I thought this very appropriate for the board.
Love, Mairlyn

http://www.dicksutphen.com/html/webcol110.html

MASTER OF LIFE COLUMN
Dick Sutphen
Date: 2-20-04


THE DYING PROCESS

As I write this, Tara is in Anchorage, Alaska to attend the funeral for her uncle Vernon Risch, and to support her mother and family during this difficult period.

I am going to share some of the circumstances leading up to the death and what Tara perceived in the days following his crossing. Vern had been fighting serious health problems for years, but he was a survivor who always managed to amaze everyone by bouncing back. Tara told me a year ago, “Vern will die in February, 2004.” Sometimes I feel like I live in the “twilight zone.” Such statements and unusual manifestations are commonplace in our home.
“Really,” I will say and nod my head. Vern crossed at 12.15 AM, PST, February 1, and is survived by his wife Barbara and five children.
When Tara alters consciousness to go up and visit her spirit guide Abenda, her grandmother Gwendolyn is waiting at the bottom of the stairs to hand her flowers. Tara visits Abenda regularly to do automatic writing for her “Cause & Effect” column and for those who have commissioned her to obtain answers with this medium.

The bottom of Tara's subjective stairway to Abenda is a level just above the lower astral plain. I perceive this as earthbound. “Grandma is earthbound,” Tara says. “She's waiting for her children, her three sons and two daughters, to join her. Vern is the first to cross.  Abenda has tried to talk her into moving to a higher vibration, but she doesn't listen. Grandma Gwen was deaf in life and she continues to play that role in death. Grandma has manifested a comfortable cottage at this level. She raises flowers and still loves to cook. She is always asking me to go with her to the cottage, so she can cook for me. But Abenda does not like me lingering at this level where entity attachment is possible.”

As often reported in esoteric writing, thoughts create reality on the other side. In her columns, Tara has reported on her continued communications with deceased New Age author Jess Stearn, who was a best friend in life. Jess continued to desire food until completing his adjustment to a higher vibration. He recently told Tara, “I can think of an earthly place and find myself in a similar place, but not the real place, unless I change my structure by going into that reality. The physical body is a heavy mass, compared to how I feel now. But I still feel like I am Jess Stearn, and I will until I take on the role of another name.” (This writing will soon be posted on the web and in next issue of “Soaring Spirit” magazine.)

Vern had throat cancer. Three weeks ago, the doctors gave him three months to live, but a few days before he died, they learned the cancer had spread to his lungs. Tumors in his throat were closing off his breathing, and he could no longer talk. But 24 hours before crossing, he could still get up and go to the bathroom.
Tara's mother asked Tara to help her brother make the transition. So Tara began to mentally project from our home in Malibu to Vern who was lying in a hospital bed in Anchorage. “When he talks to me, it's the same voice I remember so well,” Tara would say after awakening from a session. “He tells me he is really scared. I tell him, 'You'll be okay, take my hand.' He doesn't have a strong spiritual belief system, but I assure him there is nothing to fear, and his mother and grandmother will be waiting to help him when the time arrives.”

Tara was talking on the phone with her mother when Vern died. So within the hour, my wife induced a theta-level altered state and projected “to the essence of Vern.” Moments later she joined her uncle in spirit. “Vern had already looked back upon his body when I arrived,” Tara said. “Grandma Gwen and Great-Grandmother Anna were there with him. Whenever I've seen the Grandmas in spirit, they have appeared much younger and more vital than they were when they died. But to meet Vern, they made themselves look older, so he would be more comfortable and accepting of the reunion. The Grandmas were all dressed up, which I thought was cute. Two others were with him; a female spirit guide and a man named Frank.”

“Vern was really glad to see me. I said to him, 'You realize I'm alive? You've crossed.' He said, 'Yes.' He was still having difficulty talking due to the throat tumors, so I asked a doctor to come and remove the tumors. This happened quickly, and although it was a symbolic releasing, it did the trick. Vern could communicate easily and felt better. Later, Abenda told me, 'Good call on the tumor removal.'

“Grandma Gwen was so excited. She held my hand. She wanted to make a family circle, so we all held hands. Vern was quiet. He would ask me little questions, like, 'What do I need to do now?' I said, 'Your spirit guide or Frank will show you, I don't really know what to do. But if you want comfort, go to your mother and grandmother.'

“Vern started following Frank, but Grandma Gwen wanted to cook for him. He said, 'I'm not ready to eat.' Frank wanted him to come to his house, but Vern was not comfortable with this. He was afraid he would not remember people's names. He did not remember Frank, so I'm not sure about that association. Vern was worried about his wife Barbara. I told him, 'She's fine. You've made the transition, and you need to concentrate upon that now.'

“He told me when he died, it was like his whole body split in half, and he just lifted out of it. 'I couldn't have stopped it. I was just pulled out and up,' he said.”

Tara left for awhile to go talk to her own spirit guide. “Abenda told me Vern would connect in and out with me all night while I was sleeping.”

When Tara altered consciousness and visited spirit the following day, she experienced a family gathering hosted by Abenda. “Vern, my Father, the Grandmas, and two Grandpas were all gathered around a table with Abenda. I joined them. It was like old times.”

Tara explained the astrology: “Vern was at the most intense aspect on the midheaven on the hour he died. His wife Barbara was also at the most intense aspect in her chart. Vern's death aspects were in play in the house of death. The charts shows he was sick, shows he had cancer and even the financial drain due to the cancer is indicated. Unusual speech is indicated, which obviously relates to the tumors closing down his throat so he couldn't talk. And his chart shows that people would be there for him at this time. As it was, his wife, all his children and brothers and sisters were there.

“Loss of a mate is indicated in Barbara's chart. And in my mother's chart, the loss of her best friend. Vern was Mom's best friend.”

“So it was Vern's destiny to die at exactly this time?” I asked.

“His death was written on the day he was born,” Tara said.

* * * * *