God to You: “Mi Casa Es Su Casa!”
A lot of people talk about Heaven as God’s home, but it’s your immaculate dwelling too. Heaven is where we all come from and return to, and a lot of times when Spirit talks about people finally dying and traveling to the Other Side, they call it “going home.” As someone who watches a lot of HGTV, I love hearing about how Heaven looks. God sounds like one heck of a decorator!
Those who’ve had near-death and out-of-body experiences are overwhelmed by the indescribable beauty, magnificence, and intensity of the Other Side. All the light, landscape, colors, and feelings the soul encounters—they’re literally out of this world! Those who’ve experienced Heaven say there aren’t even words to describe the feelings and sights, because we don’t have the same things on earth, so the vocabulary that we use here falls short (God is described as so much more than we could ever explain too). Our language also can’t fully depict what visitors remember about Heaven because you don’t just feel, or see, or hear there—all of these things happen at once. Ideas aren’t studied, they’re “implanted,” and even that makes it sound like a wacky sci-fi film, because they don’t know how else to describe what they experience! I can relate to this frustration with words, though, because when I talk about what it’s like to channel, I also have a hard time finding nouns, verbs, and adjectives to describe the sensations I feel and “know” to be true. It’s like trying to draw a rainbow when you have only one crayon.
Heaven isn’t just a productive pit stop between lives for us, or simply where God, angels, and other divine souls “live.” It’s a place where we feel intimately connected to His endless, perfect love. And because God is love, Heaven is a loving place. In Heaven, there’s an all-embracing feeling that you belong, that you’re treasured, and that you’ll never feel judgment, blame, envy, fear, ego, anger, or other destructive emotions that you do here. People who’ve had NDEs talk about how they’re overcome by feelings of acceptance, forgiveness, and a love more powerful than anything you could receive from your closest family, friends, and pets in the physical world, because it is so pure. And as you grow to levels closer to God, the energy frequency becomes more intense, as do these positive sensations. Though there are many levels and dimensions in Heaven, I don’t know if it is above us or parallel to us, which is another topic that mediums debate. What matters is that Spirit is always within the warmest reach, whenever you need them.
Some of my favorite near-death stories describe Heaven as having dazzling, colorful landscapes with children playing, people singing and dancing, and animals scampering around. In church, I was taught that the streets are paved with gold, the gates are made of pearls, and the walls are decorated with sapphires, emeralds, rubies, topaz, amethyst, and other gems. I also think that Heaven may appear different based on what level you’re on, and I wonder if it has unique features for everyone, depending on who experiences it, when, and for what purpose. I think of how various mediums can interpret messages and the afterlife differently, because they filter it through their own experiences and priorities. Maybe our interpretations of Heaven are customized in a similar way.
Remember the young boy Brian Murphy that I mentioned in chapter two, who died during a family vacation? Brian’s father, Bill, keeps in touch with his soul in mind-boggling ways, and Brian’s had a lot to say about God and Heaven. For one, Brian has told Bill that God is a “brilliant point of light, energy, and love that is beyond anything man will ever comprehend.” And on many occasions, Brian’s even taken Bill and his family on what Bill calls “soul journeys” that feel like very vibrant and surreal dreams, as they sleep. When telling each other about the dream the next day, each family member who went on the soul journey remembers the same details from it. During one trip, Brian’s soul took Bill’s to Heaven. Here’s how Bill described it:
We walked through an enormous building similar to the Greek Parthenon. We passed angels that had radiant, golden auras who seemed to be filling out records. We then went out the back and there were children playing by a stream and waterfall. Everything was crystals and gems. The water was so clear, it seemed as if it wasn’t even there. There was also the most beautiful singing, and it wasn’t outside of me so that I was “listening” to it, but it was inside me and around me at the same time. I could not tell you a direction it was coming from, but it made me feel totally safe and at peace.
