Welcome to
The Afterlife Advocate
A Conversation about Conscious Dying, Conscious Grieving
and the Journey of the Soul
Issue # 68 - AUGUST 2020
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A Message From the Editor
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LIVE (OUTDOORS) IN OREGON!
August 22 - Sisters, OR.
With Dr.Terri Daniel
This
outdoor workshop is limited to only 20 attendees for social distancing
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August 8 - 30 ONLINE
With William Buhlman
and
The Monroe Institute
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Online Monthly
with Austyn Wells
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ONLINE - Continuing
with Linda Fitch
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Sept. 10 - Oct. 29 ONLINE
with Dr. Terri Daniel
12 CE Credits!
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The Afterlife Conference Will (hopefully) be LIVE in 2021
As you know, we had to cancel our 2020 conference because of Covid, but we ended up producing a very successful online version of it (which you can still watch... see LIVESTREAM article below).
The virtual conference was so good that I would love to do them
all
online going forward. Unfortunately, the only way we could get out of our 2020 contract with the hotel (without paying an enormous penalty) was to reschedule it for another date, so now we’re committed to having a live conference in 2021.
Of course we have no idea what life in America will look like at that point, so we’re prepared to do it virtually again if necessary.
We're putting the word out to our staff, speakers and volunteers (and of course to all of you) to
SAVE THE DATE
(
June 24-27, Chicago
)
in the hope that we can return to our normal conference format.
Mark your calendar!
Rev. Dr. Terri Daniel, CT, CCTP
Founder, The Original Afterlife Conference
End-of-Life Advisor, Interfaith Chaplaincy,
Bereavement and Trauma Support
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Latest Episode Now Available
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Jeff Black. MD, MDiv, CAS is a medical doctor and psychiatrist who also happens to be a shamanic practitioner. In addition to his traditional medical and chaplaincy training, he studied energy medicine with native healers from South America and through The Four Winds Society, and is also a Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist.
In this episode, Jeff shares the story of two brothers he treated, ages 19 and 21, who both have Huntington's disease. He describes how he worked with the family through shamanic journeying and other spiritual support processes to face illness and death with hearts and minds wide open.
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Near-Death Experiences Are Culturally-Subjective
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One of our Facebook group members recently wanted to share an article on our page about an NDE in which a woman went through pearly gates and met God, who told her to go back to earth to proselytize about Christianity. The admins didn't approve it as a free-standing post, but chose instead to share it with a cautionary comment. The caution was designed to remind our members that near-death experiences are culturally subjective. In this case,
the article
came from a Christian website owned by Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network.
Our point is that we must use critical thinking skills when reading near-death accounts, because what we experience just inside the threshold to the other side is influenced by culture and belief. A Hindu would not have an experience like this, nor would a Native American, a Buddhist or anyone else who is not steeped in Christian theology. If you study the academic research on near-death experience, you will quickly see that different scenarios are experienced in different cultures.
Good examples of this research can be found in the work of Dr. Gregory Shushan and Dr. Mark Mirabello, to name a few. And of course the work of Dr. Melvin Morse in the 1970s, which studied the NDEs of young children. Children who were raised with Christian imagery saw Jesus. Those who were not, were greeted by their grandmothers or by Disney characters.
Bottom line... in an NDE, we are not fully integrated into the afterlife. We are just barely in the doorway, and at that point, we are still carrying our belief systems and life experiences with us. So of course that will influence what we see and hear.
HERE
are links to additional research on this topic.
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Speaking of God and Religious Imagery...
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Many thanks to our friend Bob Olson for re-posting our 2015 interview on his
Afterlife TV
series. Among many other topics, we talked about reconstructing our inherited theologies and why God needs a new image:
"If we see God as a man-in-the-sky who randomly dispenses joy or sorrow, reward or punishment, then
that
God is separate from us, residing somewhere out there in a place that we can never reach. We expect that god to protect us like a doting mother hen, and when protection isn't provided, we are shocked and dismayed. That god not only fails to protect us (despite our earnest pleas and efforts to "earn" that protection through pious devotion), it places unreasonable conditions on its love. But even if we devote our lives to meeting those conditions and understanding the divine plan, there is no guarantee of protection."
READ MORE
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New Professional Continuing Education Course
in Spirituality and Bereavement
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W
hether you're a bereavement professional, a caregiver or a spiritual seeker, you will gain wisdom, skills and experience in this unique course, which will
increase your understanding of the psycho-spiritual aspects of the mourning process via techniques and practices for addressing the theological, social and family issues that often face the dying and the bereaved.
12 CE credit hours for nurses, social workers, counselors and more!
Details and registration
HERE
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Close Out Discount for the 2020 Afterlife Conference
ONLINE LIVESTREAM!
Save 25% with promo code
CLOSEOUT25
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Even though we had to cancel the 2020 Afterlife Conference in Chicago, you can still attend, because we're bringing it to you ONLINE! Watch it live, in real time, or watch the recording at your convenience any time until September 30.
The producers are now offering a 25% discount through August and September. Use promo code
CLOSEOUT25
when purchasing.
DETAILS HERE.
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