What Happens When We Die

The two most detailed books that I’ve come upon that describe the process of physical death and the afterlife are Journey of Souls by Michael Newton and My Life After Death by Erik Medhus. There are also many books and YouTube channels dedicated to near death experiences which I found to be consistent information. I’ll summarize what I’ve come to understand. 

The transition from the physical state to energy can be a beautiful experience. The high level process seems to be consistent across near death experiencers, those under hypnosis, and mediums. However, there are some details of the transition to the other side that can vary for example the colors viewed and who is there to support the spirit transitioning, whether it’s spirit guides, loved ones and/or angels. 

It's important to mention that in all the accounts I researched, there really wasn't any pain associated with death. For a sudden death like a car accident or a fall, spirits describe leaving their bodies before impact. It seems that the soul pops out of the body right before it happens and is supported by angels and spirit guides. For long term illnesses, it is described that the energy starts to transition to the other side before physical death. Deceased loved ones and spirit guides will be surrounding the person months before the final time of death. Relatives may notice their ill family member talking to deceased loved ones prior to the physical death because they actually do see and hear their deceased loved ones since their energy is starting to transition.

When physical death first occurs, the spirit is in an energy form in the shape of the human body. They are standing next to their physical body a bit surprised, feeling confused. They describe that they don’t feel attached to the physical body but more of a curious feeling. This is consistent across all near death experience accounts. There is a good reason for the feeling of detachment to our body at this stage of physical death, it is so that we will move on to the next stage of our journey. 

The spirit has a choice if they want to stick around to support family members and observe the events soon after death or they can go into a light. More evolved souls may go straight into the light and be in the spirit realm quickly while younger souls may go through a tunnel of light to help with the transition. Whenever people describe the “light” it’s like there’s a gravitational force pulling them into the light and the light is like a warm blanket full of love and comfort. Erik Medhus describes the light in a very detailed way. “Slowly, the white light started to turn into this glowing silvery mist with all sorts of beautiful hues that I don’t even know how to describe. It was like I was going through a nebula but with a rainbow of many colors.”

Once the spirit is into the light, there are different gateways they can be guided to. They can be guided to a reunion with loved ones and members of the soul group, they may need to meet with their spirit guides to discuss the life right away, or they may need to go into a hospital-like setting to rehabilitate their energy. If the life and/or death was a challenging one then there are hospitals or healing centers where souls can rest and be showered with light to clean their energy. These different gateways or stops are broken down into detailed chapters in Journey of Souls.

At some point during this process, the spirit now a soul back in their Home goes through a life review. It’s described as a detailed review of our life where we feel from the perspective of ourselves and also from the perspective of anyone we interacted with. The little moments of kindness and love towards others is applauded. For example people often describe that the spirit realm isn’t interested in how much money we make, how well we do at our jobs or the sports we play but the spirit realm applauds when we care for animals, when we water plants (because plants are souls too), when we show compassion, empathy, kindness and love toward others. The life review is heavily discussed in near death experience accounts because it changes their life when they return. It’s also emphasized that there’s no judgement but it’s more observational what we did well and not so well in the life. 

After the initial process of returning through the gateways, souls return to their natural home within the spirit realm. Michael Newton describes this as a classroom setting where souls are together in a soul group. Soul groups are much like a family where they are souls that grow and learn together and are at a similar evolution level. We incarnate on Earth with soul group members over and over again but play different roles (see blog post on the Soul Plan). After souls arrive back with their soul group they are summoned to appear before a Council of Elders. The council performs an examination of the prior life but this is done without judgement but more with observation. Many people that undergo Life Between Lives Hypnotherapy have experienced this Council of Elders. 

In all my research, I didn’t find anything about a hell-like location. There is no judgement or punishment on the other side. What I did find is that someone may want to punish themselves with a hell-like environment due to their fear, shame, or guilt felt in their human life but if they ask for help then spirit guides, angels, or even Jesus will show up to bring them into the light. Also this was very rare, I read maybe one or two cases like this in hundreds of accounts I reviewed. My understanding of humans that hurt others like terrorists or murderers is that they need to work with their spirit guides and will need rehabilitation of their energy. In all my research it seems that souls are their own biggest critic. I believe that this is because it's a soul's natural state to want to evolve.

I’ll also mention that those that commit suicide are not punished. In Journey of Souls, Michael Newton performed a past life regression with someone that committed suicide in a past life and that soul was a bit bummed out that he left that life early but there was no punishment. There are also many near death experiencers that describe a suicide attempt and feeling unconditional love on the other side before being told it’s not their time and sent back to their body. This is consistent in mediumship readings as well. Suzanne Giesemann explained during our mediumship class that she has done many readings for people with relatives that committed suicide. Those in spirit that committed suicide always explain that they were met with unconditional love. See my blog post called Suicide from the Perspective of the Spirit Realm for more details.

Souls seem to be very busy on the other side. Souls sit in classroom settings to learn, they travel to different realms, play games, socialize, have jobs, and even do human things like drink coffee on a porch. Obviously the souls that just returned from Earth will relax in a very Earth-like environment. Overall, souls are in joy and bliss in the spirit realm. In the near death experience accounts I reviewed, the colors in the spirit realm were frequently brought up. There are many colors on the spirit side that we do not have on Earth. Another interesting point is that the spirit side is always described as so much more real and sharp. The human life is often described like a dream by near death experiencers and that the spirit side is our true home.

Souls can appear however they want in the Spirit Realm since they are made of energy. Souls may appear in the form from their most recent incarnation at the age that was their favorite time period for that life. This is why many times, when humans do see spirits, they see them in human form when they were in their 30s or an age when they were healthiest. Another interesting fact is that in the Spirit Realm, souls identify each other by their energetic vibration because every soul has a unique energetic pattern, so it's not like souls need to be in a specific form for identification.

In regards to emotions and senses, Erik Medhus, in his book says, “I can’t hold on to negative emotions. I’ve actually tried but it takes too much effort”. Since souls are in the form of energy, they can manifest whatever they want. In regards to senses, Erik also says that he can’t taste food but with his energetic body he can merge with someone on Earth who is eating pizza and can taste what they taste. He says the same with smell where he can merge with a flower and smell it. There isn’t physical touch but when two spirits touch, the energy merges together. In regards to sound, it's different because it’s more like a vibration. For sight, I’ve read that souls can see 360 degrees. This is all consistently reported across near death experiencers, mediums and those under hypnosis. 

There comes a time when the soul is ready to incarnate once again. There is a long process to determine the soul plan. Specifically the time period to incarnate in, family members, location, challenges, and exit points all need to be discussed and planned out. I describe this in more detail in my blog post on the Soul Plan.

This is a summary of course. Take a look at my list of book references if you are curious about more details.