When I set out to read this book, I honestly felt like it was something that I really should read, but wasn’t necessarily excited to read it. And even though I’ve read a bit about Moody in books, the list was lacking a title by Raymond Moody himself. So I cautiously jumped into Paranormal: My Life in Pursuit of the Afterlife (2012), his most recent book.

If you listened to my most recent podcast episode with the wonderful Karen A. Dahlman, or if you’ve been a reader of the blog for a while, you know I easily get lost in some esoteric language, and my head will instantly explode at the mere mention of things like “quantum mechanics” or “string theory”. It takes twice as long for me to read those books, because the first pass over the page sounds like the Charlie Brown teacher voice inside my head. Wah wah wah…

Raymond Moody (photo via www.fyi.tv)

Fortunately I lucked out on this one, and I was sucked into the book. It really resonated with me. And if you watch one of the many videos of Raymond being interviewed (one is embedded below), he seems so sweet and down to earth, and I bet he could relate to anyone. Now I’m planning on picking up his first and most famous book, Life After Life.

If you don’t know much about Dr. Moody or his work, you should check out the site LifeAfterLife.com (though it seems to be having some technical issues at the time of this writing). He is often called “the father of the of the Near-Death Experience”, or NDE.

The book pretty much covers his life chronologically, including his childhood, his groundbreaking discovery and research of NDEs (and later, “shared-death experiences), the writing of his first book, personal health struggles, his research on past-life regression, and finally his facilitated apparitions research and his psychomanteum (the “Reunions Experiment”).

I must tell you, psychomanteums have always fascinated me, but after reading this book I feel like I need more on this topic. So… as if I needed more books, I just purchased his Reunions: Visionary Encounters with Departed Loved Ones as well. You know if I didn’t think those around me would have me committed, I’d probably have a psychomanteum constructed in my home next week. Ha! Seriously.

Here’s that wonderful video interview.

That is all. Onto the next two books, which I’m reading as homework for some future guest appearances on the podcast. Exciting! More to come. 

Peace Out!