Happy New Year 2019!!!!

Happy New Year. It's the flipside of 2018, so to speak. When I think of all the odd things I've learned this year about the flipside, I can only say "It's all gonna be... okay. Just let go." As Paul's mother Mary told him from the flipside; "Let it be."

Photo by RJ Martini

Let go of fear, anger, resentment, all the stuff that holds you back from being what you signed up to be. To laugh, to love, to cry, to taste love and give love. It's hard when the rain is falling to know there's sunshine on the other side of the clouds - but if you could hear what I've heard, seen what I've seen, spoken to the people that we've spoken to (Happy New Year my cellphone-to-the-Flipside Jennifer Shaffer!) you'd breathe a little easier, laugh a little longer. Take up meditation. It cures or alleviates depression.

Yes, we are only here for a short amount of time - and yes, we don't end, we just find ourselves on a new adventure. But that doesn't negate or change any of the amazing fun we've had here, can have here, or why we chose to participate in this adventure. We are all connected, all of us on both side of the fence or wall, on both sides of the aisle, on all the continents, all of us in a quantum way - we can't see it, but we can feel it - if you're still breathing you're still feeling. Spend a minute opening your heart up to everyone and all things - if only for a a few seconds.

As Harry Dean Stanton told us (from the Flipside) "Believe in the possibility of an afterlife, because then you won't spend any more time arguing about it like I did." If you open yourself up to the possibility that you are here for a reason, that maybe you chose to be here - you'll see the planet from new eyes. By going into your past and examining why you chose it, you change your present and you change your future.

You can change the past, you can change the present, you can change the future by examining it. (Once examined, you can't unlearn what you've learned.) And it leads to hope and understanding that change is not only inevitable, but part of our plan, our path, our journey. You don't have to walk around with your heart open all day long - or head in the afterlife - or even wonder what you were thinking when you chose to be here - but if you can think about it for a minute, as it will change everything you thought you once knew.

By wishing happy new year to those you love, to those you have loved, to those on the planet, to those no longer here, but who want to stay involved in your life by having you read this missive - it's like they're tapping you on the shoulder right this very moment. "Yes. We still love you. We are still here."

The best gift we learned in "Backstage Pass to the Flipside: Talking to the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer" was in order to speak to a loved one, 1. just say their name. 2. Then ask them questions. 3. When you "hear the answer before you can form the question you'll know you have a connection."


Backstage Pass

That's not my theory, belief or opinion - I filmed that advice coming directly from someone no longer on the planet who claims he's helping those over there "stay in touch with all of us." Now you know what I know. For more odd thoughts in 2019 c'mon back here to www.richmartini.com



the books are in kindle, audible and paperback

Memoriam for John Lennon and How Music is a Time Machine

It's the day after that memorial day - 38 years later.  I must admit, I've become more of a fan of John in the past five years than I was before - listening to his work.  I had always been a fan of Paul's work, and his post Beatles work, but John had seemed distant to me.  Not anymore.

Borrowed from a mutual fan

About 20 years ago, I was in Cannes at the festival hanging out on Hugh Hefner's yacht. (funny sentence that.)  

And I ran into Julian Lennon who had appeared in my film "Cannes Man" (It became my film, I was in it, but the director was fired and I was asked to finish it - and I said "well, if I can get a free trip to Cannes I will.")  So the following Cannes I was promoting it, walking up to people who had been filmed in it earlier (scenes in Cannes were shot by Dean Lent, directed by Susan Shapiro based on Seymour Cassel's (Dennis Hopper, Malkovitch) or Francesco Quinn's (Johnny Depp) relationship with celebs and I would say "Hey, I directed you in a film but we haven't met."  

The sentence is funny - because there's a story along with it, and I always had a compliment for them, even though many have never seen the film (but it is a funny film).  

In this case, on Hefner's boat, I saw Julian. We chatted, had some laughs, at some point, generous lad that he is, invited me with his pals to head back to Monte Carlo where we wound up jamming at a bar - he sang "Sweet Home Chicago" and I played in on piano.  I was trapped in Monte Carlo, no trains back to Cannes, so Julian generously offered his couch.

It was there about 6 in the morning someone shouted in my ear.  "Who the fuck are you?"  I jumped up, looked around, no one was there. Then I recognized the voice.  I looked around. "Hey dude, I'm just crashing here, I'll be gone come sunlight."  I couldn't tell this to his son - because I hadn't done any of the research at this point.  "Hey dude, yer dad woke me up last night. You gotta fix that alarm clock, okay?"

