“If we all could understand that we are connected by a common consciousness, this is what could solve the problems of the world.” ~Joan Diver
When Spirit Calls is the culmination of over two decades’ worth of work, as she started it back in the early 1990s, initially as a project for writing out six or eight spiritual experiences. Her journey began with a bad back which began back in the 1970s and some unsuccessful operations, which made her look for alternative methods of healing. She began having some unusual experiences after one particular surgery, and after asking a psychic what was going on, she was told that she was in the process of balancing her various energies. A visit to a New Mexico healer placed her right on the path she is presently on, and along the way she made a commitment, visiting the Great Pyramid of Giza, to “go forth and do it,” which she would later discover was to write her book. It was after that when she received, and accepted, various invitations to travel to places where she experienced unusual events as well as a positive shift in her foundation work, which she was still then into.
Some of the unusual experiences Joan experienced was getting greatly moved when, in China, she visited a destroyed temple as well as when she watched a group of prisoners who were being paraded through town to their execution. She also had some spiritual experiences when visiting Israel, with the most profound being one where she felt led to walk to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where she felt guided there and back, as she still doesn’t know the path to and from there.
Joan notes that going on a journey like she did would both heal oneself as well as bring up fears that need to be faced and resolved, and some of the issues she needed to resolve were her own self-doubts. The most serious concern she had during her journey was her back, as it tricked out several times during her journey. She looks at these events as gifts, as she finds herself in a better place once she had resolved these. Moving forward is her primary concern, and she knows she’s on the right path when she feels “a ball of anxiety.”
For Joan, the highs are when she reaches a place where she feels a deep connection to the peace and love within herself as well as within others, as well as when she can transform other people’s lives and emotions. For her, a high feels like a great inner peace, and awareness of the connection between and among all, as well as being able to see the signs in one’s life which guide one onwards - something which can be fairly scary, but following which delivers a “great gift.”
Joan’s husband, Colin, was trained logically, so initially he felt threatened and skeptical about the journey she took, as he was afraid Joan would leave him. His mind changed as he watched Joan transform and felt that he was getting left behind, and so began traveling his own journey, with the major turning point being meeting someone he had encountered in a past life. At present, he describes himself as a “stowaway” on Joan’s journey, and the two are as close as they can ever be.
Where When Spirit Calls is concerned, Joan notes that it is a “page turner” and can be read as much as a memoir as well as a way by which a reader can see a reflection of his or her own life, as the experiences speak to a universal form. To those who are questing for something other than what they have, Joan recommends that they take the time to be still, in whatever way works for them, in a way that enables one to step out of their life for a short period of time. She also recommends that people seek help from others who can help them gain a new perspective on their own lives. It is her hope that When Spirit Calls inspires people to see their own fears and hurts, then seek healing so they can find peace for themselves, as well as to love and to forgive and to be open to the possibilities of there being a guiding spirit and that we are all connected to a common consciousness.
In this interview, Dr. Bruce Olav Solheim talks to Alexander “The Engineer” Lim, host of AuthorStory by alvinwriter.com, about his book, Timeless: A Paranormal Personal History.
“Experiencing is believing, and believing is experiencing.” ~Dr. Bruce Olav Solheim
Bruce comes from a family which came from an environment where the paranormal was accepted as a matter of course. His mother was psychic, and he, himself, has been experiencing paranormal events since the age of four, when he was healed from a serious illness after seeing a being which his mother later called his guardian angel. He has generally kept these events to himself and amongst his friends, as he was concerned about how others would perceive his stories, particularly as he was in the academe. He was, however, prompted to write Timeless after he received a vision after a friend had died of cancer and thus did so. Much to his surprise, the reactions to his book have been very positive, and a of people, when they learn that he is the writer of such a book, are willing to share their own paranormal experiences with him.
Paranormal experiences, Bruce notes, have been experienced around the world, and he notes that the fear of death and dying is not really a concern, as we continue on beyond our body’s death, which does make us all, essentially, timeless. He admits that mainstream science is resistant to paranormal research, and that funding is difficult to get for paranormal researchers, which limits the activities they can do. Bruce recommends looking up Dr. Dean Radin, who is the senior scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), an institute co-founded by former astronaut Edgar Mitchell, which conducts paranormal research. While the evidence seems to indicate that paranormal activity is real - such as the discovery that a different part of the brains of mediums becomes active when they get in touch with spirits - Bruce points out that the actual manifestations in the real world are more subtle than as is presented in movies, albeit no less profound. That said, Bruce admits that it is difficult for someone to believe in such phenomena until they’ve actually experienced it.
Bruce admits that he has had several good-aligned paranormal experiences, which is aligned with his own personal religious beliefs and which leads him to the conclusion and realization that different people have different levels of psychic strength; and so long as these are used for good purposes, that’s fine. That said, Bruce has also had some demonic experiences, with the scariest one being when he created a raw clay demon’s head at the age of twenty with the intention to scare someone who seemed to be in the demonic. He advises those exploring the paranormal to go by what they feel; for example, if they feel uncomfortable or fearful, there is likely to be a negative paranormal energy present. Bruce notes that demonic presences only have the power that one gives to them, and that they can be turned off “like an old radio” by such means as saying a prayer.
There are two main categories of ghosts, or physical apparitions, according to Bruce. One kind is a residual ghost or haunting, which he describes as being akin to a “tape loop,” and he gave the example of Mrs. Colby, the founder of the college in one of whose buildings he was spending the night in as being of this. The other kind is an interactive, intelligent ghost or haunting, and this can take the form of communicating with the spirits of those who have passed on. Bruce then mentions that the communication with these takes several forms, such as visual imagery or handwriting, and also mentioned that he has had some experiences with more malevolent beings, such as the one he had encountered with some ghost hunters the night prior to the interview.
The biggest thing Bruce has taken away from these is that people who have passed on strongly desire to speak with their loved ones on the physical plane, be it such general messages as “I love you” to “Check the oak box by the window.” He would also like people to know that we are both physical and spiritual beings and that, based on his own readings, the scientific quantum world is the realm of the paranormal. Bruce also mentioned a quote attributed to the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, where the truth, when it first comes out, is ridiculed, after which it is then challenged before being regarded as self-evident, and that this is presently the case where the paranormal and mainstream thought are concerned.
