The Soul's Journey: Reassurance for Those Dealing with Dementia


"Dying is easy, living is harder," is a line from my favorite musical, Hamilton. I love this quote because, if you could see what I see as a psychic medium, you would know that it is simple, profound and undisputedly true. You would know that we who stand by and watch as a loved one dies from a devastating disease (and are then left behind to cope with their loss), have it much harder than those we are mourning. This is because the soul, our consciousness, the essence of who we are, is not trapped in a physical body that has been highjacked by any of the diseases which ravage the mind. And, because it is not trapped in the physical world, the soul's journey beyond the physical world often begins long before physical death occurs.

When my mother was first diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's in 2011, I felt as though I had been crushed like a bug. Having not yet fully recognized my gift, I did not know what I know now and I immediately began to grieve the loss of my first best friend, long before she actually left this earth. By the time she physically succumbed to it nine years later, however, I myself had spent four years living between worlds and had begun my career as a professional psychic medium. I learned more from the Spirit World about this (and other illnesses which alter our state of consciousness) during those four years than I did from any doctor visit or the untold hours I spent Googling her disease during the first several years following her diagnosis. What I learned from the medical professionals and internet left me bewildered and fearful. What I learned when I began to communicate directly with the Spirit World gave me indescribable comfort. I hope that sharing my experiences here will comfort others who are now, or have previously been, in my shoes.

We often use the phrase "suffering from" dementia, Alzheimer's or the like, but in reality, it is we who are of sound mind and who are forced to bear witness to these diseases who suffer the most. The people who are mentally afflicted by them are not trapped or tortured by them, although they often appear to be. They are, in terms of consciousness, straddling two worlds and their souls can travel quite freely between the physical plane (the earthly realm which most of us fully inhabit), and the spiritual dimension or Other Side (the realm that most people refer to as Heaven or the Afterlife). These "out of body experiences" allow them to escape any physical pain or suffering. I learned this reassuring truth early on in my journey as a developing medium, when I discovered that I could communicate not only with those who were deceased, but with living souls who are in the later stages of dementia, in a coma, or otherwise mentally incapacitated. I first realized this quite by accident, when I received a visit from the Spirit World from the mother of an old friend whom I hadn't been in contact with for years. I assumed, incorrectly, that she had already passed on and reached out to offer my condolences and share the message I'd received. My friend was very happy to be able to validate what her mother had shown me about their current lives, but was as surprised as I was to hear from her because she was not in fact deceased, but in the end stages of dementia. It was a great relief to her to know that her mother was not only still "in there", but also aware of (and grateful for) the extraordinary care her daughter had retired early to give her. It was clear to me that although her mother appeared to be slowly wasting away with not much quality of life, she was actually buzzing about between worlds like the busy social bee she had always been. She assured me that she was in no physical pain and her only complaint was that without her dentures she couldn't enjoy her favorite peanut M&Ms! Our experience together was a great relief to me as well, because I knew that my mother would soon be in the same state of consciousness, and I could look forward to communicating with her in this way. 

People who are living with brain-related diseases and seem not to be totally "with it" are often able to experience the Spirit World in much the same way that a medium does. When my mom was at the point where I could tune into her energy from my house and see her hanging out in bed at my brother's, watching tv with my Dad who had already passed on, she also began to see and hear other entities. The medical world would probably chalk these up to dementia-induced hallucinations. In my opinion, they are very rarely "tricks of the mind", but instead more evidence of them being able to communicate with the Spirit World. You could easily argue that my mom babbled on about my deceased father being with her because she was in a confused state of consciousness or "in her own little world". This would not, however, explain her sudden ability to see and describe the previous, now deceased, owner of my home. One day after spending the night at our house, I was abruptly startled by her pointing fearfully at me and saying, "There's a man, a scary man behind you!" I looked over my shoulder and saw nothing. I asked her where he was and she said, "He's over there now. Hiding behind the chair. I don't like the way he looks." Before bothering to tune in or actually check behind the chair, I asked her if he was tall or short and what he looked like. "Short and mean. He looks like a mean leprechaun," was her reply. She had just described our house ghost, who had died over a decade earlier and whom neither of us had ever met, exactly as I saw him as a medium... and exactly as my neighbor who had known him had confirmed he looked when he was alive. Ask the scientists and skeptics to explain that one away.

I can also assure you that those who are in the end stages of life (in hospice care and under the influence of morphine, for example) share the same peaceful space as those with diseases of the brain. Their souls are still connected to some degree to their physical bodies, but they are not fully tethered to them and, once again, not suffering as you might think they are. By the time my mother had reached the point where she was receiving palliative care via hospice, she was but a shell of her former self and it was incredibly painful to be unable to do anything other than watch helplessly and wait for it to end. I had by this point communicated with many souls who were at this juncture between life and death, but this was different, of course, because it was my mother. Medium or not, it is no fun watching a loved one's body slowly fail them. I knew by the way the light had left her eyes that she was no longer in her body, but I was too wrapped up in the moment to be aware of what those around me (those who don't talk to the dead on a regular basis) might be going through. I was brought back to reality when my husband, who had been standing by her bedside and speaking reassuringly to her as I held her hand, suddenly stopped and, with tears in his eyes said, "Now I know why people lose faith, why they don't believe in God... how could He allow anyone to suffer like this?" Before I could respond, my head began tingling -the tell tale sign that someone in the Spirit World wants my attention- and I looked up to see my mother's soul floating cheerfully above her hospital bed. Tears of joy sprang to my eyes as I passed on her message to him, "She says thank you for being here and talking to me, but if you're going to continue, aim higher because I'm Up Here." I gestured upwards and continued on, "I no longer need that useless body and I'm not stuck in there." She was patiently hanging out between worlds, waiting for physical death to be complete so that she could fully move on to the Afterlife. We both felt an indescribable flood of relief. I felt even more relief several hours later when, once she had passed, my head started tingling again and I tuned in to see my parents -healthy, whole and excited to be fully reunited- walking hand in hand towards the Other Side.


Before becoming a professional psychic medium, Beth taught high school French, Spanish, Italian and ESOL. In addition to conducting mediumship and general psychic readings across the country and abroad, she is also conducts paranormal investigations and offers psychic development mentoring for adults and children. Her book, Madame Medium: Unleash Your Inner Psychic with a French Teacher Turned Psychic Medium was written to help others uncover and hone their own intuitive abilities. Beth lives just outside of Baltimore, Maryland, with her husband, Scott, their dog, Waffle, and their resident house spirit.

To learn more about Beth, her book, and the other services that she offers, visit bethparkermedium.com


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