Yeah Afterlife Mp3 Download
Ladonna Kassis
On this edition of The Humble Skeptic podcast, we\u2019ll contrast popular beliefs about ghosts and the afterlife with the views presented in the Old and New Testaments. Joining Shane to discuss this important topic is Dr. Michael McClymond, who is the professor of Modern Theology at St. Louis University, and the author of numerous books including Familiar Stranger: An Introduction to Jesus of Nazareth, and The Devil\u2019s Redemption: A New History & Interpretation of Christian Universalism.
Ardenweald - You get to become an animal spirit, retain all knowledge of your previous life, and live out the rest of eternity gardening in an idyllic enchanted forest. You would have to be insane not to want this kind of afterlife.
ardenweald does have its downside. u have to play the furry race, every1 in the shadowland makes fun of u for it, and u also get ganked by all the other covenants for being weak. if anything ardenweald is the last afterlife u ever want
I mean, yes? The idea is that those who get sent there are the ones that love war. Vashj even has a flavor text bit about it. She mentions that she expected the afterlife to be a paradise where she doted and was doted on but discovered that Maldraxxis suits her much more.
Shadowlands is the perfect example of making incredibly bad lore decisions in service of gameplay benefits. The benefit in gameplay is extreme - afterlives provide new lands for us to explore, and in order for those places to be interesting they need conflict, so nothing ends up being idyllic. Even Ardenweald is messed up when you think about it, because if one of those animal spirit seeds happens to get destroyed, their soul is annihilated. This is less an afterlife than just a very dangerous, temporary second life, which if you survive lets you go back to an original life with reincarnation.
The detriment of this approach is that it makes the lore cosmology unserious, rendering a major piece of any fantasy universe (the afterlife system) into just kind of a joke of a second material plain.
To me the afterlife is full of angels/demons/spirits or whatever you want to call them, and they are above the needs and wants of what mortals do on a regular basis. Stuff like food, water, money, sex, etc should be unneeded for them to function. Beings that are all powerful and all knowing.
As they navigate the tumultuous waters of grief and loss, Angela and Kyle find common ground in their shared experiences of losing loved ones, delve into the nuanced complexities of grief, acknowledging the cathartic power of vulnerability, and the importance of validating our emotions. Angela provides an enlightening perspective on how a medium can serve as a bridge to our loved ones in the afterlife.
00:00:01 Speaker 1: I'm just a fool. We fearenstraure traveling through this world below. Welcome to death, grief and other shit we don't discuss. I'm Kyle McMahon. Mediums, psychics, intuitives, sensitives, sears, clairvoyance, we call them many things. The history of mediums and their connection to our loved ones spans centuries and cultures, intertwining one's spirituality, belief systems, and the human desire to communicate with the departed. Ancient civilizations revered oracles and shamans acting as intermediaries between the living and the dead. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, spiritualism gained popularity as a movement that sought to establish contact with deceased loved ones, and mediums played a central role in spiritualists gatherings, conducting seances, and using various techniques to channel spirits. Many claimed to have the ability to hear or see the spirits and relay their messages to those seeking soulless or closer from their loved ones. During this period, mediums often utilize such tools as wuiji boards, automatic writing, and table tipping to facilitate communication. These methods became widely recognized and were both intriguing and controversy, attracting believers and skeptics alike to find out what was behind this. The rise of photography also brought forth the phenomenon of spirit photography, where individuals claimed to capture images of departed loved ones alongside the living. Over time, mediums and their practices evolved with the advancements in technology. In the twentieth century, mediums embraced new forms of communication such as telephone and radios to connect with the spirit world, and today computers and the Internet. Some claimed to receive messages through electronic devices and that's known as electronic voice phenomenon or EVPs, while others explored the use of psychics and clairvoyance as mediums to bridge the gap bet the living and the dead. In more recent years, the advent of the Internet and all of the digital platforms and social media applications has given rise to an entire new era of mediumship. Online mediums now offer virtual readings and communications with loved ones through video calls, chat