Animals and the Afterlife (24 page)
Death … is no more than passing from one room into another.
But there’s a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see.
—H
ELEN
K
ELLER
A
VISION IS GENERALLY DEFINED
as a supernatural or mystical appearance that often conveys a revelation. Many of us have heard of visions within the context of ancient religious experiences as well as literary and dramatic fiction, but perhaps very few people accept it as a reality in our modern world. Without any tangible evidence, I would undoubtedly have an equally skeptical attitude toward such things. However, a personal experience in my youth opened my mind. Although the experience didn’t involve animals, it taught me that visions are very real occurrences.
When I was a sophomore in high school, I was asked to the prom by a senior I didn’t know very well. I didn’t really want to go with him, but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so I said, “Yes.” One day at school, shortly thereafter, I introduced him to my best friend at the time, the one with whom I shared many “psychic slumber parties.”
When I returned home from school that afternoon, I went to my room to put my homework on my desk. Suddenly, I felt very strange, almost dizzy and panicked, so I sat on my bed. With that, a vision appeared to me. It was in my mind’s eye, but it was so vivid that it seemed as clear and real as day. It was almost as if a movie were being played on an ethereal screen right in front of me. I don’t remember whether my eyes were open or closed, but I was definitely wide awake.
As I watched, I saw a flash of a car crash and then a newspaper with a headline that spoke of a fatal car accident in which I had been killed on prom night. I then heard the distant voices of friends and family discussing what a shame it had been that I had died that way, especially since “she didn’t really even want to go.” As I contemplated what was taking place, I got the very strong impression that I was being shown a potential future, one that would indeed take place if I went to the prom. I got the equally strong impression that I was being warned of this so that I could avert the outcome, because it wasn’t my time to go.
I was then startled by the ringing of the telephone, and the vision suddenly vanished. I answered the phone. It was my best friend, whom I had introduced to my prom date earlier that day at school.
“Kim,” she began, sounding panicked, “don’t go to the prom with that guy! I just had a vision in which you were killed in a car crash on prom night. Don’t go! If you go, you’ll be killed.”
We were both stunned as I told her that I had just had the same vision. Needless to say, I cancelled my date to the prom and stayed home that night. (I didn’t disclose the reason to the young man, as I worried that he wouldn’t believe me; instead, I told him that I was only a sophomore and my parents weren’t comfortable with me going to the senior prom, which was actually true. My parents had suggested I tell him this, as they had become accustomed to my psychic experiences and knew not to ignore them, yet they realized that others might not understand.) I was actually relieved, as the young man made me nervous for some reason, and I felt uncomfortable around him. However, had the vision not occurred, I would have indeed gone to the prom as planned.
Interestingly, the story doesn’t end there. The young man who had asked me to the prom continued to ask me out, and I continued to politely decline. Then he graduated, and I thought that was the end of him. However, for the next year, he continued to call, send me strange letters, and watch my house, reporting his observations about the goings-on in my life so that I knew I was being watched. I became very frightened of him over time and wished he didn’t know where I lived.
His letters began to take on a sinister tone as he explained that he loved to drive really fast and, in fact, had been in love with someone once, but the girl had been killed in a car crash with him behind the wheel. She had died in his arms. I shuddered as I recalled the vision that had displayed a similar fate for myself.
One year later, I heard the news that this disturbed young man had died in a car crash. He had been the only one in the car, had been going too fast, and had driven off a cliff. There were no skid marks.
That experience taught me, in a most profound way, the importance of paying attention to visions and never dismissing them as random acts of imagination. So, when I heard of other people who had experienced visions, I paid attention.
O
VER TIME
, I
CAME ACROSS MANY PEOPLE
who had witnessed animals on the Other Side, not only in dreams, but also during spontaneous visions while fully awake. Those who have shared these experiences are rational individuals who have nothing to gain from making such claims. In some cases, the animals initiate direct contact and communication with the people they’ve left behind. In other cases, animals are viewed at a distance during these glimpses of Heaven.
