~ June 2004 ~
Every Meeting House Library should
have one! Since
the last Newsletter the new edition of “Do We Survive Death?”
by David Hodges has been published with the help of the Pelegrin
Trust. This book is a descriptive bibliography and discussion
on the evidence supporting survival which David has compiled and
written. David is one of the founder members of QFAS
and he has written this book to fill a need for a “review of the
evidence in a form which is accessible to all levels of readership.”
I asked David for an update and he e mailed :- “ ‘Do We Survive Death?’ has been selling quite
well over the four months that it has been available. Perhaps more slowly than I would have wished but apparently not badly
for a book which is being privately published and distributed.
Of the original print run of 500 copies, 138 have been sent
out but not all of these have been actual sales. As well
as a few complimentary copies, there have been a number of review
copies and also books sent to outlets/bookshops for future sales.
David
is not in the best of health and has already put tremendous effort
into getting the book written. The first edition was published
by Martin Howard and many of you will have copies. The new edition
is larger and looks splendid and I hope we can all help David
as much as possible with its distribution. Why not donate a copy
to your Meeting House Library? * * * The next QFAS
event is the Claridge House Weekend
Conference on Reincarnation from 22-24th October, cost £130, deposit
£50. (Remember that bursary help is available) Contact: The Warden, Claridge House, Speakers include Jim Pym and Nwang Sangye (a Tibetan-Buddhist
monk) Book soon as space
limited.
If you feel able to share a room this enables more to attend. The Annual General Meeting of QFAS will take place on the Sunday afternoon at 2 pm at Claridge House. Please come if you can. Dear Friend, Every Meeting House Library should
have one! Since the last Newsletter
the new edition of “Do We Survive Death?” by David Hodges has
been published with the help of the Pelegrin
Trust. This book is a descriptive bibliography and discussion
on the evidence supporting survival which David has compiled and
written. David is one of the founder members of QFAS and he has
written this book to fill a need for a “review of the evidence
in a form which is accessible to all levels of readership.” I
asked David for an update and he e mailed :- “ ‘Do
We Survive Death?’ has
been selling quite well over the four months that it has been
available. Perhaps more slowly than I would have wished but apparently not badly
for a book which is being privately published and distributed.
Of the original print run of 500 copies, 138 have been sent
out but not all of these have been actual sales. As well
as a few complementary copies, there have been a number of review
copies and also books sent to outlets/bookshops for future sales.
David is not in
the best of health and has already put tremendous effort into
getting the book written. The first edition was published by Martin
Howard and many of you will have copies. The new edition is larger
and looks splendid and I hope we can all help David as much as
possible with its distribution. Why not donate a copy to your
Meeting House Library? Impressions of the conference “Quakers and Spiritual/Psychic Experience”
held at the Quaker International Centre on April 24th,
by Ann M. Wilson, who was attending a QFAS event for the first
time. I was one of twenty-three people including
three facilitators who attended the QFAS day conference. QFAS
has been in existence for four years but I only discovered it
recently when I read about the previous conference in the Friend
and sent for more information. I found the literature which
I received very interesting and felt it was summed up by the quotation
"We are not so much human beings on a spiritual journey,
as spiritual beings on a human journey" which spoke
to my condition. I decided to attend the conference in order
to move forward in my understanding and to meet other people with
similar interests. It was an unexpectedly hot day and we met
in a very pleasant room in the Quaker International Centre where
we all sat round in a large circle. We began with a short
Meeting for Worship. Angela Howard then welcomed us and
gave an introduction to the day. Angela had asked people
to send a few details about themselves and their hopes for the
day and she shared some of the responses with us. There
was also a list on the back of the programme of the types of spiritual/psychic
experiences which people had described. It was not compulsory
to have had such experiences to attend the conference - it was
also for those who are interested in such experiences. We
were told that there are three ways in which mediums receive information
- clairvoyance (seeing), clairaudience (hearing) and clairsentience
(feeling aware). For those of us who do not experience any
of these a new word was coined - clairvacant! We then went round the circle and each
introduced ourselves and said where we came from and why we had
come to the conference. The next item was a very interesting
and well researched talk by David Britton on "George Fox's
attitude to the Afterlife" which included many quotations
from George Fox and other early Friends. As we were going to meet in small discussion
groups after lunch it was suggested that we should have lunch
with those who had been allocated to the same group as us, and
this we did. When we returned upstairs we went into our
small groups and it was suggested that we began the discussion
by talking about some of the experiences which people had had
which were listed on the back of the programme. The group
I was in therefore began by talking about apports, as not everyone
knew what they were (they are material objects which are transported
or caused to appear, for instance at a seance).
