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A Search for the Truth
Here are the answers to time's most infinite mysteries. Find out the connection between psychic dreams, ESP, precognitive visions and automatic writing -- and whether psychic power is a curse or a blessing. But more importantly, find out your reason for living.
237 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 5, 2014
"Ruth Montgomery, was a syndicated newspaper columnist when she began exploring psychic phenomena and attending seances. While retaining the skepticism of her trade, she kept an open mind while experiencing various occult mysteries. This book chronicles her interest in these phenomena, most particularly her experiences with automatic writing beginning in 1960. She channels the "beautiful philosophy expressed by those mysterious discarnates who write through me" as she puts it. I most like the unassuming way in which she ask questions and attempts to understand what she experiences without preaching or pretending that she understands the inexplicable. She simply shares what she has learned on her search and urges the reader to also embark on a spiritual quest. "
I really wanted to like this book because I have heard of Ruth Montgomery in a legendary sense.
The book starts off with a bang telling about different mediums she used to acquire some of her psychic knowledge and the research she did to make sure the messages she and friends were receiving were accurate and true.
And I really like when she talked about times that she got false messages and had met fakes and how they faked their messages/abilities to her.
About midway through the book tho, the whole theme changed to a very long sermon from her "guides" who never really said who or what they were. They only said they were writers such as she and they had this great message they had to impart and she had to take down via means of automatic writing and then automatic typing.
The guides were supposedly either souls who had passed on from this plane to the next or very "godly" like and were trying to achieve their next plane.
This is where I started questioning the guides in general - they stated many times for them to move to their next plane, that they had to impart this message to Ruth and she had to share it. Which means..when we die, we will go to a purgatory type state until someone from this life either prays us out of it or gets us out of it- yet those guides claimed to be non-denominational.
That I could kinda swallow but not like the bitter taste of what they were saying.
The part I could never wrap my head around was the guides basically set up a time daily that Ruth must automatic type for them and if she skipped a day or two or more...those guides would be upset and pout. And then chastise her when she went back.
I think once we leave this plane, we leave human emotion here, on earth and do not take it with us to the next plane.
And they constantly chastised her to tell her she should not seek material gains- which I can agree with but also they - the guides- did not want her doing anything for fun or relaxation or anything that might take her interest from them.
That- is what makes me ponder if instead of guides, she instead tapped into demons because this is very similar traits of demonic cults .
But I have to remember the events took place in the mid 1960's- late 70's when psychadelic drugs and Ouija boards were not only the norm but accepted.
Again- I wanted to like the book and I did like reading about Ruth's experiences but I did not like the Guides nor their message and how they tried to control Ruth.
I really wanted to like this book because I have heard of Ruth Montgomery in a legendary sense.
The book starts off with a bang telling about different mediums she used to acquire some of her psychic knowledge and the research she did to make sure the messages she and friends were receiving were accurate and true.
And I really like when she talked about times that she got false messages and had met fakes and how they faked their messages/abilities to her.
About midway through the book tho, the whole theme changed to a very long sermon from her "guides" who never really said who or what they were. They only said they were writers such as she and they had this great message they had to impart and she had to take down via means of automatic writing and then automatic typing.
The guides were supposedly either souls who had passed on from this plane to the next or very "godly" like and were trying to achieve their next plane.
This is where I started questioning the guides in general - they stated many times for them to move to their next plane, that they had to impart this message to Ruth and she had to share it. Which means..when we die, we will go to a purgatory type state until someone from this life either prays us out of it or gets us out of it- yet those guides claimed to be non-denominational.
That I could kinda swallow but not like the bitter taste of what they were saying.
The part I could never wrap my head around was the guides basically set up a time daily that Ruth must automatic type for them and if she skipped a day or two or more...those guides would be upset and pout. And then chastise her when she went back.
I think once we leave this plane, we leave human emotion here, on earth and do not take it with us to the next plane.
And they constantly chastised her to tell her she should not seek material gains- which I can agree with but also they - the guides- did not want her doing anything for fun or relaxation or anything that might take her interest from them.
That- is what makes me ponder if instead of guides, she instead tapped into demons because this is very similar traits of demonic cults .
But I have to remember the events took place in the mid 1960's- late 70's when psychadelic drugs and Ouija boards were not only the norm but accepted.
Again- I wanted to like the book and I did like reading about Ruth's experiences but I did not like the Guides nor their message and how they tried to control Ruth.
August 23, 2021
Amazing
This book filled many gaps of the other side for me. I was able to understand better about the other side. I will read more books by the author
This book filled many gaps of the other side for me. I was able to understand better about the other side. I will read more books by the author
May 25, 2024
MONTGOMERY’S FIRST EXCURSION INTO OCCULT/METAPHYSICAL TOPICS
Ruth Shick Montgomery (1912-2001) was a journalist and syndicated columnist in Washington, DC., who later became a psychic who wrote a number of metaphysical books (sometimes through ‘automatic writing’), and claimed that she could communicate with medium Arthur Ford after his death.
She wrote in the Foreword to this 1966 book, “This is a book about one person’s search for the deeper meaning of life, a search that commenced a quarter of a century ago and still pursues that beckoning star. During those years I have authored numerous books in the psychic field, hopefully taking my faithful readers along with me on each progressive stage in my own quest for inner knowledge of man’s relationship with himself and his Creator. [This book] marked my first adventuresome steps into the exciting world of the unknown, and because of the beautiful philosophy expressed by those mysterious discarnates who write through me, it is now being reissued … [as] a classic introduction to the entire field.” (Pg. 7)
She acknowledges, “In that spirit of open-minded inquiry, this book was conceived and written. I do not pretend to understand the mysterious laws that govern mental telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, miraculous healings, apports, and apparent communication with those beyond the grave. I believe, however, that the search for this knowledge in no way conflicts with the tenets on which the church was founded. How many times … have ministers quoted… [Jn 14:12]: ‘…he that believeth in me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.’” (Pg. 11)
She explains in the first chapter, “I am a newspaper reporter, as skeptical as the average member of my profession… Yet no news writer can hope to be successful unless he is also blessed with an open and inquiring mine… I had attended a number of dark-room séances in pursuit of a newspaper series. I had also tried meditation and had received numerous purported messages via the Ouija board. Shortly thereafter I was to discover that I could seemingly produce ‘automatic writing,’ when I held a pencil lightly above a sheet of paper, and maintained a prayerful attitude of mind… The source of automatic writing is as mysterious as life itself. To some the answer seems simple: the thoughts are drawn from the subconscious… This may be true… [but] it fails to explain how events which are unknown to the writer find their way into his subconscious, or how future episodes can be accurately foretold… this much I have discovered: It is possible… to develop one’s own psychic ability to such a degree that an exciting and stimulating new world begins to unfold. As it does, one’s spiritual awareness deepens and its life takes on new dimensions. This has happened to me. It is why I am writing this book.” (Pg. 13-17)
She recalls, “The automatic writing gradually developed strength… a Guide announced himself… He proved a stern fellow, this humorless Guide who now took over the pencil… I was to stop smoking, he commanded, and also to forego cocktails… at last I stopped smoking… I soon gave up cocktails… [the Guide] told me to discontinue tea, cokes and anything containing chocolate… something in me rebelled… I returned to my regular routine of a martini before dinner.” (Pg. 44-45)
She recounts, “By this time automatic writing, to which I devoted only fifteen minutes each morning, was flowing so rapidly that I had difficulty in deciphering it afterward. I have a rather illegible handwriting… The unseen writers blithely continued to ignore the man-made rules of punctuation, but their grammar was flawless, and I could not help but admire their remarkable fluency of expression.” (Pg. 82-83)
She observes, “Arthur Ford cautions that before we try to contact ‘another world,’ we should first become integrated in this one, and settle our own personal problems. The best psychics are emotionally stable, sound individuals; neurotics and psychotics have no place in this field.” (Pg. 126-127)
She notes, “The Christian Church did not begin with doctrine, but with psychic experience which so stirred and Apostles and their converts that the church was born. Later, the twin impacts of scientific materialism and philosophical rationalism caused the church to disavow its own psychic origins and brand them ‘superstition,’ but the wheel is beginning to come full turn. Nearly half of all Protestant ministers who answered a questionnaire … said they had had some experience with spiritual healing.” (Pg. 131)
She suggests, “It will be a great loss to this world when Arthur Ford passes on to the next. His talent is so remarkable that I should think some institution, such as the Ford or Rockefeller foundations, would want to finance research in this field while a man of his caliber is here to help direct the quest.” (Pg. 189)
She concludes, “My own search for truth is far from ended. It will go on, and although much of what I have learned is not yet verifiable in a court of law, it has been checked as carefully as I, a trained reporter, know how. I have far to go before I can effect the personal improvement that will earn a ‘bravo’ from my unseen Guides. But this much I know: Now is the time for all of us to begin our spiritual quest, for, as it was written in a Chinese garden a long time ago, it is already later than we think!” (Pg. 253)
This book will be of interest to persons who are similarly in quest of alternative/occultic forms of spirituality.
Ruth Shick Montgomery (1912-2001) was a journalist and syndicated columnist in Washington, DC., who later became a psychic who wrote a number of metaphysical books (sometimes through ‘automatic writing’), and claimed that she could communicate with medium Arthur Ford after his death.
