Currently reading "The Growth of Truth: A True Story of the Heaven and Hell of a Psychic Medium," by Debbie Raymond-Pinet

I've oft written that I'm a disbeliever in almost all "famous" mediums (you know who they are), and I put no credence in most mediumistic accounts. I've read quite a few of them, and they are all universally boring, rote, and trite. Ms. Raymond-Pinet's book is different. Not only is it an engrossing read, but there is a certain authenticity about her story. The Kindle version is currently only $3.03--in itself an anomaly, since the more famous accounts are priced quite a bit more--and I invite anyone stumbling upon this entry to check it out.  I found myself liking the author quite a bit, and the story of her lifelong experience of seeing "dead people" is both fascinating and spooky.  I plan to write a fuller review of it later, but in the mean time, I wanted to examine one of the many themes that Ms. Raymond-Pinet presents in her peculiarly nuanced way.

Of all of the concepts that Seth expects his readers to accept, the hardest is that "there is no such thing as evil."  I'm oversimplifying--true Seth students recognize that Seth is arguing that "good" and "evil" are essentially dualities that have meaning only on the physical plane. In the grander scheme of "reality," the division that causes us to perceive certain experiences as "good" or "evil" disappears. It's an important distinction, one that I've spent the bulk of my adult life sorting out. How can Seth say that there's no evil, when I've personally been on the receiving end of quite a bit of it?

It is here--the examination of good and evil--that "The Growth Of Truth" excels where other mediumistic accounts fall flat. Ms. Raymond-Pinet's account can be read as a twenty-first century morality tale whereby a gifted but flawed individual wrestles with the burden of her unwanted insight into the non-physical realm, and all the responsibility that comes with it, while attempting to live a life that vacillates between sensual indulgence and spiritual altruism. Throughout, she confronts a number of archetypes that remind me of shamanic initiation rites, as well as the peculiar coupling of a young, benign spirit friend named "Bobby," and the Gentleman--a "man in black" who surfaces regularly to torture the youthful Debbie and, years later, her children. I see a direct analog with the UFO "abduction" experiences of the last century, and I wonder: are these part and parcel of the same thing?  And if so, what is going on?  If these experiences are "real"--and I have no reason to disbelieve them--what are they trying to teach us?

I think that it's important that we find out.  Ms. Raymond-Pinet does not say, but we are tempted to think, that her horrible encounters with true evil are punishment for her various youthful indiscretions. (It's certainly what I often think about myself.)  But "The Growth Of Truth" suggests that reality is more complex than that. The ominous man-in-black is, according to the author, simply doing his job. He is evil, to be sure, and while the angels that surround the author clip his wings on occasion, they never destroy him. He is allowed to do his "job." Intriguing stuff, and worth the effort to understand.