Where do we go?
Dr. Michael Newton’s fascinating theory on what happens after death according to his extensive research
Words: Robert Maxwell
Many popular religions refute the idea of reincarnation because it contradicts the belief systems within the theologies which state that there is Heaven and a Hell.
It wasn’t until around the 17th century when science began to influence people’s belief systems due to the continued development and advancements in the laws of nature. This system challenged any truth that had no physical proof, and so began science’s place in human society. The scientific systems that were established provided innovations for the human race, but there were still many questions that could not be answered by the scientific community, such as various paranormal phenomena and other impossible ‘miracles’ in nature.
The 20th century began a new wave of science that dealt with the exploration of consciousness, psychics, and paranormal psychology that connected spirituality and science. Instances of near death and out-of-body experiences during which people were consciously aware, after being declared clinically dead, began to test the hard facts that science had previously established.
Today these cases are still widely reported and there are amazing similarities between the reports all over the world.
In 1969, Dr. Pim van Lommel, a cardiologist in the Netherlands, conducted the largest hospital-based study of NDEs (Near Death Experiences), years after hearing a patient report seeing a tunnel, a light, beautiful colours and hearing wonderful music during a clinical death. Dr. Lommel was inspired to research the matter further after hearing a detailed near death experience of someone who had been clinically dead for six minutes.
Dr. Lommel: “I started to interview my patients who had survived a cardiac arrest. To my great surprise, within two years about fifty patients told me about their NDE…. So, in 1988 we started a prospective study of 344 consecutive survivors of cardiac arrest in ten Dutch hospitals…. 62 patients (18%) reported some recollection of the time of clinical death…. About 50% of the patients with an NDE reported awareness of being dead, or had positive emotions, 30% reported moving through a tunnel, had an observation of a celestial landscape, or had a meeting with deceased relatives. About 25% of the patients with an NDE had an out-of-body experience, had communication with ‘the light’ or observed colours, 13% experienced a life review, and 8% experienced a border…. Patients with a NDE did not show any fear of death, they strongly believed in an afterlife, and their insight in what is important in life had changed: love and compassion for oneself, for others, and for nature. They now understood the cosmic law that everything one does to others will ultimately be returned to oneself: hatred and violence as well as love and compassion. Remarkably, there was often evidence of increased intuitive feelings.”
Amongst other hypnotherapists, Dr. Michael Newton continued to unearth evidence of life after death with his ground-breaking work. With over 50 years of client-session information documenting people’s subconscious memories of past lives and even memories of the time in between two lives, something has to be said about evidence from the doctor’s research supporting reincarnation.
Dr. Newton explains that people under hypnosis are not dreaming or hallucinating — and in this state they are not capable of lying. They report whatever they see and hear in their subconscious minds as if everything is a literal observation. While under hypnosis, it is possible for them to misinterpret something they are seeing, but they will not report on anything they do not feel to be the literal truth.
“I also found that it did not matter if a person was an atheist, deeply religious, or believed in any philosophical persuasion in between — once they were in the proper superconscious state of hypnosis, all were consistent in their reports….”
Amongst a host of common reports, Dr. Newton also described that many clients were hesitant to reveal too much about their time between lives, almost as if they were following a universal code of ethics of sorts, where the information was not supposed to be revealed to mankind for a reason.
Over the years Dr. Newton noted similarities among client’s descriptions, ultimately putting together a picture of the process that our soul goes through from the moment we ‘die’ to the moment we are ‘reborn’. These are the stages that he described as featured in his book, The Journey of Souls:
1. Death and departure
Most patients recall looking down at their body and seeing people mourning over their death. Some people reported staying around their loved ones until after their funeral. During this time clients could feel a pull towards a light, and described a tunnel of sorts to get there.
2. Gateway to the spirit world
This is the stage where clients report moving through the tunnel and reaching the light at the end. The location of the tunnel varies; some say it appears right above their bodies, while others say that they have to travel above the earth to reach it. After reaching the end of the tunnel clients almost always describe in varying ways beautiful visions, music, and scenery. Dr. Newton suggests that these images are beloved memories from our lives, to help give a feeling of familiarity during such an overwhelming process. Younger souls may feel sad or confused during this time, and it’s reported that their guides will come to assist and comfort.
3. Homecoming
Here we are greeted by souls who are close to us. They appear as luminous beings who sometimes project faces of people who are still ‘alive’ in a physicality because our souls only project a certain percentage of itself into the physical body, so there will always be a part of the soul existing in the spirit realm. During this stage the soul begins to remember more about the afterlife and also their previous lives, feeling more at ease with the process. Souls which have committed murder or suicide will analyse their actions with their guide and decide on an appropriate path to begin almost immediately.
4. Orientation
During the orientation stage a soul will shed any regret/doubt/sadness/traumatic memories from its previous life by going through what clients describe as a ‘shower of light’. This renews the soul’s vibrancy and restores it to its original vibration. Afterwards, we discuss with our guide everything that has happened in our life and decide whether or not we lived up to our expectations about how we dealt with those incidents and if the lessons need to be repeated in the next life.
5. Transition
After we have completed our light shower and have worked through our previous life, we then move onto what most describe as the most breathtaking visions of the entire journey. Here we see a mega-hub of souls at the same stage, all moving through beautiful tunnels of light to their destination. Clients describe this moment as exciting because there is no darkness, just pure light, and we are also on our way to meet up with our soul family, souls who are at a similar stage in their evolution and who we shared lives with. Once we meet up with these souls, we usually compare experiences and learn from each other. These are souls that we keep reincarnating with over and over again, playing various roles with each other such as partners, brothers/sisters, parents, children, etc. Sometimes souls will be present but dimmer and quieter than others, and that is because they are still projecting a physicality at that moment. Another crucial aspect of this stage is to meet a grand counsel that oversees our previous life, going into more detail about the experiences and lessons learned.
6. Placement
This stage is almost like a school where larger groups of soul families (up to thousands) who incarnate around each other in cycles learn about their previous experiences. Here clients report projecting into specific scenes from their previous life and into other people’s minds to gain a full understanding of the larger picture. Here we feel what others felt to learn how we hurt people in certain situations. This stage can also see the larger soul groups connecting in circles, sharing more ideas, singing, and experiencing other joyful events.
7. Life selection
During this stage we move to a large sphere of light where we then choose our next life path. We are able to see multiple paths and are able to temporarily project into these lives to feel which one would be most appropriate. We also have the ability to fast forward through the timelines to see critical events that will happen. Some souls will choose greater challenges to experience such as a disability or premature death.
8. Choosing a new body
This process is a part of the previous life selection stage, but has a separate categorisation because it focuses on the physical appearance that we will possess in the next life. This choice vastly affects our experience, so it usually takes much thought as to what it will be. If you were obese in one life, chances are you will choose to be skinny the next, etc.
9. Preparation and embarkation
After choosing our life path, next we meet up with our soul group, the people who will play roles in the next life, to do extensive planning and to create synchronicities and cues that will guide us throughout our life. Higher-level guides also help to plan out specific symbols we will see or hear that will trigger certain thoughts and actions at specific times. After the synchronicities are decided, we once again meet with a counsel to go over our goals and plans for the next life. This meeting is also to encourage us to have patience, to hold true to our values, to trust ourselves in the midst of difficult situations, and to avoid indulging in anger and negativity.
10. Rebirth
Clients report travelling back to earth through the same tunnel they left in, entering the mother’s womb. Until the age of five, the soul is able to leave the baby’s body to travel and meet up with other souls if it wishes, but will snap back to the body if the baby is in any turmoil. During the first few years the soul will work to integrate its energy with the brain.
This outline of our experience between lives is based on decades worth of research, and like Dr. Newton and other hypnotherapists state, clients under such hypnotic states will never lie and will only describe what they are actually seeing.
Could these common reports be merely coincidental? This is the question amongst so many others that can only be answered by the assimilation of science and spirituality. In the years to come we will witness more of this conjunction between two seemingly unrelated spectrums, which will ultimately bring us closer to an understanding of life, death, and consciousness like never understood before.
