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What Happens When We Die: A Psychic's Exploration of Death, Heaven, and the Soul's Journey After Death
With her signature wit and fearlessness, beloved psychic and healer Echo Bodine offers answers to life’s biggest Is there a heaven? Are there people who have been there and come back? Do we have souls? Can we communicate with deceased loved ones?
Based on Echo’s personal experience of observing the souls of people nearing death and communicating with souls who have died, this comforting book shines light on the dying process and the afterlife. Her clear and fascinating stories demystify this universal experience and demonstrate that death is nothing to fear. You’ll learn
* the stages the body goes through preceding death
* the white light and the tunnel that lead to the other side
* how to make sense of the death of children
* what happens to those who commit suicide
* the nature of heaven
Echo offers practical tools for being with dying loved ones (including what not to do), for grieving (through the poignant experience of her mother’s passing as Echo was writing this book), and for cultivating clear communication with the deceased. Learning what happens when we die can be inspiring, reassuring, and profoundly life changing.
Based on Echo’s personal experience of observing the souls of people nearing death and communicating with souls who have died, this comforting book shines light on the dying process and the afterlife. Her clear and fascinating stories demystify this universal experience and demonstrate that death is nothing to fear. You’ll learn
* the stages the body goes through preceding death
* the white light and the tunnel that lead to the other side
* how to make sense of the death of children
* what happens to those who commit suicide
* the nature of heaven
Echo offers practical tools for being with dying loved ones (including what not to do), for grieving (through the poignant experience of her mother’s passing as Echo was writing this book), and for cultivating clear communication with the deceased. Learning what happens when we die can be inspiring, reassuring, and profoundly life changing.
- GenresSpiritualityNonfiction
160 pages, Paperback
First published September 26, 2013
54 people are currently reading
176 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
December 30, 2015
I read the book in one sitting. It gave me great comfort and enlightened me to ideas that had never crossed my mind before.
January 2, 2019
5/5 ⭐️
A lot of this I already knew, but in the recent passing of my Nana, I got curious again to see how other people who can see spirits and whatever else, interoperate Death and Souls and what comes after someone dies. I found this really concerting.
A lot of this I already knew, but in the recent passing of my Nana, I got curious again to see how other people who can see spirits and whatever else, interoperate Death and Souls and what comes after someone dies. I found this really concerting.
June 27, 2023
Loved this book! This book flows so smoothly, I finished in one day. This book resonated with me as I have experienced and communicated with souls that have passed on. I love how she discussed how death is nothing to fear and the stages the body goes through prior to death. Highly recommend!
August 25, 2017
The book is very soothing to those who are dealing with grieve or going through dying-process. Informative and it delivers what the book's title suggests. It answers many questions regarding Death in a simple & appealing way.
However, I couldn't help sometimes but to think that she made some of these stuff up....but most of what she told was convincing to me and gave me much insights.
However, I couldn't help sometimes but to think that she made some of these stuff up....but most of what she told was convincing to me and gave me much insights.
October 20, 2022
ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS BOOK!!! A MUST READ for those of you that experience death of loved ones or question death. I truly believe the soul lives on and "plans" our life and death. That the soul ultimately decides when our time is up.
March 18, 2024
HIGHLIGHTS:
1. PURPOSE:
- Our souls are made of energy, and the purpose of our lives here on earth is to develop ourselves to our highest potential.
- Become even more conscious of our oneness with God in our perfection.
- The object of each life is to grow in advance in wisdom.
- Astral Projection: The soul takes many out-of-body journeys when the body is sleeping.
- Akashic Records: The things you want and need to accomplish in this lifetime are collected in the life book of your soul. Death is referred to as “graduate.”
- Your astrological chart includes exit points or times in your life when your soul could leave and go back home if it felt it had accomplished all it needed to.
- The timing of your death is planned before you were born.
2. ELDERS:
- Wise counselors on the other side who have already lived their lives and now spend their time advising our souls about the choices we are making.
- A wonderful group of loving and accomplished souls, they help us make the wisest decision for our soul’s growth and development.
- The elders recommend that we each spend a minimum of 60 years on the other side before reincarnating into a new life so that it can heal issues from the previous incarnation.
- The process of healing old issues to prevent bringing them into the new life can take quite a while, depending on the person‘s desire and willingness to heal.
3. THE DYING:
- The dying person knows more of what’s going on than we do, so don’t feel as if you need to explain things to them.
- It’s important to clean up as much of our baggage from our current life as possible before we leave.
- The dying person is in an intense process of wrapping things up from this lifetime. The more they can release their emotional pain, the easier the transition will be.
- If they let go of bitterness and regret and arrive home with a clean slate, they will live a more beautiful existence on the other side.
4. SOUL NUDGES:
- Our soul will give us nudges through the dying process.