We then moved on to many other interesting topics including the
nature of evil, Buddhist beliefs, Spiritualism, and Reincarnation.
After an hour we again met in a large group for feedback from
the smaller groups and more discussion. Later we watched some videos of Colin
Fry, who is a medium who regularly appears on television.
This part of the programme was facilitated by Ros Smith who is
herself a developing clairvoyant medium, and I found it fascinating
to hear her description of what it is like to receive messages.
She said that she could never be a stage medium, but wants
to use her gift to help others. We had a question and answer
session with Ros about the videos we had just seen and her experiences. Then it was all over and time to return
home at the end of a really interesting and varied day.
Having recently become a facilitator myself I must say that I
was very impressed with the quality of the facilitation.
I am now looking forward to attending the next QFAS conference
on "Re-incarnation" at Claridge House from October 22nd
to 24th 2004. Ann M Wilson, 12 The Fellway, West Denton, George Fox and the Next World – talk given to the conference
by David Britton Without
my reading the lengthy ‘Doctrinals’
of Fox, but relying on the various ‘Narrative Papers of Fox’,
edited by Henry Cadbury, ‘The Book of Miracles’, and other materials
of that kind, together with a few crucial passages from the Journal,
I find the evidence is that Fox simply took the next world for
granted. It was not an issue on which he dissented from the other
At the other end of the spectrum, where the radical spirituality
of the Ranters wanted to overthrow all notion of an after-life, and
to celebrate only its own rather manic here-and-now spirituality,
Fox, like Margaret Fell, and Barclay, and Nayler, and several
other early ‘weighty Quakers’, was very firm, and indeed very
sharp in condemnation. I have read everything I could lay hands
on written by early Quakers on the Ranters, and I can assure you that they speak with one voice.
Here, from ‘The Narrative Papers’, and quoted by Cecil
Sharman in his excellent book ‘George Fox and the Quakers’, is
the story of Margaret Rous and her child. – ‘Hearing that Margaret Rous’ child was sick I went to see it, and as I stood by it
considering its condition, I felt the Lord’s power go through
it, and the word was, the Lord’s power was come to raise it up
or fetch it away, and so I came away fresh in the Lord’s power
and satisfied in myself. And the next day her mother came to the
town and desired me to go with her to see it, and through her
tenderness I went, though I was satisfied in myself. And so I
saw the child was full of the power of the Lord, and it rested
upon it and rested in it. And at night it died, and afterwards
the spirit of the child appeared to me, and there was a mighty
substance of glorious life in that child, and I bid her mother
be content, for it was well.’
Now what could be a clearer statement than that?
George Fox’s mother died in 1674, when Fox was in
Here is Fox’s Epistle concerning Josiah Cole. ‘….and Friends
sate about him, and healed him, and I went to him, and healed
him, and he was full of the power of the Lord, and his seed and
Life, that was over all; and so in that he departed away in the
arms of Friends, as he sate on the side of his bed, and had a
very easy passage through the Life in which he remaines’
Here is part of Fox’s Testimony to George Watt
. ‘And, as Christ saith, He that
believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live
…in this belief, and in this Life, is our dear brother
George Watt; I do see him and feel him’ And
here is another Testimony, this time to Edward Burroughs. ‘
Dear Edward Burroughs fell asleep on the 14th
day of the 12th month 1662, who is with the Lord forever.
And that which I eternally loved in him never dies, but lives
forever, and so cannot be separated from him.’ And
here, as an example of his healing ministry, is his letter in
1658 to Lady Claypole, suffering mental distress –‘For looking down at
sin and corruption and distraction, you are swallowed up in it;
but looking at the Light that discovers them, you will see over
them. That will give victory, and you will find grace and strength,
and there is the first step of peace, that will bring salvation,
and see to the beginning and the glory that was with the Father
before the world began, and so come to know the seed of God which
is heir of the promise of God, and the world which hath no end
unto the power of an endless life, which power of God is immortal,
which brings up the Soul which is immortal, up to the immortal
God, in whom it doth rejoice’ That,
making all due allowance for Fox’s puzzling (yet powerful) cumulative
style of writing, is also a clear statement of the immortality
of the Soul at the highest level, in God himself. A tribute at a similar high level is given in Fox’s Testimony to the truly great Isaac Penington, in 1679. ‘And he did freely minister of his living bread and water, which he had received from above, from the living God and his Son, to the comfort of them that feared the Lord, and kept their habitation in the Truth, in meekness and humility. And I do know that he is well in the Lord, and in Peace with him through the Lord Jesus Christ’. Some
Quakers have said to me that an eventual resurrection in the body
is the true voice of Christianity, not the life of the Soul immediately
after death, in a Soul-world. To present such a stark opposition
of ideas is unnecessary, and even false. Both ideas might be true.
