The Blue Island is a fascinating book, originally published in 1922, about the afterlife communications between William T. Stead, his daughter Estelle Stead and Pardoe Woodman, an expert in automatic writing. William T. Stead was a passenger on the Titanic and passed away.
This is another way in which Blue Island is connected with Robin. Robin, along with his son R.J. composed The Titanic Requiem.
Shortly after his passing, William began communicating with his daughter Estelle through a voice medium. Then, Pardoe came into the picture. Pardoe was a close friend of Estelle’s who initially became skilled in automatic writing as the result of the death of one of his close friends that he wanted to communicate with. He was able to apply his skills to work with William and was well able to record his experiences in the afterlife. The book is an account of William’s experiences in his new spirit life, on the Blue Island, recorded by Estelle and Pardoe.
There are some interesting things from this book that I would like to share with you and then I will discuss the Bee Gees’ beautiful matching song, Blue Island. The place that the Bee Gees are singing about is the same place William Stead was talking about.
The first thing to know is that the Blue Island is not a permanent place where spirits dwell after passing. It’s a temporary rest stop, so to speak, according to William. This is his account:
I come now to the last days on the Blue Island and the taking up of our residence on the next and far more permanent world. The Blue Island is a transient life; a land for acclimatizing the newcomer, and as soon as he’s fit, he passes from it to what I might term the Real World, inasmuch as each one will be much longer on it than any has yet been on earth.
Stead, W. T.. The Blue Island and Other Spiritualist Writings (Life on Other Worlds Series) (p. 61). Square Circles Publishing. Kindle Edition.
As he states here, it is a place of recovery after crossing over:
Here there was no uncertainty about the impression; it was undoubtedly a blue which predominated. A light shade of a deep blue. I do not mean the people, trees, houses, etc., etc., were all blue; but the general impression was that of a blue land. I commented upon this to my father—who, by the way, was considerably more active and younger than he was at time of death; we looked more like brothers. I spoke of this impression of blue, and he explained that it was so in a sense. There was a great predominance of blue rays in the light, and that was why it was so wonderful a place for mental recovery.
Stead, W. T.. The Blue Island and Other Spiritualist Writings (Life on Other Worlds Series) (pp. 23-24). Square Circles Publishing. Kindle Edition.
In Chapter 7, The Reality of Thought Communication, William asserts that any afterlife communication we have with a loved one in spirit is really thought communication. Here, he expands upon that:
In concentrating the mind on any one spirit person, you are sending out real, live, active forces. These forces pass through the air in precisely the same way as electric waves do, and they never miss their mark. You concentrate on Mr. A. in the spirit world, and immediately Mr. A. is conscious of a force coming to him. In this land we are much more sensitive than whilst on earth, and when thoughts are directed to us by people on your side, we have a direct call from those currents of thought thus generated, and we are practically always able to come in close contact with the person who is thinking of us…
Anyone who sits for a moment and allows his mind to dwell on some dear one who has “died” will actually draw the spirit of that person to himself. He may be conscious or unconscious of the presence, but the presence is there. If people on earth realized the result of their thoughts upon those to whom they refer, they would be very much more careful in giving their mind free play.
Stead, W. T.. The Blue Island and Other Spiritualist Writings (Life on Other Worlds Series) (pp. 44-45). Square Circles Publishing. Kindle Edition.
So, it seems that when I was concentrating on Robin, I was drawing his spirit to me without really knowing it back in 2012. However, there may be more to it than that. The spirit also has to feel drawn to the person on earth thinking about him, as is mentioned in this book Angels and Other Beings of Light by Linda Stein-Luthke and Martin F. Luthke (Kindle Locations 753-756):
Each time you think of the one who has departed you call this being back to you. As with all the beings of Light, all you need do is think of a disembodied being of Light, and he or she is drawn to you, whether you wish to consciously acknowledge such or not. These beings will feel free to openly and easily respond to this connection with you, provided they are also feeling drawn to you.
So, both books are saying very similar things. When someone on earth and someone in spirit are drawn to each other, this is the point at which fulfilling afterlife/thought communication could occur. I don’t think it’s just a passing thought that establishes the connection, but concentrated thought, a dwelling on the person in spirit that makes the connection, like William said. As much as I like Donna Summer, I don’t think she’s going to be drawn to me just because I have a passing thought about how much I like her music.
The only thing I would add to what William is saying is that I strongly believe the heart is also involved, not just the mind and thought. It is the element of the heart, or love, which can open the door to this communication. Loving spirits respond well to genuine love and care. I offer this quote to elaborate upon this point:
“I have made no secret of my conviction, not merely that personality persists, but that its continued existence is more entwined with the life of everyday than has been generally imagined; that there is no real breach of continuity between the dead and the living and the methods of inter-communion across what has seemed to be a gulf can be set going in response to the urgent demand of affection…as Diotima told Socrates, love bridges the chasm.”
~Sir Oliver J. Lodge (1851-1940)
Bee Gees: Blue Island
Here, I offer this excerpt to explain the thought and beautiful sentiment behind the song Blue Island:
In August, The Bee Gees announced their intention to play a benefit concert for the children of war-torn Bosnia. “I really am angry that our governments can’t unite in some way and do something to stop this kind of violence when it occurs,” Barry declared. “To stop the conflict that is going on in the former Yugoslavia as well as just be able to stop conflicts that go on all over the world. My greatest fear, personally, is that all of these things are going to start occurring at the same time, and the United Nations is going to become impotent. And, if it isn’t already happening, it’s definitely foreseeable.”
Although the concert didn’t come off, they dedicated a song from their forthcoming album to the children whose young lives were blighted. “At the end of the First World War, there was an enormous amount of spiritualism. This is probably because so many millions of people died in the … war that there was an upheaval of families wanting to contact their lost ones. Now from that came a combined opinion from spiritualists that the other side … what we call heaven … in fact is blue and it’s an island. And from there, for the want of a better word, we’re processed before we move on to our next reality. Good or bad, this is where we all end up. So we [wrote] a song called ‘Blue Island’ and dedicated it for the children of Yugoslavia, because even though they may not survive, the hope is that they, as well as us, are all going to this beautiful place.”
Bilyeu, Melinda; Cook,Hector; Môn Hughes,Andrew. The Ultimate Biography Of The Bee Gees: Tales Of The Brothers Gibb (Kindle Locations 16021-16026; 16026-16031; 16031-16033). Omnibus Press. Kindle Edition.
What Barry is talking about here is exactly what happened to Sir Oliver J. Lodge, a Christian spiritualist. His son Raymond was killed in action in World War I. Sir Oliver communicated with his son in the afterlife and his experiences are documented in his book, Raymond or Life and Death (1916):
I hope you enjoyed taking a deeper look at the Blue Island with me. It enriched my understanding and enjoyment of the Bee Gees’ song after I read more about this heavenly place.
All my best to you,
Christina