sessions, and email exchanges. Social media platforms have also become spaces where individuals seek comfort and share their experiences of connecting with departed loved ones. But throughout history, mediums have provided soulless closure and healing for individuals grieving over the loss of loved ones. And while the legitimacy of mediumship is often debated and heavily scrutinized, the desire to connect with depart loved ones remains a powerful aspect of the human experience all across the world, and mediums continue to adapt and explore new avenues for communication, offering a sense of hope and connection to those seeking to transcend the boundaries between life and debt. I met Reverend Angela Apt at Fellowships of the Spirit, a beautiful building build as a center for spiritual development and self discovery just right outside of the gates of lily Dale, New York. I hadn't met Angela before, as Nate, a producer with iHeart, made the contacts, and Angela had zero idea about my background, or who I was, or why I was even there. I was going into this blind, and so was she. I was curious about how Reverend apt had gotten to lily Dale in the first place, just what physically led her to this hamlet, but what life circumstances led her to this her true calling. I realized that I could connect to spirit and realized I could connect to loved ones. When I was about seventeen years old, were actually working at a bank, which which is not where you would have expected, right, And from there I ended up actually coming to lily Dale and getting a reading with Elaine Thomas, who which is where we are now is in her place. And I remember I went for two or three readings to her, and my friend kept telling me to tell Elaine that I could do this too, you know, and I didn't, so like I waited, probably about the third reading or so, I felt like I was confessing, you know, I could do this, and you know, and Elaine said, you know, it's not as big a deal as you think it is. It's actually your natural birthright. We are all connected to spirit and to our loved ones. It's something we can all do and all connected to our intuition. And then she said, by the way, I have a school. You could get better at it and understand more of what you're doing if you came to my school. And at that time I was I had no idea there were schools. I actually now come back and I teach in the school's yeah. Yeah, and if people may not know what what does spirit mean? Exactly? I always feel like spirit as you're connecting to a higher power, you know, your higher self. Maybe spirit guides or loved ones on the other side. So probably, like I'm saying, spirit and it's all that. Okay, you know, so somebody might call it God, somebody will universe whatever. Okay, we're all or so many of us are talking about the same thing no matter what we call it. I think so too. Yeah, higher power which is God. Yeah. So so now you actually you own a business, yeah, in Williamsville. Yes, and tell me about that. It's Santosha Holistic Center, which Santosha means contentment of the body, mind and spirit, which was the sort of our intention for the place. So I love that. Yeah. Yeah. I teach classes there, so I teach people how to connect to their intuition, okay, their mediumship abilities, meditation, because I feel meditation is one of the most important things. And I do readings there too. That's awesome. When did you say, you know what, I've got to stop doing the you know, traditional job or whatever, and I've really got to follow this. Yeah, I've been doing it for a long time, so I'd say different things kind of led me. But opening up Santosha happened after my mom passed away. So my mom passed away and I and my mother was always somebody that said follow your dreams and don't let your fears get in the way, like go for it. So after she died, I heard that. You know, I just kept feeling like I heard it my head over and over again, and I had signs all the time that she was around, and I finally thought, I'm gonna do it. I'm just gonna do it. I'm gonna open this up. I'm gonna make this my path. I'm gonna quit my regular my regular job, and make this my life. It's amazing the gifts that I find we keep receiving from people that have passed on that we love. You know, I know they're helping us. They help us from from the other side. I truly, they don't really leave us. They leave the physical body because something goes wrong with the physical body, but but they're soul one hundred percent still exists. It's you know, that's a great intro to some of my questions. Is in your belief, what what does death. Mean it really like, you know, I feel it's our soul. You know, we're all spirit, you know, we're all like soul in a human body. I always feel like our bodies our vehicle that allows us to have the experiences. And so when we die, our soul leaves, and usually it's because something that weakness in the body, or the body gets ill or whatever happens, and our soul to me is still whole