She wrote in the Foreword to this 1966 book, “This is a book about one person’s search for the deeper meaning of life, a search that commenced a quarter of a century ago and still pursues that beckoning star. During those years I have authored numerous books in the psychic field, hopefully taking my faithful readers along with me on each progressive stage in my own quest for inner knowledge of man’s relationship with himself and his Creator. [This book] marked my first adventuresome steps into the exciting world of the unknown, and because of the beautiful philosophy expressed by those mysterious discarnates who write through me, it is now being reissued … [as] a classic introduction to the entire field.” (Pg. 7)
She acknowledges, “In that spirit of open-minded inquiry, this book was conceived and written. I do not pretend to understand the mysterious laws that govern mental telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, miraculous healings, apports, and apparent communication with those beyond the grave. I believe, however, that the search for this knowledge in no way conflicts with the tenets on which the church was founded. How many times … have ministers quoted… [Jn 14:12]: ‘…he that believeth in me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.’” (Pg. 11)
She explains in the first chapter, “I am a newspaper reporter, as skeptical as the average member of my profession… Yet no news writer can hope to be successful unless he is also blessed with an open and inquiring mine… I had attended a number of dark-room séances in pursuit of a newspaper series. I had also tried meditation and had received numerous purported messages via the Ouija board. Shortly thereafter I was to discover that I could seemingly produce ‘automatic writing,’ when I held a pencil lightly above a sheet of paper, and maintained a prayerful attitude of mind… The source of automatic writing is as mysterious as life itself. To some the answer seems simple: the thoughts are drawn from the subconscious… This may be true… [but] it fails to explain how events which are unknown to the writer find their way into his subconscious, or how future episodes can be accurately foretold… this much I have discovered: It is possible… to develop one’s own psychic ability to such a degree that an exciting and stimulating new world begins to unfold. As it does, one’s spiritual awareness deepens and its life takes on new dimensions. This has happened to me. It is why I am writing this book.” (Pg. 13-17)
She recalls, “The automatic writing gradually developed strength… a Guide announced himself… He proved a stern fellow, this humorless Guide who now took over the pencil… I was to stop smoking, he commanded, and also to forego cocktails… at last I stopped smoking… I soon gave up cocktails… [the Guide] told me to discontinue tea, cokes and anything containing chocolate… something in me rebelled… I returned to my regular routine of a martini before dinner.” (Pg. 44-45)
She recounts, “By this time automatic writing, to which I devoted only fifteen minutes each morning, was flowing so rapidly that I had difficulty in deciphering it afterward. I have a rather illegible handwriting… The unseen writers blithely continued to ignore the man-made rules of punctuation, but their grammar was flawless, and I could not help but admire their remarkable fluency of expression.” (Pg. 82-83)
She observes, “Arthur Ford cautions that before we try to contact ‘another world,’ we should first become integrated in this one, and settle our own personal problems. The best psychics are emotionally stable, sound individuals; neurotics and psychotics have no place in this field.” (Pg. 126-127)
She notes, “The Christian Church did not begin with doctrine, but with psychic experience which so stirred and Apostles and their converts that the church was born. Later, the twin impacts of scientific materialism and philosophical rationalism caused the church to disavow its own psychic origins and brand them ‘superstition,’ but the wheel is beginning to come full turn. Nearly half of all Protestant ministers who answered a questionnaire … said they had had some experience with spiritual healing.” (Pg. 131)
She suggests, “It will be a great loss to this world when Arthur Ford passes on to the next. His talent is so remarkable that I should think some institution, such as the Ford or Rockefeller foundations, would want to finance research in this field while a man of his caliber is here to help direct the quest.” (Pg. 189)
She concludes, “My own search for truth is far from ended. It will go on, and although much of what I have learned is not yet verifiable in a court of law, it has been checked as carefully as I, a trained reporter, know how. I have far to go before I can effect the personal improvement that will earn a ‘bravo’ from my unseen Guides. But this much I know: Now is the time for all of us to begin our spiritual quest, for, as it was written in a Chinese garden a long time ago, it is already later than we think!” (Pg. 253)
This book will be of interest to persons who are similarly in quest of alternative/occultic forms of spirituality.
July 10, 2020
It is very hard to read this well documented book and maintain skepticism against automatic writing, visions, communication from “the other side,” and various other psychic phenomena. At times it gets a bit heavy with christian dogma for my tastes, but the spirits writing through Montgomery make it clear that christianity’s insistence on one life, and only one life is not accurate. The soul goes on forever. There is a lot more going on than we realize.
Montgomery was a well know journalist whose home base for much of her career was Washington D.C. and it is remarkable the number of journalists, politicians and top U.S. and foreign government officials who experienced major psychic episodes and were willing to share them with her. Rather fascinating.
Montgomery was a well know journalist whose home base for much of her career was Washington D.C. and it is remarkable the number of journalists, politicians and top U.S. and foreign government officials who experienced major psychic episodes and were willing to share them with her. Rather fascinating.
October 9, 2021
Enlighting
This book was good read but unless you've had some pshycic experience before you will not be able to appriciate it. Ruth had a great flow in writing because of her being a newspaper corospondent .
This book was good read but unless you've had some pshycic experience before you will not be able to appriciate it. Ruth had a great flow in writing because of her being a newspaper corospondent .
July 11, 2017
I found the book a bit outdated for today's audience but still worth it.
October 1, 2019
Read this book if you want to challenge the reality you think you are living.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews