Proof of the Afterlife from the Queen of Soul

Proof of the Afterlife from the Queen of Soul

Aretha in Billboard 1968. Wikimedia.

I began interviewing people on the flipside with the help of Jennifer Shaffer (who works with law enforcement cases nationwide) a few years ago. We hear all kinds of unusual information in these "chats with the flipside" - if someone comes forward and asks me to "pass along some information" to their loved ones, I do my best to do so.

The first people we interviewed I put in "Hacking the Afterlife"  but then once we began to "talk to" friends of mine who had passed away, a number of them brought their friends - and those friends brought their friends - our "group chats" can get pretty crowded.  

Luana Anders, our moderator (in Dementia 13)

But as noted, my friend Luana Anders (who is on the flipside) is our moderator, and the keeper of the "backstage passes" for purposes of our discussion.
(Actually it was Tom Petty (someone I never met) who dubbed her as the "person with the clipboard behind the velvet rope who has the backstage passes." Hence the title to the book "Backstage Pass to the Flipside: Talking to the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer.")

For example, Bill Paxton came forward to speak to us shortly after his passing (as well as two other mediums that I know) and there's a film on Gaia (the sound was poorly mixed, apologies, so they're replacing it as we speak) where I highlight excerpts from three different mediums who spoke directly to my old friend Billy, including Jennifer.  Viewers can see Jennifer on camera realizing who "Billy" is - as she didn't know who she was talking to until he showed her a visual of himself going to view the Titanic.

All three mediums gave the same answers to the same questions I asked him - and since I'd known him since both our careers began, I was able to verify the details he was giving. So thank you Billy and Happy Birthday (May 17th.)  

If anyone would like a taste of what it's like to "talk to" and "get answers" from a friend on the flipside, the film "Backstage Pass to the Flipside: Talking to Bill Paxton" will be uploaded in a few days (again apologies for the "overmixed" version). 

Now, on to other flipside matters.

After Aretha Franklin passed, she "showed up" during one of our interviews.  

Jennifer Shaffer's pic taken by Dave Chappelle

After her passing, Aretha appeared to Jennifer in our "class" which is attended by friends of mine who are on the flipside, and then friends of friends (including Ray Charles who was in my film "Limit Up" as I worked with him) and there are other members of our class who are "friends" of hers (Sydney Pollack, who directed "Amazing Grace"), and those friends of hers invited her.  However she wasn't prepared to "speak" with us when Jennifer first saw her. So I invited her to "take a seat" and observe what people were doing, and encouraged her to speak up if she wanted to at a later time.  

                                   My film where Ray Charles plays God and
                                   Danitra Vance is a guardian angel

I am aware that the process they go through to communicate is "complex" like higher math, and in order for them to do so, they require the same kind of focus and concentration that Jennifer Shaffer does when she does a session.  So by suggesting Aretha "take a seat" is to suggest that they can observe the process of "lowering their vibration" to be able to "talk" or "send images" to a medium.  It apparently is something that has to be learned or observed.  

By the end of our session, she wanted to say something. 

From "Amazing Grace" Warner Bros.

This was filmed with Jennifer Shaffer on 8-24-18 My questions are in italics, Jennifer's replies are in bold.

Rich: Does Aretha want to talk to us?

Jennifer: Yes. She says “She’s having a blast, she’s having so much fun... I feel like she’s still learning... how to learn how to heal herself... I felt her doing that. Does she have a sister? I feel like she’s up there with her... there are two up there with her... one is... down here?

(Note: All of her sisters have crossed, but she may be referring to someone who “feels like a sister” as she says later.)

Rich: I read that she didn’t leave a will. 

Jennifer: She says “She does have a will but they don’t know where it is.” "It's not with an attorney....  No, they won’t know where it is. It it feels like one of her sisters does, or someone who is like a sister to her." “She won’t know (where it is) but she will know...” She’s explaining that she won’t know... but that she should know...

What’s her name (who should know)?

Something with an S.

Okay, you want me to write about this?

She wants you to write about it... (Jennifer aside) I can’t believe I’m talking to Aretha! I just have to go with it. I’ve never heard her voice up close.  She’s putting me in a sweat... Hold on. She says “She wants to go back to the will. Feels like it’s in a house back in the 1980’s.”

(Note: It was found in a house in Detroit. I don't know who owns it or when she lived in it.)

Rich: So is it in a computer, in a file somewhere that’s named “will?”

Jennifer: I asked her: “Is it supposed to be found?” I’m getting it might never be found. She says they’re “still not looking in the right place.”

(Note: I suggested it was a file - typed up - not Jennifer. Typed onto a computer, as I was misunderstanding what she was saying was it was an old "file" - I was thinking efile).

Things could change...

I think they’re going to find something – and (then) I think it’s going to be contested... Hold on. She keeps showing me Whitney Houston. (Listens) She says she had a great love for Whitney, felt like she felt a great responsibility for Whitney – I don’t know.

Okay, I’ll look that up.

(Note: I did. Aretha was very close with Cissy Houston, Whitney’s mom, and took care of Whitney often. (Did not know that, nor was Jennifer aware of it). They were very close, and Whitney's bio says they spent a lot of time together. Not something I knew, or that Jennifer could have known. I asked her where the will might be - and she had a hard time describing it to us.  "Locked away" in a place "where no one knows it is" but in a file "with other items" etc. Reportedly Aretha didn't own a computer or ever wrote on one.)

Rich: You did say a girl with the name S has your will. Who is that?

