What Happens When We Die – Before and Three Weeks After (Part 1 of 2)

Why are there so many stories of dying people seeing their loved ones around them when no one else can? If death is imminent such as in a fatal accident, does the spirit leave the body before the trauma occurs? Do good and evil people end up with the same experiences of death? Is death the same thing as a near-death experience? Do we live more than once? Where do we go after death, and can we visit our loved ones on earth again? Do we get to decide what happens to us after we die?

Each of us experiences a death-like state every time we fall asleep. Yet we welcome sleep and are refreshed by it and when we awaken we are renewed. There are two basic parts to the body – the physical body and the spirit. In sleep our spirit lifts out of our body, and we are not aware of our body functions, but we are busy with dreams and other things. But at that time we are still attached to our physical body by what looks like a silver cord, so we eventually come back to it and wake up. In death that cord is broken, and we do not come back to the body. Can that cord be broken before death? Yes, it is one of the beautiful things that Divine Love does – if the body is about to be made inhabitable through a quick death such as an explosion, fire, crushed or many other accidents, the spirit is lifted out of the body beforehand and the cord is cut by a heavenly hand. The same thing happens for animals. You’ve seen on TV a predator chase down its prey, and the deer continue to struggle and cry while in the predator’s jaws or even while being eaten. But the animal is not alive - this is just the nerves and body functions continuing on for a brief time, the spirit is already out and feeling relief from any of the physical pain and emotional fear that had built up to that moment. Even in near-death experiences, many people will have memories of hovering over their bodies but not physically feeling what was going on in the dying body, until going back into it. Then upon going back into the body is when they experience pain.

But not all deaths come quickly, what then? When a lingering of life occurs before a person dies, the person will often hear or see their loved ones in the room with them, which is to help them overcome their own fear of death. This is to ease the fear of death and to help the person understand that their spirit will continue on. This can go on for days, weeks or even much longer. However, this experience can be clouded if the person is on heavy medications, since these can make it more difficult to recognize the reality of the help offered by the other side. On drugs it can also be much harder to discern these visits from the overlapping and recalling of life memories. But the opportunity to find peace with the upcoming change and encouragement to go easily into the arms of waiting loved ones is there, and is very real, and should not be scoffed at if what is seen by the person is shared with others.

No matter how the moment of death comes, whether fast or slow, we are in charge of some big choices at the moment of death. This applies no matter what religion or culture a person is from. Because free will does not end at death, sometimes people make an incorrect choice even after letting go of the body. Ever wonder about the last part of the Hail Mary prayer? “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.” At the hour of our death is when we are most at risk for being attacked by unHoly Angels. This is why it is so necessary that people are surrounded by love, understanding and support at their time of death. This is a crucial time. Many have entered the ghost life simply because they are simply afraid to go to God, thinking they would not be forgiven for things they have done.

The death experience is much different than a near-death experience. How so? Near-death experiences are opportunities that we can learn things from and then we come back. Often there are similarities between full death and NDEs; such as meeting with a Divine being, having a life review, and a feeling of full acceptance and love. Also, one of the most notable outcomes of a near-death experience is the noticeable changes in a person once they return, and the lack of the fear of death. However, the experience of death with the cord being cut is different from a near-death experience, and we will look at some of them now.

When death is imminent a Holy Angel appears before us, along with several loved ones who have already transitioned. This occurs to help us know that the Angel we are seeing is not a hallucination, and that we really do exist beyond our physical bodies. All Holy Angels are beautiful beings of great love and light, and what is often seen as wings is actually shimmering rays of light. They have specific duties, and the one that comes to us at this time of transition is often called an Angel of death, but is more aptly called a “homing” Angel, because he is there to take us home to God, the source of Divine Love. Homing Angels are very gentle and loving and maternal, and desire us not to be afraid of letting go of our bodies. We are given three choices at that time (1). to go to God right then, (2). or to wait until after the funeral ceremony, (3). or not go to God, which leaves us in a ghost state. But all we have to do is touch the hand of the Angel or call out to God, and our journey continues. Why are we given a choice? Because even after death we still are free will agents and will not be forced to do anything we don’t want to do.

Touching the hand of the Angel is a choice as well, for it shows our free will desire to go to God, and to choose love over fear. If we skip (3).we end up in a ghost state, a spirit separated from the body but not yet choosing to go to Love. Many have entered the ghost life simply because they are afraid to go to God, wrongly thinking they would not be forgiven for things they have done. There have been many versions of faulty teachings about God – but he is not like a prison warden, or a strict overbearing disciplinarian who would send anyone to a fiery hell of torment. He is the core of unconditional Divine Love, forgiveness and mercy. And torture and fear do not coexist with Love, it is the exact opposite. In fact, in Biblical days there was a pagan ritual of sacrificing children to false gods by burning them to death in fire, and God shows his repugnance for that by saying: “The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes…they have built the high places of Topheth…to burn their sons and daughters in the fire – something I did not command, nor did it come up into my heart.” (Jeremiah 7:30, 31) It is not in the heart of a loving God to do such a thing.

Unfortunately, sometimes a person may feel they can’t go to God until they finish something here - even though they will have so much more ability, clarity, and freedom to help change things when they do go to God first. Technically, ghosts are the life-force of people who have not yet gone to God. Spirits are the life-force of people who have gone to God and now have access to come and go as they please between this world and the next. Manipulated ghosts are the life-force of people who have not yet gone to God so are in ghost form, and have come under attack and control of fallen unHoly Angels or demons. For them, the world is a very dark place. But even then, ghosts and manipulated ghosts will be periodically visited by a homing Angel and offered the opportunity to go to Divine Love. Sometimes God will even send a human gifted with the ability to release ghosts as well, and this person’s will to help automatically calls the homing Angel for another opportunity for the one who is lost (see the article Ghosts, Spirits and Manipulated Ghosts - The Differences).

The reason we are given a choice about going to Divine love right then or waiting until after the funeral is because there is a 2-3 week debriefing time after we die. During this time we have a life review; it is a review of the facets of love learned during this life, which is the reason we are here.(cont. in Part 2)