My own understanding and opinion is based on what I've been shown and is in no way definitive for all...

 

What does the other side look like? What do we do there?

I believe that we can and do create our own reality when we cross over, as time, physicality and space are no constraint.  

 

As for what Home looks like, well, there are beautiful open spaces with the typical imagery we have come to know as "Heaven", endless fields and skies, amazing colour, beautiful huge building structures such as Halls of Records and Halls of Learning… but on the whole space and time does not apply there as we know it here, so we can and do, create our own version of reality over there.

 

For example; if we wanted to recreate a favourite place from this life, we can, although this tends to be temporary as we learn to visit those places if they still exist here in the physical world. Even if we want to build ourselves a palace, we can, but equally we don't need to "be" anywhere at all, we can just exist in a pure light form.

 

We are talking about a dimension which is infinite in time and space. The limits of time and space we have here in the 3rd dimension don’t exist there so it is hard to comprehend that we can do this but it is possible. 

 

Free of burden caused by the necessities of day to day existence in a human body, we turn to what is important, love, peace and acquiring greater understanding of all there is.

 

So naturally there will be those who choose to be of service of some kind to their fellow spirit or to mankind here on this plane and those who wish to exist in a private state of bliss... My own brother refers to himself as a "spiritual paramedic" as he helps spirit become acclimatised to life over there after a traumatic passing, and he showed me there are many who work as he does. My grandfather’s great love was football; he showed me he visits all the matches he can here in the physical world now he is free to be where he chooses.

 

 There are some who work with healers here on the physical plane, enabling people to stay here long enough to complete their life plans if it is not their time to return to spirit when they fall ill. Many people who research disease cures are guided by teams in the spirit realms, often completely unaware of this spiritual guidance. So perhaps interaction or non interaction is a choice there just as it is here. I won't know for sure until I get there  :lol:  but based on what spirit tell me when they come through I don't know of any spirits who do "nothing" once they’ve crossed over - most choose to interact for the greater good in some way.

 

Do we remember past lives when we get to the other side?

We can remember all of our lifetimes once we pass, and all our loved ones therein.  

We meet and recognise our friends and loved ones from each one, as they are all part of our soul group. 

This is because we have a soul memory, which is much greater than the limited memory we have in the physical body. We just don’t remember them all while we are here. Often our spirit guides have been our friends or family in previous lives, and they are always members of our soul group.

 

Do Heaven and Hell exist?

No, but there are many different planes of existence. So for example, Hitler won’t be in the same place as Gandhi!

 

Most of us will go back to a beautiful world which is very similar to the descriptions of Heaven we are all familiar with. Lots of greenery, warmth (but no weather) golden light, glass towers and buildings, waterfalls etc.  

 

When a person who has willingly chosen to harm others with their deeds dies, there is a dark plane of existence waiting. Those who go there have a potential eternity of darkness, wandering about aimlessly, absorbed in reliving their mistakes and wrongdoings, even enjoying it - and therefore stay stuck - not learning. But they do have choices to leave that plane, there are exits to lower planes which become apparent only at the point when they realise they lived wrongly and are genuinely remorseful and sorry for doing so and having hurt others.

Some come to this conclusion quickly, some never do.

If they realise they were wrong, there are two huge gateways, one on the right, and one on the left. The left door is one leading straight back to rebirth in the physical plane where they can choose a blueprint to teach them most about what went wrong, to see things from an entirely different perspective.

 

If they make that choice, then when they return to Spirit from the next lifetime, they may feel they have atoned for past deeds or learned the lessons they should have last time around, and the right gate is opened for them to progress to one of the lower planes of existence. This is where they are given the opportunity to work through what went wrong, to be counselled and learn. It is then up to them and their choices whether they progress further to lighter planes, or get "relegated" down to darkness again.

 

There are however some truly dark souls who just want to snuff out any glimmer of light they see - especially in children as their light burns brightest. These low entities tend to remain earthbound by choice eventually because they know from a past life or lives that the dark place awaits, so instead they choose to deliberately linger here and cause havoc. However they can be banished back to the dark plane by a medium trained in this aspect of spiritual work.

