I had been studying Lucid Dreaming and came across the advice that our departed loved ones can hear our thoughts and when in bed going to sleep to mentally invite a departed relative into our dream so we could communicate more directly again. One night after being mentally invited as I did almost every night she appeared in my dream in which I became instantly lucid but stayed within the dream. In that dream I was in an apartment and heading to the bedroom with a date I had in that dream. When I opened the bedroom door I saw that there was someone in my bed, completely covered by the sheet and remarked to my "date" that I lived there alone and who could be in my bed??

When I said "who could be in my bed"

I heard from under the sheet "who do you think it is you idiot?" I recognized my sister's voice and said "Susan (she pulled down the sheet so I could see her face) and she said "Yes, what do you want?"

I said "You actually heard me when I invited you into this dream?"

She said "Yes I always do, but let me ask you a question - you don't ever hear me do you?

I said "no" and she said with a smile "that's because you're thick as a ton of bricks. What do you want?"

I said "I want to know how you are, where you are, what you are".

She said "It's beyond the human brain's capacity to understand"

I said "I don't care try to explain it to me anyway".

She said OK, try to pay attention" and suddenly the scene changed and she was standing in front of a blackboard and began answering my questions. Every once in a while during her explanation she would turn around and work on a geometrical design she had started on the black board which turned into an amazingly complicated circular design and as soon as she finished it she said "There, I answered your questions but you didn't understand it did you?"

I said "No" and she said it was because it was beyond the human brain's capacity to understand. She then said "However now I want you to pay close attention to what I'm going to tell you now as it is very important" for me and will be "in" me but I won't remember it when I wake up. So she talked for quite awhile until I woke up and had no idea what she had said. However, ten years later I pulled a book off an bookstore shelf and on the cover was the design she drew in the dream and it was the geometric design of "The Flower of Life". I bought the book and that whole book and the second volume by the author Drunvalo Melchizedek were the answers to the question I had asked my sister in the lucid dream.

Background Information:

Was this experience difficult to express in words? No

Did you ONLY sense an awareness of presence of the deceased without actually seeing, hearing, feeling or smelling them?      No

Did you hear the deceased or hear something associated with the deceased?          No

Did you feel a touch or experience any physical contact from the deceased?         No

Did you see the deceased?       Yes

Already described. This is very frustrating and i have been at this for two hours.

            How clearly did the deceased appear?            Solid

            How much of the deceased did you see?       All of her

            Did the deceased appear or not appear to be the age at which they died?           at same age when died

            How healthy did the deceased appear to be?            Very healthy

            Is there any possibility what you saw was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience?   No

Did you smell a distinct smell, scent, fragrance or odor associated with the deceased? No

How long did the experience last?      Maybe 10 - 15 seconds

Was the beginning and end of the experience gradual or more sudden?       Gradual

Could you sense the emotions or mood of the deceased?          Yes

Profoundly Loving and infusing me with that feeling.

Did the deceased give you information you did not previously know?  Yes, but in a second experience several years later. How do you currently view the reality of your experience?          Experience was definitely real

          Please explain why you view the reality of your experience as real or not real:   The reality of my experience was definitely real and over time and multiple events with myself and my sister's friends she proved she was alive in another realm and could hear us and know things she couldn't possibly before she 'died'.

          Was the experience dream like in any way?  Yes

Describe in detail your feelings/emotions during the experience:  See above.

Was there any emotional healing in any way following the experience? Yes

Confirmation that what her son and I experienced was absolutely real. This was validated after I landed back in Dallas from my visit with my sister and the vision I had in the waiting room. On the way back from the airport i felt compelled to go to a book shop. While looking at the titles on the shelf of the store I stopped at one book I had heard about but never read, 'The Course in Miracles.' I did what i always do in a metaphysical book store and opened the book randomly and said to myself if what I read is relevant to me I'll buy the book. What I read was a two page detailed description of the cause and meaning of having a vision of a person surrounded by a golden light emanating golden rays accompanied with strong loving feelings. It described exactly what I had experienced, seen and felt so I bought the book. When I got home I wanted to carefully read those two pages again but couldn't find them in the book. I went through the book twice, page by page, and the explanation I had read in the book store was no longer there.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?     It was all good and happened over time which reinforced the reality of what I experienced.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience? Uncertain                 Describe:     Probably in how I approach and internalize certain experiences.           

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?      Yes    Confirmation of what I had learned through growing up with my sister

Did the experience give you any spiritual understandings such as life, death, afterlife, God, etc.?         Yes    It confirmed many ideas I had wondered about.

Death Compacts are when two or more living people promise among themselves that whoever dies first will try to contact the other(s).  Have you ever made such a compact?    Uncertain

Knowing my sister we probably had that conversation that which ever one of us crossed over first would try to get in touch with the other one.

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?          Yes The week after my sister's passing I had lunch with two of her best friends at the Hamburger Hamlet restaurant on Sunset Bopulevard in Hollywood. One of her friends was the so called 'Psychic to the Stars' in Los Angeles. During lunch and our conversation he suddenly said 'Sue's here' and had been listening to our conversation. She commented through Roger, her psychic friend, that her other friend at that lunch, Lorette, failed to take my sister's advice on redecorating her apartment that they had discussed in detail before my sister went into the hospital. She described exactly what she had advised against and what Lorette had actually done while my sister was in the hospital where upon Lorette went white as a sheet and almost passed out. During the remainder of the lunch my sister chimed in on aspects of our conversation with the help of Roger. It was a fantastic treat and fully verifiable.

What emotions did you feel during the experience?          Great contentment and happiness.

Was the experience witnessed or experienced by others?          Yes

My nephew was part of the experience as explained.

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?  Yes

Afterward.

Did you have a sense of knowing, special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?         Yes

Described in the dream and also in the book I bought which was directly relevant to the experience a few days earlier before the purchase.

Did you become aware of future events?      No

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience that you did not have prior to the experience?      Uncertain

Several lucid dreams with departed family members.

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?   No

Did you meet or see any other beings other than the deceased?   No

Did you see a light?        Yes

See above. Golden halo emanating rays in all directions with a moving glitter effect in the rays and also emanating the most profound feeling of love impossible to adequately describe.

Did any part of your experience seem to occur in a place other than the location described above?     Yes

In her apartment and also at the lunch I described.

Have you shared this experience with others?      

Yes    Some were amazed. Some were skeptical and unconvinced.

Have you shared this experience formally or informally with any other researcher or web site?         No

 Is there anything else you would like to add regarding your experience?   Yes. When asking a doctor during my last 5 hour blood transfusion for my sister, if he had any patients that died and came back with interesting stories to tell he said 'Yes' and made a gesture with his arms stretched above his head and as low as he could with his other arm indicating probably thousands of stories on sheets of paper. He said we have this many stories from this hospital but they forbid us to talk about them'. After discovering I actually knew and had worked for his brother he then relaxed told me about when his own mother was his patient and who passed after she 'took' her favorite sheets with her from her grandmother.

Were there any associated medications or substances with the potential to affect the experience?          No

Following the experience, have you had any other events in your life, medications or substances which reproduced any part of the experience?       Uncertain 

See above.

Did you ever in your life have a near-death experience, out of body experience or other spiritual event? Yes 

Flying dreams some of which were pretty lucid. Hovering above the neighborhood looking down on our house.

Did the questions asked and information you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience?           Yes

Please offer any suggestions you may have to improve this questionnaire.       Very thorough. Can't think of anything at the moment.