Jennifer: Did she have a daughter?

I don’t know – I don’t think so.

It feels like (a daughter named) Shannon. Shaneen... or Shawna?

(Note: The name was "Sabrina." When the film "Amazing Grace" came out, I looked up who was involved with Aretha's estate.  It turns out Ms. Sabrina Owens, her niece was unanimously appointed to be executor. I reached out to Ms. Owens and she said "Aretha didn't own a computer so this couldn't be her."  However, she offered that it wasn't that she didn't believe in the afterlife, she wrote that since her mother (Aretha's sister) had passed, she felt she was around her often.)

Filmed in April, 2019

Hello Jennifer. Class. 

I’ve got goose bumps.

I was just talking about how I reached out to Aretha’s niece Ms. Owens, how she wrote me back. Aretha, can I ask you some follow up questions? You told us the will was written in 1982. What did you mean by that? Was it typed up in 1982?

It was handwritten in 1979 feels like.

Did someone else write it, like a secretary?

She wrote it.

(Note: Some of the details were inaccurate - like it being written in 1982 or 1979. According to the NBC report below, it was written in 2010. However that doesn't mean she didn't write it earlier as well.)  Jennifer is just responding to what she's seeing or being given. I try to include both the inaccurate and accurate details - everything is subject to interpretation. The 1982 may refer to another document.  When something is inaccurate, that allows people to "toss everything out" - which may be the best for them, but doesn't eliminate the many details that are accurate.)

I wrote to your daughter, (Aretha's sister's daughter).

“Thank you.”

Are you aware of what I wrote to her?

“Yes.”

So is it accurate? What did we get wrong?

The typewriting thing...

(Note: I wrote about it being "typed up" which is inaccurate.  So it's like she was corrected that part of it. It was handwritten.)

The will?

It was written in 1979 – it felt like her dad was present...

Maybe her secretary or his secretary typed it up?

I feel like it was handwritten.

By who?

Aretha.

(Note: Her dad being present could have been him "from the flipside" as well.)

Who... has this document? Is this someone in your family...?

“Someone in her family,” she says.

Would your daughter Sabrina know who this is?

“Yes.... They don’t know that they have it but they do.”

So it’s in a two story house, upstairs?

Feels like it’s in an office.

Is it a female or male who owns this house?

Female.

Is it in a filing box or a cabinet?

In a little box.

Are there other things in the box?

Yes, newspaper clippings. I saw like old newspaper clippings.

Okay, that’s pretty specific. Anything you want me to tell your daughter, Sabrina?

She blew (her) a big kiss. Now she’s showing me a ring.

Is it Aretha’s ring or her mom's ring?

It’s Sabrina’s ring – she says it’s a ring that Sabrina has that she should clean and wear.

Is this a ring Aretha gave to her Sabrina's mom? Or that you used to wear?

She gave it to Sabrina... gave the ring to Sabrina.  But it was originally Aretha’s. 

(Note: Ms. Owens says she has a number of rings from her aunt Aretha.  Her email mentions that she knows her mother is watching over her, and that she often reaches out to her for guidance (and helps her finding things "as a result of asking"). Ms. Owens says she knows our "loved ones stick around to guide and protect us," but did not believe the information provided by the medium was accurate." She says she was not surprised to find the wills where they were, or that the wills were handwritten - as Aretha was "old school." I mention this to point out that I'm not claiming that we helped her find the will - we did not - but we did pass along accurate information to her.)

Jennifer Shaffer in action

So - let's put it this way.  This post is a litmus test for people about the flipside.  

I contend that the research demonstrates that "life goes on, that are loved ones are like butterflies while we focus on the chyrsalis" and many of us are not open to the idea that life goes on, or that we can communicate with our loved ones (who are the butterflies in this analogy while we remain the caterpillars).  

In some cases, they're "open" to the idea that their loved ones guide them, but not open to the idea that the conversation can be as direct as we are doing.  And I respect that as well, because it's not up to me to change anyone's idea or opinion about anything.

However, there are some who will see these "edited transcripts" as proof positive that there is an afterlife.  After all, I didn't know she had a niece, didn't know her niece's name began with the letter S or sounded like Shawna; I didn't know that she had a handwritten will, or that she gave anyone a ring ever.  

Yet these were all accurate things that happened.

I do know that I've verified many of the sessions that Jennifer and I have done with those on the flipside, and have written about them (Harry Dean Stanton, Bill Paxton, etc) and this is just one more.  

Partners in chatting to the flipside

We did not find Aretha's handwritten will as directed by Aretha.  But we did learn things that only Aretha knew, that only Aretha could observe, or pass along to us.  It's not my job to convince anyone that there is an afterlife, nor is it Jennifer's.  The reason we do this work is to "open up people's minds to the possibility that there is an afterlife."

Here's the article from NBC's website:

"Aretha Franklin's handwritten wills, if real, shed light on a titanic — and complicated — life..."



Aretha Franklin at Radio City Music Hall in July 1989. Mario Suriani / AP file

May 21, 2019 

By Alex Johnson

"Representatives of Aretha Franklin's estate and her family have asked a judge to tell them what to do with three handwritten wills found hidden in her home, one of which includes a big surprise.

The wills were discovered May 3 in Franklin's Detroit-area home, two in a locked closet for which the key was hard to find and one in a spiral notebook stuffed under cushions on a sofa, according to documents filed Monday in probate court in Oakland County, Michigan.

When Franklin died in August, lawyers reported that she had no will.

