A chat with the Queen on the Flipside

I’m a cheeky bugger.

I don’t really know what that term means. But I think it applies.

For the past 8 years I’ve been chatting with people on the flipside. For six years I’d visit Jennifer in her office or a nearby restaurant and film our conversations. Those conversations are the basis of four books — “Backstage Pass to the Flipside” 1, 2 and 3, and “Tuning Into the Afterlife.”

JenniferShaffer.com

Jennifer is a medium who works with law enforcement pro bono to assist in missing person cases. I know of a number of times that she’s been instrumental in helping the authorities to solve a mystery — often by giving them avenues to pursue. I’ve witnessed this with law enforcement members in the same room.

That aside, we’ve been chatting with people that I knew who are no longer on the planet. I take the time to do the research, and some of that is in the film HackingTheAfterlifeFilm.com — where one can see her in action.

This past week, in honor of the anniversary of John Lennon’s passing, I decided to ask him a few questions. I had been nodding off to sleep the night before, and found myself chatting with him. I’ve stopped judging “whether or not this is the real person” after doing this for so long — two years on our podcast HackingTheAfterlife.com.

In this instance, I was under the impression that John was telling me something. He said “People are enjoying your writing.” I asked “Who?” thinking he meant on the planet. He replied “Not on earth, but over here.” I said “Okay. But who has told you that?” He stopped and said, “The Queen for one.”

Which was funny to hear. If I was going to nominate someone on the flipside to mention the work — she might not be on the list. However, since Jennifer and I have done this for 8 years weekly — the Queen did show up in a session we did with Carl Sagan.

It was a session where I invited a number of atheists, skeptics to chat with us. And in response to the question “So when did you realize there was an afterlife?” Jennifer said that he was telling her that the Queen had interceded — while still on the planet. Seeing her startled him — as he was aware she was alive on earth. She showed him that she was both on earth and standing with him.

Which is in line with the research. We bring a portion of our conscious energy to a lifetime and the rest is back home. So while we are on the planet, a portion of us is always home. She said that she startled him into being aware where he was.

She repeats that in this podcast. But she adds that she had corresponded with Carl — something I have not been able to verify. However, I can verify that they met on March 1st 1983 on a boat with Francis Coppola in San Francisco. https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/2022-05/40-533-5701104-083-018-2022.pdf

So when breaking down what she’s saying — she may be referring to “reading his letters” or “reading his books.” When she’s “showing Jennifer letters” it could be a number of meanings related to letters.

I had been listening to tributes to John Lennon earlier in the day, and reflected upon the time I played piano with Julian Lennon at a pub in Monte Carlo, and how he’d generously offered me his couch as the trains had stopped running for me to return to Cannes. And around six in the morning, a gruff voice shouting in my ear said “Who the F$%k are you?” I jumped off the couch — looked around, saw that no one was there.

Then I recognized the voice, the Liverpool accent. This was years before any of my research into the flipside, so I had zero context for it happening, nor did I mention it to Julian. But then his dad showed up in a number of our sessions, Jennifer saying “John Lennon is here.” I asked him the same questions I ask everyone — who greeted him on the flipside, what it was like, when he realized where he was.

He described an unusual experience of walking in the dark and then realizing he was on a stage in front of a giant audience, and Jimi Hendrix was waiting for him. And the song began and they played “Blue Suede Shoes” together. When I asked him what happened next, he said it was the sounds of Yoko’s voice crying that pulled him from that reverie.

Since then, as mentioned in TUNING INTO THE AFTERLIFE, we’ve had many people report that Jimi Hendrix “was there to greet them.” (That’s the reference in the podcast to “talk show host.” More than one person (Janis Joplin, who had passed only a month earlier said the same) reported that “Jimi was there to greet her.”

In our interview with Jimi, I asked him why that was happening. He said “It’s something I like to do, and it’s fun. Everyone recognizes me, and isn’t stressed about how they are doing so.” It’s like he provides them with a “soft landing” on the flipside. (Who has time to worry about the fact they’ve died, when Jimi is playing a song that you are playing with him?)

