When Julie Ryan tells me that she is unafraid to die, I believe her—because the simple but radical revelations of her writing and teaching have transformed the way I think about my own inevitable departure from this life. Death, says Julie, is a glorious reunion with those we love on the other side.
Julie did not grow up knowing any of this or even aware of her psychic gifts. “I never had dead people chasing me as a child,” she says. In fact, she was an inventor of medical devices and a businesswoman founding nine companies in five industries as she gradually began to realize that there was more than one way to help the body heal. A series of coincidences, to which she definitely paid attention, led her to six years of study with a medical intuitive where she learned to develop and understand her own intuition and ability to communicate with spirit.
One day during her studies, while she was receiving a healing herself, an unexpected visitor showed up. She had developed her intuition enough that she could recognize the relatives and friends and pets from the other side who came to help in these moments, but she was not prepared to see a medieval pope.
“Who are you?” she asked. And he told her that he was Pope Clement. Actually, Pope Clement the Sixth.
“How may I help you?” Julie asked. dumbfounded. “Why are you here?”
“You are supposed to teach the world what happens when someone dies.”
Julie’s first reaction was not to feel honored or blessed or especially chosen but to run in the opposite direction. People will think I’m nuts, she thought, I’m not doing that.
But when she got in her car, she instantly googled him and discovered that Pope Clement, who she had never heard of before, had been the pontiff during the Black Plague and had been renowned for his prayers for the dying and the dead.
That this was Julie’s calling had become clear to her at her own mother’s death. She had witnessed the arrival of the grandparents, the friends and pets, the angels, and ultimately her own mother’s mother that preceded the departure of the soul from the body. Even in the midst of her grief, she realized that she was seeing something that every soul experienced—the reunion of love, what she jokingly calls The “Welcome to Heaven Committee”, on the other side.
Finally, she had a vision of her mother’s body being wrapped in beautiful strips of linen. Her mentor told her that this was an ancient ceremony revered for souls who had done something huge to benefit the world. Which kind of confounded Julie. She loved her mother very much even though they’d certainly knocked heads, and perhaps being a Catholic school principal in Columbus, Ohio was of great benefit to the world, but it felt like a bit of a stretch. It was only some time later that Julie realized what her mother had given her during her death. She had shown her daughter that death was not the end, and was not terrifying or lonely for anyone, but a moment of profound healing and reunion for all. “All dogs go to heaven,” says Julie, “and so does everyone else.”
She also showed her daughter how important mothers are. It wasn’t some archangel running the show at the end of our lives but our mothers, whose arms were waiting to hold us again.
After this experience, Julie found herself able to be present telepathically with anyone on their death bed. She could see who was showing up from the world of spirit and what the soul needed as they prepared to leave their body. When my own father-in-law was dying, Julie’s guidance proved invaluable, ensuring that we were able to say our good-byes and know what was coming and just about when.
Julie’s book, Angelic Attendants, about the process of dying, is one I cannot recommend enough and I have given away so many copies of it. She teaches workshops, too, to help people understand the process of dying from the perspective of the other side. She even teaches an intensive that helps people prepare for their own departure from this life, a kind of dress rehearsal for the real performance. Most of all, what she helps so many of us to do is let go of the fears that have limited and inhibited us for most of our lives. Life becomes more fun, more joyous, and more embodied when we can understand that death is neither the end nor a judgement—but simply a transition and transformation in the eternal journey of the soul.
Julie herself is a testament to that—someone who is playful, engaged, and a hoot to boot. Knowing how much love there is available to us is a real game changer.
Of course, coming out of the closet with her gifts took a lot of courage! She published her book, and she launched her website askjulieryan.com with her photo and everything—and then headed to a business conference in Texas. After her presentation a suit-clad man approached, his ipad open in his hands. She could see her website. “Is this you?” he asked incredulously. “Can we sit together at lunch?” She was ready for the attack of the skeptics as she sat down at a table with seven middle-aged businessmen—and was stunned to discover that all they wanted to talk about was what she calls “woo woo.” They had so many questions, they were hungry to know what she had experienced about the other side, and maybe because she was a businesswoman herself, they trusted what she had to say.
Julie considers herself an unlikely psychic—no turbans or crystals for her. But then again, according to Julie, we are all unlikely psychics. We all have the ability to train ourselves to trust our intuition and to be in communication with spirit. She is committed to bringing that teaching to as many people as she can—through her radio show, her books, her workshops, and everything she does.
What would the world look like if we really knew how generous and loving life and death really were?
I know that my own many encounters with the dead have transformed my life—but sometimes if I feel scared about my own death, and we all do, I remember that what I will actually experience at that moment is a reunion with those I love and miss so much. What will it feel like to die? What will it feel like to embrace my mother again?
Now people reading this will have MANY questions for Julie, which is why her show and her website invite you to ASK them. Bring them to her. Read her book. Check out the wealth of information on her website. Find out what she has to say. Not only can she guide you through the mysteries of death, but she’s also a terrific medical intuitive, sees past lives and communicates with spirit on many matters. She offers “a buffet of psychic gifts.” She is a delight and a treasure.
As I often say, we’ll know the world is set right when these psychics and seers are honored by everyone again, when we know that we need to be in constant consultation with spirit as we make our ways through our days. Then we will remember what we most need to know—that no one goes anywhere, this world is always our home, and the embrace of the mother is waiting for us wherever we go.
This has been the free version of my newsletter. I also offer a paid substack which includes excerpts from the books I am currently working on as well as an invitation to a monthly Zoom get-together to discuss how we can collaborate with those on the other side.
I offer workshops (find out more here) and am the author of the forthcoming Take Back the Magic: Conversations with the Unseen World. Pre-order today!