“Your journey is at hand and you are responsible”
Lujan Matus: The Art of Stalking Parallel Perception: The Living Tapestry
Introduction
This is [finally!] the last in the series of ten blogs in which I’ve attempted to blend elements of shamanic healing with my passion for photography. The first was posted in March 2023: I had no idea that it would extend this long! The series was borne from my annual review of themes for 2023, Theme 3: “I’ll explore the connection between my shamanic practice and my [photographic] subjects more explicitly, seeking a deeper and more integrated understanding of both.”
It seems appropriate for this to be the last – indeed, it was planned that way. It’s even more poignant as, during 2025, one of my five cousins and two university friends have passed. Such events naturally cause some reflection of one’s own mortality, especially in advancing years. It may also lead to some rumination by those close to the deceased about a subject that has become almost taboo in the Western world and thus little talked about. You may have momentarily, even subconsciously, recoiled at this subject: perfectly understandable - so thank you for getting this far!
In order to offer a more interactive environment for this blog, I have included 3 exercises at appropriate points for each reader to reflect on their own current views on death and beyond, if you so wish. This offers an opportunity to imagine something that we all know will happen, but often avoid for various reasons. I hope you might find these helpful if you “have a go”, and if so, please let me know if they were helpful or not.
Reflections in photography
As with some of the other subjects in this series, photographically illustrating “Preparing for the next step…” is a challenge. My research in Google images suggests either stylized illustrations of “moving on” or the use of the image of the tree – tree of life? – in various ways. This is fortunate, as one of my loves is tree and woodland photography which is also very accessible. So, all the images integrated in this blog have been carefully selected, captured, and crafted to try to reflect this last major theme. They’re all from various locations in the past few months and I hope amplify the implicit message therein. For interest, most were captured opportunistically on my Samsung mobile phone rather than my Pentax K70.
“Life comes and goes. If you know that, you know it all.”
Sandra Harner: Emma’s Odyssey: Shamanism for Healing and Spiritual Knowledge
Personal perspective
It’s through much reflection and self-healing that I’ve arrived at this potentially sensitive subject. Not only is the “d” word little talked about, but there are many ideas about “what death is…” and “what happens beyond…”, straying into highly personal beliefs, values and, for some, religious doctrine and practice. Some may even prefer not to think about it. I fully respect this and, as with other subjects in the series, my aim here is to present my own current world view and reflect it photographically - somehow. As ever, I do so in the spirit of sharing information and experience, not proselytizing, and hopefully thus providing food for thought on another mystical subject.
Sources of current thinking
I’ve allowed myself some self-indulgence in this post. I usually plan a reasonably limited length for blogs so they’re not too long for readers to wade through. This is the longest yet as it happens to be a subject I’ve spent considerable time studying and thinking about in the past few years, and not just from the shamanic viewpoint. No matter one’s beliefs, for those who consider these questions, it sits at the heart of one’s [spiritual] life and consciousness and, wider still, can provide the foundation for thinking about one’s own place in the universe and creation itself. Even a belief that “there’s nothing beyond” recognises that every human faces this life experience, whatever the outcome.
So, for context, while it’s a subject that is at the heart of the shamanic belief system, my other sources for complementing this with other philosophies include:
Attending a 7-week course: “The journey of the Soul” led by a local highly-regarded international spiritual leader, William Bloom
Studying “Seth speaks: the eternal validity of the Soul” by Jane Roberts & Robert F Barr
Studying “A Treatise on White Magic” by Alice Bailey over the past 18 months
Reading a synopsis of “Frontiers of the Afterlife” by Edward C Randall
These above three books were reportedly “telepathically dictated” by different spirits through dedicated mediums who spent many years reproducing lengthy “messages from beyond”.
More recently, viewing many YouTube videos by Rupert Spira who explores consciousness, duality and non-duality.
Personal experiences with my brother-in-law, a medium, relaying messages from various spirits “on the other side”, including my wife’s departed mother.
Two personal conversations with a North American Indian spirit, Amor, through this same brother-in-law.
I’m very aware that some might look askance at these sources, particularly the latter five. A few years ago I would probably have had the same reaction: polite scepticism. However, I can only say that if I was in any doubt about these, I wouldn’t be sharing this blog. All these sources have each gone a long way to help my current understanding of an otherwise paradoxical and mysterious aspect of life. The following is therefore a distillation of my own emerging understanding and current thoughts over the past 14 years of shamanic practice, expanded more recently by exposure to wider reading, understanding, deeper reflections and meditations, as well as experiencing more direct insights of what might be called “the spirit world”.
“Life is not a test administered by ourselves or a higher authority, and we’re not in form to learn lessons. We’re here to thrive, to celebrate being our authentic selves until it literally kills us.”
