A photo from the Flipside and DAY OF THE NOT SO DEAD

Jennifer giving a hand to see someone on the Flipside

In my spare time, I've been moderating a forum on Quora called "Hacking the Afterlife."  People share experiences they've had with the flipside, unusual visions, dreams or accounts of a myriad of different experiences.  25 million people have stopped by to read my comments on the flipside. (27.5M content views 861.6K this month) 

Since my documentary "Hacking the Afterlife" has appeared on Amazon Prime (via Gaia) people have weighed in from across the globe with unusual events, either seeing a loved one appear to them in a dream with new information (proving it cannot be cryptomnesia) or people sharing a near death event that happens decades ago, but are still able to access it.

In moderating the forum I try to stay focused on three avenues for "accessing people on the flipside."  That is through hypnotherapy, mediumship or meditation.  As demonstrated in the book and film FLIPSIDE I've filmed people accessing this information via hypnotherapist like Michael Newton, Paul Aurand, Scott De Tamble. In the film "Hacking" I cite the work of pioneering hypnotherapist clinical psychologist Dr. Helen Wambach ("Reliving Past Lives") and Dr. Brian Weiss (Many Lives, Many Masters.) 

The data that Wambach (2750 cases) she eliminated bias from her study; it's worth examining. On the website, MartiniZone.com I include one of her hypnosis lectures where she takes the room into "a sleep study."  Dr. Weiss has 4000 case studies, and the work of Michael Newton and the Newton Institute includes 7000 reports.  What makes them worth noting is that they are consistent reports that match with the 100 cases I've filmed (half without hypnosis.)

So while sharing that information, I also share reports from meditation studies, where I demonstrate that by doing a "guided meditation" (even if one doesn't understand the word comes from Latin - med - to measure) - anyone can access a vivid memory, including but not limited to a near death event (NDE) or out of body experience (OBE) or some vivid dream they had as a child that is still in their conscious mind. I use those memories as a "gateway" to access the flipside (as demonstrated in the 50 accounts in the book "Architecture of the Afterlife" and a third of the film "Hacking the Afterlife." 

Then, after medium Jennifer Shaffer reached out to me six years ago, I began filming sessions with her - six years worth on a weekly basis. The first five years became chapters in the three books "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" and then because of the pandemic, we began meeting online, which became the podcast "HackingTheAfterlife.com" (footage of each session is posted at MartiniZone.com)

This is a long preamble to the following:

One of the readers of my posts on Quora reached out to me and spoke of the loss of his wife, and how he spent time mourning and grieving, and wishing that he could speak with her.  Tim said that part of his exploration of how to do that included reading my work on the topic - but I know that he's done his own amount of meditating on the possibility.

About a year ago, he reached out to let me know that it had happened. That one day, just walking along, he suddenly felt her hand on his arm, or her presence next to him, and heard her voice in his head.  Because he'd spent time teaching himself how to "allow that it's possible" that she still existed, that began a conversation with her that has been deep and profound. When he's feeling low, she shows up to give him great advice (new information that demonstrates he couldn't be creating it) as well as solace and help.

He's also a fan of Jennifer Shaffer, who mentioned him in our last podcast, because he said she could.  Tim has taken the time to learn how to hone his communication skills with his wife on the flipside. In our recent podcast, we spoke about it - as well as pointing out that by "connecting with someone no longer on the planet" it doesn't mean you "aren't moving on."  As Jennifer puts it (via Luana Anders, our moderator on the flipside) "They know they've moved on. And by realizing that they still exist helps us move on in a more profound way." 

Our recent podcast:

Moving on to realize that life does go on, and we will "see them" and interact with them in the future.  After that mention I got the following email from Tim about his session with Jennifer speaking to his wife Mari Lynn on the flipside:

"Good Morning Rich,

As I posted on Quora, thank you to both you and Jennifer for your very kind words.  I wanted to share with you a couple of the things that occurred during my session.

Jennifer was pointing out that Mari Lynn was going back and forth between us, standing behind me and then next to her. Jennifer was holding her hand over where she saw Mari Lynn’s head. Then she told me to look at the top of her hand. Everything on my screen was very crisp and clear except the top of her hand was completely blurred out. 

She said what I was seeing was Mari Lynn’s energy interacting with her hand.  

Jennifer Shaffer via Tim Blair's zoom. 

