomes involved in how the Elixir’s equation finds its way from a taxi cab driver to higher echelons of science. There are many twists in how she unwittingly brings the Elixir to the attention of mathematicians and physicists, after which they eventually discover how to code the equation into a laser ray to stimulate his fall-guy body into full consciousness.

Ostensibly a new Adam, he is destined to return humanity to a higher multidimensional existence. How this happens is filled with intrigue, as is his shocking return to his earthly body.

 
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7. The Return is the seventh and last chronicle in the series where James, the narrator and protagonist, has re-emerged from Elysium’s Passage as he readjusts to life in the third dimension. Many of the events experienced in the previous novels are tied together in an exciting, fast-moving, action-packed narrative over several countries.

 At first, it seems all memories have been lost, with his fall guy’s brain not being aware of what happened to him while in his coma. As a consequence, it takes a while for him to be convinced he had been out of his earthly body for almost a year.

Through some rather unexpected events and evidence, along with his girlfriend’s urging, he is brought to an awareness of much of what occurred. It takes a while for his mind to catch up with the changes made in his heart during his stay in the alternate realm. But after experiencing several harsh realities, he discovers what he became within while out of his body. Gradually, he comes to understand the many challenges that lie ahead for him in fulfilling his future mission on Earth.

This book is filled with adventure, romance and personal intrigue that ties together all six previous narratives of the Elysium’s Passage series.