What do you think?
Rate this book
Blessings From the Other Side: Wisdom and Comfort from the Afterlife for this Life
The noted psychic and author of The Other Side and Back assembles an inspirational collection of reflections on forgiveness, celebrations, anniversaries, and the holidays. 200,000 first printing.
190 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2000
30 people are currently reading
272 people want to read
About the author
Sylvia Browne
238 books599 followersSylvia Browne was an American author and self-proclaimed psychic who built a lucrative career through books, television appearances, and psychic readings. Known for her frequent guest spots on The Montel Williams Show and Larry King Live, she claimed to communicate with angels, spirit guides, and the deceased, and said she had psychic visions from the age of three. In 1986, she founded the Society of Novus Spiritus, a Gnostic Christian church, and ran a variety of businesses, reportedly earning millions annually.
Browne wrote over 40 books, many of which were bestsellers, and maintained a dedicated fanbase throughout her life. However, her career was marked by controversy. She made numerous high-profile predictions about missing persons and criminal cases that were later proven false—errors that drew widespread criticism and scrutiny from skeptics and media outlets. A 2010 study by the Skeptical Inquirer concluded she had not been accurate in any verifiable case. Her reputation suffered further after her 1992 conviction for securities fraud.
Despite criticism from figures like James Randi and John Oliver, Browne retained a devoted following. Her vague prediction about a “pneumonia-like illness” spreading around 2020 drew renewed attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. She remained a polarizing figure—revered by some, discredited by others—until her death in 2013 at the age of 77.
Browne wrote over 40 books, many of which were bestsellers, and maintained a dedicated fanbase throughout her life. However, her career was marked by controversy. She made numerous high-profile predictions about missing persons and criminal cases that were later proven false—errors that drew widespread criticism and scrutiny from skeptics and media outlets. A 2010 study by the Skeptical Inquirer concluded she had not been accurate in any verifiable case. Her reputation suffered further after her 1992 conviction for securities fraud.
Despite criticism from figures like James Randi and John Oliver, Browne retained a devoted following. Her vague prediction about a “pneumonia-like illness” spreading around 2020 drew renewed attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. She remained a polarizing figure—revered by some, discredited by others—until her death in 2013 at the age of 77.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
September 25, 2020
I cherish Sylvia Browne’s books chronologically. The intricacies of spirituality share ground but nothing is repetitious. “Blessings From The Other Side: Wisdom And Comfort From The Afterlife For This Life” looked mundane but to my amazement, intersected with my struggles! I was uplifted by the serendipitous discourse Sylvia and writing partner Lindsay Harrison, made of a general subject. They rally for commonsense so overtly, hilarity bolsters us against doubt. I quote some gems in italics.
“You don't need a rug, flowing robes, leotards, or finger cymbals. You don’t need herbs or a stack of flute or harp CDs. All you need for a successful meditation is you. You can form Os with your thumbs but why, if it means nothing to you? You definitely don’t need to ‘let your mind go blank’. If you’re like me, being told to go blank is a sure way to fill up with whether or not you need to stop for gas on the way home or if you’re the only person in the room who’s a failure at letting their mind go blank. Take a little quiet time for yourself and never believe that if it doesn’t take long, it doesn’t count”.
Working with doctors and psychiatrists, Sylvia discovered body and spirit ties that professionals corroborated. She served clients in office and at seminars, yielding cases for this book. A commonplace issue made an impression on me: grumpy relatives. A man in for a reading was surprised with: “Do you know your wife is thinking of leaving you”? Sylvia insisted that family should not get away with rudeness. If you hold your tongue at work, you can control your manners at home.
My Mom’s physical journey closed this year. I was grateful that chapter one expounded on respecting grief! Humanity should live by these do’s and don’ts.
“Be more selective than ever about what is around you. The most subtle negativity is unacceptable from people, reading material, television, anything in your environment. This is the time to take the loud and clear position ‘Be supportive or stay away from me’. Embrace everything that is positive and spiritually nourishing. Read every word of comfort and ask your friends to pray for you and with you. Your capacity to give and accept love deepens as you heal. You absorb more hope, comfort, and truth about your divine connection to God.”.
“You don't need a rug, flowing robes, leotards, or finger cymbals. You don’t need herbs or a stack of flute or harp CDs. All you need for a successful meditation is you. You can form Os with your thumbs but why, if it means nothing to you? You definitely don’t need to ‘let your mind go blank’. If you’re like me, being told to go blank is a sure way to fill up with whether or not you need to stop for gas on the way home or if you’re the only person in the room who’s a failure at letting their mind go blank. Take a little quiet time for yourself and never believe that if it doesn’t take long, it doesn’t count”.
Working with doctors and psychiatrists, Sylvia discovered body and spirit ties that professionals corroborated. She served clients in office and at seminars, yielding cases for this book. A commonplace issue made an impression on me: grumpy relatives. A man in for a reading was surprised with: “Do you know your wife is thinking of leaving you”? Sylvia insisted that family should not get away with rudeness. If you hold your tongue at work, you can control your manners at home.
My Mom’s physical journey closed this year. I was grateful that chapter one expounded on respecting grief! Humanity should live by these do’s and don’ts.
“Be more selective than ever about what is around you. The most subtle negativity is unacceptable from people, reading material, television, anything in your environment. This is the time to take the loud and clear position ‘Be supportive or stay away from me’. Embrace everything that is positive and spiritually nourishing. Read every word of comfort and ask your friends to pray for you and with you. Your capacity to give and accept love deepens as you heal. You absorb more hope, comfort, and truth about your divine connection to God.”.
November 10, 2022
1-star due to Sylvia Browne being a racist fraudster, RIP
but honestly the book was a trip
https://www.frowl.org/worstbestseller...
but honestly the book was a trip
https://www.frowl.org/worstbestseller...
June 8, 2019
Another of the many books written by psychic Sylvia Browne, Blessings From the Other Side is at least entertaining and certainly thought-provoking. After having read her books on Jesus and the Two Marys I was ready for (curious about) more of her spirit-guided insights about the Other Side. Whether you believe it or not, it does make you think about what lies beyond our current lives. This one is focused, as the title implies, on advice on forgiveness, our past lives, contacting the other side, and finding your life's purpose. I found it interesting and it does explore a foundational aspect of this Other Side that includes coming back in another life, but retaining influences, both positive and negative, from your previous life experiences. Whether you read this and other books by this author as a believer or primarily as entertainment and an escape from everything else happening today, you will most likely find it worth your time.
June 16, 2010
Another book I tossed in shame as I would be horrified someone might see this on my bookshelf. I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, a generous gift to redeem herself but she did not deliver.
After reading this book I saw her on a daytime talk show and found her to be repulsive and totally obnoxious giving. She went as far to give one grieving family false hope on their missing daughter whom Brown claimed to still be alive.
I find it incredibly appalling that so many gullible people fall for her nonsense.
After reading this book I saw her on a daytime talk show and found her to be repulsive and totally obnoxious giving. She went as far to give one grieving family false hope on their missing daughter whom Brown claimed to still be alive.
I find it incredibly appalling that so many gullible people fall for her nonsense.
July 30, 2020
Li alguns capítulos deste livro junto ao mar e parece que as letras se juntavam com as ondas e me abraçavam, juntamente com o vento (talvez fosse apenas o meu anjo-da-guarda, quem sabe :))
Opinião completa aqui: https://momentosdemagia.wordpress.com...
Opinião completa aqui: https://momentosdemagia.wordpress.com...
February 26, 2011
This book left me feeling so much better about death, all of Sylvia Browne's book I have read as well as other author on the subject of life after death, take the fear away from dying and grieving the death of a close one
July 6, 2013
great - comforting if you like this type of book (I do)
Read
April 9, 2016Loved the lessons in this book
January 26, 2026
TOPICS THAT SHE ‘ENJOYS DISCUSSING’ ABOUT ‘THE OTHER SIDE,’ AND MORE
Psychic Sylvia Browne wrote in the Introduction to this 2000 book, “I love my life. I love my career… But… nothing satisfies my frequent need for a real ‘Intimacy fix’ quite like my lecture tour… intimate is exactly how it feels … it’s almost anyone’s guess what might happen next, the possibilities ranging literally from the utterly ridiculous to the utterly sublime… And last but not least, it comes from the luxury of knowing that … I can talk about whatever I damn well please. The chapters in this little book were chosen from among the topics I enjoy discussing on my lecture tour, along with some of my favorite exercises and affirmations.”
In the first chapter, she states, “I’ve been asked more than once, ‘Sylvia, if you’re so concerned that we never die, and you can see and hear spirits on The Other Side, why would you of all people grieve?’ The answer is, ‘Because I’m selfish, I’m human, and I’m HERE.’” (Pg. 9)
She continues, “Does my grief mean I privately question the reality of The Other Side and the eternal lives of our spirits? Absolutely not. I don’t just believe, I KNOW those are simple, sacred truths. Even at my most decimated, my devout spirituality never waivers for an instant… I’ve made countless astral trips to The Other Side… so I can guarantee that it’s as real as, or even more real than, this earth we’re visiting now.” (Pg. 16)
She observes, “And how wonderful, how infinitely loving of God, not to let us come here without a detailed plan, not to just send us wandering around this rough place at random… Even WITH a plan, from time to time I think we all feel as if that’s what we’re doing anyway. But not only do we compose our chart on The Other Side, with the help of our Spirit Guide and a team of other brilliantly trained souls who are far wiser than we are, but we are also guaranteed to reach the goals in that chart before we head Home again. The question is whether we’ll reach them the easy way or the hard way. And that’s the reason our chart doesn’t mean there is no such thing as free will.” (Pg. 29)
She states, “One of the most comforting, affirming surprises has been the ongoing confirmation, beyond any doubt, that we live many lifetimes on this earth. Needless to say, the truth that we live life after life here isn’t thrilling because it’s such a rollicking, nonstop picnic. But the truth that we life after life here IS thrilling because it proves that in fearing death, we’re really fearing something that doesn’t even exist.” (Pg. 43)
She says, “Verbal contact from The Other Side comes in two ways: actual voices, which usually get distorted into a high and frankly annoying chirping sound as they cross dimensions, an infused knowledge, which is simply information passed directly from one mind to another, those things you suddenly ‘just know’ without having a clue how or why you know it.” (Pg. 63)
She asserts, “Make no mistake about it, I am a devout humanitarian and Gnostic, which is the loving faith Christ practiced during his time on earth. (Obviously he couldn’t have been a Christian, unless he discovered a way to follow himself.) … I came here to leave this world better than I found it, and not a day goes by when I don’t take steps toward fulfilling that contract. But be cruel and hurtful to someone I love, or to a child or animal or anyone who’s unable to care for and defend themselves, and you’ll see proof of my firm belief that some actions really are unforgivable.” (Pg. 88)
Later, she asserts, “The Dark Side are the only people among us who never have and never will experience guilt, let alone any other genuine human emotion. In psychiatric terms, they’re sociopaths and psychopaths, remorseless, amoral, devoid of a conscience, untreatable, insidious, and immune to any efforts at rehabilitation, since it’s impossible to rehabilitate anyone whose only motive is to incapacitate any light that crosses their path. Darkness, after all, can’t exist where there’s light, and that fact drives the Dark Side’s lives more than any other.” (Pg. 114)
She contends, “Babies’ spirits… arrive directly from full, busy lives at Home, after a very difficult, deliberate decision to return here to advance their progress on the eternal path toward their greatest potential. Inside those tiny, fragile, preverbal bodies live souls as ageless and timeless as ours, with memories of past lives and of The Other Side that are fresh, clear, and unedited. And those memories linger in their conscious minds for years before the business of life on earth overwhelms them…. Because they’re so much closer to The Other Side and their past lives than we are, children are the most psychic humans on earth, and we can learn as much from them as we’ll allow about Home, the spirit world, reincarnation, astral travel, and all the other marvelous bridges between here and eternity.” (Pg. 134-135)
She notes, “We’ve all known people who cling fiercely to someone who mistreats them, demeans them, and keeps them in a constant state of insecure misery… So how do we know the difference between charted relationships we’re supposed to pursue and ones we’re supposed to avoid? The answers to that question aren’t easy, and they take work, patience, and a lot of self-honestly. But… they’re worth all the work, patience, and self-honesty you can give them and more, don’t you think?” (Pg. 151)
She asserts, “The truth is, we specifically chose every relative and every friend when we wrote our charts on The Other Side before we came here, based on our needs and goals for this lifetime… But I hope it will help you as much as it helps me to remember that we had our reasons for every choice we made. Even the most difficult among them give us opportunities to learn, whether we want to or not, and they’re all fascinating in their own ways if we’ll open or minds to being fascinating rather than frustrated.” (Pg. 167)
In the last chapter, she says, “every year, on prescribed occasions… we dutifully assemble, exchange gifts that nobody needs, drink eggnog that nobody likes, and try to pretend that we’re all problem free and that we’re not all stressed out, traveled out, shopped out, spent out, caroled out, mailed out, gift-wrapped out, decorated out, cooked out, and secretly wishing for privacy, a nice hot bath, and about five days’ sleep… I certainly don’t mean to ignore those of you out there who love the holidays, and I want you to know that the rest of us applaud you and hate you. (I’m kidding. Kind of.)” (Pg. 183-184)
This book will be of keen interest to those who love Ms. Browne’s other books.
Psychic Sylvia Browne wrote in the Introduction to this 2000 book, “I love my life. I love my career… But… nothing satisfies my frequent need for a real ‘Intimacy fix’ quite like my lecture tour… intimate is exactly how it feels … it’s almost anyone’s guess what might happen next, the possibilities ranging literally from the utterly ridiculous to the utterly sublime… And last but not least, it comes from the luxury of knowing that … I can talk about whatever I damn well please. The chapters in this little book were chosen from among the topics I enjoy discussing on my lecture tour, along with some of my favorite exercises and affirmations.”
In the first chapter, she states, “I’ve been asked more than once, ‘Sylvia, if you’re so concerned that we never die, and you can see and hear spirits on The Other Side, why would you of all people grieve?’ The answer is, ‘Because I’m selfish, I’m human, and I’m HERE.’” (Pg. 9)
She continues, “Does my grief mean I privately question the reality of The Other Side and the eternal lives of our spirits? Absolutely not. I don’t just believe, I KNOW those are simple, sacred truths. Even at my most decimated, my devout spirituality never waivers for an instant… I’ve made countless astral trips to The Other Side… so I can guarantee that it’s as real as, or even more real than, this earth we’re visiting now.” (Pg. 16)
She observes, “And how wonderful, how infinitely loving of God, not to let us come here without a detailed plan, not to just send us wandering around this rough place at random… Even WITH a plan, from time to time I think we all feel as if that’s what we’re doing anyway. But not only do we compose our chart on The Other Side, with the help of our Spirit Guide and a team of other brilliantly trained souls who are far wiser than we are, but we are also guaranteed to reach the goals in that chart before we head Home again. The question is whether we’ll reach them the easy way or the hard way. And that’s the reason our chart doesn’t mean there is no such thing as free will.” (Pg. 29)
She states, “One of the most comforting, affirming surprises has been the ongoing confirmation, beyond any doubt, that we live many lifetimes on this earth. Needless to say, the truth that we live life after life here isn’t thrilling because it’s such a rollicking, nonstop picnic. But the truth that we life after life here IS thrilling because it proves that in fearing death, we’re really fearing something that doesn’t even exist.” (Pg. 43)
She says, “Verbal contact from The Other Side comes in two ways: actual voices, which usually get distorted into a high and frankly annoying chirping sound as they cross dimensions, an infused knowledge, which is simply information passed directly from one mind to another, those things you suddenly ‘just know’ without having a clue how or why you know it.” (Pg. 63)
She asserts, “Make no mistake about it, I am a devout humanitarian and Gnostic, which is the loving faith Christ practiced during his time on earth. (Obviously he couldn’t have been a Christian, unless he discovered a way to follow himself.) … I came here to leave this world better than I found it, and not a day goes by when I don’t take steps toward fulfilling that contract. But be cruel and hurtful to someone I love, or to a child or animal or anyone who’s unable to care for and defend themselves, and you’ll see proof of my firm belief that some actions really are unforgivable.” (Pg. 88)
Later, she asserts, “The Dark Side are the only people among us who never have and never will experience guilt, let alone any other genuine human emotion. In psychiatric terms, they’re sociopaths and psychopaths, remorseless, amoral, devoid of a conscience, untreatable, insidious, and immune to any efforts at rehabilitation, since it’s impossible to rehabilitate anyone whose only motive is to incapacitate any light that crosses their path. Darkness, after all, can’t exist where there’s light, and that fact drives the Dark Side’s lives more than any other.” (Pg. 114)