She showed me a method that would allow me to visually see Mari Lynn’s energy and it’s working.  I can now actually see Mari Lynn.

Mari Lynn

The next mind-blowing thing was when I showed her the photo she mentioned on the podcast.  This is a picture of Mari Lynn when she was in high school in Glendale Ca. At the time this was taken, I was living in Dayton Ohio. It was 14 years before we met. This is one of the pictures I study before I connect with her in a way that’s deep enough to write her letters.   

What Jennifer didn’t say during the podcast was that both Jennifer and I were simultaneously able to be in that moment back in 1978 with Mari Lynn.  Jennifer was talking about how the air was thick as if it had just rained and was experiencing the smell of the grass.  I was able to brush the small curl of hair from Mari Lynn’s forehead. As I was doing that my hand touched her cheek. I could feel the perspiration on the side of her neck.

These were two of several WTF moments during an hour-long conversation between the three of us that I thought you might like to hear about. By the way, while it truly seemed like a year, it only took a week or so for us to connect.

As always, thank you for all the work you are doing. I’m very sure we wouldn't be as far along our journey without you.

Best Regards

Tim & Mari Lynn

PS: I’ve attached a  screenshot Jennifer’s hand and the above mentioned photo. If you can think of a way to share any of this without freaking everyone out, be our guest!"

*****

The photo is Jennifer demonstrating where "Tim should look," as she was seeing Mari Lynn standing next to her, underneath her hand. 

Without drawing a red circle around her hand, take a look closely at her hand; clearly something else is there, interfering with the photograph. Because it wasn't a photo taken "on the run" or by accident - but was Jennifer directing his eye specifically to a spot where she could see his wife, it's worth noting. Not a photograph accidentally capturing someone on the flipside - just a photo of "frequencies" or a partial visual of someone or something. 

Tim copied the photo from his Zoom session and sent it to me.

I'm sharing this with my Flipside audience for a number of reasons.

Photographs shouldn't freak people out. They are just photographs. 

Footage shouldn't freak anyone out - it's just footage. 

Data should not freak anyone out, the data doesn't care if people get freaked out by it or not.  

The data shows consciousness is not confined to the brain (see Dr. Greyson's "After", Dr. Tucker's "Before" or Ed Kelly's "Consciousness Unbound" for data), or examine the work of Dr. Wambach, Dr. Weiss or Michael Newton and the Newton Institute. 

(Or just watch my two films on Amazon Prime FLIPSIDE and HACKING THE AFTERLIFE.)

1. I'm not here to prove the afterlife exists to anyone. I have learned it's a reflexive experience - like "skydiving" is something we can all blather about but means little unless we've done it. "Falling in love" is reflexive - because if someone has never done it, they really don't have a clue what they're talking about.  So in this case, I'm sharing something "down the road." Tim has already learned his wife still exists, and these photographs are something that underlines it for him.  

2. Jennifer has been told by loved ones on the flipside, "Your job is not to prove anything to anyone. It's to be as accurate as you can be."  In this case, it's to point out that Jennifer is amazing at what she does. (She works with law enforcement pro bono on many cases).  I have met and interviewed a number of amazing mediums, who have differing abilities. (Simple reason is because the "filters on their brains" are down) Jennifer has always been able to not only hear, sense people around her when she focuses on them, she can also "see" the outline of them during her work.  

As she was speaking to Tim about "seeing Mari Lynn" she held her hand in the space where she saw her. The photograph clearly indicates some anomaly in the air.  (I can verify that the photo has not been altered because I know both individuals. I actually have testified in court in Chicago as an "expert witness" based on my film background and knowing how to manipulate footage.) This has not been altered.

3. Proof of Afterlife is something one can only experience on their own. However, they don't need to "believe in a religion" "put on a pyramid hat" or follow any "rulebooks." The data about incarnation, reincarnation, how consciousness functions is not based on any religious beliefs, or a belief in anything. Data doesn't really care about beliefs. It's just data.

One doesn't have to use a medium (it helps.) One doesn't have to know a hypnotherapist (it helps.) One doesn't have to know meditation (but it can help.)  All three yield the same information and the same results.  See 'HACKING THE AFTERLIFE' for verification (and footage.)

I rarely if ever share these kinds of photographs, because this is the first instance where I know the folks who took them. 

