There are so many stories about the appearance in the mirrors of the ghosts of the dead that there is hardly a person who has not heard at least one of them. A whole collection of such cases was left behind by the Society for Psychical Research, which was actively working in England in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
But what happened relatively recently with a 23-year-old Munich resident Clara Reitz. Returning from a walk, she began to tidy herself up in front of the mirror. And suddenly, with amazement, she discovered that some vaguely familiar man was staring at her from the mirror. Clara turned sharply - no one was around. The girl examined the entire apartment - no one. In the evening at tea, she decided to tell her mother about this and … stopped in mid-sentence: she remembered whose face she had seen in the mirror. This is Uncle Henry, who left for the USA a few years ago! The mother and daughter could not explain the strange "hallucination" and decided to inform their overseas uncle about it. But - did not have time. The next day, a telegram arrived announcing his sudden death. Needless to say, Uncle Heinrich died exactly at the moment when Clara saw him in the mirror.
Numerous stories about the appearance in the mirrors of the deceased interested Raymond A. Moody, a scientist who risked starting a systematic study of posthumous conditions.
The psychiatrist decided to confirm or deny the conventional wisdom about the amazing properties of mirrors. It took a lot of courage to take such a step. Moody's scientific authority was at stake. Here is what he himself says about it: "I told one psychologist about my research plans and heard:" This will ruin your career! " A friend of mine, an intelligent woman, described the project as "stupid and funny." And she even forbade talking about him in her presence. It's clear to me that there is a desire for safety behind this attitude. Instead of opening their minds and trying to find answers, fundamentalists feverishly ideologize the problem, as if protecting themselves from doubts and uncertainties. They refuse to admit that there are subtleties of the human psyche about which we know very little."
It would seem that a serious test of occult doctrines should have been welcomed by researchers of the paranormal. Indeed, if in laboratory conditions it is possible to confirm the phenomenon of the ghosts of the dead or to obtain reliable information about distant events, then this will radically change the attitude of science to such phenomena. But it was not there. It turned out that there are quite a few fundamentalists among experts in the paranormal. Perhaps, Moody believes, they feared that studies designed to confirm "visions of ghosts" might, on the contrary, refute them.
For over ten years, Moody has been doing serious research in the field of "mirror clairvoyance". The first thing he did was turn the top floor of his old mill in Alabama into something like the "psychomanteum" of ancient Greek oracles, where people went to consult with the spirits of the dead. A dark room with heavy shutters and curtains served as the "camera of visions". A large mirror was attached to one of the walls of the room. A light, comfortable chair was located a meter away from the mirror. It could be adjusted so that the crown of the head was almost level with the lower edge of the mirror - about a meter above the floor. The chair was tilted back a little. This was done not only for convenience, but also so that the "gaze" would not see his reflection in the mirror. The chair tilt angle provided a clear view of the mirror,which reflected only the darkness behind the experimenter. This deep "space of darkness" was created by a black velvet fabric that surrounded both the mirror and the experimenter and draped the chair. Inside this "vision chamber", directly behind the chair, was a small tinted glass lamp with a 15 watt bulb. Only this light bulb illuminated the room. A simple, barely lit room, a darkened environment, a clear depth of the mirror - all of this, according to Moody, was an ideal environment for "contemplation."A simple, barely lit room, a darkened environment, a clear depth of the mirror - all of this, according to Moody, was an ideal external environment for "contemplation."A simple, barely lit room, a darkened environment, a clear depth of the mirror - all of this, according to Moody, was an ideal environment for "contemplation."
As befits a true scientist, Moody decided to make the research as objective as possible. He developed a number of criteria that the participants in the experiments had to meet. First, they must be mature, unbiased people interested in human consciousness. Second, in order to avoid negative reactions to experiences, they should not be mentally or emotionally disturbed. Third, they must be meticulous and be able to accurately express their thoughts. And fourthly, none of them should have a penchant for occult ideology, because this could seriously complicate the analysis of the results.
From his acquaintances who met these requirements, Moody first selected ten people. They were students, lawyers, psychologists, medical professionals. Moody briefed each of them in detail about the project, explaining that it was necessary to try to summon the ghost of a person with whom the subject was close and whom he would be glad to see again. In addition, the doctor asked the volunteers to pick up some memorabilia that belonged to the deceased and reminded of him.
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Subject got ready during the day: looking at photographs, touching memorabilia, recalling. And with the onset of dusk he was taken to the "vision chamber", offered to relax, free his brain from everything except thoughts about the deceased, and only after that begin to gaze intently in the mirror. The time spent in the "cell" was not limited, but there was always an assistant in the next room, ready to provide any help. After the session, the subject had a long and detailed conversation.