Some twenty years later, driving to see Jennifer Shaffer, as you'll hear below, I decided to try an experiment - if I knew Julian, would that help make a connection to his dad's frequency on the flipside?  Or not?


Here's an insightful interview where he refers to John as a phantom limb.

This interview with James is revealing, especially to hear that the creep who shot John had assaulted James the day earlier.  Just flat out reminds you how things work, and from hindsight, 38 years later, how tragic that moment was.

Julian founded an organization called the "White Feather Foundation."  The story behind it has a flipside element; he said that his dad once said to him, "If anything ever happens to me, I'll reach out to you from the other side via a white feather." 


While touring with his band in Australia, Julian got a phone call from the front desk of his hotel saying "There's a fellow here to see you."  He went downstairs to meet this aboriginal chief, who said "We need your help getting fresh water."  He said that he had come to ask Julian for help in getting fresh water to his people - and Julian said he'd help, and the chief gave him a white ostrich feather.  Hence the name.

Fans of "Backstage Pass to the Flipside: Talking to the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer" may be aware that in book two, Jennifer and I interview John.

I was driving to Jennifer's office where I film our conversations, and on the way there, I thought "Well, I wonder if it's possible to talk to John."  

So I said his name aloud.

When I got to Jennifer's office, I say "I asked a few people to come here today" and she said "Why do I get the image of John Lennon?"

I said "Well, I invited him, that's why."

I started to ask him the normal questions; "Who was there to greet you when you crossed over? Describe the process to us..." and she said "Hold on a second.  I'm flustered. I can't believe in my own mind that we are talking to John."

He said that he was greeted on the flipside by an experience.  He said he found himself walking onstage at Madison Square Garden.  I asked him who was on stage with him, or if he was solo.  He said, "Jimi Hendrix led me on stage.  And there was a band."  I asked Jennifer to describe the band, and she said "I want to say Led Zeppelin, but I know they're all still here."

I asked him what song they performed. Jennifer made a face and said "Excuse me?"  She said "He's showing me a pair of shoes. Blue shoes."

I laughed. (Later, I looked up "Blue Suede Shoes" and saw that both Jimi and John had recorded versions of it (John's with Yoko, live.))




 I asked"So why did you play an old Carl Perkins tune?" (Not knowing he'd recorded it earlier). He said "I figured it was a song everyone in the band knew."

I asked him "When did you realize that you were no longer alive, and on the flipside?"  He said it was "seeing young girls in the audience jump up and down, but suddenly they didn't look real, they looked alien.  And then I heard Yoko's voice..." (That would be the voice of her screaming for help back at the scene of the event.)  

He also said that he'd known Yoko in other lifetimes, and described one of them. "We found each other again."

He said a number of things about his life and journey after that moment.  As we learned, people on the flipside consider the day you cross over as a "birthday of sorts" - like a birth into this new realm (for that particular lifetime) so it's John's 38th birthday (yesterday.)

I was driving around Santa Monica and had a desire to stop at McCabe's Guitar shop.  It's a guitar shop with an ocean of guitars on the walls, beautiful tone, beautifully tuned, and you can take any of them down and play.  

So I pulled one off the wall and played and sang "Rocky Raccoon" in John's honor, facing a wall, and turned around to find I had an audience of two.  We talked about John's influence on music, on life, and about the idea that music never dies, nor does it age.  

"Funny how just playing a song takes a person back to the moment when they first learned that song." 

Music is a time machine.

I had the impression I should tell these fellows - "think of Music Every Day - it's the MED in medicine."  Don't quite know where that thought came from, but I said it. "Play music every day. It's the Music Every Day of medicine."

Earlier in the day, as I was waking up (not realizing it was the anniversary of John passing, but fully aware that I'd been "chatting" with him the past few weeks, snippets of things with Jennifer Shaffer) and I turned my cell on and there was someone who'd posted this tribute to him:


Tribute John Lennon - Imagine - Strawberry Fields in Central Park from Luthier on Vimeo.

And I started to write something about this amazing song...  "Imagine."

And while I was typing, I realized - wait a second... this song, the lyrics fit what the flipside is described as by thousands of people.  "A place without any hierarchy," and everyone has a "sense of brotherhood" and "unconditional love."

He may as well have been singing it from the Flipside.

I'm not trying to sell a book here, or sell anyone on the idea that I can talk to John, or even that Jennifer and I together can talk to him.  What we hear consistenly in these reports is that "anyone can talk to anyone."  The trick is to be open to the answer.  Anyone can do it - just ask your beloved some questions you don't know the answer to. When you "hear the answer before you can form the question you'll know you're connected." (A quote from Michael Newton on the flipside in book one of "Backstage Pass to the Flipside." Later, I asked John what he wanted to add to an interview I was doing with someone else and he told Jennifer "No more guns.")