She contends, “Babies’ spirits… arrive directly from full, busy lives at Home, after a very difficult, deliberate decision to return here to advance their progress on the eternal path toward their greatest potential. Inside those tiny, fragile, preverbal bodies live souls as ageless and timeless as ours, with memories of past lives and of The Other Side that are fresh, clear, and unedited. And those memories linger in their conscious minds for years before the business of life on earth overwhelms them…. Because they’re so much closer to The Other Side and their past lives than we are, children are the most psychic humans on earth, and we can learn as much from them as we’ll allow about Home, the spirit world, reincarnation, astral travel, and all the other marvelous bridges between here and eternity.” (Pg. 134-135)
She notes, “We’ve all known people who cling fiercely to someone who mistreats them, demeans them, and keeps them in a constant state of insecure misery… So how do we know the difference between charted relationships we’re supposed to pursue and ones we’re supposed to avoid? The answers to that question aren’t easy, and they take work, patience, and a lot of self-honestly. But… they’re worth all the work, patience, and self-honesty you can give them and more, don’t you think?” (Pg. 151)
She asserts, “The truth is, we specifically chose every relative and every friend when we wrote our charts on The Other Side before we came here, based on our needs and goals for this lifetime… But I hope it will help you as much as it helps me to remember that we had our reasons for every choice we made. Even the most difficult among them give us opportunities to learn, whether we want to or not, and they’re all fascinating in their own ways if we’ll open or minds to being fascinating rather than frustrated.” (Pg. 167)
In the last chapter, she says, “every year, on prescribed occasions… we dutifully assemble, exchange gifts that nobody needs, drink eggnog that nobody likes, and try to pretend that we’re all problem free and that we’re not all stressed out, traveled out, shopped out, spent out, caroled out, mailed out, gift-wrapped out, decorated out, cooked out, and secretly wishing for privacy, a nice hot bath, and about five days’ sleep… I certainly don’t mean to ignore those of you out there who love the holidays, and I want you to know that the rest of us applaud you and hate you. (I’m kidding. Kind of.)” (Pg. 183-184)
This book will be of keen interest to those who love Ms. Browne’s other books.
March 3, 2019
Sylvia Browne offers advice on the many emotions and feelings that we experience in our lifetime. Joy, sorrow, grief, anger, revenge, you get the idea. But she offers such advice in a different way, by explaining what we are here for, what we supposedly did before we came here. What our loved ones who have passed on are doing now. For instance, should we really grieve for one who is better off? Of course not. But will we grieve, of course we will.
Offering advice on what we want to know along with telling us how normal it can be to feel what we feel. I have not read other Sylvia Browne books but if this one is an example of her writing I will read more. She briefly discusses our life's chart, written before we came here, and it's option lines. This is a good introductory book to her writing I believe.
Bottom line, easy to read, interesting, at times thought provoking, worth the money even at the 190 pages. But nothing groundbreaking nor, of course, factual.
Offering advice on what we want to know along with telling us how normal it can be to feel what we feel. I have not read other Sylvia Browne books but if this one is an example of her writing I will read more. She briefly discusses our life's chart, written before we came here, and it's option lines. This is a good introductory book to her writing I believe.
Bottom line, easy to read, interesting, at times thought provoking, worth the money even at the 190 pages. But nothing groundbreaking nor, of course, factual.
January 9, 2024
Review
Very interesting book. Enjoyed reading it and gained useful inputs. For anyone interested in this topic, it's a nice book. One may not understand many 9things or may doubt some of the explanations given in the book; yet there are many things one can understand and not doubt. Overall, personally, I liked the book.
Very interesting book. Enjoyed reading it and gained useful inputs. For anyone interested in this topic, it's a nice book. One may not understand many 9things or may doubt some of the explanations given in the book; yet there are many things one can understand and not doubt. Overall, personally, I liked the book.
