Product Description
The idea of the pre-existence of the soul has been extremely important, widespread, and persistent throughout Western history--from even before the philosophy of Plato to the poetry of Robert Frost. When Souls Had Wings offers the first systematic history of this little explored feature of Western culture.

Terryl Givens describes the tradition of pre-existence as "pre-heaven"--the place where unborn souls wait until they descend to earth to be born. And typically it is seen as a descent--a falling away from a happier and untroubled state into the turbulent and sinful world we know. The title of the book refers to the idea put forward in antiquity that our souls begin with wings, and that only after shedding those wings do we fall to earth. The book not only traces the history of the idea of pre-existence, but also captures its meaning for those who have embraced it. Givens describes how pre-existence has been invoked to explain "the better angels of our nature," including the human yearning for transcendence and the sublime. Pre-existence has been said to account for why we know what we should not know, whether in the form of a Greek slave's grasp of mathematics, the moral sense common to humanity, or the human ability to recognize universals. The belief has explained human bonds that seem to have their own mysterious prehistory, salved the wounded sensibility of a host of thinkers who could not otherwise account for the unevenly distributed pain and suffering that are humanity's common lot, and has been posited by philosophers and theologians alike to salvage the principle of human freedom and accountability.

When Souls had Wings underscores how durable (and controversial) this idea has been throughout the history of Western thought, the theological dangers it has represented, and how prominently it has featured in poetry, literature, and art. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A good survey of the history of thought on pre-mortal existence
This is a subject that I have always been interested in.I am LDS and was aware that we were one of the few western religions that believe in a pre-existence.I also knew that Plato and a few early Christians such as Origen believed in the concept.I was not aware of the many others that believed in pre-existence and the diversity of views that it entailed.This book has exceeded my expectations and made me aware of many other schools of thought on the subject.

Givens has a very impressive resume and is professor of Literature and Religion at the University of Richmond.He has done an extensive study of the subject of pre-mortal existence and the results are condensed into this book.Here he covers religion, philosophy, and poetry that cover this subject.

The book covers from Mesopotamian times to modern times.Highlights include Hebrew traditions, Plato, Gnosticism, Origen, Augustine, the Kabbalah, and the Cambridge Platonists.Philosophers that tackled this subject include Descartes, Leibniz, and Kant.In 19th century religion major players were Wilhelm Benecke, Joseph Smith, Edward Beecher and Julius Muller.Poets that covered the subject include Blake, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Shelley, Byron, Lermontov, Carlyle, and Goethe.

His final chapter is more philosophical and discusses the views of Jung and others and how the idea pre-existence can solve many philosophical and religious problems.He notes that this paradigm never succumbed to philosophical or scientific critique.It has great explanatory power, but did not fit in with the western idea of creation out of nothing and that fact that God is the only eternal being.

This book is a must for anyone interested in the idea of a pre-existence.Givens explores the religious, poetic, and philosophical implications of this belief and for someone like myself who loves theology and philosophy was a wonderful exercise in thought.

Pre-mortal existence.
Excellent coverage of an unusual topic. From ancient Greek,Jewish and Christian thinkers to modern times. Fascinating. ... Read more

Product Description
Edited by Richard A. Russo, this anthology of essays, poems, and short stories recounts dreams, analyzes dreams, and celebrates dreams. Dreams, like human experience, have intrinsic value apart from any interpretation we make of them. Instead of asking what dreams can do for us, ask how we may honor the dream. ... Read more

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Proceeding from the truism that all men are mortal, philosophers have employed various strategies to suggest that all men are also immortal. In this book these strategies are categorized as: the "Way of the Astral Body", the "Platonic-Cartesian Way" and the "Reconstitutionist Way". By examining and questioning the assumptions on which these theories are based, the author presents an analysis of human mortality and identity. He also examines other bodies of knowledge which bear on the question, such as parapsychology, and argues that the history of discussion about non-corporeal identity has been the history of negative definition and that people are only able to describe what such a state is not. ... Read more

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Join therapist and client as one of the most fascinating stories evertold unfolds. Rose-Athor is a Soul Exchange from the star system ofSirius who took on the body of the former occupant when it was threeyears two months old. As a result of this exchange she was affordedthe opportunity to experience life in a body and contribute to thespiritual awakening occurring on Earth at this time. Rose sought outEvelyn for hypnotherapy when she began to experience much emotionalspiritual and physical pain. It was then that the reality of her beinga Walk-In began to be revealed. It will definitely broaden the reader'sperspective on the nature of the soul. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Fascinating Read
Whether fact or fiction, this story is a fascinating read.Though it stretches the boundaries of belief to put it mildly, its no more far-fetched, and doesn't seem to contradict anything in any of the Kryon channelled writings, or even Drunvelo Melchizedek's books.

INSPIRING, WONDERFUL, AWAKENING!!!!!!
I loved this book, I don't read much and I smashed through this book in 3 days.I would recommend it to any one doing Past Life Regression Therapies or to any one that would like an insight to our souls.This book is not just about a soul exchange but about the souls experiences and how earth was created and why we are all here and what we are all here to achieve!!!This book is a must for any one who wishes to gain a little insight on who is out there to help us achieve enlightenment.A must read in my opinion, and I will be reading it again....

Love and Light always XXX

From Sirius to Earth, review
Most decidedly not your usual book. Nor is it fictional. Dr. Fuqua undertook a new type of journey and exercised great care to present her findings in an accurate manner.For those of you studying the essence of what constitutes consciousness, and the essence of "Being" itself, this book is well worth the read. And for those of you sensitive to the actual subtleties of essence within one's "Being", you may find that your awareness of self expands and deepens.I am privileged to know the one called ATHOR, and invite you to read the book opening your heart and mind to its implications.

More WhoDoo VooDoo PooPoo....
A warmed-over "channeled spirits" tale. What better way to get one more squeezeout of the old channeling teat thento add space aliens?? The human capacity for self-delusion is matchedonly by that for exploiting the deluded. Dave rates it one and a half Prozacs(tm). ... Read more

Product Description
"Parting Notes" contains over 100 first person accounts about what it was like for each of the individuals writing a "parting note" to die... and how they found the afterlife just after.These notes were written in first, final, and only draft via an extraordinary Open Deep Trance Channel and Medium named April Crawford.

From the highly evolved nonphysical Entity and Guide that dictated the dust cover notes on the original hard cover versions of this book:

“There are moments in one’s life when one becomes fearful and isolated.And it usually comes from the moment of loss or, or the feeling of loss, of another energy that has interacted with one forever.

The moment one feels that separation, there is usually distress.

By reading this book, that stress may be alleviated by the knowledge that it is not the end, merely a transition.

In that hope, one can move forward and fulfill and live out the life that was given to them in this dimension.By reading this book, one can come to understand that this is just a mere “bus stop” on the way to eternity.And eventually, all end up at the same destination.

“Heaven” is the reuniting of energies. That is what makes it so pristine.

Anyone who has lost a loved one, or a companion, or a son, or a daughter, husband or wife, feels a void deep within their essence.For we usually travel the cosmos in pairs.You lose half of yourself, or so you think.And you feel abandoned and fragile.

In the depths of this book there may come a reunion.Not just for those you have lost, but with the knowledge of what life is really all about.

Read the book.See for yourself.Perhaps you might think it is not true, and it can’t possibly be real.But what if it is?

What if, everything you were taught is only a fragment of the truth?A part of the sentence, a miniscule paraphrasing of the paragraph?

What if there is more?

What if your loved ones are waiting for you?What if they are trying to communicate with you? What if?

Read the book.Draw your own conclusions.Perhaps one phrase of one letter will give you comfort, and that is the soul intent of this book.

Read it and find your comfort.And if not continue your search for you will find it.

We are not human, anymore.We are eternal and we tell you it is all true.But find out for yourself.Read the book.”

--VERONICA

Note:VERONICA is a highly evolved nonphysical Entity and Guide.VERONICA is well known in certain spiritual circles, having many video messages posted on www.YouTube.com and having talked with literally thousands of people worldwide in one-on-one telephone and in-person consultations/readings.VERONICA is also the author of most of the articles in “Inner Whispers”, the spiritual newsletter available for free at www.InnerWhispers.net and the author of most of the quotes in the Reflections of a Spiritual Astronaut series of books.

VERONICA also has a Facebook page entitled “VERONICA – via April Crawford”
... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

Something really different to read.
I read this book from cover to cover and I really enjoyed it. I found it gave me a feeling of reassurance about what the afterlife is like. I have been a subscriber of the Inner Whispers news letter for quite some time and have always found it to be refreshing and has given me a wider perspective of life.

Enjoyed it
I enjoyed this book. The different time periods and I found it interesting the last thoughts people would have as they left thisdimesion and found themself in the next one... some of the last comments was how to live your life boldly and positive! I found it it positive and uplifting...

News From The Other Side.
A fascinating collection of testimonials recieved from the deceased via a well known medium. Most impressive, fascinating, and probably for most readers re-assuring. A good read for the open minded.

insight to living in the now from the other side
'Parting Notes' by April Crawford. This book is insightful. I read it with greatful thanks to those that took the time and trouble to be heard. Also with greatful thanks to April for her unique gift in listening and relaying the scripts from thoes that have knowledge to reveal. I read it with great interest and reverence to the experiences delivered. This book arrived in my life because I had attracted it to myself by my thoughts and feelings. You could do the same.

AWESOME
I would recommend this book... It puts you at peace of the unknown..
Loved it
I share it with everyone.... ... Read more

Product Description
Book Two in the series from Best Selling Author April Crawford.These are direct messages from highly evolved nonphysical entities and Spiritual Guides as delivered in first, final, and only draft via an extraordinary and Internationally well known Open Deep Trance Channel and Medium.

This book contains "reflections" #45 - # 252.One per page.

"Belief or disbelief is irrelevant.By turning the page, you embrace the unknown... and ultimately... yourself..." ... Read more

Product Description
Was it Free Will that led one woman across four continents to impact the thoughts and lives of thousands … to rediscover her sensuality in a cross-racial relationship on the Caribbean sands of Jamaica? Did Free Will position her in China to stand by, impotent with tortured soul, as her love’s forbidden passions evoked a recklessness that brought Party disfavor with all its threatened horrors; to march with her heroic students as they acted in defiance of the crackdown on their Tiananmen Square counterparts? And later, was she truly Free to answer a letter from a stranger half a world away who would teach her the beauty of becoming a whole woman? Perhaps.

Or was it something quite different?Free Will does not explain the ring secreted away in a small, velvet-lined box in a remote corner of the world … waiting; does not explain years of delay between closely related events, does not explain the bringing together of people so seemingly disconnected as they traversed countries and cultures, but who soforcefully, dramatically, and intimately influenced her future. Was it not rather the Threads of destiny that the ancient Greeks told us were spun, measured out, and ultimately severed by the Fates? This story’s Threads had been spun decades before and continents afar. As they unwound, they revealed long and twisted strands that wove themselves into a tapestry of events, of epic upheavals and of human courage; of the panorama of this woman’s amazing life as she journeyed to the wedding altar, and beyond. And the Threads continued their unwinding. They led her on to Developing Countries where she was summoned to re-shape educational paradigms. She answered each call and took with her the added, special, gifts of always inspiring the thinking and building the confidence of educators and students whether in metropolitan areas or in faraway villages.

How did these Threads interrelate across decades and around the globe? Time now allows them to be traced through the inexorable evolution of 18 interlocking coincidences, some casual, some cosmic; cosmic as when and where time and space conjoin … as two hands enfolding.

Threads is a memoir: true in every aspect.
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Customer Reviews (3)

Almost 4 Stars
If you like feisty ladies determined to lead adventurous lives in exotic places, you'll probably enjoy reading this memoir as much as I did.Jamaica, China, Mexico, Egypt, Armenia, and Russia are all scenes in this later-life adventure.These locales, however, do not receive equal attention.The best part of this book relates the author's experiences in China at the time of the Tiananmen Square events.Her evocation of both thefear and the courage of the protesting students --and ofthe daily ordeal it is for everyone who lives under a repressive, totalitarian regime--is compelling.

Missed a day of work to complete the book!
It is an honor and a privilege to be allowed so completedly inside someone's life." Absolutely inspiring, Ms. Gasparian takes us with her as she looks into the human spirit. Wonderful! The only question is what will she do next?

ThreadsA Memoir
Political and religious oppression, despair, poverty, spirituality...love...it effects every age....Loved it.Loved it all....What an amazing adventure she's on.

... Read more

Product Description
THE BEGINNING What do you do when you discover information that is before its time? What do you do when your curiosity takes you on an adventure that is so bizarre that there is nothing normal to relate to? This is what happened to Dolores Cannon in 1968, long before she began her career as a past-life hypnotherapist and regressionist. Travel back with us to that time when the words reincarnation, past-lives, regression, walk-ins, New Age were unknown to the general population. This is the story of two normal people, who accidentally stumbled across past-lives while working with a doctor to help a patient relax. It began so innocently, yet it crossed the boundaries of the imagination to open up an entirely new way of thinking at a time when such a thing was unheard of. It went totally against the belief systems of the time. It was so startling that they should have stopped, but their curiosity demanded that they continue to explore the unorthodox. The experiment changed the participants and everyone involved, and their beliefs would never be the same. Dolores Cannon is now a world-renowned hypnotherapist who has explored thousands of cases in the forty years since 1968, and has written fifteen books about her discoveries. Her books are translated into more than 20 languages. She is teaching her unique form of hypnosis all over the world. When she lectures people ask, How did you get started on all of this? This is the story of her beginnings. The book was written in 1980, her very first book. It has laid dormant, gathering dust, until now, waiting. Now is the time for it to come forth. Enjoy the adventure! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

More proof of life-after-death
Having read all of Delores Cannon's books, I highly recommend Five Lives Remembered.Through hypnosis, Cannon is able to take her clients back to their past lives which happened accidentally one day.This is her first book written in 1980 and it tells of the miraculous journey Cannon is taken on by her clients.

Cannon was just a normal wife and mother then she learns hypnosis and starts to use it.To her surprise she stumbles across the past lives of her clients.From that point on Cannon continues her work and for the past 40 years has brought us the most amazing information, everything from past lives to walk-ins to imprinting, a method by which a soul can download lives in order to function here on Earth for the first time.As explained in her many books, the call went out from this planet for higher beings from other worlds to help bring light to our dark world in the end times.If a soul is completely new to Earth, it couldn't function properly without some way of knowing how to deal with the way things are here on earth. This is especially true for beings coming from higher worlds.

It's all so amazing that you'll have to read Cannon's work from the beginning, with Five Lives Remembered to get the whole picture. Well worth the journey.
When I Dream

Greatfind
Excellent read to introduce the reader to the possibility of re-incarnation without offending religious belief systems.Well written and easy for the reader to follow.

Dolores Cannon always a good read
I have read Dolores Cannon's books for over 2 decades now. She is a very good writer. After reading her books you will always remember who you truly are. Each soul has been put on earth to learn a lesson.

Great Book - Ties Everything Together
This is another wonderful book!I have read all of Dolores Cannon's books (they are ALL great) and this one ties everything in.June is quite the character - - - I really got attached to her.This is a smaller book - - very very good read. I am so glad she published this book!I had looked for it, but could never find it. ... Read more

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La vida es un bumerang recibes lo que envias.El sendero octuple como modelo de karma positivo. ... Read more

Product Description
Is there life after death or do we simply cease to exist? Renowned scholar Paul Edwards has compiled "Immortality", a superb group of philosophical selections featuring the work of both classical and contemporary authors who address the topics of immortality, soul and body, transmigration, materialism, epiphenomenalism, physical research and parapsychology, reincarnation, disembodied existence, and much more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A great book!
This is not a debunking work, but one to broaden our outlook into what other possibilities may exist. Who knows for sure? This book will make your brains do overtime, expand the mind, soothe the soul and caress the spirit. Paul Edwards has done an excellent job with this anthology of great thinkers.

This book contains strawman arguments for Karma and Rebirth
I was very disappointed when I read chapter 20: Karmic Tribulations by Paul Edwards. The chapter is concerned with a version of karma that is very simplistic and highly speculative. The simplistic version of karma being argued against can be found in the first sentence: "The Law of Karma asserts that the world is wholly just, where justice is equated with retribution or, more accurately, with appropriate rewards and punishments for all morally significant acts"(Immortality, p. 200). It should be said that justice, retribution, rewards and punishments are not proper terms in relation to karma. They connote a legalistic-social point of view which isn't related to the stronger, more well developed conceptualizations of karma.

Karma, in a nutshell, iscausality that includes feedback. An example would be vocalizing a thought (causal output)and consciously registering that vocalization via the ear (casual input). All intentional acts (either psychological or physical) can be considered causal outputs and these causal outputs can be said to influence and interact with other systems (mind-brain-body-other living and non-living systems)to a minimal or maximal degree. These interactions, in turn, inevitably influence the agent of intention immediately, some time after, or in the distant future. The effects are not mutually exclusive and they are dependent upon the conditions of the agent and the surrounding systems and their resistance or malleability to change.

Edwards also states "To begin with, the Law of Karma has no predictive value whatsoever"(Immortality p. 3). He then uses a very complex example to illustrate his point. The example includes a number of agents that experience death because of a plane crash. He fails to recognize the significance of intention in relation to death. First of all, these people would not have met death on an airplane if they did not intend to fly on the airplane. Nor would that have intended to fly if they hadn't had a primed disposition to fly somewhere, which is result of past experience and conditioning. Percentages can be applied to each causal factor(including intention and dispositional traits)that lead to the event which included the plane crash and deaths. Without the intention and dispositional traits of the specific people in question the event of plane crash and death could not have happened. To say otherwise is simply attempting to use counterfactual thinking (imagining alternative scenarios and outcomes that might have happened, but didn't). Edwards is right to say that, "The Law of Karma has no predictive value whatsoever" (Immortality, p. 203). In this particular example it doesn't, but nor does any other law of physics. The best form of prediction comes from using statistical probabilities. The reason for this is epistemic. The system is simply too complex and chaotic. The same can be said about the mind-body-social complex. It is a very chaotic system, but that doesn't mean that the occurrence is entirely unpredictable. Statistical predictions can be made in relation to the event of suffering. This is done frequently in psychology. Certain types of intentional acts and dispositional traits produce suffering on a regular basis. If this didn't happen psychology would be reduced to mere speculation.

I have illustrated two examples in which Edwards does not grasp the strong version of karma and instead puts forth strawmen. The rest of the essay on Karma runs the same course. I would suggest that he study karma in it's complex forms and argue against them if he wants to convince anyone that karma is a bogus concept. Until then, he is merely taking an active role karmic-belief inoculation.

An example of the strong version of karma can be found in this philosophical journal: The Law of Karma and the Principle of Causation By Bruce R. Reichenbach Philosophy East and West
Vol. 38, no. 4 (October 1988) pp. 399-410 (...)

This book contains strawman arguments for Karma and Rebirth
I was very disappointed when I read chapter 20: Karmic Tribulations by Paul Edwards. The chapter is concerned with a version of karma that is very simplistic and highly speculative. The simplistic version of karma being argued against can be found in the first sentence: "The Law of Karma asserts that the world is wholly just, where justice is equated with retribution or, more accurately, with appropriate rewards and punishments for all morally significant acts"(Immortality, p. 200). It should be said that justice, retribution, rewards and punishments are not proper terms in relation to karma. They connote a legalistic-social point of view which isn't related to the stronger, more well developed conceptualizations of karma.

Karma, in a nutshell,iscausality that includes feedback. An example would be vocalizing a thought (causal output)and consciously registering that vocalization via the ear (casual input). All intentional acts (either psychological or physical) can be considered causal outputs and these causal outputs can be said to influence and interact with other systems (mind-brain-body-other living and non-living systems)to a minimal or maximal degree. These interactions, in turn, inevitably influence the agent of intention immediately, some time after, or in the distant future. The effects are not mutually exclusive and they are dependent upon the conditions of the agent and the surrounding systems and their resistance or malleability to change.

Edwards also states "To begin with, the Law of Karma has no predictive value whatsoever"(Immortality p. 3). He then uses a very complex example to illustrate his point. The example includes a number of agents that experience death because of a plane crash. He fails to recognize the significance of intention in relation to death. First of all, these people would not have met death on an airplane if they did not intend to fly on the airplane. Nor would that have intended to fly if they hadn't had a primed disposition to fly somewhere, which is result of past experience and conditioning. Percentages can be applied to each causal factor(including intention and dispositional traits)that lead to the event which included the plane crash and deaths. Without the intention and dispositional traits of the specific people in question the event of plane crash and death could not have happened. To say otherwise is simply attempting to use counterfactual thinking (imagining alternative scenerios and outcomes that might have happened, but didn't). Edwards is right to say that, "The Law of Karma has no predictive value whatsoever" (Immortality, p. 203). In this particular example it doesn't, but nor does any other law of physics. The best form of prediction comes from using statistical probabilities. The reason for this is epistemic. The system is simply too complex and chaotic. The same can be said about the mind-body-social complex. It is a very chaotic system, but that doesn't mean that the occurence is entirely unpredictable. Statistical predictions can be made in relation to the event of suffering. This is done frequently in psychology. Certain types of intentional acts and dispositional traits produce suffering on a regular basis. If this didn't happen psychology would be reduced to mere speculation.

I have illustrated two examples in which Edwards does not grasp the strong version of karma and instead puts forth strawmen. The rest of the essay on Karma runs the same course. I would suggest that he study karma in it's complex forms and argue against them if he wants to convince anyone that karma is a bogus concept. Until then, he is merely taking an active role karmic-belief innoculation.

;;;

A good overview of philosophical approaches to the topic
This text works well in college classes and for general readers interested in the range of views (pro and con) on the issue of life after death.

http://www.infidels.org/infidels/products/books/
"_Immortality_ is a compilation of numerous authors, ancient and modern, who address the question of whether or not there is a life after death. Edwards provides an excellent seventy page introduction which guides the reader through other relevant philosophical issues, such as the nature of the vehicles' for survival of bodily death, the mind-body problem, the traditional Christian concept of bodily resurrection, the evidence and arguments for and against reincarnation, and the relationship between belief in God and belief in survival of bodily death--where Edwards stresses an often overlooked fact that one can believe in either without believing in both (Voltaire, for example, was a deist who believed that the universe had a Creator because he accepted the argument from design, but rejected belief in life after death; and many modern-day parapsychologists who believe they have evidence for survival are also atheists). Edwards also emphasizes that mind-brain dependence does not entail the truth of a strict materialism that contends that mental states are identical to brain states; thus arguments against reductionist materialism are irrelevant to the factuality of the dependence of consciousness on the brain. _Immortality_ includes essays on life after death from such prominent historical thinkers as Plato, Lucretius, Tertullian, Descartes, Hume, Voltaire, and Kant to contemporary philosophers, parapsychologists, and theologians. _Immortality_ is clearly written and well-structured, allowing both a historical survey of differing opinions on the issue and an evaluation of the state of the evidence and arguments today from authors with opposing viewpoints." ... Read more