What Dreams May Come

Had the most unusual dream last night.  It was long and involved, and I was in some kind of limousine... the world zipping by outside, and I was focused on the individuals inside this limo. And there was a young child in the limousine, funny, giggling... but by the end of this dream, he was 21... long hair, blonde, easy laughter.  Kind of a surfer dude.

And realizing that I'd been in this limo driving around for over 20 years, I said "Wait a minute. Who are you, and why am I dreaming about you?"  He said "I'm your son."  

Mind blown. NASA

He smiled, matter of factly, revealing something I did not know, and could not have conceived of.  And then I did the math, and sure enough, it's possible that he was a child that we did not have because of a miscarriage a long, long time ago.

I bring it up, not to disturb anyone - but it made me think about the onset of life. What people say under deep hypnosis about the nature of life is consistent and unusual.  One guide described it as "uniting two photons of energy, one male, one female - not necessarily either or more or less of one, but those are the easiest words to use - and they're overseen by a group of souls who are like caretakers.  Then bits of energy are added, here and there, until they're "old enough" or "ready" to take life in some form. It might be on the planet, it might be somewhere else. They're assigned a guide to watch over all of their lives, and together with their guide, they map out what kind of journey they're going to have."

In my case, I had this discussion with my guide - someone who used the analogy of a "giant canvas."  He said "think of a blank canvas, and each lifetime is color. And Richard and I worked out all the various colors we'd like to explore and use, and at some point we'll look at the canvas and say "you need more red here, or more blue here..." and at the end of all of his lifetimes, we'll have this amazing portrait of a life well lived.  

Lotta stars up there. NASA

He said "And then at that point, when Richard has gone through all of his lifetimes, and this canvas is finished, he will have the option to become a guide, and then he'll oversee someone else's journey."  He said "when I graduated from all of my lifetimes, Richard was my graduation gift."

Ok.

Like a diploma on a plate.  

Handed over to a guide; here you go.  Now get to work.

But in terms of each lifetime, it's worth considering how or why we choose to come to this planet, to be born in this era.

We live in an era where abortion is legal, and there's a hot debate whether or not life begins at inception. 

Well, the research is consistent in this area, and it bears repeating; we choose to come here, we choose to be born, we choose the manner and person and method of that birth.  We do so with the guidance of our spiritual guides, friends and loved ones in the between lives realm. 

This is not my opinion belief or philosophy.  It is just consistent in the research. Sorry if that bothers people - it's not my intent to bother anyone.  But it is my intent to report what the research consistently shows.

Michael Newton did over 7000 hypnosis sessions, Dr. Helen Wambach did over 2000; both had the same results. I've filmed 40 sessions, also had the same results. 

So what about miscarriages, stillbirths, abortions?  Who are these folks and why did they choose to not be here?

Every story is unique.  

I have one close friend who lost her baby just prior to birth. She had a profound vivid dream sometime later where she "spoke" to her baby - and recognized him as someone she's known for many lifetimes. In his own words he "Changed his mind" just prior to coming here.  He "thought he could handle it" and then decided he "could not."  In her vision, she saw they had many lifetimes together.  Did this help her recover from her pain and loss? I don't know. I'm just reporting what she said.

In my lifetime I've known many women who've had abortions or miscarriages.  And in some of the research I've done, either via mediums or while a person is under hypnosis, or even during a near death experience - someone "meets" someone in the afterlife that is reported to be their "sister" (in "Heaven is For Real" during his NDE he met a sister he didn't know had died in childbirth, or in Eben Alexander's "Proof of Heaven" he's guided by a woman he later learns was a sister he didn't know he had), sometimes people meet brothers or sisters who died after coming here, and in some cases meet brothers or sisters that were "supposed to be here but couldn't make it."

I don't know what this dream was about - but it was a startling revelation to my conscious mind, meeting a son I didn't know, had never met, but who was letting me know that he was always with me and his mom, no matter what our "current reality" might be.

Oddly affirming.

It makes one wonder if all births are "meant to be" - after all, someone signs up to be part of our world, and then we decide they should not be.  I've always been an advocate of free choice, but perhaps in the future, part of counseling might include a hypnotherapy session where the mother (or father) gets to connect with this soul that is planning on coming here, and wants in on the decision whether to come or not.

I'd hasten to add, that everyone has their own path and journey, and I'm not here to admonish or tell anyone what their path and journey should be.  But I am here to say that consciousness doesn't occur at conception - it only opens the door to that person who is planning to come here.

Mind bending, isn't it?

So I'm editing together some of my "Hacking the Afterlife" sessions with Jennifer Shaffer.  It's hard to find a way to tell these stories - basically Jennifer and I meet up, have lunch, and then I interview "whoever shows up."

The interviews are free wheeling, accompanied by noisy restaurants, clinking cutlery, and occasional jokes that some might find bizarre, even offensive.  I'm not sure how much of that to change, cut out, or leave in - as the raw nature of these conversations are part of the unusual investigations I'm doing.

For example, most people prefer to have their music recorded on a sound stage in a quiet setting, so they can really hear the music - I'm a guy who likes the raw open air sound of people performing in their natural setting.  In my CD of the Nechung Monks I recorded them live in a temple. You can hear birds chirping, clocks ticking, monks pouring tea. The quality of the sound includes all the other prayers done in the same place.  

But I understand why we have microphones isolate so we can hear dialog. Robert Altman was a fan of overlapping sound - some people found it crazy making - but others found it liberating. Our ears are always being inundated with sound, and it's part of our own filtering that allows us to focus on one voice at a time.

But back to my dream.

I asked this boy what his name was. He laughed. "Let's call me "Zero" as I don't really have one."  I said "Zero? That's an odd thing to call you, it's not really a name."  He smiled and said "Right."  

So Zero.  Nice to meet you.  It may very well have just "been a dream."  But it also may have pointed to something more profound than any dream - those that are with us, part of our journey, are never not part of our journey.

I'm continuing my research as best I can, and that new research will go into the book "The Afterlife Expert." Thanks for tuning in.

Writing Your Eulogy and your "Won't."

As I was traveling to my book talk this past weekend, I had a thought:

Ms. Vespucci, beloved Florentine

"When's the best time to write your eulogy?"

It sounds like a morbid thought, but bear with me.

If it's true that we live many lifetimes, if it's true that we come back here to the planet by choice, and not by force, karma or a willy nilly sense of humor....

If what people say about the flipside is true - that we come here for a reason, we choose our lifetimes for a reason, we come to learn and teach lessons (usually about "love" or the "loss of love" or "unconditional love"):

Why not think about your eulogy?

You know, that thing that they're going to read at your funeral (if you're lucky.) That thing they're going to put in the paper about you (if you're lucky.)  Think about the LONG VERSION instead of the version most of your family members will print because it costs so dang much per word.

Let's offer two options: 
1. You write the dang thing yourself. 
or 2. Someone else writes it for you.

What is it going to say?

A list of accomplishments?  Often.   
A list of things that you did for others? Perhaps.

A list of all the junk you own or purchased?  Never.

Save that for the will.  Go ahead, you've thought about your will, even if you've never written one - everyone tells you "write your will now because it's a pain in the ass later!" - this is true.  I've seen it, witnessed it, been around the horn with it - and if you don't leave a will - you'll leave a "won't."  

As in - no one will do anything that you thought they would about what you thought you wanted. They'll do whatever they think you wanted but aren't really sure because you forgot to write it down.  So think of your "will" as your "won't."  As in "I don't want you to do this with my stuff!!!"

Got it?

Write your won't.

Now let's write your eulogy, shall we?

(Oh, you forgot. There's two options. You write it or someone else will write it.  So if you're going to let me write it, I will.  If you want to write it, fine - you don't have to physically write it, but you gotta think about it.)

MY EULOGY FOR YOU

By Dear Reader of the Blog.

"Hi.  I'm speaking to you from the afterlife.  It was an odd event when I crossed over.  Odd because I thought for sure "I'm going to die!!!" and then... I didn't die. I just crossed over.  Because... well... I don't know how to put it to you any other way; there is no death.  We don't die.  We just move from here... to there."

Now if you're someone who chose to move from here to there - perhaps you're someone who thought that "death" might be a way to nirvana, or happiness, or heaven... I've got some bad news for you.

We don't die.  

SAY WHAT? Everyone in this foto is no longer on the planet.
They're not dead. They're just not here.

So you can't kill the thing you wanted to kill, which is yourself.  So if you're thinking about it - hang on - you can't do it.  Because you aren't making the problems easier, or better, more fun, or happier.  You just aren't doing anything at all except stopping yourself from having the chance to experience life.

Let me recap. You signed a contract. You agreed to come here. You even agreed to stay here "until the bitter end" because that's what people do.  They sign up to "experience it all."  You think by cheating, by breaking your word, breaking the contract, you're going to make it easier on yourself.  Au contraire.

It's not because the devil is waiting for you. It's not because you've done a bad bad thing, committed a sin... although that's accurate - you've sinned against yourself.  You've cheated yourself of all that work!  all that effort! all those people who conspired to get you here! to help you learn the lessons!!!  And the first people you're going to run into on the flipside are all those folks you let down.

And they're not going to be happy with you.  And you won't be happy with you either.  Sure... you'll eventually "get over it" - but it's going to be really hard for anyone to take you seriously again... for anyone to believe you when you ask to sign up for another lifetime.  "But I'll do better this time! I promise! I won't DO IT AGAIN!" 

Yeah, yeah, sure you won't. Tell that to all the people you made upset, miserable, unhappy. We forgive you, but oy, don't ask us to all help you when times get tough.

But I digress.

It's an inevitable question people ask - "If it's true I chose this lifetime, then why is it so difficult?"  

Well - look to the theater for the answer. What play have you ever sat through - fell asleep in - where he didn't ask "why is this so boring?"  "Why isn't anything happening?"  "I paid a fortune for these tickets and nothing is going on!!!"  

Remember, we have audience members too - keep it interesting. Keep it lively.  Enjoy the show, not only because you signed up to perform, but because everyone you ever loved is watching you perform. As I heard from a famous film director currently on the flipside: "No one comes to this side wishing they held back more during their lifetime."

There are a number of "life planning" transcripts in this book.

In Hacking the Afterlife, I include transcripts from a number of "life planning sessions."

Back to eulogizing.

What is your eulogy going to sound like?  

As I'm trying to point out - your eulogy should be just as entertaining as your life.  "He jumped!  He tried! He flew with angels!  He fell and crashed and burned! He laughed at misery!  He joked with tragedy! He sword fought with bad guys, chastised the good guys who were lazy, he screamed his lungs out!"

"She never gave up."  "She was knocked off her feet numerous times, she got back up, dusted her self off, and went back in there, swinging."  "She fought hard, she fought well, and never, ever lost her sense of humor!"  "She made people weep at the sound of her voice, she made children laugh and pine for her presence, she made everyone who met her fall in love with her."

Her maiden name was Cattaneo. She married the map making brother
of the guy America is named after.

While I was researching "the DeMedicis" project I sold to HBO some years ago, (they made "Rome" instead) I came across an entry about Simonetta Vespucci.  

She was the model for "The Birth of Venus" and was one of the most beloved people in Florence.  They said of her "She was envied by no one, but she was loved by everyone.  Men and women both fell in love with her, and her generous spirit." 

She died at the age of 21 from pneumonia.  The entire city turned out for her funeral - but Sandro Botticelli immortalized her.  Here we are 500 years after her death, talking about her.  Marveling at her portrait - in "The Birth of Spring" and "The Birth of Venus" and many other canvases.  

She really lived, she was really loved.  She only lived to 21, but her spirit carries on.  Because of her eulogy?  No, of course not, but because of her enduring qualities. Her beauty? Certainly. But Sandro also captured an "essence of who she was."  A physical eulogy if you will.

Simonetta's "Birth of Venus" was a wedding gift and reportedly
was hung over the Medici wedding bed. She was reported to be the love of Giuliano De Medici, who appears with her in "Spring."

So what are your enduring qualities?

Look back over your life.  What age did you first have a conscious thought that you might be doing the kind of work you're doing? (As noted in my books, I once asked an FBI agent this question and she said "In preschool. I kept lists on everyone!")

Think about those moments in your life where you had some clarity.  Someone showed up that you felt like you'd known forever.  The moment you realized that the significant other in your life was someone "you'd know forever."  Think of the moment you first realized "She/He's the one."

A short eulogy.