July 18, 2022
Sylvia uses her wisdom and knowledge to explain that we are reincarnated many times, and that we choose the people in our lives and our charts to learn and grow in this world. She believes in God and prayer and gives comfort to those who have lost a loved one.
January 26, 2026
Even if you don't believe in a before-life or an afterlife, this book has some good grandmotherly-wisdom that's valuable for anyone! If you do believe in those states of existence, the book is even more powerful and comforting, with good advice!
March 28, 2021
Interesting
September 30, 2024
I Love Sylvia Browne!!
March 16, 2017
It was an easy read. I liked the affirmations at the end of each chapter. However, most of her topics were already addressed in some of her other books.
December 22, 2012
I really enjoy Ms. Sylvia's perspective on life and the other side, however I do not agree completely with everything she has written, such as there is no devil. Seriously? I just cannot imagine all the evil in the world and there is no devil. I do not agree with that. Anyway, I have visited her site numerous times and listen to her readings and such and she has such a charisma that is most enjoyable, however I do not believe everything she says, especially after watching some videos that are to disprove her reputation, but I do still read her books and listen to her humorous stories on her site. I have been bouncing around numerous books of hers I have checked out from the university library, so I will update them as soon as I can complete all of them.
March 8, 2011
Notes from my Journal...1/26/04
Sylvia Browne is new to me..scanned most of book.
New information:
Life Themes: Primary and Secondary.
Seven Option Lines: Love, Health, Finance, Career, Spirituality, Family, and Social Life
The option line we declare is ours for the life we're about to live. It is essentially the area of this earthly school, in which we have decided to major. It is the area we'll agonize over the most and in which we feel we have the most to learn.
Five Exit Points or Opportunities to head "Home" again when we feel we have accomplished all we intended when we came here.
Sylvia Browne is new to me..scanned most of book.
New information:
Life Themes: Primary and Secondary.
Seven Option Lines: Love, Health, Finance, Career, Spirituality, Family, and Social Life
The option line we declare is ours for the life we're about to live. It is essentially the area of this earthly school, in which we have decided to major. It is the area we'll agonize over the most and in which we feel we have the most to learn.
Five Exit Points or Opportunities to head "Home" again when we feel we have accomplished all we intended when we came here.
February 4, 2009
No matter what Sylvia writes, its always fascinating. This book talks more about the hardships/good times in life and how to deal with grief, how to forgive, how to heal, and how to overcome guilt. She also talks about Joy, meditation, and always prayer. There is also a section about past lives which ties in with the healing part. Its a great read for anyone struggling with life, weather it be from loosing a loved one, to trying to forgive, or overcome guilt. I recommend it highly.
August 14, 2025
Sylvia Browne is very blunt with her words. It tells us about Life on the other side and gives us something to look forward to when our time comes to an end, pertaining to life, our families, getting through the holidays and, particularly, getting through life with our families during the holidays.
August 27, 2011
I enjoyed this book, Some aspects of it ring truth for me and i love how Sylvia writes as if shes right there in the room with you. If you are a fan of Sylvia browne or just looking for comfort seek out this book
Read
June 22, 2016Always interesting to read what other people think/believe. I am glad I did not read this when it was given to me by a well-meaning acquaintance, I probably would have thrown it at her. Several years later, reading it was easier to read with an open mind and a healthy dose of skepticism.
Want to read
July 6, 2016#
CompNtBk
Own in paperback.
FS: "I am blessed, there's no doubt about it. Despite its inevitable bumps and bruises, I love my life."
LS: "Until we meet again, here on earth or in the divine paradise of Home -- God loves you. I do. Slyvia C. Browne."
CompNtBk
Own in paperback.
FS: "I am blessed, there's no doubt about it. Despite its inevitable bumps and bruises, I love my life."
LS: "Until we meet again, here on earth or in the divine paradise of Home -- God loves you. I do. Slyvia C. Browne."
May 24, 2007
Interesting.
May 19, 2011
Amazing!
Read
July 27, 2011It was okay. Not her most informative or inspiring book.
October 16, 2013
Sometimes you just have to take a minute.
January 26, 2014
While I have some doubts about her professionally, I found this book interesting in her perspectives on life and her unique spirituality. I wasn't aware she passed on 2 months ago.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews