By Tim Haigh

'We noticed several flashing images on the TV screen', recalls Maggie, 'but these were of such short duration that no details could be discerned. The recording lasted 10 minutes. The tape was replayed in very slow motion and within a few frames an image of a man appeared who was well known to us from previous audio communications'. Through the Eurosignal Bridge, the man told them that a research group was being formed on the Other Side and that they must do likewise on earth. So on October 16, 1986, the Harsch-Fishbachs founded the Luxembourg Study Circle in Transcommunication - CETL - and soon after, an entity calling himself 'Technician' made contact and began co-ordinating activities.
He would tell the couple when a message was going to be transmitted or an image was due to appear, so everything could be recorded. Uniquely, the Harsch-Fishbachs were able to conduct two-way conversations with their new-found spirit friends. (This system, still in use today, can only be used effectively when less than four people are present. When larger groups are in the recording room, the Harsch-Fishbachs use the Eurosignal Bridge, what they call 'a personal paging system' operating on the FM waveband. This second method allows the spirit world to communicate, but not for anybody on earth to respond).
In 1988, Technician informed the couple that they had been selected as the earthbound colleagues of 'Timestream', which was the collective name for the group of spirit beings banded together specifically to strengthen and develop the link that had been achieved between their world - the third astral level - and earth. As the link became established, so the communications increased not only via the Eurosignal Bridge and on TV, but also on a computer, where text and images would appear overnight in special files.

Well-known English author and traveller Richard Francis Burton (1821- 90) joined the spirit team and transmitted long descriptions of his journeys through the astral planes, especially along what he called the River of Eternity: EVP pioneers Friedrich Juergenson and Konstantin Raudive 'returned home' to confirm they were helping to develop ITC technology; and a female communicator calling herself Swejen Salter introduced herself.
In the years that followed, Salter effectively took over Technician's role as spiritside project leader and formed a warm relationship with the Harsch-Fishbachs. Below is a summary of reports received, via computer and telephone, which she gave describing the world in which she lived: 'We live in a world that is similar to your world. We have a body like yours. This body is an etheric substance of much higher vibration than your dense body in your dense material world. No diseases exist here. Missing body limbs grown again. Bodies that were amputated on earth will here be regenerated. We live in comfortably furnished homes. The surrounding landscapes are impressive and beautiful.
The average age of all those who passed over to us becomes 25 to 30 years. If they died in old age they awaken here in full consciousness after a regenerating sleep which lasts about six weeks of earth time. In some cases it can be shorter. The children arriving on the third level are lovingly accepted and cared for by their relatives who live here. The children continue growing up until they have reached the age of 25 to 30 years. Approximately 60 billion humanoids from all existing worlds congregate here. They continue to cultivate friendships and partnerships.
We eat and drink like you do, but our food is produced synthetically. To put it another way, we materialise physical food. The meat which some still enjoy here is only a reproduction of matter. No animal has to die for another being. Many animal species exist here which are unknown on earth, such as birds of paradise-like birds and colourful butterflies. The temperature is very mild. Personality and character are not changed by the process of dying. You do not wake up on the third plane with new knowledge. Though there is no more physical pain here, we still know mental anguish and the pain of the soul. The third human level is on a planet we call Marduk which is separated from earth by time and space and cannot be spatially located. It has three suns. The planet revolves around one sun and is illuminated by the others. It never gets totally dark.
Its moon is larger than the earth moon. A single large river, the River of Eternity, crosses the entire planet. The third human plane is a product of the human mind, but is as much a reality as earth itself. People with the same ideas and views come together in groups and form units which become the preliminary step to the fourth plane. After coming into the fourth plane, the person is freed from the law of reincarnation.
To establish these contacts with you, we have to get close to your physical world and adjust to you as well as we can. A number of the communicators including Salter, Raudive and Juergenson among others, do not reside, it seems, on the third astral level, but on the fourth, or upper astral level. They 'come down' to level three to transmit messages when allowed'.

CETL is not the only team to have linked up technologically with the Spirit World. Researcher Adolph Holmes based in Rivenich, Germany, has made contact with an 'astral transmitting station' calling itself 'Central'. Using the same equipment as the Harsch-Fishbachs - sophisticated radio equipment, an adapted TV, computer and fax - he receives regular messages from Beyond. Unfortunately, his work has yet to be published in English - unlike that of CETL which is available on subscription from ITC experimenter and president of Continuing Life Research, Mark Macy in the USA. As Instrumental Transcommunication has developed, it hass become evident that various ITC research groups worldwide are being linked as part of a spirit world plan.

