The Journey Beyond Death

The shaman learns to assist a loved one on the greatest journey of all, the journey beyond death. And in the same way that there are midwives and doctors to receive us when we are born, there are spiritual midwives, relatives, and luminous ones that help us to return back to the world of Spirit. They tell us that being born is so much more difficult than dying! And when we assist a loved one to cross over to the invisible world, we receive great gifts in return; for during that brief instant in which the doorway between the worlds is open much beauty and grace flows through into our world of matter and form.

Richard is a chiropractor whose call to enter the path of a shaman came through archetypal dreams. He had no idea the journey would take him into the valley of death. Sustained by love and inspired by visions, he experienced a great initiation; but he would have to pay a price.

When Richard came to see me, he was having dreams of going to each of the four directions and capturing each archetype, except for hummingbird that eluded him. I told him that you don’t capture Hummingbird. She waits until your soul blooms and you become an interesting person, a person of power, so to speak, and then she’s drawn to your nectar, just as in nature.  It’s your “honey” that draws Hummingbird. She’s repelled by the usual garbage of ordinary life.  I knew this archetype had something to give Richard, but in return something would be asked of him.

At the time, neither of us knew of the sorrow that was about to enter Richard’s life. The hummingbird is the symbol of journeying, drawing nectar from hundreds of flowers before taking flight and traveling many miles over the ocean. He never questions whether he will reach his far-off destination, for the journey itself is the purpose.

Richard and his partner of seventeen years were about to embark on the journey of a lifetime into the realm of death. The journey was long and after several months at home, Loren entered a hospice care facility. Richard performed illuminations on Loren to help him let go, clearing his chakras to make his road as clear a possible by preparing him energetically for the journey of death and giving him permission to die. A few months later, Richard began seeing luminous being surrounding Loren, and knew he was nearing the end. One day, one of these beings told Richard to give Loren three white roses: Purity, Divinity and Birth.

On the way to the hospice, Loren appeared to Richard as a perfect gold sun, a glowing, luminous orb and he left with three words: “It’s so simple.” Loren left this earth free, transcendent. The next time Loren appeared he was stripped of everything of this earth, appearing only as radiant truth. Richard was left to wonder if he too would be able to simply become “radiant truth.” A complication was that Richard had abused his power in a prior lifetime.

Would you like to find out more about Richard’s story and all the work we did together?   Find out more about her story in “The Shaman’s Book of Living and Dying:  Tools for healing Body, Mind and Spirit.”