But because I am sharing this photograph, I will also share a photo from Steven Lancia another Quora reader, who has taken many photographs of a person no longer on the planet who shows up in a place he works.  

He can see the fellow clearly - and as evidenced by this photograph below (which he has copyrighted, so one has to reach out to him to license it - get a larger copy, etc - his details are below the photo, and he's interested in telling his story about how this fellow keeps showing up and he's able to photograph him.) 

Man carrying metal who disappears into a wall 
 photo courtesy of Steven Lancia
Symmetry Intl, Rhode Island All Rights Reserved.

Steven Lancia can be reached through Symmetry International Inc.  in Rhode Island. For a clearer, larger photo of this fellow who has appeared walking through this workplace, or rights to other photographs and footage Steven owns, go to Symmetry International in Rhode Island. 

The latest podcast is DAY OF THE DEAD. 

As I'm fond of saying "If they can respond to us, they aren't dead." "If they can speak to us and tell us new information, they are not dead."  "If they can communicate with us and inform us that they "feel more alive" then they ever have, they are not dead."  They aren't gone, they just aren't here. 

Day of the Not So Dead

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

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.

Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer - "Back To School" With Luana Anders and James Dean

This is another example of the unusual work that Jennifer and I have been doing for seven years.  In this podcast, I ask our moderator on the flipside, Luana Anders what she wants to talk about or if she has someone who wants to come forward to speak. She begins by showing Jennifer a "toddler" - literally shows her an image of holding up a child.  Jennifer has no idea what that means, nor do I. Is she asking us to talk about a specific child on the flipside? A specific child on this side? Or about some form of process or how the flipside works? Luana said she wanted to talk about "process."  Which is my way of saying "It's not a specific person per se, but how the process works." She then made Jennifer aware of the topic of how stressed children are... Jennifer assumed she meant "these days, post pandemic." I did the same, because it is a topic in universities and schools - how distracted people are coming back to school, how the multitasking, multi-focus of social media has "driven some people crazy" making it harder to focus on any particular topic.  How the trauma and stress of the past two years - and the fears involved, are affected students and children alike. However, that is not what Luana was only talking about. And neither Jennifer nor I knew why she had brought the topic up until the very end of the podcast. Then she mentioned seeing "James Dean." For those not familiar with the podcast, that's going to be an odd comment - for those who've read "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" they know that he's shown up before. Not only has he shown up, but he revealed to Jennifer that he's already "reincarnated" or returned to the planet. That means that "a portion of his conscious energy" has returned to the planet. I asked him questions about that, and he revealed the person that he's come back as. Jennifer didn't know his name - but based on James' description, I guessed who he was referring to.  And then I texted the best friend of this person - meaning I know the person he's "come back as" and know his best friend well enough to text him and ask "Hey, has anyone approached our mutual friend and said he was the reincarnation of someone?" And he texted back "JAMES DEAN." And said "His whole life this has happened."   Took me a couple of years but I finally put this person in Jennifer's orbit - filmed them having a conversation, filmed his reports of having memories of being Dean his "whole life" - and how others knew it as well.  Suffice to say he hasn't "come out of the closet" because he's had a very successful happy life and career. He has no need to reveal that aspect of his life - and I must respect it - even it if meant "proof that life goes on."  We've learned that's not something for everyone - but it is for those who experience it. But I asked him if that was why he showed up to the podcast today, to talk about that journey - and he said "No." He wanted also to talk about the process. About how "being aware that life goes on can help people to not end their lifetimes here." That leaving early, while he didn't leave the planet deliberately - but being aware that those who have left the planet can help us is something he wanted to convey. And then, finally, Jennifer asked Luana "Am I getting this right? Why did you show me holding up a child?"  And Luana answered "because it's the first week of school. Of kids going back to school."  So everything in this podcast is about lessening the stress of that event - for parents obviously, to open up and listen to their children, to know that there are folks on the flipside who care equally about the mental health and experience of our children, their grandchildren, nephews, nieces - and they want us to allow them to help. Mind bending.

Happy Birthday Prince - some excerpts of interviews

Jennifer Shaffer

In honor of Prince's birthday, I offer some excerpts from "Backstage Pass to the Flipside; Talking to the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer" book one and two.

