What Constitutes Evidence of the Afterlife?
One of my favorite topics to dive into is this: During a connection with Spirit, what information provides solid evidence of the afterlife?
It gets kind of technical and qualifies as "shoptalk amongst mediums." But hey-this is good for you to know. If you are sitting for a reading by a medium who knows nothing about you, and you have a teenage son who passed, a validating message could be as simple as this: "I sense a young man in Spirit who loves you very dearly." Take it for what it is. For a professional medium, however, it is not enough.
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of conducting a session with two sisters who had recently lost a very dear relative. As they settled into their seats, preparing for me to begin, one took out several rosaries and wrapped them around her hand. The other nervously said to me, "I'm ready, but I don't want to know anything bad. Please don't tell me when I'm going to die or anything like that."
Stifling a giggle, I calmly explained to them that a connection to a deceased loved one is about healing grief and certainly not about telling someone when they will die. I added that props were not necessary and didn't enhance the connection. However, she had given away that her deceased relative was Catholic.
There are a lot of myths out there about what mediums do and how they do it. It's understandable that we get a bad rap. Most people get their information from watching TV, which couldn't be further from reality! My life mission is to teach the average person how the connection works and how they can recognize it on their own.
One of my favorite topics to dive into is this: During a connection with Spirit, what information provides solid evidence of the afterlife?
It gets kind of technical and qualifies as "shoptalk amongst mediums." But hey-this is good for you to know. If you are sitting for a reading by a medium who knows nothing about you, and you have a teenage son who passed, a validating message could be as simple as this: "I sense a young man in Spirit who loves you very dearly." Take it for what it is. For a professional medium, however, it is not enough.
Last week in Minneapolis, I connected a man in Spirit to his wife in the audience. He clairvoyantly showed me a jar with dried beans in it. I was befuddled. I saw him shake it up and down, and he communicated, "Mention shaking the jar of beans." He was insistent. Sure enough, years earlier their child had made a craft project in grade school, a jar of beans. The woman had very recently found it and had been shaking it. Standing there in front of the crowd, I just couldn't believe how on-the-mark that evidence was. A jar of dried beans? Very cool! It shows that the deceased man's spirit is present in their home and clearly seeing his family.
It's good evidence, but guess what? It is not the best evidence we can get. Why? Because there is a small chance I could have picked up that information by connecting with the living woman, instead of the deceased man. It was something that existed within her own energy. It's one of those moments when the audience says, "Ohhhh...ahhh." TV producers love that stuff. But there is evidence that is even better.
Let me explain to you what the very best evidence looks like, and why it causes no thrill in an audience. To prove without any doubt that deceased people continue to have awareness of current situations, they need to give us information that we cannot validate unless we check with a third party. This process eliminates the possibility of the medium making a psychic connection with the person in her presence. That doesn't happen in the moment.
At a group in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, this month, I made a connection with a man giving the name of Robert. A woman who had come to the reading with her daughter recognized the name and accompanying details as being her stepbrother. All the information he provided was easily validated until he showed me a big "Welcome Home!" banner. She didn't know what that meant. I asked if someone had moved recently or returned from a trip. She just didn't know. "Just remember it." I said.
The next evening, I received this email from her daughter:
"Mollie.... First of all, you have such a beautiful gift and I just have to thank you for the message you gave my mom and I yesterday. I wanted to tell you that when my mom's stepbrother came through last night and you mentioned the "welcome home" banner... My mom and I couldn't validate that but we definitely can now. His daughter just posted on Facebook that it's her first night in her new home with her boyfriend. We don't really keep in touch with her or see her post on Facebook often, so when I saw that I knew I had to tell you we can validate that! Thanks again, for everything..."
This third party validation process actually happened three times at events that weekend. A woman got a message from a friend's grandfather named Dillon. To validate it, she had to call her friend and pass on the information. She too, sent me an email the next day. Another woman in the audience recognized a co-worker's mother in Spirit, Sandy, who was trying to communicate during the group. She was able to validate a few things in the moment, but she wrote a few days later to say she spoke with her coworker and validated the rest.
I often say when I pass on a detail that doesn't seem relevant, "Just remember it, please." And sometimes people get annoyed! They are there with the hopes of receiving a personal message, and here we have deceased people that are only loosely connected to a person in the audience, trying to get a message across the so-called wire.
Further thought and contemplation is really important at moments like this. The most overwhelming thing we need is proof of the afterlife. What's true for one is true for all. There is absolutely nothing that gives me more gratification in my work than validation by a third party. It feels like a personal message just for me, Spirit saying, "Yooohooo, Mollie, we REALLY are here!"
It gives me that, "Oh my goodness, there REALLY is vibrant life after death" feeling all over again.
