Reunions: Visionary Encounters With Departed Loved Ones

I bought this book sight unseen, on the strength of one of Raymond Moody's previous books that I had read and loved, many years ago, Life After Life. I was hoping for more of the same, and was quite surprised to find that this book is not at all about reincarnation, but about mirror-gazing. This was not something I was initially interested in, but having liked his previous book so much, and having paid for this book, I decided to persevere. I'm glad I did. It was a very worthwhile read.Being new to this subject, I knew absolutely nothing about it before. More than half of the book is devoted to the HISTORY of mirror gazing in various cultures, throughout time. I didn't even know that there had been a history. One of the most fascinating parts was reading all about the ancient Greek oracles, and how they had worked. I had heard of the Oracles, but previously just imagined they had some kind of fortune-teller. Actually, it was quite complicated. People consulting the Oracles had to undergo a month of preparation, in near total darkness. Then there was a huge, underground metal mirror that they were taken to consult, in which they then had visions. Moody and his wife visited the remains of one of the Oracles, and he describes his trip there, and how he was able to find all the various parts of the oracle chambers.Moody describes how mirror gazing was a well-accepted diversion during the Middle Ages, and before, in almost every culture, and how it went out with the rise of science, especially after 1900. Even the American Indians had a form of mirror gazing which they practiced. Different cultures had different ways of gazing to try to conjure spirits, including looking into water, looking at shiny silver cups or mugs, and gazing into crystal balls (mentioned only briefly).The most fascinating historical information was a description of how the Xhosa (pronounded Khosa) people of South Africa, in 1856, after fighting many unsuccessful battles with the British, gazed into the river, and saw the spiritis of six dead ancestors. These ancestors convinced the whole tribe that if they would sacrifice all of their cattle to the ancestors, that the ancestors would come back to life, and lead them to a victory over the British. I asked someone I know from South Africa if they had ever heard of this, and they had not, but they suggested to me that I check on the internet. I did, and found MANY references to The Great Cattle Killing of 1856-1857, in which because of the visions seen in the river, they killed ALL of their cattle, AND did not plant their crops. Apparently, the British even tried to stop them. However, they didn't listen, and the subsequent year, 20,000 Xhosa starved to death.After aquainting the reader with the complete history of mirror gazing, Moody tries to research the practice scientifically. He builds a chamber in which to mirror gaze, following the same methods he has researched from historical cultures. He chooses a number of people, who fit certain criteria-such as being professional, well-balanced, no belief in metaphysics, and lastly, having a relative or friend who has died that they would like to see again, if it were possible. He then has them follow a preparation procedure similar to what the ancients did-although he devised his chamber and preparation from a melange of historical research, synthesizing his own ritual to experiment with. Before he started, he was expecting a very low success ratio, if any success at all. To his surprise, about 50 percent of the subjects reported communication. A number of interesting case histories are included in the book.Lastly, he gives the reader good directions, and suggestions, as to how they can pursue mirror gazing, if they are interested in trying it on their own.I would not recommend this book to the average reader. However, if you are interested in mirror-gazing, or a person of a very open scientific mind, this book will interest you. I think Moody has done a careful, scientific study, and presented his findings.

Raymond Moody, one of the fathers of the modern-day metaphysical resurgence continues to share his learned insight through this book, Reunions. Life After Life, Moody's preliminary look into the afterlife was expanded in Reunions by Moody's look into the use of the Psychomantium both historically and currently.After covering The Nature of Visions in Chapter I, Moody gives a quick and informative review of not only the Greek's use of their underground psychomantiums in Chapter II, Gazing Through History, he also delightfully touches on other gazing forefathers such as the Tungus shamans in Siberia with their copper mirrors, the Malagasy of Madagascar, the Pawnee Indians of North America, the Africans of Fez, and the Nkomis tribe of Cap Lopez to name a few.After grounding the reader in the history of gazing, Moody shares his own experience in selecting property and adapting a gristmill in Alabama into his own therapeutic psychomantium. He relays personal experiences as well as those of his visitors/patients and left this reader with the impression that the use of a psychomantium, wisely done and well directed, could easily lead to lessening of grief and an increase of spiritual insight. Thank you, Dr. Moody.

What a surprise! I didn't expect much from hearing about the subject of this book, since I had never heard of "mirror gazing" before. However, by the time I finished the book, I was excited by the possibilities it revealed. The author gives the reader a good deal of helpful history, to show this technique is no invention of his. Then he provides numerous descriptions of what his patients saw during their mirror gazing sessions. And there was so much that was vivid and powerful! This is an easy read, but also makes you feel you are getting enough detail to really "be there" for the experience. If you are one of those who haven't yet recovered from losing someone you loved, this book will give you hope and comfort. And if you are only interested in history, this book will make you think about what wisdom the ancient Greeks, Romans and others had that we might learn from. A worthwhile book.

I am writing a book based on participant experiences in the psychomanteum research that was conducted in the early 2000s by a doctoral research unit in which I was a member. Dr. Moody invited me to share some of those findings in one of his workshops. His book was an inspiration for me. My copy of this book was burned almost exactly a year ago (Nov. 8, 2018) in the fire in Paradise, CA. I am so happy to have it replaced.

Saw Dr. Moody many years ago when he presented his experiment on which this book is based. It was before a group of approximately 200 Psychiatrists. I had expected to hear more about near death experiences, having read several of his books on that subject. I had read several books about mediums contacting spirits, but had never heard of anyone able to make them physically appear. Dr. Moody disclosed his success both in person and in his book. No one in the audience disputed his claims. I was glad to be able to obtain the "how to do it" book. It is great to have an open mind. After all, the Bible itself mentions spirits appearing to people on several occasions. Overall a great read!

Although many people will find this material difficult to believe or assimilate, Moody has done us all a great service by reintroducing mirror gazing (and related techniques) to the body of human investigation into our unconscious and how it is connected to the world around us. Although I gave the book five stars, I did wish that Dr. Moody would worry less about being polite to people whose rigid belief systems suffocate their intellectual boundaries. Also, he could edit out some of the anecdotal material, and perhaps add more material related to other studies that explore the paranormal. All in all, though, thought provoking and worth considering.

Great book and wrote so well

intresting

El libro es un poco antiguo y muy difícil de encontrar. Llegó a tiempo y en relativamente buen estado teniendo en cuenta que es bastante antiguo. Tiene todos los sellos y código de barras de la biblioteca que se deshizo de él; se podía haber hecho un esfuerzo para quitarlo.

Good book but not exactly what i expected

good reading