A five-year-old child drifted off in a coma and journeyed to the spirit world. Years later the little girl grew up and wrote about her episode. What she brought back with her changed her and her family.

Her vision was first posted on the NDERF.org (Near Death Experiences Research Foundation) website, which contains many accounts of NDEs experienced by people of every country, language and culture.

Drifting Off

This NDE was written by a young woman, Sandy, with the help of her mother, so the both of them could share a story which supplies one more point of light to those who seek it. The spirit world, while allowing us free will to make choices throughout our lives, also sends us signals to guide us toward spirituality.

We are on earth to improve. We aren’t set upon this planet to amass wealth by devious methods or to end our lives with the largest toys. Our immortal spirits are connected, for a brief time, to physical bodies so we may learn the value of love and compassion.

The story begins with:

“In August of 1985 when I was only 5 years old, I was on a boat trip on a local lake. I was bitten by a mosquito and developed encephalitis. “I died” and drifted into a safe black void of comfort and ease, no pain and no fear. This was a place where I felt right at home. Off in the distance I saw a very small light. It was drawing me to it. I felt myself rushing towards this light with a great amount of speed. I was not frightened. When I came into the light, it represented peace and joy, but most of all a deep unconditional love. The light was a sparkling, glowing cloud. From inside I heard a voice in my head and I knew it was God. Since my parents never discussed God or took me to church, I really don’t know how I knew, but I did. Furthermore, I felt like this was my real home, this place where I was with this beautiful light which was God. I felt surrounded by the light and was one with it. The feeling was like being scooped up and held by my daddy when a barking dog was biting me just a few months earlier, only more so.”[i]

As with so many other accounts by children, upon separation from their body, their soul is bathed in a sea of warmth. And like others, Sandy felt love, a love which saturated every pore.

At the time Sandy was a five-year old with no concept of the afterlife or a Supreme Being. Her parents never felt the urge to expose her to any type of prayer or devotion, yet immediately, as her soul rose, she knew she was in the presence of Divinity.

To comfort the innocent child another child appeared, a girl who seemed to be about ten years old.

“Another beautiful light, only smaller, joined us. It was a girl about 10 years old. She looked somewhat like me. I could tell she recognized me. We hugged and she said, “I am your sister, I was named after our grandmother, Willamette, who died one month before I was born. Our parents called me Willie for short. They were waiting to tell you about me later when you were ready.” I was talking to her and she to me without words. It was too strange looking back on it, but it seemed natural at the time. She kissed me on the head and I felt her warmth and her love.”[ii]

The spirit realm takes care of us when we emerge from our restrictive bodies. Guides are on hand to help children and assist those who have demonstrated their adherence to the Golden Rule. People who have lived an honest and compassionate life toward others are not left alone in the great transition back to the real world, the spirit world, where we shall spend the vast majority of our immortality.

When Jesus declared, in Luke 9:60, “Let the dead bury the dead, but you go and proclaim the Kingdom of God”, he wasn’t, as many believe, only telling us to ignore all else and perform our duty to God. He also gave us a glimpse as to how the spirit realm operates. He knew the extent of the care the newly deceased were given. He wasn’t telling us to neglect our obligations, He was telling us there is a support group around us the moment our soul begins to detach from our corpse.

In the book Message from a Teen in the Spirit World, by the spirit Neio Lucio, psychographed by Francisco (Chico) C. Xavier, we are presented with how a young boy, Carlos, fourteen years old, felt as he was passing away from a severe disease. He couldn’t speak because his lungs were no longer supplying the amount of oxygen required to maintain his life.

Carlos’ mother and father were next to him by his bed. Other family members and the doctor were in the room, waiting for his last breath. He could only think, how sad everyone looked and he wanted to help them. He begun to be afraid of dying, when an event occurred:

“When everything seemed beyond hope, something happened that grabbed my attention. A faint noise aroused my curiosity.

I looked toward the doorway and saw that, in some unexplainable way, delicate flakes of a phosphorescent substance had begun appearing there.

Those points of light seemed to be forming a fine cloak of airy gauze and it looked like someone was moving beneath it …

I was watching this oddity in amazement, when the light curtain split apart and s pretty young lady appeared. I recognized her right away.

She was the same lady that was in the big painting that Mom kept in the house. It was Aunt Eunice, Mom’s little sister, who had died when you and I were still small.

She was wearing a light green dress decorated with shining lace. A beautiful, radiant, bluish light surrounded her, especially her head and upper body, as if she were holding a hidden lamp. Her dark eyes radiated unlimited sympathy and kindness.

I was greatly surprised as Aunt Eunice entered the room, gave Mom a hug (without Mom seeing her), and then sat down beside me and said, ‘Well, little Carlos, you are so brave. Are you afraid now?’