 

It is often those who learned the most painful lessons that become great spirit guides, knowing both the light and dark sides of life and spirit existence. If they have truly atoned and progressed so far as the lightest planes with the darkness far behind them, then there is no chance they can become dark again because the desire to be so is just not there any more.

 

Are those who commit suicide treated differently on the other side - do they go to the dark plane?

Troubled souls who commit suicide are not sent to a dark and horrible place – they do however have to go through some serious counselling on the lower planes before being able to resume normal spiritual existence with the rest of spirit. If you contemplate suicide then be prepared to be kept apart from those you love in Spirit for a long time.

 

Spirit who have taken their own life are met by spiritual paramedics and helpers to counsel and go through what went wrong with their life plan, to help the soul discover and understand why it was wrong to end life prematurely.

 

People who commit suicide under the influence of drink or drugs are counselled just like any other, as they may just have been making a cry for help which they not have gone through with if they had been sober and of clear thought. The soul can be put into the sleep state if they need it. Mental illness can be just as dehabilitating as physical illness and as such requires just as careful and lengthy treatment to repair the spirit of someone who has suffered it.

 

Suicide is often the result of the soul losing its purpose and complete amnesia of the knowledge that everything happens because we wrote it that way before we got here.

Suicide is never written into the plan however, this is when it goes wrong and its back to the drawing board to find out what happened to prompt such a drastic exit. It is the spiritual equivalent from expelling yourself from school.

 

The good news is that there is no fire and brimstone or eternal damnation for suicides – just counselling, nurture and repair of the spirit so that it may continue with eternal life when they are ready to carry on.

 

 

Do we miss the body when we leave it?

Once we leave the physical body, we really aren’t concerned with what happens to it. Obviously we do prefer a respectful send off - but that is more about saying goodbye to our loved ones rather than mourning the shell we leave behind.

 

Think of it as shedding a skin, or as a vehicle to get around in that we no longer need. We dispose of it and move on to exist without the need for a vehicle, it was just a vessel to get around in on the physical plane and possibly just one of many if we choose to come back in the future. In the spirit world we don’t need a vehicle, we exist as pure energy.

The exception to this is when people who have been murdered may choose to remain earthbound to try to communicate with the living so that their remains are found, but this is rare, most often they are collected by loved ones at the moment of death. As most of us will have attended our funeral soon after death, then we will have said goodbye to the physical shell.

 

On the other side, do spirits stay at the same age and appearance as they were on Earth? 

Spirit don’t stay the same age, as there is no concept of being an age in our terms once we are in spirit form again. We can present ourselves as whatever age we wish from whichever lifetime we have had, or just exist as pure energy with no form at all.

We can create our own appearance and surroundings in spirit, but choose to communicate with the living as we would have them remember us to preserve familiarity and aid recognition through a medium of our own clairvoyant experiences.

Many spirit people choose to appear to each other "in their prime" which is usually the appearance of a thirty year old or thereabouts!

 

 

Do spirits always communicate at the same age that they were when they passed over?

Not always -but most often they do choose to communicate with the living as we would have them remember us. This is to preserve identification, familiarity and aid recognition through a medium or our own clairvoyant experiences.

 

I have found that spirit children can initially come through as older or the same age they would have been here if they had lived longer, to prove to the family that they do go on and grow in spirit, although the actual growth is spiritual - that of experience and knowledge, love and compassion rather than feet and inches! They try to communicate with us on our level, in our frame of reference and understanding.

 

Do we become "whole" again when we cross over?

We become "whole" once again when we cross over, for example if we lost limbs or were maimed terribly at the point of death, we don’t stay like that, and we immediately resume form. Earthbound spirit may not however, and can appear disfigured in an apparition.

If a long term illness was suffered - there has been long suffering to the soul as well as the physical body. In these cases the soul is greeted by loved ones or "spiritual paramedics", and then placed into what is called the "sleep state" to help the soul to heal. The soul is healed and becomes whole again during the "sleep state", which can last anything from weeks to years. 

