Reunions: Visionary Encounters With Departed Loved Ones
by Raymond Moody Jr., Paul Perry

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Book Reviews of Reunions: Visionary Encounters With Departed Loved Ones

Book Review: Surprisingly Informative!
Summary: 5 Stars

Being new to this subject, I knew absolutely nothing about it before. More than half of the book is devoted to the HISTORY of mirror gazing in various cultures, throughout time. I didn't even know that there had been a history. One of the most fascinating parts was reading all about the ancient Greek oracles, and how they had worked. I had heard of the Oracles, but previously just imagined they had some kind of fortune-teller. Actually, it was quite complicated. People consulting the Oracles had to undergo a month of preparation, in near total darkness. Then there was a huge, underground metal mirror that they were taken to consult, in which they then had visions. Moody and his wife visited the remains of one of the Oracles, and he describes his trip there, and how he was able to find all the various parts of the oracle chambers.

Moody describes how mirror gazing was a well-accepted diversion during the Middle Ages, and before, in almost every culture, and how it went out with the rise of science, especially after 1900. Even the American Indians had a form of mirror gazing which they practiced. Different cultures had different ways of gazing to try to conjure spirits, including looking into water, looking at shiny silver cups or mugs, and gazing into crystal balls (mentioned only briefly).

The most fascinating historical information was a description of how the Xhosa (pronounded Khosa) people of South Africa, in 1856, after fighting many unsuccessful battles with the British, gazed into the river, and saw the spiritis of six dead ancestors. These ancestors convinced the whole tribe that if they would sacrifice all of their cattle to the ancestors, that the ancestors would come back to life, and lead them to a victory over the British. I asked someone I know from South Africa if they had ever heard of this, and they had not, but they suggested to me that I check on the internet. I did, and found MANY references to The Great Cattle Killing of 1856-1857, in which because of the visions seen in the river, they killed ALL of their cattle, AND did not plant their crops. Apparently, the British even tried to stop them. However, they didn't listen, and the subsequent year, 20,000 Xhosa starved to death.

After aquainting the reader with the complete history of mirror gazing, Moody tries to research the practice scientifically. He builds a chamber in which to mirror gaze, following the same methods he has researched from historical cultures. He chooses a number of people, who fit certain criteria-such as being professional, well-balanced, no belief in metaphysics, and lastly, having a relative or friend who has died that they would like to see again, if it were possible. He then has them follow a preparation procedure similar to what the ancients did-although he devised his chamber and preparation from a melange of historical research, synthesizing his own ritual to experiment with. Before he started, he was expecting a very low success ratio, if any success at all. To his surprise, about 50 percent of the subjects reported communication. A number of interesting case histories are included in the book.

Lastly, he gives the reader good directions, and suggestions, as to how they can pursue mirror gazing, if they are interested in trying it on their own.

I would not recommend this book to the average reader. However, if you are interested in mirror-gazing, or a person of a very open scientific mind, this book will interest you. I think Moody has done a careful, scientific study, and presented his findings.

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