If it had been any other occasion, I think I wouldn’t have behaved so well, because I had always heard that the dead are ghosts and our aunt was already dead. But I was so distressed that I felt greatly comforted by her words of encouragement. I needed someone to cheer me up.

I noticed Dad’s nervousness, Mom’s tears, and Dr. Martinho’s discouragement and sadness as he sat beside me, and I concluded that Aunt Eunice’s good mood was just what I needed.

Actually, in the good old days when I had been well, I had heard strange stories about ‘hauntings from the other world.’ Which had left such an impression on me that I couldn’t sleep, but Aunt Eunice couldn’t inspire fear in anyone. She was beautiful and smiling, filling me with trust and optimism.

So I felt alive again, although I noticed an unpleasant stiffness in my body, which I couldn’t move, not even a bit.”[iii]

Carlos couldn’t move his physical body, which would no longer be possible, he was freed of his ties to earth and taken to a shelter to rest by his loving Aunt. As Carlos was sent a caring family member to help his transition, the little five-year old Sandy was also taken care of by a relation.

Sent Back to the Physical World with a Purpose

Sandy’s sister met her in the light to make her feel comfortable and to send her a message. Her message was that she must return. Like so many other NDEs, the aura of the spirit world was enticing, as if you had dived into a sea of warm love and felt the glow of complete tranquility. A feeling one only has for fleeting moments during our sojourn on earth. Moments like lying on a beach, the hot rays of the sun penetrating your skin, the sound of the waves and birds mixing to create a harmony of bliss.

It’s not easy to convince a person to leave that behind and rejoin the physical world, with its pain and suffering. But, it must be done for those who haven’t finished their assigned course of learning on earth. Back to school they must go. Hence, Sandy was told:

“You need to go back now, Sandy,” she said. “You need to save mother from the fire. This is very important, you need to go back and you need to go back now.” She said it with compassion and sweetness in her voice as she smiled at me tenderly. “No, I don’t want to,” I said, “let me stay here with you.” “Mother needs you to save her from the fire,” she repeated, still in a soft and gentle way. Like a selfish little brat, I cried and threw a temper-tantrum of the worst kind. I fell on the ground and sobbed and thrashed around and made everybody, I am sure, feel very uncomfortable.”[iv]

The spirit world was ready for that reaction, so they gently showed her what was occurring on earth:

“I was shown a type of a movie in which I saw my parents, who were back on earth, sitting beside my hospital bed with great concern and fear in their eyes. They touched and talked to me and begged me not to die. “Please don’t die,” they were crying. I was very sad for them; still I was not really ready to give up the beauty and awesome great feelings of all that was good about this place, this heaven. God gave me a chuckle and looked at me with great compassion. I couldn’t really see his face, but I knew what he was thinking. He was chuckling at my childish antics.”[v]

Even with the sight of her parents, the pull of heaven was too strong. Sandy desired to remain in her comfortable environment.

Sandy said she couldn’t see God, but she felt the presence of God. Many people with near death experiences report seeing God or Jesus, while that may occur, we are told in Spiritist literature, that in many cases high spirits will appear and they are mistaken for Jesus or God. Nevertheless, their love and light is overwhelming as is their power to show us our past life and future possibilities of our life.

High spirits are us. Except they have survived and prospered through their trials in physical bodies. We will become a high or pure spirit in time, we only need to remove all imperfections. To be a pure spirit, one must not have a trace of hate, jealousy, selfishness, or any other base emotion. This is why we are on earth at this moment, to learn how fill our hearts with universal love, fraternity, charity and to be honest with all humankind.

Leon Denis in his book Life and Destiny, talks about our possible future:

“Each spirit in space has its own vocation, and pursues it with facilities unknown on earth. Each one finds its place in this superb field of action in this vast universal laboratory. Everywhere subjects for study and travel, with means of education and participation in divine work, offer themselves to the industrious soul. Heaven is not the cold void of the place of inactive contemplation believed by some. It is a living universe, animated, luminous, filled with intelligent beings on the way to continual evolution. The higher these spiritual beings ascend, the more accentuated are their tasks, the more important become their missions. In time they take rank among the messenger souls who go and carry to the limits of time and space the will and force of the Infinite One; for the most inferior spirit, as for the most eminent, the domain of life is without limit. Whatever the height to which we attain, there is ever a superior plane to reach.”[vi]

Leon Denis tells us that we are never done acquiring knowledge and serving. Imagine learning the secrets of the universe, examining life on other planets and other galaxies. Imagine assisting cultures to grow and prosper, to rise out of the chaotic existence of a dog eat dog world and emerge into a world of universal love and caring. That is our future, if we work hard during each life we are given.