As noted in this podcast, I looked up their association with the Carl Perkins song, and both of them recorded it a year apart. So they were both familiar with it — and John said it was “an homage to Elvis.” Again — I’m reporting what the answers were when I asked the questions.

Finally, Princess Diana stopped by — someone we’d chatted with before in “Backstage Pass to the Flipside” — but that was way before the Queen departed. It was something to hear from the Queen, how they greeted each other with a knowledge about the roles they both played in this play.

Someone asked us to “tell more about Diana” in a future podcast — and I said that she had already spoken to us, and told us that she viewed her children with unconditional love. To ask her opinion about current affairs, TV shows, etc — is the same. She loves her children unconditionally, her grandchildren as well. It’s what people report from the flipside. We have a different perspective about the play we’ve just participated in, and recognize all the players for who they really are.

But I thought it appropriate to invite John on this anniversary. Folks on the flipside refer to the “day they died” as their “birthday on the flipside” because they’re returning home after all, and starting a new journey. It’s like riding a bicycle — once we get home, we start to remember how things work.

So apologies to all who are offended by the concept of chatting with folks on the flipside. I’ve been doing this weekly with Jennifer for 8 years, the past two years on our podcast MartiniZone.com — or HackingTheAfterlife.com — and we continue to do it as long as we can.

One day we won’t be able to, but until then, hope you enjoy tales from the Flipside.

Finally, I excerpted Simon Bown’s interview for the book DIVINE COUNCILS IN THE AFTERLIFE: THE FLIPSIDE COURT, and in a recent podcast, Simon read the introduction. Always sounds more intelligent when a member of the Queen’s island reads aloud:

Hacking the Afterlife Anniversary Special with Jennifer Shaffer and Billy Preston

https://youtu.be/7ZPNXDyKXPc

It's our Anniversary Special!

Jennifer reached out to me 7 years ago, after listening to the audible for my second book "It's a Wonderful Afterlife." At the time I didn't know anything about mediums, other than I'd met a few who were spot on and amazingly accurate. I didn't realize that it was another methodology for accessing information on the flipside.

So we spent three hours together our first meeting - me filming her accessing people on the flipside. Me asking her questions about her path and journey - all on film.  She knew more about a person on the flipside (Amelia Earhart) than anyone I'd ever met - and I'd worked on two feature films about her.  Not because Jennifer knew about Amelia - but because it was like having Amelia in the room answering my pointed questions.

After that we began meeting weekly for seven years.  Let me say that again - for some reason, for seven years, she and I have been conversing with the flipside for seven years.  Excerpts of those conversations are in the film "HACKING THE AFTERLIFE" full transcripts are in the book "Hacking the Afterlife", "Backstage Pass to the Flipside 1, 2, 3" - as the latest book "Tuning Into the Afterlife."

That is all a prelude to what happens next.

A day before, a friend of mine posted a photograph of Billy Preston referring to the trauma he'd experienced as a child. I wrote under his post, "Not gone, just not here."  It's hard to say to people that our loved ones are "not gone" - but to raise awareness that they are somewhere else.

Which made me think, "I would like to interview him on the flipside."  Lo and behold, the next day, doing this podcast, Jennifer says "I'm seeing Nat King Cole."  We had interviewed him before (I spent a semester at his high school when I was in high school in Chicago) so that wasn't odd to hear.  However, she said "He's singing that song "You are so beautiful."

Most people don't know that Billy Preston wrote that song. (with Bruce Fisher, not Diane Warren as I say in the clip). But because she mentioned it - I realized that Luana had put an image of Nat in Jennifer's mind to get me into the ballpark, and by having her hear "You Are So Beautiful" was to allow me to connect those dots.

And it happens live on camera. But Jennifer doesn't know who "Billy" is and I don't say his last name until the end of the podcast. That allowed me to ask her specific questions about Billy and his journey. I knew that Eric Clapton was a close friend, so when I asked her to ask him about his friend Eric's visit to his deathbed, she said "I'm seeing Eric Clapton."

I didn't say his name. She did.

