Roger,

Don 't forget that Swedenborg performed a few retrievals of "devils" (= evil discarnate humans), though he devotes little space to this in his writings.  And Bets' claim that the Bible makes no mention of retrievals is mistaken.  In 1 Peter 3:19-20 and 4:6, Peter celebrates preaching the Gospel to deceased "spirits in prison" (= Hell).  Presumably this proclamation  allows a chance to respond and hence be saved or retrieved.  And Paul grounds some of his theology on the Christian practice of proxy baptism for the unredeemed dead (1 Corinthians 15:28-29).  This practice is partly based on the new Jewish practice of praying for the sinful dead (2 Maccabees 12:41-46) and amounts to retrievals.  In the generation after the Book of Revelation, the possibility of retrievals from Hell through the efforts of discarnate Christians saints is stressed in two early Christian works--the Apocalypse of Peter 14 and Christian Sibylline Oracles II.  WRITTEN evidence for soul retrievals cannot be traced back earlier than New Testament Christianity!  

Don

Don-

Let me try this angle- Vincent was a Presbyterian minister as you know.

Was the practice of retrievals (he called them "rescues") of the newly dead something that was done in that denomination or other denominations of the Church during the 20th Century?

In other words, would the clergy of his day have been familiar with what he was doing? 

Or would the clergy of today know about it? 

Is it taught or mentioned in the seminaries?

Or do you think Vincent, in this respect, a "rogue" minister?

R

So I'll ask you to venture a guess on this one-

Suppose we could go back in time and meet with Rev Vincent, and we were to ask him how he learned or heard about retrievals.

What do you think he would say?

Remember, we're talking about retrievals in the sense he did them- leading the newly dead to the light or to helpers.

He knew about the important role humans play in the retrieval process.  About how our vibrations were more in tune with the newly dead, thus enabling us to get their attention.

I am intrigued at how he first learned of this stuff.

R

You're referencing Olive C.B. Pixley from England (altho I don't know if she's tied in to retrievals).  

It was more about her "technique of light" but who knows.

Btw I do a lot of recreational shooting as does my wife.  Pistols, rifles, and shotguns. Have done so for many years.  I've never heard of a bullet coming out of a gun sideways.

Only thing I can think of is if the barrel blew up (which is extremely rare) a fragment could have flew off in her direction.

In any case I hope you are able to post some of the poetry.  I'd love to read it.

R

Don-

Gets better and better!  Getting closer to the history of retrievals.  Below is from

http://www.spiritwritings.com/fodorr.html

RESCUE CIRCLES of spiritualists, formed for the purpose of "waking up" the dead and freeing them from their earthbound state, are based on the idea that earthbound spirits are too gross to be reached by the influence of higher spirits from the other side. They stand closer to the material plane than to the spiritual. In many cases they do not realize that they are dead at all and live in a state of bewilderment. If they are enlightened on their true condition and prayers are offered for them they will progress to a higher existence.

The beginning of rescue circles may be traced to the Shaker communities of America. The appearance of a tribe of Indian controls aroused the impression that the Shakers were to teach and proselytize them. The first such circles were held by the wife of Col. Danskin of Baltimore and other ladies. The best work was performed by a circle in Buffalo between 1875 and 1900 and by Dr. Carl Wickland and his wife. The medium in the first case was Marcia M. Swain and Leander Fischer, a professor of music in Buffalo. The circle consisted of Daniel E. Bailey and his wife, the mother of the professor and Mrs. Aline M. Eggleston, the stenographer. The identity of the spirit brought to be "waked up" was often verified but as the search after such proofs entailed considerable labor and time it was, after a while, given up. The work of the circle is described in D. E. Bailey's Thoughts from the Inner Life, Boston, 1886. Twelve gripping records of these rescue seances were published in Admiral Moore's Glimpses of the Next State.

Similar mission work was carried on by E. C. Randall, also in Buffalo. The medium was Mrs. Emilie S. French. Randall's Frontiers of the After Life, New York, 1922, describes the results. Dr. Wickland's book, Thirty Years Among the Dead, Los Angeles, 1924, contains hundreds of interesting records. Later he also produced Gateway of Understanding. The work of the Tozer rescue circle in Melbourne is described in Conan Doyle's Wanderings of a Spiritualist. In California Charlotte Dresser's circle encountered similar earthbound spirits described in Spirit World and Spirit Life and Life Here and Hereafter. More recent works include Valley of the Shadow, 1994, by Peter F. Baker and Sixty Years a Spiritualist, 1995, by Alan House.

R