My post on facebook about "Imagine:"

"Imagine that our loved ones are not gone. 
Imagine that they're still accessible and have the desire to stay in touch with us. 
Imagine that we all have the ability to communicate with them, we just need to alter our frequency. 
Imagine they're a butterfly who has not left, but transformed from a chrysalis. 

Imagine they're "back home" where there is "no country," "no religion," "no hunger" no guns, everyone living life in peace. 
A life that's different but more connected, filled with unconditional love. 

"Imagine the possibility of an afterlife is true, then you won't spend any more time arguing about it." (Quote from the late Harry Dean Stanton in "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" Book One) 

John described accurately what thousands claim about the flipside, not life "after," but life as it continues. 
I did not realize it until I began to type this tribute. Imagine that.

(But I do now.  And I've passed it along to you.)

This insight courtesy Luana Anders, Jennifer Shaffer, who insist we continue to speak with our loved ones no longer playing the role of caterpillars in the play we're currently performing...

  #johnlennon #notgonejustnothere

Coast to Coast on Sunday Dec 2nd

My dulcet tones will be back on the radio this Sunday night Dec 2nd, promoting our book "Backstage Pass to the Flipside: Talking to the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer."

The two books cover our conversations with people on the flipside over the past two years. At some point, we had a group of people that were "coming in" to see us, and Luana Anders, my pal on the flipside who inspired the books after her passing 20 years ago, is the moderator for our "group."

Luana Anders in a photo I took of her in NYC.
Aptly prescient of how we see her now!

It's easier to call it a "class" because on one level, Luana is helping people on the flipside to converse with us.  Apparently many people have a hard time doing it for a variety of reasons - could be that their loved ones don't believe they still exist, could be that they can appear in their dreams, but when they wake up they dismiss them.   From what Jennifer and I have learned is that people on the flipside "know that they still exist."  They want to connect and be part of the lives of their loved ones.  

And Luana helps them to do so, in her "classroom."  As Jennifer once put it; "She me over there.  She has the ability to help them alter their frequency (slowing it down) so that they can communicate with us.  

Jennifer appears in "Hacking the Afterlife" too
links to the right of this post.

In my case, I'm someone who's been filming people under deep hypnosis for ten years and have heard a consistent story about the architecture of the afterlife.  Not that it isn't vast, complex and beyond comprehension - that's accurate - but I've heard enough stories from people who've visited there (through an out of body experience, a near death event, while under deep hypnosis or some other consciousness altering event) that I'm familiar with the process enough to ask them questions.

Happy Birthday Garry Shandling.

I start with the most simple of question that no one back on the planet could answer.  "Who was there to greet you when you crossed over?"  And then later I can either look up or in the case of friends, ask their family who they think would be there to greet them.  In some cases we hear unusual answers - like in Paul G Allen's case, he said one of the football players who had taken his life due to CTE was there to greet him... not one of his own players, but Junior Seau (or as best as I could decipher who it was - a polynesian player who had killed himself the same way Dave Duerson had.)

Then I ask questions like "What do you miss if anything?" "What do you regret if anything?" If I know intimate details of their life, I'll ask questions about them - I've found that they can't prevaricate from the flipside. They can refuse to answer a question, but they can't make up something inaccurate, or something that they prefer I not know. 

always a little giddy after talking to George Noory.

Often they tell me things that I choose not to repeat because they kept these things to themselves during their lifetime, and it's not up to me to alter that perception.  But it is important that what they do say I repeat verbatim and then look it up to see how accurate (or inaccurate) it is.  The truth sets everyone free.

Gaia has just picked up my film "Talking to Paxton on the Flipside" where I filmed a number of conversations with mediums, mostly Jennifer Shaffer, where we talked to my old friend, the actor Bill Paxton.  Bill had a number of things to say, messages for his family, as well as some comic ribbing that he used to do when he was on the planet. So that will be available on Gaia.com in a few weeks.

Bill Paxton

I don't know what we're going to talk about on Sunday night, I try to keep myself open to whatever needs to be said, and am always rewarded with an interesting couple of hours with George Noory.  If you're a night owl, the show interview will begin on Sunday night at midnight Pacific Coast time.

See you on the radio!

Link to Book One at Amazon:

Link to book two at Amazon:

Carl Sagan, a visit to Coast to Coast and "Children's Past Lives"

A question asked on Quora the other day....

Hacking the Afterlife - link to the 
book "Hacking the Afterlife"

Why are Richard Martini's books labeled under New Age, not science in Amazon?

