OK, so I was browsing on Amazon and impulsively purchased a relatively new book (2013) called "My Son and the Afterlife: Conversations from the Other Side" by Elisa Medhus MD. It wasn't completely impulsive, because the reason I bought it was the recommendations by Eben Alexander, Thomas Campbell and Craig Hogan, among others. (And I've been reading very old books recently and wanted a nice, easy contemporary read.)
Medhus lost her son to suicide in 2009 or so, she was an atheist and a skeptic, raised by atheist parents, but that loss (and her family getting a lot of after-death communications) made her research psi and decide to open her mind up to possibilities, then she decided to go to channelling mediums, and they related information that convinced her it was her son Erik coming through, and she went about creating a blog that's become very popular, channelingerik.com, and now the book.
I didn't check out the blog. I thought "What the hell, I'll read this, I know it's channeled material, but I'll see what it's about". I just started the book (30 pages), but then shared this with Trancestate, who checked out the site and told me about it. Man, this is BS. The same mediums, from the same "Erik" sessions, are channeling Jesus, Hitler, Buddy Holly, John Lennon, Billie Holliday. Any celebrity you want, Erik just has to call them up, and they show up. And it's just... bad.
It doesn't automatically mean her son Erik isn't communicating or hasn't communicated, but the channeling overlay is something else.
http://www.channelingerik.com/best-of-erik-channeling-adolph-hitler/
http://www.channelingerik.com/channeling-john-lennon-part-one/
http://www.channelingerik.com/channeling-billie-holiday/
http://www.channelingerik.com/channeling-john-f-kennedy-part-one/
http://www.channelingerik.com/channeling-jesus-part-one/
etc.
So... I'm not going to read this book. What got me, over and above the fact that there' s hundreds of 4 and 5 star reviews completely crowding out the bad reviews, is the recommendations by these people that I wouldn't have expected. They must surely not have visited the website.
I should have read this Amazon review:
I also resonate with this one:
Medhus lost her son to suicide in 2009 or so, she was an atheist and a skeptic, raised by atheist parents, but that loss (and her family getting a lot of after-death communications) made her research psi and decide to open her mind up to possibilities, then she decided to go to channelling mediums, and they related information that convinced her it was her son Erik coming through, and she went about creating a blog that's become very popular, channelingerik.com, and now the book.
I didn't check out the blog. I thought "What the hell, I'll read this, I know it's channeled material, but I'll see what it's about". I just started the book (30 pages), but then shared this with Trancestate, who checked out the site and told me about it. Man, this is BS. The same mediums, from the same "Erik" sessions, are channeling Jesus, Hitler, Buddy Holly, John Lennon, Billie Holliday. Any celebrity you want, Erik just has to call them up, and they show up. And it's just... bad.
It doesn't automatically mean her son Erik isn't communicating or hasn't communicated, but the channeling overlay is something else.
http://www.channelingerik.com/best-of-erik-channeling-adolph-hitler/
http://www.channelingerik.com/channeling-john-lennon-part-one/
http://www.channelingerik.com/channeling-billie-holiday/
http://www.channelingerik.com/channeling-john-f-kennedy-part-one/
http://www.channelingerik.com/channeling-jesus-part-one/
etc.
So... I'm not going to read this book. What got me, over and above the fact that there' s hundreds of 4 and 5 star reviews completely crowding out the bad reviews, is the recommendations by these people that I wouldn't have expected. They must surely not have visited the website.
I should have read this Amazon review:
73 of 99 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars A collection of new age mish-mash, October 13, 2013
By
RWB (Great Falls, VA) - See all my reviews
Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: My Son and the Afterlife: Conversations from the Other Side (Paperback)
First of all, I don't think the author intended to deceive. Certainly not at the expense of her deceased son. But I do think her so-called "spirit translators" who channeled Erik were already well steeped in new age terminology. There is so much of Jane Roberts (Seth Speaks) in Erik's answers that it's pretty clear that it is from the mediums own belief systems that Erik's answers derive.
It's necessary to read the book AND the blog material because not only are there stark contradictions (earth is just one of many populated planets vs earth is the only one in the universe that supports human life) but the blog contains political views that simply cannot be those of the author's deceased son. The references to the Tea Party, accolades to Sarah Palin (since deleted from the blog), references to Glenn Beck as the "messiah".....and we are supposed to think these came from Erik!
The book itself is just plain silly in parts. Erik says there aren't any movie theaters "because we can see all we need to see when we watch the earth." Fair enough but on the same page we learn that he has a flat screen TV and watches whatever programming "we damn well please." I guess there's an afterlife channel up there. Or maybe he subscribes to Direct TV.
We learn that humans can reincarnate as animals or insects and vice versa. And even rocks or stones.
So what's going on here? What's what? Medhus, in her sincere grief, has allowed a few mediums to deceive both her and her readers in a desperate attempt to convince herself Erik is still alive. And he very well may be. But this book is far from convincing in that regard.
Of course, any reader who wishes can pay $50 for a session with one of her mediums who, incidentally, also channels Jesus. What some readers may not know is that there are lots of different Jesus' that any number of mediums claim to channel. It's almost a cottage industry these days. Channeled material is notoriously' unreliable and it's apparent both in what "Jesus" says as well as Erik.
I also resonate with this one:
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars A Puzzling Book, May 8, 2014
By
Rene - See all my reviews
Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: My Son and the Afterlife: Conversations from the Other Side (Paperback)
I have read a number of these types of books, and some are better than others for a variety of reasons. And I can understand the differences and perhaps how they arise. But as I started reading this, red flags started showing up in my mind. To me at least, things don't add up. There is a glib side to some of the parts and actual giggling (identified by asides from the author) by the author and the mediums who communicated with the deceased. And there is materialism galore with the deceased son kicking back while he "watches" his large screen TV in an afterworld and "eats" a pizza, and boasts of his hot car and boat. There are other books that have comical parts, such as "The Afterlife of Billy Fingers," that raised no red flags at all. Some people might enjoy "My Son and the Afterlife" which is well written,but to me something bothered me that suggested perhaps an attempt to ease the pain of the suicide of one's child.
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