Man who has seen ‘proof’

In The Case for the Afterlife, author Chris Carter explores British poet Frederic Myers’ posthumous descriptions of a seven-level afterlife. Myers, who co-founded the Society for Psychical Research, allegedly communicated from beyond the grave through mediums decades after his death. Carter recounts Myers’ journey beginning on Earth (level one), followed by Hades—the astral plane or a temporary resting place—then the third level, a realm shaped by one’s morality and imagination. This level reflects earthly life, where people live in environments based on their desires and spiritual development.

From there, the soul moves to Eido, a heavenly world of indescribable beauty, then to the Plane of Flame and the Plane of Light, where earthly form dissolves into pure thought. Finally, the seventh level, called Out-Yonder, represents a transcendence beyond the physical universe. According to Myers’ alleged communications, traditional religious concepts of Heaven and Hell are oversimplified—Hell is a mental state, not a place of torment, and God is not encountered until the soul is spiritually advanced enough to approach the divine.