Frieda: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, I’m going to tell you about my homecoming, my entry into the spiritual world, and about my activities there.

I didn’t realize how seriously ill I was when lying on my sickbed; I didn’t know that I was to die. But I learned about it from the relatives standing around me, who were approaching my bed and asking how I felt. I could no longer speak, but I could see and recognize all those present. I could hear everything that was spoken, and I was able to see much more than usual. I could even see further than my room, in fact, throughout the entire house. It seemed to me that there were no longer any walls in the house. I saw what was happening in the kitchen; I saw what was happening in the room next to mine and what was being said. And so I heard how some asked, “How much longer will it take?” And I heard them saying that it was expected to take a few hours. They were already discussing my funeral. Of course, I found it strange that they should talk about it but I couldn’t reply, although I would have loved to have done so. I would at times be able to see my family members and relatives, but then some kind of a mist would draw across my eyes and everything disappeared. But then I saw different figures – total strangers to me, and they seemed to me to come from an entirely different world. I could hear them talking as well; they, too, talked about my homecoming. One of them could even indicate the precise time when it was going to happen. He told another companion, “Next time we come we shall approach her more closely to help her.” Although I heard all this I could only marvel, but I was just as unable to reply to them as I was to my relatives.

Then I noticed that these figures disappeared again. Once more I could see all around the house and could hear everyone. I had a look at the clock because I had heard the precise time that those others had mentioned when they said, “That’s when she’ll come to us; that’s how long it will take.” I could see the clock in my room; I didn’t even have to sit up in bed. I knew precisely what time it was and could calculate the time myself. Then, after a while, the same thing happened again: once more a mist came across my eyes and these strange figures approached me. I took a look at the clock to see whether the time they mentioned had come, but according to the clock it would still take another three hours. And so these events rotated: for a short time I saw these figures, then next time I saw my relatives. I could see them and hear them speak; some left the house because they felt that it would take too long and others entered the house. I saw and heard everything. I was upset by their conversation – but it didn’t help me any as I lacked the strength to defend myself.

Then it happened as this figure had said, “Next time we will come closer.” And so, with each appearance they kept coming closer. And now, standing on both sides of my bed, they held my hands. One of them placed his hands on my forehead, and I secretly hoped to recover my health; I simply didn’t want to admit that I was dying, although it was actually clear to me because these figures I saw came from another world. They weren’t quite humanlike and yet they were similar to humans. When they held my hands and one of them placed his hands on my forehead I felt relieved. Then other beings moved their hands to and fro over my body. I could perceive everything.

I continued to feel easier and suddenly I stood next to these beings and saw myself lying in bed. Actually, I felt somewhat tired yet deeply impressed by all these events. These beings started to talk to me right away. They pointed to the clock saying, “Didn’t we tell the truth? It happened precisely at the time we mentioned.” And they went on, “We helped you to release your spirit from your body. We made it easier for you to step out of this life.”

They then wanted to guide me. They told me that they didn’t want to talk with me in this room but that we would leave together and that I shouldn’t bother any further with those left behind – the relatives who were talking about me and the inheritance, the funeral, and so forth – that I shouldn’t concern myself with it. Then we left the house. Everything happened so quickly that I didn’t notice what went on to my right or left. Suddenly I stood in a world that was totally strange to me. I stood in front of a house, and before entering into it with me, they said, “This is the house in which you will live from now on; everything else lies behind you. Let us now enter and take a look at your harvest.” I wondered what they meant by this “harvest”.

This new world was so similar to the one I had left behind and yet, I still felt as though I was in a totally different place. And as I was looking around in amazement I suddenly saw my parents. They approached me; they had waited for me in this house. But there weren’t just my parents; there were also other acquaintances and friends. They approached me, welcomed me, and wished me luck. And my mother quietly told me, “First of all, one talks about the harvest. We shall meet again afterward.” I asked my mother, “Please stay with me, don’t go away, I’m scared”, and I also asked my father, “Stay here and help me; I’m afraid.” Then a strange being said to me, “You’re scared? Why are you afraid and of whom?” – “I’m simply scared and don’t feel at ease; everything here is so strange.” And then another being who was totally unknown to me said, “Come now, let’s talk about the harvest you’ve brought with you.” They wanted to talk about the harvest, and I quietly thought to myself whether they might mean spiritual wealth, whether they would be talking about the merits one ought to have gained for this other world – whether they might mean this kind of harvest. They seemed to be able to read my thoughts and said, “That’s precisely the harvest we’ll be talking about with you.”

