Netflix’s 6-part documentary “Surviving Death” has been getting much well-deserved buzz lately. It has great credentials with the participation of investigative reporter Leslie Kean whose 2017 book, “Surviving Death: A Journalist Investigates Evidence For an Afterlife” figures prominently in its DNA. In that book from which the series derives its title, Kean wrote of her interest and exploration of physical mediumship and her personal experience with a disembodied hand in one seance. The first episode gives an indication of what is to follow; beautiful camera work and imagery, exceptional music and highly emotional stories from the participants of Near Death Experiences.
And then it gets really weird, incomprehensibly weird at times. An enormous amount of screen time is given over to the phenomena of ectoplasm, a gauzy and cloud-like physical manifestation of “spirit energy” that was all the rage in the late 1800’s. This out of left field topic was given serious consideration by the Society for Psychical research, a scientific organization founded in 1882 that is still operating in London and whose photographic evidence is included. Interesting that the "evidence" presented for this phenomena is 100+ year old photographs.
Then it takes another weird, almost fatal turn. The better part of 2 entire episodes are given over to psychic mediums who contact the departed to bring messages from “the undiscovered country” as Shakespeare described death. This becomes an uncomfortable peek into multiple families’ grieving processes that continues throughout the middle episodes; in fact, it should have a “trigger warning” for anyone grieving. It’s painful to hear story after story of lives cut short interwoven with psychic and physical mediums attempts to convey personalized communication from the dead. All of the practitioners involved appear to be sincere, even though one of them is borderline outed as using FaceBook as the source for specific information.
Episodes 4 & 5 focus on ADC; you will learn to love acronyms after this series. After Death Communication is when signs and symbols from the departed, some of them pre-arranged, appear as tearful confirmations of the soul’s survival. There is no medium bridging the gap between worlds and this is the most effective part of the series so far, although once again, heart wrenching stories of grief and loss provide the impetus for this phenomena. EVP, or Electronic Voice Phenomena and spirit photography are also given screen time in the middle episodes, a further movement toward the fringes of paranormal research. (If you’re pressed for time, watch episode 1 and skip to episode 5; if you stay for the middle ones, bring a box of tissues.)
Time out for a rant here. “Surviving Death” was recommended to me since the last episode focuses on Reincarnation. Episode 5 profiles a couple dealing with the loss of their daughter in an auto accident, they established a non-profit to allow parents to explore both science and spirituality in a grief support group. The father tells the interviewer that his inspiration was the need to gather “proof of their continued existence.” As a Past/Other Lives practitioner, I feel like that “evidence” is available every time we access an Other Life personality, and “proven” when that past life personality reaches the ends of that life, dies, and enters into the non-physical realm between lives. I was gritting my teeth when I started this documentary series because the NDE (Near Death Experience) researchers are getting so much media attention (and funding) for an experience that is anecdotal and non-reproducible, while past life research is sidelined. This Between Lives state which I call the NPE (Non-Physical Experience) CAN be experienced. As an example, the otherwise excellent Past Lives Podcast out of the UK is in my podcast feed but the majority of the authors interviewed are dealing with NDE’s and its only 1 out of every 4 even deals with Past Lives. Rant temporarily concluded, until we get to episode 6 titled “Reincarnation.”
The final episode deals with Jim Tucker’s work with the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Tucker is known for his involvement with multiple cases of children’s memories of past lives, most beginning at age 2 or 3 (and interestingly fading by age 6 or 7.) Three well known cases are shown in detail. The families' stories are fascinating and well-documented, even though some of these children are now teens or older and no longer in touch with that past life information. The middle episode documents a boy from Oklahoma who “remembers” a life in Hollywood as a movie extra and then owner of a talent agency. This is the section I was cringing while I watched. The teenager is being re-traumatized while being confronted with this information from the past, at one point leaving the room, in another he is close to tears. It was painful to watch the filmmakers disregarding his discomfort for the sake of their TV show. A particularly distressing section involves a visit to the home of the daughter of the deceased. She is accompanied by a relative who knew the deceased and asks the obviously uncomfortable teen questions about specific memories. (Yes, I know the parents must have agreed to their son’s participation but that doesn’t excuse this denial of the boy’s discomfort.) It’s only at the end of the 3rd section, another well known case of a boy who remembers his past life as a pilot from World War 2, that the teenager himself shows the wisdom lacking in the researchers. He acknowledges that his past life memories were an attempt to complete unfinished business from his wartime death. To continue my previous rant, these people should be given the opportunity to release the trauma from those past lives, which is probably why this information is coming to the surface. Instead, they’re being paraded before the camera in an attempt to prove the survival of death that the title references.
Something good did emerge from watching this mini-series, and that was a revelation about my discomfort with the word “Reincarnation.” I never use it and rarely refer to it in my presentations, and I came to a realization about it after watching these episodes. Reincarnation is presented here as “I used to be someone else, and I am remembering details from that life” and that is seen as definitive proof that “Surviving Death” is possible. Apart from my previous rant about ignoring the issue of unfinished business from those previous incarnations, this focus on “I used to be this other person” needs to be expanded. What if we could consider that “This past life personality and I are in a relationship that extends across time and space?” Not the sort of approach likely to get a 5 episode deal from Netflix, but maybe this show and its flaws can open up a dialogue about how Past Lives exploration can provide experiential evidence for the survival of the soul after death, the “proof of continued existence” that seekers give away to mediums and paranormal technologies. Rant concluded. “Surviving death” is available on Netflix.