A year ago, I posted the story of the death of a very spiritual, severely handicapped boy named Seb, the adopted son of Lloyd and Mary Ann.  This couple was kayaking on a nearby river when I got word that Seb had suddenly died in his babysitting grandma's arms.  It  took hours to track the parents down and notify them of this devastating news.  A couple of days later at the funeral home, the parents were sobbing uncontrolably by the coffin and one of their friends pleaded with me to go up and comfort them.  I annoyed her greatly by saying, "I think they need their privacy right now to start venting their grief." I didn't want to force them to interrupt their weeping to deal with my pastoral words and I wanted God to give me the right words instead of pious cliches.  When I finally felt prompted to approach them, I told them that someone at the memorial service in the funeral would receive a paranormal verification of Seb's survival, but it wouldn't be them.  I had to leave for my vacation to Los Vegas, but they asked me to perform my own church memorial service when I returned.  My return was greeted by incredible news: a man at the first memorial service in the funeral home had stepped outside and had seen the name "Seb" emblazoned in the clouds in Seb's characteristic printing.  There was no mistaking the clarity of the letters.  When Lloyd and Mary Ann were told of this, they came out and almost fainted at what they saw.  A photo was put on display at my memorial service. 

As part of their grief process, Lloyd and Mary Ann attended a national conference in Portland, OR for parents of prematurely dead children. There they met a man whose son had recently died of an illness at a young age.   At the gravesite, a mysterious black cat sat politely by the grave and watched the service.  No one had brought the cat; so it must have been a curious neighborhood cat--or so everyone thought.  The Dad took this as an omen that his son was OK because, just prior to his death, the boy had been pestering him repeatedly to buy him a cat.  So the Dad photographed it for a keepsake.  All the visitors then left, but the cat lingered behind.  When the photo was developed, the Dad was in for a shock.  The cat in the photo was transparent and the gravesite could be seen through the cat!   The cat was an etheric apparition--a visitor from another world and perhaps a signal of the boy's survival.  Needless, to say, Lloyd and Mary Ann were deeply moved by this confirmation.

Don 

   I remember seeing letters in the clouds before. I thought it may be sky writing, but the clouds looked too natural. It was after a meditation where I had a strong urge to run out and look at the sky. I even took photos and I thought I had a ufo in one, but my cousin said it was an airplane. I'm still undecided on that one though.

   The translucent cat should be considered pretty good evidence of afterlife beings. I like cats and think that they are smarter than given credit for.

Ralph

Don-

Did you actually see the picture of the transparent cat?

R

Roger,

No, the convention Lloyd and Mary Ann attended was in Portland, Oregon.  They told me that they were blown away by the picture and the grieving father's testimony.  He showed them the cat photo, but had no copies to give them.

Don

Don-

You would think, given the fact that practically everyone is walking around with camera phones these days, taking untold millions of pictures, that we would see many photos of transparent animals, people, etc etc.

Not to mention also the fact that we rarely see pics of UFOs any more.  Heck they should be a dime a dozen by now, wouldn't you think?

I encountered a deceased tom cat we had when i was a kid while meditating - he triggered the most amazing release of heart energy when i reached out to him.

The same cat was a much loved friend, the same has been the case with several others over the years. There's a black one curled up behind my laptop as i type :), and i've just finished taping up a photo of another cat friend who died a couple of weeks ago.

Whether the cat in my experience above was symbolic and intended to help me to release a heart blockage, or an actual visitation by the old guy (or both?) i think they have an amazing ability to transmit a feeling  'beingness' - not to mention that a cat on your knee is so relaxing.

They are very good at teaching reality based non-grasping modes of relating to others too - the moment anybody starts to project mind made and egotistical 'nice little pussy wussy' vibes or attempts to control them they don't want to know.

Yet if you can just relate by reading their behaviour, and by being yourself they become so loving and affectionate. Not in an 'in your face' way, just by 'happening' to be around, giving the odd little rub against your leg, spontaneously starting to purr, becoming attentive when you feel a bit down etc..

Very cool story, Don.

A year or two ago I posted a link to a website that had a scientific study showing that cats purr at a very healing frequency and their purring was shown that it can help them to heal themselves as well as help heal a person holding/petting them.