and still is. I feel like it's a veil. I don't know if I'm saying that right, Yeah, no, I know, I tu Yeah, it's it's a veil that we crossed to on the other side. I was because I feel my mother is here now, you know, kind of kind of egging me along and all excited that I'm doing this, and probably you're too, right, yeah and so, but but but it feels like they're they're right there, kind of behind a veil talking to me, and I can hear them. That's awesome. Yeah. And is that how is it like audible? Is it in here? It in your like mind? How does that come across in my mind? Okay? Yeah, So it's it's telepathic communication or mind language. So what you do when when you're talking to spirit as you kind of learn, and we do this all the time, Like how many times, like do you get a feeling all of a sudden somebody comes to your mind that you haven't talked to in a long time, and then they call you the next day, right, Yeah, Yeah, and they came to your mind because they were thinking of you and they called you. So so that's how that happens, right, It's all that's the exact same way Spirit communicates with us, So anybody really can do it. It's about paying attention to pictures that come into your mind or words or even just feelings. And you know, it's interesting that you say that, because my mom that would happen to her all the time. She would say, you know, you know, I've been thinking about X person and then later that day that X person would call yeah, and she's like, I was just saying to Kyle, you know that I haven't talked to you in a few months, and you just popped in my mind. And it's interesting how often had happened to her. She was very in touch emotionally with people, were her heart on her sleeve. Yeah, And it's cool to hear you say that because it's like making me think of all the time she said that to me, you know, yeah, and probably the times it's happened to you or go gut feelings too, you know, anytime you're getting a gut feeling about something, I feel like if I live my life according to my gut feelings, I'm always in the right direction. Yeah, because that's that's also spirit communicating with us or our loved ones. Yeah, it's interesting, Oprah says. Life will throw you know, a whisper at you, like, hey, you need to do this, and then if you ignore it, it's like a pebble, you know, your way, and then eventually it's like hello, like you finally say, okay, I got it, I write it, I'll do it. Mine has always slowed down, you know. I'll see it on a billboard and then somebody will say it, and then finally I'll go to the grocery store and the cashier will say it and I'm like, all right, I got have slowed down, you know. Yeah, it's amazing. And if we don't listen, yeah, you know, we miss those signs that you know, it's pretty incredible what we get. Yeah, you know, because sometimes we miss them later on you say, oh, I knew I shouldn't have gone that way home, or you know, I knew I should have you know, trusted that person or not trusted or whatever. Right, yeah, yeah, So in death, do you believe that our spirit, the spirit of the person who has passed, lives on here? Is it like another plane? Like? How is that? What are you thinking? Um? I always feel like another plane, you know. But but it's right here, you know, it's not far away because my mother, you know, I was lucky my mother talked to me about this stuff before she crossed over because she knew this is what I did for a living, you know. So but but my mother has shown me that, you know. Yeah, I have the house I love the most when I was here, you know, and I'm still out there doing my gardening and doing like some of the same things, just right you know, right near you. And and if you call out to me, I can hear you, so I can call out to her. And sometimes I do it, Hey mom, where are you? With my voice? And then sometimes in my language, and she's right here, you know. Yeah. Like I think I think it's easier when you're there because you don't have a physical body so you can move around like, you know, you don't have to get in a car and drive. I think they can do it just like with thought, right, yeah, yeah, And I know that when I go, um, I would love to come and visit my loved ones. I always joke that I'm going to mess with some of my friends or loved ones and like, you know, they'll like walk into the bathroom and I've written like on the mirror, like you know, get out. But then I put like, hellol, just kidding, kidding, yeah, just because why wouldn't I want to be Yeah, you want to be Yeah, you can assist them. You can see things, you know here, you know, we kind of see we have our physical eyes, so I can see you and kind of what's around when when you're on the other side, you get a bigger picture, you know, so you can come back and be a huge assistance to your loved ones. Right, I know it because because the loved ones come to me when I'm doing readings, you know, or having sessions with people, and they get guidanced all the time. They