Tag: afterlife

Reborn: Book One by Mark Millar

Reborn: Book One by Mark Millar

Beautiful artwork highlights a so-so story about a woman who dies, only to be reborn into a fantasy-themed world where a perpetual war of good versus evil rages on.

I think the basic idea of this graphic novel is fascinating. What happens to us after we die? We have faith, religion and all sorts of near-death experiences to fall back on, but who can say with any certainty.

From an interview in the back of the book with Greg Capullo, one of the creators: “What I loved about the story is that it deals with all of our fears about what happens when we die, but amidst the fear and the sorrow, we have this spectacular adventure that takes place in a fantastic and exciting world — a world I got to invent.”

Photo by Susanne Jutzeler on Pexels.com

Some of my quibbles with this story include that the good versus evil theme makes all of the characters seem so simplistic. You can predict almost exactly what they’re going to do before they do it — no gray areas. Also, everything is based around Bonnie, one character, and she becomes the savior archetype for the entire tale.

But, on the other hand, if you take this book, as a whole, for a metaphor of what happens after death, it works. Like so many near-death experiences, it all boils down to one view point, that of the newly departed. If you consider it like that, of course the story would be based around one person. She is seeing the next world entirely from her point of view, everything is interpreted through that lens.

It’s a curious phenomena, those who have had NDE’s, generally describe imagery and a storyline that makes sense to them culturally and fits within their framework of faith. Bonnie didn’t want to die, but when she does, she sees a world so similar to where she just came from, except it contains people who have died before she did.

Bonnie’s relationships with the people she knew before her death determine so many of the other character’s roles in the story. She has a curious relationship with the “faerie queen” which I found interesting.

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I can’t decide if I’m reading more into this story than is actually there, or if it was actually touching on some of the larger themes I mentioned. As I said, I got bogged down in the predictable characters.

At least the artwork is pretty…

I’m interested to see where Netflix goes with this, as I read in Variety that they’re developing it into a film starring Sandra Bullock.

Thanks for reading!

The Afterlife of Billy Fingers: How My Bad-Boy Brother Proved to Me There’s Life After Death by Annie Kagan

The Afterlife of Billy Fingers: How My Bad-Boy Brother Proved to Me There’s Life After Death by Annie Kagan

I think anyone who has lost a loved one wishes to talk to them again. Annie Kagan was granted that wish. She wasn’t a practicing channeler, so it came as a huge surprise to her when she heard her dead brother’s voice speaking to her from a spot above her head.

At the time that this happened, Annie was living a hermit’s life in New England only venturing out to kick ideas around at her writer’s group. So, that gave her the space and time to explore these communications rather than running to the doctor to have the voice medicated away.

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At first, she was reluctant to share what she was hearing, afraid that Billy’s voice was her mind’s way of holding the grief away or that other people would think she was going insane, but the information imparted became more and more specific until she couldn’t explain it away.

Through the experience and sharing it, Annie came to believe without a doubt that the spirit continues on after death. She took comfort from it and hopes, with this book, to share that comfort with others who may be grieving or afraid of death itself.

The Afterlife of Billy Fingers isn’t going to appeal to everyone. If you don’t believe that communications from beyond the grave are possible, I’d suggest passing on this book. And, towards the end of Billy’s travels into the afterlife, things get really far out as he lets go of his previous self and becomes the universe, embodying the entirety of reality.

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It reminded me of Be Here Now by Ram Dass, hippie to the extreme. But, that’s the type of spirituality I’m into, so I loved it.

The introduction by Raymond Moody describes Billy as a modern psychopomp, someone who guides the spirits of others through the afterlife: “The experiences Dr. Kagan relates are completely consistent with the kind of role walkers between the worlds played in antiquity. And that is no surprise to me. I think that such experiences are part of the collective psychological heritage of humankind- not artifacts of any one culture.” pg 11, ebook.

Billy was a drug addict and led a very hard life.

This is what he had to say about it: “How do I know my life wasn’t some punishment for my past transgressions? Well, because there’s no such thing. You’re not on earth to be punished. … That’s a human concept. Something man made up. Humans make up stuff and then they believe it”. pg 24, ebook.

A continuation along that line of thinking later in the book: “Beliefs are big on earth. People collect them. Some of these beliefs are helpful, but others just keep you running around trying to follow rules that others have laid down. They don’t have a lot of personal meaning. It’s a good idea to sort through your beliefs now and then and throw out the ones that don’t serve you.” pg 85, ebook

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Annie dealt with a bunch of her own issues in this book, like the fact that by writing this book, people were going to think she was “flaky”. At one point in the narrative, she has a toothache and starts to believe that she’s being punished for revealing universal truths that should be kept secret.

She eventually gets past that attitude, but, when it comes to the unknown, I think fear can be a major hurdle: “After my toothache and the painful root canal and awful infection that followed, I was scared. … who was I to be the one to prove there’s life after death? Maybe some secrets shouldn’t be revealed. Maybe I was breaking a sacred taboo, dabbling in a cosmic Pandora’s box.” pg 41, ebook.

Another of the Be Here Now moments: “In your world, as the earth moves around the sun, there’s nothing but shadow for a good part of the time. The mystery of life on earth cannot exist without the shadow element. You cannot have the sea without storms, the earth without quakes, the wind without tornados. … And sometimes- sometimes darkness is okay too. Don’t overlook the riches contained in the darkness. Life’s very temporary, so don’t let time just pass. Let the moments fill you- the ones you judge to be good as well as bad.” pg 77, ebook. Solid advice.

Let’s end with one more bit of wisdom: “People spend lots of time on things that make them unhappy- too much focus on the sand in the oyster. To cultivate joy, pay attention to what you like.” pg 116

Recommended for spiritual seekers and people who enjoy reading about near death experiences/channeled wisdom.

Some read alikes: Conversations with God: An Uncommon Dialogue, Vol. 1 by Neale Donald Walsch, My Son and the Afterlife: Conversations from the Other Side byElisa Medhus, Ask and It Is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires byEsther Hicks or, if you’re looking to introduce more joy into your life:Thank & Grow Rich: A 30-Day Experiment in Shameless Gratitude and Unabashed Joy by Pam Grout.

Thanks for reading!