It's in there - people remember the stories of their life, but they forget the "epic moments of them." Some people remember these moments with clarity, others, I have to fish it out of them.  "Go back to that moment when you really, really knew that he or she was the person you were going to spend a significant amount of time with."

In those moments we see a glimpse of our "life planning session." We all have them, we all have been through them - some of us might have decided to come back to the planet on a whim, because "all our friends were coming" - but most of us, have a planning session where we work out the details.  "Who's who in the zoo" so to speak.

My grandfather's medal - the Legion of Honor.
Haven't a clue why he won it.
But he does.

Don't believe me? 

I reprint a number of them in "Hacking the Afterlife."  I've accessed my own a number of times. Each time I do it comes in more clearly - who was there, what was said, what was promised, what my intent was (and hopefully still is.)

If your eulogy was only two words, what would they be?

"She loved baseball"  

Okay. That's pretty funny. That's enough for her family and loved ones.  I guess some might wonder "And she disliked everything else?"  But that's up to Effa's family.  (great name - "Effa B. Manley"- fun repeating it at the DMV, I'm sure.)

Don't forget you're going to have a number of Eulogies, you're also going to write a number of "Won'ts" -- you're going to write them for friends, loved ones, for yourself - many times.  Not just here this time, but for the next time you choose to come back.  

Cemeteries - a bunch of physical eulogies.

A eulogy should be an attempt to find the theme in your life.  

What is it?  Then, if you're taking the advanced class - what's the theme over a number of your lives?  What's the theme that your soul group is working on?  Once you become aware of that, it's helps clarify why you'e on the planet.

Why you agreed to come to the planet.

Why you're here and who you're here to help.

Finally, think of the music you'd like to be played at your funeral. 

What's the musical theme of your lifetime? What's the music you think would most remind folks of you, and what you represented while you were here?  Make a note of it somewhere for someone to find.  "At my funeral I'd like people to hear...."

Whatever it is.  

(Here's mine...  although I doubt many would stick around for the 120 minutes. Maybe that's a good way to thin out the crowd. When I was in college I wrote a paper on how Beethoven's 9th was a metaphor for the four stages of life - how each movement represented what youth, middle age, old age and then spiritual reflection meant... and finally the last glorious journey into Shiller's poem.... Which gets me every time - almost like a physical example of what it's like to cross over - it seemed like an apt musical eulogy for my own life, though I doubt whoever's around will remember that I wanted the entire symphony to be played live, in full... and let that be the memory of me.  Oh well, It's here, ain't it?)

Write your eulogy like you mean it - like it will guide you through the rest of your days here on the planet. 
 Make it mean something, make it fun, make people happy who come across it.

"He laughed."

The Afterlife Expert Talking to the Flipside

As promised, I've edited my book talk this past weekend at Center for the Heart in Santa Barbara.

In this first hour, I recount my journey to this work, and why I'm spending time trying to figure out how anyone can communicate with their loved ones on the flipside.

That's here:




As you can see from these two clips, I did a variation of my Flipside book talks, with a focus on "talking to our loved ones on the other side."

There were two folks that I met just prior to my talk - one was Roxy Angel Superstar, who works at Center of the Heart chapel in Santa Barbara, and the Reverend Maryum Morse.  I have never met them before, and neither was that familiar with my work or research.

Roxy had seen my speak at the IANDS group in Santa Barbara, where I did a live demonstration with a woman at that even of revisiting her near death experience. However, she felt that the details that we explored were too intimate, and did not want me to share the event with my audience.

However, in this case, we weren't discussing a near death event - something that is pretty profound when it happens and can be hard to process.  In this case, Reverend Maryum had a vivid dream where she saw her dying father suddenly sit up "out of his body" as a young healthy man - he did it a number of times, and then she became aware of a crowd of people around his bed.

I asked if she had a memory of that dream, and she said she did.

In Roxy's case, she said she had an out of body experience when conceiving her child - it actually felt like she left her body and was in space.

In both cases, I'm not using hypnosis. I'm just asking them to access the memory of that event, and then asking if we can examine it further.

The results are here:




The point isn't that I'm accessing the flipside.

The point is that they're accessing the flipside in their own visual spectrum. I'm not conjuring anything up, or trying to get someone on the flipside to "talk" - the key here is that neither was familiar with me or my work, had no idea what they'd find, and as you'll see - in both cases they say things that are nearly identical to the research in my books; "Flipside" "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" volumes one and two and "Hacking the Afterlife."

I've done this a few times now and it doesn't matter who I do it with - mediums, people who've had near death experiences, people who've had out of body experiences - anyone who's had a dream.

It's not for everyone.

But I'm posting it here - pretty much unedited for the most part - to show the "Martini Method."





If you're interested in helping me further this research, please consider donating to my new book "The Afterlife Expert" which is being crowd funded through www.GoFundMe.com/theafterlifeexpert

Thanks for your support.

The Afterlife Expert

So I've got a new "crowd funded" book campaign.  "The Afterlife Expert" How unusual is that?

Praying for Divine Help at Per Lachaise cemetery, Paris

I'm raising funds for it based on crowd funding, which is an unusual concept to begin with.  But being a fan of the Renaissance, and art history (My major in college: "The Impact of the 20th century upon the Arts" at Boston University.  I was the only Humanities major out of 26K students), I decided that it's a useful analogy to the old fashioned "Patron and Artists" relationship.

Instead of going to the "powers that be" to fund my next project (meaning a film studio, a publisher, a record label) instead of going to the Medici family (the bankers of Florence) or the Vatican (the funders of Caravaggio, Michelangelo, Leonardo etc) I go directly to the audience and ask them to donate money into my proverbial hat.

 https://www.gofundme.com/theafterlifeexpert





The first time I did I was "crowd funded" I was about 13 years old.  I had just learned how to play "All Along the Watchtower" on guitar.  I was sitting on a street corner in my home town, waiting for a friend's mom to pick us up... and I started playing my guitar. I had an old cowboy hat that I'd set down, cars were passing, I wasn't aware of them, and then one car stopped, guy rolled down his window, and threw some money into my hat, then drove away.

I thought - "that's weird, that guy was going to fast to hear a song, but he's just offering some money for "the idea of the song."

I've crowd funded three books now.  ("It's a Wonderful Afterlife" volumes one and two, and "Hacking the Afterlife") In return for support, I put people's names in my books, and reach out to them via email and in some cases have opened some unusual conversations.  (I have unusual conversations all the time, not just with people who've donated to my books, but I'm just saying - I write to the people who donate to ask them about their journey -- and if I haven't in the past, I will do so in the future!)

Praying for Divine Assistance at Mt. Kailash in Tibet.

I must admit, someone posted a complaint last year - "oh, here comes another raising funds campaign from the Flipside guy" and it gave me pause. Obviously not a fan of the work, or not a fan of the idea of patronage in general. 

Totally understand that. All I can do is allow the universe to guide whatever the heck it is I'm doing. For whatever cosmic or comic reason, I've been put on this the path to examine and explore the Flipside. It's not for everyone. But for whatever reason, it is the path I'm on.

But back to the Renaissance.  

Cellini was a sculptor, created artworks in pencil, oil, gold and this statue in Florence

Benvenuto Cellini, the great sculptor, wrote a hilarious biography that was made into a film (badly) but his book is still in print. 

 It details his life as an artist, his battles with his patrons, and some pretty crazy moments in his life - when he wasn't paid, he'd confront his patrons in the streets of Florence, pull out his dagger or sword and threaten them - in some cases stab them.  He was jailed by the Pope for not finishing an artwork he'd been commissioned - he was jailed in Hadrian's tomb - a secret escape route for the Popes - and when he tried to escape he fell and broke his leg.  

Then when the French attacked Rome, according to Cellini, he helped line up a rifle atop Hadrian's tomb; with one shot, nailed a French General a quarter mile away (and Cellini saved Rome.)

Hadrian's tomb (also used as a jail by the Vatican)

My books won't last the length of Cellini's art or even have the color and craziness of his autobiography (free copy here: (The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini) but they are made in the same vein.  

People who have become my patrons, (thank you patrons!  Grazie Patroni!) are investing in the research, no matter how crazy it appears!!!!

Cellini jumped and broke his leg to get out of debtor's prison where'd he'd been sentenced
by Pope Julian for not finishing a work he'd already paid for.  
Hint: Guess I'd better finish my books.

So what's the new book about?

Well, like the others, it's pretty unusual.

I've found that without using hypnosis (I'm not a hypnotherapist, but have taken courses in that discipline, and have a degree from LightBetweenLives.com) I have been able to elicit some of the same results that hypnotherapists get during their 4-6 hour sessions (past lives, visits to a soul group, councils, libraries, etc)

The accounts are relatively the same - during a hypnotherapy session, a hypnotherapist asks general questions "Where would you like to go?" but in my version, I direct the questions: "I'd like to speak directly to your guide, is that possible?  If so, could your guide appear before you now so we have a reference to address them as male, female, or some other entity?  And if so, could your guide put that visual in your mind's eye as we speak?"

"The Afterlife Expert" with Jennifer Shaffer (jennifershaffer.com)
and George Noory of Coast to Coast AM

It's an unusual method for a variety of reasons - it's certainly not scientific because I'd have to ask neutral questions and wait for the person to guide me where they'd like to go.  My attitude is this - after examining the 7000 cases Michael Newton had over 30 years, after examining the 2000 cases Dr. Helen Wambach had over ten years earlier, examining the 40 cases I've filmed and done 5 of my own - I have a pretty solid idea of what a person is going to find during one of these adventures.

And knowing what it is they're going to find - knowing the architecture of the afterlife - I direct them there to that place.

The point is this - if during one of these interviews, the person claims "something else entirely is being seen" (visuals that are contrary to these thousands of cases) or "they aren't getting anywhere" - that would be interesting, but so far, that's not been the case.

I chose my subjects based on their ability to already connect with the flipside - perhaps they've had a near death experience, maybe they've had a hypnotherapy session, a past life regression, an out of body experience, a recurring dream - something that I can use as a gateway to help them gain access to the flipside.

Luana sees you.

What's interesting about the results is that they're from all walks of life - some have no idea there might be a flipside, some don't believe in an afterlife, some are religious, many are not - it doesn't matter.  They may have read my books, or have no clue as to what I'm talking about - that doesn't appear to matter either.  

What matters is that they're able to talk about "what they're seeing."  And while doing that I direct them into the flipside.  As I'm fond of saying "You may not know what it is that I'm doing, but your spirit guides do."

The other part of the book is direct communication with people no longer on the planet.

In this case, I'm working with Jennifer Shaffer (JenniferShaffer.com) an excellent intuitive/medium who works with law enforcement nationwide using her skills with communicating with the flipside.  Jennifer and I have been meeting for months now where I film our "conversations."  I try to be open to whomever "shows up" during our conversation.  There is usually some direct connection between me and the person who shows up, between Jennifer and the person who shows up - or if it's a stranger who appears (or someone I barely know) I'll ask them "why they've chosen to appear to us."

Instead of filming these events in an environment normally set aside for scientific study (a closed room, white walls, detection equipment) I film them wherever we happen to be.  Because I've found, it doesn't matter how much noise or chaos is around us - if spirit wants to reach out to her, they do.  She interprets to the best of her ability (after all, it's not a cell phone, but more of a sense phone) and I do the best I can to ask them questions like "From  your perspective, what do we look like?"  "What was the first thing you noticed about no longer being on the planet?" "What do you miss about being here?"

I'm in the process of transcribing these sessions.  There are about 20 or 30 interviews, discussions, which translates to about 10-20 hours of footage to sift through.  The point is that it's going to take me a lot of time and effort to get all of this down on paper.  So that's another reason to crowd fund - since a patron has already paid me for the work, it's an incentive to get the work done.  (Or I'll find myself locked into Hadrian's tomb with jumping my only escape.)

Anyways, hope you understand, and thanks for your support!!!!!

Click to Donate Now! Cellini Martini

Tomorrow with George Noory - Be There Or Be2

Luncheon with Coast to Coast's George Noory and "The Afterlife Expert" Rich Martini

Enjoy gathering with other like-minded people as you have fun at lunch and meet some of your favorite people in the world of the unknown and curious. Tickets will go fast, so reserve a spot now! 

Email your name and phone number to: 

lunchwithgeorge@gmail.com. 

You will be called back with details. The following dates are available:

Tuesday, June 27, 2017 – Lunch with George Noory & author/researcher Rich Martini Special Event Series: "Eat & Greet" 
Luncheons at the Great Greek Restaurant in Sherman Oaks, California