I had to admire the wonderful appearance of these beings. They were dressed so colorfully and wore beautiful jewelry, which was mainly interwoven, pressed, or worked into the dress in some way – I couldn’t quite see how. They wore armbands and stone-studded circlets on their head – the stones looked very precious to me. A certain reverence for them was aroused in me; they had such an elevated and noble look. All this made me feel somewhat uncomfortable, which was why I was afraid. But then they said, “You mustn’t be afraid of us.” But still, it was precisely their appearance that had disquieted me, because I recognized a certain power in the appearance of these beings. After all, I realized they might belong to the authority of this new world and would have a weighty word to say.

I quickly reflected on the earthly belongings I had left behind. I looked at my appearance and couldn’t find anything particularly pleasant about it. I wore a grayish gown that covered me from my neck to the ground. I was tightly wrapped in it and couldn’t really say what kind of gown it was. But I did feel my hands and body. And so I considered whether it was possible to alter this appearance and obtain a different gown, for I didn’t like this one. And I quickly thought: “If these beings could look so dignified then I could, after all, return to get a dress which I had to leave behind; I would then surely have a better appearance.” And I also wanted to wear the jewelry I used to have in order to gain a worthy appearance. This is what I thought, and this was instantly noted but, as I observed, they smiled at each other knowingly as if they wanted to say: “Let her, let her if she thinks she can do this.”

Then one of them spoke sharply to me, causing my fear to increase more and more. “What is it you have brought with you?” he asked resolutely. I hardly knew what to answer. What did I bring home with me? Nothing; I had brought home nothing – I wasn’t pleased with myself either. I didn’t even know what they meant. So I countered, “Well, I possessed wealth but I had to leave it behind.” And they replied, “We’re not talking about transient things. Everything you’ve left behind is destined to perish; we’re not interested in that. We’re interested in the everlasting. Did you do good deeds? This is the harvest we want to talk about.” And I had to reflect: something everlasting? What did I do that was imperishable? I had no answer to give. “I did good deeds as well,” I told them, but they didn’t appear to be satisfied with it. And my fear increased more and more and I could hardly speak, because they became more and more energetic and they kept on asking me what I had brought over with me; I simply had no answer. And as I became rather desperate, a figure suddenly approached me that immediately gave me the feeling: “This being is well disposed toward me.” He had a smile on his face and held up his hands to signal to the others that they should keep quiet for a while. This very nice being stood next to me and I breathed a sigh of relief – truly, because I felt much freer and thought: “At last, finally I have a helper, someone who will stand up for me!” I suddenly felt secure in the presence of this being.

Now this being spoke about my life, about my faults and about the things I had done well and my merits. And this being appeared to talk much less about my faults and mainly about the good deeds. I soon realized that I had an advocate. Every now and then one of the others spoke a word and raised an objection, but this being kept on talking and appeared to gain the upper hand. Then the figures who had first asked about the harvest, talking to me increasingly strictly, suddenly became gentle and their countenances were friendlier. What a surprise and what a joy! And my fear dissipated more and more. The questioning had stopped.

Then the two sides – that is, these strict beings and my advocate, that’s how I’ll call him – began to discuss with each other and to talk about my life, resulting in a to-and-fro. Then they seemed to come to an agreement about my future. I was no longer able to follow their conversation. After all, I had no idea about any spiritual order and laws; everything was strange to me when they talked about reparations, reincarnation, karma, purification and so on. I knew nothing about it and couldn’t reply and, as a precaution, kept quiet. My advocate had acted on my behalf. Then these figures disappeared and I stood there with my advocate. I had to thank him; I knelt down, kissed his hands and thanked him for freeing and helping me. And this lovely being raised me up, gave me courage and comfort, saying, “Well, you did do many things wrong in your life and your harvest isn’t particularly big. You’ll have much to make up for.” And so, this divine spirit spoke to me kindly and reminded me to be very obedient in future. He said that I would be given a certain time of adaptation, that I could rest for a while and sleep, that I could also take a look at my surroundings and admire this new world, meet with other spiritual brothers and sisters nearby or with those with whom I would live in future – that I had the opportunity to do such things. He told me that I had yet another possibility: I could, if I desired, return to the house I used to live in; he added that he did not recommend this at all as it would only hinder my ascent. However, it is part of God’s will and law that those who desire to return can do so. My advocate told me that he would not recommend this; rather, he would advise me to do as he had just told me. He would have to test my attitude toward this new world and whether I’d be willing to follow these directives. He said he had now done for me what he was allowed to do and explained that he was an angel of intercession and that every returnee would receive this kind of succor provided one hadn’t burdened oneself too much in human life. However, if a returnee has acquired too much guilt, these angels of intercession cannot achieve much in the beginning; they would come to the fore later only. Therefore, I was lucky to have this angel of intercession. And it goes without saying that I was very much interested in this new world. And my companion, my advocate, took leave of me, promising to inquire about me once in a while.

Now I knew: “I really have died and live in another world; I left my earthly body behind on earth.” Now my parents were here as well and they promised to inquire after me and give me support. But at the moment I really was less interested in this new world I had entered; rather, I wanted to find out what my relatives had done after my death: whether all my belongings were still in my house, what had happened to my clothes, and what they had done with my jewelry ... My interest was more in this and I reflected: “If, as I was told, I have the opportunity to go back, I’ll do so. Later on, I can stay in this new world long enough.” And so I gave in to my desire.

I went back to the house and found everything the way it was during my lifetime. Now I quickly reflected – just as I did at the beginning when I saw these beautiful beings in the beautiful dresses and the precious stones that had been woven into their garments – whether it might be possible to change into another garment and also take along the jewelry. After all, I wanted to give myself a better, more elegant appearance. I opened the wardrobe and chose a dress I thought would look good on me. I put it on and quickly took out my items of jewelry – they were still in the same place. I put them on because I wanted to take everything with me. The dress seemed somewhat peculiar because I couldn’t take off my old gown. Therefore, I put my earthly dress on over my spiritual gown in the hope that the latter would dissolve itself or that I could get rid of it later on, but try as I might, I couldn’t. Still, I hoped that it would happen after all – I wanted to get rid of this cumbersome dress at all costs. I took another look around the house but I wasn’t really interested in it. I wanted to adapt to the new world and, after all, I now had what I desired – but, unfortunately, I couldn’t take more than one dress with me.

And so I returned to the other world, to the house I was to live in – I only needed to think about it and imagine this house. I didn’t know how it happened, but it did instantaneously, and I was once more in that other world and in this house. I thought about how it was possible for this to take place but it didn’t really interest me any further. I simply wanted to look different; I wanted to be admired by the others. And so I returned to the house. I noticed that my mother, father, and some of my acquaintances and friends were waiting for me. When they saw me they expressed their great surprise, saying, “What have you done? Look at you! Quickly, take this dress off!” Then they had a look at my arms, my hands and my neck, and my mother said, “What kind of rusty stuff did you put on?” – “What?” I replied disappointedly, “don’t you remember that I used to wear this?” – “Oh dear, this is all rusty; look at it. You make a fool of yourself with it including the dress you put on.” I didn’t want to admit it, but then I had a look at this stuff, as she called it. And they drew my attention to the rust saying, “Try to wipe off this thick layer of rust.” And, truly, I rubbed with my fingers but it was all just rust. Then I asked my mother, “How can this be? That wasn’t just all rust; it used to be precious.” And she said, “Indeed, for the world it was precious. But this is all transient; that doesn’t count for us – it’s of no importance in our world. There’s nothing you can bring here, so pull off this rusty stuff.” I certainly wanted to get rid of it but I just couldn’t manage to take it off. I also wanted to take off the dress but couldn’t – it seemed stuck to me. Mother was disappointed; father and all my acquaintances said, “We are ashamed of what you’ve done. You were given wonderful support; you had such a good and helpful angel who vouched for you, and you still haven’t caught on to what it’s all about. You truly are a stranger to this spiritual world.” Then they asked me to return it all and to come back as quickly as possible.

Well, I didn’t need much convincing; I really wanted to get rid of this stuff, as they called it, and returned to my former house. When I came near to the wardrobe from which I took the dress I suddenly found I could take it off; it no longer stuck to me. The jewelry, the chains, rings, and everything else I had taken with me were still in the drawer – I had put on just the rusty part. Now I simply peeled it off and got rid of it. Then I looked as I did before; I had removed it all. My dress and everything I had thought to be precious and which gave me prestige had made me look so horrible that everyone said it was just rust. Therefore, I didn’t want to know about it any longer.

And so I returned once again to the spiritual world and to the house of my relatives. They received me with pleasure, saying, “Yes, now that’s much better and,” my mother added, “let’s hope you learned a lesson from it. You have to know that what human beings consider to be precious has no value for us. In our world a different kind of valuables are asked for. The love you give to your fellow human beings is asked for. This is a spiritual asset that belongs to the harvest; it’s something invisible to human eyes, yet very precious. It’s helpfulness, modesty, humility, loyalty, goodness ...” And so they began to enumerate. “All these are spiritual assets that, in human life, count so little, just as the earthly goods of human beings are of little value to us. Human beings want tangible assets and wealth. They seek acknowledgment with their egotism and imperiousness, but they burden themselves with it. This is precisely what one has to learn to overcome and get rid of after one’s return. And these vices acquired during human life stick to the entire spiritual body and are deeply rooted in one’s soul. It requires a long time to change one’s attitude.” Indeed, it gradually became clear to me that one needs to turn away from that world, and, after all, I was still looking for my spiritual wealth – but it really wasn’t particularly impressive.

My parents and acquaintances stayed with me for a while but then they had to return to their place and work. They reminded me that I, too, had to fulfill my task. Then I turned to a being who – as it seemed to me – distributed the work to all those beings who had recently arrived in this new world. And I, too, was given a task, which consisted of having to look after large fields, meadows, and gardens. First of all, and I have to emphasize this, I had to plant spiritual grass on a large piece of spiritual ground. Such areas of spiritual grass could only be planted piece by piece on this ground; I was shown a certain field I had to work on. I had a large basket next to me with small batches of spiritual grass, which I was to place on and press into the ground precisely as I was directed. However, I wasn’t to cover the entire area but to lay these batches in certain areas only. Since I had lost my sense of timing I couldn’t tell how long I had to do this work. But I saw how the small clumps of grass I had placed on the spiritual ground immediately began to grow and expand. They thrived wonderfully within a short period of time, developing into a wonderful green area. And so I had to execute my task the way I was told. Then all my work was examined – I was by myself planting the area allotted to me. After I had finished another being unknown to me came and said, “Now we shall fence in this area; we have to place a fence around it.” Then I asked, “Well, why does one have to do this?” After all, I believed that in this new world there were no borders, making fences unnecessary. “What is it you want to bring in here?” I asked, and was told that I would see shortly.

I was allowed to watch. I saw some unfamiliar figures – and when I say unfamiliar figures, I mean angels of God or ascending spiritual brothers and sisters. Then I heard a noise that seemed rather familiar to me: a huge crowd of big and small dogs came along, and these dogs made a racket of their own kind. They were directed into this enclosure; they were actually driven into this area and the gate was shut. I couldn’t count them; there were so many. During my lifetime I had loved dogs and I was happy that they had such a beautiful lawn. Some laid down, whereas some pups tussled with one another, as it seemed to me. But among these animals there were also guardians who maintained order. There were also older animals, as far as I could see, which appeared to be tired but settled down comfortably. The climate was very pleasant, and I took pleasure in seeing animals in this new world – so many animals. Of course, I had my questions about it: “Who takes care of these animals; who receives such an animal? Do they have to stay cooped up like this?” After all, this made me think, and when I returned again to my house I had the opportunity to discuss it with the spiritual teachers.

Well, it took a long time until I had this experience. In your terms it didn’t take place straight away, and I cannot give you an indication in days and years. All I can say is that before I had this experience it took several years during which time I also had to fulfill various other tasks. But then we always had the opportunity to learn about things we didn’t understand.

In the beginning, after my return, I didn’t take much interest in this new world, its order and laws. Thus, I wasn’t interested in, for example, why I couldn’t take off the dress in the new world, whereas I could do so in the house on earth where I had gotten it; or why the jewelry was still there even though I had placed it on my arms and around my neck – that hadn’t bothered me at the time. But later on I thought about it and found out that this new world had, after all, its laws and order. And so I asked my teacher, who wasn’t only available to me but to all the others in the house as well, why it was that I was unable to rid myself of my luxurious dress and why it was that I could put on a dress there that had belonged to me and that I had worn during my life. He told me, “You have only put on the odic dress; you could not take along the earthly material, just the od that was part of your body and still clinging to the dress; it emanated from you and still clung to this dress. All you had on you was the od, not the earthly dress.” After all, I did find out when I had returned that the dress was still in the wardrobe even though I had it on my body. Therefore, it was the odic dress that I had drawn from this dress. And then, once I was back in this earthly environment, I was able to take off this odic dress. This was possible because this od was compatible with the earthly currents, the earthly waves or the earthly force – thus I had re-entered this current where this od had been built up, which allowed me to dispose of it again. The same was true with the jewelry that I assumed I had taken with me. I had merely removed the odic form. After all, I did wear this jewelry during my lifetime, and this jewelry had been covered with my physical od from the first time I wore it – these items were already coated with my odic force. And it was just this odic force, the odic form, that I, as a spiritual being, had removed. The [material] gold, chains, and suchlike remained behind – after all, it was earthly matter that I, as a spirit, couldn’t take with me. I could only remove the od in which I myself had clothed it. And the reason why this od showed itself in this rusty form was because I had left this earthly world and entered another atmosphere. This atmosphere had then given expression to this form in such a negative way as an indication of the insignificance of these earthly items in this new world and that this solidly formed matter is nothing but rust, something to be thrown away, something that would actually disintegrate in time anyway.

That was the answer I received together with the understanding that human beings pass on – from their hands or their body – their odic force to every object they touch. Therefore, clairvoyant human beings, or spiritual beings, can perceive the entire past that is attached to objects and trace it over centuries. The past remains stuck to each object by the touch of human beings. But even without the touch of human hands, past events remain; the events in a place can be perceived from the objects existing in the vicinity at the time – be it a tree, a rock, or whatever it may be – the event is recorded on these objects. This is something wonderful. Some people call it the conscience of God, the language of God, or the record of world events – it can be described in different ways.

And so I was enlightened about it when I inquired about these things later on. I also wanted to know about the dogs, why they had to live cooped up as they were. And I was told, “It is the case that every creature of the earthly world continues to live after its death in the same form that it had on earth – the same is true for animals, whatever their form.” It was explained to me that animals of the same species would be brought together and that when such an animal died there would also be spiritual guidance; it is wrong of human beings to think that once an animal is killed nothing would remain of it. “Without the life-giving spark an animal cannot live on earth – a dead animal is subject to transience; after all, it cannot be kept alive any longer ... It can only be healthy and strong if the soul is active within. Therefore, the soul can leave the body of the animal and survive. And so, this animal too will go forth to the eternal world with its odic body, where it will continue its upward development.” It was explained to me that these dogs will continue to live in the same form or equal appearance as they did during their earthly lifetime – but only for a certain time. I noticed that, time and again, these guardians walked to and fro among these animals giving instructions to other beings to lead away certain animals they had marked. This or that animal was thus led out of this enclosure. As it was explained to me, this concerned those animals who had now reached the point in their development, or progress, where they were ready to move forward in their further spiritual ascent. These animals were now to be integrated into a higher level, and all this was to take place according to the divine order and law.

These things were explained to me and I was told, “In this way, every being, every life will pass through his ascent and each and every one will have to follow his individual path.” Naturally, it was pointed out to me and I was told that, in line with my progress and ascent, my activities would become more pleasant. Therefore, all those activities that I described to you were not to remain the same. I was also to practice the divine virtues. They were to be applied and demonstrated by bringing the realm of God to earth and also to other beings in the depths. This means that the goodness of God, sympathy, and mercy are to gain a foothold and unfold everywhere; thus, the realm of God has to be brought everywhere. It was pointed out to me that the greater the zeal I demonstrated, the quicker I could ascend.

So, everyone has his task to fulfill, alongside which one can still acquire so much else so that one’s ascent will be accelerated. This is what I did; I saw the necessity of it. I had shown my willingness and was obedient. And so, after that experience, after that activity, I was allowed to ascend, and now I’m permitted to fulfill beautiful work of an artistic kind, which gives me great pleasure. I’m allowed to exercise this activity for my own pleasure and happiness and, at the same time, do a favor to the whole of heaven by constantly helping to expand the beauty of heaven. After all, heaven always has to be altered in its form because this constant renovation has to evoke the amazement and admiration of those that ascend and those that live in it. They are to constantly admire this heaven in its great diversity; they are to admire the talents and the artistic achievements of their fellow brothers and sisters. They are to admire God himself in his infinity, in his goodness; for all skills, all creative work, derives from God’s will. This is how one experiences this heaven and this bliss. The highest authorities – by which I mean God, Christ, and all the exalted spirits of heaven – play a part in the development of creation, and they themselves admire the activity expressed by these ascending spirits. But one receives all power from God. These creative and artistic accomplishments can only be achieved with the blessing of God.

Well, I’ve explained several things and hope that it was understood. I’m told that the hour is late so that our brother Joseph will not speak after me [for questions and answers]. I’m to pronounce the blessing over you: may you be guarded and protected from distress and all danger. Live and be active under the blessing of God. God bless you.

Personal account given by ascending spirit Frieda, received in German through the medium Beatrice Brunner in the hall on Münchhaldenstrasse in Zurich, 5 April 1967