As a child, my cousin Linda and I were close. But after her family moved to Florida, we lost touch for decades, until we reconnected a few years ago. Linda recently contacted me with some bad news. She’s dealing with Stage 4 cancer. And while all of our lives have an expiration date, hers may be approaching faster than anticipated.
Like me, Linda’s religious beliefs have strayed from the Catholicism we both grew up with. She now identifies as a Druid, the ancient Celtic religion. (A female shaman once told her she was a Druid Priest in a past life, something she had sensed.) She believes the Divine is present in nature and in all things. She also believes in reincarnation, though believe may not be a strong enough word. Linda knows that our souls are reincarnated and that we return to life again and again, each time learning a new lesson.
Linda has lived many lives. Hundreds, possibly thousands, though she has only caught glimpses of six or seven. She has lived in different countries, in different eras, even on other planets and dimensions. In most past lives, she has lived as a man. And even though she has lived hundreds of lives, she continues to learn new lessons in this life.
Before you read the rest of her story, know this: Linda is not putting me on. She is not out to make a buck. And she’s not crazy. She volunteered some of the details you’ll read below, but much of her story came from me asking many, many questions.
Linda has been seeing spirits for most of her life.
Since she was a teen, Linda has sensed a protective, loving presence or energy around her. It one time woke her from a sound sleep, slamming a door and scratching the pillow next to her head, warning her of imminent danger in a nick of time. It has helped give her a life-long sense of calm and a feeling of safety.
She has been visited by our late grandmother. Caught glimpses of her, right before she passed, shuffling through her new home, opening doors and drawers—even though she was living 2,000 miles away. She has also seen our grandma in a dream, younger and thinner than we knew her. When Linda started to follow her through a portico, she was told, “I love you, but you can’t come.”
Linda is versed in the ancient practice of smudging and has successfully banished evil spirits from homes. She can sense when there’s a bad presence, the air becomes heavy. She once came across a mischievous, foot-tall imp with coal eyes, hiding in a closet to escape her smudging stick. As soon as she laid eyes on him, he disappeared.
Linda has a spirit guide.
A spirit guide is like a guardian angel, different terms for the same thing. Linda says that we all have one—whether we know it or not. But to realize them and hear their guidance, you must have a level of sensitivity and be in a positive state of mind. Linda has found the older you get, the easier it becomes. Her gifts grow stronger.
Linda’s spirit guide is named Angus. He’s a Scottish Highlander and a connection from a past life. She has known him over many lifetimes. He is there whenever she needs him, available to offer counsel or advice. She asks a question and the answer appears.
She has communicated with the dead.
Linda had a long conversation with her dad not long after he “crossed over.” She has sensed his physical presence, heard his voice, though he is not visible. The first time, she was mowing the lawn. She could clearly hear him; he called her by her nickname and let her know he had made it “over here.” Long suffering with knee pain, he happily told her “My knees don’t hurt anymore.” She has caught glimpses of her father in the afterlife, taking long walks in the woods, alongside a creek.
She has also been visited by her late-mother, who has appeared to her as both the 80-year-old woman she was at her death and as a squeaky-voiced, 13-year-old girl. Unlike her father, her mother is a very young soul. She would sometimes pop into her life uninvited, giggling in a mean-girl kind of way, following her around like “a little black cloud.” Her dog did not appreciate her mom’s presence and would growl.
Her spirit guide Angus has told her that on the other side, her mother is in “a repentant state,” dealing with remorse and regret for past transgressions. She was spending time in classrooms, learning. It has been two years since she last heard from her; she may have moved on to her next life.
Unlike her mom, Linda’s father appears to be in his 30s (though he had lived to the age of 90.) The same with our late Uncle Joe, who appeared to her on a stairwell with “lots of light behind him.” A fellow old soul, he once talked her through a rough patch at her job, telling her to “calm down, everything will be okay.” A few days later, it was.
She knows what will happen once you die.
You cross over to the otherworld, a place some call heaven, others Valhalla. Linda does not like to label it, only says that it is “a different dimension.” She also believes there is a higher power or being there that she calls the Universe. We might refer to it as God, a superior being, Allah, Yahweh, it’s all the same.
In the otherworld, your body ceases to exist, but your soul lives on. You retain the essence of who you are now, but you’re in another realm. What happens first is a debrief or what some call a life review. You can see where you did good in the life you just left, where you failed, and where you could have done better.
There’s a good chance, you’ll reconnect with those from your past life.
Linda will reunite with her husband Dave who crossed over a few years ago. He is living an idyllic life in a small cabin in the woods, lots of dogs around. Her father told her he had seen Dave sitting around a campfire one night, swapping stories with his old Air Force buddies. (Interestingly, you will not necessarily be with your spouse in the afterlife. Her mother and father are not together, though “Dad has seen her from a distance.”)
Your soul, if it is young, may be “sent out again” into a new life if you still have lessons to learn. You’ll know why—you messed something up in your past life and need to try and get it right in the next one. But you won’t be told who you’ll be in this next life, where you’re going, or how long you’ll be there. Where you wind up is decided by the Universe/God based on your life choices.
In “heaven,” advanced souls (aka old souls) get to decide if they want to return.
It’s dependent on your soul age and karma, what you have done in past lives. But old souls have free will. Old souls are asked if they want to go back and when or can choose to stay “on the other side.” If they decide to go back, they too will not have a choice on where they wind up in their next life.
Another benefit of being an old soul: You can choose how you appear to yourself and others. The way her father and our uncle appeared younger than the age they died is a common element of near-death experiences. Those who have glimpsed departed loved ones often say they appear as they did “in their prime.” Most choose their “best self,” which for many is how they looked in their thirties. Younger souls do not have that option, and often appear in the afterlife as children.
What does this all mean for you?
You might be thinking I’ve never heard from my spirit guide. I don’t remember any past lives. I don’t know what lesson I’m supposed to learn in this lifetime. And for you, Linda has some simple advice: follow the Golden Rule. Be nice, to both humans and animals. Don’t be petty, hurtful, or inconsiderate. Respect others without exception, treating them the same way you would like to be treated. Most importantly, don’t sweat it. Even if it takes many lifetimes, you will eventually figure it all out.
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