Bridge between the Terrestrial and the Beyond
- Theory and Practice of Transcommunication -
by Hildegard Schaefer (†)

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Preface
by Prof. Dr. Ernst Senkowski  

For every human being the question of whether his/her personal life will continue after his/her passing arises almost inevitably when struck from the loss of a near family member or a close friend, and - earlier or later - for all those finding themselves with full consciousness at the threshold to their personal death. The belief in a world to come beyond this terrestrial world, originally an essential part of all human cultures, had also been part of the transmission of the Christian churches. But its importance decreased more and more as a consequence of the advancing development to a materialistically oriented  world-picture. Although since historical times sufficient experiences have been contradicting this statement, people used to say “as yet nobody has come back to report from the world beyond”.
In the virtually prevailing void, helpless and desperate people in mourn very often are in search for a way reducing the lonesomeness  and uncertainty experienced as unbearable. Through contacts with the passed, they wish to get personally convinced of the continuation of their existence, thus substituting the belief they have lost by personally experienced “knowledge”.
Quite often this understandable intention leads them to a more or less professional medium. This medium’s statements of subjective appearance need not to be principally wrong, but they contain a relatively high portion of pure imagination and telepathical components that may have been “broached” from the client.  Due to the tangled combination of these components, the reliability of such statements remains problematic and assailable.
Since the searching person’s situation continues to be unsatisfactory, he/she may ask if there is not a “more objective proof”, and - in this age of information and communication – if technical equipment could not facilitate the forming of a bridge between this world and the Beyond by bringing out to our hearing the recognizable voices of the passed ones and by showing us their recognizable appearance.
The author was confronted with the here indicated complex of problems through the early death of her twenty-three years old daughter. This was the motive for her to make experiments by herself  in order to verify the “voices from Beyond” recorded on tapes - and first observed by Friedrich Jürgenson in 1959. In the course of these experiments Mrs. Schaefer received – among many others - clearly recognizable messages from her daughter. In 1978, the first edition of her book “Voices from an Other World” was published as a report on her personal experiences.  At the same time it provided a survey on the state of this kind of “technically supported” or “instrumental transcommunication”.
At that time it was fully correct to talk of “tape-recorded voices”, because these voices could only be perceived - frequently disturbed - when playing the tape. Despite of many a misinterpretation, neither their reality can principally be doubted, nor their paranormal character – both indicated already in early studies performed by Prof. Dr. H. Bender. According to the extremely animistic hypothesis they are “psychokinetic projections of the subconscience of the experimenters” and are considered “inconclusive” for the survival of death. This statement, which itself is not provable, is in direct contrast to the statements repeated by the “voices” thousands of times in personal style and saying that the speakers are deceased or “dead” who endeavour with technical means to manifest their existence to those in earthly bodies.
Quite rightly the briefness of the messages transmitted is complained of. A few seconds are, at the most, sufficient to transmit the most necessary information, possibly in a half-way understandable form, in the “psychophonic style” of compressed language not bound to grammar.  When they have elapsed the fugitive contact breaks off, and dialogues hardly come off. Notwithstanding, a few words and short sentences have very often given more console to mourning bereaved than many well-meant speaches in front of open graves. In addition to that, a summarizing evaluation of recordings of the most different experimenters began to indicate clear contours of a consciously active life displaying in the Beyond in happy communities of like-minded.
In the course of the last ten years the phenomena developed in an unexpected and surprising manner into an important complex. Via simple radio receivers, televisors, telephones and special appliances we receive clearly understandable “direct electro-acoustic voices”. They are audible by all persons present, can be recorded and enable dialogues lasting up to ten minutes. Thus the fragmentary character of the tape voices has principally been overcome. Single images and short sequences convey, via video sets and television screen, conceptions and projections of the partners in the Beyond in forms understandable for us. Series of pages of computer printouts are filled with texts of historical and scientifical orientation. In a number of cases the three forms of appearance, i.e. voices – images - writings, are closely linked one to the other. Impendent image- and sound transmissions are precisely advised via computer, the images are accompanied by spoken comments. In some cases simple combinations are produced, similar to those of the mediumistic cross correspondences having been subject of investigation by the Society for Psychical Research in England decenniums ago. The individual results - appearing independently one from the other in different countries - support each other. They confirm and complete those spiritualistic concepts of the world and of mankind, which long ago have been transmitted by good mediums and which, despite of some contradictions on details, all, and consistently, “prove” the basic fact of the active existence of the human ego after the earthly death. The “proof” – if we want to use this term – now founds on the objectivity of the phenomena and their contents.
In view of the accompaniments of the transmissions from the Beyond and from the transareas, which in our system can only be interpreted physical-technically, the animistic “explanation” is absolutely devious. How should the “subconscience” of a layman in techniques who does not dispose of any  theoretical and practical preconditions, generate  switching noises, sound carriers, echos and/or other peculiarities ? Presumably we are witnesses of new psycho-technical combinations that become accessible to “New Age” men if they fulfill certain spiritual pre-conditions.
In contrast with the evolution of practical doing, the theoretical possibilities of interpreting the transcommunicative phenomena have seen hardly any development. They have to be ascribed to the paranormal phenomena, the scientific classification of which - according to Thomas S. Kuhn - requires a considerable extension of the paradigms so far known, or the introduction of new paradigms, which so far has not been achieved. The studies on states of alterated consciousness and the outsets for “physics and psychology of consciousness”, noticeable mainly in US American research projects, could, however, by a new evaluation of the informatory interplay between “mind and matter” or “man and world”, finally  also lead to the scientific acceptance of the existence of those spheres of existence still designated as the “Beyond”, because the conscient objective communication with its “inhabitants” appears to be “extraordinary” to most of our contemporaries captivated in world-pictures having become obsolete already. In fact “inner transcommunication” via mainly unconscious “channels” is permanently taking place; it is a necessity of life.  The conscious performance of it having begun, its continuation and perfection seem to be a provoked and a challenging task for the future.
Since the tape-recorded voices are verifyable by everyone having sufficient patience, they embody their original importance also in the presence of sporadic spectacular special cases. In this presentation of transcommunication, updated by the author to the most recent state, the introductory biographic chapters “in memoriam outstanding pioneers” are therefore followed by a detailed treatment of the “classical” methods for receiving and recording. The examples selected from the abundance of original material available illustrate the development having taken place in transcommunication during the last decade. They permit getting an insight into some of the “mansions in our Father’s house”, whose reality reasonably cannot be denied. This part constitutes the essential informative content of the book. Taking cognizance of the consoling contents is recommended not only to afflicted persons, but, in view of their presently not yet estimable importance for humanity in general, also to a far bigger group of readers.  For those persons seriously interested in transcommunication it is almost obligatory to read this book.

Mainz, in January 1989                                 Prof. Dr. Ernst Senkowski

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