How does a mainstream broadcaster and journalist end up writing about life after death?
I was pretty jaded after two marriage break-ups and life wasn’t making sense. Hosting a talk back program on a major commercial radio station a while back out of the blue a guest clairvoyant told me on air that I would be involved in this kind of work in the near future. At the time I was running a PR consultancy as well as my radio work, so I was very sceptical at first. A couple of weeks later it popped into my head out of nowhere that I needed to study astrology. My subsequent studies opened the door to a whole new world – the meaning of life itself, something that I have been exploring ever since. The afterlife is a vital part of our spiritual evolution.
So, why did you write Afterlife?
One of the huge challenges faced today is that death is rarely talked about, and even then, it’s normally in hushed tones. This can be devastating for those who are facing the loss of a loved one, or going through the grieving process. So, many questions we have about death usually remain unanswered.
People are left to grieve without any understanding of what might have happened to their loved one after they die. This pain is particularly acute for those facing a suicide, a loss of a child or someone in an accident. The tragedy is that there are real answers, detailed answers that can really help.
How would you describe the afterlife?
For starters it’s essentially a place of love and peace located in beautiful surroundings. Talking with a whole variety of people about their experiences I find that descriptions of the afterlife do vary, depending on which area they went to after leaving their body. Just as on earth where there are many different living conditions, the same applies to the afterlife.
Your personal conditions depend on what soul level you have attained in your immediate past lives as well as other incarnations. If you have helped others and led a purposeful and loving life you will find yourself on a different plane to murderers, terrorists and drug dealers. We all have to accept responsibility for our actions in each lifetime, but even those whose lives have been far from been ideal are treated with love, as this is the greatest force in the universe. Fortunately there is no such place as hell, but there are levels where those who have created hurt and misery during their lifetime find themselves and are then helped in a loving and positive way to progress.
Those who have lived good fruitful lives do talk in terms of a paradise of sorts. The weather is sublime, people are loving and supportive. We are able to create our own ‘houses’ in the afterlife. There are all kinds of cultural, sporting and entertainment activities available and we meet up with lots of people from our past. There is even a kind of sexual enjoyment we can experience.
Where did you get your information about the afterlife?
Some of the afterlife topics I cover come from talking to world experts as well as everyday people about their experiences. Much of the material comes from my personal journey into my past. This partly involved regression work with hypnotherapy where I was taken back to the moment of death in my previous life, and my life between lives. It’s remarkable that while we fear death, that when the moment arrives what a relief it is. I was overwhelmed with the love and healing available to us when we do pass over. It’s also fascinating to discover just how many stages you go through from the moment of death to rebirth, what these stages involve, and what you get out of them.
While this may seem extraordinary, as you discover more about who we are and where we’ve come from you begin to understand the nuances of death and of life continuing beyond this present life. I was also shown how to self hypnotise and go into very deep meditative states by a very brilliant friend and colleague who has since passed on. I have also been able to receive messages from my partner Judy, who passed over in 1997, as well as from other people in the world of spirit.
Afterlife is filled with some brilliant personal stories – was it hard to find people and to get them to open up?
Many of the stories have come from my own personal life and from the hundreds of people I have interviewed on RadioOutThere. For the last twenty years or so I have also done personal intuitive readings for over two thousand people, as well as running spiritual groups since the year 2000. The stories in Afterlife are all factual, only the names have been changed, it is all my truth as I see it and have lived it.
Some parts of your book are extremely funny – this seems strange for a book about life after death
Like most people I enjoy a good laugh. While the process of death can be a sad, emotional time, especially for those left behind, life itself usually has lots of joyful and very funny episodes. I’ve been very fortunate to have had some wonderful and very amusing experiences which I felt were appropriate for my book. The world of spirit is a very loving and happy place and I wanted to address any issues of fear about something that happens to all of us.
Would you have been able to write this book when you were younger?
No. I had a real fear of death for many years. The only death I had experienced in the family was that of my grandfather, who passed away peacefully in his bed when I was only thirteen. My parents protected us from the upset, so I don’t remember even attending my grandfather’s funeral, or any other funeral for that matter. There were no nightmares to create this very real fear I had. Even so, I can still now remember this strong fear of death during my teenage years. Looking back I now know this fear lay in past life experiences. Now I’ve explored them I have no fear of dying.
Can you really talk to dead people?
No, I don’t talk to dead people… I communicate with live people in spirit. In Afterlife I explain how we never really die or disappear. It helps to think of ourselves as a spiritual being with a human body and not the other way around.
Basically the spiritual force that energises our human body returns to its former state once the body perishes. Science shows that energy can not be destroyed only transmuted, so the spiritual force that powers us continues, as do we. So it makes sense that as we’re energy continuing to exist – that we return to the same place we came from – to the world of spirit, or the afterlife.
Whilst we’re residing in the afterlife, our spirit energy rests and recuperates and prepares for the next stage of its evolution. Basically everything we do in this life or the afterlife is about our soul evolution. This process continues in spirit, but is speeded up in earthly life as there’s more challenges to face, more new experiences to embrace. This is why we need to reincarnate.
What Do You Say to sceptics?
This is my story based on my research and my own experiences. I am certainly not setting myself up as some kind of guru and people can make their own decision about the information in the book. In the first couple of months since publication I have only received very positive feedback from people in all walks of life. Some tell me that they’ve found answers to questions they have thought about but never expressed openly. Others say the book confirms their long held beliefs and a few have also said that Afterlife has helped them come to terms with problems in their current life.