never come like like they'll come with evidence, you know, and give me proof that it's them for sure, you know, And I'll give it to the person. But they always have a message too, Like my mother. You know, I could hear her saying even now, like are you kidding me? I'm definitely going to give you my two cents. I'm you know, so, yeah, that's what they do. It's awesome, it really is. I mean, and if you are open to receiving it, you know what a gift that is. Yeah, you know because through this with my mom, you know, at the end, um, you know, her last day she said, I know I'm getting upset, but right yeah, her last day, she said, whenever you need me, just talk to me. I'm there, I promise you. And she said, you know, I uh, if you're having a bad day, just talk to me. I'm right there with you. I promise you that. And I believe that, you know, and I believe that my momm helped my mom to understand that. You know, my mom would just passed a few months before guided her over probably exactly. And then my mom gave me that gift to be able to say, you know, when you want to talk to me, just talk and you know you might not see me, but I'm right there and yeah, um, and then if you talk to her and then and then I always tell people this, like and then just be silent for a minute, you know, close your eyes and then notice what thoughts come into your mind, And that's her talking back to you. Yeah, you know, yeah, always yeah. Yeah. And ask for signs. I think that's important too. You know, if I asked my mother for signs, I've you even said, said to my mother like, that's pretty good, but can you give me a better one, you know, and I'll get something better? Yeah? Yeah? And and do you you have to give yourself the time and space to hear it, right, yes, like do you mean the sign? Yes, yes, yes, yeah, because you can't you can't say I want this to be the sign or the specific thing you have to say. If you ask for a sign, you'll get it, but you're right, stay open to what that's going to be. And okay, yeah, I love that you're one of my mom's on You're one absolutely okay, all right, So okay, So my mom always said that her mom came to her she'd see the numbers one to nine, and that was my mom's address growing up. So my mother said, I'll come to you with two five two, right, so I'll wake up in the middle of the night and it's two five two. Wow. Yeah. Or I'll find myself looking at the clock and it's two five two. Or I'm behind license plates and I keep seeing two five two. So I said to my mom, like, that's pretty good, but you know, I want something better. Yeah, I want to know for sure that you're here. So so one night I'm sound asleep and I wake up and I'm thinking I'm gonna look and it's gonna be two five two. And I look at the clock and it's it's three oh three, you know, And I'm like, oh no, I'm awake. I'm never going to fall back and sleep, Like why am I waking? You know you hate when that happens. Yeah, right, And so I lay my head back down and try to go back to sleep, and I look like at the digital numbers three oh three, and if you look at those kind of sideways, that's mm oh wow. Yeah. And so and I could kind of hear my mom and my head say, how's that? Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's pretty amazing. Yeah yeah, yeah, it's you know, I I was telling you this story about with the tattoo and the Facebook thing, and it's like you know, my mom connected to all of her friends on Facebook and she would post like dance she was a dance teacher. She would post like lessons on there and stuff like that. So it was kind of appropriate that, you know, I see this. You know, Joanne liked your post, and then it was about the freaking tattoo, which is like that your mom liked it after she was on the other side exactly. Yeah, that's yeah, you know, I mean, it's just, um, there's no explanation for that. I called my dad and I was like, were you on like Mom's phone or anything. And he was like, no, I'm downstairs or phone's upstairs. Well what's up? And I'm like, so Mom's phone is upstairs and he's like, yeah, I've been in meetings all day. What's going on? Like He's like, he's like, what are you getting at? Yeah? You know yeah yeah, And I'm like, uh, okay, so this just happened to tell you this story. Yeah, And he's like, wow, that's you know, pretty incredible sign Yeah to SIGND like they want they it's energy somehow they do that with energy. When my uncle died, his my aunt's phone was in her purse. My uncle loved the phone and and her, and so her phone was in her purse turned off her they were leaving the hospice where he was and her and the phone's the off phone started ringing and it was him. Yeah, and his phone also was in her purse turned off. So yeah, yeah, it's definitely a sign. Like they they figure out ways that they want us to know they love us. You know, like my mother, you know, wants to know what's going on. You know, there's no way she's not gonna know what's going on. Yeah, yeah, How do we connect