And while some folks are oddly comforted by harps and pearly gates (or the idea of fire and brimstone if they’re feeling spicy), others are left wondering if any of it is true — or just a cosmic fairy tale we tell ourselves to sleep at night.

However, by far the question that I get most is: “What about Heaven and Hell?” Is that real? If so, how does one get into one and avoid the other?

The Religious Blueprint — Or Lack Thereof

The question of ‘do heaven and hell really exist’ is most thoroughly answered by Christianity. What was originally based on a vague, Judaic description of the afterlife became a behemoth of an afterlife manual: complete with concrete descriptions of rewards and punishment (Dante’s Inferno, anyone?). The more severe the crime, the more severe (and creative) the punishment. In Christianity, the concept of Hell is very physical. While it’s your soul that enters hell, the feeling of pain is not only spiritual but bodily as well.

Of course, Christianity didn’t invent the afterlife, it just gave it a Hollywood budget. Think fire, brimstone, and a detailed cast of angelic and demonic characters. Judaism, by contrast, plays it cool — vague, quiet, and rather agnostic about what happens next. And then there’s Islam, giving us a full architectural blueprint of the afterlife, complete with numbered gates and a celestial user manual. Each tradition offers a clue — but no one’s giving away the full itinerary.

From Beliefs to Firsthand Accounts

So, before describing what I have come to believe, I need to clarify why I believe it.

First – when I became a mediumAbout, I read A LOT. Practically everything I could get my hands on. The subjects varied: from past life regressions to near-death experiences; from major world religions to folklore and mythology and their numerous views on what happens when we die.

But no matter how many books I devoured or documentaries I binged, the clearest truths came from actual conversations with Spirit. (And no, they don’t sound like Morgan Freeman.) The dead, it turns out, have a lot to say — and they’re surprisingly chill about it. They’re not here to haunt your attic or slam doors. They just want us to understand: the afterlife isn’t a sentence, it’s a syllabus.

The Afterlife’s Honest Mirror

Shortly after our departure from this planet, we — all of us — go through a life review. If you remember reading or hearing about near-death experiences; in many of them, survivors tell of ‘life flashing before their eyes’. Well, it’s something like that.

Once we shed the limitation of a body and brain, we find ourselves in our pure energy form. In that state, we know and remember everything. As we become part of the universe, we become part of what Carl Jung called the ‘collective unconsciousness.’ It is in that form, with the help of our Spirit Guides, that we begin a life review. Everything becomes known and clear.

Not only do we go through every waking moment of our lives just ended — we FEEL them. However, as part of the collective unconsciousness, the feelings that are available to us are not just our own – but also those of the people who benefited – or suffered – from our actions.

Imagine the world’s most honest highlight reel — but instead of just your wins, you’re watching the bloopers too. Not for shame, but for growth. You’ll feel every laugh you sparked and every ache you caused, and not from the outside — from the inside. And trust me, Spirit doesn’t do popcorn.

So, as a result of this review, not only may we feel pride, contentment, satisfaction and delight from the good deeds we have done throughout our lives — we also feel every letdown, hurt, deceit and suffering we may have caused others. Imagine that! Imagine feeling every morsel of pain felt by everyone you may have harmed during the whole course of your life – all at once.

You guessed it – that’s Hell. Just like Heaven, which is the pride and joy you feel as you review the good you have done; hell is the pain and suffering of others that become YOURS.

But here’s the twist: it’s not punishment. It’s learning. It’s soul development. And it’s the most honest mirror you’ll ever face.