Gladys Hypes of West Virginia, who told the story about her beloved dog, Kooter (in Chapter 11, “HeavenScent”), continued to experience other signs of Kooter’s presence. One day, she contacted me with the following:
Last night as I lay in bed, I so desperately wanted a sign that Kooter was okay and well. As I closed my eyes (still awake), I saw what seemed like a movie screen and I was sitting under a big tree and Kooter was running all around the tree. He looked to be full of spunk and life. I saw a few flowers and a beautiful rock. It only lasted a few seconds but seemed like a lifetime. I remember falling off to sleep in a very peaceful state.
She asked if I had heard of this type of experience before, and I let her know that others had indeed experienced similar visions. She responded with the following:
It’s really good to know that there are others out there like me … helps me to know I’m not stepping off the deep end.
As I told you about the vision of me sitting under a tree and Kooter running all around it, I forgot to mention that a few years ago I had a dream about my [deceased] grandmother, and in that dream she was sitting under that very same tree. I know it to be so because I remember thinking last night,
That’s the tree Grandma was sitting under.
Can this be explained?
What I have found is that it’s extremely common to receive what I call “glimpses of Heaven” in the dream state, as that is when we are most open to receiving such contacts from the Other Side (explored further in the next chapter, “Sweet Dreams”); and very similar scenes are often witnessed during spontaneous visions while fully awake. Her description of the setting (beautiful outdoor scene) is by far the most common type of description I hear from people who have these experiences, although they have no idea that others are describing the same types of experiences. Following are stories of others who have experienced visions of the Other Side….
Topz
Mary Blaszak, Housecleaner and Specialty Soap Maker New York
M
ANY YEARS AGO
, when I was in my late twenties, I was lying in bed one night, thinking about the little furry brown-and-white mutt I used to have a few years before. I felt guilty because I had let him outside one night and he never came back again. He was very old at fourteen years.
I was still wide-awake and had just closed my eyes, so I know I was not asleep. I saw something like a very large “picture window” and in this window I saw hundreds of dogs—all kinds, big and small—running, jumping, and playing very happily, and then I saw my dog “Topz” also running and looking very happy just following all the other dogs and having fun. This picture lasted maybe a minute or so, but long enough that I got a close-up look at my dog, and I knew it was really him.
Strawberry Shortcake
Karen Young, Word Processing Specialist New Mexico
I
HAD A BEAUTIFUL WHITE CAT
who I kept outside because I am very allergic to cat fur. She adopted me, so that is why I had her. One morning at about 6
A.M
., I heard her screaming outside. I ran outside in my nightgown and jumped our back fence. Two big dogs were attacking her. I screamed at them and jumped in between them and grabbed her. My neighbor had come out and was standing there with a big board ready to hit the dogs. The dogs stopped their attack. I took my cat (Strawberry Shortcake) up the sidewalk and looked at her. She was still alive. When I got back in my yard, I felt her die.
This is where people stop believing me, but I saw it so I don’t care what they think. I know what I saw. I saw her ghost or spirit lift out of her body. She looked the same, only clear. She had an outline and motion. As her spirit left her body, a sort of clear doorway opened up over my left shoulder about three feet away. The doorway was clear and outlined; it had a shimmering motion. There were two “people” (also clear) there who opened the doorway. They were smiling and seemed happy. It seemed bright beyond the doorway. I perceived sunlight beyond it and a lot of activity. They turned and left. My cat’s spirit looked over at the doorway. I screamed at her really loudly, “Strawberry! Don’t leave me!” She looked back at her body, which was very dead. Then she turned back to the doorway and started to run toward it. There was a big popping sound, and she and the doorway disappeared. All cats do go to Heaven (or someplace). I know it to be true.
This happened several years ago. It doesn’t bother me to tell people. It has given people who love cats a lot of comfort. People can say whatever they want to. But I know what I saw. The doorway was there. I believe because I have seen it.