Friends,
in the midst of all this planetary anxiety, I noticed that one of my favorite american intellectuals/critics, Susan Sontag, had passed after many years of cancer.  I really admired her work and sometimes wondered if her deeply intellectual stance would hinder her afterlife progress.  When I read of her passing two days ago, I got that familiar buzz that maybe I should go and check on her.
Newer posters might want to look up my recent contacts with John Mack (on board) and retrieval of Spalding Grey (in archive).  As you will see I took a very specific attitude with Ms. Sontag, one that I thought she might be comfortable with.
Every contact is different, as individuals vary enormously in their belief systems and levels of skepticism.
Using hemi-sync, I seemed to tune into her soul essence without much trouble.  She seemed to be in focus 23, that inbetween world of misty confusion, but seemed relaxed and bemused by her experiences so far.  Certainly not anxious or fearful.
I like these type of contacts as one can give so much more personal attention to the situation at hand, rather than the efficient-crowd-control- activity of mass disaster scenarios.

Those wishing to know more of her life and books, will find many hits on Google.

cheers, gordon phinn


Dec30/04:  Susan Sontag: contact

G.P.: I seek the soul of Susan Sontag, American writer, recently deceased.

S.S.: Yes, I am here.  Who are you?

I am Gordon Phinn, Canadian writer and researcher.  Also I guess psychical researcher.  How are you doing Ms Sontag?

Remarkably well thank you.  How did you find me, out here in this misty nowhereland?

I just called for you.

That's all?

Well its a call that has a psychic component.  Every individual has a resonant frequency that is theirs and theirs only.  And it seems to be somehow entwined in your name.  By calling your name on this way, I am irresistibly drawn to your soul energy, no matter where you are.  Rather as if I were tuning the dial on a radio looking for a station.

You sound as if you know what you're doing.

I do indeed.  An old hand at the game as it were.  Can I interest you in some esoteric knowledge?

What do I have to forfeit to gain it?

Nothing except your ignorance.  Ms Sontag I realize you are one of the country's pre-eminent intellectuals, one who has a sophisticated understanding of the many issues, intellectual, aesthetic and political, that you have applied yourself to, but I sense you have absorbed little in the way of spiritual understanding.

I rarely felt the need to. It is a field populated by charlatans and corrupt, power hungry institutions.  I never saw the need to delude myself with their lies.

Yet you devoted a good part of your energies in attempting to oppose and reform corruption in political circles, did you not?

That seemed eminently worthwhile.  One felt one could construct change, albeit at a snail's pace.

In the face of what has recently been called a Hubristic Empire, I admire your tenacity.  But let me add that I and others like me, seek to circumvent the illusory ideologies of  ossified belief systems and institutions, by offering souls guidance towards an afterlife existence free of cant and self-appointed moral authority.  A place of freedom, light, beauty and endless creative enterprise.

Sounds like a state I would thrive in.  But it also sounds remarkably like a come-on from a shyster who knows which buttons to push.

Yes, I appreciate your reluctance to accept my offer at face value.  May I ask if you are satisfied with the state you currently find yourself in?

Happy is not a term I'd use.  It's an intriguing mix of perplexity and curiosity, with a perhaps intriguing sense that it could all be very different at the flick of some mysterious switch.

I would suggest to you that the mysterious switch is in fact, your personal consciousness, and that it can, in fact, create in any reality scenario you may wish for.

Create?

Well, participate in might be more accurate for you right now.  But I would suggest that your active participation in any one of the planes would turn out, upon closer inspection, to be a continuous act of co-creation.

Your eloquence is persuasive in an alarmingly seductive fashion.  I'm unsure of what exactly you refer to, but I am becoming intrigued enough to follow any example you may give.

Well that's all to the good.  We certainly aim to make folk comfortable.

There's many like you?

Legions actually.  But not so many who work with the intellectual elite.  A lot of them are just regular folks who want to lend a hand.  Some, of course, are deeply religious, and seek to advance the ideals of the prophets who so inspire them.

You will not be taking me to God, I hope.

No I will not Ms. Sontag.  I will take you to a reception center in your comfort zone, an r n r playground where you can relax and check out your options when you're ready to do so.  I do have my own understanding of the god concept, and indeed, the god consciousness, but I have no desire to impose either on you.  The bottom line is getting you out of the misty nothingness and into somewhere much more pleasant.

What is this anyway?

It is a border region between the living and the dead. Many of the dead are so confused and beset by ignorance and anxieties that they get stuck here, some for a very long time.  You have doubtless read a few ghost stories?

Yes, of course, but I never quite felt them real or relevant.  My concern was always the life of the mind and the advancement of knowledge. I can see they were right about one thing though.  You do feel the thoughts and emotions of those connected to you.

Yes, they are powerful magnets and will continue to be such until the energy of their inspiration dissipates.  You have, so far, been resisting their pull, I take it?

Can you tell?

Yes, it is part of my job description really.  Plus you resisted the encroachment of cancer for so many years I imagine such a stratagem has become second nature.

Are you suggesting I should have given in?

Not at all.  Your struggle was that of a dedicated warrior, and I sincerely compliment you on it.  And although I am not privy to such information, it was likely part of your pre-birth plans.

