My second retrieval went better than my first one, because I was much more out of body and much more focused on the action.

I was walking down the park, following Bruce's comment and arrived at the bench where I hadn't the time to sit down. A Helper arrived, dressed as some kind of a quaker with a black hat on his head, holding a bible-like book.

I had real difficulties focusing on him, as I was listening to Bruce's comments. The Helper told me to ignore it.

I told him I was there for a BST-retrieval and asked for his help. He said: Follow me.

We read the end of the prairy and a large fenced appeared (or maybe I just did not notice it before). The fence opened and the Helper and I passed at the other side, which looked like a modern Arab town.

The Helper turned to me and said: You are not dressed properly to be here. All of the sudden, I was clothed in a cloaked long dress, my face covered, everything covered. Then I realized we were in a strong ISLAM environment, and I thought : Oh no, this is not my cultural liking at all. There is no freedom here.

The Helper said: Exactly!

The Helper walked on and we arrived at a very small old-fashioned supermarket. As we entered the supermarket, the Helper's appearance changed into a tanned man, with a sweaty brown chest.

We walked along the low old-fashioned shelves of the supermarket and arrived at the level of a girl, completely covered up in a yellow cloak. She was trying to hide her hands as she took the food-cans of the shelves. She looked scared to death.

She watched me and the Helper approach, wondering what happened. The Helper sent me an image of her hobby : She likes to cook. He showed me her standing in her home, in her kitchen, smiling and laughing, not cloaked, while the smell of the food was rising from the sizzling cooking-pan. In this vision, she looked happy and open, while the woman I saw was scared and closed on herself.

She was looking at the shiny tanned muscular chest of the Helper next to me, admiring it (a faint thought came to me, but not from me : Waw, I wish my skin looked like this). I started talking to her about cooking and she told me how much she liked it and how sad she was her husband/boyfriend did not treat her well.

I saw her eyes behind the net of her clothing. Her eyes were deformed and there was not brightness.

The Helper sent me a mental image of her, trying to leave her man (He said : From Hefira to Bagdad), than he showed me how her man found her and sprayed her face with acid.

She has no face anymore, the skin of her neck is hanging down, destroyed. She is happy to be covered up and hiding. She died as the acid burned her and penetrated her skull.

She told me her name was Faidel (or Faidle) and that she was scared to go home. That is why she would try to stay in the supermarket as long as possible and pick the best food-cans for her cooking (the only thing she was allowed to do and that she enjoyed).

She started complaining about how she would like to pick her underwear. She said she would love to wear underwear with lace and with colors, not just plain white stuff. She did not understand why she wasn't allowed to wear the underwear she wanted. Nobody could see this under her cloak anyway, what difference did it make. She was wondering if those rules made up by islam-men weren't stupid, but she was too scared to react.
She started crying and crawled in my arms for PUL.

The Helper gave me a sign that we had to move on. I told her I had a friend that could show her a shop were we could buy the underwear we wanted.

Faidel told me that women could only do their shopping accompanied by men. I said I was walking with a man and that it would be alright if he were with us. She agreed to follow us.

We crossed the street, walked further and than entered a huge modern shop. As we entered the shop, all kinds of clothes were visible, but then the scene became unclear. The shop started looking like half-a-shop, half-a-clothes-factory. There were women knitting in a large dark area. They looked like sad slaves.

Faidel looked amazed. So did I. The Helper arrived at another door, like a back-door. He opened it and we arrived in an area of light. Women were walking around, unaccompanied, un-cloaked. Some had their a scarf on their head, but all the faces were visible.

They were smiling, picking underwear and other clothing. First she looked at their freedom and I could feel her happiness.

Then Faidel looked at their uncovered faces. She was scared to death. "I cannot uncover my face, she said. I am ugly. I do not belong here. I want to leave." She turned back and tried to open the door, but awkwardly, the door was a little stuck.

The Helper asked her, if she really wanted to go back, if she was happy were she came from. Faidel looked terribly sad.

