An Astrologer's View on the Afterlife

“And we all shine on

Like the Moon, and the Stars, and the Sun….”

- John Lennon

This is a tricky one.  There are so many different opinions.  Some people don’t believe in an Afterlife.  They think that we just…  well, I guess we just end.  Then there are those that believe there’s a life after death, but differ on what that life entails.  Since these are all theories and we’ll just have to see when we get there, for now I’ll answer that question with another one - What about THIS life?  What’s going on HERE?  Why are we here?  What’s the point?   Death is a mysterious experience, the shedding of our physical vehicle, throwing off our means of expression on Earth.  But Death tells us a LOT about Life.  Just think - a person is here, and then they’re gone.  In a flash.  We don’t go slowly.   We don’t get to tell anyone here what it’s like to die, and what, if anything, we see ahead.  We’re gone before anyone can ask questions.  Life can seem pointless -  we’re born, we live, we die. But The Universe gives us a big hint about the point of Life by what it allows us to take with us when we die.  Think about it.  What can we take with us?

We spend so much time on our bodies.  We eat right, we diet, we exercise.  We color our hair, whiten our teeth, and tuck our tummies.  We wear nice clothes, and smooth our skin with expensive lotion.  But can we bring our beautiful work wherever we’re going?  Can we take our bodies with us?  We have to leave them behind.  We have no choice.  We look at our loved one in the casket and say “That’s not him.  He’s gone to a better place”.  Intuitively, we know the body wasn’t that important after all.  Not really, in the long run.  That’s not him.  What about our possessions?   We get an education and train for a profession so we can make a living. We use the money to buy a comfortable home, drive a nice car, fill our pantry with food, our closet with clothes.  We save for that computer, that living room set, that cottage by the lake.  People spend so much of their lives in pursuit of material things, you would think it’s the point of our existence.  What happens to all those things when we die?  We spend decades acquiring them, you’d think we should be able to take something with us.  But alas, we must leave without a penny in our pocket.  Not even with a pocket!  We know this, so we write up a will.  We’ll leave this to him, and that to her, and this to them.  Because you can’t take it with you. 

What about our relationships?  The people in our lives.   No one lives their whole life in isolation.  Most of us have relationships – parents, siblings, spouses, children, and friends.  It takes years to build up comfort and trust.  Love grows and deepens over time.  We share moments that add up to a lifetime of relationships, good times and bad.  Think about the people in your life who mean the most to you.  Will you be able to take any of them with you when you die?  Can’t you pick just one person to make the journey less lonely?  The Universe brings you into the world alone, and makes you leave the way you came.  It’s true we learn a great deal from the people we encounter along the road of Life, but essentially we walk alone.  And we die alone.  We can’t take anyone with us.  You have probably been asked at some point, “If there was a fire in your house and you could only grab one thing, what would it be?”  They are asking you what’s most important to you.  What does the Universe let us grab before we die, before we go to…. wherever?  Not our bodies, and not our possessions.  Not our relationships.  So what then?  What does The Universe think is important?  What can we take? 

Ourselves.  That’s what we are allowed to grab before we go.  We can take ourselves.  Everyone has an opinion and this, dear Reader, is mine.  I believe there's some kind of Life after our physical Death, and we take ourselves with us.  Wherever we go, there we are.  Life is energy.  Science tells us this.  Energy never disappears, but it does transform. It changes in structure.  All of our thoughts, feelings and experiences we have had during our lives are in a big ball of energy called the Soul, and our bodies are the vehicle to receive and transmit those thoughts and experiences while on Earth.  I want you to picture your mother’s face in your mind.  Can you see her?  Think of her eyes, her hair, her smile.  Got the picture?  Good.  Now where was that thought before you had it?  Where was that picture?  In your head?  In your brain? If we open up your brain right now, will we see that picture of your mom?  Of course not.  You grabbed that thought out of the air. Thoughts are energy.  Thoughts are all around to be picked up whenever your receiver, your brain, tunes in to that frequency.  Have you ever known what someone is going to say before they say it?  It happens to me all the time.   Do I have some kind of supernatural gift?  I don’t think so.  It’s very natural to be tuned in to the frequency of thoughts, it’s a big function of the brain.  Have you ever heard the phone ring and you know who it is before you see the caller ID?  Perhaps it was your sister calling.  You pick up the phone and tell her “I knew it was you!” like it was something extraordinary.  But why wouldn’t you be tuned in to your sister’s frequency?  She’s one of the people you’ve known the longest in your life.  She was thinking of you, and your transmitter picked up that thought.  My husband and I have been together for almost 25 years.  We pick up each others’ thoughts all the time.  Radio waves can be longer than a football field, so why wouldn’t my brain pick up a thought wave in the same room?  What you think, what you feel, what you experience over a lifetime makes up who you are -  your Soul.  Whether you realize it or not, you are constantly putting your Soul out into the Universe by thinking and feeling.  Think no one knows what you’re thinking?  Think again!  Thoughts are just like those radio waves, and The Universe is always tuned in to your station.  Remember when you were a kid and you actually thought the people were inside the TV?  When you switch your television off, you know the anchorman doesn’t disappear.  You just can’t see him anymore but the radio waves are still out there for the taking.  The news is still broadcasting.  Someone’s television is on to pick it up, just not yours.  And when your body is switched off, when you die, your brain isn’t receiving or transmitting anymore.  You can’t physically express your Soul anymore.  We can’t hear you voicing your thoughts, but they are still here.  You are still here.  The Soul lives on, in some fashion.  Invisible to the Earthly eye, but real all the same, in the same way that picture of your mom’s face is real to you right now.

But let’s get back to Life – shall we?  What is the whole point of the Soul coming to this Earthly plane?  The Universe shows us that it’s not the condition of our bodies that’s most important, not the condition of our houses or cars or bank acccounts, but the condition of our Souls.  Of course we shouldn’t neglect our bodies.  We need to make sure our Soul’s vehicle is comfortable and has the necessary food, shelter, and clothes to live and express itself, but it’s not the point of Life.  We’re here for one reason, two words: SOUL GROWTH.  The Universe’s wish for you is that you leave this life with your Soul in a more enlightened state than when you entered it, having learned some good Soul Lessons.  You live in the physical world, but only temporarily.  You are here to grow the non-physical part of you.  You are here for the expansion of your heart and mind. Growing your soul.  Easy to say, tough to do.  Life throws a lot at you.  There’s your job, your finances, your health, your marriage, your children, your friends.  These things can be enjoyable, but are they always? No sickness or loss, no worry or anxiety?  Does everything in your life go smoothly every day?  Probably not.  We learn and grow through struggle, and most likely you have challenges that are your crosses to bear in life.  Astrology gives you a clear view of those lessons - a map of your strengths, weaknesses, and all their potential.  Astrology even points to your past life, so you can see what lessons you have already learned. We call these our gifts and talents.  They can also be the places where we get stuck, doing the same things over and over with no sense of satisfaction.  Why do we do this?  Because it’s “so past life”, and it’s time to move on.  What I love most about astrology is that it helps us make the most of this life, so that with some hard work (and hopefully a lot of love along the way and fun thrown in for good measure), our time on Earth won’t be in vain. Our Souls will grow, and we’ll leave this Life a little wiser, or maybe even a lot wiser, than when we arrived.