Prior to his research, Moody believed that very few people would see ghosts - perhaps one in ten - and even those would doubt whether the date was in their minds or in reality. However, out of ten participants, exactly half saw the deceased relatives.
What appeared in the "room of mirrors" to those who dared to penetrate into the "world from which no one returned"?
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One of the earliest volunteers was a man in a senior position at New York City Bank, in his early forties, who had never suffered from mental illness. He wanted to see his mother, who had died a year ago, for whom he longed. Leaving the “room of visions” after about an hour, he said to Moody, “Without a doubt, the person I saw in the mirror is my mother! I don't know where she came from, but I'm sure I saw a real person. She looked at me from the mirror … She looks healthier and happier than at the end of her life. Her lips did not move, but she spoke to me and I clearly heard her words. She said, "I'm fine."
And here is what a surgeon who wanted to see his mother, who died in 1968, said: “When I looked in the mirror, it was like a veil, a smoky substance. Then from this veil a figure began to form, sitting on some kind of sofa. At first I saw only a general outline, no details. Then, maybe after a minute, some features began to appear. They did not appear all at once. They were more like the computer pictures you see on TV. The face seemed to fill from top to bottom, and soon I realized - this is mom. "How do you?" I asked. Her lips didn't move, but mentally we were connected. “I'm fine and I love you,” she replied. I asked another question: "Did it hurt when you died?" "Not at all. The transition to death is easy "… I asked her probably ten questions, and then she melted … I was very moved."
Raymond A. Moody
There are many similar stories. They are similar in many ways. And the main thing that unites them is the firm conviction of "psychonauts" in the reality of meetings with the dead. Here are some typical statements. “I don’t know what caused this, but I know for sure that I saw my mother”; “What happened was not imagination. It was reality”; “He was in the room with me, I know that for sure. I saw his head, chest, upper abdomen as I see you! " Often, a deceased person who appeared to a living person during a session did not look quite the same as he remembered. He was not a simple "cast of memory": "I did not immediately recognize her. She died very old. And here I was still young. " Sometimes the impression was created that those who left our world not only continue their existence, but also develop, evolve, acquire some kind of new experience. “They seemed to know something that we, the living, do not know”;"He has changed internally for the better."
All participants in the experiments claimed to actively communicate with the deceased. True, there were rather curious differences in this communication. Some say that they spoke without words, mentally. Others - about fifteen percent of them - heard the voice. “I heard very clearly how he was talking to me …”; "His voice was not exactly the same as it once was …" Some clearly felt the touch. “I felt her. I felt her kisses on the cheek."
These individual moments by psychologists, including Moody, have not yet been investigated, but some assumptions suggest themselves. Most likely, visual images are more characteristic of the so-called visualists - people whose thinking "specializes" mainly in visual inner experience. Their leading modality makes itself felt even in speech. They often use words like “look!”, “See?”, “Brilliant prospects”, “rainbow memories”, “point of view”, etc. Accordingly, auditory phenomena, apparently, are characteristic of the so-called auditists (“listen!”, “Do you hear?”, “Speak”, “deafening success”, etc.). And touch is felt by kinesthetics, in whose thinking the experience of movements and touch dominates (“feel it!”, “Feel it?”, “Warm meeting”, “close communication”, etc.).
There are other differences as well. So, someone was sure that he was watching the dead behind a mirror plane. Someone felt that he himself was going through the looking glass for a while. About ten percent of the participants were sure that ghosts came to their room from the mirror. (It can be assumed that this difference is caused by different psychotypes of people: introversion or extraversion.)
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After hearing about Moody's experiments, a variety of people began to come to him. And most of them have actually been where they were striving - in the “other world”. But we did not always see those with whom they wanted to meet “there”. Sometimes they met with those of whom they did not even think.
A professional psychotherapist of more than seventy years hoped that in the evening he would "see" his father who had died three decades ago. However, instead of his father, he saw in the mirror his cousin Henry, with whom he had once been close. Instead of a beloved father, the businessman met an old business partner who died of a heart attack. Someone wanted to see her husband, but met with his father. Someone saw a nephew instead of an aunt. The woman was waiting for a meeting with her deceased husband, and his mother came instead. “Birdie,” she said, “I came to see you because Bill can't come. I can do a little more than he can, and he still has a lot to learn. He is engaged. But everything is fine with him, he loves you very much, and he feels good."
About a quarter of the test subjects did not see what they expected. It turned out as in real life: you go to a certain place, knowing for sure that N "is always there," and you do not find him. But you meet with someone you never thought of. So it was with the "psychonauts" Moody. They have been preparing for a long time, mentally replaying the future conversation … And suddenly - bam! The meeting breaks down or someone else comes to it. Is it because you are not ready for it? Or was he just late? Or did some other reasons work, beyond your control? And do not these facts confirm that the “other world” is not a figment of our imagination, that it lives its own life, depending little on our consciousness, will, desires?
The testimonies of trustworthy people are, of course, a lot. However, the meticulous Moody decided to try everything for himself. It wasn't just curiosity that moved him. He was embarrassed that the subjects were absolutely sure of the reality of their encounters. The doctor of psychology was convinced that he would be able to prove that visions in mirrors were nothing more than "pictures of his own production." "If I have a similar experience, I will not allow myself to be fooled by the statement about its reality" - with such a mood Moody began the experiment. The psychiatrist spent at least an hour in front of a large mirror, hoping to see his maternal grandmother. And … I saw nothing!
However, a later date did take place. “It took a while,” recalls Moody, “it must have been less than a minute before I recognized the woman as my paternal grandmother who had died a few years ago. I remember, raised my hands to my face and exclaimed: "Granny!" The appearance of this grandmother was a complete surprise for Moody: he was not at all eager for this meeting. Unlike her maternal grandmother - affectionate and wise - this one was "unfriendly and eccentric." But now it has changed. “I felt warmth and love, emotionality and compassion emanating from her, and it was beyond my understanding. She was definitely humorous, and there was peace and quiet around her."
Moody talked with his grandmother for a long time, according to his feelings - a couple of hours. And this event literally turned his understanding of reality upside down. "Experience has led me to the firm conviction that what we call death is not the end of life." A professional psychologist has never been able to prove that a "date with ghosts" is an illusion: "If I consider my date a hallucination, then I should consider my entire life as a hallucination."
In our country, there are also professionals who risked plunging into this area of the unknown. One of them is Viktor Vetvin, a renowned psychotherapist from St. Petersburg. When he found out that I had written a book on human interaction with mirrors, 1 he called me and said that he was successfully using mirrors in his practice and had gained quite interesting experience. We met.
“It happened several years ago. From unexpectedly fallen down problems, - said Viktor Vladimirovich, - my head was spinning, neither day nor night did I leave anxiety. Not long before that I had read with interest about Moody's mirror experiments. Somehow I didn't really believe in meeting the dead. Exaggerating, I thought. But at the same time, he knew that the mirror somehow affects the psyche, and therefore decided to check it on himself. Who knows, suddenly it will actually allow me to put my thoughts in order, find a solution to the problems that have arisen. In extreme cases, it will at least help you to relax …"
Vetvin dragged the mirror from the hallway into the study and curtained the windows. He turned off the light, made himself comfortable … At first I heard everything: the noise in the street, the radio that was working for the neighbors … And suddenly all the sounds disappeared - complete silence. And almost immediately a three-dimensional figure appeared in front of him.
Victor Vetvin
“I recognized him instantly: he was my grandfather, who died more than twenty years ago, - one of the people closest to me. Before his death, he was seriously ill - asthma. I remember well how he looked then: an exhausted, sallow face, suffering in his eyes … But now he looked completely different: a cheerful, healthy, slightly rejuvenated old man, in his eyes - a half smile. I saw him absolutely real: up to the waist, leaning forward a little from the semi-darkness, dressed in his favorite brown striped shirt. The feeling was that my grandfather was at a distance of three or four meters from me. He did not move, there was a slightly trembling air between us - as if over a fire, but I absolutely clearly saw his face, almost every hair in his beard … And suddenly I heard a voice inside me: "Hello, son!" Then he said something to me, but I was shocked and did not remember anything. You can understand my condition:After all, I was not going to call anyone out of the looking glass. And here … How long our mental communication lasted, I can't say - maybe a few minutes. He disappeared instantly. There was a feeling of some kind of inner, living warmth emanating from my grandfather. Then I had other meetings with him. But I especially remember this - the first one”.
Today, Dr. Vetvin has his own center - "Psychomantium" - with a special mirror cabinet. Working with mirrors is at a professional level. To increase the efficiency of "entering the looking glass", he uses special stereophonic music that synchronizes the work of the cerebral hemispheres.
The changes that occur with Vetvin's patients who have been through the looking glass are amazing. Here is just one typical case from his practice. A young woman in a long, severe depression, petrified with grief: her five-year-old son died under a car. She only blamed herself - she let the baby out of the house unattended. After a ten-minute "session", a completely different person came out of the "mirror office": for the first time in many months a smile appeared on the woman's face: "I saw him, I felt him absolutely real, I spoke to him, he feels good there!.."
Needless to say, with skillful use, mirrors can have a powerful psychotherapeutic effect. This was proved by the practice of Moody and Vetvin. Almost everyone who visited the "chamber of visions" admitted that after such "meetings" with the ghosts of the dead, the pain of losing loved ones disappeared, their souls were relieved. They began to perceive the world in a new way. They stopped being afraid of death.