Richard Martini, Film Director Writer at Internet Movie Database (1985-present)

Answered Wed

My reply: 

"Ha! That’s an easy one. Because I label them, Amazon does not.

If I could label them under “science” I would get a lot of people arguing about the research. So why bother with arguing? As I’ve heard consistently in this research from folks on the Flipside: “Tell people to believe in the possibility of an afterlife, then they won’t waste any more of their time arguing about it.” 

Harry Dean and a furry friend

(That's a quote from Harry Dean Stanton from  "Backstage Pass to the Flipside: Talking to the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer")

But let’s consider what you’re asking for a moment. Have I been able to present my research to scientists? Yes, I have. It happened after I finished “Flipside.” I was invited to the University of Virginia’s Dept of Perceptual Studies to speak about what I’d learned by filming people under deep hypnosis about the afterlife.

In the room were some of the top scientists in the world with regard to consciousness studies, including Dr. Bruce Greyson (NDE), Dr. Jim Tucker (reincarnation) Ed Kelly PhD (Psi) and others. They had all read the book, and began our conversation with telling me that “hypnosis is not considered a valid scientific tool.” (And Ian Stevenson, the founder of DOPS had written about why that’s the case.)

(A good place to take a look at near death experiences is IANDS.ORG - The website for DOPS is here: (see article below)

Fortunately, I was aware of Ian’s prejudice against the practice, and agreed wholeheartedly that “hypnosis as it was practiced by Freud” is not a valid tool. Too many factors can influence the process, including the desire of the patient to be cured, the doctor wanted to effect a cure, as well as the time element - “in the next hour please tell me why you’ve got a phobia.”

I pointed out that in Michael Newton’s case (before I was aware of Dr. Helen Wambach’s identical research a decade earlier) the time element was gone - as the sessions took from four to six hours. The questions by design were neutral; “What do you see if anything? Where are we now? Is it day or night? Are you a man or a woman?” But most importantly, and this was my point of pursuing this line of research, it didn’t matter who the person was asking the questions, it didn’t matter who the person was answering the questions, they all said relatively the same things about the journey; having a guide or guides, seeing their friends or loved ones in a “soul group,” all visited a “council” where they saw their life review, etc.

I argued that the fact that thousands of people across the globe said the same basic things during their session created a database of research. I gave them a challenge; to take any person off the street, or anyone that they chose, a skeptic, didn’t matter, and have them do a session; if they got contrary results, then fine the experiment was over; end of discussion. 

But if they got the same results that Michael Newton did, or that I was claiming anyone could, then it was up to them as scientists to prove why that is the case.

Because I am not a scientist. I’m a filmmaker. All I was doing was filming these people (which no one had done before) and transcribing exactly what they said, and comparing what they said - different hypnotherapists, different people from across the globe. Everyone said relatively the same thing.

Ultimately, I’ve learned second hand that indeed they have done that - that someone who is in the film “Flipside” has done sessions with scientists and had the same results. As I said at the time “It’s not up to me to prove why that’s the case, I’m just a filmmaker. If you guys are scientists, then it’s up to you why that is the case.”

They pointed out that it was nearly impossible to mount a university based study on what I was proposing. It would cost money, and the people who sponsor these kinds of studies are by and large pharmacological entities who want the results of the tests to help them market and sell their products. That’s not a pejorative - it’s just stating the facts. Very hard to mount a study about something if someone isn’t financing it. (I’m glad to see that DOPS has just published results of a study about reincarnation in children.) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/...

Now that study is science. (I don’t need to be a scientist to stand outside the school and point in the right direction.)

This topic came up the other day when I was filming an interview with a medium who was answering questions I was posing to people on the flipside. (Jennifer Shaffer - “Backstage Pass to the Flipside: Talking to the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer”) At some point, I was asking questions directly to Carl Sagan. (Yes, that Carl Sagan.) I asked “Carl” if he had any advice for his fans.

Jennifer: “He says tell them to stop wasting time doing what he did.”

Rich: “Arguing about the afterlife?”

J: It’s so pointless.

R: Well how can we help them?

J: It’s paradise over here.

R: But how can we help them?

J: We can’t.

R: So these books are not helping. Is that what you’re saying, these books are a waste of time Carl, “Mr. Blue Dot?” (I have a tendency to tease whomever I’m talking to).

J: They’re all laughing. “No. The books are timeless, people can come or go and think what they’ll think and they’ll find them… like if I (Jennifer) had come across your book “Flipside” in my 20’s I wouldn’t have been ready for it, but coming across it when I did was the perfect time for it.” 

