Words on Death and Dying from a Spirit Medium

Our ideas about death and dying are jumbles of conjecture based– sometimes loosely, other times firmly– upon religious sentiment, religious dogma, scientific fact, personal fears and personal experience. Thus, a Catholic woman may spend hours praying for the soul of her deceased son. Meantime, a dyed-in-the-wool man of science may refute the possibility of “life after death” and label any belief system which posits or enforces an understanding of the soul as an immortal and essential component of a living person a hollow institution propagating a fiction. The questions concerning the concept of life after life are many. They are as myriad as are the notions people hold concerning the identity of God.

What makes— and keeps— mankind so riveted to this particular concept? What drives human beings to continue to seek out answers for questions pertinent to the theme of mortality? What factors, other than a base fear of extinction with the ebb of life perpetuate this fascination with death? I ask the reader to remove a fear of damnation as such a factor. The terror which some hold regarding damnation and other, milder forms of perdition is a fear which obstructs ones view at the simple question. I am not attempting to state that such fears are not valid, nor am I daring to assault the religious sensibilities of those who have taken to heart such ideas. I do, however, want very much to escape the confines of this rigid thinking; at least while examining this topic. Otherwise, there is no way to properly explore what peculiar mystique “end of life” issues pose to members of the global population who do not believe in Hell.

Who has the right to talk about death? Rhetorically speaking, I am asking you to answer this question within your own mind. Is this subject really the province of the clergy? Or is it a topic best left to science? Should scientists be leading all serious discussions about death?

My personal take on that question is that nobody has exclusive authority when it comes to the exploration of morbidity in serious conversations. This is a matter of equal importance to clergy men and physicians, chemists and mystics. When we talk about death, I believe that the most unlettered person may offer a pearl of wisdom culled from personal experience which may far outweigh the collective value which one hundred profoundly educated men may posit regarding this subject matter. These men may be as studied and familiar with the most intriguing and contemporary data on death, or “Near Death Experiences” as possible. Yet, the experience of a middle-aged woman from Angola who has experienced her own brush with death may move and inform those who listen to her story in powerful ways which speak to the heart.

My own opinion contends that human beings are obsessed with the concept of death because we are the vainest of all species. We are the only animal which actively seeks to build a reputation during life; which is fundamental ingredient for the establishment of a legacy after bodily death. We spend an inordinate amount of time—while still very much alive—concerning ourselves with notions which revolve around legacy. We spend far too much time planning for the endurance of our unique identities. The idea that our personality and beliefs will die with the body is a major motivating force operating behind the fixation which death is for so many people.

Some people do not seem to acquiesce to the idea that death will efface the meaning or value of the life they have industriously created. Instead, they actively work at creating a legacy; insistent that their names will not only be remembered after death, but spoken in centuries yet to come. This seems like a wasteful pre-occupation when I wonder to myself: How many Ciceros and Aristotles are currently walking about, talking, thinking and working? Few names from the Ancient World retain their cache or hold their value.

The grand majority of men and women now living will be remembered by a generation or two of family subsequent to their passing from this mortal realm. This plain fact does little to prevent the enormous amount of planning certain individuals perform while living regarding funerals and memorial services. Nor does it slow the enthusiasm some exhibit when it comes to the design of headstones and monuments; demonstrating a demand that they will not, must not be forgotten.

Yet, they will be forgotten. No matter how grand the headstone or family crypt, the personalities beneath, or within, will only be vaguely hinted at to those who pass by these monuments in future centuries.

The need to be remembered and fear of being forgotten are readily evidenced when walking in an old cemetery. The stones stand in silence, some remain utterly mute as the elements have worn away words, names, and dates.

The fear which generates the desire to live on is accompanied by others. I further believe that human beings are so habituated to earthly pleasures and pains that death is a terrifying concern. Many persist in their belief that death is the ultimate and most final finish to every human life. Furthermore, such people also believe that there is nothing afterwards. They maintain a belief that once they have died, they could not possibly experience any sensation, not joy, not sorrow. These people’s eyes are sealed to the idea that the physical world is ephemeral and the spiritual is finite. These folks are likely to call such belief the stuff of fantasy. Some may go so far as to label it delusional thinking.

