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Title: Mysterious Messages from Beyond by Von Braschler
Details: Copyright 2021, Schiffer Publishing
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "Psychic healer and theosophist Von Braschler presents new techniques for hearing beyond from those who have passed on
What or who is communicating with you from beyond the veil? This study of mysterious communications offers a contrast of classic stories of phantom calls to newer, personal stories that will both haunt and intrigue. The analysis examines thought forms, thought power, and heightened consciousness and suggests exercises for developing more-acute hearing of subtle sounds and voices. It considers the many silent messages that might be directed at you from angels to guardian spirits, lost pets, or loved ones miles away. Examples of mysterious messages received on phone lines or otherwise are described in real-life stories. People who learned to listen have discovered that voices from beyond don't have to be frightening—sometimes they just want to say goodbye. What will you discover when you learn to listen?"
Why I Wanted to Read It: I follow Catland Books on social media and they're great at highlighting Witch and occult (and related) books that I haven't seen. While trying to obtain another book from my library by this author, this was the only one available, so I thought I'd at least give it a look.
How I Liked It: I'm going to tell you something I don't see mentioned often enough about books. If you read enough of a certain genre, whatever it is, you'll begin to develop a template or formula. Some genres are far more susceptible to a formula than others, but human beings are trained to look for patterns and eventually we find them, so read enough of any genre and you might be able to start making, say, a bingo card. This doesn't mean the books can't still be good or useful or entertaining, but it does mean that a book from the genre that bucks the bingo card is going to be all the more remarkable. So which is it with this book? You'll see.
But first! After a very dry forward extolling the virtues of the author by author Frank Joseph, we're led through both an explanation of spirit communication, the author's experiences and opinions, and then each chapter is basically a case study, or at least a story of one spirit or another. These range from strange nature spirits, to ghosts, to deceased friends, to who knows what.
While books about spirit communication (particularly ghosts) are not as plentiful in my reading as other topics or genres, I will say this is definitely not my first book or my tenth. I've read enough to have a pattern and formula, if not exactly a bingo card.
It goes something like this. The author will generally affect a more formal than usual tone, to make it clear they aren't a frivolous person and thus you should take what they're saying seriously. Conversely, they may try to be overly relatable to convince you they don't take themselves too seriously (especially not with this kind of thing!) and are Just Folks. Next, they'll usually warn of the dangers of such communication, all while boasting that they themselves have done it/been around it. They'll tell stories that are usually quite flattering to themselves while detailing their bravery, intellect, and/or Totally Relatable actions.
I'm sorry to say this book is a very, very dull version (to the point where I was shocked that it's less than 130 pages because it feels so very, very much longer) of this exact formula. The author is a very skilled and gifted man who doesn't want you to try to contact spirits at all (but be open to communication, which... is somewhat conflicting advice to give? Also, you should guard yourself accordingly whether you're initiating the conversation or not) but he has lots of experience dealing with them, most of it contradicting, and honestly, this book is pretty exhausting. (Incidentally, given the amount of stories the author has in the book about his personal friendship and connection to Llewellyn Publishing owner Carl Weschcke and his own work with Llewellyn, I'm surprised the book does not bear the moon mark of that publishing company. Hmm.)
The book is not so much a how-to (or more accurately, a "repeatedly how NOT to") as stories that happened to the author, and it's not so much a memoir because the author is lecturing far too much for that. You could, if you felt especially optimistic, argue that the author is trying to dissuade people from irresponsible action with spirit communication, and if readers sought out this book because they're interested in such a thing, this would instead be a way to send that message. But too many tantalizing (or I guess I should say "tantalizing" because they really are incredibly dull) stories about his own contact and too little instruction on how to be more open to communication (rather than initiating it) and discerning reality from fantasy/deception means that this book isn't going to work on that level, either.
Not every book written in a genre that falls prey to that genre's formula is going to be a disappointment! As I said, they can still be entertaining, educational, and a good read. It's just unfortunate that this particular book follows the formula and is none of those things.
Notable: There's a lot of curious word usage in this book.
Spirits may seek to deceive you if you initiate contact and welcome them into your life. They might present themselves as your maiden aunt or a former resident but turn out to be something quite different. (pg 37)
"Maiden aunt"? Seriously? This book was written in 2021. While depending on her age that might be what your aunt thought of herself at the time, now that's a hilariously outdated (not to mention sexist) term.