with them? How can somebody listening? How can I How do you connect with your mom or any loved ones that have passed on the easiest way I would say is take a picture of them and talk to talk to him, you know, look at the picture. It's easier. And and mom, how are you I need some guidance or I need some advice on this? Okay? And kind of make it clear and then close your eyes and just know you have to. It's it's a telepathic communication or mind language, and just notice what comes into your mind and you'll get your answer. You know. Okay, did that make sense that? Okay? Yeah? It works. I actually taught that class in lily Dale last summer, and I've taught it at Santosha as well. And it's knowing how to connect to your loved ones on the other side and get clear messages from them and know for sure it's them. I love teaching it because I love doing readings, but I love to teach it because because you can do it for yourself. Yeah you know. Yeah, And where what is the class called connecting to your loved ones on the other side? Oh okay, I'm pretty sure that's what we call we call the different things. Yeah, but it's something like that. Yeah. No, I love that. And you know, I've always wondered, like, you know, I'm so busy all the time, and I want to make sure that I'm giving space to allow her to connect with me, you know, and I didn't know how to do that. So yeah, I love that. Yeah, it's just I think it's it's learning how to communicate a different way, you know, it's still communicating, but she doesn't have a physical body, so she can't do it with her voice. Yeah, you know. Yeah, so it's all in mind, do you think that? So all of you know, my mom has passed, my pop up, my my other grandparents, my mom um. When we pass away, do we all reunite again or we all together? Yeah? Yeah. It's so comforting to know that there's no doubt in Angela's mind that I'll be reunited once again with my loved ones. While I believe in my soul that this is true, that I will be reunited once again, the confidence of someone who was quite clearly in touch with the other side feels like a warm hug from mom and my mom and pop Up and Grandma and grandpa and all my other loved ones there when we returned. Reverend app shares her own story of her mom's passing and the similarities to my mom's passing are eerie with both of them talking about loved ones on the other side, and later you'll hear my full unedited reading from Reverend App As Reverend Angela Appton I discussed the afterlife our loved ones and contacting the other side, I quickly realized how many similarities our stories had, and doing this entire series, I've been realizing how many people who have loved ones that crossed over also have many similarities in those final moments. Continuing the conversation on reuniting with our loved ones. On the other side, Reverend apt shares her own personal story. I was there when my mom passed and my sister was too. My mom wanted us to be with her. I felt like we were guiding her, and she was kind of showing us and of course showing us in the mind language thing that she was kind of like stepping out of her body in a peaceful way and into my grandmother's arms. And I was really aware of like we had family Italian family picnics, and she was walking into one of those was a celebration, you know. Yeah, yeah, just like when a baby is born. Here we have that big celebration. And I feel that when somebody crosses over what I've seen in evidence I've gotten or whatever is it's the same thing. It makes sense. And it's really funny that you say that, because my mom, you know, I was lucky enough, although I didn't know that at the time, I was lucky enough to be by her side in you know, her final hours. Yeah, she passed sleepily that night, but I was able to right, you got to do with her? It is. I didn't feel that, you know, I got to hold her hand and talk to her, and she was there, but then she would like go away and then come back. And at one point she was talking about her mom and how she saw her standing there. Yeah, and uh, she said something to the effect of, you know, she's there bringing me. Yeah, and you know, we took that to mean that she's bringing her on the other side. Yeah, I feel that they're there. Like my mother said that too about my grandmother was there too, and my mother kind of could see her, you know, and I felt like my grandmother and my grandfather and my aunt was there and just kind of waiting, you know, until she was ready ready to go. People go when they're ready to go. Yeah. Yeah, my mother waited. They kept saying, like the hospice would come in and they'd say, she doesn't her she has no blood pressure, she's going to be gone today, and then she'd keep on. She kept until my brother came, you know, she waited until my brother came. Yeah. And it's interesting, you know, because it's very similar to with my mom um. You know, my mom really waited until she saw my mom because my mom was sick at that time, so it took