S Kelly Harrell: Gift of a Dreamtime: awakening to the Divinity of Trauma
Current understanding…
For a number of years I’ve loved the notion, “We are not a human being with a Soul: we are each a Soul residing in our current human body.” By extension, this assumes some notion of reincarnation, and all the above sources seem to coalesce around a common cycle of birth, life, dying, death, and some form of reincarnation of the Soul. I outline this cycle as much to clarify my own understanding, and articulate this briefly here:
On death, the Soul departs the body, supported and guided by its Soul group, made up of those living and departed who were/are particularly close spiritually to the deceased.
For those who have been more spiritually aware during their Earth-life, there is then a period when the departed’s Soul reflects on all this Earth-life’s experiences/learning it has had through the body experience of the departed during its life.
The Soul considers all this in the light of past lives on Earth, until a conclusion forms as to what its next step of development might be. This could be to: a) re-enter life on Earth through another human life to gain more experience and learning on that plane; b) remain in the spirit world to teach/support others, either in that plane or on Earth e.g. those who telepathically dictated the three books referenced above; or c) move on to other higher work in other realms that we don’t yet understand.
If its conclusion is to return to Earth, other key Souls are consulted so that the objective and timing of this return is clear to all and agreed prior to “re-entry”.
Following this time of “reflection and planning”, Shamanic belief suggests the Soul enters the new body at the moment of conception, selecting the time, parents, context and circumstances within which it re-enters to give it the desired learning and experience for that lifetime.
For those who for whatever reason didn’t consider - or rejected - a spiritual life during their previous Earth life, they simply and randomly re-enter through the conception created by any couple, thus running the risk of perpetuating their previous cycle again.
This is where the title of this blog “Preparing for the next stage…” becomes important. Given the inevitable fact that we will all die, we can either try to ignore it, not want to think about it, fear it - or embrace it. Those with a religious belief will have faith that they will move to whatever “beyond” their beliefs provide and will feel peace and be comforted by this. I witnessed the passing of my mother in this way, and it was a beautiful experience, created by the depth of her Christian faith. However, where there is no religious belief, but some spiritual understanding and endeavour, an alternative philosophy described above provides a hugely positive framework, not just to understand what might happen after death, but to embrace the positive aspects of this absolutely certain human experience. Just as in nature and the wider universe, nothing lasts forever, and the natural cycle of birth-life-death-birth-life-death continues.
So, if one has this philosophy, one can have the most positive regard for death, whether it comes slowly and naturally, or unexpectedly through accident or sudden illness. It also enables one to say, “what has gone before, good or bad, I cannot undo and is all part of my Soul’s learning journey”, not as a let-out but as a simple means of recognising past actions, thoughts and deeds and reconciling them with the present. Wherever one is on one’s life cycle today, you can look ahead and strive to live the best remaining life possible in order to prepare for that event in the best way imaginable: i.e. “preparing for the next stage”.
“The body is more than the temple of the soul. It’s the grounded celebration of its rapture.”
S. Kelly Harrell: Life Betwixt: Essays on Allies
So how can this be achieved?
Wider theosophical reading, as well as shamanic beliefs, suggests that sleeping and dying are identical, except that after sleeping, one’s consciousness returns to one’s body, whereas on dying one’s consciousness doesn’t return but melds into the infinite consciousness – “Heaven”, “The Universe”, “Nirvana”, “Utopia” or whichever other term is preferred to describe this afterlife experience. In a way, therefore, we’re rehearsing the death experience every night, whether consciously or not. If this notion is accepted, then one can be more conscious of this as a nightly rehearsal for the “final moment” whenever it comes, and thus enable it to be easier and more comfortable when the time comes, both for oneself and those close to us. This is one way that death need not be feared, indeed cannot only be accepted but imagined with some anticipation. It’s not the end but simply the next stage of one’s Soul’s journey, just as one transitions from childhood through adolescence to young adulthood, full adulthood, maturity and old age.
“You have to live the way you are going to end up.”
Lujan Matus: Shadows in the Twilight: Conversations with a Shaman
There’s an organisation, The Conscious Dying Institute, which explores this concept and has developed a process for positively preparing for death, no matter one’s spiritual or religious beliefs, or none:
Exercise 1: Ask yourself the question ‘If I had only three months to live, what would be a “good death?” Think about the five main domains of life; physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual & practical, and work towards integrating each of their “ideal states” into your life. This may involve changing various aspects of one’s day-to-day life which can go a long way to preparing oneself psychologically for whenever the moment comes, whether in decades or suddenly though accident or acute illness. It suggests that by doing so, at the moment of passing, one can truly say to oneself “I have been preparing for this moment during my lifetime”.
