Pure Wisdom

Posted on November 18, 2020 by Author Richard F Holmes

I’m about half-way through the book, Stillness Speaks, by Eckhart Tolle and I came across this truly beautiful piece of wisdom that I felt I just had to share with you. I hope it inspires you in the same way that it inspired me:

“Just as water can be solid, liquid or gaseous, consciousness can be seen to be “frozen” as physical matter, “liquid” as mind and thought, or formless as pure consciousness.”

“Pure consciousness is Life before it comes into manifestation, and that Life looks at the world of form through “your” eyes because consciousness is who you are.”

Eckhart Tolle

Just as a matter of interest, and following on from my previous post, Everything Serves A Purpose, I thought it would amuse you to know that it’s happened again. After me explaining that my out-of-body experiences had dried up, and sharing with you what happened the last time I made a similar statement, during the early hours of 16/11/20 I had… yes, you guessed correctly… an out-of-body experience…

You couldn’t make it up!

Everything Serves A Purpose

Posted on November 12, 2020 by Author Richard F Holmes

For the benefit of those who have not been following my blog for very long, I will just recap on something that I once wrote about on a fairly regular basis, before I get to the point of this particular post.

There was a time when I seemed to have a lot of out-of-body experiences. I estimated, that over the years; starting in approximately 1999, I had somewhere in between 200 to 300 astral adventures. Some were spectacular and some were not worth writing about. A couple of years back I wrote about how they had become very few and far between, but no sooner had I made that statement, they started again with a flurry. In 2020 I have had only five; the last being back in May. They now seem to have dried up completely. Every now and then I asked myself the question, “why, what’s the point?” I came to the conclusion that it was so I would be able to share my experiences (where appropriate), and reassure people that, “this isn’t all there is.”

OK, so that was a condensed version of my astral travelling experiences…

It occured to me very recently, that my initial assumption, although true, was not the complete picture. I have now realised that my experiences, some of which, that as time went by became quite tedious, brought me confirmation of a very profound truth and that it has taken me all this time to realise it. What I mean is this: I had the sensation of leaving my body; I also had the sensation of returning to my body. Then there was the bit in between where I had the actual astral experience, whatever form that took. But, the important thing here is that I was conscious of all aspects of the experience. Meaning, that my body is most certainly not who I am. When I was out of my body, consciousness was very much “alive” and alert. So, my body is not essential to my being, but consciousness is who and what I am. Indeed, my body is completely inanimate unless consciousness is present.

It is all very, very simple and I can’t believe that it took so long for the penny to drop. If it’s the case for me, then it must be so for everybody else. Of course, if you want to be pedantic about it and split hairs, you could argue that I know it is my truth because I had the direct experience, and possibly it would be different for others. You could add that individuals will only come to the same conclusion as me if they have the same experience. But, all said and done, I think it’s a pretty good indicator that we are consciousness and not the body.

What Now?

Posted on July 10, 2018 by Author Richard F Holmes

Indeed; what now? I’m really glad that Eyesight To The Blind is out there in paperback form, and the kindle version will launch some time later this month. But I appear to have entered a flat phase and am continually asking myself, what now? This really is a weird time of transition for me, I’m no longer working as a medium, my day job is stale and way past its sell-by date, my writing project has finished, so yes, to say I’m feeling quite flat at the moment would be an understatement.

I wanted to write a post last week, but “what to write”? I thought to myself. Anyway, the most important thing is to be in communication, so I thought I would share three quite different and random things with you. Two that came along recently and one from around 18 years ago.

Firstly, and I can’t quite believe that I’ve never written about this before; anywhere! I’m going to share with you the one and only experience I’ve ever had of spirit manifesting itself objectively; in other words, right before my eyes and not on the inner plain. I think the reason I’ve never written about this before is because it has simply slipped my mind. It’s also not something that I would attach a lot of importance to these days, but it was very interesting at the time and I’m sure some of you will also find it quite interesting.