So what do the white witch Sybil Leek and the creator of James Bond have to do with this discussion? (pg 45)
Where to even start with this? First, in the 2020s, I don't have to tell you that particularly with something based on your perceptions as much as Witchcraft, color-coding "white" to mean "good, beneficial, healing" and "black" to mean "harmful, malevolent, evil" is, to put it mildly, horrible. Don't say "black magic" and don't say "white magic" and especially don't say "white witch".
For that matter, if the author is using "witch" to mean "general magic maker" rather than the Pagan spiritual and religious practice (which honestly you should really skip doing because things are confusing enough, aren't they?), that's not correct either. The controversial Sybil Leek absolutely belonged to the Pagan spiritual and religious practice, and calling someone a "beneficial Witch" (which is what the author means by "white witch") is the equivalent of calling someone a "beneficial Christian". By nature, you hope to be beneficial.
This practice (calling other people and/or identifying as a "witch witch") is thankfully pretty out of fashion and has been for awhile, which it absolutely should. So why on earth if this author is supposedly in tune with "that sort of thing" is he still using that term in the 2020s?!
On top of that, Carl's old friend was a bit of a hoarder and had clothes dating back to her high school years and stacks of old newspapers and magazines piled everywhere in the basement. (pg 63)
Speaking of the 2020s! Hoarding Disorder has been on the DSM for some time now. Hoarding Disorder, or being a hoarder, is not the same as having old things, or collecting things, or being a slob, or being a packrat. Misusing terms like this promotes misinformation which makes it harder for people to get help and treatment. Don't do it. Especially not in a situation like this where a much better alternative ("Carl's old friend was a bit of a packrat") easily exists.
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Today there are many psychics who claim this ability to contact our dead pets and connect us with them. I have only met one-- my former coworker whom we just talked about. But you have probably seen or heard of others. We have even seen one or two on television, demonstrating in front of cameras and a studio audience an apparent ability to contact our dead pets. The one I remember best was a woman who would walk up to people in her studio audience and tell them about their dead dog or cat sitting next to them. Then she would proceed to tell these people what the former pet wanted to say to them and how they would always be with them. This is not limited to psychics who offer to help us speak to our beloved pets who have died. I have even seen a man on television who offers to connect people to their deceased friends and relatives. In convincing fashion, he walks among a studio audience and sits with guests who have lost loved ones they wish to contact. He chats with studio guests for a while and then offers to channel special messages from their deceased friends, reaching out to them wherever they might be today. You might have seen him on television in one of his many appearances across the country. He is quite famous. What I notice is that the dead will readily return to speak to you only if they want to speak to you. And I always worry that people try to force that, drawing loved ones back here to a life they have left behind and should leave behind. (pgs 89 and 90)
Ah, the formula! "I'm pointing out these people are fraudulent, thus you know I am not fraudulent." Hilariously, Sylvia Browne (who I think the author is describing in the first example, although I can't remember her ever doing that exact bit) did this herself frequently. I'm also pretty sure that's John Edward, and man, does the author sound snippy about it.
I'd worry not so much about people forcing their deceased loved ones back to their old living lives so much as I'd worry it'd make it hard for the living to ever move past their loved ones' deaths to live their own lives.
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[My teacher experienced with ghosts and spirits] said that people sometimes thought their homes were haunted, but she [the teacher] found no ghosts whatsoever. The spirits that inhabited the dark corners of these houses were sometimes emotional bodies that had been created and fed by the strong, negative emotions of people who lived there. These powerful thought forms of emotions and mental energy that spilled out of occupants at the house eventually took the shape of people as shadowy, dark forms that resembled their creators. These were forms of raw, negative emotion that were scattered throughout the building. She claimed that she thought it was particularly sad when she found one of these dark emotional bodies in some corner of the building. It was always difficult for her to tell the residents of the house that the form would continue to grow with repeated emotional outbursts and would shrink only when no longer strengthened by additional negative thought forms. These are runaway thought forms at their worst. (pg 93)
I've heard of this phenomenon before but credit where credit is due, good on the author for including it here, as it's something people don't recognize often enough.
Final Grade: D+
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