- The trick is to listen and act on our sense of silent knowing from within, no matter how strange it seems.
5. TELEPATHY:
- Practice making your thoughts loud and strong through telepathy.
- This is how spirits communicate.
- This is how we can practice communicating with each other on earth now.
6. SPIRIT COMMUNICATION:
- Say their name out loud.
- Think of him and he will get your thoughts.
7. GOD:
- God is everywhere. Just think the word God and he/she is there.
- Heaven was full of communities and that each reflected a different reality.
- The reality we live by on earth, the consciousness we hold, determines where we go in heaven.
- All souls continue to move onto different realities, always searching for a better way.
- People need to evolve in their beliefs in heaven just as they must on earth.
- Each soul needs to learn and grow towards understanding its oneness with God.
8. EARTH PROBLEMS:
- We have so many problems on earth because we have trouble honoring each other‘s convictions.
- We don’t want to accept that everyone has a different reality. We want everyone to be and think and act like us.
9. GRIEF:
- How it goes is really up to us.
- We stay stuck in the tragedy of loss, or we find some measure of good in it.
- If we focus on looking for the good in our loss, we find it much more quickly.
10. SOUL TRANSITION:
- Ask the universe to help you see the bigger picture.
- Don’t pull in the energy of the person you’ve lost, because they are going through a transition just as you are and aren’t in a position to comfort you.
- If you’re asking for the right things - direction, guidance, comfort, and help — your answers and support will come.
ACTIONS:
a. Make a scrapbook of your life before you die.
b. If your friend’s mom died and is going through grief, ask “tell me about your mom.“
1. PURPOSE:
- Our souls are made of energy, and the purpose of our lives here on earth is to develop ourselves to our highest potential.
- Become even more conscious of our oneness with God in our perfection.
- The object of each life is to grow in advance in wisdom.
- Astral Projection: The soul takes many out-of-body journeys when the body is sleeping.
- Akashic Records: The things you want and need to accomplish in this lifetime are collected in the life book of your soul. Death is referred to as “graduate.”
- Your astrological chart includes exit points or times in your life when your soul could leave and go back home if it felt it had accomplished all it needed to.
- The timing of your death is planned before you were born.
2. ELDERS:
- Wise counselors on the other side who have already lived their lives and now spend their time advising our souls about the choices we are making.
- A wonderful group of loving and accomplished souls, they help us make the wisest decision for our soul’s growth and development.
- The elders recommend that we each spend a minimum of 60 years on the other side before reincarnating into a new life so that it can heal issues from the previous incarnation.
- The process of healing old issues to prevent bringing them into the new life can take quite a while, depending on the person‘s desire and willingness to heal.
3. THE DYING:
- The dying person knows more of what’s going on than we do, so don’t feel as if you need to explain things to them.
- It’s important to clean up as much of our baggage from our current life as possible before we leave.
- The dying person is in an intense process of wrapping things up from this lifetime. The more they can release their emotional pain, the easier the transition will be.
- If they let go of bitterness and regret and arrive home with a clean slate, they will live a more beautiful existence on the other side.
4. SOUL NUDGES:
- Our soul will give us nudges through the dying process.
- The trick is to listen and act on our sense of silent knowing from within, no matter how strange it seems.
5. TELEPATHY:
- Practice making your thoughts loud and strong through telepathy.
- This is how spirits communicate.
- This is how we can practice communicating with each other on earth now.
6. SPIRIT COMMUNICATION:
- Say their name out loud.
- Think of him and he will get your thoughts.
7. GOD:
- God is everywhere. Just think the word God and he/she is there.
- Heaven was full of communities and that each reflected a different reality.
- The reality we live by on earth, the consciousness we hold, determines where we go in heaven.
- All souls continue to move onto different realities, always searching for a better way.
- People need to evolve in their beliefs in heaven just as they must on earth.
- Each soul needs to learn and grow towards understanding its oneness with God.
8. EARTH PROBLEMS:
- We have so many problems on earth because we have trouble honoring each other‘s convictions.
- We don’t want to accept that everyone has a different reality. We want everyone to be and think and act like us.
9. GRIEF:
- How it goes is really up to us.
- We stay stuck in the tragedy of loss, or we find some measure of good in it.
- If we focus on looking for the good in our loss, we find it much more quickly.
10. SOUL TRANSITION:
- Ask the universe to help you see the bigger picture.
- Don’t pull in the energy of the person you’ve lost, because they are going through a transition just as you are and aren’t in a position to comfort you.
- If you’re asking for the right things - direction, guidance, comfort, and help — your answers and support will come.