It happened round about 1999/2000. It was when I was going to the open circle at the spiritualist church. A man named Tom would quite often take the sessions in those early days. We were sitting there in our circle, not in the dark but with the room dimly lit, and all of a sudden as I was looking at Tom, slightly behind him and to his left, there was a build up of spirit; literally. The image of a man I believed to be Tom’s dad literally built up from the floor until it was a full manifestation. He looked elderly and he had a briar pipe in his mouth. The manifestation was not pure white, as you would probably imagine, but a very faint blue. The image remained for a few moments and then disappeared.

The second thing I want to share with you happened very recently; less than two weeks back from the time of writing. I wanted to spend a night away from Tetbury, so I had a look on Airbnb and saw a nice cheap room with en suite facilities. I then realised that it was in a town called Highworth, which I knew quite well from my time living in Swindon, as they are in close proximity to each other. I booked, and to my pleasure, the hosts turned out to be a lovely couple; she being a yoga teacher and he being an extremely learned and well-read man who worked as a creative writing tutor. They were both very interesting to talk to.

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while will probably have realised that I don’t have a very high opinion of the church, and even though I do not accept the Biblical version of Christ, I do actually embrace the concept of a man who was called Jesus Christ and who walked the earth more than 2000 years ago. However, my view of who he was differs drastically from the story pedaled by the church. My male host, I will call him Peter, during a discussion said that there is no evidence anywhere, and there never has been, that Christ even existed. I knew I was not as well-informed as him so I did not contest his view; instead, I listened intently. Then he said something else, that was so obviously true, that it had never occurred to me before.

I’ve always felt that there is very little truth in the Bible, but Peter said something that gave me a bit of a eureka moment. He said that there is only one passage in the Bible that has any significance; the rest you can just throw away. That passage is in Exodus 3:14 where Moses asks God what he should say if, when he goes to the Israelites, they ask him the name of, “the God of their forefathers”, who sent him. He gets the reply, “I AM, that is who I am”. That statement, “I AM, that is who I am”, must surely be the most profoundly true and powerful statement in the entire history of history itself. That seven-word statement tells us everything we would ever want and need to know about that great and old chestnut; the meaning of life.

No beginning; no end. No birth; no death. The all and everything summed up right there and then in one seven-word statement. You are already that which you seek. Spiritual awakening is the realisation that you are already awake. I could go on, but I won’t; thanks Peter!

Thirdly, after stating in Eyesight To The Blind, that my out-of-body experiences are very few and far between these days, what happens? Yes, I not only have an astral adventure, but quite a humdinger too! There was a hell of a lot going on; it was like three different stories playing out during the course of my journey. I’m sure it all had some sort of meaning, but unless I experience something truly spectacular these days, I will not be going into detail anymore; simply because I no longer see the relevance. I just found it quite ironic, that after making that statement in the book, quite a detailed out-of-body experience followed during the early morning of July 5.

Anyway, where was I, oh yes… what now?

Eyesight To The Blind – Proposed Synopsis

Posted on January 28, 2018 by Author Richard F Holmes

I’m pleased to showcase the proposed synopsis for my forthcoming book, Eyesight To The Blind. I’ve had a few plays with it already, so it may yet change. But I think either way, I’m just about there with it, so any future changes will only be minor. Your comments as readers would be appreciated!

(I’ve made a couple of amendments since the original post).

This is an extraordinary book that tells the story of the author’s journey from a place of darkness to one of light. You will experience a roller coaster ride of highs and lows as he takes your hand and leads you on a guided tour into the depths of depression and despair. Whilst there you will feel his pain, you will be impressed by his brutal honesty and you will also laugh.. a lot! You will then ascend; out of the darkness and into the love.

This is not just another run-of-the-mill book on the paranormal; it is also an essential guide for daily living. Author Richard F Holmes bares his soul as he gives the reader an insight into a medium’s work and life on the road, his well over 200 out-of-body adventures and how he has experienced different realms of existence and interacted with discarnate souls. Incredibly, he then explains how it all pales into insignificance as life starts to reveal its true meaning.