The spirit world had one more lever to pull to launch Sandy back to her body. They used another person in Sandy’s short life to let her know what must be done:

“He then pointed a finger at another light that was forming in the distance. To my great shock, my dear friend and next door neighbor, Glen, formed and shouted in a loud voice, ‘Sandy, go home, go home now’. He said it with such authority that I immediately quit crying and was back in my body in an instant. “[vii]

The child’s mind reacted predictably to the order given by her next door neighbor. Sandy’s soul returned to her body.

When Sandy told her parents about Glen, they were astonished. The day after Sandy went into the hospital Glen died of a sudden heart attack. Everyone was sad to see Glen die. He was one of those kindly neighbors who let the neighborhood children play in his yard. He gave them treats and snacks and let them play with his five dogs.

The Revelation

What happened next was the catalyst that changed Sandy’s family. When Sandy gave a full account of what occurred and spoke about her sister her parents were astonished. Sandy describes the scene that took place:

“I drew a picture of my ‘angel sister’ who had greeted me and described everything she had said. My parents were so shocked they had this horrified look on their faces. In puzzlement, they got up and left the room. After some amount of time they finally returned. They confirmed to me that they had lost a daughter named Willie. She died of accidental poisoning approximately one year before I was born. They decided not to tell my brother or me until we were able to understand what life and death was about. As far as the need to rescue my mom from a fire, none of us has a clue about that.”[viii]

Once more, facts were presented to the person experiencing near death which are irrefutable. Knowledge that they had no way of acquiring came to them. Sandy, age five at the time, was living in her own world. After her encounter with the spirit world, she knew, with absolute certainty, she had a sister, what she looked like, and who she was named after.

Sandy’s parents, rational and kind people, the type of people who didn’t discuss religion in their house. The type of people, who, like many of us, didn’t believe the stories of individuals returning from the dead with tales of the reality of the spirit world. Up to that time they had existed just fine in their own material world, without giving thought to a life beyond and what their obligation were while they are on earth.

Instead of simply being relieved and happy that their daughter was back home, their entire belief system was upended. No longer could they conform to current cultural values that prescribed a rolling of the eyes and haughty disbelief when anyone spoke about their experiences with God and Jesus. They had to face facts. There had to be something intelligent on the other side of life, something, a Divinity, which orchestrated our lives with loving care.

As a result of their daughter’s experience, the family changed their way of life. They became aware of what life is really about, they found a church and put their priorities in order.

Spiritism explains why we are here on this particular planet. The Doctrine of Spiritism reveals to us that we are immortal souls, who travel through a multitude of lives in a quest to become a pure spirit. That each time we incarnate on earth, we are assigned trials which pay for our past wrongs and provide us new knowledge. To learn more, read my overview of Spiritism, Spiritism 101 – The 3rd Revelation.

Save Her from the Fire

What isn’t mentioned in Sandy’s account is did any event occur pertaining to when Sandy’s sister said, “Mother needs you to save her from the fire.” Sandy and her mother postulated that it meant saving the family from the fire of living without spirituality. That may be the case.

On the other hand, I believe there will be a time in the future when Sandy will literally rescue her mother from a fire. I have faith because I have heard pronouncements about the future that came true. Not general platitudes, but specific events, similar to “Mother needs you to save her from the fire”.

Foretold events weren’t directly delivered to me, but my wife. She is from Brazil and I was divorced when I met her. We married when I was middle-aged. I was never overtly religious or spiritual. I thought of God and Jesus as being remote and uninterested in me. I wanted to believe in an afterlife, but I wasn’t sure. I had little faith.

When we got married, Ana spoke to me about her past episodes with the spirit world; her godmother channeled a spirit, who told her future, and a near death experience in a hospital, where she saw glimpses of the future. When I heard that Ana was told that she was destined to marry a foreigner, I just smiled and said to myself, “yes, right.” I was condescending, I didn’t believe a word, I thought these were just the product of superstition and wishful thinking.

But then, little hints would occur that there was more to this than pure fantasy. We went looking for a house, trudging through home after home as if trying to walk in a swamp. I was getting very bored with all of this when we came to one house.

My wife said, “This is it!” I answered, “This is what?”

She told me this is the house where we were going to live. We called the real estate agent and made an offer, we were told that there were already two offers on the table. I explained to my wife that we had a small to zero chance of getting that house.

“But”, she said, “That house had three trees in the front! Just like my godmother told me.”

“Ah”, I replied very smugly, “The house actually has four trees in front.”

“Nevertheless, we are going to buy that house.” She retorted, with an air of superiority.

Somehow, the other two offers fell through and we purchased the house. As we moved in, I again pointed out the four trees in front. She merely looked at me, with that loving but slightly exasperated expression.