Because we've interviewed John and George before - as Jennifer notes in the podcast she did a session with one of George's friends who was able to access him - (Gary) - and we've chatted with John a few times (anyone can) - I asked for Billy's impression of John and George.

Again - she hasn't seen the film "Get Back" she isn't aware of the relationship between the three of them. So what we get to hear is unadulterated reactions to my questions from someone no longer on the planet.

Everything is interpretation - everything is frequency. So some of the answers may be skewed by interpretation, some may be skewed by my asking them inappropriately. For example, I didn't know that Billy had a sister - so when Jennifer says "the love of his life was the husband of his sister" - that may mean "a boyfriend his sister had at a young age" it could mean someone closely associated with his sister.  

And his sister is alive - so if she's reading this, my apologies for asking a question that I didn't know what he would reply - and we tend to not edit or change what comes through. It's an impression that Jennifer got, that the "love of his life" was his first love, which was someone associated with his sister.  Whether they were together or not isn't important.

The portion about the abuse - looking up the details after the sessions, I learn that it was by someone in a church band - not someone in the church per se, but someone who molested and abused him as a child. (When he was forced to move to a new city and be part of this band in Los Angeles.) Jennifer asks if he was an orphan - and the answer was that he "had the feeling of being an orphan" when he was moved abruptly to the new city.

Having been doing this for so long with Jennifer, when it seems as if I'm "leading her" it IS THAT I'M LEADING HER. I've been doing this for so long with her, I'm anticipating what she might say, and as you can hear, I interrupt her to focus on questions I can verify. (Like "did he play drums?" - he did play other instruments, the drums reference might have been about Ringo, but I focused on things I can verify about Billy's life.)

Needless to say - anyone who has seen Get Back will see what I'm talking about when his presence in the band is treated with reverence. I saw it, but Jennifer did not.  And the answers are mind bending if not mind blowing in scope.  

So this is an appropriate Anniversary Special.  It shows what seven years of constant conversation with the flipside can do.  Allow people to open themselves up to the possibility that people live on.

Again - because we live in a world of celebrity, I'm not posting this to connect myself or Jennifer with famous musicians or people. We are doing this specifically to show, demonstrate to everyone that it is possible to connect with loved ones, it is possible that they still exist, it is possible to converse.  All of this work - the seven years of it - has been to open up that door for people.  

Because it's time. It's time to realize that life goes on. That consciousness goes on. That are loved ones still care about us, still want to assist or help us, and we are the ones who either prevent them from doing so - or can open the door for them. 

So open the door by opening one's heart.  "That's the Way God Planned it" "Will It Go Round In Circles" "Nothing From Nothing" "A Change is Gonna Come" "Love the One You're With" (based on a comment Stephen Stills heard from Billy) "You Are So Beautiful" - all these titles are about the beautiful journey Billy took and that we all take.

(the book TUNING INTO THE AFTERLIFE: HOW TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH THE FLIPSIDE is available online)

WOW!  fan of the podcast dug up clip of Nat King Cole intro'ing Billy Preston - as he does in the podcast- https://youtu.be/kxSHBIXfFPE

John Lennon says he's helping Paul with his music, Paul confirms it

It's a provocative headline, I know.

Flipside detectives. Just reporting ma'am.

I'm not trying to sell anyone anything. I'm reporting, so it deserves this kind of headline.

Let me say it again: John Lennon says he's helping Paul with his music, Paul confirms it.

Today on the CBS Morning show, Paul was quoted speaking of John.

(Asked about John's passing and if he'd still be writing on "CBS This Morning") 

"Yeah. He was showing no signs of slowing up. You know, he was still making great music. The question is, would we have ever got back together again?" What's the answer? "I don't know!" McCartney said. "We don't know. We were friends. That was one of the great things about it. You know, I don't know how I would've dealt with it. 'Cause I don't think I've dealt with it very well. You know, in a way, you know … I wouldn't be surprised if a psychiatrist would sort of find out that I was slightly in denial. Because it's too much." 

McCartney told us he still has dreams about John Lennon, and thinks about him when he writes."  

There's a direct quote in last week's "Hacking the afterlife" podcast where we asked John (who stopped by with a friend) "what are you up to?" and he said "I'm working with Paul on his songs."' 

We (Jennifer Shaffer and I) asked him about that process as well:

Here's the podcast of that episode: 

Here's the video of the podcast from MartiniZone.com 

This past week, we had a "surprise guest" in our podcast.  That is, as I was going to sleep, I heard my friend Luana Anders (who passed in 1996) tell me that we had a "surprise guest" for our upcoming podcast.

Why Luana put it that way, I don't know. We have interviewed both Elvis and John in the books "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" and I reference them in this interview.

ALSO:

I forgot to add in the post that Elvis came through to talk a bit about his relationship with Colonel Tom Parker. 

Tom Hanks was talking about what a con man and huckster he was in life on "The Late Show" - but then said when he invited Priscilla to dinner at their home, she talked about how much the family loved Tom, how much Elvis loved him. 

And in the interview, Elvis explains why - they "found each other in this lifetime" and "checked off all the boxes of lessons they wanted to learn." People on the flipside not only reporting new information, but confirming what their loved ones on this side say about them. 

John helps Paul, Paul refers to John helping him - Elvis loved Parker, Tom reports that's what Priscilla said. Literally what Jennifer reported Elvis said about being "a genius and scoundrel." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbfQIw6r4w0

But something in the interview jumped out at me today, because, well the quote came from Paul McCartney.

In the interview with Elvis, we asked him how he showed up in our class that day or why. And Jennifer said "He's telling me that John Lennon brought him forward."  That is "normal" in terms of the amount of sessions I've filmed and done with Jennifer - once a week for the past six years - one person we've interviewed in the past will "bring someone else" forward.  ("Backstage Pass to the Flipside" books 1, 2 and 3).

We've interviewed friends (Bill Paxton, Harry Dean Stanton) strangers, politicians - anyone who wanders in, because I know they haven't wandered in, they've asked, raised their hand to speak to us.

I know that's the case because when Tom Petty showed up a few days after his passing, I asked "Why is Tom here?" And he said "You guys have no idea how long the line is to talk to you.  Your friend Luana is the person who holds the clipboard and allows people in.  It's like she's the bouncer at the VIP entrance of the club, no one gets in without her saying it's okay."

Hence the title of the book.

I didn't know Tom. Jennifer didn't know Tom. Tom has specific messages he wanted us to pass along to his family and we did so. For the record, the family member I reached out to said "I really wish I could speak to my father, but I don't think you guys are talking to him."  

I apologized for the intrusion. 

But that hasn't stopped others from coming in to speak to us, to ask us to pass along messages to people. Junior Seau wanted to speak to his widow, Gina, so I set up a session with Jennifer without telling her why. She didn't know Gina, didn't know who Junior was really, and they had an hour long conversation on film.  Junior was adamant about telling us that the very much alive Joe Namath has "cured his CTE" using hyperbaric oxygen therapy. 

Jennifer and Gina Seau post interview

So adamant he showed up three times to make the case, with Paul Allen (Microsoft founder who started his brain institute to explore these brain issues), Dave Duerson of the Chicago Bears who was the first victim of CTE. I put a film on MartiniZone.com that is 90 minutes of these conversations that anyone can view for free.

But back to Paul and John.

Let's not forget who wrote the song "Yesterday" and "Let It Be."

In the interview he talks about "waking up with the song in his head." More on point is that his mother came to him in a moment of stress - when he reportedly was worried about his finances - and told him to "Let it be."

It's literally a conversation with his departed mother telling him to "just let things be" and that everything is going to be okay.  

But beyond that, last Thursday John said he is "helping Paul with his music" - and describes that process, and today, Sunday the 20th of December in the year of our plague, Paul confirms

EXACTLY THE SAME THING.

It's not me saying these things. It's not my opinion, theory or belief that people can speak to the flipside. I've been filming people doing so for ten years - over 100 cases to date, 50 with the help of hypnotherapist, 50 without any hypnotherapists. And that's aside from the dozens, perhaps 100s of people that Jennifer and I (and other mediums as well) have directly accessed from the other side.

Anyone can do it.

Anyone can speak to their loved ones.

Anyone can ask their loved ones to help. They can't intercede - they can't change the path we've chosen for ourselves - but they can (and do) keep up the conversation.

Even if it's the most famous writing duo on the planet.  One is assisting the other. 

(JenniferShaffer.com) Jennifer works with law enforcement agencies nationwide on missing person cases. She knows what she's doing. Or at least I film her doing what she's doing.

I can't figure out any other way to trumpet this information.  I've been saying the same things since I wrote "Flipside" and made the documentary (on Amazon Prime) about this topic.  None of the details have changed - just grown more detailed.

Check it out. Look at the books, look at the research, try a self experiment, see if one comes up with a different outcome.  

Lately, I've had one of my old pals on the flipside "kicking my ass" because I haven't been more vocal about this research.  It's worth noting when something rings true, rings a bell, or otherwise shatters our illusion of how things work we need to let it ring.

Consider this post a very loud bell.

My two cents

Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer, Elvis and John Lennon

It's our 40th episode!  How about that?  HackingTheAfterlife.com Podcast

Well, this is no different than the others - mind bending and just about as out there as we can get.

Last night I happened to catch Tom Hanks talking about his movie he's doing with Baz Luhrmann in Australia, where he plays Colonel Tom Parker. Went to sleep without a thought about it, and had the impression that Luana told me we'd have a "surprise guest" in today's episode.

To be clear, we've seen Elvis before in our class - and we did invite him into the chair and interviewed him extensively.  Who was there to greet him when he crossed over (his mom) and other important things in his life.  It's in "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" - and we also interview Colonel Parker (not a Colonel, and according to Tom's interview a rather shady character) - but aside from the public perception of who his manager was, both the interview in the book and this interview paint a different portrait.

It's not opinion being expressed here. This is live, off the cuff, improvised, whatever happens happens kind of reporting. I had no idea, zero idea what we'd find in today's episode and even forgot what last week's was until she mentions it.

Elvis said he was "introduced to our class by John Lennon" - which is repeated in the book.  It's not like "all the celebrities hang out together" - it's a frequency issue, and those artists or musicians hang out with other folks who are using the same frequency.  If one looks at the Backstage Pass books they'll find quite a few musicians there.

I directed Ray Charles in the film "Limit Up" which Luana and I cowrote, so Ray has introduced us to quite a few of his friends because he knew ... well... everyone.  And through one we can know the other.

I know this interview might ruffle some feathers - but again, it's live, none of it planned, and Jennifer works with law enforcement agencies nationwide on missing person cases. She even helped NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton with a case (solved, ask him about it sometime.)

We are demonstrating that anyone can do this - don't need a medium, but it helps.  However, as noted, anyone can speak to their loved ones on the flipside, and apparently anyone they'd like to chat with.  Stick around to the end, where Elvis sums up his relationship with Tom Parker. Insightful.

A quora question about Paul McCartney and John Lennon

Question on Quora: 

It would seem to me that someone like John Lennon would very readily connect/communicate with Paul McCartney given how close they were in life for so many years and what they experienced together. Is this a valid insight?

My answer:

I think if you ask Paul about it, he’ll tell you that they “chat all the time.” We tend to miss the idea that when a person doesn’t talk openly about their communications with their pals on the flipside, they aren’t happening. Lest we forget, it was a “vivid dream” that spawned “Let it be.” Paul very eloquently reported (it’s in the James Korden clip that everyone’s seen) that one night he had a dream that his mother came to him.




(I guessed this to be accurate, here's Paul talking about talking to John) 

She had been gone for many years, but it was like she was in the room. And she was there to comfort him because he was worried about money. Her advice wasn’t “You’re going to become a zillionaire!” It wasn’t “Everything’s going to work out.” It was “Let it be.” It’s a profound sentence, and was “new information” for Paul. Seeing his mother, letting things be. (It’s the last chapter in “Backstage Pass to the Flipside book two).