Or another alternative, seemingly favoured by Fox, and by some
of today’s psychical researchers, is that a form of bodily existence
is the immediate reality of the next world, together with the
Soul. Whichever principle we adopt as our belief, the crucial
point encompassed by all these positions, is that our physical
death is not the end of our story, and to this principle Fox and
the early Quakers remained faithful. * * *
“I did one year of a two year course on Interfaith and
there said once I wished to know how to communicate with Angels.
From that time I have felt loved and protected (not being without
that previously, but maybe more aware) in a way that has led me
to pray in a way I had not done previously. “So many experiences of being helped and enlightened – perhaps a “leading”;
a thought directing me to some action or understanding.
One can be a sceptic about such things – we have a choice. I choose
to believe in the heavenly hosts, and therein one opens up to
experience.” * * *
* “Hopes? That the Religious Society of Friends as a whole will
take on board that Quakers began life as a mystical group, and
that the very essence of the Religious Society lies in the possibility
of the experience of the Divine – that without this recognition,
we may not call ourselves a Religious (or Spiritual) Society.
Hopes specific to the day. To make the
acquaintance of Quakers who also have had their lives changed
by Experience – to begin to steer other Quakers towards a greater
awareness/value of the Guiding Light.” * * *
* “…I feel that all psychic experience
should give some insight into the Quaker testimonies and daily
life.” Here are some comments from the
evaluation forms:- * * * * “I enjoyed making the acquaintance
of like-minded people. I have been inspired to read some of Fox’s
spiritual experiences. I look forward to reading articles written
by members of the group.” * * *
* “Thank you for another very interesting
and enjoyable conference. I appreciated the different balance
of the day and the greater opportunity we were given to hear of
individual experiences. The talk on George Fox’s views made an
excellent beginning and the videos an interesting end.” * * *
* -
and a letter written to “The Friend”
by Anne Smith which was not printed:- “Continuing
Life” The Psychic/Spiritual
Experience of Pre-cognition At the day conference on 24th
April at Quaker International Centre, we had an opportunity in
small groups to talk about our spiritual experiences. Not just
those ones, like discernment or “being moved to minister”, which
are acceptable in the wider Quaker community, but those often
labelled “psychic”. These latter, often sadly, appear to be a
taboo subject in most Meetings. In the past (thanks to the support
of the Quaker Fellowship for Afterlife Studies) I have been able
to write about the life-changing experience of my near death experience
(see “The Not Unfamiliar Country”) feeling that this contained
an important message I should share. However, I have held back
from confiding my pre-cognition experiences, judging them to be
too weird. The supportive atmosphere of our day conference gave
me the courage to disclose this “way-out-ness”. As a Quaker with an experiential faith
(i.e. non-credal and dogma-less) I am
now able to accept any experience as having been “sent” for a
reason or purpose – to teach me some truth. However, my psychic
gifts, until more recently, have not been able to be integrated
and used like this. I have not been able to see what they were
for – why I have been given them – how I am meant to use them.