ACTIONS:
a. Make a scrapbook of your life before you die.
b. If your friend’s mom died and is going through grief, ask “tell me about your mom.“
Currently reading
November 15, 2015i had trouble with who she believed to have killed OJ's wife Nicole Simpson.She stated it was kato...the houseman...once ur dead...spirits know first hand who killed them and other things we dont know on earth...I truly believed it was his son jason that committed the crimes and thats why OJ called for a lawyer the nite before....so i was suspect about that interpretation....If your child committed a crime, you would take up for them too..
September 30, 2018
A Well Written Book of Comfort
I love this book. The information was not new to me but it was comforting to read it again. My family and many of my friends are fundamentalist Christians. I am a Christian but my beliefs are not based on a literal interpretation of the Bible. I cannot talk to them about the subjects covered in this book. It was so meaningful to me to have my beliefs reaffirmed. Thank you, Echo.
I love this book. The information was not new to me but it was comforting to read it again. My family and many of my friends are fundamentalist Christians. I am a Christian but my beliefs are not based on a literal interpretation of the Bible. I cannot talk to them about the subjects covered in this book. It was so meaningful to me to have my beliefs reaffirmed. Thank you, Echo.
January 13, 2021
This was a nice read-definitely not hard. It was a bit different than I was expecting it to be. I'm not sure WHAT I was expecting it to be, to be honest. It hit home a lot, going through the grieving process myself. If you are at any point in your grieving process, I'd recommend tissues.
June 6, 2017
Ok
Some interesting bits but just ok for me. Seems knowledgeable and genuine. Could be helpful for folks who are grieving.
Some interesting bits but just ok for me. Seems knowledgeable and genuine. Could be helpful for folks who are grieving.
May 6, 2021
Very helpful
I just lost my mom and reading this book has made certain things make so much sense. Deaths due grief are never easy, but this book helped.
I just lost my mom and reading this book has made certain things make so much sense. Deaths due grief are never easy, but this book helped.
April 12, 2024
It was an ok, easy read. Nothing really wowed me and I’m not sure how believable or convincing she is. I still found it somewhat interesting.
June 10, 2024
My mother recommended this book. I found it rather blah, more like a fairy tale. I just could not relate to a psychic who can check in with anyone's soul.
February 21, 2014
Who is Echo Bodine and why is she writing about death? I personally don't know what it's like even to wonder. Hailing from the same neck of the woods as the author, I can't remember ever not knowing who Echo Bodine is. Her influence is now international, but growing up I knew her as the Midwest's own most famous psychic from the "most psychic family in America."
Bodine - a long-time practicing psychic, ghost hunter, and author of several metaphysical books, among other things - writes WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE as a psychic and more importantly as a daughter. In 2012, her mother passed away, so she is no stranger to the vivid, arresting grief that can accompany such a loss.
Having witnessed my own mother's death just a few weeks before Bodine, I related closely to her story. More than that, I can attest that, regardless of individual beliefs about psychic phenomena in general, you will never be more open to a discussion about "what happens when we die" after you have watched it happen to your mother. Even just before she died, I remember going online and scrolling through page after page in the middle of the night, looking for anything and anyone who had something actually helpful to say. I didn't find much.
When it comes to the subject of this book, I don't know what it's like not to wonder. I remember being six years old and lying under a low wooden coffee table at home, when the thought occurred to me as I gazed up at the smooth underside, "This must be what it's like to be dead." At the time, having been to an open casket funeral, it was my best guess. While my theories have advanced quite a bit from what my childhood brain could only imagine as consciousness going on inside one's own coffin, I still need more perspective and so I loved reading the stories about Bodine connecting with many of those who have passed.
I also appreciated such sections as: What is the Soul Doing While the Body is Shutting Down?, Common Fears About Death, Ways to Celebrate Your Life or Your Loved Ones, and How to Talk and Listen to the Dying. I imagine this book, if one were open to it, could be wonderful to read to someone who is facing death soon. It would provide structure to talk about death and ways to focus on celebration of life.
The reasons for reading such a book are many. First and foremost, it is about a human experience that no one escapes. Second, it's a subject few are willing to talk about, and here it is done in stories and chapters that are anything but morbid or depressing. For anyone from a Christian perspective who has trouble accepting a psychic's view of the afterdeath experience, Bodine makes her belief in God clear and can point out every place in the Bible that speaks about the psychic gift as a divinely imparted gift. I also feel that, for anyone who is not religiously affiliated, Bodine's psychic perspective has the effect of crossing gaps between spiritual beliefs.
Bodine - a long-time practicing psychic, ghost hunter, and author of several metaphysical books, among other things - writes WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE as a psychic and more importantly as a daughter. In 2012, her mother passed away, so she is no stranger to the vivid, arresting grief that can accompany such a loss.
Having witnessed my own mother's death just a few weeks before Bodine, I related closely to her story. More than that, I can attest that, regardless of individual beliefs about psychic phenomena in general, you will never be more open to a discussion about "what happens when we die" after you have watched it happen to your mother. Even just before she died, I remember going online and scrolling through page after page in the middle of the night, looking for anything and anyone who had something actually helpful to say. I didn't find much.