3 handwritten wills found in Aretha Franklin's home
The 16 scrawled pages haven't yet been authenticated as being in Franklin's handwriting, attorneys for Franklin's four sons and the personal representative in charge of the estate wrote. And even if they are real, it's not clear that they're valid, according to the court documents, which ask the judge to sort through it all and determine where to go next..."


A page from one of three handwritten wills believed to have been left by Aretha Franklin, who died last year.Oakland County, Michigan, Probate Court


Only respect to Aretha and her family and loved ones.  I'm very glad they found a written example of what she wanted to pass along.  And glad to be able to repeat it here.

Harry Dean Stanton and pal.

Finally, last Thursday, I was writing a reply on Quora about "proof of the afterlife."  I pointed out that Harry Dean Stanton had come to a session with me and Jennifer after he passed but before his memorial service.  Harry Dean reported things about who was in the room when he died (a detail I didn't know but later verified) what he said to those people in the room (a detail I didn't know but later verified) and he had specific private messages (about health) to friends of his that were going to be at his memorial service.  I passed those messages along privately and each one of them was startled, as they were absolutely accurate.

But when I sat down to interview Jennifer last Thursday, she said "Harry Dean Stanton is here."  I asked "Why?" She said "it's about something you wrote.  How it reverberates."  I said "That's funny, I was quoting Harry Dean this morning to someone on Quora.  I was telling the story of we had asked Harry what he wanted me to say at his memorial service; "Tell people to believe in the afterlife."

Knowing what a skeptic he was in life, how he was famous for being an atheist who said "nothing happens when we die" ad nauseum, I laughed and said "Harry. None of your atheists friends are going to believe me if I say that at your memorial service."

He said "Then tell them to BELIEVE IN THE POSSIBILITY OF AN AFTERLIFE and then they won't waste any more of their life arguing about it like I did."

Jennifer said "He wants to thank you for posting that."  Okay. You're welcome Harry.

Talking to Harry Dean Stanton on the Flipside on Coast to Coast Radio

It's always a treat to be invited onto Coast to Coast radio.

This interview was after Harry Dean Stanton passed away, and Jennifer Shaffer and I had a chat with him about his arrival on the flipside.  Harry Dean was famous for being a skeptic and atheist - but he has some funny things to say about his arrival over "there."

Here's the book "Backstage Pass to the Flipside: Talking to the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer" 

Jennifer Shaffer, medium extraordinaire

And as an addendum to this post:

For "Chris C", who wrote the following to me on "The Book of Faces:" 

"So when will you tell me about Art Bell in afterlife, it was a request made on Coast to Coast with George Noory"

Indeed, I remember one of the callers asked a question about Art Bell - I didn't know Art, but he did reach out to me about appearing on his radio show after hearing me on "Coast to Coast" (a show he created) which I did with his Heather Wade (and posted below).  But to this fellow on the Book of Faces I replied:

"Honestly bro i dont have any questions for art bell. If you do you can ask him. Just say his name. Ask your questions.  When you hear an answer before you can form the question you'll know you've made a connection."

(I'm not ducking the question.  I get asked all the time; "why don't you talk to so and so?"  I also offer that "so and so" is welcome to come to one of the times that I'm filming a medium speaking - (including my weekly chats with JenniferShaffer.com) - but I really don't have much to ask Art - "Why did you get involved in this kind of research?"  "Who was there to greet you when you crossed over?"  I didn't know him - so I couldn't verify any of his answers.  The answer that I gave Chris came directly from someone on the other side as a "method of how anyone can speak to us over here.")

To which Chris replied:

"You led us to believe you could talk to the dearly departed, I will bring this up on Coast to Coast during open lines, I am sadly sorry you sound like a fake, I thought maybe you were real."

 Ok. Chris C - since you weren't listening; I don't speak to the afterlife; I film people who do.
As per one of those conversations, we can all communicate with the afterlife - not just mediums. 

Art Bell is waiting for you to reach out to him. Tell him I said hi. (Not knocking Art, he reached out to me to be on his show before he died - but find it ironic my reluctance to talk to him would piss off one of his fans.)

And because I didn't answer your question the way that you preferred ("Wait, hold on,  yes, let me get on my headphone and speak to Art on your behalf") you are promising to go to "go on Coast to Coast" and tell everyone what a fake I am.

Too late. I'm way ahead of you bro.

Again. I'm not claiming to "talk to the dead." I've been filming people for ten years "talking to the dead" "talking about the dead" "talking about how the dead are not dead" "talking about how we don't die." 

So in that vein, "Hey Art Bell, do me a favor and "ping" this fellow so he can know that you still exist, so he can ask you questions - because as we both know, no one dies, no one is gone, everyone we've ever known or loved is accessible if we take the time to ASK THE QUESTIONS."

(Of course Art is welcome to join our chats, just not going to seek him out without a booker paving the way. I'm sure he's a busy man even on the flipside, answering all of the questions everyone has for him.)

So here's the interview I did for Art Bell's show with Heather Wade (his hand picked replacement). Heather reached out to me on his behalf years earlier, but it took a couple of years before they had me on his show, and sadly, Art passed a few months after this aired.  But Heather goes to a place pretty unusual during this interview - visits some things that are pretty unusual - so it's a fun listen either way. I know he enjoyed hearing it.

Enjoy.

Post Script on a Scripted Post - More Harry Dean in the Afterlife

There was a wonderful memorial service for Harry Dean Stanton a week ago.

I've been waiting a bit to post about it, because it was genuine and touching and very Harry Dean.

It was thrown by his nearest and dearest friends, and although I knew Harry, I was not one of those.  As mentioned in the previous post, I ran into him in various venues including while appearing in a Laverne and Shirley episode, while sharing guitars at someone's private party, and over drinks at Dan Tana's at his usual booth with Dabney Coleman. But I knew Harry through his pal Luana Anders.

Luana Anders

The Memorial was a veritable "Who's Who of Hollywood" and was a testament to Harry's persona that all these camera shy folks showed.  Jack and Warren and Al were there - to name a few "one named superstars" from his era, Buck Henry, Rebecca De, Ed Begley Jr did a wonderful job of emceeing the various musical acts that played. Funny and touching.

A heart breaking rendition of "Desperado" was sung by a 12 year old girl whose mom was at his bedside.  Rebecca De Mornay sang his old favorite tune, "Blue Bayou" - songs written about Harry were sung, it was a wonderful evening of reminiscing.  The producers of "Big Love" recounted how the first met Harry, his irascible self, and then the amount of eastern philosophy he dropped in their laps.

His doctor, "Dr. Rick" told epic tales of his treatment of Harry over the years and how it was quite a miracle that this man who smoked and drank as if he only had one day left on the planet lived so very long. 

The director of his last film "Lucky" talked about spending precious moments with him, and Harry's hilarious curmudgeonly delivery that only made people love him more than less.

But my experience was unusual to say the least.  

As I entered the room, I spied the "Fred" that was mentioned in the previous post, the fellow who had driven with Luana and Harry Dean up to the Monterey Pop festival.  He waved me over (I hadn't spoken to him since I shared the blog with him, and wasn't sure what his reaction would be) and said "What else did Harry Dean have to say?"

I remembered that Luana had a private message for him, one that I included in an email, but wasn't sure what his response would be.  (Jennifer and I have these freewheeling conversations, she gets shown an image or gets a thought impressed upon her, and I pass it along.  Sometimes people say "That doesn't sound familiar" but sometimes they say the opposite.  It's always about translating what images or feelings they're getting in these conversations.)

In this case (and it's a note anyone can hear) she told me to tell him that "he should drink more water."  That he's "not hydrating himself enough."  His son looked at me, in shock - and said "That's the part of your email that blew me away. We've been saying the same thing to him for a long time."

And odd way of confirming what Luana was telling me about Harry Dean Stanton on the flipside - but I could not know that Fred's own family was saying that to him, Jennifer could not know this detail either.   

A super skeptic would say "Well, that's a general piece of information, that doesn't prove anything."  Yeah, everyone should drink more water.  

But I've never ever heard anyone say "And that's what we tell him every day."

Luana as Dona Medina in Roger Corman's Pit and the Pendulum.

But wait, as they say; "there's more."

A friend was there and was sitting with a group of women who were with Harry when he died.  I had shared with her that Jennifer had said that "Harry is showing me that five women were with him when he was dying."  

(I didn't know if she meant there were 5 women waiting for him, or in the hospital.  It was the hospital.)  And my friend told me these women were talking about an unusual comment that Harry made prior to passing. 

They were sitting with him as he was dying and he said appropos of nothing; "Hand me the baby."

In my interview with Harry via Jennifer, Harry had said "there was a child who greeted me as I crossed over."  

Jennifer got the impression this was a baby that had died as a miscarriage. Harry said "Google it. 1962."  (I wasn't sure if he meant the baby was born that year, or passed that year, or the mother was associated with that date.)

(In the Flipside research we learn that people choose to come to the planet.  And when they don't come for some reason, it doesn't mean that they "disappear" or "dissolve" back into the ether or consciousness.  They're still here, just like everyone who leaves the planet.  They can "appear" as they want to - in the form of energy that would help you to understand "who they are."  That there's no "time over there" so a person who died last week at age 80 could appear as you knew them at 30 (as Luana described how Harry looked) or someone who passed a few months old could appear as a "child.")

Either way, Harry Dean in his hospital bed asked for someone to "Hand him the baby."

Just like he told me and Jennifer in the cafe in Manhattan Beach two weeks after he crossed over.  Not a detail I could have known, nor that Jennifer could have known.  But a detail that was verified at his Memorial service.

As noted in the previous post, he recounted the trip they took to the Monterey Pop festival.  That he thought it was a "dream" that he had entered into - some kind of "Jacob's Ladder" (my reference) where in the last moment of consciousness you might wind up in a happy dream.  (I wasn't aware that he was in the car with Luana on her way to the festival until a few months ago, when "Fred" mentioned it in an email.)

But in the "afterlife dream" he was having, they had a flat tire, and when he got out to fix it, he looked at "Fred" and said "But we didn't have a flat tire on the trip. This can't be a memory."  And Fred responded; "I know."

That was the moment when Harry Dean realized there WAS an afterlife.  He said that Luana had "tricked him" (his word) into this event, so that he would have a "soft landing." Her memory of their trip to Monterey served as the vehicle for him to realize he was in the afterlife.

Other details came out of that conversation, and I mentioned them in the previous post.  I asked Harry to "show Jennifer" what they saw when they got to Monterey and she said "I see Prince."  

Then said "But this was awhile ago... I see someone onstage who looks like Prince."

I said "Look closely. What's he doing? Is he playing an instrument?"  She said "He's playing a guitar. Is it Jimi Hendrix?"

