Eyes of an Angel by Paul Elder

Eyes of an Angel by Paul Elder is one of the best books in my collection of books about astral projection and related topics. The book confirms many of my spiritual understandings and offers some important concepts I have not encountered elsewhere. The book is not a "how to" book. It is Elder's personal account of his own spiritual journey, reluctantly written only after years of pressure from both the physical and nonphysical worlds. It is not a vanity book, but rather, a book filled with valuable spiritual information. Elder recounts near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, conversations with his spirit helper, attending programs at The Monroe Institute, past-life experiences, missions to rescue stranded souls, meeting his soul group, waking visions, meeting his soul mate, and a visit to an astral library containing "the life records of all incarnated souls". (p. 137) The book's central message is the importance of love.

Elder's conversations with his spirit helper, Meldor, are by far the most meaningful parts of the book to me. Meldor explains to Elder what we are, why we incarnate, the role of our spirit helpers, and where we're going. The explanations complement my spiritual understandings from reading books about Edgar Cayce, books by Robert Monroe, The Agashan Discourses by William Eisen, and other books.

I already believed we incarnate by choice, repeatedly, and that we purposefully choose each incarnation. Ironically our plan is lost to us during our transition from an energy being to a human being. The result is that most of us bumble through physical life trying to fulfill our unknown purpose. Sometimes nonphysical beings are able to help us achieve the goals we set for ourselves. The ultimate goal of our soul's journey is to lose its separateness and rejoin the energy from whence it came.

I will recap the book's major concepts that are new to me.

The only energy souls can feel while not incarnated is love. In order to grow, souls must experience negative emotions that are only available to them through being human. Souls choose miserable circumstances and lifestyles for the experiences those choices provide. Souls choose to be abused, deformed, murdered, poor, handicapped, etc. "…it is only the temporary physical body that is negatively affected. The soul is enriched and empowered by the experience…. You may also be surprised to know that many, many souls voluntarily choose to incarnate into bodies that will be born deformed or handicapped…. There is literally a waiting list of souls offering their love and energy to the experience itself, or to helping others in the experience." (p. 131)

Elder asked why his helper was giving him this knowledge. (I too wondered. I've been begging my helpers for explanations for twenty years or more, to no avail.) I can't find the page reference, but my recollection is that the explanation was something like this -- Meldor had agreed to help Elder meet the goals Elder had set for himself in this incarnation, and the knowledge Meldor conveyed was necessary for Elder to meet his goals.

At the time of its separation from The All, or God, each soul is further split into two beings for the purpose of instilling in them a "yearning for reunion". The two beings are what are popularly called "soul mates". (p. 155-156)

Souls form small groups that go through eternity together. The souls in a group help each other through their incarnations. Most groups contain more than 14 souls. Sometimes your energy can be so harmonious with another group member's that you can experience what the other person is experiencing. (p. 157-159) (I have experienced this phenomenon and wondered what was happening. During an out-of-body experience I entered someone else's body and experienced that person's thoughts and feelings.)

I found this book extremely thought-provoking and enlightening. It has filled in some gaps in my thinking and will serve as a stepping stone for me to move onto new questions. My only complaint about the book is that it has no index. The book would be much more valuable with an index.

Eyes of an Angel: Soul Travel, Spirit Guides, Soul Mates, and the Reality of Love, Paul Elder, 2005, Hampton Roads Publishing.