©Mollie Morning Star 2014-15-16 Short excerpts of this article may be shared on the internet provided a live link back to this original source is used. Reproduction in print is prohibited.
Tomorrow is Not Guaranteed
You might remember me mentioning that my ceiling collapsed last year due to a roof leak that went unnoticed while I was on a West Coast tour. After getting a new roof this summer, I am finally repairing the interior damage.
The entry and kitchen are getting some new drywall, fresh paint, a window, and I figured while everything is ripped to shreds, I might as well replace my ailing tile countertops. (click through to read on)
You might remember me mentioning that my ceiling collapsed last year due to a roof leak that went unnoticed while I was on a West Coast tour. After getting a new roof this summer, I am finally repairing the interior damage.
The entry and kitchen are getting some new drywall, fresh paint, a window, and I figured while everything is ripped to shreds, I might as well replace my ailing tile countertops.
I've always wanted painted cabinets, but never did it because everyone always says, "You can't paint nice wood!" It's a Pandora's box in a 1923 house. There is no end to the needed renovations.
Last week as I was agonizing (again) over whether or not to paint the cabinets my friend called, upset. She had just heard the terrible news that a young friend of hers received a terminal cancer diagnosis.
I couldn't stop thinking about the situation as I scraped and sanded the ceilings that afternoon. I had just had a session with a client who also recently received a terminal diagnosis. He was desperate to know if there is an afterlife that we can communicate with as he worries about his impending departure from the Earthly plane.
I take this all to heart; it's like the Universe is sending the message again to live fully each day. I know we all have our ideas of what that means to us, but somehow hearing that another young parent is going to die soon tripped a trigger in me. It's ridiculous to NOT paint my cabinets if that is what I like. It suddenly felt ridiculous to delay anything that I wanted or needed to do.
It reminded me of this article I wrote in July of 2014 that garnered a huge response from my readers. I copied it below. The original blog post is here.
It Can Happen to You.
I admit: my job has taken a toll on my level of tolerance for going to bed angry; screaming about the messes that have been made; delaying apologies, even if I wasn't wrong. These days I'm owning my stuff, all of it, every situation I created. I can't let you leave without saying, "I love you." anymore. Yes, I want one more hug, maybe two. Yes, I cry when you turn the corner and are out of sight. I can no longer tolerate stuffing my feelings. No, I can't sit back and be an observer anymore. All of these are occupational hazards. Every single day, I consult with person after person who is trying to cope with the worst day of his or her life. I always think I've heard it all when it comes to tragic ways to die, and as it turns out, I haven't. The stories just keep coming.
These are the side effects of realizing truly, deeply and even sadly, that tomorrow is not guaranteed. Tragedy isn't confined to a social class, a country, good people or bad people. There is no way to delineate who is next. Cancer doesn't love a certain skin color. Accidents don't care if you just had a world class fight with your spouse. Heart attacks really don't mind that you were going to retire next month. Aneurysms happen to healthy 8-year-olds. And 16-year-olds. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.
The real tragedy in all of this is not so much that the people I work with don't see this, because they are LIVING it, but the average guy on the street thinks, "Oh, that poor family." He doesn't really get that he might be the next man on his knees banging his head on the floor trying to feel reality because his mind just can't process what he just heard over the phone. Yes, that's actually what happens when you get the call that your child was found dead. You pound your head on hard surfaces to see if a reality still exists.
I know this may not be an uplifting read for you, but it is something that gnaws away at me daily. I am impassioned about living today fully, and this is why. On a recent road trip with a girlfriend, I finally let all of this out to her and confessed I wish I could write about it. "Do it! You need to," she said.
Ladies and Gentleman, life owes you nothing. Somehow your Soul managed to get inside of a body to have this experience on Earth and however many days, years or decades you get to wear it is a gift. Does this not stir within you a deep, abiding desire to live fully today? It really should. No matter what you've lost up to this point, you are still here, simply by virtue that you are reading this, and still capable of creating love today.
Do you owe it to your loved one who died to live fully today? That sounds noble doesn't it? Honestly, you owe it to yourself. You are still breathing and you still have a chance to do something today.
What you choose to create is completely up to you. Of course there will always be excuses and circumstances which prevent you from doing what you really want. You may always cling to the excuse that what you really want is to return to the past. I like excuses, too. I'd avoid every problem possible if they didn't constantly smack me in the face. Excuses are the walls that separate you from healing and getting on with the business of living.
Let's simplify this just a little: no excuses. No buts. Shed the anger. Lose the regret. Instead, ask yourself one simple, but life-changing question: Where can you create love today?
©Mollie Morning Star 2014-15 Short excerpts of this article may be shared on the internet provided a live link back to this original source is used. Reproduction in print is prohibited.