Part Two

Part One

Jennifer Shaffer (a medium who works with law enforcement agencies nationwide to help with missing person cases) and I met over five years ago. I filmed a three hour interview with her where she proved beyond any shadow of doubt that I might have had, that she can connect to folks on the flipside.  That began a friendship that has allowed us to work together for weekly for the past five years, chatting directly with folks on the flipside.  (Some are old friends, some are people that come forward because they are friends of friends.)

One of the first people to appear (that neither of us personally knew although I'd met him backstage after reviewing a show for Variety when I was a music critic) was Prince.  

He has consistently shown up in our conversations - over the years - not by asking him to appear or by request - but because he appears to be someone who wants to continue to share his message of unity, love, and the journey of life. He's often the person people cite as the "one who greeted them on the other side." (Often musicians and other artists.) 

His replies are often enigmatic but always consistent about how music works, how love works, and how life goes on. On behalf of his birthday, I'm sharing these few excerpts from the books linked below.

My questions are in italics, Jennifer's replies are in bold.

Prince appears in Jennifer's mind's eye.  He says he wants to say something to us as I'm talking to someone else.  I'm referring to my next appearance on "Beyond Belief" with George Noory on Gaia.

Rich: Well, hello Mr. Prince Rogers Nelson. Does Prince have anything he wants to say (in an upcoming appearance) on the “Beyond Belief” show?

Jennifer: He says, “Tell him it’s a “sound note...” Then he showed me the matrix… He’s saying “Tell him, “It’s a sound note.”

(Note: Funny word play.  A musician commenting about a note being “sound.”)

Rich: What’s that mean?

(Jennifer aside) I don’t know. Hang on. He says, “It’s not how you look, (I think he’s referring to me worrying how I “looked on the show” which I did not express to Jennifer but was on my mind) it’s not what you say, (it’s not the content of what I’m saying on the show) it’s how you vibrate in your awareness. Awareness of one another.”

(After a pause) “In your awareness of the accumulation.” He’s showing me "That in your awareness, it’s a (musical?) note... – so if your frequency is clear, that’s how you attract someone."

"Because when you are in the consciousness of the higher level, where there is no hierarchy… and if you’re bouncing (broadcasting) on a certain level, then that gets through with more potency."

He says, “When you’re bouncing on a lower level, its fragmented. If it’s fragmented, you’re not able to connect, which logically, you can’t connect.” 

He’s showing me “You don’t connect well when you’re out of mode of vibration -- but when you’re not afraid of vibration, you’re able to then send it out and then receive that higher vibration…”

A bit like we were saying earlier, when you strike a chord, all the guitars in a room start to vibrate at that same tone? Like that? You hit a note and all the guitars resonate on that same string?

He says, “Yes.”

So, the idea being not a higher or lower frequency, but stronger?

He says, “But not all the same – high frequencies can sound low.”  He showed me the song “Every rose has its thorns.” 

Higher -- meaning the place they’re coming from?

Right. He says, “You can… but if you have a higher (stronger) frequency, you’ll still connect with the people that will come. It’s a matrix.”

My question for you Prince, since we last spoke in this same restaurant two months ago; what does that feel like to you in terms of time, comparatively?

“A millisecond – even less than that…” He just told me, “It’s continuous.” So like he was here and it’s a continuous dialog. It’s a continuous “Dialogue with God.” He just showed me a goddess, but he’s kidding around with that.  

ANOTHER SESSION

Rich: We were chatting and you mentioned that Prince appeared. I just turned the camera on; so our question for Prince is “What do you regret?”

Jennifer: Do you want me to explain what I see first?

Sure.

I’m hearing Robin (Williams) shouting “Ooh! Pick me, pick me!” He and Prince both want to talk.

Boys! Settle.

Prince says, “He regrets not caring as much about the other side (the afterlife). He’s regretting not caring (as much) for that other side.”

What does he mean by that?

“He regrets paying more attention of how he was feeling while being here (on the planet), and not connected to the afterlife. He says, “If he had, he wouldn’t have tried to escape being on the planet.”

He wishes he spent more time connect to people on the other side?

“No.” He says “He wishes he would have cared for the other side, he would have tried more to understand what it’s like for the transition...” (Jennifer pauses. An aside) Wait... No. He’s correcting me.