The notion that spiritual matter is more lasting and sturdy than is the matter we can palpate and know through our five senses puzzles and upsets certain people. This is no wonder, as we are taught by so many influences that the physical, the tangible, is real. We are correspondingly educated to believe that those things which are not capable of being experienced through our senses are fictitious. There are others who accept the idea that there is a world around us made of spiritual tissue, but that which is of that world is weaker by nature than is the temporal world.

Many people do believe that spiritual beings are frail and ephemeral by nature. A ghost, such a person may rationalize, is nearly always explained as being flimsy and translucent. Therefore, spirit matter is not hearty or sturdy.

As a medium, my own philosophy concerning this topic is the polar opposite of the sentiment I just explained. I am quite sure that the things we experience on earth, things composed of “hard matter” are the objects which will lose their form and design most rapidly. Spiritual material is something I liken to a fabric, which is enduring and indestructible. Steel and stone may seem more durable than cloth, but I am writing about a cloth we cannot readily see. We may, however, examine the physical history of our planet and know that mountain ranges rise and fall; oceans and lakes change form or evaporate.

I fear more for the loss of a favorite shirt far more than I fear for the loss of my life. I think of it as a folly to waste time entertaining anxieties about losing something which is not an article to be lost. I understand that this is not the way most people approach the concept. I realize that some would say I was guilty of disrespecting the gift which life is. That is not my intent, and my words are meant to soothe the minds of those whose lives are compromised by the fear of death.

Whether one believes his identity will cease at death, or believes that he can cheat death by becoming a subject of conversation and fame, he still has not made peace with the fact that it is approaching in a natural way. He is running and phobic, ruled by a vile sort of trepidation which is deeply instilled within the mind.

Rather than run (demonstrating the intense panic some feel when they contemplate death and dying) I remain quite static and hopefully this demonstrates the peace I feel regarding my own mortality. To stay still, not showing a fear of death seems an evasive stance to achieve. Of course, I too have qualms about death. My own fears are centered upon how death will come— I do not wish to die in pain. I fear suffering at death, but I do not fear death.

Our anxieties about death have much to do with our being quite largely left in a dim and dark space. Our apprehensions are allowed to expand in that same environment, where the unknown is the best catalyst for the existence, growth and vitality of fear. If fear, unchecked, clogs the mind with frightening or futile thoughts—then death will quite easily seem like the most terrifying reality. Since bodily death is an inescapable reality for all women and for all men, then it is no marvel that human thoughts often revolve around death.

Many people live for long periods of time throughout which they never give death much thought. This is rarely a perpetual condition. Unless an individual is cut down in his prime, his thoughts will eventually become filled with questions about death. This happens quite naturally when people age and see friends and family members capitulate to their own mortality. Or it happens when a healthy person receives a diagnosis for a terminal illness from a health care provider. No person is able to walk through life and never see, hear, touch— or be touched by— death.

Death looms over the beds of the ill. Death checks his wristwatch when the elderly awaken. Death may well be appreciated to be present at the birth of each new child.

For many people, death is darkness. Death is a “Black Angel” a ghost of terror, a “Grim Reaper. But is he really? Is this sort of characterization appropriate— or is it simply a portrait painted by the hand of a race of people whose dread of death is heavy, dismal and absolute?

I am asked by many people to offer them my own opinions on death. I am asked chronically about death. People seem to feel at home discussing death with me. Sometimes individuals appear as comfortable discussing this concept with me as they might be when speaking to a minister. I am always humbled by this. Due to the serious nature of the questions I am asked, I have made it a goal to examine the myriad customs developed around the globe at various times in history.

Death is a rather unusual concept and reality to be questioned about so frequently. However, since my work does have much to do with death, I fully expect to be asked questions about death. In truth, I welcome these questions as they allow me a solid opportunity to allay the apprehensions and anxieties with which people grapple. Still, there is nothing I can tell anybody about death which has not already been written about, broadcast, gossiped over or filmed. Again, the public interest in this topic is vast, and saturates all manner of human thoughts and productions. If one need question that death saturates human thinking to the point it manifests in human creation, one need only visit any museum which houses fine arts, read any major sacred text or note the presence of the Obituaries printed in most newspapers. Or simply recall the popularity of the critically lauded cable television series Six Feet Under.

If I have devitalized my own authority by proclaiming the truth: That I have no more to say on this matter other than reiterating the sentiments of others— I urge you to finish reading this blog. I may not be able to relate something absolutely ground breaking, I can explain my unique comprehension of this subject because of the manner in which I relate to death. I am a spirit medium; I have seen “proof” which validates my lack of timidity concerning death.

I offer with indomitable zest my many experiences as a medium and as a person who has been through his own Near Death Experience as the solid foundation for the beliefs I hold concerning this subject. They are not based on an empty faith. The garment of my belief is not simple tradition I learned by rote in some Sunday school class. Religion, however, did play an important role in the evolution of thought and beliefs I uphold and now am in the process of disseminating. My own background in the religion of Spiritualism bolstered the strong ideas about death I do possess.

I suppose I would have accepted all of this on my own subsequent to the first time I had to chafe against death. I had my first Near Death Experience during a debilitating bout of encephalitis at age nine. I do not downplay the family association with this religion, because it assuaged all of the fears which began to grow in my young mind as I recovered. Not only did the spiritual vantage point of this faith assuage my concerns about death– It annihilated them.

I can tell you emphatically that there is no “death.” There is no death as perceived by most— there is no cease to the soul, or its smile– or the spark beneath it. Whatever lights that up, whatever animates the spirit is a material which is so utterly indestructible, so permanent, that it survives ultimately and forever. The concept of death as a period at the end of a sentence is a terrible folly. The fear which that concept generates is a wicked delusion, set upon others by those who regard it as bankable currency. In reality, or in my reality, the validity of that concept is nil. Other concepts of death, specifically those informed by religious texts are interesting to toy with and even challenge. I will not imbue any religious teaching with my own distaste for it. Like any other person, I have opinions about some systems of faith which are positive and others which are not.

I will readily go on the record and voice my own disapproval of religious teachings which attempt to regulate human activity by enforcing any belief in damnation. To me, this is wickedness; a terrible wickedness which wields a power over the mind of any believer in such theocratic scare-tactics which is absolute. Such spiritual threats are, in my opinion, likely the cause of acute psychiatric scarring.

I do believe in Hell, but not in the traditional sense. As spiritualists believe that we “make our own happiness as we choose to live our lives according– or in defiance– of nature’s laws” ( I am paraphrasing) I personally believe that Hell is a reality. It is here, and many do experience it as they walk through their current incarnations— I suppose we all do at some time and I suppose that some people experience more of it, or that some feel the pain it brings with a greater intensity.

I believe that we can make Hell out of our lives quite effectively while we are “alive.” Hell is an Earthly reality.

So far as my belief in a “Heaven” goes, I have no issue with that concept, or with the word. Indeed, I often use that word to describe the place or state we arrive at when we die. Yet, my own belief system is one which holds that the bliss of Heaven is a grace a human soul will know only after it “perfects itself” by living through as many earthly incarnations as is necessary in order to achieve the right and ability to experience, know and fully comprehend true Paradise.

I do believe in reincarnation. Many are astonished by this, because they assume that I must live within the restrictive confines of strict Spiritualist thinking— and therefore I must believe that following death every human soul enters into the realm of Spirit. I understand this confusion. After all, how am I going to tell anybody that I– or any other medium– can put a person living on the material plane “in touch” with a person who is now a resident of the spirit plane when I am issuing a conflicting message… How can I “talk to the dead” if I believe that the dead are reincarnated into new bodies?

Before I answer I want to first say that while I do believe in the creed and principles or Spiritualism, that there is no despotic consensus amongst Spiritualists where the concept of reincarnation is concerned. Some believe in it, others do not. I also want to say that there exists no conflict between my identity as a medium (who speaks with the dead) and my belief in reincarnation. It is that last sentence which provokes the most consternation when I speak on reincarnation.

Here is my brief “apology,” or explanation: Our own ideas about time and space box us into a cell where we have difficulty comprehending why a soul which is supposedly moving on towards a new bodily incarnation would linger around long enough to speak with a spirit medium. In fact, I feel as though our capacity to think in terms of what appears most logical only is the clumsiest and most staunch stumbling block which foils us when we try to make sense of what we are taught to believe is nonsensical. We do not know how many dimensions there may be and our very strict interpretation of time makes it far more simple to believe that if we reincarnate it must be something done immediately. This sort of thinking doesn’t allow much support for belief in things such as rest between lives.