I foresee that someone, having read these lines, will immediately want to test the effect of mirrors on themselves. I must warn you: the impact of images "from there" can be so unexpected and strong that in untrained people it can cause a state of shock, up to cardiac arrest. That is why amateur activities with trips through the looking glass are unacceptable. There must be an experienced "guide" nearby - a specially trained psychologist or psychotherapist.
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Can these mirror phenomena be explained from the standpoint of modern knowledge? It seems that yes. It is well known today that the left and right hemispheres of our brain perform slightly different functions. The left is the source of logical, rational thinking. Well developed, it perfectly knows how to isolate the most important thing from the whole variety, create all sorts of logical constructions, formal models, present them in a form understandable to other people, critically evaluate, analyze … Everything seems to be fine - this is what we need to develop! Alas, this hemisphere (the "detail specialist") is absolutely incapable of creating an integral view of anything - a view that takes into account all the variety of connections with the outside world.
But it works well for the right hemisphere. It is it that allows us to see objects and phenomena in all their versatility and richness of interconnections. Moreover, today it is reliably known that it is the right-brain thinking that is crucial for any creativity - both artistic and scientific. It is it, which, in contrast to the left, outside the time we are accustomed to, provides us with intuitive insights, the birth of new ideas, the appearance of paradoxical solutions … More and more often, it is suggested that it is this part of the brain that is responsible for the perception of images received by us from the information field of the Universe - source of our inspirations and insights … The value of such qualities is undeniable, however, there is also a "but" here: perceiving something as a whole, the right brain is not able to really figure out what it "looked",nor the more rational to use the received.
Talking about which hemisphere is better is as ridiculous as figuring out which leg is more important. But it just so happened that today our civilization uses mainly the left half of the brain. Why this happened and what it was for is a topic for another conversation. In the meantime, whether we like it or not, the "bias" is obvious: humanity is dominated by logical thinking. Neither scientific nor technical progress is possible without it. But here's the bad luck: huge reservoirs of symbolic and multifaceted cosmic information are inaccessible to him.
In recent decades, scientists have been paying more and more attention to our half-sleeping right hemisphere. Moreover, they are looking for ways to make him a full partner of the leftist brother.
One of these methods was developed for psychiatric purposes at the Institute of Applied Sciences (USA, Virginia). The task is to immerse patients in special states of consciousness. The goal is to reduce stress tension, open the deep layers of memory, work with patients who do not respond to traditional forms of treatment. The Hemi-Sync method (short for hemispheric synchronization, "synchronization of the brain hemispheres") is based on the effect of special sound impulses, independently (through headphones) supplied to each ear. More than 60 thousand experiments on three thousand subjects have convincingly proven the effectiveness of the approach. The discovery was registered: a special combination of sound frequencies can change the frequency and intensity of brain waves, thereby increasing concentration and attentiveness,provides simultaneous access to several levels of consciousness. Moreover, at certain frequencies, consciousness expands, and the five senses are replaced by a new one - the sixth. Objective, but "non-physical" forms of perception of reality and impact on it appear (perception outside the body, clairvoyance, the release of unknown, but recorded by devices, energy, etc.).
When Vetvin found out about these results, an unexpected thought occurred to him: is it possible to combine the Hemi-Sync method with his mirror cabinet? Maybe the awakened right hemisphere will enhance the effect of mirrors? The effect turned out to be surprising: under the influence of special sound rhythms, the patient, in the words of the psychotherapist, literally "falls into the mirror", and in most cases this happens very quickly.
One can imagine the mechanism of mysteries playing out in the mirrored office. The fact that under the influence of Hemi-Sync some kind of glow, colored spots, "tunnels", incomprehensible voices, music appear in the subjects' heads, was registered at the dawn of experiments by the developer of the method, Robert Monroe. Today, we can already assume their nature - these are images perceived by the right hemisphere from the information field. This is where the meeting with the dead, more precisely, with their holographic images, which store all information about these people - not only lifetime, but also posthumous, comes from.
And then a natural question arises: if special sound signals are enough for the perception of images "from there", then why are mirrors needed? The point is that mirrors have amazing properties. First, they themselves are able to introduce a person into altered states of consciousness. And the mirror plus special sounds is already a double, intensified effect. Secondly, under certain conditions, the mirror can become a kind of screen, with the help of which the mental images that have arisen in the human brain and radiated outward, become visible. And, finally, in some cases glass mirrors and crystals are capable of multiply amplifying the radiation of the human brain falling on them. At the same time, holographic images that have returned from the mirror back to the person can be so powerful that they can evoke a response in a wide variety of brain zones: visual, auditory,tactile, olfactory … This is where patients and subjects have a complete sense of the reality of those who come "from there". However, where is it, this line between reality and the picture that has arisen in our minds?