You are not telling me I planned all that out ahead of time?  That I submitted willingly?  Please no: it's the worst kind of new-age mumbo-jumbo.

I am telling you that it is entirely possible.  And when I get you to focus 27 and you can settle and check out the options on offer, you will be able to find out for yourself, one way or the other.    Perhaps I should add I was an admiring reader of some of your work.  Certainly "Styles of Radical Will" got my attention as a young man, and as a practicing poet the main thrust of your "Against Interpretation" argument was well taken: critical thinking can certainly wreck the ecstatic throb of the moment.  Analysis of bliss is futile, that is something you will find replicated in many ways as you progress.  But having also read "Illness As Metaphor", I felt rejection of personal responsibility for one's fate to be one of your major themes.

Well I just rejected all that finger pointing and blame, as if illness was an indicator of anything other than its own nature.

You saw illness as something outside of you that attacked the sovereign state of your being?

Yes, an enemy.

Well, it is certainly not for me to rearrange your belief structure on that, but if you allow me to escort you onwards to a place where you can at least have a look around and decide for yourself, I will be much obliged.

Will you indeed?  And what exactly will this involve?

My current method is to ask the client to shut their eyes and hold my hand.

What, no prayers or invocations?

Nope, no mumbo-jumbo; we merely shift levels from the fog to the light.

(A gap of indecision and rumination)  

Okay!  I'll give it a go!  
(a smidgen of girlish enthusiasm)

(We arrive at the Park and survey the scene)

S.S.: Well this is a great start, wherever we are.

Ms. Sontag, unless you expressly wish otherwise, I shall leave you here to explore.  Everyone here is dead by the way, but some know more about their state than others.  The food is top notch, and about as many activities as you can handle, if you are in the mood.  Or you can get a room in the hotel and not be disturbed.  It's all very free and easy.

That's it then?

For now.  I'll return in a bit and see how you're doing.  For someone as famous as you, there will likely be a memorial service, and that gathering will be a powerful draw that you would be unwise to resist.  Just be aware that you can attend it in spirit and return here later just by envisioning here and desiring to return.  Yes, okay?

Sounds simple enough.  I guess I should thank you for your time.

My pleasure Ms. Sontag.  Your work gave me great mental stimulation when I needed it.  This is my way of saying thank you.  Be well.

Can't see how I can avoid it at this point.

(I give her a quick hug and disappear).

Wow..is all I can say.  As I read..I could "see" all that you write of..amazing..thank you..

Gordon:

WOW ! What a fabolous read....I don' t think I have ever read something like this where the eloquence does not take away from the reality of the narrative.

But you know what Ms. Sontag would have said if she read something like this when she was alive ?

"Nice imagination and writing Gordon -- what were you smoking that night." 

Thank you for sharing...it is always fascinating to read these posts.

Intriguing narrative as always.

Re verification that it was indeed Sontag with whom you were communicating...do you ever compose a question or two ahead of time, the answer to which would provide conclusive evidence that it really IS the person you think it is?

Something that only she/he would know the answer to?
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No Roger I don't compose any such question. For two reasons (1) verification of the kind  you seek is not what I'm after, and (2) I can't imagine a question that would be verifiable under normal conditions, without me trying to communiacte with family etc to check out answers.  Why would they want such an intrusion?  They didn't ask for it.  Plus the time and effort it would take.  It takes long enough to do the retrieval and write up the notes as it is.

The only kind of verifications I get is when someone asks me to remove a ghost, a ghost whose activities are perceived/felt by those nearby.  Later they will say that there have been no further disturbances, so I feel that the soul has been successfully moved on.   Or, with distance healing, when people email to say they feel a whole lot better, or even cured of the affliction that was bothering them.

With contacts/retrievals, I don't think conclusive evidence as such exists, spirits could be mischievious fakers.  My intuition tells me they're not, but my intuition cannot combat your doubt.

I suppose the communication is not as cut and dried as you portray, probably impressions vs actual dialogue, so maybe that's why verification is not feasible.....YES!  
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People like Spalding Gray, Sontag, Kubler-Ross, etc all are well known, at least to some of us and certainly to you, so there's always the possibility that what they say and how they say it was influenced by familiarity with their books and/or newspaper articles etc.

Yes I agree, this is entirely possible, but for the contact to be done at all, I have to put this aside and get on with it.
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Sorry if you've answered this before, but have you had any of these experiences during the course of which you obtained solid verification, something you had no way of knowing ahead of time? [/quote]

Yes, I've had a few, one where  I sensed a man had been abused by priests as a boy, which was unknown to family members at the time, but later revealed by one who had known all along....
and a couple where I guessed names without knowing but found them in newspapers later.  But if you go that route you wind up with as many wrong guesses as right ones.
Mostly what happens is I sense personality characteristics of the retrievee and the family member who requested the action will say yes, they were like that!,  or wow! that's totally like him to say that!
Plus recently I've started doing "traditional" medium work, where you sit with the client, go into a light trance and communicate with the dead loved one.  Even if evidential questions are not asked, the process usually reveals a number of what you might call "Hits".

cheers, gordon