I am a believer in the notion of rest between lives. I also hold a belief that there are souls which do reincarnate speedily. Sometime I am unable to “get” information from a person who has passed on. Perhaps they have reincarnated. This seems likely to me, as the quickest and most accurate identifying information is furnished to me by souls who exited this plane rapidly, violently, with unresolved issues– or at their own hand. Thus, it would appear that more “rest” is needed. Or that the time to make contact with those they left abruptly is allowed or provided for as they linger, waiting for the time to make themselves understood via a spirit medium, or by their own persistence in a particular place where they may physically manifest or cause physical disruptions in order to prove that they are still “here.”

If we are, indeed, capable of speaking with the so-called dead, how is this achieved? More importantly, how is this explained? I believe that mediums exist in order to fulfill this role. Why one person is able to serve as a medium while another is not is the subject of debate. This is an intensely esoteric concept, and a proper explanation would require a much longer venue than a blog. I am perhaps risking doing a disservice to mediumship by speaking so quickly, but to sum up the “explanation” for how this works, I offer you the following:

I believe that our dead are often very close to us. So close that some can “feel” their presence, and others may “hear” their thoughts. The ability to understand spirits is perhaps best explained by the idea that we are all “vibrating” at a certain frequency throughout our lives. Those who we understand to be dead are actually vibrating at a higher level than is the human soul encapsulated within a living, physical human body. When we do “cross-over” we then vibrate at that higher level. People such as me, people identifying as “mediums” are naturally capable of making two-way communication with the spiritual essence of the dead because we naturally vibrate at a level higher than most people and lower than that at which pure spirit does. I also believe that each dimension of existence has a vibration which is peculiar to that dimension.

Those who have “crossed-over” to the next, most immediate dimension are the most accessible because the dimension occupied by those who have died more recently is that which is closest to our own plane. (I use the word plane as a synonym for dimension). The essence of wise figures from the distant past or the spiritual material and cognition of Angelic Beings or “Ascended Masters” are more difficult to reach. This is why people attempting to communicate with Ascended Masters or Angels— or even God— often are seen chanting, breathing rhythmically, or meditating. They must do something in order to raise their own vibration to a level high enough that perceiving and understanding these beings is facilitated. Of course, people talk to Angels and to God every day without doing any such thing. I believe that such people are heard by these spiritual forces. To be heard is simple. However, in order for a person to hear the wisdom or guidance of such beings, then it becomes necessity to raise the vibration– via meditation or by other practices which facilitate this communication.

Mediums do not necessarily always prepare for communication with the spiritual energies of persons who we think of as being dead. Persons who serve as “channels” for higher spiritual identities– those who are more spiritually evolved, such as “Ascended Masters,” always do prepare. I channel my own guide only on the occasions when I feel an urge to do so. This urge, if you will, dictates that I immediately prepare, for this feeling always means that a specific wisdom— or message—is forthcoming and must be channeled. It is rare that I do channel my guide for any client. Most are not ready for the type of message they will receive. Many are perturbed by the physical changes they appreciate in my visage as it contorts… Some find his accent difficult to understand. “His” accent has been described to me (after re-emerging from trance) as “Indian,” “Haitian,” or “Asian.” My guide has allowed me to understand some of his earthly incarnations, and I can only assume that when he speaks through me, he utilizes an accent or form of speaking which reflects one of these— or that he speaks in a manner which he deigns is most likely going to impress the listener as authentic and powerful.

I do not do anything special in order to prepare for communication with the souls of “dead” people. Other than to respect the position I occupy as one who has been granted authority to live in a mezzanine, if you will, and to occupy this place in a responsible way— I do not go into an “Alpha” state or need to do anything out of the ordinary to prepare for work. When I do channeling work, I certainly always do prepare beforehand. But, as a person with a natural, innate ability to sense and comprehend the thoughts and emotions of those who are not “with us” in any corporeal sense, I do not require special preparation. I have almost always heard “them” and I have never feared “them.” This has always seemed natural for me, but I did have help along the way.

While I have had psychic ability for as long as I can recall, I do think that this ability was sharpened when I became gravely ill at age nine. My ability to listen to, talk with—and deliver messages from—spirit, developed as I recovered from encephalitis. The time I spent in “development classes” in the Spiritualist Church also whittled away any sort of cumbersome matter which muddled my other, my psychic, sense. I am indebted to certain people who served as teachers during my youth and into my early twenties. One of these wise, and beloved people, was my deceased maternal grandmother.

I am asked by many people whether or not I think we all possess psychic ability. The answer is that I do believe that all men and women are psychic, and that all people may develop this ability to the level they wish. I also believe that certain individuals are more likely to naturally maintain the psychic ability we all carry at birth. I do not believe that all men and women are mediums. I believe that a medium is born and not made. I do teach classes and workshops in mediumship. I believe that anybody can develop a certain degree of ability in that direction, too. But it is different, and most students seem to become stunted permanently at certain levels of development. reaction when I answer the simple, conversational question: “So, what do you do.” The reactions I receive when I answer this question run the gamut from curiosity, to happy enthusiasm and to disgust.

There are many people who will gravitate towards me at parties and get-togethers because I am “unusual” because I have chosen to identify as a medium and not shirk the responsibilities incumbent upon myself or upon anybody who does so. There are other people who will steer clear of me because they feel I am engaging in some verboten evil. Then, there are those with whom I must sometimes contend who believe that people who call themselves mediums are nothing more than charlatans engaged in a ruthless and low chicanery whose sole aim is to take advantage of the bereaved for financial gain.

This last group is the one which I feel the most uncomfortable with— because there are now, and have always been, many fraudulent mediums. I can understand the contempt they feel. However, they are often so closed-off to the idea that some of us are doing a great deal of good. I can only offer a glimpse at what I do, in an earnest attempt to prove that life is a continuous process. But, I would be lying outright if I were to state that I did not wish that this sort of skeptic were at least partly receptive to the notion of true, authentic mediumship. Skepticism is healthy; I am a skeptic. I have a rule I issue to anybody who is interested in pursuing a session with a medium: Follow your heart, but do not think with it. Wait until you have sufficiently dealt with your grief before running towards a medium. Run away from a “medium” who tells you that your loved one is hopelessly earthbound… Run from a “medium” if he demands, or subtly implies, that a donation of your cash or services can help ease the sorrow of any soul. A true medium understands that the door to reformation is not closed to any soul. True mediums will never ask a client to give money or services in order for the path to a more serene dimension to be opened for a soul who is “stuck” in an astral state.

My beliefs and opinions regarding death are based, mostly, on my own experiences. I have seen too many clients whose dead have “come through” with astonishing revelations and accurate information to be unconvinced.

Yet, I continue to question myself and my ability. I feel that when people— when mediums— stop questioning and start feeling like oracles, they become very obnoxious and repulsive people. The hubris which one can easily develop when working at this is a very special, very toxic kind of pride. I feel strongly that a medium is born as a medium and that such an individual, upon recognizing what that means and entails, must accept his or her role and then function in society. This does not mean that every medium is going to shout it from the rooftops, or make it his or her career. Some of the loveliest mediums I have had the pleasure of meeting have been extremely introverted, unassuming folks who relegate their work with spirit to time spent in church or with close friends and family. Then again, I have known several “career mediums” to be kind and giving spirits… Sometimes, they are extremely bright, but do not function well at “Nine to Five” occupations. That is me; I could do other things, but I would be checking my happiness at the door every day I arrived at work. I am grateful that I do not have to do so.

Again, my life is atypical because of what I do. We are so reliant upon career to define us that it is ridiculous. A coal miner is only a coal miner by trade. A physician may have an added amount of responsibility because of his choice of occupation– but occupation is only a facet of his identity.

In the next world, or dimension, what we did in order to make a living is not always going to matter– lest that occupation be vile or cruel by nature. What will matter then, and should matter now, is that we try to exist harmoniously with all others. What will matter is that we aren’t burdened by guilt or resentment. If one carries regret for behaviors in which he has engaged; or for words he has spoken in hostility will weigh down the soul and slow its progression. Regret must be processed in order to move ahead, unencumbered. Regret also signifies that your mind, heart and soul have the ability to feel remorse, which means you are a being of goodness. The most important thing you can do now to change forever is to set your wrongs right. Doing this now, and not later, is the only way one can assure that resentments and guilt will not be stumbling blocks to spiritual perfection

With Respect, Empathy and Well Wishes,

JEFFREY JUSTICE