THE HAUNTED HOUSE

 

I THREW IN MY BALLOT - ASK YOUR FEMALE RELATIVES WHAT THEY KNOW ABOUT THE WOMEN IN YOUR FAMILY and THE RIGHT TO VOTE

I threw my ballot into a box near our library here in California.

This is a good time to work on the women's history in your family.  Did grandma or great-grandma vote? Where and when? Why or why not?

What did the husbands and brothers think of this?

Did the women ask their husbands how to vote?

Did they actually follow that lead when they got into the ballot box?

Who doesn't vote now and why not?

All these things should be included in any American family history.

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SEEING THE UNSEEN : RAYMOND MOODY and THE PSYCHOMANTEUM

SEEING THE UNSEEN : THE HISTORY OF USING CLEAR DEPTH GAZING FOR AFTER DEATH COMMUNICATION

Dr. Raymond Moody is famous for his lifes' work on the dying and the dead.  He focused as a psychiatrist on those who could not let go of grief and who wish to communicate with a loved one who has passed on.

I once attended a grief support group and found myself to be one of the least grief-stricken among the others. Perhaps it was because I had accepted that the person who died would die, though I didn't think so young. Several in the group had lost the person they had long been married to and were having a difficult time adjusting, though no one there wanted that person to be in any more physical pain. There was one woman though who had a father who had commit suicide.  He had long been troubled and she was an adult who had never been close with her father.  Soon enough I learned that this woman would show up late, though she'd call to say she was on her way, and as soon as she walked in, she got everyone attention.  Though she might appear with a smile, she would seemingly go into a deep depression in front of us.  I'll admit that I began to suspect that she needed to be in psychiatric care and that this support group was just not enough for her. It was run by a well meaning woman who was very religious and who said she'd had some training.  I felt that this woman showing up late was an attention grab.  Perhaps she would not let go her grief, and depression was something she had inherited. I thought of that experience as I watched this film/

A psychomanteum is a special room, pitch black and fitted with mirrors and a comfortable chair, where people can go to see their dead loved ones.  It sounds spooky.  It comes from the ancient Greeks who had a pilgrimage site where they went through a ritual to prepare them for the experience.  Moody takes you to the archaeological site and explains what happens.

It is helpful psychologically to have the experience, which is not guaranteed.  Still, some people report what I'll call a manifestation.  Clouds, mist, images, sometimes a sound.  (No one reports having an actual conversation.)  Moody does not explain in this film how or why this works for some,only that it can be healing.

I found this all quite interesting and think you will too.

I understand there is a book with the same title that tells you how to build your own psychomanteum.

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THE LIGHT BEYOND - RAYMOND MOODY on NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES and SHARED DEATH EXPERIENCES

 

THE LIGHT BEYOND (DOCUMENTARY FILM)

At this time of year, the fall, we traditionally have festivals, rituals, religious events, and private prayers for the dead. So many people wish they had just a little more time with someone who was dying, so they could communicate more.  The work of Raymond Moody, a psychiatrist, on death and dying made him famous beginning back in the 1970's and opened the investigation.  From THE LIGHT BEYOND, we learn NOT TO BE AFRAID OF DEATH.

I think it's human nature to be afraid but Moody says even his own two failed suicide attempts became blessings in his life. And no, he did not make these attempts as a scientific experiment.

Whatever the culture or religious tradition, a person who almost died, or who was declared dead but revived, reports the same things of NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE.

1) Looking down from above at one's own physical body and understanding by hearing the doctor or nurse say that they have died.

2) Experiencing a tunnel or passageway and coming into a warm and loving light. To feel almost absorbed in peace and love and being welcomed by those who have previously died.

3) An increase in light.  Then, being surrounded by what could best be described by a holographic or 3D experience of every action they have done in your life.  The person feels the experience that they gave others.  The happiness or the pain.

4) What happens next I'll call "the reason for returning to earthly life."

There are four possible experiences reported.

You find yourself instantly back in your body. OR

Someone in that place tells you that you have to go back.  It is not your time. There is more for you to do. OR

You are given a choice. Some people say they did not want to come back but they knew they had to, for the sake of raising their children or some other important task.  OR

You beg and plead to come back.  Moody says this is rare.  They told God they had to come back.

Therefore, I would say that we do have Free Will or Choice, most of the time.

When people come back, they often change their values.  They know they must learn to love. They report no longer fearing death.  They say it's just another state of reality. 

But perhaps what is most exceptionally interesting is that there are people who were there at the death bed who are not ill, not dying, but report A SHARED DEATH EXPERIENCE.  People report experiences such as seeing the room filled with light.  They see apparitions of death relatives - perhaps the welcome committee. Some people say that the room itself seemed to change as if they were instead in some sort of altered or different geometry.  Some of those who are there at the death bed report co-living the life review experience.  Now, this is important, they may experience these things even if they don't personally know the dying person.  Some doctors and nurses report having such an experience!

You have to see this video to see the image of a ball of light that appeared and was photographed when a person died.

You'll want to watch this DVD at this time when death is so much on our minds.

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ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP FOR AMERICANS OF ITALIAN ANCESTRY / DUAL CITIZENSHIP #7 ARCHIVES MONEY

But...

DO YOU SEND MONEY?  HOW MUCH?

So, truthfully, I have tried to get a straight consistent answer on this question. And there is none. That;s because there is no central place for the Country of Italy.  Rather records are in REGIONAL ARCHIVES or DIOCESE. Basically, all the stereotypes you've seen in films that include Italians - police - investigators - and hotel personnel - seem to be, well, based in reality.  Italy is not America.  It doesn't want to be.  That's why you want to live there, at least some of the time or for a while.  You want the joy of life, the stores closed just because, the slower pace which just might be what you might consider a less professional take on work - different priorities.

I suggest you write to the archive and send a fresh $20 bill which you will never see again.  It is easy for American money to be turned into Italian money in Italy.  I can't say if this is a tip, a bribe, or an archival fee.  That and a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope. Let's say we want you to get a RESPONSE, which might be - all the documents you asked for - or a request for more money and a strong suggestion on how you send it.  I've heard that some records are free. 

I don't e-mail.  I figure people get more e-mails than they can deal with.  I like to stand out with a letter - a stamp - the cash. I hear the fees are reasonable.

A NOTE ON CIVIL RECORDS:

Depending on when and where your qualifying ancestor was born, married, or died, they may be noted on CIVIL RECORDS in addition to or instead of BAPTISMAL/ BIRTH RECORDS. Civil records can certainly work for you and if you can get them, you don't need the Baptismal/Birth records.

For my client that these posts are based on, that is not the case.  I used my personal databases extensively to try and pull up anything on this family and it seemed the story which was the basis for beginning research had some gaps or errors.  Like you, I try many spelling variations and so on in databases but no - nothing. And at some point you have to realize that you're wasting your time. That the best way is the Old Fashioned way - to write.

But let's just say that YOU DO FIND YOUR ANCESTORS on DATABASES, in CIVIL RECORDS and so on.  YOU WILL STILL NEED TO WRITE TO ITALY TO GET THE APOSTILLE COPIES that are needed as official documents in order to process your request for Italian or Dual citizenship.

We sent our first request into a DIOCESE ARCHIVE September 21st...

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Update mid March 2021. We have received no response from the archive in Italy and no call back from the consulate. An article on line in The Daily Mail suggests Italy mat be facing a third wave if Covid-19.

ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP FOR AMERICANS OF ITALIAN ANCESTRY / DUAL CITIZENSHIP #6 DOCUMENTS FROM ITALY

Now you must prepare to get your documents from Italy.  This is the part that has most Americans going belly up on their quest. It is confusing.  And you're dealing with - Italy.

Based on the location of birth, and  your history and map work, and hopefully supported by documents such as Naturalization, you have the name of a village, town, or city.

That year, what REGION was the place in?

So many people in Italy were baptized in the Catholic church.  Catholic church records can stand in or or be supplemental to CIVIL REGISTRATIONS, especially because of changes due to war.  You will want to LOCATE THE DIOCESE that likely included that place in their archival records. You will want to write to that archive.

Write to ITALY.  In ITALIAN.  If you do not write Italian, write your letter in ENGLISH, then translate it.  Google Translate can work.  I advise you keep your sentences small and your words simple.  Introduce yourself.  Explain that you are going to seek Italian Citizenship.  Say that you need official copies.  For each baptismal/birth for instance, you will say what your relationship to that person is.  I.e. My grandfather, my mother... Thank Them.

But...

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ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP FOR AMERICANS OF ITALIAN ANCESTRY / DUAL CITIZENSHIP #5 YOUR ITALIAN DESCENT

You should do whatever genealogy and obtain whatever documents you can that show you are clearly descended from an Italian person.  So far these are all documents located in the United States of America. 

Let's go over them once more.

Your birth certificate.

Your parents marriage certificate - if in the U.S.

Their death certificates - if in the U.S.

Their birth certificate - if in the U.S.

Naturalization Papers

Ship Records/ Immigration

Census Records - if at this point 1930 or before.  

In your final quest to obtain Italian Citizenship you may not need to submit an entire genealogy, but the more you have the better at this point.  You may encounter some "missing" pieces.  

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GIRL QUEEN OF PATRIOTISM

ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP FOR AMERICANS OF ITALIAN ANCESTRY / DUAL CITIZENSHIP #4 UNITED STATES DOCUMENTS

You may know, because you already have some documents, where the ancestor you wish to claim as qualifying you for Italian citizenship was born.  However, sometimes family stories or genealogy quests are confused by not reading the fine print, so to speak.

For instance, a ship record may ask where the person was LAST LIVING or WHERE THEY LEFT, which could be a seaport.  That does not mean that they were BORN at this same location.  Some immigrants got to the seaport and lived and worked there a while to earn their tickets for the ship.  And as many Italian men were seasonal workers in America before deciding to remain and claim citizenship, you  might find the same person going back and forth and information differing from one ship record to the next. Of course these records can be valuable.  They may be consistent.  One might mention a large city.  Another a village near that large city.  So get your maps out and look.

There may be a mention of relatives such as a cousin on the ship or a wife left behind.

Once the decision was made to become a citizen, a DECLARATION OF INTENT will have been filed.  For naturalization, to become an American, the clock starts ticking with these "first papers."

Perhaps  you have their NATURALIZATION / American Citizenship papers which give more details.  With the realization that these are official and governmental papers, immigrants are more likely to record accurately where they were born.  The naturalization papers might say that they renounce Austria - which could mean they were born in what is now Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, or Italy. But they should still give the name of a village, town, or city.

Do some research on that region.  What is it's history?  When did it become part of Italy?  Were there any changes in borders and when?  At the time that your qualifying ancestor was born, was that place Italy?

Even if it was not, you may still qualify for Italian Citizenship.  You'll just have to keep doing your research. 

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***

As a side, years ago while doing some Italian genealogy for a client, I came across an odd situation.  Knowing that Italian men sometimes came and went as seasonal workers in the United States, I felt pretty sure that the ancestor had come over three times before settling in Brooklyn.  The man, with same name, first and last, the same height, left the same town, left the same port, on the same ship line.  On trip one and two, about a year apart, I felt sure this was the same man.  On trip three, another year later, it seemed to be the same man but for one detail.  This man was noted to have a massive scar on his forehead.  The client said there was no way that man was from their family.  But before it was all over, they admitted their family had been in organized crime in Italy and in America. 

ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP FOR AMERICANS OF ITALIAN ANCESTRY / DUAL CITIZENSHIP #3 APPLICATION FORMS

Read over the online applications for Italian citizenship for American citizens due to ancestry - the most popular.  Print them out. 

Reading them, you'll see that you need to dentify who in your lineage is going to qualify you, if you can qualify at all. It will also tell you what information and documents you will need to apply.  For the rest of these posts, I'll call that person your QUALIFYING ANCESTOR. 

You will notice that you need official copies.  These are usually called certified copies, International Copies, or Apostilles. An apostille is a certificate that the signature of a public official (or an archivist) is authentic, in other words,  that it is not a forgery.  In your letters to archives and governmental agencies, you should mention that you are using the documents to apply for citizenship or dual citizenship.  These people are usually trained to provide what  you need, whatever term is being used.  Expect to pay extra for this.

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