Video Blog: Helping Children Through Grief
In today’s video blog, Psychic Medium Mollie Morning Star interviews Madison, a young girl whose father passed from cancer two years ago. The video is intended to help children, but can also be an important tool for adults to understand the grief process from a child's perspective. Madison gives her honest answers on several important questions grieving children face such as:
- What’s kept you going on bad days?
- How do feel now compared to two years ago?
- What was most helpful in the beginning right after your Dad’s passing?
- What signs have you seen from your Dad?
Madison’s answers are fresh and inspiring for everyone who has lost someone dear to them and needs help rebuilding a joy-filled life.
In today’s video blog, I am interviewing Madison, a young girl whose father passed from cancer two years ago. The video is intended to help children, but can also be an important tool for adults to understand the grief process from a child's perspective. Madison gives her honest answers on several important questions grieving children face such as:
- What’s kept you going on bad days?
- How do feel now compared to two years ago?
- What was most helpful right after your Dad’s passing?
- What signs have you seen from your Dad?
Madison’s answers are fresh and inspiring for everyone who has lost someone dear to them and needs help rebuilding a joy-filled life.
©Mollie Morning Star 2015. Short excerpts of this article may be shared on the internet provided a live link back to this original source is used. Reproduction in print is prohibited.
Is My Child Growing Up in the Afterlife?
All bereaved parents have bittersweet moments when they look around at their other children, or their nieces and nephews, and see them getting taller. Or they watch their children's classmates graduate and get married and wonder, "What would my child look like now? Would he still laugh the same way? What would she be doing with her life?" The very thought of this can cause profound sadness.
All bereaved parents have bittersweet moments when they look around at their other children, or their nieces and nephews, and see them getting taller. Or they watch their children's classmates graduate and get married and wonder, "What would my child look like now? Would he still laugh the same way? What would she be doing with her life?" The very thought of this can cause profound sadness.
Countless bereaved parents have asked if their children are growing up in the afterlife. When they too pass and are reunited in spirit, will their children have aged?
When you have a reading with a medium, the medium will describe your loved one in a way that you recognize. That does not mean a specific age. It means only that: in a way that you will recognize them.
I have had it go both ways. A seven-year-old child who passed 15 years ago will "come through" at age seven and reassure his parents that when they pass, their relationship will pick up right where they left off. And not as often, I will have souls communicate from an adult perspective, when they actually passed during their youth. The difference rests in the parents' minds: what they expect their child is like now. If you think of your child as having grown up, then that is the perspective she'll communicate from.
This is basic logic, if you take a moment think about it.
When the body dies, the Soul is returned to Spirit. We measure the growth of a physical body by height or years, but a Soul is eternal. The Soul is not "growing up" in a physical shell that literally no longer exists. Nonetheless, the soul of a child who has died continues to grow and mature. We are also going through that process, right now as we live and breathe.
At all points in time, the Soul is maturing, growing, learning expanding-with or without a physical body.
What I have learned over the years is that at the point of reunion, when a parent passes over and is reunited with a dead child, absolutely all feelings of "missing out" are gone. All parts of you are made to feel "whole" once again. I feel confident stating this after conducting countless sessions where my sitter (the person having the session) has lost both a sibling and a parent. The parents always communicate the same emotion, "It was such a relief to be with him/her again."
I remember one particular case where I did a session for a woman who had lost everyone dear to her-husband, parents, spouse and her brother. The very first communication in that sitting was from her mother who "came though" with her arms around her son, who had died long before her. She communicated that they were reunited and the relationship was "whole again." They had left their troubled past behind them.
This particular reading provided deep comfort for my sitter, because the mother had disowned the son and ended her relationship with him here on Earth. And then he died. The mother had to live for years with an unhealed relationship and then the loss of her son.
Bereaved parents need a lot of comfort to get though milestones like missed birthdays or graduations. No matter what the situation or age of a child's passing, when you are reunited the feelings of missing out and loss are healed.
We can't know everything about the afterlife in a completely conclusive way from our Earthly perspective. When the wave of sadness rolls onto your shore, reminding you of what you are missing out on in Earthly years, gently tell yourself that this time apart is a period of growth and maturation for you and your child.
I often say about my brother, who passed at the age of 30, that "His Soul grew too big for his body, so he left it."
Take comfort where you can find it. We are always growing more glorious. And while we may not know every detail about the afterlife, I am absolutely sure that the vast chasms in our hearts created by our loved ones' departures are filled completely when we too, grow too big for our bodies and complete our work here.
©Mollie Morning Star 2015. Short excerpts of this article may be shared on the internet provided a live link back to this original source is used. Reproduction in print is prohibited.
To Persevere Through Pain
Few things are more trying than persevering through loss. Every time you make a choice to keep going after a set-back, you are one step closer to realizing your dream--perhaps that's peace, healing or to experience joy again. I was incredibly inspired by Jason Day's life story after his tremendous win at the PGA tournament this week in my hometown.