 

What is the "sleep state"?

This is a term I was introduced to by Spirit. The "sleep state" is a healing process for the soul. It varies between weeks, months or years (in our perception of time), depending on the severity of the damage to the soul while in the physical body.

 

For example, a person who was a physical shell of their former self through a long-term illness such as cancer could be in the Sleep State anything up to 2 years in our concept of time. The soul is placed in "sleep mode" in order to be nursed back to the spiritual health required to cope with the rush of sensation upon returning to Spirit. This "repair" of the soul is essential, as we are spiritually drained after a long battle with a physical illness.

 

I have a description of this in physical imagery terms so that I can try to help others comprehend it. I was shown that after a short time of adjustment to the spirit state, the spirit person places themselves in a beautiful white marble temple, open on all sides to the Spirit world landscape -waterfalls, spires, towers and golden fields. The spirit is aware of almost being "cocooned"- of feeling loved and nourished spiritually, surrounded by loving carers, (some of whom are loved ones you have known in previous lifetimes and in Spirit from your soul group) who channel and radiate pure love, light and healing into the soul. It is a state of pure rest, complete and total restoration.

 

Does a person who had Alzheimer's or mental illness recover after passing?

Absolutely.

All our "faculties" return once we return to Spirit. I have received proof of this from my own brother Simon who was mentally impaired by a lack of oxygen at birth in this lifetime and is now whole again, and have had visits from my two great aunties who suffered with dementia for many years before passing.

It is often the more highly evolved and intelligent Spirit who choose to walk wholly or part of a lifetime in these shoes, in order to gain experience for their work back in Spirit. They choose to gain the understanding first hand in order to help others like them on their return to Spirit. For highly evolved beings, it is enough just to experience what it is like to walk in those shoes. Often that is reason enough for a highly evolved spirit who has seen many lifetimes - but difficult for us to comprehend on the physical plane, as we would ask, "But why would we want to put ourselves through that?" ... yet our spirit simply answers "Because I can".

 

How does the divine presence manifest itself on the other side?

The “divine presence” is not a persona, it is more an incredible force of pure love, life, good and creative nurturing energy and understanding that we all come from, and all return to.

 

Calling it “God” or whatever is just sticking a label on it. It is too vast and all encompassing to merit a label. George Lucas had the right idea in Star Wars – the whole concept of “the Force” was as close a description as possible to what the God consciousness truly is. Referring to this universal life force as “the Source” is probably the favourite way I describe it… but then how do you define the indefinable?

 

I’ll put it this way, in all the readings I have ever done, not one person in spirit has said to me “Do you know what Rach, you are sooo wrong, I’ve met God”. But I have been shown how we are all part of one huge source of creation, a single all encompassing force of pure light and energy that we all go back to.

 

If we are on Earth to learn some lesson for our "beingness," what purpose is there in human "progress?"

Humanity has learned to make fire, clothe itself and has become most adept at killing itself.  

What value comes from human progress? If we've learned to combat disease, cure cancer and the like, what does it mean on the "other side?"

To me human progress is all about making improvements to help our fellow man - a great number of the man made evils in this world came from an idea that had good intent behind it then got twisted.

 

We are given the ability to invent, create and build so that we can prevent people from leaving the planet before they achieved their purpose according to their life plan. We also learn the consequences of our actions, be they good or bad. If the consequences are good or bad, we learn along the way anyway.

 

Life here on earth is a big school/boot camp/science lab depending on who you are and where you fit in here on the planet.

 

That is how I've been shown life and indeed progress is perceived on the other side. But this is only my personal experience. 

 

There is a desire from Spirit to help us when things go wrong here, they feel our pain and suffering and help us - but at the same time the help is given with the knowledge that the suffering is finite - because we always go back to Spirit - the pain will always come to an end, thats why so much bad stuff happens, its not forever, just a temporary thing to bear until we return to the spirit state again.