Exercise 2: We’ve all attended funerals or services of thanksgiving where one or more family and friends offer eulogies to the departed, describing their major life contributions, qualities and achievements. Following on from Exercise 1, take as much time as you like to write your own eulogy. Take a while to think about your entire life, describing what you consider to be your unique contributions, qualities and achievements. If you consider there may be any gaps you notice, this might reflect the deficit between your current situation with what you consider is your “good/ideal death” referred to earlier. This may then prompt you to integrate new behaviours, attitudes, activities, habits, objectives or priorities that might then help you close the gap to get closer to your own “good/ideal death”.
Other perspectives
This is a complex, highly personal subject and there are myriad perspectives and experiences to draw upon, hence the need to arrive at one’s own authentic belief system, which may change or deepen over time with ongoing reflection, growth and healing. Here are a number of other ways one can seek to understand the process of death, some reflecting the thoughts shared thus far, as well as others:
“Death is not the end - it's the Soul waking up from the illusion of form. You were never the body. You are the observer behind it.”
“You don't die, you shift timelines. What you call “death” is a transfer – from simulation to source.”
“The dead are not gone. They’re just vibrating too fast to be seen. Energy cannot be destroyed, only translated.”
“The fear of death was manufactured to make you controllable. A soul afraid of death is a soul easily ruled.”
“There is no such thing as eternal punishment. That was a lie to sell obedience and religion.”
“You choose the moment of your death before you were born. It is not random; it is coded in your soul contract.”
“Death is the great remembering - the moment you exhale the lie and inhale the truth.”
“What you grieve is not the soul - but your own attachment. The departed are still with you, just beyond the veil of frequency.”
“Your consciousness survives everything. Even atomic collapse cannot end your awareness.”
“The biggest lie was that death is to be feared. In truth, it is a return to your most divine state.”
“If death is imminent, as with surgery, it helps to change your mind-set about it e.g. ‘May my presence be a blessing for all those around me’.”
Exercise 3: Whatever your current beliefs, or none, you may like to take a few minutes to reflect on each of these perspectives. Can you relate to it? Does it add to your understanding of death in any way? If so, how? If not, why might that be? Does it support or conflict with your current world view/beliefs? How might you arrive at an even deeper understanding of the final experience?
Conclusion
This is a huge topic and one that might create some curiosity, tension or even disagreement in the reader. Hopefully, these might be positive feelings to explore and unravel why such feelings or tensions might exist and how they might be resolved in some way, even if it’s to confirm your own beliefs before you came to this blog. It’s something of a synchronicity that the completion of this blog has coincided with preparations for Halloween. Some years ago this was hardly noticed in the UK, but largely through influences from the United States and the decline of Guy Fawkes night - very regrettably as 5th November is my birthday(!) – Halloween is made much more of these days. The name, of course, is derived from “All Hallows’ Eve,” the night before All Saints’ Day - a Catholic celebration honouring all saints and martyrs.
The equivalent Celtic festival is Samhain, marking the end of harvest and the onset of winter. However, it represented more than just a changing of the seasons; it was also believed that the veils between the worlds of the living and the dead were at their thinnest, allowing for deep connection and reflection with and about the ancestors. People would light bonfires and set places at their tables for their ancestral spirits, fostering a sense of connection with their past, and even seeking guidance from them.
A modern-day equivalent of these festivals on 1st and 2nd November is the Day of the Dead, celebrated in Mexico and some other countries. This honours deceased loved ones with altars (ofrendas), food, and festivities, combining ancient indigenous traditions with some Catholic elements, creating a joyful celebration of life and death. It’s therefore a much more positive approach to death and ancestors who have passed rather than the more threatening feeling of Halloween with its effigies of witches, warlocks, skeletons and ghosts + trick or treat! I experienced a Day of the Dead party a few years ago with friends and it was indeed a joyful and happy occasion where it was very moving to hear everyone recalling fond and sometimes humorous memories of those close to them, supported by creating a “memory table” or “altar” of meaningful pictures, possessions, personal effects and music. We’re repeating it with close friends on 2nd November, and it’s already highly anticipated….
Finale
And so, dear reader, it seems fitting to publish this last blog the day before the Day of the Dead to mark the end of this 10-part series. I hope you’ve found it interesting, illuminating, as well as gaining some, perhaps unexpected, insights. Of course, as primarily a photography blog, I hope you enjoyed and were moved by at least some of the images along the way. I’ll continue to publish more conventional photographic blogs in 2026.
Please do let me have your comments, either about this blog or the whole series, via the comments section below or direct by email. I thrive on honest feedback and as this has become a major venture, I’ll value your thoughts and comments highly.
My next endeavour? There’s the germ of an idea to publish a coffee table-type book of the series including many of the best photographs, and maybe even some improved ones. Is this mad or a good idea? Let me know!!
“In the end we are the sum total of our doings and we will be faced by those doings at the moment of our death. Or is it our death in every moment that we live that faces us with what we do?
Lujan Matus: Shadows in the Twilight: Conversations with a Shaman