I came upon the following while wandering on the web, and thought I would share it. I believe it is by Carl Unger.

Ask the Dead

A second bridge between the living and the dead is based on the possibility of asking questions of a departed soul and receiving answers. The questions must be of a soul-spiritual nature, not of a materialistic kind. It is best to entertain the question when one goes to sleep, but it can also be done during the day. The answer comes into one’s heart upon awaking the next day, or a few days later. To be effective, this process requires a mental procedure which is not easy, but can be learned by practice. Rudolf Steiner describes this in a most remarkable lecture he gave in Bern, Switzerland, on November 9, 1916 (GA 168). [See also Steiner’s lecture of February 5, 1918 ? e.Ed.] To ask a question, one has to imagine the dead person as one knew him or her in life, and one has to imagine that he or she speaks the question to oneself. This is the reverse of what one would naturally be inclined to do. One would be inclined to imagine that one asks the question oneself by addressing the image of the departed person’s soul. That would be completely ineffective. One has to imagine that the image of the dead person speaks the question to us, and then let go. Then the next morning, or one of the mornings following, one feels the answer rising up out of one’s own heart upon awaking. This is where the dead person has planted the answer, as it were.

Of course, knowing just a little psychology will tell you that a lot of ideas and impulses can rise up out of a person’s heart, that are mostly merely products of our own wishful thinking. One has to learn to recognize the qualitative difference between such personal messages from one’s own heart and the answers that come from a departed soul. In the process of learning to recognize this difference, one is likely at first to make mistakes. But by practice and sensitive inner observation one can gain certainty in this field. I don’t write this as a theory. It is my experience that it works and can bring significant enrichment to one’s life and to the life of the departed soul.

This being so, I am surprised that hardly any friends ask questions of Rudolf Steiner in this way. One objection may be the belief that he is again in incarnation, hence no longer among the dead to. receive one’s questions. However, one should consider that an Initiate of his high stature is conscious of the world of the dead, regardless of whether he is incarnated or not. Therefore I consider this objection invalid. Another objection may be that he stated that one can ask questions only of dead persons one has known in life, and most living persons, including myself, have not known him personally. However, he also stated that the equivalent of a personal connection can be established by getting to know some very personal aspects of the dead person’s life, for example his handwriting. By reading Rudolf Steiner’s autobiography as well as accounts of many people who have met him and have worked with him, and by studying his literary and artistic output, one can actually achieve a degree of acquaintance with him that goes deeper than what one would have acquired by meeting him personally in life. Given this deeper acquaintance, this second objection is invalidated. There remains the possibility of a third objection. One may fear that one may become dependent on Rudolf Steiner in a way that encroaches upon one’s freedom because his answers would be planted in one’s heart rather than being placed before one like a book. This objection is based on a misconception that sprouts from unjustified fear. One should remember his statements that modern Initiates are the greatest respecters of a person’s freedom and independence, and that he never wants to dominate, but rather be a counselor and a friend. That means that his answers are always in the form of suggestions of possibilities and clarifying insights. If one gives proper weight to these statements the third objection appears to be groundless.

If someone says that he or she has consulted with Rudolf Steiner and he said that this or that must be done, one can right away discard such a message, for it violates the conditions just mentioned. Any advice that rises up from the heart as an answer from the dead is never compulsive. Therefore any objection like the third one mentioned is invalid.

~Carl Unger