Then a beautiful woman came to Faidel. She looked a lot like Rania-of-Jordania. The woman told Faidel that she too had been burned on her face and that they had cures here, like surgery.

Faidel calmed down and followed the woman.

I asked the Helper how I could verify this experience was real, I said he hadn't show me anything that could help me proove this was real and that I really needed it for my mental health.

He said I should look up Hefira and the word Faidel.

I looked up Hefira on a map, thinking it was a place. It isn't. It turns out "Hefira"means "escape" in Arab.

I went to look up Faidel, it is a female variant of the Arab male name "Fadil", which means virtuous and generous.

This post, for you to judge. I don't know such Arab.

With love,

Blue-Shine

Hi Blue-Shine,  your detail is amazing.  I am impressed.  How do you feel about the proof you asked for?

What a wonderful retrieval Blue-Shine. You have so much detail and have learned so much. I'm very happy for you.  

Much Love, Mairlyn

Yes, Blue-Shine, wow, the next time I go out "there" I will ask too for something to confirm (I forget it mostly or get common names), it's a good confirmation I think. And in the whole, I feel that's the way things going there like I experienced it too.
Yeah!spooky

Dear all,

I don't want to sound difficult, because I believen this was an amazing experience, and that I was given knowledge that I did not acquire in any other way than through this experience.

Somehow, I feel blessed, because I sense I got proof of what I suspected.

But during my conversation with the girl (whom I was told died in 1968, forgot to mention that, sorry)
I felt kind of disappointed.

I mean, I travel all the way to afterlife, thinking I was going to be revealed the secrets of the universe, thinking I would philosophy about important matters, thinking I would immediately be given all the answers I was looking for, adapted to my being, and instead I find myself talking about underwear.

Instead, what I see is that no matter where we go, we are human beings and that there is not much difference at the level of feeling between this side and the other.

I feel selfish saying this, because in the end, I should only be happy I saved two souls and nothing else should matter but that feeling that people were saved because of MY decision to undertake this. But I feel a dissatisfaction, difficult to grasp.

I know there is an afterlife, but that knowledge seems to hang around at a superficial level in my mind, like I fail to really grasp the full meaning of my experience. Like if I walk next to a treasure, thinking this is evident and underestimating=not feeling its real value.

I think at some level I should be ashame of admitting that although I got real proof here, to me, its not penetrating.

I have difficulties explaining this, but I thought it would be interesting for you to know.

With love,

Blue shine

I used to feel the same vague sense of wanting more out of what I was doing white feather. I just kept asking for more and more definition, shape and kept asking questions until one day everything changed and I knew that I was on the right track. It's not overnight, but a process. I just kept wondering if I was capable..that sort of thing..could I serve...u know, help out, feel useful, whatever. lol. it happens. just hang in. these days I'm sort of on call status. as I realize the whole world won't fall apart if I don't show up, but I know theres guides out there who know exactly the right person for the right job, so I don't worry. you'll do well. love, alysia

You have proof (personal experience) that we are more than our physical bodies. That's a good thing. Think of how many people still doubt that.

You learned something about conservative Islam in Iraq, although I can tell you from having seen it myself that they are now more women than you might think who walk around without being covered there.  Oh yeah!

I'm really new to any of this (except having read almost all of Bruce's books, they read like exciting science fiction novels). But I really am just blown away by your story. I am fascinated by languages, so I personally thought the detail that the word Hefira means escape to be exactly appropriate for this story. I also loved that the beautiful woman stepped in and realized exactly what this woman needed to feel comfortable in the free setting. She didn't want to just escape an abusive husband/repressive society. She wanted to feel beautiful herself. She also wanted underwear that only she could see, because it made her feel beautiful inside. This reminds me of when I am working with children, that they need reassurance that they are good and valued. They need to be heard and seen.  I will take this story and try and remember this lesson in my day to day interactions and also in my thoughts about myself. Thanks so much for sharing this!