What happens when you die? Part 3: The Time of Death

So what happens when you actually close your eyes for the final time? Is that the end of the show? Do you lay in limbo waiting for some form of resurrection? Does purgatory have your name on the door? Are you instantly transformed into another body? Is Satan waiting for your arrival, ready to burn your soul in the eternal fires of hell?

As a young girl, my Daddy would always tell me that when I die, I will become worm food. Everything was said in jest, similar to a Monty Python skit. Still, the information was amusing and yet mortifying. During this time, I was also visually seeing spirit. So I knew without a shred of doubt, that life existed beyond physical death. As a young pagan, without all of the terminology for what I was experiencing, I knew without a shred of doubt, that each element had a physical effect on the environment, and on myself. So, even though my father was telling me my destiny was to become worm food, I did not have fear as I respected the unknown and knew we all had some purpose beyond physical death.

Now as an older and experienced occultist, I have a little more context for what we could perhaps experience once we die. I do not profess to have all of the answers, and I do not think there is just one answer. I do believe we need to be mindful of not needing a definitive answer for the purpose of feeling satisfied with the answer to this eternal question. I do know, that each soul is unique and the journey of that soul is equally as unique.

What happens to you at the time of your death

When you die the soul breaks away from the physical body. It can feel like a “peeling away”, some people say it feels like it’s ripping away, from the body. Once you leave the physical body you begin the journey. Many people describe the journey as travelling towards the light of some type. Typically it’s described as travelling through a tunnel or a passage before arriving at some point.

Then, you arrive at “the destination” and you will see your past life, examine and express every thought you have ever had and every action you have ever done. There, your thoughts, memories and experiences will be added to the Akashic Record. Which is the recorded experience of the entire human existence in the physical dimension.

Next, you enter the Mental dimension, where you will find other individuals who we will call “the greeters.” The Greeters are typically other departed souls, who are somehow connected to your family line. You may not directly recognise who they are, but they know you. This instantly provides you with some level of comfort. They may show imagery or provide other positive and comforting vibes to help you ease into this journey. The imagery and the vibe will be different for each individual. The goal is to make you feel relaxed by providing comfort while you transition.

Once you begin to relax, your soul reconnects with the greater universe. Time, space, dimension is experienced, and you understand that your soul is now uploading and reconnecting with what I will call “the everything.” Everybody seems to have a different name for what you’re experiencing at this time. Some people will call it heaven, I just like to call it “the waiting bay.” The feeling when you hit the waiting bay is complete comfort. There’s no more mental or physical torture because you know you have fulfilled whatever mission you were trying to achieve when you are back on the earth, and now you feel like you’re finally home.

Some people may still have a physical connection to what is happening to the physical body. It depends on how you actually die. You may physically look down at your dead body (similar to what you would do if astral projecting), or perhaps you just feel what is being done to your physical body by others (such as a doctor should you be receiving medical treatment during this time.)

The Near-Death Experience

It’s at this point where I believe some people, and I stress some people, will have a choice on if they can go back to their physical body. I believe that decision is harder to make if “the greeters” are individuals whom you were close to during your lifetime. For example, if you were married to your soulmate, and he died, and you have found it very hard to continue living, should you find yourself at death’s door, perhaps you will choose to continue past the waiting bay and enter the astral plain permanently. In another common example, if you are suffering from cancer or some other terrible disease where death is close, the greeter may encourage you to come over to the other side versus staying in the physical body and continue to suffer. Once you go beyond a certain point, there is no turning back.

Other people will return to the physical body if it is deemed by the spiritual world that death is untimely and there is more for the soul to achieve in this lifetime on the physical plane. The name we currently give to this experience is called a near-death experience (NDE).

The near-death experience explains how consciousness or our soul energy, is distinct and separate from our physical body. If you’re having a near death experience, medical professionals and even others who see you not breathing and not physically functioning may say that you are dead. But because the soul is a separate entity from your body, and is still hanging around the body during this time, should the soul reconnect with the body, some people can remember the experience of dying, and the process of heading towards the waiting room.

In many situations during a near death experience, you may find the greeters will be at the point of crossover, watching you, perhaps encouraging you to fight for life or to cross over to the other side with them. Individuals who are around you during this time may also see ghosts, various apparitions, and other entities who are interested at this point of time where an individual is leaving the soul.

Religion & Death

The question around specific religious beliefs and what happens upon death also are important to touch upon here. Quite simply, when you die, your religious persuasion is insignificant and has nothing to do with what will happen upon your death. There is not a separate waiting room for Muslim people, a separate waiting room for Jewish people, a separate waiting room for every other religious concept.

Religion is a man-made construct to help us feel safe and connected. Most people are born into a specific religion, and they follow that religion to stay in alignment with their family, and the customs, beliefs, and values of the greater community. The spiritual world does not care what you did in the physical body. So no matter what you did to please any God while possessing the physical body, it will have no benefit when you actually die.

The soul journey is the same for almost every soul! Almost? Yes, if you are a spellcaster or even a tarot reader you may be interested in learning what happens to us.

Enter the Witch 

As a spiritual practitioner, I am forever astounded and surprised by the miracles from the spiritual world. In specific witchcraft practices, when we interact with the spirit guides, and other spiritual guides during times of illness and death, we can “request” the individual be saved from death at this time.

I will say without any doubt, that when we request an individual stay on the physical plane and not cross over past the waiting room, there does seem to be a tag or mark on the individual, where the spiritual world will be looking for reasons to cross the individual back over to the spiritual world should they not be worthy to continue the soul journey on the earthly plane.

When we petition the spiritual world to take somebody over into the waiting room, I do not believe the experience for that individual will be positive such as travelling through a passage of calming imagery and being met by a “greeter”.

For us who change physical reality with our magical practices, we might find that specific entities of many different types can be there to see us once we die. There is no judgement on white or black magic, so for those of you who currently hide under the banner of white magic or tarot reading and think that you are safer than us who are in the dark arts, think again as you are very wrong. With the lifting of the veil to the spiritual worlds, spiritual forces will be interested in where you are going, and what you’ll be doing.

Final Thoughts

Lastly, some people want to hang around here on this physical plane for a while longer, and this can be for multiple reasons. The ghost is a person who died yet keeps the soul connected to this physical plane.

How does this happen? This is a great mystery and there are so many theories on why the ghost hangs around a certain place until it is dismissed. Some will say that ghost has unfinished business, other people say that individuals who suicide have not fulfilled their life purpose, and cannot cross over into the waiting room.

I understand that this blog post may have raised more questions than provide you with answers, hence why we will explore my thoughts on what happens when you die across multiple posts in the coming months.

If you have any questions or comments, please do share your thoughts in the comments section below. I will say that you don’t need to agree with me, and I do value all perspectives. My lens into the spiritual world is with a filter of both witchcraft and occultism. Your view is more than welcome.