“As I take the reader through each stage of my journey from childhood to present day, I have tried to write from the perspective of the mind-set and understanding that I had at the time. The idea is that the reader evolves with the writer through mutual experience. Although I have refrained from using bad language, the language I have used reflects who I am; after all, you can take the boy out of North London, but you can never take North London out of the boy”.

The beauty of this book however, is the central message that the author conveys via his writing. In life you do not have to be a victim. Each and every one of us is powerful beyond our imagination. It is only the thought that we are not that makes us victims. Eyesight To The Blind is an exciting and powerful book that combines the paranormal with spirituality, but it is also a practical guide for daily living.

Who Am I? Part Twenty Nine

Posted on October 24, 2017 by Author Richard F Holmes

The Orchards Residential Care Home, Wroughton. Where Mrs H received great care.

We were now approaching the end of 2005 and there had been yet more adjustments to my living situation. For various reasons Sue had to sell her house, so she moved into her son, Shaun’s, house, and he went to live with his girlfriend. Also, a friend of Shaun’s needed a favour regarding somewhere to live, so Sue asked me if I would move into the spare room in Shaun’s house while Shaun’s friend moved into Justin’s flat. In the meantime, a couple known to myself and Sue, who lived in the town of Cirencester, approximately 11 miles from Swindon were looking to let out a flat. It was a very strange situation, but the upshot of it was that they did not want any rent; the person going in there simply had to pay their own bills. They had offered it to Sue, having empathized with her situation, but tempted as she was, Sue didn’t want to be 11 miles away from all her family and grand kids etc. I very cheekily suggested that she should drop a few hints to them in my direction; to which Sue replied, “I’ve already thought of that”.

The situation was strange indeed. The house in Cirencester had been converted to accommodate a “granny flat” on the upper level. The lower level was essentially still a house, albeit without an upstairs. The granny flat had been occupied by the lady of the house’s mother, who had died. The elderly lady had lived a long life and the end had been somewhat inevitable, however, the daughter had found it impossible to get over her mother’s death and continued to be affected by it. As a result, the elderly lady’s possessions had never been cleared out; all the furniture and ornaments etc. were exactly how they had been when the flat was occupied. All this didn’t bother me, and thanks to Sue, I was duly offered the flat. Apart from having to pay the bills, the only other condition was that I couldn’t shift any of the old lady’s things around; everything had to remain the same. I moved in on the day before Christmas Eve 2005, and in the early hours of Christmas Eve the flat was duly christened by my first out-of-body experience whilst in occupancy.

At first this was an incredible help to me. For around four months I felt as though I had some stability; and I’d not felt that for years. I got on well with the owners and I even ran a development group in the flat every Thursday night. However, things that seem too good to be true generally are…

I’d met the owners through one of the spiritualist churches that I served and they’d invited me around to do some private readings. It transpired that they had readings roughly every 10 days; it must have cost them a fortune! The reason being that the lady of the house’s psychological well-being was not very stable. She was unable to accept that her mother had died, so in an effort to appease her, the husband was constantly booking mediums in the hope that they would bring the mother through. I eventually realised that the mediums who told them what they wanted to hear were invited into what I called “the inner sanctum”. This meant that they would be periodically invited round for a meal and to carry out readings. If a medium was booked and didn’t tell them what they wanted to hear, they were never invited again. I think that when they let me have the flat they thought they were going to get “messages on tap” from the departed mother. Unfortunately, I don’t work like that.

Apart from in the early days, I have always been a very disciplined medium. I do not go around with spirit jabbering in my ears all day. The only time I’m tuned in is when I’m working. When I get called to time, my mediumship cuts out and stays cut out until the next time I am required to work in a professional capacity.

Everything was going swimmingly well until around early April 2006. I thought I was imagining things at first, but as a few weeks went by, I realised that the lady of the house was no longer speaking to me. I knew that something was just over the horizon, and sure enough, before we were half-way through May I was told that they wanted their flat back. At first it was very amicable, I was told that there was no rush and to take my time. But as the weeks went by it was made obvious to me that I was over-staying my welcome. Eventually, I signed up to the housing association in Cirencester, and in what seemed like no time at all, I had a flat in a converted Baptist Church in a village called Avening, roughly 10 miles away. I was in this flat for almost two years; it was a period that again represented a rather strange time in my life.

I completed my move from Cirencester in August 2006. At first everything was fine, apart from the lack of windows and natural light in the flat, it wasn’t bad, and I was thankful for a roof over my head. But at the tail end of 2006 the nice neighbours upstairs moved out, and a not so nice neighbour moved in. It then became apparent, mainly due to the old church having a grave yard on the grounds, that there was a problem with entities. Sue and John Geis sorted out the entity problem for me; there was one very comical moment when I was in the grave yard trying to act inconspicuously, before placing a programmed quartz crystal into a strategic position in the ground.

2007 was a mixed year. I wasn’t happy at all living in Avening, but on the plus side I was able to get a job as a support worker, within walking distance of my flat. This supplemented my income, and I was also covering a lot of miles with my spiritual work. My out-of-body experiences had been fairly consistent since the onset in the late 1990s, and Sri Sathya Sai Baba continued to reach out to me across time and space. Another thing that happened was that at some stage it became apparent that Mrs H’s physical health was deteriorating, and The Orchards would soon no longer be able to provide suitable care. I needed to get my mum moved into a nursing home, and after a bit of hassle, I managed to get her a place in a home just off the Oxford Road in Swindon. The home itself wasn’t very nice and it seemed that the owners were only interested in making money, but the staff seemed to be really good, which to me was the main thing.

So, my mum was in her new residence and I was getting busier; I also got fed up with the support worker job in Avening, and I got another support worker job with another company that got me out and about more. 2007 transitioned into 2008 and I would soon be on the move yet again….

Operation Caravan (Slight Return)

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Author Richard F Holmes

I recently returned from my annual trip to West Wales and I’m going to share with you an experience I had during the small hours of 31 May 2016; it was almost a feeling of deja-vu. Some of you may remember my post, Operation Caravan, from 2013, where I told how I’d been operated on by celestial beings whilst staying in my friend’s caravan for a night. Well, this time I slept in the caravan during the whole of my 11 night stay. I did wonder whether I would have another experience to write about and I wasn’t disappointed.

As usual it started with a dream; I have no recollection now of what this dream was about. Then I found myself awake with the all-too-familiar feeling of being surrounded by the presence of spirit. As it seems to be a rare occurrence these days, I asked for an out-of-body experience, and then found myself being carried off. Unusually, I was being carried from the front. I kept my eyes closed as I did not want to disrupt the flow and end up back in my body too soon; I also patted the hand of my companion as a gesture of gratitude. I felt that we were slowing down so I opened my eyes to find that we had arrived at some sort of train or bus station. We entered a small carriage and my companion, a young man, sat down; there was no seat for me!

In front of me there were some rather small and strange looking souls. One of them shuffled to one side in order to let me sit down. But as they did so another one put an arm or leg on the seat so I couldn’t. The same soul looked at me and said telepathically, “he’s ok, he’s as pretty as a picture”. I then levitated and did an impression of a framed picture hanging on a wall. Everyone thought this was highly amusing and had a good laugh. At this point the carriage stopped, my companion had disappeared and I was on my own. There was a complete change of scenery and I found myself in a kind of shopping precinct, moving forward, with just one larger than normal man coming towards me. Before our paths actually crossed there was a right turn that led into what looked like some sort of shopping arcade. To the left of the entrance there was a kind of office-come-show-room, and an incredibly beautiful women; dressed in a very business-like way, exited the door and was walking towards me. I headed in her direction, eager to make contact, but typically, just as things were about to get interesting, I found myself back in my body.

I still really enjoy these experiences; although I understand now that they are only a figment of my astral imagination and I have somehow created them in the same way that I create my physical life. I’ve also developed a theory as to why they never seem to last that long…

Astral energy flows a lot quicker than physical energy because of the higher rate of vibration on the astral planes, therefore scenes from an astral “play” will seem to pass much more quickly. I’m not saying that it’s set in stone but it’s my theory anyway, and I think it makes sense.

Anyone who has not read the previous post, Operation Caravan, may click on this link http://wp.me/p1qAeL-PN

Why Psychic And Clairvoyant Powers Can Be A Barrier To Spiritual Development – Part Two

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Author Richard F Holmes

Following on from my previous post, Part One, I’d just like to tie up a few loose ends. (if you missed it click on the link http://wp.me/p1qAeL-rbk). I stated that when we become attached to experiencing clairvoyant, mediumistic and psychic phenomena, it can hinder our spiritual growth; as opposed to enhancing it, which is a widely believed myth. So, what then, is the best way to progress and evolve spiritually? Firstly, allow me to digress slightly.

I mentioned in the previous post a number of examples as to why such phenomena do become a hindrance. But using the example of mediumship to demonstrate my point, I stated that for mediumship to occur there needs to be a messenger, a receiver of the message and the message itself. This is duality, and as such, is nothing more than an illusion. So, thinking along the same lines, something else occurred to me recently with regard to my astral adventures. (please click on this link for an account of my most recent and, what was one of my most spectacular ever, out-of-body experiences http://wp.me/p1qAeL-rb2).

Even though my adventures are nothing short of amazing, in the grander scheme of things, they too are illusory. There is the astral experience and the one having the experience (me), this is also duality and therefore an illusion. In infinite consciousness the experience and the experiencer are One; there is no separateness. So, even though I’m having these experiences on the astral planes, they are still occurring below the plane of Self-realisation and are therefore only happening within my astral mind. I also stated that the astral planes are a vast extension of the physical plane and subject to the same natural laws. This means that as well as creating my physical life with my thoughts, actions and spoken word, I am also creating my astral life; as are you. The only unusual thing is that for some reason I am being given a glimpse of this whilst still having “business” to attend to on the physical plane. It’s possible that I’m evolved enough to have these spectacular experiences, but not yet evolved enough to consciously choose the experience. Anyway, back to spiritual development.

We grow spiritually through our actions and experiences in daily life; that is a simple truth, and probably the most powerful way to kick-start your spiritual development is to practice forgiveness. The practice of forgiveness is a most wonderful springboard from which we can go on to greater things. Forgiveness is the letting go of the past. When we let go of the past we are able to evolve, and when we evolve we grow spiritually. Also, carrying out simple acts of kindness in a selfless manner is another extremely powerful method of spiritual development. These practices bring us far closer to our true nature than you would imagine, and the closer and closer we get to our true nature, the more the veil of ignorance is lifted. As truth reveals itself, illusion dissolves away. This is a continuous process, the culmination of which is the realisation that not only is there nothing in existence except infinite consciousness, but that “I Am” infinite consciousness.

A Bit Of Edgar

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Author Richard F Holmes

I thought it was about time I checked in with you again. This is the first of three little posts I’ll be adding before I go away on my regular August trip to West Wales. I’m hoping that my jaunt will give me something to write about on my return and not be a false alarm like my trip in May was. You may or may not remember that my first night away last May produced TWO out-of-body experiences AND a visitation from my wonderful Swami, Sri Sathya Sai Baba. But instead of it being the start of more mind-blowing experiences, it served only to lull me into a false sense of anticipation as my mind remained un-blown throughout the rest of my time away.

Anyway, enough of that, I thought I would share some wisdom from Edgar Cayce with you. Hope you enjoy it. Watch this space for my video blog #6.

Those things that bring pleasure and ease in material associations in our life are not at fault unless we worship them or use them selfishly. Things of the earth will pass away, but love that sustains in the hour of testing abides with us always. Knowing this, let us keep the earth singing. This can be done as we look deeper into the heart of the rose, listen to the song of the bird, see the paintings of His face in the setting sun, see the loveliness in the moonbeam that turns all into the radiance of His glory, see in the raindrop, the storm, all nature, and even in those ugly things in people’s lives, the desire for expressing love rather than hate, harmony rather than discord – Edgar Cayce

Each soul goes on from things terrestrial to things celestial, from things material to things mental and spiritual, and in each of these realms the consciousness of the soul seeks expression in that particular field of activity which it has built within its own inner self. The soul lives on that it may become more and more aware of abiding, and living, and being in the Christ Consciousness – Edgar Cayce

Be My Baby!

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Author Richard F Holmes

On the morning of 12 May 2014 I awoke having found myself out-of-body whilst having a “not so nice” dream. I tend not to have nightmares these days, but sometimes I do have dreams where “weird stuff” is going on. The curious thing here was that I was definitely out of my body, but I was still dreaming. A part of my consciousness was not very happy with being in astral form whilst still having a weird dream and I immediately returned to my body. I then found myself in a situation where I was wide awake and disappointed that I’d let the experience pass me by. Bearing in mind what happened during my last escapade (see previous article The Journey Continues – Part Two) I decided to send out my thoughts and asked to be taken off somewhere “nice”.

Almost immediately I felt myself being lifted from my body and I felt myself moving through the ether at speed whilst being carried by an unknown companion. I reached around and held the soul’s hand; half expecting it to be my dear friend from the last journey, however, it was not to be. The hand felt very small, like that of a youngster. As usual we had some telepathic communication, but I cannot remember what pleasantries were exchanged! What happened next was very brief, but like most of my astral adventures these days, turned out to be another uniquely different experience.

We arrived in a very small room, where to my amazement, I found a BABY; would you believe? I would actually describe it as a toddler, and it was engaging in what most toddlers are very good at; namely, having a good old toddle. I don’t remember seeing any doors or windows; but they are not necessary on the astral planes as you just pass through whatever is in front of you. The toddler seemed quite happy and content as it toddled around and I felt quite excited having been taken to meet an astral baby. However, my expectations soon turned flat when I found myself almost immediately back in my body.

As ever, I’m just glad of the experience, and the timing couldn’t have been better, because that little jaunt has given me a reason for a final blog post before I set off on my working trip to Wales. I leave on 16 May and come back on 26 May. Hopefully my little trip will give me something to write about!

See you soon!

The Journey Continues – Part Two

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Author Richard F Holmes

Here is the account of my out-of-body experience that occurred about a week after the one I wrote about in Part One of “The Journey Continues”. Just in case you did not read my previous post, here is the link; so you can read it before carrying on with this article. https://richardfholmes.org/2014/04/29/the-journey-continues/

As usual I awoke in the middle of the night and lay in bed, fully aware but with my eyes closed. I wondered what would happen if I actually requested an out-of-body experience. I’d often pestered my friends in spirit when it seemed I was having to wait ages for my next astral adventure, but I had never actually asked for one whilst laying in bed. To my utmost joy, it was not long before I felt the familiar presence of spirit around me, and before I could blink, I found myself being lifted from my body and carried off into the ether. What followed was a fairly short astral experience, but a very significant one nonetheless. Although I did not actually see who my companion was on this occasion, the energy, plus my intuition, led me to believe that it was the same female soul from the previous week. However, I have no way of knowing if it actually was.

As we travelled at speed, I asked telepathically to be taken somewhere exciting. I also touched my companion’s hand and tried to kiss it, but when my lips met the hand they just passed straight through. I learned something from this, specifically; even though I have known for some time that all energy (spirit) is solid in its own realm of existence, individual intelligences have the ability to be fluid or solid at will. This is one of the many, many things that have been taught to me since my adventures began back in 1999.

In a short space of time we arrived at a very small cinema; there was a few people milling around and a few people seated. It was rather strange as far as cinemas go, because the screen was the portable type that people used to play their home movies on. This truly was something new for me, being taken to an astral cinema. But in no time at all we were off and I was back in my bed but not in my body. What happened next was also a first, and quite incredible experience.

My companion lay with me for a while before departing. She lay behind me and continued to hold me as she lay with me. I still could not see who it was, but this wonderful soul felt very soft, and even though I can only describe the whole experience as very loving, it was not sexual in any way. It was simply the coming together of two souls who have obviously known each other for eons.

I don’t know what film was showing and there was no popcorn; but hey! I’m not complaining!