When it comes to the subject of this book, I don't know what it's like not to wonder. I remember being six years old and lying under a low wooden coffee table at home, when the thought occurred to me as I gazed up at the smooth underside, "This must be what it's like to be dead." At the time, having been to an open casket funeral, it was my best guess. While my theories have advanced quite a bit from what my childhood brain could only imagine as consciousness going on inside one's own coffin, I still need more perspective and so I loved reading the stories about Bodine connecting with many of those who have passed.
I also appreciated such sections as: What is the Soul Doing While the Body is Shutting Down?, Common Fears About Death, Ways to Celebrate Your Life or Your Loved Ones, and How to Talk and Listen to the Dying. I imagine this book, if one were open to it, could be wonderful to read to someone who is facing death soon. It would provide structure to talk about death and ways to focus on celebration of life.
The reasons for reading such a book are many. First and foremost, it is about a human experience that no one escapes. Second, it's a subject few are willing to talk about, and here it is done in stories and chapters that are anything but morbid or depressing. For anyone from a Christian perspective who has trouble accepting a psychic's view of the afterdeath experience, Bodine makes her belief in God clear and can point out every place in the Bible that speaks about the psychic gift as a divinely imparted gift. I also feel that, for anyone who is not religiously affiliated, Bodine's psychic perspective has the effect of crossing gaps between spiritual beliefs.
March 16, 2015
For me, this was a combination of "oh, wow, she seems to have some evidence" and "it sounds like she's just making up some of this." Since I am a person who likes data and evidence, that is what I was looking for. She had many examples of information from the spirit world that later came true - so I liked that. Some of the other things ("you alternate male and female when you come back," "You generally wait 60 years before returning," etc.) did not offer anything to back it up. It did give lots of good information about how to treat someone who is going through the dying process, and gave me peace of mind that there may indeed be a spirit world. It was worth reading just for that.
January 29, 2014
A fairly charming fantasy fairytale. Oh, that it were true! One thing that both struck and amused me - we all assume that in our fantasy death, we will reunite w/ our loved ones in heaven. Bodine reminds us that we will be reunited w/ people we don't like as well. Never thought of that! Also, discouraging to know that there is a Hollywood heaven; all the stars can go there if they like. So, I guess, I'll never get the chance to meet Clark Gable?!
December 13, 2013
I read books of this nature hoping for a glimpse into beliefs which have mostly died for me. Beyond her claims of psychic abilities, Ms. Bodine claims to be a spiritual traveler, bouncing back between this world and whatever is beyond. I always think that I hope something like this is true, but I won't know till I get there.
June 1, 2014
Got this from the library. Very quick read, but no new info here. It's all been written about before. Would be a good place to start for a novice wanting info about afterlife. I read her brother Michael Bodine's book Growing up Psychic which I highly recommend. I still might check out Echo's other books as I like her voice and writing style.
October 16, 2020
I absolutely loved this book! After losing my son to suicide two years ago, it truly helped me know that he’s safe and in a wonderful place. This book helped me overcome my fears of dying. Instead of being fearful, I now feel when it’s my time I will go willingly.
I understand we all have our journey to complete. Thank you, Echo for writing such a remarkable book.
I understand we all have our journey to complete. Thank you, Echo for writing such a remarkable book.
December 10, 2013
No book by Bodine could match her Echoes of the Soul, so I am being a bit charitable giving this one 4 stars. The material is good for first-timers, but a bit repetitive for some. If you wonder about death and are new to wondering, this is a good start.
September 2, 2014
Interesting. I've lived this story while being wit parents dying. There are some good points. Not sure if there is much new information, but that depends on where you are in this journey. It's a good book to read.
May 2, 2016
Interesting perspective on life and death. First hand experience of watching my mother die encouraged my interest in reading on death and after life. This book details the after life much of the same as "Testimony of Light" by Helen Greaves.
February 19, 2014
awful. i believe in life after death but this was poorly written and if you believe her she can communicate with every soul in the universe!
May 30, 2014
It is interesting and very much like other after life books out there by John Edwards, James Van Praagh, Sylvia Browne etc.
July 28, 2016
A quick read, but some interesting insights. Echo Bodine warmly shares her perspectives on the "afterlife".
January 17, 2017
Enjoyed!
February 3, 2019
I love this book so much. Reading it over and over helps keep me sane.
July 21, 2023
very comforting
I lost my father a few days ago. This was the saddest moment in my life. This book help me to overcome the emotions
I lost my father a few days ago. This was the saddest moment in my life. This book help me to overcome the emotions
April 22, 2015
not a bad book. some good information
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews