The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. If they differ from yours, or from someone else’s that is teaching you, go with whatever sits with you best. Remember though, as a student, over time your opinions and points of view will change.
One of the emotive subjects within mediumship is the constant we know as time. Many mediums and spiritualists the world over openly claim that time does not exist in the afterlife. They support the notion with suggestions that as life is eternal, why would time be needed or measured? With only the most basic of examination, their arguments are flawed and often contain no supporting evidence whatsoever.
In this article, I’ll present my thoughts and arguments for and against the possibility of flexible or non-existent time. After reading it, you’ll realise there are no definitive answers and little or no evidence to change the status quo.
The clock ticks, second by second. Ever forward into the future whilst creating history in the past. In that simple mechanic motion of time measure, what truly exists? The future? The past? Or this moment of the clock ticking?
Considering the linear movement of time, surely the future cannot exist until it happens. But the measure of time only creates the ‘now’ moment before adding it to the past. With that basic overview, the future, therefore, does not exist. All we know is the ticking clock will continue to tick on a blind journey into the unknown – the future.
What about the now? Does it exist? People are always telling us to live in the ‘now’ moment. But how is that really possible? Does it even exist? Would it not be more accurate to suggest living in the near past?
Humour me for a moment. Wherever you are right now, say “NOW” aloud in the ‘now’ moment. Did you do that? But you failed the question. That’s in the near past. The sound disappeared instantly into the past.
Fundamentally, we’ve already discovered a problem with the basic arguments. If we scientifically look at the motion of time, we realise that the future does not exist and that the present is part of the past – gone forever.
Why, then, are people prepared to dismiss these basic facts instead hold a belief that time can be manipulated, revisited, or even foreseen?
The first, and most overruling basis for any discussion must therefore be outside the confines of universal laws. The law that governs everything and contains everything. The motion of time exists within the universal laws, as does gravity, and several other elements of life on earth.
The next big question is to ask where the afterlife exists? If the universe contains everything, as would be the obvious statement, does the afterlife also exist within it? If it does, surely it has to be confined to the universal laws, of which the motion of time is governed.
I believe the afterlife does exist within our universe. Think for one moment, it has to. How can it exist anywhere else? So how do we account for it with facts and proof, scientific evidence to support it?
My previous statement suggesting I believe the afterlife must exist within this universe raises more questions than answers. I accept that. But in searching for the answers, we should seek evidence to support our claims. Therein lies the first issue. Within the constraints of our current understanding of the laws of the universe, there is no scientifically proven evidence to support many of our claims, including that for the existence of an afterlife.
In the absence of concrete proof, all we can rely on is anecdotal evidence. But being only anecdotal doesn’t mean it’s of less value than scientific proof. Scientists will, of course, scrutinise every claim, as should we all.
Not all scientists are open-minded, even though they should be by the nature of their business. Before I retired I was a courier, driving long distances across the UK, often in the wee small hours of the night. On the van radio I would listen to BBC Radio 5 Live. Every week, the late-night presenter would do a live connection with a renowned scientist in Australia for a one-hour answering questions session. The questions were sent in from listeners. Every once in a while, a question regarding time, the afterlife, or other psychic matter would be read out for Dr Phil to answer. Every single time such a question was asked, Dr Phil made it quite clear that such matters were nonsense. He would not cater for anything outside of science as it stands. Worse still, his responses were often animated and suggested that the querent was talking nonsense. He was an example of a closed-minded scientist, only working with what he knew and understood.
It’s reasonable, if not entirely likely to assume that our understanding of the universe and all the laws of physics and science that govern it are limited more than some would care to believe or imagine. Exploring possibilities, potential reasons and explanations is crutial, if we want to expand our knowledge. Many of the world’s mysteries are waiting for ‘logical’ answers to be discovered.
One of the main areas of current science that could be disputed is regarding of the effects of time on non-mass elements. The afterlife, as we currently understand it, is a world of thought, of personalities living on, and of the continuation of life, in another realm. One without mass – apparently.
Without dismissing that last statement as unimportant, how would such a life be effected by the motion of time? If life exists without a need for a mass, how can we be certain of the effects of our time on it? The answer is, we can’t. It’s an unknown, and unknowns are possiblities to be explored before being dismissed.
All the anacdotes we gather need to stand up to scrutiny before being accepted seriously as possibilites. Nothing should be taken for granted, even if the person promoting it has reputation. The first ever workshop I did for my new interest of mediumship was with a well-known medium called ‘Mia Dolan’. During a break, I asked her how was it possible for people in spirit to go backwards and forwards in time. I was new, and still asking irrelevant questions in the belief that the science was more important than hearsay.
“Imagine a stream.” She said. “Now imagine that stream represents time, ever flowing forward taking everything within with it. Now imagine a leaf floating on the surface being carried by the stream. Imagine a force, such as wind, lifts the leaf off the water before depositing it upstream, or downstream. Can you appreciate how the leaf has jumped out of the laws that govern the stream, before being dumped back in it somewhere else in the stream. That,” she concluded, “is how things can move through or back in time.”
For a while, I accepted that wonderfully simple explanation as a possible answer to the dilemma of time-shifting. However, during the following months, my curiosity soon ruled out that explanation as too simplistic and unable to stand up to scrutiny. Yes it’s a wonderful story and one I quoted pretty often for a while. However, it cannot be considered a reasonable explanation. To this day, I remain ignorant as to whether moving through time is entirely possible, outside of our univarsal laws as we understand them. I’m ready to consider explanations, but only if they stand up to scrutiny. Most offerings I hear, don’t.
TIME DOESN’T EXIST IN THE SPIRIT WORLD
I find that statement too hard to believe. There has to be a movement of time, even if its one outside of the one that governs this mass-governed life on earth, Until told differently, I’ll continue to believe that there is a time-line in the afterlife. Whether those residing there consider it to be important enough to measure is a different matter. If life is apparently eternal, why would they need to mark time with clocks or whatever means they deem necessary.
In my work as a conduit for messages from the people in the spirit world, particularly when I use inspired writing as the tool, time is often directly, or indirectly referred to. Many mediums will have received messages such as the following, which I received and passed on to a person in the audience.
“You lost a child to this world. He passed away very young. I know, because your mother is telling me that she is bringing the child up now. He’s doing well with his education and is a happy young man.”
Obvously, I’m omitted some of the finer details I, and most mediums are likely to relay. This type of content is common with most mediums. Laced with names, dates, and reasons for the child’s passing makes the communication difficult to dismiss as just ‘a lucky guess’. This communication, and others on a similar theme, suggest a presence of time in the spirit world. To bring a child up requires time to pass. So to suggest there is no time in the spirit world is not true. The importance, or measure of it, may differ to ours on earth, but it most certainly does exist.
Being able to shift in time is also a proposition I find hard to accept, even in the world of spirit. I’m certainly open to the possibilities and await evidence to stand up to the claim. Referencing that ‘child’ story above, if the spirit people can move through time, forward for example, what age would the child become if he chose to jump ten years forward? Would he be ten years older automatically? Or would he retain his age? If he retains his age after moving ten years forward, and hundreds, thousands, and even millions of others in that state of living did the same, their life would be completely disorganised, inconsistent and confusing. The same arguments stand for moving back in time.
I know that the science fiction fans would answer those dilemmas by suggesting the person that moves through time does so only as an observer. However, my points still stand, and further asks the question why. What is there to gain that would be so beneficial to their ongoing life?
In a recent Spirit Insight, the speaker from the spirit world suggested that they can, if they choose to, visit moments of their past and experience them as if they were real and happening again. The speaker suggested that they become part of those past moments again.
At first, I thought this might be evidence that people in the spirit world can move through their time frame. But over the days that followed, and much thought had been given to the speaker’s words, I came to the conclusion that this was not evidence of them being able to move back in time. Instead it was merely an example of them recalling earlier experiences, as we do every day this side of life. The intensity of the experience for them is easy to appreciate when you consider they are living a non-matter conscious thought existence.
When we recall an experience, we do so with our mind while our body is attached, and all the normal functions of it continue. Breathing, winking, pains, sights, sounds, sensations, feeling and interruptions are all happening while we recall a past moment of our life. These feelings act like a smokey glass lens on the past memory. The recalled experience cannot be as clear as when it happened because we are combining the recollection of it, while continuing to live in the now. The spirit people don’t have such obstacles, and therefore, when they recall or revisit a past memory, their view of it is clearer, more accurate and seen as if actually happening again.
And yet, I also have some anecdotal evidence that suggests the people in the spirit world can, to some small part, know a little about our future, things that haven’t yet happened to us. But the evidence remains vague and arguable at best. I’ve never met a real seer, someone who can predict the future, yet I won’t dismiss the possibility. I do know of one British medium that used to produce an annual list of his predictions for the forthcoming year. But when I looked through his previous years predictions, there were no real revelations. Most were vague statements that could, and were eventually, attached to events close enough to appear as predicted.
I am aware that there have been some incredible predictions made in the past that have come to fruition. Even the great artist DaVinci appeared to dabble in it, when he draw pictures of future objects, such as the helicopter for transporting people. The problem I have is not with believing these time-shifting possibilities. It’s with 2 main reasons: a) the evidence doesn’t always stand up to scrutiny and b) my ignorance of such matters that I’ve never been inclined to study too closely.
Years ago, I recall being in a psychic workshop with a well-known medium, who was asked how it could be possible to travel faster than the speed of light as would need to be the case in some of the claims made about spirit people, time and space. The medium answered with a brilliant demonstration. He asked for a blank sheet of A4 paper and a pen. He placed the paper on a table and drew a neat, straight line from one corner diagonally to the opposite corner. The medium held the paper with the line on so everyone could see it. He said something close to this:
“How can you shorten the distance from point A, the start of this straight line, to point B, the other end of the line, if this line represents the speed of light?“
Most people, including me, declared that it was impossible. The line represented the shortest and, therefore, the fastest way to make that journey.
“You see,” the medium continued. “Your answers are based on the universal laws that dictate to us all. The speed of light is the ultimate speed and a straight line represents the most direct way from point A to point B, according to your current understanding. So shortening that distance is impossible, agreed?“
Of course, we all agreed with his summary. It’s not possible. But then, after a few dramatic moments of silence, the teacher repositioned the sheet of paper so that his fingertips only were holding one end of the line. Then, as if milking the crowd, he pinched the other end of the line with fingers from his other hand. Slowly, he brought both pairs of fingers together, and as he did so, the excited audience sighed aloud. The medium had just shortened the distance between the two points to the thickness of the paper. This simple yet effective demonstration exploded my mind. Yes it wasn’t big enough to singe my eyelashes, but it got me thinking. What had he just shown us? Was his demonstration flawed? Were we all seeing that journey across the paper as if we were part of the paper, instead of seeing it from outside of our governing rules?
I’m leaving this article by the same door as I came in! I don’t know the answers, and I’m sure few others do either. Also, I’m not inclined to be bothered to spend too much of my short-enough life seeking answers to the big questions. I don’t have enough interest in the topic for it to sustain me long enough to absorb me. As I said at the beginning, most evidence is vague or anecdotal at best. After I learned about the afterlife from studying the great Emanuel Swedenborg, I was left with a picture of what the next life might be like. And then I read Edgar Cayce’s explanation. Two of the greatest trance mediums of all time, yet two completely different visions of the next world. Which am I to believe? If, at the very least, their visions of the spirit world had been aligned, and their suggestions for time concept had matched, then I might have had strong anecdotal evidence to feed my interest further.
I, like you reading this, and everyone else in this world, are confined to a life bonded to the universal laws governing it. I don’t, even for one moment, suggest there cannot be some other set of rules beyond our universal boundaries. Far from it. To do so, would be limited in thinking and closed-minded in attitude. Perhaps the boundaries we live in are actually much more broader and span way beyond the limitations imposed on us. Quantum science is breaking new ground on incredible events that feel they belong in a science fiction book. Science fiction is increasingly becoming science fact.
I know that the spirit people who communicate through my mind are limited by the resources my mind can offer them. They tell me that often enough! When I ask them challenging questions, their answers usually contain sentiments, such as, “your thinking is too limited“, or “we can’t explain to you something that is beyond your abilities to understand it“, or “you haven’t the vocabulary for us to use“.
I trust in spirit. My spirit and the spirit. I trust in my work and the path it is taking me on. I recognise my limitations and accept my frailties. Can time be manipulated? I suspect yes it can. Can time be travelled in? I suspect not. Do I care? Not really! I’ll find the truth out soon enough! Meanwhile, I’ll continue to explore the world of communicating with the personalities continuing to exist somewhere else!
I’ll wrap this article up with a request to you reading this. If time shifting, in whatever form you care to believe, exists and you have an interest in it, good for you. Seek out the evidence, real or anecdotal, and scrutinise it thoroughly. Expect others to question your findings, time and time again. Expect to stand alone at times with your beliefs. I’ll see you the other side and perhaps there we will swap notes!
This article took three days to write and produce.
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