The Otherworld, or Where Do We Go When We Die?

What happens when we die? Where do we go, specifically? Is there a Heaven and a Hell?

Death to us in this life is a finality. We've come to believe that it is an ending to one's glorious time spent here on Earth. We grieve for those who have died and are out of our lives, and often we can't be consoled by the many words our friends use, such as "She's in a better place" or "It was meant to be" or "It's God's plan."

I've been shown the Otherworld many times, both in visions while awake and in dreams while asleep. I've spoken to those in that otherworld, and I've watched them go through their transition phase. Death is not what many believe it to be.

When we die in our human bodies, our soul is released. It goes to another dimension or parallel world - I honestly don't know which it is, and it hasn't been explained to me in terms that I can comprehend. I call it the "Otherworld" because, well, it IS a world different from our own. Right after death, we might be confused or bewildered or not even realize we've actually died. Friends and/or relatives that we knew in this life appear to us, often within three days before we die if we have a terminal illness, and bring us immediate comfort; we realize at that moment of death that we are, indeed, still "alive" although not physically.

Every soul in the Otherworld first reflects on his or her human life. And by reflection, I mean he or she re-lives every moment, good and bad, and feels all the pain, sorrow, joy, humor, etc. of every single living thing we've come into contact with over our lifetime. We realize during that reflective period how our actions affected every person, plant, animal, mineral and the consequences that followed. In other words, we learn.  "Karma" means action, and our actions here on Earth all have consequences; hopefully we learn about those actions while still in human form, but if not, they're immediately clear to us during our reflective time in the Otherworld.

Even the people we consider truly evil go to the same Otherworld as the truly righteous go. Do the evil ones suffer? Not physically, but soul-wise, yes. Since all is known during the reflective phase, all is felt as well. Since all worlds and all beings are connected to each other (the "Universal One"), the reflective phase is a time of reconnecting to all - to the One - which is all the more poignant if the soul was less than kind while in human form. I realize that we all want to see a horrible person suffer, as he or she made us suffer while they were alive, and by thinking of Hell as a physical place of fire and brimstone, it satisfies our notion of revenge. But by knowingly being connected to All while in the Otherworld, that evil person truly feels and understands what he or she unleashed during their human time. Self-punishment, even in this world, is absolutely the most brutal form of punishment there is, which is why negative actions reap horrific consequences to the evil-doer, even if we aren't there to witness that person's realization. And after a soul goes through the reflection period, he/she has no need for revenge. Revenge is not even an afterthought, because the soul knows that his/her transgressions were just as harmful, even though it may not have been to an evil extreme. A childhood saying I remember illustrates this: "'Tis a sin to steal a pin, much less a larger thing. For when you die, God will say "Where is that pin you stole away?" When you say, "I do not know," He will say, go down below." So every wrong you've committed during your lifetime (and I know I've committed many) is equal to the acts of a Hitler or Stalin because Everything Just Is - neither good nor bad but equal in the energy picked up by the Universal All. Remember, the only person judging you is yourself, and you're your harshest judge.

So this brings me to the next point about the Otherworld: what we consider evil and righteousness in human life is not considered that way in the next because Everything Just Is. Souls in the Otherworld are able to interact with humans at all times; some of us are aware of the interaction, most of us are not. What many people consider divine intervention or angelic blessings are actually neither - those actions are actually connections with the One, and it's because of the One within yourself that you're able to receive an intervention. I know this is hard to grasp, but each of us, through our connection to the One, has the power to act in a way that we consider divine (or miraculous). As a shaman and healer, I'm a conduit to the Otherworld. I cannot heal another human without that human helping me. When I start the healing process by giving thanks to all the spirits of people, animals, plants and minerals, I'm sending out a vibration to connect with the One. I then connect with the sick person, who connects with me, and we both become the One. Get it? But the healing is not actually by God or an Angel or whatever many may think it is - the healing has come from within, from that person's connection to me and to the Universal One's energy.

Are all souls then human souls with no Angels whatsoever? Well, yes and no. Some are human and some are sentient beings such as animals we've come into contact with during our lifetime. Some souls haven't been human in eons, and some have only had one incarnation as a human (I'll get to that in a minute). So we think of those ethereal beings as Angels when in reality they're ascended souls or haven't been reincarnated yet. When you have an angelic encounter, chances are that you know that soul - you just don't recognize him/her in his/her ethereal form. There are also those souls who have never been human and have lived in the Otherworld (and if there are many dimensions, then there are many other entities) exclusively; they are neither angelic nor demonic but rather entities unto themselves that we, as humans, can't even begin to comprehend.