Brian went on to show Bill that there are different levels in Heaven, and said that the purpose of our existence on earth is to try to live a life that brings us closer to the next level and God, who is at the highest. Brian has also explained that he was an old soul that had lived in the physical world many times and reached a very high level. It’s at these higher levels that you can interact more easily with earth, which is why Bill thinks Brian can take him on these journeys at all.
I see Bill and Regina for yearly sessions, and Brian has told me that he recently went to Jesus and asked if he could have a new responsibility—to help some children cross over, rather than having God send an angel. He said that the angels were so big and the children so small that the kids were sometimes frightened of the angels. Spirit told me that Jesus laughed and gave Brian the job. Okay, so I totally realize that last part doesn’t have anything to do with what God or Heaven looks like, but I wanted to share it with you anyway, because I thought it was really neat.
Pray It Like You Mean It
Communicating with God can be personal and powerful. If you’ve never prayed before, I don’t want you to be intimidated by it; prayer should feel like the most natural thing in the world, because God is in all of us. While meditating is listening to God, I think of prayer as asking God for what you desire. Spirit also refers to praying as “praising a higher power.” Different faiths have various rituals that accompany prayer, and God honors all of them if they’re done with a full heart and pure intent. Just because I say a Novena or the Rosary doesn’t make me more religious or closer to God than you. And while I also believe God is the greatest source of healing and providing, Spirit tells me it’s also okay to direct your requests to souls of faith, angels, guides, and even your loved ones. As you know by now, there are a lot of souls on the Other Side with divine abilities and contact with God. They work in conjunction with Him and can also “pick up the call”—though when you pray directly to God, I believe He’s the only one that hears you.
During my prayers, I’m careful to always practice certain gracious habits. For example, no matter what I’m requesting, I do it with gratitude. Before I ask for whatever desire will fill my soul, I thank God for the blessings bestowed upon me. I also don’t use the words “I want” or “I need”—at that rate, why not say, “Gimme gimme”? I ask God for his assistance in helping me to be patient, or to grant me the strength to behave during a testy situation. I also say “thank you” with the assumption that my request is already on its way to me, instead of saying “please,” which sounds like begging. Showing gratitude before you receive a blessing also implies that you have faith that He’ll deliver. I always pray as passionately as I can, so God knows the intensity of my needs, and finally, I’m crazy specific. I’m not sure why Spirit doesn’t intuitively know what we want, but they don’t. They’re very literal-minded. Getting particular also helps me better understand what I do and don’t want, so that I recognize the answer to my prayers when I see it.
So, for instance, let’s say you’d like to meet Mr. Right. Your prayer wouldn’t sound like, “Dear God, please send me a husband,” or “Hey, God, can you send me a good man?” Instead you’d say, “Dear God, I want to thank you for my family, my work, my dog . . . I also want to thank you for introducing me to a man who’s tall, dark, handsome, has no facial hair, is financially stable, loves and respects me . . .”—and so on. It’s okay to yap God’s ear off. He’s a good listener!
If praying doesn’t appeal to you, you can visualize what you desire instead. Maybe praying sounds too religio
us, or right now you’re not talking to God because you’re upset that a loved one died. Visualizing your needs is another way to send a message to the Other Side about what you long for, because you’re in a meditative state that opens you to Spirit. You’re also focusing on your heart’s desire with a clear intent, similar to when you pray. To try visualization, sit quietly in a meditative state and empty your head. Surround yourself in white light and root yourself to the earth, like when you’re meditating. Then, in your mind’s eye, paint a specific picture of what you’d like.
Let’s try an example. Say you want to expand your family. While sitting quietly, you’d visualize every aspect of that beautiful baby—from a healthy gestation, to a safe birth, to the child’s arrival and transition into its new home and family. Engage all of your senses. Feel its fingers wrap around yours, smell its hair, picture the infant smiling up at you, hear it gurgle and coo, taste the child’s skin when you kiss its tiny forehead. Repeat the visualization every day.
As for me, I like to be extra thorough and both pray and visualize at the same time for an ardent one-two punch. So when I want Victoria to be happy in college, for example, I pray to God to watch over her, and then I visualize Him protecting her in His incredible white light and Gram sitting on the bed to calm her. I see her getting to class on time, studying, having fun with friends, and making all the right choices about boys, school, and how to spend her money.
Another thing: because God gave you free will, you can’t rely only on prayer and visualization without making an effort yourself. God’s not your genie in a bottle, and magical thinking isn’t Spirit’s cue to give you what you want. As another for-instance, if you want support in a meeting, you need to prepare for it. What you would then pray and/or visualize is that your rehearsed words flow perfectly from your mouth with ease and grace, and that everyone hears you and is in awe of what you have to say. See the difference? You will when you start practicing these techniques!
Finally, it’s good to pray for your loved ones who’ve crossed over. It’s not the Catholic in me saying this; Spirit talks about it a lot too. Their souls know when you’re speaking to them, and your prayers send them energy to help them on their journey on the Other Side. Thank them for their guidance and pray that their souls reach the highest attainable level of God’s light and love. You don’t even have to do this as an organized prayer; just thinking about them with love helps them as well. Consider it a way of “giving back” for all they do for you behind the scenes.
Spotted: Celebrities in Heaven
I’ve talked a lot about God and other well-known divine beings, but you’ll also find celebrities on the Other Side. This shouldn’t be too surprising, since they’re departed souls of humans like you and me. US Weekly has always said that “Stars are just like us!” and I’ve channeled the souls to prove it. We always read about how “They carry yoga mats!” and “They swim in pools!” Another valid caption? “They go to the Other Side!”
What’s funny is that a lot of the celebs I’ve channeled have come through as a surprise. I didn’t sit with the living family member of a famous person for a soul to show up. The souls made cameos in random people’s readings on their own, which may say how accessible they are in the afterlife. I guess there’s no velvet rope in Heaven!
I’ve had musicians step forward and make many meaningful points. First, there was Elvis. I read a woman, and her husband’s soul came through to tell me that his family had a Christmas tree with all Elvis ornaments on it. So I said, “Who liked Elvis?” and the woman goes, “My husband was obsessed with him.” Just then, I heard a voice say, “Elvis is really dead”—and I saw a blinged-out, white jumpsuit with bell-bottoms and a poof of black hair. The woman probably wished her husband were around to tell him the news, but since he was on the Other Side too, he already knew! Also, I read a girl in Howard Beach, New York, and I said, “Michael Jackson’s soul is here and telling me that you have a T-shirt from his 1982 tour.” The girl looked stunned. She was a huge fan. She said that she was wearing the shirt before she came, but changed it at the last minute. Michael then stepped forward to thank her for being a fan. Also, when he came to me, he didn’t appear with one glove or how he looked toward the end of his life. Departed souls show themselves as either how you remember them or how they want to be remembered. Michael came as a child, and I interpret it as him always being an innocent soul.
Artists have come through to comfort the person I’m reading as well. The rapper Tupac stepped forward to console a guy whose friend died in a drive-by shooting, which is how Tupac died. There was also a girl who lost her mom, and Spirit wanted me to ask if she liked Whitney Houston. First I saw the mom’s soul, and then I saw Whitney Houston wearing sunglasses with a scarf wrapped around her head, like in The Bodyguard. The girl said her mom wasn’t Whitney’s biggest fan or anything, so Spirit then showed me her mother driving in a car with Whitney, while the two sang “I Will Always Love You.” The women were crying and laughing at the same time. With that, the girl gasped. “On our way here,” she said, “me and my girlfriends were singing that song, laughing and crying hysterically.” Not only was that her mom’s way of telling the girl she was with her at that moment, but in Heaven, Mom was also with Whitney! The talented singer showed herself to me in a way that she wanted to be remembered—as a strong and beautiful woman who cares about her family and others.
Though it’s always remarkable when famous souls drop in during a reading, I really enjoyed channeling a regal president. In Queens, New York, I read a guy who was tattooed, bearded, and tough-looking. In a quick flash, I saw Abe Lincoln’s soul standing next to him. It was like, boom! Abe Lincoln! I told the guy that Abe was with us, and he flipped, because he wasn’t only “a fan” of our sixteenth president but also one of those guys who did Civil War reenactments. Oddly enough, I’ve since heard of other Abe Lincoln Spirit sightings throughout Queens. Don’t ask me why, though I know Lincoln and his wife were very spiritual, especially after their son William’s death. But maybe Abe has a fondness for New York City’s boroughs because when he died, his body was paraded through the streets in a funeral march on its way to his final resting spot in Springfield, Illinois. Or maybe he’s just hanging around Arthur Avenue, hoping to scare up a cannoli.
Big-shot Spirit can also stop by for the heck of it. One of my favorite stars was so coy and charming when he came through that it really illustrates how you keep your personality in Heaven. I was drying my hair and about to take a call from the booker for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Out of nowhere, I wondered if Johnny Carson was dead. I yelled down to Larry, “Did Johnny Carson die?” and he goes, “Really, Theresa? Yeah, freaking Johnny Carson is dead.” So I turned the blow dryer back on, and Johnny says to me, “You’re going to my old studio.”
Johnny then showed me a quick filmstrip of a skinny hallway lined with photos of old guests. When I got on the phone with Leno’s booker, I said, “Hey, listen, Bob, I had a visit from Johnny Carson, and he’s telling me that I’m going to his old studio with pictures lining the hall.” But Bob said to me, “I don’t know, Theresa. Johnny Carson did die, but we’re in a new building. He never filmed The Tonight Show in this building, and we don’t have hallways like that.” So I thought, Okay, that was awkward. But I guess I can’t be right about everything!
I did Leno, and it went fine. The next morning, I was on Access Hollywood, and as soon as I walked in, I saw a huge mural of Jay Leno with a hallway veering off, but I didn’t go down it. I was getting my eyes and lips touched up just offstage and began channeling the makeup artist’s brother who drowned. All of a sudden, Spirit literally pushed my face to look over to my left and into the dark, empty theater. Who do you think I saw? Johnny Carson, wearing a tan suit with brown shoes, reclining back with his feet up on the stadium seats. He was right in the middle of a row that was in the middle of the theater. I told everyone about it, but I was like, “What is Johnny Carson doing here?
” One of them said that for about a year, he filmed The Tonight Show in the Access Hollywood studio. And that hall I told you about with the Jay Leno mural? If I’d continued down it to the breezeway area where they load equipment, I would have seen Johnny’s mural on the other end. Spirit was practically announcing, “Heeere’s Johnny!”
7
E Does Not Equal MC Hammer
“Energy” is a science-y term that psychics like to use a lot, though I’m not sure many of us would say we missed our calling as professors or technology gurus. I’ve met my share of mediums, and I’ve never heard any of them confide, “Gosh, I really wanted to be a physicist, but I knew talking to dead people would make me more popular at parties.” Are you out of your mind? If you handed me a radiometer, I’d probably use it as a paperweight. Even when the kids needed help with their science fair projects growing up, it was a group effort at our house—me, Larry, my parents, we’d all pitch in. And believe me when I say that I was rarely the one steering the rocket ship.
But I’m going to do my best to explain a little more about how energy relates to your body, your soul, and the afterlife in a way that’s easy to understand. Up until now, I’ve talked about how God is energy, our souls are made of energy, and how our energetic vibrations get stronger as our souls grow and as we ascend to higher levels of Heaven. I’ve also discussed how souls with stronger energy communicate more clearly and with more personality. To tease out the rest of this topic, I’ll try not to sound too academic or metaphysical, but if you have a thinking cap lying around, you may want to put it on. This might be a lot to process if you haven’t had your coffee yet or thought about this stuff since high school.
There's More to Life Than This: Healing Messages, Remarkable Stories, and Insight About the Other Side from the Long Island Medium Page 15