When we die, are we dead?

This is a question that has both religion and science intrigued. Some people believe ‘when you’re dust, you’re dust’, and others believe in an afterlife and perhaps even reincarnation. This blog is not about who believes what or who’s right. What I’m about to share with you, is based purely on my own experience and perception.

Many years ago, I was living in a century home that had the reputation of being haunted. There were lights that turned on and off on their own accord, as well as things that disappeared from one room and reappeared in another. Eventually, I brought in a native shaman to cleanse the home. He confirmed the presence of a family of three spirits who had experienced painful memories in the house. By cleansing the negative energy from the home, we freed them from their pain. Somehow, the shaman’s visit caused a life altering change in me. From that time on, I was able to sense the spirits’ presence. In gratitude one of them, a woman who introduced herself as Victoria, made contact with me. For a brief moment she connected with my soul and conjured up such overwhelming joy that I can only describe it as a glimpse of heaven. I felt my soul trying to float up and out of my body, but as I was fully conscious at the moment, it was firmly tethered inside me. From that moment on, my entire life changed from stress and fear to fulfilled and mindful being.

A few years later my mother in law passed. She was fully conscious when she died surrounded by her family. Of course my immediate reaction was one of grief until a few minutes later I became aware of a brilliant spirit overjoyed at being free of an aged and failing body. It is hard to describe the conflicting emotions of seeing her dead body and sensing her overwhelming joy and energetic presence.

A couple of years later, I was watching over my own mother as she passed. Her death came slowly after a few days of intravenous morphine. We sat around her bed and continued to hold her hands, even after she had taken her last breath. It took about twenty minutes, before I sensed her gently floating upwards and away through the ceiling. It seems her bemused spirit took a little while to realize that it was free. A few hours later she appeared in my dreams, taking me on the most wonderful adventures and sharing her joy at being free from age and dementia.

When we lose a loved one, we miss them in our life, but just because they died, doesn’t mean they’re dead!