How long after a person has died does he stay on Earth to give a message?

The common belief among people in the Philippines is that the dead stay on the Earth plane for only 40 days and after that, ascend to the higher planes. It is during this period that they can still communicate with the living to impart important messages. It is not known where such a belief in the 40-day period originated. It is possible it originated from ancient Egypt. According to what I have read in one book, it took 40 days for the dead to be mummified. Or maybe it originated from Christian Biblical stories.

The number 40 is of significance in the Bible. The great flood lasted 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus fasted for 40 days after his baptism, etc. The number 40 also relates to some pagan traditions. At the end of the 40 days, the soul finds its place in the afterlife. And is heard from no more.

Beyond belief

But what happened during our meditation group in the 1990s is completely beyond belief! We used to meet every Thursday evening in the house of Helen Mirasol in Makati. During this fateful evening, there were seven of us present, including myself—Helen, Mimi Tan and her husband Andy, Jocelyn Bilasano, Noel Resella and the psychic Dick Quitoriano. Except for Dick, all were former students of mine.

I do not know what made me go into a trance that evening when an ancient Egyptian scribe spoke through me. Dick later revealed to us it was he who invoked the spirit of the one who wrote the Book of the Dead, because he wanted to ask some questions about it.

So, when the entity said he was one of the keepers of secret knowledge involved in writing the Book of the Dead, Dick quickly asked if the Book of the Dead concerned only topics about death and dying. The reply came, it was not only about that.

“Did it involve warfare and military strategy?” The answer was, “Yes.” “Did it involve revealing secret treasures and where they are hidden?” The answer was again, “Yes.”

The group then asked his name, but he ignored the question. After several more questions, Dick and Andy asked the name of the entity again. Sounding irritated, the entity shouted, “Amenhetep!”

Suddenly, the lights flickered and the air-conditioning unit malfunctioned for a split second. We were all stunned!

When I came out of the trance, I could remember what happened. But I told them I did not believe it, because Amenhotep was a pharaoh and not just a scribe in ancient Egypt. We discussed the contents of the message for a few minutes and then called it a night.

Book of the Dead

I had already forgotten that session, when about a week later, I decided to pull out of my office library a book about Egypt, “The Ancient Wisdom of Egypt,” (later changed to “Practical Egyptian Magic”) by Murry Hope, published in 1984 by St. Martin’s Press in New York.

Opening the book to page 20, I was shocked to read the following: “The oldest copy of the Book of the Dead known to exist on papyrus is that written for Nu, the son of the overseer of the house, or the overseer of the seal, Amenhetep, and the lady of the house, Senseneb.” I found out he was born in 1425 B.C. and died in 1356 B.C. That is almost 3,400 years ago when he died.

This brings to mind the question, “Is it possible for a person who has been dead for that long to communicate with the living? And, therefore, the common belief, that the spirit of the dead stays on the Earth plane for only 40 days and then is heard no more, is wrong?

The veracity of this channeling can be verified by the people who were present there, except for Mimi Tan and Noel Resella, who have passed into the spirit world.

Another question that this incredible story raises is this: Are the past, present and future an illusion, and there is only the eternal now, as some modern theoretical physicists now claim? INQJoin my online seminar on Self Healing Through Visualization on Dec. 5, 2 to 4 p.m. Email [email protected]; tel. 88107245; 0998-9886292.