the other side
Connecting With Your Psychic Self
We all sometimes have unusual occurrences or extraordinary experiences that are not easily defined, or understood, by logic or practical thinking. Many of these events are often psychic or paranormal in nature.
For example, I am clairaudient and therefore I frequently hear voices. Earlier in my life I did not understand what this was, but I have since learned that there are sometimes conversations going on that I am privy to …conversations that are emanating from the Other Side, from beyond this world.
I don’t always recognize the spirits, or understand the gist of the conversation, but I no longer have any qualms accepting these auditory perceptions as a psychic or paranormal phenomenon. Of course, there are experts in the fields of Psychiatry and Psychology who will certainly not not agree!
Dreams are a common psychic phenomenon for many people. You might have had particular dreams yourself, where the events that you dreamt actually came to fruition. We all sometimes dream the future and this indeed qualifies as a psychic experience, and a psychic ability we all have.
Many of us experience lucid dreams, and some even have daytime visions. We typically do not trust that it actually was a psychic vision, or we question whether or not it was only our imagination. Well, what is imagination if not another word for visual creations?
Connecting With Loved Ones In Spirit
We can connect at any time with our loved ones who are no longer in this world. They are with us always, no matter where we are. Whenever you feel the need, you can communicate with them, be it a grandparent, parent, sibling, best friend, or anyone else who you had a meaningful relationship with while they were alive.
Connecting with our loved ones in spirit is not as complex or difficult as it may seem. You just have to believe you can, and you absolutely will. You can project yourself in your mind to any place you wish. It can also be a time in the past, that you wish to revisit. We have the power of our mind and if we only use it we can go wherever and visit with whomever whenever.
If you have the desire to see them again, you can ask for them to visit you in the dream or in the astral realm, or you can go into a meditation and visualize, and connect that way. Close your eyes. Remember them, as they were in life. Recall the feelings that you experienced when you used to be around them, the love that you shared.
Your heart may start to feel ‘tingly’ and you may start to hear their voice. You may even receive a message from them. They may tell you how much they love you. And they do. Always. It is that very feeling of love, that true, pure emotion, that connects us to those we love on the Other Side. Love is the very energy that created everything.
Do not ever feel hopeless that you are disconnected from or abandoned by your loved ones. They are a part of you forever, and they are right where you are now. They merely exist on a different plane now.
Spiritual Courage
When most of us hear the word courage, certain ideas come to mind of going beyond our normal range of responses to life, or beyond our perceived comfort zone. We may think of courage as standing up to a bully, or taking a risk in life, or leaping forward in blind faith.
Not only are we treading into new territory when we engage courage, but we are leaving behind an old pattern or belief system that has prevented us from stepping beyond what we have feared most. To be courageous and to step beyond our fears, we need to be willing to succeed, or fail.
Failure to most people means not meeting a goal. But what if failure also means to remain stagnant? When we look at courage to help us break free of limiting circumstances or beliefs, it becomes easier to be courageous, because we see that not being courageous has only kept us trapped in repeat cycles. Furthermore, to varying degrees, it often causes unhappiness in an area of our life.
I had a male friend who looked much younger than his age, and always looked happy. When I asked him what his secret was, he simply replied, “Courage.” He said he would do something to scare the pants off himself at least once a month! I laughed, but saw the point he was making.
He loved being in nature. He would ski off huge cliffs, go skydiving, and participated in many other activities that take guts to do. My friend is on the Other Side now, but he visits me often with his message of courage.
Opening Up To The Spirit Realm
All of us will experience the passing of a loved one at some point in our lives. It is very painful to deal with the aftermath of such a loss, but the ability to communicate with our loved ones on the other side can help to alleviate this trauma.
Since my daughter left this life over five years ago, I have been able to clearly and distinctly see her at any given time, which has been extremely gratifying for me. I has assured me that that she is now in a much nicer, calmer existence.
Her lifetime in this world was at times trying and extremely painful. Part of that was to repay her karmic debt, and the remainder was her individual spiritual journey which had to play itself out.
What I also enjoy is being able to experience with my own eyes how her new life is now so entirely different from the one we shared during her brief stay here. While in this life, she was not such a domesticated character, for example. Obviously she cooked and cleaned to take care of herself and her family, but she never would have been considered a ‘homemaker’ or a ‘kitchen aficionado.’ Quite the contrary to being a ‘domestic goddess,’ her heart was always much more geared towards the creative, artistic, free-spirited side of life.
She painted and sculpted, and wore outlandish clothes with the most confident panache. Her taste in her own personal wardrobe was unusual to say the least, and her home and yard were always decorated with complete abandon and eccentricity. She also was in such total compliance with nature, it was a joy to be able to experience that interaction with her.
The Blue Jay – A Sign From Spirit
I grew up Christian. My mother was devout and my father followed, yet was not as much of a believer. I remain very spiritual in my adult years, but although I still hold my belief in God and spirit, I no longer follow any particular religion. I also have no doubt there is an afterlife and that our spirit lives on. One of the most significant moments of faith and joy on my spiritual journey happened when my father was sick and dying.
He was a magnificent man and I loved him dearly. He was my rock, the anchor in my family. He truly was that one person in this world who was always there for all of us. When he was losing his health battle, I tried to speak to him about faith, as I could tell he was afraid of dying. It was so sad for me to see him with so much fear, as he used to always be such a fearless man. Until now.
He told me he did not know for sure where he would go or what would happen to him, once he passed. He had tears in his eyes. He said, “I believe there is something after this life, but I am not sure about Heaven, or what it will be.” I could tell he was actually very afraid, and it broke my heart. I tried to reassure him. “Dad, I have every faith that you will live on in spirit,” I said.
He was a patient in palliative care, with about a month left to live according to the doctors. He was struggling emotionally. It wrecked my heart every day to witness his fear and uncertainty. He had also been very worried about those he was leaving behind.
Eventually, we reached the time where he was losing consciousness. He was drifting in and out, but while he could not do more than utter a sound or squeeze my hand, I knew he could hear me, as he would continue to respond.
Death Is Never Final
Most of us have lost someone dear to us, whether it be a grandparent, parent, child, friend or co-worker. And when this happens, many of us wonder why, and what happens next? Know this: death is never final.
Death is simply the spiritual essence leaving the physical body. Each one of us is born with this spiritual nature, our soul energy or spiritual essence. We are given a physical body to carry us through this journey on Earth, and throughout this life journey our physical bodies change. However, our spiritual essence remains constant from before our birth, and carries us forward to many other realms and new incarnations, beyond the physical death at the end of this lifetime.
My clients are often concerned about their departed loved ones. Is my mother in pain? Is my family okay? Is my child still suffering? Is my husband safe? Is my friend stuck in between worlds because she took her own life?
The simple answer to all these questions is: yes. When we pass, our physical body is no longer needed and our spirit simply returns to the Highest, or Heaven, or Universal Love, or Source. There is no ‘hell’ or ‘bad place’ after this life. It is all good for all of us. It is a place of peace and simplicity. A plane of existence or realm of the utmost, purest, highest state of unconditional love.
When we lose someone close to us, the essence of their spirit returns to us at different times after their passing. You may see, hear, sense, or even smell them, and sometimes even feel them touch you. All these experiences are real. If you feel them around you, they are there. If you feel a feather like touch on your cheek, they are there. If a scent reminds you of someone, they are there. If you swear someone just sat on your bed, but no one is in your room, they are there.
The Halloween Ghost In The Art Gallery
A couple of decades ago, I was opening a new location in downtown Santa Fe for the owner of a chain of art galleries. As a gallery director by profession at the time, I was excited for this opportunity. Furthermore, it was an interesting location from a metaphysical perspective, due to its previous occupants. Once upon a time, it had been a part of the local bus station, and it was directly across a former burro alley from one of Santa Fe’s oldest hotels.
I noticed a subtle, yet potent energy in the gallery space from the beginning of the endeavor. Clearly, some spiritual entity was attempting to direct the gallery through me, and had other ideas about what kind of art should be displayed here! Of course, it did not match the kind of work the absentee owner had in mind. But I was being pushed psychically to consider more traditional pieces, as opposed to the contemporary focus that the living owner required.
An interesting event happened when I hired a contractor to build some art storage, which was also to serve as a divider between the showroom space of the gallery and the office area. Every time the contractor would work on the new art storage bins, there would be a kind of rustling noise after he left. It was unmistakable, yet every time I would try to locate the source of the noise it would stop, as if by magic.