A month later, a wind storm blew through and knocked over one of the trees. I thought about it for a minute, but put it down to coincidence.

Other events would occur and afterward she would say, “Now I remember, my godmother told me that would happen.” Again, I would always smile and say, “Of course, dear.”

The Improbable

Years past, and life went on. I was working for a bank, when the great recession started to form in 2006. The stock price of the bank started to drop. But I knew, the bank was financially healthy, after all, the entire senior management told us so. I had a conversation with Ana about the sub-prime business and how if many people couldn’t pay their mortgages, other banks could be in trouble, but that we would be ok.

“Oh, now I remember,” she said, “my godmother said you were going to work for a bank that would go bankrupt, but don’t worry because you will still work for that bank, it will just change names.”

What the heck was that! Impossible I said to myself. I dismissed what she said completely.

A month later, a well-connected firm took a part ownership in our financial institution. I thought that if they invested in us, with their association with the power brokers in DC and in Wall Street, we must be in a good position. I was so smart, I invested in more stock, hoping to make a large profit when we pulled through the troubles.

Four months later, the FDIC closed us, and I had lost everything. Or so I thought.

I came home and explained to my wife what happened. She said, “Don’t worry, they will hire you back.”

But, they didn’t. I was given some months extra work to help transfer knowledge. At the end of that period I would be looking for a job in the worst financial crisis to hit the United States since the Great Depression.

At the end of my extension, I stated to look for a job. Again, my wife said, “Don’t waste time looking for other jobs, they will hire you back.”

What did she know? She didn’t realize the extent of the catastrophe, I and millions others were all looking for those few positions.

I feverishly sought out work, after numerous fruitless interviews, finally after only being out of work for four months, I was hired back by the same bank, but with a different name.

Hence, how could a young woman be told of events which would occur fifteen to twenty years in the future, which actually transpired exactly as foretold, without some form or other worldly organization controlling all events?

Realizing that my destiny was not in my hand, led me to Spiritism. Only the Spiritist Doctrine fully explains why we are on earth and why our fates follow a script. The set of trials we must live through are for our own edification. When we are reborn on earth we are put on a track, with certain milestones that we must pass through. We do have free will, but it lies within our choices and attitudes we demonstrate within the pre-fixed trials we travel through.

If you would like to learn more about predestination and how we are part of the planning for our next life, read my book The Case for Reincarnation – Your Path to Perfection.

If you enjoyed this interpretation of a NDE via the Doctrine of Spiritism and wish to understand what the spirit world is trying to tell us from more near death experiences analysis, read my book, What Really Happens During Near Experiences – According to Spiritism.

There are more interpretations of near death and other experiences in my second book – The Spirit World Talks to Us. Learn more about the spirit world, how it operates, what it wants from us, and how we are expected to ascend in our lives.

Author:

Brian Foster has a BSCS degree and a MBA. He has worked in R&D for medical device corporations and in IT for large financial institutions. Brian Foster has a blog at www.nwspiritism.com.

Works Cited

Denis, L. (2012). Life and Destiny. Forgotten Books.

Near Death Experiences Research Foundation. (2016, January 23). A Childs NDE. Retrieved from nderf.org: http://www.nderf.org/NDERF/NDE_Experiences/achild’s.htm

Xavier, F. C. (1946). Message from a Teen in the Spirit World. Pedro Leopoldo, Brazil: International Spiritist Council.

[i] NDERF.org, “A Child’s NDE”, n.d., http://www.nderf.org/NDERF/NDE_Experiences/achild’s.htm, (accessed January 23, 2016)

[ii] NDERF.org, “A Child’s NDE”, n.d., http://www.nderf.org/NDERF/NDE_Experiences/achild’s.htm, (accessed January 23, 2016)

[iii] Xavier, Francisco C. Message from a Teen in the Spirit World, International Spiritist Council, pp. 14-16

[iv] NDERF.org, “A Child’s NDE”, n.d., http://www.nderf.org/NDERF/NDE_Experiences/achild’s.htm, (accessed January 23, 2016)

[v] NDERF.org, “A Child’s NDE”, n.d., http://www.nderf.org/NDERF/NDE_Experiences/achild’s.htm, (accessed January 23, 2016)

[vi] Denis, Leon, Life and Destiny, Forgotten Books, p. 128

[vii] NDERF.org, “A Child’s NDE”, n.d., http://www.nderf.org/NDERF/NDE_Experiences/achild’s.htm, (accessed January 23, 2016)

[viii] NDERF.org, “A Child’s NDE”, n.d., http://www.nderf.org/NDERF/NDE_Experiences/achild’s.htm, (accessed January 23, 2016)