The first sign of this came on April 29, 1992, when a paranormal image of Friedrich Juergenson was received on a TV set in Rivenich. At the same time, in Luxembourg, there appeared on the CETL computer a picture of Swejen Salter standing next to the equipment which had seemingly transmitted the Juergenson picture to Germany, the image of which can be seen quite clearly on her own computer screen. A constant criticism of this picture and others is that the scenes portrayed are too 'earth-like'. But Mark Macy comments: 'My research has convinced me that people and places in the astral planes are real and they do look very like people and places here on earth. Fourteen million people die each day. They carry along with them into the spirit world their memories and expectations. Since the chief rule or law in the spirit world is 'thoughts create reality', the people arriving from earth actually create these spirit worlds and communities with their memories and expectations. They manifest astral bodies that look like the familiar physical bodies that they recently left behind. They manifest clothes in the spirit world, not because they need clothes in the spirit world but because they had grown so accustomed to wearing them on earth'.

Other evidence that the spirit world is trying to link up ITC groups worldwide came at the beginning of 1993. On January 21, Mark Macy received a telephone call from Konstantin Raudive at his home in Boulder, Colorado. The caller announced in a deep, but artifical sounding voice: 'Good morning Mark. This is Konstantin Raudive speaking. I am calling to announce the creation of a new contact bridge... This is the first contact we are able to make across this new bridge'.
Six days later, three other leading ITC pioneers in North America were similarly contacted. They were Walter Uphoff from Wisconsin, Sarah Estep, president of the American EVP Assocation, from Maryland, and veteran researcher George Meek, based in North Carolina.
Meek, the inventor of Spiricom, had been in touch with CETL and knew of its activities. He managed to record this ensuing conversation: George: 'Good morning, this is George Meek'. Raudive: 'This is Konstantin Raudive. George, my friend, at last we succeed in contacting you. Jeannette (Meek's wife) is beside me and she wants to give you all her love. This is Konstantin Raudive. This is the first contact you get from us. I suppose you can hear me'? George: 'I can hear you very well, very plainly'. Raudive: 'This is the beginning of a new story, a new chapter George. You are a good friend of ours even if we havenÕt met. We will continue this. This is the bridge we have succeeded to build (sic) to the States. Mark (Macy) was contacted. I must interrupt now'.

Timestream had achieved its aim by contacting ITC workers in Rivenich, Germany, and in the USA, as well as maintaining regular communication with CETL in Luxembourg. But what next? Will anybody soon be able to switch on a computer, radio, TV and speak to the spirit world? Not yet. One suspects that the fruit of the Harsch-Fishbachs pioneering research may well not be tasted until well into the next century. But when the time is right, the widespread acceptance of life after death, through ITC or physical mediumship or both, will surely lead to a leap in human consciousness, the like of which can barely be imagined.

Ernst Mackes reports back: On November 26, 1992, Maggy and Jules Harsch-Fishbach said farewell to Ernst Mackes, who died after a long and debilitating illness. Ernst and his wife Margret, who passed in April 1987, had enjoyed a close friendship with Maggy and Jules.
It was a friendship that so-called death could not separate. For on February 4, 1993, the Harsch-Fishbachs received the following letter from Ernst on their computer.
'At the moment, I am sitting here under a roof of exotic palm tree leaves. I am trying to focus my thoughts into a sort of typewriter, which is sitting in front of me on the glass plate of a small bamboo table. I hope you both started the New Year well. Thank God, all is well here, too. I shall try to start my story from the beginning. As you both know, on November, 26, the body of Ernst Mackes was left in the earthly dimension and my soul was set free. During the last few years it could manifest only weakly over my sick body. Nobody who has not gone through a similar experience will know the agony of not being able to communicate with your surroundings. I was in the position of a pilot who could not control his aircraft any more, but all this is over, and now I am here I have finally found my beloved Margret again. When I arrived, I was understandably confused. Because of my illness, I could not immediately think and see clearly. With the help of my father and other friends, I soon learned to use my mental and physical powers again. Wounds and amputations take some time to heal and regenerate here. Old age reverts backwards every hour; one gradually feels a strength flow back into a body that was lost long ago. For people who are mentally disabled, this recovery happens slowly and in steps. I am now the old Ernst again . . . or, should I say, the new Ernst! Above me is the light of our three suns. Temperatures are very moderate, and in the clear morning air numerous multi-coloured hummingbirds are buzzing around me. Butterflies of incredible beauty are flapping their wings and settling on blossoms and plants. Before me is a refreshing glass of lemonade. In the distance, the sunlight is reflecting in the river of eternity, which is visible behind a sandy beach. Margret and I often swim in the pleasant water and enjoy our newly discovered young bodies'.

One month after the above was received, Maggy and Jules were astounded to find an image of Ernst on their computer. He was pictured sitting at a desk wearing a jacket and tie. The short snatch of text that accompanied the picture said it showed him composing the previous day's letter. It had, he said, been sent to CETL on his behalf by Swejen Salter.

Author's Note: I would like to thank Mark Macy of Continuing Life Research for his help in compiling this article. To receive his triannual report Contact! or various books, videos and audio cassettes published by CLR, Mark can be contacted at the following address: Continuing Life Research, PO Box 11036, Boulder CO 80301, USA, or by email at initus@worlditc.org. He also has a website at www.worlditc.org.

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