Labrynths of the Mind: The Ancient Greek "Oracle of the Dead" Revisited

Psychics and others who travel in other nonphysical realms like the astral world report that polarities are switched. Left becomes right. Future becomes past. Mirrors represent these shifts.Labyrinths help the individual make them.

-Sig Lonegren, Labyrinths: Ancient Myths and Modern Uses

In February of 2008, I had the pleasure of spending a snowy evening with Dr. Raymond Moody M.D. at a small conference in Ridgecrest, North Carolina. As I hinted earlier, Moody is a leading authority on the near death experience, a term he is credited with coining in the late 1970s, as well as being one of the world’s most-respected grief counselors.

His preferred therapeutic methods involve a most interesting meditative technique, first developed by the ancient Greeks and later adopted and refined by Moody to be “a therapeutic tool to heal grief and bring insight.” Here an intimate crowd of fewer than thirty attendees had gathered together with hope of learning his technique, huddled around fancy tables in a small dining area in the lower portion of the rustic Madison Inn.

As I stood in the doorway to the room that held our seminar, called “the library” by the owners due to its scholarly décor, a short man with an accent stepped through and politely greeted me. To my surprise, he introduced himself as Ray Buckland, a name I knew very well from reading his books detailing the modern practice of magical arts for healing and good fortune. Standing here with Buckland, our attention shifted to the various old rare books and other trinkets that lined the walls; the library seemed quite appropriate for a man of Moody’s intellect and stature, and would prove to be a stimulating environment for the knowledge he would pass along to us throughout the course of the weekend.

Raymond Moody sat across the room at a table where several people had gathered, shaking hands and chatting with those eager to discuss their own experiences with him. To his right sat Rosemary Ellen Guiley, author of The Encyclopedia and Alchemy, as well as several volumes on Witchcraft (some of which I would use as resources for this book). Before the two of them stood Joshua P. Warren, my friend and associate of several years, who glanced around and, with a happy, excited gesture, motioned for Buckland and I to come over for an introduction.

Moody was sincere and approachable, and received the two latest arrivals warmly. We shook hands, and his pronounced grip seemed to fit snugly along with his smooth southern dialect.“Micah, it’s great to meet you, and I’ve heard so many wonderful things from Joshua,” he said as we greeted each another.

“Well Dr. Moody, don’t believe everything you’ve heard,” I joked with him. The character that radiated through his words made it easy to see why people loved him so much; he was perhaps one of the sincerest people I’ve ever met. After a little more casual conversation, things began to congeal and formalize somewhat. Just before dinner, waitresses appeared carting glasses of wine and expensive, ice-cold Belgian beers into the room on decorated metal carts. As drinks were poured, Moody began to lapse into discussion with the group, explaining how some of his classical leanings and early education led to the discovery of his “secret weapon”—the psychomanteum—and how he uses this in his own unique brand of grief counseling.

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