~ Jan 2009 ~

Dear Friends, Happy New Year! Welcome to the QFAS Newsletter. Subscription Reminder Subscriptions for 2009 were due on 1st January. Due to increasing costs the amount is now £5.00 for everyone. There is a form included with the newsletter (or payment may be made by standing order), please send your cheque to the Treasurer, David Britton, whose address is at the foot of this Newsletter. David says that the funds are in a healthy state at the moment and encourages members to apply for bursary help to attend conferences. Forthcoming events The next QFAS event will be the residential weekend, which will be held this year at Woodbrooke from 17 to 19 July. The theme will be “The Afterlife: How good is the evidence?” The speakers will be David Britton, Don Mason, Cherry Simpkin and Roger Straughan. They will lead us in an exploration of the evidence for survival. The weekend will suitable for those new to the subject as well as those already familiar with it. There will be opportunities for sharing in small groups. To book or enquire about this weekend conference, contact Angela Howard (details at the end of this newsletter). There will be a QFAS presence at the Yearly Meeting Gathering at the University of York, July 25th – 1st August. We hope to have a literature table and to hold a special interest group meeting. Please let Angela Howard know if you expect to be there. The QFAS one-day conference in 2009 will be held on Saturday 26 September at Friends House. There will be more details on this in the next Newsletter in the Summer. The QFAS Autumn Conference The QFAS Autumn Conference was held from 7-9 November at Claridge House. The first session, on Friday evening, was a time of sharing of personal experiences and favourite readings. On Saturday morning, in a session entitled “What Canst Thou Say?”, two QFAS members, Elizabeth Angas and Cherry Simpkin, shared their thoughts on how their experiences of the paranormal have influenced them. Elizabeth explained that she had had experiences of precognition from early childhood. These always come “out-of-the-blue” either as sudden visual hallucinations while she is awake or as nightmares which immediately wake her up. Either way, as a child she found these experiences very frightening and felt helpless at not being able stop the predicted event occurring. She was not helped by the fact that the adults around her thought she was either imagining things or lying. When the precognitions came true, they said it was just a coincidence. Elizabeth learnt to keep her experiences to herself and came to see her precognitive abilities as a curse. She even felt that she was somehow responsible for the events she predicted. Later, when she took her degree in psychology, she discovered that others had similar experiences. However, as such phenomena were regarded with suspicion, she continued to keep quiet about her precognitions, particularly as she did not want to jeopardise her career as a health professional by risking accusations that she was mentally disturbed. It was later, following a near-death-experience which changed her whole outlook on life, that she found a way to use her precognitions in a positive way. She became a Quaker and a spiritual healer and learnt to hold the situations she predicted “in the Light” so that, even where she could not prevent them, she could help to lessen their effect. When she predicted events relating to the work of the IRA she was also able to take positive steps to stop them actually occurring by warning the police. It was also a great relief when she discovered QFAS and was able to share her experiences with people of like mind without fear of ridicule. Nowadays, her precognitions tend to relate more to individuals than catastrophic events and have become an important part of her work as a healer in that she can help the subjects by holding them in the Light. Also, as she no longer feels the need to keep them secret, she can be her true authentic self rather than hiding a significant part of her life from others. An extended version of her talk is published as an article by Elizabeth in the January 2009 issue of Quaker Monthly. Cherry Simpkin told of how she was brought up as a Spiritualist. She spent her childhood among mediums and healers and what they taught her had a profound influence on her thought. The Spiritualist philosophy of continuing life and spiritual progress for all no matter what their religion seemed to her much fairer than the exclusive version of Christianity which she was taught at school. She also found the Spiritualist emphasis on personal responsibility for our spiritual growth and relationship with God made much more sense than the belief in Divine retribution through Christ’s vicarious sacrifice. Spiritualism also taught her that those “on the other side” care for us. Her family has had several experiences of being helped by the so-called “deceased”. Cherry’s most profound experience of this came when she felt she was being guided by a young, French nun who had lived in the 19th Century. Through this guidance she came to understand that the life and work of Christ was a supreme manifestation of Divine Love which in no way contradicted her Spiritualist beliefs. This then led her on to a life-long involvement with the ministry of healing. Our main speaker at Claridge House was Professor John Poynton, whose talk was about the philosophy of Professor Michael Whiteman, is reported by David Britton. (Michael Whiteman, born London 2.11.1906, died Cape Town 5.2.2007, was a mathematician, musician and mystic, who taught in the Department of Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town for 29 years. He published six books and more than 50 contributions to journals on spiritual development, psychical experience, depth psychology, mystical experience and related scientific matters including 20th century