 

 

Why do babies and children die?

It is always so sad for those of us left behind when a child passes on, especially hard and heartbreaking when a baby doesn’t survive. It seems so unfair and wrong ...but please believe me when I say gently this was meant to be exactly as it was, and there was nothing that could have changed it or prevented it.

 

We as spiritual beings living a human existence, live many lives, I have seen so many of my own and the lives of others that I accept this to be fact...

 

In the planes of existence where we reside between lives, we have little recollection of what it feels like to be in the human form here. We are safe, happy, surrounded by loving energy and there is a complete absence of negativity in any form.

 

In our true spiritual essence we have an insatiable thirst for knowledge and enlightenment. Part of this desire to experience all that is, includes choosing if and when we come here to the earth plane to learn something new in physical form.

 

Some souls find it very difficult to be away from the light and love of the spiritual planes and deliberately choose to have a very short time here. It is often those souls who decide to go back before experiencing the trauma of the birth process, or go back shortly after birth because being born was all they wanted to experience.

 

Before we come here, we write ourselves life plans, sometimes full of heartrending challenges as well as joyful times.

 

If you can try to imagine ... that this earthly plane is the closest we come to "hell", then this is the place where we learn the most painful and incredible experiences, right here. And then it makes sense that we grow most from experiencing both sides of the coin, suffering as well as loving.

 

I know that those who pass back to spirit quickly are incredibly elevated and enlightened souls, just as my brother was. Only those souls who have learning of amazing capacity choose such a brief and challenged life here. Only those who have lived out lesser traumatic lives tend to write themselves lives devoid of such challenge. You must also be a very experienced soul in your spiritual progress to have written a life where you would choose to experience the loss of a child, to have agreed to this in your life plan too.

 

I hope this makes sense so far...

 

I see life as an eternal one, stretching behind and before me, in a huge loop. We never truly lose anyone, and we will always meet our loved ones again between lives, and will agree to return with them time and again in different lifetimes in order to share new experiences and new challenges to learn from.

 

Please know that our babies and children are fine and well in the world of spirit and that their stay in the physical world was indeed intended to be brief. They knew before coming here they would find being here too painful after birth... they can only tolerate it for short periods. Their lives all but a few may have always been brief here for this reason.

 

When I first questioned the death of a baby with my guides, I was told that these souls often decided to come here purely for the experience of being in the womb, being loved, nurtured, hearing a mother’s heartbeat, feeling unconditional love from a mother for her child. The medical conditions or circumstances that makes sustained life impossible are part of their design... there has to be a cause to enable them to return to spirit quickly.

 

If you have lost a child in your family, know that they are often with you, surrounding you with love and gratitude for having given them this experience of life here... please try to think of them as a great intellect, who chose to be a part of your family until the time came when they had to return to spirit as planned.

 

If this sounds too airy fairy or strange, it took me a while to understand when I was first shown this too, after all we can only see things from our limited experience of the world here while we are here... so I understand completely if this is hard to grasp...

 

When I lost my brother, the world stopped turning for a time... and knowing that there is a reason for this loss has helped me carry my loss a little easier than before I knew why it had to happen.

 

 

How do babies communicate from the other side?

Spirit who were babies in their most recent life often show themselves to me initially as points of light, or stars around the sitter if I am doing a face to face reading. They choose to introduce themselves in this way as this is a symbol I recognise to mean this is the stage they were at in life here, rather than confuse me and the sitter by coming through as an adult or older child at first. Once identified they communicate in a completely adult way just like any other spirit person, as in spirit terms this is how they always were and always will be in spirit form. The only exception to this is when I’ve encountered mass graves where spirit may be earthbound due to a traumatic event which resulted in sudden and huge loss of life in confusing circumstances. With a little help from a medium these souls can be counselled and reminded of who they are and collected by loved ones or guided back Home.

 

Can children see spirits?
Yes. Children are the most recent arrivals from the spirit world, and more open minded. They might not even know if what they are seeing is a spirit or a physical person; it’s all the same, all just people to children. They are not preconditioned to ignore the unexplained. Ever seen a baby or a child laughing at someone over your shoulder? It’s usually a loved one pulling faces! Children often have conversations with spirit too, and spirit children who are earthbound (i.e. have not crossed over to be their eternal selves again) will be drawn to our children to play with, so they may be who your child is playing with or arguing with over which toy to play with next!

Is there any concept of time or eternity on the other side?                                                  

Time is acknowledged when communicating with us lot in the physical world for our needs and our frame of reference... but in spirit it is not important as it has no meaning there in how we live. It is precisely because we know in spirit form that we have eternity there that time ceases to be important.

 

Why do spirits of family members I never knew in life come through when I want to hear from someone else? Some of them crossed over before I was born!

Spirit communication is 100% on Spirit’s terms – anyone who claims to be able to contact a spirit on demand or "pull someone through" is not being very ethical. Those who are able to come through from Spirit, can and will!

It is often the message we are most longing to receive that Spirit decides we are just not ready to hear at that moment in time. If our grief is raw, we might not be in the right mental state to hear what we think we need to hear. They only want what is best for us on our journey.

Another reason that Great Auntie Ethel might come through instead of your preferred loved one is that unknown to you they have been working with your guide by gently assisting you since your birth (or their passing -whichever was first!). Most often they connect because your loved one isn’t able to communicate from Spirit yet and they volunteered to pass on a message (for example if your loved one is in "sleep state" perhaps).

One of the most common reasons for an unknown relative to "pop in" first is what I refer to as "The battery" effect.

This is when one or more loved ones, ancestors or family members who perhaps weren’t that close to you in life have more experience or energy, and so connect with us first to provide the energy required to enable another loved one to communicate. Kind of like a slipstream effect.

 

They will usually give info to loosely identify themselves before bringing the other(s) through on their vibration. It might not seem relevant to you at first, but as the reading goes on it becomes apparent that others are coming in via that original link.

 

It takes so much energy to make the connection with us from Spirit - imagine trying to communicate telepathically with someone on Mars, - or standing in London with a megaphone trying to talk to someone in Australia ...that might give you some idea of the spiritual energy required just to get one symbol or a word through!

 

It can be disappointing when the person you wished for doesn’t come through during a reading, but at those times it is the overall message and guidance that is important for you to focus on, rather than the messenger, as Spirit deem it to be what you need for your positive spiritual journey and growth at that time. 

 

Note how you are feeling about your life and the universe at the end of a reading - do you feel better/happier/more at peace, positive and at one with yourself than when the reading started? You should! If not, the medium or clairvoyant has not done their job properly. Messages from spirit are positive and intended to give proof of survival after death and guidance for those of us still here.

 

 

How do I know my loved ones can hear me in spirit and visit me?

So much of what we "know" is based on the results of our beliefs. We "know" microwaves conduct heat because we see the results of that energy. We "know" electricity exists because we see the results of that energy, too.

You will "know" your loved ones hear you because you will see the results of their visits with you. They will leave you a sign, whether it be a moved photo, object, a flicker of the lights, a favourite or meaningful song the next time you listen to the radio, a feather, repeated numbers seen everywhere.

Spirit can communicate well via electricity since Spirit is pure energy vibrating at a much faster rate than when we are in physical form. I experience this manipulation of energy often during readings, the CD player or iPod usually skips when Spirit is making a strong point. I can usually tell how strong the point is by how severely it skips! If I am taping a reading, sometimes the tape stops or pauses for no apparent reason or is sometimes blank. (N.B. some Spirit don’t like being taped!)

Ask your loved ones to visit you in dreams – you will recall the dream and conversation with clarity when you wake up. Send loving thought out to them, speak to them silently or out loud, they will know what is in your heart. Have patience and trust that you will receive the validation that you are heard.

