In People Who Dont Know Theyre Dead (Weiser Books, June 2005), Gary Leon Hill tells a family story of how his Uncle Wally and Aunt Ruth, Wallys sister, came to counsel dead spirits who became freeze-framed and earth-bound, as well as those who took up residence in bodies that didnt belong to them. And, in the telling, Hill elucidates much of what we know, or think we know, about life, death, consciousness, and the meaning of the universe.
(PRWEB) April 17, 2005 -- Imagine: Youre cruising down the highway, blasting the stereo and doing your best Bette Midler imitation while enjoying the view when suddenly you are standing outside your car, which is no longer your car, but a twisted mass of metal. You try to open what was once the drivers door and your hand passes through the handle. What was tangible no longer is and you struggle to find the meaning. You hear voices, you see people all around you, but you have no idea who they are; you are not afraid, but you are terribly confused. What happened? Why is your car in a tangle? Why can the EMTs administering to someone on the ground not hear or see you? You dont know it yet, but youre dead. You feel like you are still alive, but you havent a clue.
In People Who Dont Know Theyre Dead (Weiser Books, June 2005), Gary Leon Hill tells a family story of how his Uncle Wally and Aunt Ruth, Wallys sister, came to counsel dead spirits who became freeze-framed and earth-bound, as well as those who took up residence in bodies that didnt belong to them. And, in the telling, Hill elucidates much of what we know, or think we know, about life, death, consciousness, and the meaning of the universe.
When people die by accident, in violence, or maybe theyre drunk, stoned, or angry, they get freeze-framed. Even if they die naturally but have no idea what to expect, they might not notice theyre dead. Its frustrating to see and not be seen. Its frustrating not to know what youre supposed to do next. Its especially frustrating to be in someone elses body and think its your own. Thats if youre dead. If youre alive and that spirit has attached itself to you, well thats a whole other set of frustrations.
This non-fiction narrative follows Wally Johnston, a behavioral psychologist, from the 60s through the 90s – a time of radically expanding knowledge about mind, consciousness, energy, matter, mind over matter, reincarnation, altered states, holistic health, quantum physics, the paranormal, near-death, and out-of-body experiences, and life after life. Some years after he began his spirit counseling, Wally is joined by his sister Ruth, an academic psychiatric nurse who had become interested in new consciousness and alternative healing. The spirits that they primarily counseled were hitchhikers who had attached themselves to the auras of living relatives or strangers in an attempt to hold on to a physical existence they no longer need. Through her pendulum, Ruth obtains permission from the higher self of both hitchhiker and host to work with them. Then Wally speaks with them, gently but firmly, to make sure they know they are no longer welcome to inhabit the bodies and wreak havoc on the lives of the living.
Hill has woven this fascinating story – which reads like fiction, but acts as a guide – with the history and theory of what happens at death, with particular emphasis on the last 40 years and the work of such groundbreaking luminaries as Elmer Green, Raymond Moody, William James, Aldous Huxley, Edith Fiore, Martha Rogers, Mark Macy, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Bruce Lipton, and a host of others, whose work helps inform our idea of what it is to live and to die. As it turns out, our best defense against hitchhikers is to live consciously. And our best chance of doing that is by paying attention and staying open to possibilities.
Gary Leon Hill is an award-winning playwright whose work has been produced at theaters throughout the country. He has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, The Rockefeller Foundation, AT&T, and the Pew Charitable Trust. His plays include Food from Trash, Back to the Blanket, Say Grace, In a Beginning, and 8 Bob Off. A photographer and filmmaker before he started writing plays, Hill worked early in his career with Robert Frank (The Americans) and novelist/screenwriter Rudolph Wurlitzer on the films, Life Dances On and Energy and How to Get It. This is his first book. He lives in New York City.
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