"Fred" confirmed when they got to Monterey, that was who they saw play among other famous musicians who played.  (As mentioned I'll put the transcript of this chat in the next book that I'm crowd funding at the moment "The Afterlife Expert")

Back to the memorial service.  

I spoke briefly with someone he dated years ago, curious if she might know who it was that Harry had almost had a child with. She said she didn't know. (Jennifer had gotten the impression of the number 1962 - so if any of you Harry peeps out there know who that might be, direct her to this website.)

When I told this woman the story of our "seance" and how when I asked Harry if he had any message to his friends and family he said: "There is an Afterlife."  Then "Believe in the afterlife."  She said "I knew it! I told him that there is one! He wouldn't believe me."

I told her I said "Harry, you were famous for claiming there isn't one.  If I claim you're telling me to tell people they should "believe" they won't."  

He said "Then open yourself up to the possibility that there is one. That there is an afterlife.  Then you won't spend so much time, as I did, worrying about whether there was one or not."

He added that it was like "running on a treadmill" to worry about it when you could focus on other things.  

I asked what the source of his disbelief was - he said "Too many friends died. I walled myself off from the emotions of it.  It was easier to believe that there wasn't one."

Meow.

I hasten to add - Harry's not saying "There is an afterlife as described in the Bible" or "There is an afterlife as described in Buddhism" or "there is an afterlife as described in the Vedantas" or "there is an afterlife as described by Zooraster."  

He's not saying that at all.  Nor is any of my research claiming that.

In fact it's the opposite.  

His declaration that "there is an afterlife" and this method of proving that you can communicate with loved ones no longer on the planet, points to another reality altogether.  

Not that there is no God per se, nor that there is a heaven per se.  

What the research shows consistently is that these words are placeholders for concepts that we can't really get our minds around.  I have interviewed enough people on the flipside to get a point of reference, if only by understanding what these words are not. They claim that we can experience both of these things, and by experiencing them we "know them."

When people talk about "heaven" during a near death event, or some other vision, they are talking about a place that people under deep hypnosis call "home."  It's a consistent word that they use to describe that place "we all eventually go" and where we "experience unconditional love."

Got that? There is an afterlife.

Obviously, when talking to these folks no longer on the planet, we learn that we don't "lose our personas" or become some "other entity."  We remain ourselves, (same sense of humor) albeit with different physics involved.  

One person said when asked "What shall I tell your friends?" he said "Tell people that I'm flying."  

When I asked the director Tony Scott (whom I accessed through an interview with Bill Paxton - I can access people that I know and then if they know someone, they can access them.  It's a bit like "Six degrees of separation" and yes, I should interview Kevin Bacon as he probably knows "a lot of folks" on the flipside).

So I asked Tony Scott a direct question "So why did you park your car on the St. Vincent Thomas Bridge and jump?"
(Sometimes when accessing information, I ask questions in a challenging manner. And this was as matter of fact as I could make it.) He said "Because I wanted to fly."

I said "You're joking."  He said, "I'm not. I'm spending much of my time over here traveling around to different worlds, different realms. I really am flying. I can go anywhere."  

We discussed more details, I asked if the "black box medicine" he was taking contributed to his demise.  He said "that and a bunch more."

I will include that interview in the book as well.  I'm not philosophizing, or opining a theory here - I'm just reporting what people say about the flipside. 

Either through direct experience (a near death event) or via a hypnosis sessions (between life hypnotherapy as pioneered by Michael Newton) or via a medium (working with people I know that have given verified information.)

I misquoted Bill Paxton in the previous post.  After transcribing the footage, I realize he said that he "was the new guy and he had to sit on the end of the bench" - calling himself the "new guy" on the bench, not Harry Dean, who with Luana were part of the "older crew."  

Bill shows up often in these talks with Jennifer because I knew him, we were pals, and he knew Luana as well.

 And in another interview he had specific things he wanted to say to his family.  (I've forwarded a link with the footage from those interviews to a member of his family.)

Bill showed up again during our follow up with Harry Dean, and said "I wanted to thank you for sending that link along. While no one has acknowledging seeing it, two people have, and it has opened up the possibility to them."  

I said again, "Look, Bill, I only mentioned you in the Harry Dean post because there are people who are suffering immeasurably from the loss of loved ones, including you, and you did ask me to reach out to them, so I have."

He said "Thank you. And I'll thank you when you get here."

Not too soon I hope.

Meanwhile, here's a post from the IANDS.org website.  It's about a guy who had a near death experience, and then realized he was "home."  Pretty much what I've been claiming is in the research.

"From Richard L's NDE on NDERF:

"I started to hear a buzzing sound that quickly became very loud. As the sound increased, the hole above me got bigger, the light got brighter, and I felt myself being pulled up towards it. I felt as if I was being squeezed through an opening that was too small for me. 

The buzzing sound became a whooshing roar as I entered the hole, with a Doppler-like effect as I passed through it. The sensation was like speeding down a tunnel at light speed, not unlike the 'warp' effect you see in movies. I wasn't alone in there, either. I felt the presence of others, but I couldn't see them.

I passed through some kind of dividing line, a barrier of sorts, hard to describe.

I was surrounded by light. Misty shapes began to form as I looked around. At first, they were just moving swirls of light, but they soon took the shape of human forms. There were a lot of them around me. I heard soft whispering coming from them, like a crowd murmuring and talking among themselves. From this crowd, three shapes came forward and approached me. As they drew near, I could make out them out better, as if they were slightly out of focus and my eyes were adjusting. They were tall and slender, wearing what looked like flowing robes. One of them was wearing a beard. They all had long, shoulder-length hair. One of them spoke to me.

'You're not supposed to be here, yet. You have to go back. You know what you agreed to,' he said.

I told him that I didn't want to go back. I liked it here. It felt like home. I felt like they were amused by my response.

'You must go back, you have work to do. We'll send you back, soon.'

I looked around me at the crowd. I saw familiar faces. These were friends, family, enemies, people I had known before, but I couldn't remember from where or when. Some of them I knew I had known for a very long time. Many lives, many places, many times. I flashed on visions from those lives and events. There was a continuity and connectedness about all of it, a sense of purpose and order that spanned the centuries.

I looked back at the three people in front of me. These people were ancient. I don't know how I knew that, but I knew that they were 'old souls' who watched over my group. We all had 'sprung' from them, like children, each going their way yet connected to the source. I felt nothing like judgment of our actions from them. If anything, I felt a kind of amused benevolence from them, like parents watching their children playing. Even at the really bad things we did in our lives, there was no judgment.

The one with the beard spoke to me. 'You can ask questions. We will answer them and you will remember. It is important that you do this.'

My first question was 'Is this heaven?'

'It can be, if that's what you want. It can be Hell, as well, if that's what you believe. This reality is an extension of you, instantly realized and formed. You always create your own reality, no matter where you find yourself, for we are all co-creators.'

'Where is God? I don't see him.' I asked. They became visibly amused, like they were snickering at my question under their breath.

'How can you see that which you are yourself a part of? We are all expressions of God. When you see with your eyes, you see through the eyes of God and he experiences reality through yours. When you speak to God, you speak to yourself. We are one and the same, there is no division or separation. You can no more 'see' God than your hand can see you, for it is a part of you and functions because of you and for your purposes, as well as its own. There is no separation. Any that seems to exist is an illusion. The light that surrounds us here is God. It is our source of being and is given freely to all.'

Next question. 'Why do I feel like this is home?'

'Because it is home. All begin here and return here. It is the starting point for all journeys and lessons.'

A strange question. I still don't know why I asked it, but at the time it seemed relevant. 'When I come back again, can I stay?' I got an even stranger answer.

'We don't think you'll want to stay long, you never do. You love your lessons, especially the hard ones. You can do as you please, it's your choice.'"

Read more at: https://www.nderf.org/Experiences/1richard_l_nde.html

Cheers.  Me and Luana in Roma.

Note: The word "home" means something different to everyone.  But we can all agree that it means something to each of us, and that may be a place of calm, acceptance and "unconditional love."

At the end, he asks "When I come back can I stay?" And the answer is "Sure, dude, if you're not in a hurry to get back to the planet, because that's what you do, you're always in a big hurry to get back there.  And you choose the hardest lives to experience.  You can do as you please..." - because we choose to come here.  That's why he says "It's your choice."  

It's our choice to come here!  

When we check off the planet, we hang out with our loved ones until we make a plan to return (here or sometimes people claim it's somewhere else, off planet.)  I post this verbatim because it's pretty much what I've said in all my books.

More to come. 

Talking to Harry Dean Stanton on the Flipside

"Just open yourself up to the possibility that there might be an afterlife."

Luana on the Flipside (or a mirror in Rockefeller plaza)

This is a post about my pal Luana Anders (who passed away in 1996) and my pal Harry Dean Stanton (who passed a few weeks ago) and my conversation with them via Jennifer Shaffer (JenniferShaffer.com)

First some bonafides; I've known Harry Dean Stanton since I appeared in an episode of "Laverne and Shirley" with him back in the 80's.  I played a pizza delivery guy who whenever he rang the doorbell, was always shy a couple of slices of pizza.  "Hey fur face, where's the rest of our pizza?"  (Shirley's line) And I'd make up some story "Well, I was on my way here, and suddenly I saw this fire in a building, and I set the pizza down, and went over to the building and caught this baby that fell out of window... but when I got back to your pizza, a few slices were missing."  

All the while, wiping pizza crumbs out of my beard.

Charles Grodin got me the part, it was his idea, he called his pal Penny Marshall and she brought me in to do an episode.  I filmed the bit on the same night that Harry Dean Stanton was performing - singing songs actually, and later, when I ran into Penny she said "Oh, I forgot. We had to cut you. Harry's song went long." (Some years later we shared the "millennium cruise" aboard Bob Shaye's yacht - and I played piano while Penny sang. So there was a circle to that story too.)

But in Harry Dean's case, that circle closed yesterday in a cafe in Manhattan Beach.

Wine and Spirits anyone? (Jennifer's name for a cool talk show)

It's where I meet up with Jennifer Shaffer to talk about the flipside, and when we're there together, we sometimes "invite" folks to come and chat with us "if they're available."  It's a strange set up - we have a small knit group of folks we normally speak with, and our class cheer leader is Luana Anders, my pal who passed away some 20 years ago, who inspired this journey into the Flipside, and has been appearing to me and in my books since then.

She was very tight with Harry Dean Stanton.

Harry Dean Stanton "Everyone's favorite character actor"

How tight?  Well, I did not know this when she was on the planet, but a mutual friend told me about a trip he took with Luana and Harry Dean up to the Monterey Pop festival in 1967.  The film played at the Aero theater in Santa Monica recently, and I went to see it just to experience what they'd experienced - but I don't recall mentioning any of that to Jennifer.  Either way, as I'm about to report; she wasn't aware of it.

So yesterday we asked Luana to stop by.  I said "Lu, our mutual friend Harry passed away recently, I wondered if we might chat with him?"

Jennifer said "He's sitting next to her."

Harry with a close pal.

Now, allow me to pause for a moment - I know how weird this sounds.  But I can tell you that I've verified many of our sessions.  I've heard things from Luana (and others - I've filmed about 30) that I did not know (so it can't be cryptomnesia, something I read, Jennifer read, heard or was told me) but later proved to be true. (It happens in "Hacking the Afterlife" with Jennifer.)

This has happened numerous times, and the details she gives me are verifiable.  They're usually private - so I don't normally talk about this kind of thing in public.  (If Harry had children or a family, I'd share it with them privately. I've shared many details from our sessions with family members, but in this case Harry was a solo trapeze artist.)

I knew and got to hang out with Harry over the years as well.  

We jammed at a party one night - playing guitars, him crooning his Spanish repertoire - Harry knew them all.  We also spent a night drinking at Dan Tana's with Dabney Coleman at their booth. I mentioned seeing Harry at Dan Tana's to Jennifer, and Harry said "Until four a.m." (which was accurate.) We drank until the wee hours, smoking cigarettes outside; Harry was always friendly to me because of the Luana connection - but he firmly did not believe in an afterlife.  He spoke of that disbelief often.

He was kind of famous for talking about it - this was the only path and journey, and after that, nothing. (As the director of his most recent film Lucky points out: "He was deeply spiritual person who was 100% certain that there was no God and there was only a void and we were all going to disappear into nothing and no one was in charge," Lynch says. "He was deeply committed to that worldview.")

His film "Lucky" goes into it in detail, although I haven't seen it yet, I'm sure he gets a lick or two in there about this being the only go-round on the merry-go-round.

That is, until I spoke to him yesterday. On the Flipside.

HDS - Entertainment Weekly

Jennifer did not know who he was, did not know who I was referring to, and I carefully avoided saying his full name or credits or how they knew each other.  But I suspected that it might have been "unusual" or "difficult" for Harry to accept the fact that there IS an afterlife, and it would likely have given him some pause.

It did.

(I filmed this event, it will be a chapter in my next book, but in essence this is how Luana and Harry described the process via Jennifer.)

Luana Anders in the 1960's.

About a week prior to his passing, Harry said, Luana started appearing at his bedside.  He said she was wearing her hippie outfit - specifically the one that she was wearing when they drove up to Monterey in 1967.  

Harry said "I thought I was hallucinating."  He said that he recognized her, but assumed it was a trick of the brain to have her appear in this memory.

I asked Luana what happened next.  

She helped him remember the drive to Monterey.  (Jennifer at first said "Santa Barbara" and I said "I think it was further north.")  Upon crossing over, Harry saw himself in this car, driving up to Monterey.  He "assumed it was a dream."  

There was a third friend in the car as well. Let's call him "Fred."  (I reached out to "Fred" yesterday as Harry had a message for him, and answered some questions raised here) 

Harry said "I thought this is what happens when people die - they go to a happy memory, like a dream, and then they're in that dream forever in kind of a loop."  The idea that a dream or memory would just play out over and over when someone was no longer on the planet.

Then, he said, they had a flat tire.

And as they were fixing the flat tire, Harry said he "realized this was not something that had happened" - that they did not have a flat tire on this trip.  

So he looked at his friend "Fred" and said "We didn't have a flat tire." And "Fred" said "I know."

It was at this moment he realized he wasn't in a dream - but "in the afterlife."  Harry chuckled as he said (through Jennifer) "Luana gave me a soft landing by doing that."

I said "I'm in touch with the other friend in the car - "Fred" - he's still on the planet, just to be clear, when you were speaking to him while fixing the flat tire..." Harry interrupted "I was talking to his higher self."  (It's a term I often use to describe the energy that is always "back home" in the afterlife.) 

(According to the thousands of cases done by Michael Newton of people under deep hypnosis (7000 over 30 years, as detailed in "Flipside") people claim we bring about a third of our energy here, and the rest is "always back there.")  

So when Harry saw his pal "Fred" helping him with the tire, he realized he was talking to the "higher self" version of his friend.

He added "And the higher self version is much less uptight than he is down on the planet."  

Jennifer didn't know that - could not know that - but I know that.  This "Fred" fellow is famously taciturn, doesn't speak unless questioned, he's described by all who know and love him as a "doesn't speak until spoken to" kind of guy.  So for Harry (through Jennifer) to describe him that way was precisely as I know him.  And it made me laugh.

He said ""Fred" is heartbroken, you need to let him know I'm okay."

I said "What have you been doing since you arrived back there?"  He said "Seeing friends. Thousands of friends.  You can tell my ex that I saw our child who passed away."  I said "Who is that?"  He said "Look it up - we had a child in 1962 (Jennifer said "the date 1962 comes to mind" - so don't know if it happened then, or she was born in 1962, or some other connection to that date) and that child passed away.  Let her know that I'm with that child."  

I said "Harry, I have no way to access her."  He said "Google it."  

So I will.  (People don't lose their syntax or personality when they get to the flipside.  They're not gone. They're just not here.)

I asked "Is there anything you want me to share with people, your friends, fans, or just anyone?" He said:

"Tell them there is an afterlife.  Tell them to believe in an afterlife."

I laughed.  I said "Harry you were famous for claiming there isn't one. Who is going to believe me when I say "Harry Dean said "You should believe in the afterlife?"

He said "My point is that you spend so much time worrying about whether there is one or not, if you just open yourself up to the possibility, then you won't spend so much time, like I did, on that hamster wheel worrying about whether there is one or not."

I said "So how did you come to believe there wasn't one?"

He said "Too many of my friends died. That was painful. It was a way that I could wall off the pain. Just easier to believe it didn't exist."

I thanked him for the point.  "Believe in the afterlife" - not because there is or isn't one - but the act of opening yourself up to the possibility there might be one, takes the onus and pressure off the wasted energy worrying about it. (to paraphrase Harry.)

Old pals, Jack and HDS (and Luana)

(I didn't mention Harry's other friends, that we eventually spoke of, as I didn't want to inject bias into my questions to Jennifer about Harry.  But later, he had some wry comments about Marlon and Jack which I'll include in the chapter.) 

I will be transcribing the session verbatim.  It was thrilling for me since Jennifer didn't know anything about this trip.  I didn't know anything about the trip either until a few months ago, when the third fellow in the car told me about it.

I said "Harry, show Jennifer where you were going in Monterey.  What did you guys do up there?'

She said "He's showing me big screens and people sitting around.  Luana said it was a 'free love' event. (We had not discussed a year or time when this event happened.)  I said "What's happening on the screens, what are people doing?"  Jennifer said "It's like a concert of some kind, listening to music."  I said "Harry, show her who is performing at this concert."  Jennifer looked into the deep distance and said... "Prince?"  

Did not play Monterey.

I chuckled.  I said, "Okay, you can see a guy playing a guitar who could be Prince. Look more carefully. Is that Prince?"  

After a long pause she said "Is it Jimi Hendrix?"  

A chill came over me as she said it.  This of course, was the famous concert where Jimi lit his guitar and the world on fire.  I spoke to the third person in the car yesterday and he confirmed that they did see Hendrix, and no, they did not have a flat tire that he could remember. Jennifer said she saw Harry and Luana smoking pot together, getting high, but this third fellow said he's never touched the herb, but couldn't rule out they may have been getting stoned.

Did play at Monterey

At some point, my friend Bill Paxton showed up in this discussion.  (Bill was an old friend, he's shown up a whole bunch of times, including when I'm interviewing other mediums, and his visits will be included in the next book).  Bill did a number of "we're not worthy" bows towards Harry, as he was and remains a big fan.  

Harry Dean and Billy P. in "Big Love."

But then, Bill knew both Luana and Harry, so it's not out of the ordinary that the three of them would be hanging out.  Bill joked "Harry's the new guy here, so Harry's gotta sit at the end of the row in this crew." (I'm paraphrasing, but in typical Bill fashion, made light of what we were doing.)  Harry also made a number of jokes, bad puns, and when I have the time to transcribe, will share them as well.

Bill Paxton directing

If you've never come across my page, welcome.  And a warning:

I am reporting what I filmed verbatim.  Jennifer works with law enforcement agencies nationwide on missing person cases. We've filmed other sessions where she's told me things about friends of mine (information from them on the other side to their loved ones over here) that turned out to be accurate, true, and not what I (or Jennifer) knew or could know. Verifiable details.

I've been cataloging what people say about the afterlife for about a decade now - I've examined the work of Michael Newton (7000 cases over 30 years), Dr. Helen Wambach (2000 cases a decade earlier), and filmed over 40 between life sessions.  (I've done 5 myself, four with Scott De Tamble (lightbetweenlives.com)  

I've interviewed scientists about consciousness and near death events, and have had a number of near death experiencers do between life sessions to gather further information.  I have worked with a number of mediums, including Jennifer, to access "new information" from people no longer on the planet. 

All of this is cataloged in my books "Flipside" "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" volume one and volume two and "Hacking the Afterlife."  I'm currently crowd funding my next book "The Afterlife Expert."

I offer this information merely as a reporter (I'm a filmmaker, have written and/or directed eight theatrical feature films, some documentaries, and been a journalist for a number of magazines).  

I'm not trying to alter, adjust, change anyone's beliefs, or reroute their journey or path in any way.  I've found that the people who are drawn to this research come because of some reason only they know.  It may be part of their path or journey, or they're trying to understand someone else's path or journey. This research is not for everyone, nor should it be.  Not everyone needs to know "what happens at the end of the novel" and it's infinitely more fun to not know the ending to the play when you're in the play.  But for whatever reason, it's been my passion for the past decade.

 Harry Dean was a friend, and remains one to this day.  While he had many more famous friends than me, our mutual pal Luana, one of his nearest and dearest friends was there to greet him on the flipside (along with others) and she orchestrated this session between me, Harry and Jennifer.  I know what it's like to hear and see Luana (and have visited her a number of times "over there" and the information is consistent and revelatory) know what its like to see her "over there" (appears younger than when I met her, but the same persona, sense of humor and deep insight.)



God rest ye merry gentlemen.  

It took me a few minutes after he said this outrageous thing "just believe in the afterlife" -- but now I feel I understand what Harry is saying: 

"Just allow that there might be an afterlife.  Even if you don't believe it, open yourself up to the possibility that it might be true." As if allowing ourselves to be "open to other possibilities" helps us navigate life on the planet. As if allowing that there's more to this journey than we can comprehend takes some of the stress out of experiencing it.  Good point Harry.  Thank you.

And finally, I'll end with a Harry quote from when he was still on the planet: "Heisenberg, Max Plank and Einstein, they all agreed that science could not solve the mystery of the universe." Harry Dean Stanton