[THE eXchanger]

Soul Pillars
by Pastor Swope



printed with the author's permission


Recently, I posted an article briefly covering a phenomenon that I have discovered while researching the death experiences of terminally ill patients. I called them phone calls from the dead, or Dead Ringers. In these phenomena, someone receives a phone call from the residence of someone who has recently or has long since passed this mortal veil. More times than not, it coincides with the death of a terminally ill patient, and the ringer is somehow related to the deceased or the next of kin.

Many see this as an attempt by those who have recently passed to communicate to those they have left behind. Usually the message is comforting, letting loved ones know that the dead no longer suffer pain, and their love continues beyond the grave.

This is one of the most common paranormal events that happen at the end of life of terminally ill patients. It does not occur to every terminally ill loved one who crosses the veil, but it happens enough to show a clear pattern. I lost both of my parents in the 1980's when I was in college, and I wish this would have happened to me, but it did not. It has happened to others, however. Various medical partners in assisted living have witnessed it as well, so it is not grief hallucinations as some would vehemently assert.

Another common phenomenon I have found while researching the passing of terminally ill patients is that of Soul Pillars.

This is a phenomenon that is not readily perceived by the average person, and many who witness it almost never tell anyone else lest their sanity be called into question. But I have investigated this phenomenon, and in sharing with my interviewees some of my personal paranormal experiences, reports of this phenomenon have come up over and over again.

It seems that when sensitive individuals are around the time of death of certain patients, they notice a light coming from the person's body just as they pass away. Just as these same sensitives might have personal paranormal encounters such as visibly being able to see ghosts or other supernatural activity, they also are able to see this strange occurrence.

Many who have witnessed it have the opinion that they are witness to the patient's soul passing from the body to the other side. Usually it lasts only for a few moments, from a split second to less than a minute. Other times, Holy objects in the room where the deceased passes also have an influence over the Soul Pillar, and might even have a beam of energy to emit themselves.

The color of the Soul Pillar varies. Some people see a white pillar all the time, others see a pink or purple one. Some see pillars of various colors emitted from the dying one's body.

The location on the body from where the pillars are emitted also varies. Most of the time, people see the pillar coming from the chest; others see it sparking from the forehead. On rare occasions, it comes from multiple sources.

What are these caregivers and family members witnessing? Is it the event where our soul actual leaves the body at time of death to cross over to the region beyond? It is not Grief Hallucinations since people who have been objective to the state of the patient see these phenomena more often than those in the immediate family or the constant care nurse.

Following are a few stories of such happenings; you can make your own conclusions.

Becca has been with the visiting nurses association for almost two decades and has seen many patients slip through the mortal bonds of earth. It took her a long time to come to terms with regularly seeing her patients die. At first she tried to detach herself when she dealt with the terminally ill, but she saw this was not an answer for she tended to dehumanize her clients and that made her job cold, shallow and stressful. She was also sure that she was not giving her patients the quality emotional care that they so desperately needed at this the end stage of life.

It took her about five years to develop a proper approach to her job in which she could both empathize with her patients and yet not become overwhelmingly enmeshed with their trials that it had an emotional impact on her life away from work. It was shortly after this that she began to see the Soul Pillars.

As was her custom when she began to see that the end was near for her patients, she would gather at the bedside with any family that had been called to say their final goodbyes. They would hold hands and pray in whatever faith language they chose to help their loved one's last moments be filled with love, song and spiritual care.

She remembered that she was gathered by one particular man's side one afternoon, and his son and daughter stood with her singing Amazing Grace as the last raspy breaths came from their aged father's lungs. Becca opened her eyes after one chorus to look down at her patient in order to make sure he was still breathing, since the rasping had ceased. She was astonished to see a blue-white pillar pouring from the dead man's chest.

It looked like a large electrical bolt that only lasted for a split second.

The man's children still had their eyes closed in prayer as they all sang together, but Becca saw the pillar spring from the chest and pass through the ceiling above. It was gone in an instant.

She was amazed but did not share what she had seen with the patient's family, and after a while, was sure that it was just some mirage or trick of the ambient lighting. But then it happened again. And again.

Now for Becca it happens almost all of the time, and she is no longer alone since others are now also spontaneously witnessing the pillars as they comfort others who are passing on. Within seconds of the last gasp of air, the pillar shoots up and the body is just a lifeless shell. The soul has left the body to go elsewhere.

Michelle worked in hospice for only a short time until her first encounter with a Soul Pillar. To her they always appeared purple or violet. They had become commonplace to the death experience with her, but one night she had a start as the commonplace supernatural experience changed drastically.

Reverend Arnold was diagnosed with cancer at the ripe old age of 82. It quickly ravaged his body and he was incapacitated within a few short months. Michelle had watched over the reverend with his faithful wife by their side for over two months before the final battle was over. Michelle heard the death rattle in the dying man's breath, and she knew it would only be a matter of time before he was gone. Almost on cue, the purple pillar sprouted from the Reverend's Chest, and to her surprise the pastor's wife saw it too and exclaimed with awe and wonder.


In barely a split second, the light from the chest was joined by another equally powerful light. This time it was from the crucifix from across the room. It came in a long slender beam from the figure of Christ and entered into the dying man's forehead. The pink beam seemed to intensify in power, then at once both lights stopped at the same time.

The Reverend had passed, leaving an astonished group in the hospice room.

What had happened there? Even though not a Christian in the strict sense, Michelle is certain that spiritual power flowed from that Crucifix into the dying Reverend's body. But for what purpose?

One can only imagine.

If you have experienced similar experiences, please email me; I would love to hear from you. If you wish, I can add your stories to my book, Ushered through the Veil, which highlights other at death supernatural phenomena.

One thing I have learned through all this research is that at the time of death, we are not alone, no matter where we are or in what situation death finds us. You are never alone when you break the mortal coil.


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Pastor Swope is a writer and has been a Christian Minister for more than 15 years. He holds a B.A. in Biblical Literature and is finishing an M.Div. in Pastoral Ministry. He has served as a Missionary to Burkina Faso, and has Ministered to the homeless in New York City's Hell's Kitchen. He is the founder and chief officiant of Open Gate Ministerial Services and a member of St. Paul's United Church of Christ in Erie, Pennsylvania. For more fascinating articles, visit his website, check out his MySpace page, or send him an email. He also has a spiritual guidebook available at Amazon entitled Walking with Awanu.
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