So when I say that in the Otherworld Everything Just Is, I mean it literally. When a spirit is watching you from there (and actually "from there" is right here - we just can't see it) and sees all the anguish you may be experiencing, the spirit doesn't make any form of judgment such as horror or pity or outrage. The anguish is yours to learn as part of your journey and time here in this world, just as utter joy is yours alone to experience. The spirit may let you know that he/she (and all spirits are gender-neutral, but I'll use pronouns) is aware of your situation, but he/she knows that whatever you're going through at the moment is an experience to remember and learn from, and that you must move on to the next experience. Everything Just Is, not good, not bad, just is - as a learning tool. For instance, a loved one died unexpectedly, maybe even was murdered, and you're inconsolable and wonder why this happened; not to mention you want instant revenge on whoever did this. From the Otherworld's point of view, you just learned that you are not only able to love someone other than yourself, but that you felt that loved one's pain to the point that you realized that all life is precious. Hopefully you'll also learn that killing is never an option, that pity and compassion should be given to the murderer since the murderer is also part of the One - which means you are part of the murderer, too.

Many lessons are to be learned from each of life's incidents. Do we learn them all during this lifetime? Sadly no. So after we die and we finish our period of reflection, we are then given the choice of reincarnation to try to learn love, compassion, respect, empathy and our connection to every living thing as a human. Those who embraced and thrived on all of that while in this world (before death) go on to live in the Otherworld without reincarnating (they "ascend"). We don't know how they live after ascension; again, it's not knowledge for us to know. Maybe they live in a utopia of bliss; I used to think, "How boring!" but in that Otherworld, souls don't think the same way as we do here on Earth. I like to compare it to junior high: all that crap that happened to us in junior high becomes less and less important as we age, right? Same thing in the Otherworld: things/events/feelings of importance in this world become non-existent as we mature, or ascend, in the Otherworld; Everything Just Is.

So is there a God? Of all things for me to come to terms with, this was the hardest by far. I would love for there to be a wise, compassionate God! The Universe and all within it is creatively designed, so perhaps there is, indeed, a single Creator. However, if so, the Creator is part of the Universal One and thus we are each the Creator, just as we are each the One. This means that there isn't a hierarchy per se; God isn't going to save you, because you already have that power within yourself. My biggest dream for humanity is to come to the realization that we can change our world instead of waiting for a savior - whether divine or not - to rescue us. We can all connect to the One because we are all One. Jesus, the Buddha, and others all taught this concept in its purest form before organized religion, with all its human foibles, perverted the teachings to accommodate the hopes and fears of followers. But it really is that simple, y'all, and you don't need a Bible or a Koran or a Torah or anything else to know the way to enlightenment (or heaven, if religion is your thing): we are all One, thus if you have compassion, respect, love, and empathy for every single animal, person, plant and mineral, there's no need for war or fear or jealousy or any of the many other negative feelings and actions most people live with day in and day out.

More thoughts on the Universal One: If you've ever experienced a coincidence in your life (and who hasn't?), you're actually experiencing synchronicity. There are no coincidences; everything is connected, so everything happens naturally and as it should be. A chance meeting or a phone call from a friend about whom you were just thinking? No "chance" to it; since we're all connected, mergers happen naturally and frequently. And the One pertains to ALL things. For instance, I like to mentally zoom into a tree and have the branches and leaves wave in the rhythm to which I'm swaying at that moment. I start at the roots, zoom through the sap, flow through the branches and start swaying. The tree follows after just an instant. Some people might think that it's me that's making the tree sway, but it isn't - it's my connection to the tree that causes us to sway. I'm now part of the tree, and the tree is now part of me. We are One. When you realize every single thing is One, the energy flow that you can impart and receive is phenomenal. You don't want to hurt yourself or allow any one else to harm you, so when you realize we are all One, you don't want to allow any harm to occur to any other thing. "Walk a mile in his shoes" or "Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you" takes on a whole new meaning when you're fully aware of being One. Spread the love, y'all, so that when one rejoices, we all rejoice!