As I note in the latest book “Backstage Pass to the Flipside 3” John had a similar experience when his mother passed away. But it came at the hands of Peter Fonda, the person who told him “I know what it’s like to be dead.” Peter was referring to his own near death experience - he accidentally shot himself as a teen - and he saw his mother (who had committed suicide). And he told John about it (while John was tripping on LSD).

While that story has been told as if John was “freaked out” by Peter whispering in his ear “I know what it’s like to be dead” - the song that came out of it reports something else. Basically, “I don’t’ want to hear that, because if what you’re saying is true, then it means that all the troubles of life are a waste of time - because when we die we return to a loving state of being. So why stay here?”
(“She Said, She Said”)

So Paul can answer this question (and I think he has a few times). They may converse “all the time.”

When doing this kind of unusual “cellphone” chats with the flipside, I always ask people “why they’re showing up.” In my case, I met a medium who is very talented at what she does (Jennifer Shaffer works with law enforcement agencies nationwide to help in missing person cases) and I realized, after interviewing her, that she was like having a “cellphone” to the flipside. (“Backstage Pass to the Flipside” books one, two and three) So I started with folks that I knew - people whose answers I could verify. (“Talking to Bill Paxton” is on Gaia where I interview my old friend via three different mediums).

Jennifer in action

By doing that I was able to verify that indeed, Bill answered my questions correctly. And then that expanded… Bill started to bring in people that we both knew (Harry Dean Stanton) and others. And from there it grew more - I worked with Ray Charles (he plays “God” in my film “Limit Up”) and everyone that Ray knew is able to “come forward.” I’ve asked them why that is.

Ray with Danitra Vance in "Limit Up"

“Frequency” is the answer. That everyone who chooses their avocation, radiates at the same frequency (generally). The focus on music, and expressing music ties all the musicians together on the flipside. I happen to know John’s son Julian (he’s in my film “Cannes Man”) so that opened that door. I asked him for specific things I could pass along to his son (and did.) I asked him about an event that occured when I was at Julian’s home. I phrased the question in such a way that the medium had to supply what happened.

I was sleeping on his couch when I suddenly heard a voice (about 6 am, and had a whopping hangover) say “Who the F#$k are you?” My eyes popped open, fully expecting to see someone (angry) leaning over the couch. But there was no one. And my brain said “What a minute. You know that voice.” I recognized the voice. But at the time, I didn’t mention it to Julian - because it was just too weird. It’s not like he said “Hey, how’s it going, tell my son I’m here.” So I let it go.

(Later, I heard the story how John had told Julian that "if there is an afterlife, I'll reach out to you via a white feather" and how when he was touring in Australia, some native Australians came to ask him for help in getting fresh water to their people. Julian said "I'll do whatever I can" and they handed him a white feather.  Which is how and why he created the White Feather Foundation.)

Then years later I’m doing this session with Jennifer Shaffer and I say (to John) “Can you demonstrate to the medium how we met?” And she said “He woke you up shouting” (or something like that.) Anyways, I’ve been doing this for over 5 years, so it’s not surprising to me anyway, and I’m not trying to trade off of John’s name or journey. But it allowed me to ask him (and Julian’s mom) some specific detailed questions which I shared privately with him.

Then later, (it’s also in book 3) I tried to “contact” someone I’d never met (Paul Allen, founder of Microsoft). On the way to see the medium, I asked for 3 folks who knew Paul to help. I knew Julian knew him, so I asked his pop, I knew Anthony Bourdain knew him (and we’d chatted with him before) and I suspected that Steve Jobs knew him (and we’d chatted with him before.) So on the way to the medium’s office, I said aloud “Can John, Anthony and Steve help me reach out to Paul?”

Well I won’t go into the details about what happened. Because they’re mind bending. Instead, I’ll offer to view this 90 minute film. It’s as it happened, in real time, in a noisy cafe… as well as some other guests who appeared and showed up to converse. I don’t know Paul Allen personally - but I feel like I do now.

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