THE GHOSTS OF 9/11

I've been reading about the ghosts of 9/11 in Patricia Pearson's book Opening Heaven's Door. It seems that three 9/11 World Trade Center survivors feel they were guided to safety by presences they sensed.

One was led down the North Tower stairs after being 'prodded' through a wall of fire, while another - who had been trapped beneath concrete - received encouraging visits from someone she perceived to be a monk. The third was comforted as he lay under a pile of rubble.

I went on to read about Sir Ernest Shackleton, whose boat became mired in ice in 1916 and who subsequently - accompanied by two of his crew - made a desperate trek across a mountainous 25-mile stretch of Antarctica. As they trekked, all 3 men became conscious of a presence accompanying and guiding them.

They were in this way escorted safely to a whaling station. It is interesting that during the trek none of the men mentioned him, each believing that they were alone in sensing the extra companion. And when asked about it afterwards Sir Ernest said the experience had been too transcendent to be the subject of casual 'Ouija Board chatter'.

Apparently many explorers, mountaineers, divers and sailors have shared his sense of wonder through experiencing the Third Man in times of duress. Sometimes their companions have been visible, sometimes not. At times the presence has spoken aloud to them, but not always. They have invariably, though, been comforted or led to safety.

I wholly believe in the ghosts of 9/11 and the Third Man. Do you?

CAN WE LOOK THROUGH HEAVEN'S DOOR BEFORE DEATH?

Can we look through heaven's door before death? This is a question answered by Patricia Pearson's book 'Opening Heaven's Door', currently being serialized in the Daily Mail.

It's clearly a fascinating book, giving all kinds of insights into death-related experiences that defy logical interpretation. One story that especially struck me concerned a woman who, having just given birth,  looked across to the far side of the room and smiled radiantly, saying "Oh, lovely, lovely!"

When her obstetrician asked her what was lovely, she answered intensely: "What I see: lovely brightness - wonderful beings." Then, focusing her attention on a particular place, she exclaimed: "Why, it's my father! Oh, he's so glad I'm coming, he is so glad."

It seemed to the obstetrician that her patient had a momentary hesitation, wondering whether she should stay for the baby's sake. But she suddenly said: "I can't - I can't stay; if you could see what I do, you'd know I can't stay."

She then seemed confused, saying: "Father has my sister with him." (Her sister had actually died three weeks previously but the death had been kept from her because of her advanced pregnancy.)

After the patient's death (her vision having been witnessed by her mother, a nurse, the matron and the resident medical officer as well as by her obstetrician) Sir William Barrett, a physicist at the Royal College of Science in Dublin, launched a formal investigation and his published account - in 1926 - became the first corroborated report of a deathbed vision. There have been literally 1000s more in the interim.

So what do you think? Can we look through heaven's door before death?

BILLY CONNOLLY'S BIG SEND OFF - ON ITV TONIGHT!

I just read in The Daily Telegraph that Billy Connolly's Big Send Off is on ITV at 9 pm tonight. If you're wondering what I'm talking about, apparently Billy is a man fascinated by death - or so he says. He claims to find how we deal with it, fear it and come to terms with it endlessly intriguing.

So, in the two-part series starting this evening, he'll be exploring our attitudes toward dying and witnessing a whole range of rituals while also addressing his own beliefs about what happens at the 'end'. He'll be trying coffins for size, attending a New Orleans voodoo ceremony and visiting an eerie Californian town whose sole purpose is to house the dead - with 1.5 million bodies residing there! He'll also be taking a trip from a funeral convention in Texas - home to a multi-million-dollar 'death industry' - to a drive-through funeral parlour in Los Angeles.

And, finally, he'll be chatting with Eric Idle about plans for their respective send-offs! Apparently Idle's hit Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life is a popular song for funerals. I'll leave the last word for this post to Billy Connolly, who says:

"Far from the doom and gloom you may expect, the world of death is full of wonderful people doing extraordinary things."