I therefore felt I had to keep them secret in case others saw
me as “mad” or perhaps start to treat me warily and less equitably. I call them prophecy dreams – very
vivid nightmares which foretell a disaster or some terrible event
about to happen to an individual or group in some recognisable
place. I also sometimes experience a day-time hallucination –
a visual flash-forward (as opposed to flash-backs). These occur
out-of-the-blue and not in relationship to being stressed or physically
ill. As a child, adolescent and young adult,
I assumed I was witnessing something inevitable which would happen
in the future. I would feel despairing about being unable to prevent
it – very disturbed and then guilty when it actually took place
as fore-seen. Then gradually I started to become
aware of my healing gifts and how the Holy Spirit can use these
and us as a channel for creative power. I began to use distant
healing, telepathy and intuition to try and prevent the tragedy
happening. Sometimes these seemed to “work” especially when applied
to individual cases. In the last few years, I have been
able to go a step further. I began to realize that these prophecy
dreams were giving me a great deal of detail. Details
which perhaps a bomb squad or the police could use to actually
prevent the disaster. This has now apparently “worked”
in three or four events to stop them happening. I have now therefore developed a procedure
for dealing with these frightening dreams, and/or flash-forwards
experiences which is firmly grounded in my Quaker experiential
faith. Firstly, I ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and receive,
through meditation and discernment, some possible solutions. Secondly,
I try out these solutions once I feel clear and a sense of “rightness”
about the decision. Having carried out the solution (e.g. giving
the police the details) I continue with
distant healing of the situation. However, the burden of responsibility
has usually become less so I can “move on” and go about my life
feeling healthily integrated and “ordinary”. I think it is important
to not to feel weird or special. I then thank God for sending
me the opportunity; and hand over to the Holy Spirit to go on
seeing it through.
So I also thank God for QFAS and its founding members who
have been given the wisdom to see that Quakers and others need
this outlet for using their psychic gifts more openly. From Joan Benner I found the following
in "Strength from Weakness: writings by eighteenth
century Quaker women" edited
by Gil Skidmore. (I'm reviewing it for The Friend). The
writer is Mary Alexander, and she's referring to an episode in
1797. I find this particularly
interesting, because a friend of mine had a very similar experience
at the time of her sister's death Report from Membership Secretary/Treasurer Our membership stands now at 65, and our account
at just under £2,000. There are still some 35 members from last
year who have not yet paid this year’s subscription. We hope to
receive your subs in due course, but this is the last Newsletter
to those who do not re-join. We
offer our condolences and support. Without her work the Newsletters
would not have appeared – and I know that the last one was
a terrific slog to produce and send out – nor would the
London Conferences have happened. We also ask for your patient
support while we continue to keep QFAS up and running, if not
for the time being on strictly correct formal Quaker lines. We
will get back to the strict rules when we are ‘good and ready’.
David Britton Since the last Newsletter went
out Martin has passed on. He died at home on Sunday, 21st
December, in the early morning. We were alone and I was leading
him in a meditation on going to the light. It is said that when
the personality and the higher self are in accord about the timing,
death can come quickly. The end was certainly, and mercifully,
quick for Martin although it was fourteen months since he had
been diagnosed with cancer. I have already written at length about
his illness and how he faced it and the way it affected him and
other people. My purpose here is to tell you briefly what has
happened since because it relates so closely to the subject we
are studying and I think you will be interested. Martin visited Paul Lambillion, a gifted
and experienced spiritual teacher, healer and medium, on two occasions,
the second being only three days before he died. A month after
his death, I visited Paul and Martin “popped through” as Paul
put it. Paul, I must tell you, has a delightful, light hearted
personality and he and Martin had joked when they met in life.
This encounter was similar. It was far from being a traditional
“reading” as I was able to put questions to Martin. Among much
else he described what I had been doing the previous evening,
the cover of the book on the kitchen table and a waterproof watch
of his which I had been looking at. He cracked a joke about his
hearing (he had worn hearing aids) which was silly and special
to us. He also talked about there being a “beer” at the funeral.
At the time I was slightly put out by what seemed a rather frivolous
remark, but it was later pointed out to me that there was indeed
a Victorian bier on which we had wheeled his woven willow coffin
to the grave in the woodland burial site. (Sorry,
Martin!) On my second visit to Paul on April
8th, Martin talked about giving me ideas to help me
with my writing and much else. Then on May 24th I visited Brenda Hanley,
a There is nothing unusual in any of
this, of course, but when it is a personal experience it is wonderful
and incredibly helpful and healing. I have been very fortunate
in hearing from Martin so quickly after his passing. For such Friends, experiencing a time of
great emotion and grief, I am happy to offer a listening ear. My phone
number is on page one. Please do not ring after I am hoping to do
the publicity mailing to all local Meetings this autumn – delayed
from last year. There are still many Friends who do not know of
the existence of QFAS. Do let me have your
contributions for the next Newsletter, due out in December, and
your comments on this one. Thanks to all those who contributed to this edition.
In friendship, |