her a little longer to get ready and to go over there, and um, and my mom was like, she doesn't have to come, blah blah blah and uh. And I was like, my mom's of course she's gonna come. And she was like it's a lot for you know, my mom's still in her final hours thinking about everybody else. Yeah, that's what happens. Yeah, and um, and I'm like, Mom, of course she's coming, Like she's already getting ready, like it's not a question. And then when my mom got there, it was like everybody that was able that was like in our region was able to be there with her. Yeah. And then you know, then and then she was okay, and it's like, okay, she she had to make sure everybody was okay exactly when she saw that, then she crossed. Yeah, and with my mom, you know, I truly believe that. And you know, I've talked to my dad about this and stuff that she waited until she knew that I was going to be okay before because she knew how tough it was going to be for me. And I can't tell you how many people have now told me that your mom maybe promise her that I would, you know, watch over you and make sure you're gonna be okay. Like then I heard somebody else say she wanted to make sure you're gonna be okay, and I'm like, okay. She was telling you know a few people this because she loves you so much. Yea, and she still does. Yeah, she wants to make sure. My mother called would call up on the phone all the time and make me write down her words of wisdom, you know, because I want you to have this stuff after And by the way, when your sisters and brothers are sad, then you can pull out the notebook and you can you can give them my words a wisdom. They'll feel better, that's all. Yeah. And it little did I know she was doing that with all of us, right, so we have a different word wisdom. That's so cool. Yeah. Yeah. And then you know, then she finally asked me, you know, that day, the day she passed, she said, um, Kyle, I just need to know that you're gonna be okay. And for days, probably a week or two, she kept asking me that are you gonna be okay? And I'm like, Mom, you're not going anywhere. We're not talking about this, and I would change the subject. And then a few days later, she'd be like, Kyle, I need to know is everything going to be okay with you? I'm like, mom, stop, you're not going anywhere. I'm not having this conversation the same thing. Stop it and then finally ended up her being her last day. I'm just like, oh my god, fine, yeah, let's talk about it, you know. And I wasn't. I didn't actually say that, but I did think I did. I did say that because my mother did the same thing, and even with me doing what I do, I don't want to talk about it because I don't want to face it, and I hope that, you know, somehow we'd have a miracle and she'd lived. So yeah, I did say that. Fine, what do you want to say? Yeah? I love that. Yeah, so I said, you know, I was like, you know, okay, let's talk about it, and um, she said, you know, I need to know are you going to be okay? And then you know, now she started crying, and then I'm crying and I'm like, I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I promise you that I will find a way to get through it. And she was like, you've got to promise me, You've got to promise you're gonna be okay. And I'm like, I promise, you know, And I said, you know you've been you have gotten me through all of this. Oh, you know my entire life. You've been my rock. And I don't know how I'm gonna be okay. I'll find a way for you, yeah, you know, and and that she needed to hear that, like you gave her peace, right yeah, And and and then even though you miss her, you're okay. Yes, yeah, I mean I don't okay, but but yeah, I mean I'm you know, there were some days, especially early on, where I was just like, do I even want to live? Like my mom's gone? My mom's gone, What is the point of life? Yeah? And I didn't want to die, but I'm just like, do I want to live? Want? Yeah? Yeah, you don't want to go on? You don't know what to do? Yeah, it's it's it's like the world goes on and for everybody, and everything is so different. You know. I remember like I'd put the TV on and see a show that my mother watched, and I think, wow, like that's still on and she's not here watching, Like how weird? Yeah? Yeah? Yeah, And you know when I would have those thoughts, I would say, well, you promised her, you know what I mean, Like, you don't have a choice. Now, that's why she made you promise exactly exactly. And you know, I'm finding she had so much meaning in her life and still has so much meaning to me. But I'm trying to find meaning in her death, yeah, which kind of on a small scale, but also on a bigger scale. Small scale being like pancreatic cancer and you know, so I'm working on that with the foundation and that sort of thing, but on the bigger scale, I don't want such a big heart and such a big person and personality to just stop. Yeah, and so I you know, that's part of why I'm doing this, Like I want to know, you kn