Yesterday I cried because of golf. Seriously! Not that I take golf all that seriously, but my hometown hosted the PGA tournament and the win was an amazing thing to witness.
The champion, Jason Day, a 27-year-old Australian, brought something special to the game—his heart and authenticity. This was his first win at a major championship, after many near misses. As his ball rolled into the 18th hole, tears of joy, and probably relief, started rolling down his face. Waiting nearby was his pregnant (and gorgeous) wife, Ellie, and toddler son, Dash.
Jason’s story is inspiring, one of perseverance paying off. When he was 12, his father, Alvin, died of stomach cancer. Jason’s life took a turn for the worse. He began drinking and getting into trouble. I’ve read articles about the financial hardships his family went through and the extreme measures to which his mother had to go to provide for the family. She even took out a second mortgage on their home so she could send Jason to a private academy, where he would be able to thrive. There he met Col Swatton, his mentor and coach. Swatton served as his caddie at the tournament.
Jason’s story is public, so it can serve as a great inspiration to us all. Your story is private, but it is no less inspiring to those who know you. We all face losses, and they are unfathomable at times. Many are so tragic, unfair and heartbreaking that any level of recovery seems impossible. People we love are ripped from our arms by untimely deaths; partnerships disintegrate after trust is broken; jobs that provide our very sustenance become suddenly obsolete. Often we feel like we must be obsolete, too.
The truth is, recovery is available at some level for those who persevere through the hardships. Jason wanted to win this for his dad. Maybe that was the key part of the motivation that kept him going through all his failures over the past 15 years.
I’m not saying it is easy. But it is attainable for most people. It begins with making a solid commitment to your recovery. That means doing whatever it takes to carry on in a healthful way.
When you are nursing grief, you have to feed your soul every single day. When “hunger pangs” set in, your will to persevere is the first thing to get eaten up.
“I’m never going to get out of this mess.”
“My life sucks!”
Does this sound even remotely familiar? Those are the messages hunger pains from your Soul send to your head.
When I come home from a bike ride, I am ravenous. I head right to the kitchen and grab the first morsel of food I see. If I’m really on top of things, I have a container of precut veggies and almonds ready. Some days the only thing in there is ice cream…uh oh…Wait, why did I go for a bike ride?
Don’t let your spiritual fridge fill up with junk—it’s the first thing you’ll reach for. Have an emergency plan in place for the times you start losing your will to persevere.
Here are some tips for keeping healthy alternatives to despair easily at hand:
1. Get a list of friends who are further along in their grieving and recovery than you are. Put their numbers on speed dial in your phone. You need people who understand your loss, and you need several. No one person can be available to you all the time, and no one person will be able to help every time. Make sure your list is diverse enough that you’ll be able to find the support you need 24-7.
2. Get to class! It’s time to learn new things and broaden your interests. This can be a life line. You might find your interest is now in spiritual topics, art or exercise.
3. Speaking of exercise, there are few pastimes that are cheaper, easier and more spirit lifting than going for a walk. It is a proven fact that the body releases endorphins when you move. Endorphins help you feel less pain and less stress. Get moving!
Adapting to a new life gracefully means learning the steps of a new, challenging dance. Forward, forward, backward, backward: It’s all part of the flow.
Here’s a quote from the champ himself on his win:
“The biggest thing that prepares you for something like this is just the sheer experience of failure, looking at failure not as a negative but as a positive, knowing that you can learn from anything, even if it’s bad or good. If I didn’t have that failure, I wouldn’t be standing here today with the trophy. Some people get there quicker than others, some people make it look easier than others.”
Stay the course my friends, one step at a time, even when it’s two steps forward, one step back. A sense of peace comes to those who carry on.
©Mollie Morning Star 2015Short excerpts of this article may be shared on the internet provided a live link back to this original source is used. Reproduction in print is prohibited.
VIDEO BLOG: What Does My Loved One Do All Day?
In today's video, I answer a question from a viewer who is curious about what her loved ones in Heaven are doing all day. I share specific examples from three private readings where Spirit communicated about this--one of which is hilarious! Also brought up for consideration is the relevance of time to us on the Earth versus the eternal plane and why it's difficult to prove what exactly the Souls are doing in the afterlife.
In today's video, I answer a question from a viewer who is curious about what her loved ones in Heaven are doing all day. I share specific examples from three private readings where Spirit communicated about this--one of which is hilarious! Also brought up for consideration is the relevance of time to us on the Earth versus the eternal plane and why it's difficult to prove what exactly the Souls are doing in the afterlife.
©Mollie Morning Star 2014 Short excerpts of this article may be shared on the internet provided a live link back to this original source is used. Reproduction in print is prohibited.