He’s showing me what it’s like to go from here to there. He says, “He wishes he’d have known the fluidity of it -- how “we-are-all-one” it is, on both sides.” He says “He kept it so separate.” He says, “He wished he would have thought heaven was here on the planet, versus escaping it via drugs. (Painkillers) He regrets not being more in his body. He says, "He wishes he was more in his body (when here).”

First thing he said was a joke. (In response to “what do you miss?”) He said “I miss being in my head.” He’s showing me how exhausting that was.

You miss that adventure of being on the planet?

He says, “(He misses) The music. Because the music over there...” He says, “The music here (on the flipside) is infinite... But it’s different.” (Jennifer aside) I have a question for him – I asked “if he’s working over there on creating who he’ll be in his next life.” I asked “Do you make your life up there so you can get it down here?”

Is he working on his next life or is he just taking it easy for awhile?

He said, “Both.” From what he’s giving me... it’s that up there you create the life that you want here. He’s saying “You actually create it, then try to be it.”

But still, you have to pick your parents, the right genetics, the sociological background; you can pick the theater, the character, but you still gotta satisfy the role – you still gotta play Shakespeare while you’re having a cappuccino.  Prince, I was wondering why you showed up in our conversation, and I realize we do have a mutual friend. (A journalist)

“Yes, we do.” Luana just appeared. (Jennifer aside) I know that’s not who you’re referring to. But he says “He likes hanging out with Luana. He says “He’s learning from her.” (How to communicate)

I’m referring to our friend was at his house many times in Minnesota to interview him – just wondered if she was our connection or the reason he showed up.

He said “Yes, but not in the way that you think.”

My question for the day; “What do you guys regret or miss?” Anything what would you like to impart to people?

“Tell everyone to reach higher.”

How do you do that?

(Jennifer aside): I’m asking. Prince showed me the heart. He says, “You have to open your heart to reach higher.” So, like, when you’re upset, your heart is closed up. He says “It’s ... it’s like having your ankles locked.” And then Prince showed me that... his ankles being shackled.

Prince did have bad ankles.

(Note: In our first interview with him (reprinted in “Hacking the Afterlife”) he was asked, “How’d you die? He replied, “Dancing killed me.”  When asked to explain, he gave Jennifer an image of jumping off a piano (something he often did) in his high heeled shoes – which eventually injured his ankles and hip, which led to him taking pain medication which led to his death.  However, he added that “if you don’t jump you’ll never get anywhere in life.”)

(Jennifer aside) He showed me jumping off a piano. He said, “You can’t jump when you’re shackled.”  He says, “Open your heart;” he shows me literally getting higher. Being pulled up.  He says, “The three keys - are love... kindness... and accountability.”

Prince, anything else you want to add?

(Jennifer aside) He comes so close to me with his smile. I asked him, “Are you real?” And he replied, “No. I’m eternal.” 

 

ANOTHER SESSION ASKING WHAT "PEOPLE MISS ABOUT BEING ON THE PLANET."

Rich: What do you miss Prince?

Jennifer. He showed me the female body. He’s trying to joke around. He says, “He misses being famous...” then laughs.

So on the flipside you’re not famous, just another soul?

He says, “Yes.”

But people who run into you are aware of your talent?

He says, “Yes, all the lights that you see; you see them all together, you hang out with people who have the same frequency.”

That’s why you hang out with musicians for example?

He says, “That’s why there are so many in this class... and actors.”

All part of the same healing light of the universe radiating at a similar frequency?

Jennifer aside “I asked him what color he was radiating - purple?”

We asked him that before; that day he said red. What does he look like now?

I’m seeing orange. I didn’t know we asked him, I was just kidding with him.  He says, “It’s like the more you know, the higher the frequency is.”

By the way Rich, they’re telling me you are famous over there. (For doing this work).

That’s funny. But let me ask Prince; when you are called upon by Luana to come forward – as we’ve heard “the light goes on that the class is happening,” and people just show up...  do you look forward to this kind of interaction, or what’s your feeling about being in this communication class?

He says, “It’s a lot of fun, because we (Jennifer and I) don’t discount what they say.”  Jennifer aside to me; you taught me that, “Don’t judge it, don’t discount any of it.” 

*****

Excerpts from BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE FLIPSIDE: TALKING TO THE AFTERLIFE PART ONE, AND PART TWO. Homina Publishing. All Rights Reserved.

Waiting for the next guest at MartiniZone.com

Happy Birthday Prince.