Sorry I don't have the web link anymore.

Kathy

Oh, Vajra!!!    :)  :)

You love cats??  So do I!   :-*


I so totally agree with your viewpoints of your cats. Although I rarely get to see them outside the physical. But there have been some rare occasions. Mostly in dreams. I have one wonderful cat right now that grew up from a kitten and she is perhaps one of the sweetest cats I've ever had the pleasure to know. She follows me just about everywhere and likes to be next to me. She also has this funny little habit of getting so exited about you watching her eat her cat food. She'll even pester you to go watch her eat!  :P  She comes and rubs against me and talks to me while I'm using the computer, wanting to be petted. She'll come asking for attention at the most inappropriate of times, like when you are folding clothes. But she's adorable. A beautiful striped calico, with brown/black stripes, white and orange tabby color.

I'm glad you had so many nice cat friends, Vajra. They really make wonderful company, don't they? And they really are smart animals and very spiritual to me. And they do seem to know who is a good person and who is not, too! The first one I ever had was so affectionate to me when I got sad. She even licked the tears from my face. Although my mom told me she was just getting some salt.

Even now, I'm not entirely sure which was the case. But that first cat was very sweet.

Just wow.....that's all I have to say about this story.  Thank you for posting. :) They are always around us.

I certainly agree that cats are amazing critters.  I now live alone with a calico cat that my daughter brought home as a kitten four years ago.  Luna would seldom have anything to do with anyone but Megan and me, to the point that my son jokingly insists that he doesn't think I have a real cat because he has never seen it.  Since Megan died last October, Luna has been a great comfort to me.  She still makes only the rarest of appearances when anyone else is around and never lets them pet her.  But she settles onto my lap for a snooze whenever I sit down to read and hangs out with me when I'm doing other things.

Being expected to come up with proof of "afterlife" is a game I won't play, but it would have been interesting to see a cropped version of the transparent cat figure.

I've grown up with birds, cats and dogs as pets, and glad to have done so. Being friends with an animal incarnation, a dog is more loving than a cat, but I like the non-clinginess of cats compared to dogs. Recently looked after Cactus the cat over a weekend. I missed her nice and friendly energy when a friend had picked her up. And seemed like it was mutual as she wasn't too keen to leave. Enjoyable company.

I find it both interesting and somewhat creepy to observe different reptilian traits in cats. The slits in the eyes, now that's something I'm really not too crazy about. - I cracked up when another friend once told me that he got seriously freaked out by cats. Though he hasn't pin pointed his fear, I think I get it now.

Good stories Don. Thank you for sharing.

Berserk2 wrote on Sep 6^th, 2009 at 10:05pm:

......When I finally felt prompted to approach them, I told them that someone at the memorial service in the funeral would receive a paranormal verification of Seb's survival, but it wouldn't be them.  I had to leave for my vacation to Los Vegas, but they asked me to perform my own church memorial service when I returned.  My return was greeted by incredible news: a man at the first memorial service in the funeral home had stepped outside and had seen the name "Seb" emblazoned in the clouds in Seb's characteristic printing.  There was no mistaking the clarity of the letters.  When Lloyd and Mary Ann were told of this, they came out and almost fainted at what they saw.  A photo was put on display at my memorial service......  Don

Great story, Don, thanks for sharing. How did you know that a message would be received at that time?  What I mean is, in what way did you receive that information? That is a spectacular verification.

b2,

For most of my life, I have experienced clairvoyance.  For example, my death premonitions have always come true.  I can never TRY to have such experiences; rather, they come when I am totally open to uncomfortable impulses and am willing to surrender to expressing them. 

For example, Linda was a Harvard PhD student in Art History.  She was trapped in a bad marriage to an abusive husband.  But she felt that divorce was wrong and had confirmed this conviction through bibliomancy--opening a Bible and instantly pointing without looking to a verse for guidance.  When I heard this, I demanded that Linda give me her Bible.  I randomly opened it and, with my eyes closed,  instantly placed my finger on a verse.  It gave permission for divorce!  Linda grinned slyly and exclaimed: "So Don, are you saying that your guidance trumps my guidance?"  I replied, "No Linda, I've learned to do this at will and it means nothing in terms of guidance; it is just an interesting psychic stunt that many can perform.  The true meaning is this: let your decision on divorce be based on your best instincts and not on bibliomancy.  Linda then divorced her husband.

In the case of Lloyd and Mary Ann, I was resisting a woman's pressure to intervene to stop their weeping.  I wanted a message uniquely appropriate to them rather than the standard comfort ministers provide.  The message about a future verification from Seb came spontaneously to fill the void created by my feelings of helplessness in the face of such sorrow.  My prediction was strangely accompanied by an emotionless inner knowing.

Don

Wow, Don. Thank you for the reply. That is the kind of knowing that I completely respect.

About a month after my fiance was killed and before I actually was able to talk to him...I spoke to a medium over the phone...and one of many things she said, was that he was holding a black cat and that it belonged to me....And I was like..omg,  thats my Casper who died many years ago....I thought it was very touching that my cat and my love had met up!

When I get out of my body I KNOW my cat can see me. She watches me and turns her head as I move around the room. The dogs are apparently oblivious, but the cat responds and even hisses if I surprise her, and then she runs away. Cats seem to be much more in touch with the other side than dogs...

Thomas

:) Maybe just my imagination or a coincidence, but sitting at my desk last night while looking at a photo of him and thinking of the black cat i mentioned as dying last week i got this very strong waft of the very distinctive and very smelly bad breath he had for the last couple of years.....

I'll share a few thoughts about my own encounters with psychic photographs.  When I was doing my doctorate in religion at Harvard, I went through phases in which my faith was on shaky ground.  One day, I complained to God, "If only I could experience a convincing vision of You!"  That  night, someone brought a psychic photo of Jesus to my dorm room.  A young man had been attending his mother's funeral in Dallas.  After taking all the pictures he wanted, he was overcome with grief.  In frustration, he just pointed his camera to the clouds without looking.  The photo that develops displays what is apparently the figure of Jesus raising His hand in blessing in the clouds.  The guy who brought me this photo had no idea that I had just asked God for a vision of Jesus.  Quite a synchronicity!  Naturally I pointed out to God that I had asked for a vision, not a snapshot! 

But then I was offered another photo of Jesus out of the blue.  This one was taken in China.  A Chinese agnostic walking down a road on a rainy day, had experimentally asked God to reveal Himself, if He existed.  At precisely that moment, he tripped and heard the click of His camera.  The resulting photo fits the stereotype of a close-up of Jesus raising His hand in greeting.  Jesus' face arises in dramatic detail from the background of ground and water.  What startled me about this close-up was that the face was identical to the face of Jesus on a much older psychic photo of Jesus that my aunt gave me when I was a boy.  My aunt's photo was taken in my home town (Winnipeg, Canada) in the 1930s.  Two women were sitting on a park bench during a wintry day. One remarked to the other, "It's too bad we don't know what the Lord really looked like."  She had just bought a new camera and it was sitting on the ground.  The camera clicked by itself and a close-up of Jesus appeared against a background of snow and trail.  I compared this photo with the Chinese photo for a long time.  I was awestruck that the face and contours of His robe were identical in both photos, and yet, different from any artistic portrayal of Jesus I'd ever seen.  But the physical features that formed Jseus' face and robe were shaped by different background features: ground and water in one; snow and a trail in the other.  It was not possible to compare these 2 photos with the Dallas funeral photo because Jesus is too distant in that photo.

What was most convincing to me is the timing of my reception of the last 2 photos with my prayerful plea for a vision of Jesus.  I showed these 3 photos to photography experts who claimed there was no sign of fakery.  It would have been harder to fake the Winnipeg photo with 1930s camera technology.  I went to a photo store to get these photos copied so I could give them away to friends.  The shop owner told me he lost my photos.  Obviously, this man imagined I had faked the photos and was hoping to profit from them financially. 

Don

Don-

Just using this opportunity to ask if you saw my note to you in my Reply #16 to Alan's Live Your Life thread re. ES and Howard Storm.

R

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4l2LMVAzig

Do you ever feel....like this?    :)