(Excerpt from upcoming Third Book of “Backstage Pass to the Flipside: Talking to the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer.” All Rights Reserved. Copyright Rich Martini 2018)

So I’m not concerned AT ALL whether people find this research annoying, promising, science or fantasy. I know what I know, and I can only report what I’ve experienced, what I’ve filmed and transcribed. I’ll leave it up to posterity to figure out whether or not any of it is accurate. But thanks for the shout out! 

Happy Thanksgiving.'

Book Two - both available on Audible.com

I'll be appearing with George Noory this coming Dec. 2nd at 10 p.m. PST.  Tune in if you'd like to hear the latest about whatever the latest thing is that's on my mind.  Always a treat to talk to George.

George and moi

Here's the article from DOPS on the scientific research regarding children remembering past lives:

https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/research-area/children-who-report-memories-of-previous-lives/

"Some young children, usually between the ages of 2 and 5, speak about memories of a previous life they claim to have lived. At the same time they often show behaviors, such as phobias or preferences, that are unusual within the context of their particular family and cannot be explained by any current life events. These memories appear to be concordant with the child’s statements about a previous life.

In many cases of this type, the child’s statements have been shown to correspond accurately to facts in the life and death of a deceased person. Some of the children have birthmarks and birth defects that correspond to wounds or other marks on the deceased person whose life is being remembered by the child.  In numerous cases postmortem reports have confirmed these correspondences. Older children may retain these apparent memories, but generally they seem to fade around the age of 7 .  The young subjects of these cases have been found all over the world including Europe and North America.

For the past 16 years, Dr. Jim Tucker, now the director of the Division of Perceptual Studies, has focused mainly on cases found in the United States. His most recent book Return to Life offers accounts of  very strong American cases of young children who remember previous lives.

Types of Statements a Child Might Make:

Statements made by a child who seems to be remembering a previous life can be quite varied. The following is not an exhaustive list by any means. It is designed to give an idea of the kinds of things a parent or caregiver might hear, and in our Western culture, tend to dismiss as fantasy. It is also true that a child might say one or more of these things and not be remembering a previous life. It is probably best not to pump a child for information, nor to try and prevent him or her from saying such things.

• “You’re not my mommy/daddy.”
• “I have another mommy/daddy.”
• “When I was big, I …(used to have blue eyes/had a car, etc.).”
• “That happened before I was in mommy’s tummy.”
• “I have a wife/husband/children.”
• “I used to…(drive a truck/live in another town, etc.)”
• “I died … (in a car accident/after I fell, etc.)”
• “Remember when I …(lived in that other house/was your daddy, etc.)”

Please contact us if your child appears to be having memories of a previous life:

• We are very interested in hearing about cases of young children who are currently spontaneously speaking about memories of a previous life.  If you are a parent or a caretaker of a young child, please contact us to submit your observations and experiences of your child’s behaviors and statements about memories of a previous life.

Advice to parents of children who are reporting memories of a previous life.

• If you are a parent seeking advice about your child who seems to remember a previous life, please refer to Advice to Parents.

Books about the research being done at DOPS into memories of previous lives:

We invite you to view a list of books on reincarnation written by our faculty. The list includes books written by our director, Dr. Jim Tucker, as well as the long list of books authored by our founder, Dr. Ian Stevenson.  Among the many ground breaking books by Dr. Stevenson is his comprehensive two volume set, Reincarnation and Biology: A Contribution to the Etiology of Birthmarks and Birth Defects, Volumes I and II. In this 2268 page, two volume set, Dr. Stevenson wrote about his extensive research into cases of birthmarks and birth defects which appeared to strongly correlate to memories of a past life in particular subjects. Dr. Stevenson also wrote an abridged version of this research called Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect.

In 2013, Dr. Jim Tucker, appointed director of the Division of Perceptual Studies in 2014, authored his second book on the topic of cases of children who report memories of a previous life. In his most recent book Return to Life, Dr. Tucker describes the research into strong American cases being carried out at DOPS. In Tucker’s first book, Life Before Life, he reviews forty years of research into children who report memories of previous lives. This book contains some accounts of interesting American cases, as well as descriptions of Dr. Ian Stevenson’s classic cases in Asia.

(RM: I'd include Carol Bowman's work "Children's Past Lives" in this list) 

Other publications on past-life memories:

For a list of academic papers specifically on the study of past life memories written by our faculty, please see Publications on Past-life Memories.

Expanded List of Publications:

To view the expanded list of publications generated by the UVA Division of Perceptual Studies researchers, go to the Academic Publications Page.