A recent validation for my fiancé’s family was a photo album which fell open at a certain picture mentioned the day before after communication that a loved one had arrived safely in Spirit. It was the uniform she was wearing in the photo & had mentioned to me - her way of confirming that it hadn't been wishful thinking & that she was fine. Validation comes in so many ways, some so very subtle.

 

 

  

Why do some spirit guides present themselves clearly (i.e. appear in front of you!), and some choose to communicate more subtly?

This is dependent on where we are spiritually, and is not always about how Spirit chooses to come through. We experience what is appropriate for us at that particular time in our development. We all have different things that we came here to experience. That is why each of us while in the physical, has a different experience! For example, I ask that Spirit do not appear in front of me, as I find it off-putting! I prefer mental communication from Spirit as I feel it is more direct and less info is lost in the transfer. Some experience direct connections, some see Spirit all the time, others experience more subtle connections, some are sceptics, and some are open. We each have a different path, therefore our experiences vary.

 

 

Sceptics say that "the dead are incapable of communicating with the living because they are not conscious of anything that happens on the earth" What is a rejoinder to that argument?

If a sceptic does not believe in an afterlife then they won’t believe that the spirit goes on, therefore what can there be left for us in the living to communicate with? A sceptic will never accept, understand or believe in the afterlife until they receive their own personal proof of it via their own senses. I should know, I was one of them once!

Until someone they loved or cared for who has passed to spirit gives 100% unequivocal proof to them directly (no mediums involved) that they exist in another form of energy then I cannot convince any of them, nor do I want to. It is not my place or purpose to convince or convert anyone, if they don’t want to believe that is fine by me and is their choice. A healthy dose of scepticism is required to stay grounded in this line of work anyway, so sceptics don't bother me as long as they are open minded!

 

A medium will never be able to convince a sceptic because there is always a chance in the sceptic's mind that the medium may have “obtained the information elsewhere”. My response to that argument is that in my case, I have far better things to do with my tiny bit of spare time than research people’s backgrounds just to impress random people I don't know! I have a life :0)

 

 

Is there a separate spirit world for animals?         

                          There is no separate spirit plane for animals; we all share the infinite spirit planes together. Space is not measured there so there cannot come a time when there won't be room for us all... Animal spirits can offer us guidance and wisdom; Shamans have known this for thousands of centuries. The Mongolian and Native American nations long saw the wisdom and protection that animal spirits can give us if we listen.

 

Everything that applies to human spirits applies to our animal friends on the other side too.

 

They can visit us, (my childhood cat visits often, even though I have moved home many times she still knows where to find me!) and our animal friends are waiting for us when we cross over. They are always part of the welcoming committee and often choose to stay close to our loved ones or members of our soul group until our time comes to say hello to them again.

I've personally spoken with many people on the other side during readings who show me they are taking care of animals for the sitter until they are reunited, so I know this to be true.

 

I've received no evidence yet that animals reincarnate, but I can't dismiss the idea. I do know that we humans only reincarnate as humans; we don't ever come back as animals and vice versa - animals remain the same species in the afterlife as they were here. So for example a cat perhaps can come back again one day, but only as another cat.

 

However based on the evidence I have seen with my own eyes, animal friends usually choose to wait to be reunited with their human friends again, so perhaps they don't reincarnate quickly, if they choose to at all.

 

Animals can even make the connection from the other side themselves, they can certainly express affection and emotion through a medium, and we can often see them too.

 

Even if actual words aren't formed by our animal friends during their communication, the medium can feel their joy at being in Spirit, and gratitude if a difficult decision had to be made to end suffering on their behalf in this world.

They can even sometimes show us images of memories they have from this life.

 

I have never felt a negative emotion from an animal regarding their passing, only ever pure happiness that any pain was over for them and, (if the situation applies) gratitude that their human guardian had been brave enough to take the decision for them to make the transition back Home. No animal has ever expressed sadness or anger to me.

 

Our animal friends can choose to be wherever they wish to be, they know where they are, and know where we are…even if we move home or country, it is their link with us that remains constant and connected, and they can choose to visit us often until we see them again.