physics. His diaries record over 7000 out of body experiences which commenced around the age of five years. He had a close connection with the leading members of the Societies for Psychical Research in South Africa, the U.K. and the U.S.A.) Whiteman's vision has been somewhat hidden until recently, but a 3 Volume work now exists of his own writings, written and published in the last decade or so of a very long life. Michael Whiteman lived to 101, and died only last year. His views rest squarely upon an enormous range of his own experiences, both spiritual and psychic, collected and collated and reflected upon over a lifetime. He was aware of the work and views of other seers, such as Swedenborg - ( who also tried to set down his vision as a coherent whole.) In his emphasis on the corporate structure of personality, as John Poynton stressed, Whiteman's vision found itself in accord with much in Swedenborg. (This probably links also with descriptions of Group Souls, as first outlined by W.H. Myers, and communicated through Geraldine Cummins, in two ground-breaking books of the 1930s, 'The Road to Immortality' and 'Beyond Human Personality'). Swedenborg did not accept Reincarnation, ( and this needs more discussion between the various Societies that accept the afterlife without question, in the opinion of this reviewer). Whiteman was certainly interested, and had a correspondence with Ian Stevenson, ( who also died last year ), whose ‘20 Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation’ is now a classic work. From Whiteman’s point of view, Stevenson’s account of the matter is simplistic. Stevenson’s picture is the more popular one, which Whiteman called ‘strict reincarnation’, in which the core of one personality re-enters physical life. In Whiteman’s picture, personality is composite, and sometimes it is not the core of a past composite personality that reincarnates, but a co-mind, with its own core, and presumably attended this time with other co-minds. He calls this ‘loose reincarnation’. Stevenson thought that the evidence, such as it is, supported his simpler picture, but Whiteman wrote in reply – ‘According to Swedenborg and the Buddha, (and in my own experience), a personality does not exist without co-minds ceaselessly coming and going.’ So further exploration and debate are certainly going to be needed, which should be interesting. John pointed out that Whiteman and Stevenson were at one about the existence of the higher worlds in which our ‘afterlife’ has its location. The idea of multiple kinds of Space is a key to this. All of these worlds or spaces are, as it were, ‘projections’, according to Whiteman, and only the mystical realm is not. In order for our spirit to gather experience, ( in my understanding), worlds of various kinds have to be drawn out for us, veils of illusion, or ‘maya’, which are nevertheless real for us, and necessary. This would suggest that our ultimate home is in the mystical, beyond form and projection. Evidence for these worlds, apart from mediumistic reports, can come from our own experiences here on earth, according to Whiteman – though Stevenson was not quite convinced of this. But the testimony of Quaker worship over the last 350 years, and the worship of other Churches, to say nothing of the world’s mystics of all religions, surely would incline Quakers to agree with Whiteman. I myself was most interested in Whiteman’s belief that the simple procedure of arresting the flow of time in meditation, which we can all do, is to some extent an entry into another world. This confirmation of an idea and an experience that I had had many years ago, lit me up considerably. I gained the strong impression that several people were similarly lit up by other insights, and for this we are most grateful to John Poynton, and of course to Whiteman. John said several times that the world, and the worlds, and the relations between them, are complex. Even our own Space and Time, which enter into all our experience, are intellectually elusive. As St. Augustine once said – ‘ I know what Time is – until somebody asks me!’ If we wish to be explorers we have to accept that reality might indeed be highly complex. However, as Quakers we can know a few simple and decisive constants in our religious experience, which provide a much-needed home or base from which to venture out. John spoke fluently and without strain throughout, though all of us had to struggle sometimes to keep up with the flow of thought. He spoke with an easy authority, and an easy familiarity with some difficult ideas. I myself was tickled at one point by the dry humour behind the considerable reserve. Before the Talk, I learnt that he was, like Whiteman, a South African. I said I had not noticed, on the phone or in person, any colonial twang. To which he replied, with the quietness and understatement vital to such humour – ‘I can do that if you like’. So thank you again, John Poynton, and I’m sure that some of us will want to explore Whiteman further. He is ‘a find’. On Saturday evening four committee members read “Lottie’s Choice”, a play by Angela Howard, about the great Victorian scientist and psychical researcher William Crookes. The cast had considerable difficulties, in that we were not the right ages and in one case not the right sex for the characters in the play – William Crookes, his wife, Nelly, and a young couple, Lottie and Joe. However, the audience were very tolerant and suspended their disbelief! The play is set in late Victorian England where everyone is talking about psychic phenomena and the new religion – Spiritualism. The scientific world is sceptical but needs proof. One of their number, the well-respected William Crookes, decides to experiment, and does so, rigorously testing some of the foremost mediums of the day. His colleagues are delighted, but delight turns to shock and then to howls of derision when Crookes’ research proves to be positive and he announces the discovery of a new energy – the “psychic force”. Now out of favour with the majority of his colleagues, Crookes desperately needs to rebuild his career in order to support his wife, Nelly, and their large family. Although still fascinated by the “psychic force”, he is compelled to turn his back on it and resume respectable scientific work. But then one wet Spring evening a young medium comes to his door and begs him to test her powers. Lottie seems to have a glittering future ahead of her, but does she? The play reveals a dark world of greed and exploitation. Lottie’s future is in the balance and tonight she must make her choice. Apart from William Crookes and his wife, Nelly, the characters are fictional, but the action depends upon letters and articles written at the time and could possibly have happened. The play, which runs for about 50 minutes, has recently been published by Jasper Publications and details can be seen on their website at www.jasperpublishing.com. The rest of the weekend was spent sharing experiences and discussing together, including in small groups, and, on Sunday, we joined in the Claridge House Meeting for Worship, which included some moving ministry on the themes of the weekend. The Conference was greatly enjoyed and appreciated by those who came. Here are some of the comments on the weekend: • "Jolliest and most relaxed conference I’ve attended and equally worthwhile." • "I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. It was an excellent combination of laughter; intellectual challenge and spiritual recognition. Thank you." • "I found it interesting and useful – and in very suitable and pleasant surroundings. No immediate suggestions for improving the format." • "John Poynton clarified such a lot for me and I learnt such a lot, because he spoke so straightforwardly. So therefore that, in itself, made it a very worthwhile weekend. But the weekend generally was enjoyable – sharing, etc." The Will to Life or Death by Hildegard A. Weiler Hildegard is an American Quaker and a healer member of Friends’ Fellowship of Healing Recently I was again reminded that at some level we agree to remain in the Earth consciousness, which we refer to as life, or decide to cross over to what is known as death. When I was 56 years of age (1994), I had a moment when I was in the throes of recovering from breast cancer. I asked the Light, "Will I die?" The golden light responded, "The decision is yours whether you live or die." I chose to live because of my concern for my son and daughter if I died. They were 32 and 30 years of age respectively then. I simply wanted to spare my children this grief at such a young age since my mother died when I was 30. In 2006, in my 69th year, I again had the opportunity to decide on life or death. This came about in a visit to the emergency room after dehydration from my reaction to drugs used during a cat scan to diagnose diverticulitis. I felt unwell; my blood pressure and heart beats were highly elevated. However, I was not in critical physical distress. When I was settled on my emergency room bed, I immediately focused in meditation with the white light (an old friend). Deeper, deeper I flowed into my own essence. I was asked, "Do you want to live?" I wavered, "I am so very tired of the work in this life. I am soul weary." "The choice is yours. You may leave now with physical failure or you may remain in this life." I said, "I'd like to work some more in this level. I want to help my grandchildren. I love nature. My sister needs me. I want to continue to work for the Common Good. But, I need help. Please send someone to help me." "Are you certain that you want to continue helping the Light/Universal Mind…to remain in life? You will be sent a helpmate." "Yes, I am willing to commit myself to life," I responded. Instantly I felt my soul weariness lifted. I share these experiences because I believe that we all have life – death experiences, but some simply do not hear their inner voice. Or, some hear, but soon forget the choices or dismiss them because our culture does not validate this knowing. If you have such an experience, I encourage you to write it down shortly thereafter. I validate your experience. Hildegard A. Weiler www.HealingLightArt.com Book Review – Don Mason “You can’t die for the life of you” by Robert G Anderson. 2008. Published by R G & J Anderson Books, Tauranga, New Zealand. ISBN 978-0-473-13157-9 The author of this book is a scientist and a Quaker and writes in the light of more than forty years of study of death and of the paranormal. These studies have led him to make the following robust assertion - 'I finally decided to write this book to illustrate that survival of the human personality has nothing to do with any faith, religion or church, that it is part of the laws of nature. It is about as universal as the law of gravity. In short, we cannot die for the life of us, even if we wanted to!' This quotation from the book is characteristic of its style throughout. Bob Anderson’s conviction about his belief in survival is very apparent and a newcomer to the subject may find this strength of belief an encouragement to read further. Given that there is a very extensive literature concerned with dying and near-death experiences, with evidence for the survival of bodily death and reincarnation as well as the various forms of extrasensory perception, it is to be anticipated that in a short book of only 60 pages, Bob Anderson can give only a very brief review of these subjects. Such books are very difficult to write since much has to be omitted. In particular, given the constraints of space, it is not possible to present evidence for the survival of bodily death with the degree of critical analysis required to satisfy an open-minded critic. For example, much of the evidence supporting a belief in survival can, in principle at least, be accounted for in terms of extrasensory perception (ESP) and some of the examples that the author quotes are not immune to this criticism. However, for some of the evidence to be so accounted for demands a level of ESP that seems so intrinsically improbable that the survival option is to be preferred. It would have added to the value of the book, as far as a new enquirer is concerned, to know that evidence for survival can withstand severe critical scrutiny. The author clearly shares with Richard Dawkins a strong disapproval of orthodox religion and he states that ‘Fundamentalism is one of the great enemies of the human future - be this Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Hindu.’ While one accepts that this is so it would have been refreshing to find ‘scientific fundamentalism’ added to the list. The author makes some far-reaching comments that really merit further exploration. To quote – '...certain mathematical discoveries, combined with results of in-depth exploration of physics and quantum mechanics, now offer verification for many earlier well-documented scientific experiments dealing with what has been known as ‘psychic phenomena.’ It seems that quantum holography represents a model that could fully explain parapsychological phenomena; events referred to as extrasensory perception, precognition, remote viewing, etc.' This is an exciting and bold assertion in that it implies that the whole range of paranormal phenomena can now be rendered compatible with modern physics. This reviewer would stress that as far as he is aware this is not a universally held view among theoretical physicists. If it were, the paranormal might be more widely accepted in scientific circles. Further, one might argue, as both Einstein and Wittgenstein have maintained, that at the deepest level science cannot explain anything. However this may be, Bob Anderson‘s book has value if it encourages newcomers to the field to read further. There is a vast amount of material available and the author’s own list of references and suggested further reading will prove rewarding. David Fontana’s recent book ‘Is there an afterlife ?’ , at 496 pages (and almost 4 times the cost), may deter someone looking into the subject of the paranormal for the first time but Bob Anderson’s much shorter book might tempt them to take the first exploratory steps. If it does this the reader will not be disappointed. Sadly, Bob Anderson, who was a member of Tauranga Meeting, New Zealand, died suddenly in December 2008. I had an email correspondence with Bob, and his wife Jean, for about a year after he discovered the QFAS website, and we exchanged booklets. Bob was an enthusiastic communicator who wrote and held meetings on the subjects he felt passionately about. In addition to "You can’t die for the life of you" he also wrote on genetic engineering and other areas of science. I have a number of copies of "You can’t die for the life of you" for sale, at £4.00. If you would like to buy one please make a cheque out to me personally and add 66p for postage. Angela Howard Book Review  - Elizabeth  Angas. "The Reconnection – Heal Others, Heal Yourself" by Dr Eric Pearl. ISBN -1 – 4019 – 0210 -3. Hay House Inc (Ist UK printing 2004. Reprint 2005). How does one judge the authenticity of this genre – that is, the many books which are now about channeling, healing and cosmology? I feel I have to struggle against being gullible by keeping my feet on the ground, yet, let my intuitive processes trust the author, if that seems justified. This book seems to me to be very exciting, whilst having material of real substance which will be helpful to those of us exploring QFAS phenomena. The author gave up his successful chiropractic practice because his patients started to give him channeled messages about doing a different sort of healing. These messages were also about ‘strands’ and ‘strings’. Eric Pearl was ‘told’ that he is reconnecting strands (of DNA). This implies that rather than continuing to evolve forward, the human race will benefit by simultaneously reaching back in time – thus bringing forward certain aspects from when we were more complete people. He was also ‘told’ that he is reconnecting strings. That is about simultaneously occurring (parallel) planes of existence; it is about sub-nuclear physics; about string theory. As a Quaker spiritual healer as well as a member of QFAS, I was impressed by Eric Pearl’s very practical, professional and simple approach to healing; and his rejection of the frills of New Age extras. I was also reassured by the way he can integrate really ‘weird’ happenings into the everyday. QFAS News Thank you to everyone who completed and returned a questionnaire. It is impossible to summarise the results in a short space but they have given much helpful information about members’ views and ideas, and are generally very positive and encouraging. We do like to hear from you. Some Friends feel isolated and welcome an opportunity to discuss thoughts and experiences. Please feel you can write, phone (not after 9 pm please), or email me. I receive many interesting contacts in this way and am glad to try and help. We have departed from the usual pattern of sending out a newsletter in December and moved to January hoping that this gives a chance for writers and readers to concentrate on Christmas. The pattern of conferences is also changing this year and the next newsletter will report on the Woodbrooke Conference and the Yearly Meeting Gathering. The AGM will be held following the September conference. Angela Howard (signed "In friendship, Cherry Simpkin") Clerk: Angela Howard – 01371 850423 e-mail: angela1@webbscottage.co.uk Webbs Cottage, Woolpits Road , Great Saling, Braintree, Essex , CM7 5DZ. Treasurer and Membership Secretary: David Britton, Captain’s Cottage, 35 Churchfield, West Mersea, Colchester , C05 8QJ.