In his last book on the subject, Lord Hugh Dowding (1882 – 1970) put forward the reasons for believing in life after death. He explains that communicating with discarnate spirits is important for our personal lives because they tell us we will go on to survive and prosper in the hereafter, and we need not fear death.

Furthermore, we can help the souls of the newly departed to fully go to the afterlife, and if on a large scale we have faith and peace we can avoid ‘national deliverances and disasters’. Dowding notes that Black Magic is a major danger to humanity, stating “I say in all seriousness that the rise to temporary power and subsequent downfall of Germany in the recent war was due to her deliberate and conscious alliance with the powers of darkness.”

As the commanding officer of RAF Fighter Command, Dowding helped implement a coastal chain of radar stations that was so important in repelling the German Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain. He was no starry-eyed mystic, but his belief in Spiritualism can be interpreted as being a coping mechanism to deal with the painful impact of World War II and the many fatalities it generated. It is touching that he recounts several communications with RAF boys who do not realise they have been killed in combat.

Part of his mission was to help these spirits accept their new status and help them cast off their astral body, which is the last remnant of their earthly body, so that their soul can enter the astral sphere where it finds its own vibrational level. The frustrating thing is that the messages from the otherside are vague. For example, the names and details of the ‘RAF boys’ who died in action are not specific enough to match with real events. This opens the field to unscrupulous mediums who are all too happy to tell people what they want to hear. Dowding himself admits that this is a problem made more complicated by the fact that the spirits (if they do exist) tell lies or  pass on misinformation.

As Dowding admits this is not an exact science and ‘Absolute mental integrity and honesty is essential in these matters.’ There is no doubting Dowding’s integrity and unwavering belief in Spiritualism, and even if we remain sceptical against all his arguments we have to admire his feeling and concern for humanity.

BOOK REVIEW: GOD’S MAGIC / AUTHOR: LORD DOWDING / PUBLISHER: WHITE CROW BOOKS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW