I haven’t published any serious non-fiction for more than a decade, but that’s about to change on June 13 when Overlook Hardbacks in New York bring out Whisperers: The Secret History of the Spirit World in the U.S. with a U.K. edition due from Duckworth in London in November. It’s a book I’ve been writing on and off for forty years, presenting what I genuinely believe to be a wholly new and different view of human history.
The seed was sown in the early 1970s while I was researching a book on occult practice in Nazi Germany. One of the things I discovered then was that Heinrich Himmler held seances in the crypt of Quedlinburg Cathedral to seek the advice of the Medieval king Heinrich the Fowler on political matters.
This struck me as chilling. Himmler was head of the SS and Gestapo and the man ultimately in charge of the so-called ‘Final Solution of the Jewish Problem’ a programme of industrialised murder that cost 6 million lives. Could the Reichfuhrer really have based his life and death decisions on the whisperings of a spirit?
He could and he did and he wasn’t the only one. Over the years I gradually unearthed more and more evidence that throughout the course of human history, politicians and popes, messiahs and kings, world leaders of every political and religious persuasion have been guided by voices from the Beyond. Which means that your life and mine have been indirectly influenced by entities we know nothing about and may not even believe in.
Once you reach that conclusion, an obvious question presents itself. What exactly are the Whisperers? There are many answers. Psychologists usually insist they are nothing more than unconscious contents — fantasies and wish-fulfilments — erupting into consciousness as pseudo-personalities. Spiritualists claim they are spirits of the dead. The religiously-minded see them as God, gods, angels or other sacred entities. None of these notions is particularly satisfactory, so I set out to investigate the question for myself.
The result was an intellectual journey with a completely unexpected ending.
It’s all in the book, folks. You can pre-order your copy from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
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5 comments:
Wow! This seems like an interesting read. Who could have thought that things like this could be connected!?
I'm going to go and search that book up on amazon.
Best of luck with your new endeavour, Herbie.
Here is a rhyming account of something scary that happened to me a long time ago.
I heard a sound by my bedside last night,
I heard a strange sound; I got such a fright.
As something passed by me deep in the night,
I heard a faint sound; did it want my poor life?
I made not a sound; I was still, in such fright,
As I lay in bed in the deep of the night,
I could hear it close by, how I longed for the light.
What was the dark thing probing my sight?
An evil black form, a shadowy sight,
Began to rise slowly in front of my eyes.
As I lay in bed on my left-hand side,
The dark, wicked thing slowly rose into sight.
I could move not a muscle; I was frozen in fright,
As the dark frightful vision continued in height,
Till it’s malevolent eyes were almost in sight.
Only then did I close mine, despite the dark night.
I knew it was wicked, evil personified,
That he wanted my sight, the light of my life.
I closed my eyes; shut them tight as the night.
Evading the Grim Reaper’s deathly cold scythe.
Finally, eventually, when I opened my eyes,
I thought it was gone, departed my side,
It was still there, though lower this time,
Starting beginning to rise over again.
How could I be free from the terrible beast,
That wanted my soul, my heart and my peace?
Perhaps, if I kept my eyes firmly closed,
It might give up and leave me alone.
As I closed them again, though still in such fright,
I prayed and hoped that I’d last out the night.
Although I felt its Dark Presence close to my brow,
I kept my eyes shut so it wouldn’t bother me now.
As Darkness and danger passed from me that night,
Vanishing, disappearing away from my sight.
I rolled over, so comfy, lulled back into nod,
Till the next time it happened it was just me and my God.
A note: This really did happen
Just finished WHISPERERS, learning many new things re a subject in which I've read extensively. Congrats!
One question: Why no reference to Edgar Cayce?
Congrats on WHISPERERS. I learned many new things on a topic in which I've read extensively. One question: Why no ref to Edgar Cayce?
Good question. The truth is I didn’t think of Cayce, but you’re right — he would have made an interesting addition to the book.
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