Buyer Beware: "My Son and the Afterlife"

Thanks for posting this. See my post reply to Rhain above . I am so upset about all this. I really thought at first their was some legitimacy to what the mother experienced with her son. I still believe that she did have those experiences at home with Erik where things would disappear and reappear etc. He probably does come thru the channeler but if the channeler is not getting the info correctly or is biased and Erik is hearing what she is telling his mom, why cant he stop it. Or find another channeler that can tell his mom that Jaime is off. Or for that matter, that any of the other ones are off. They have so many now! Its totally confusing. I wish we could all do something to get their site taken down. They are harming so many vulnerable people.
You're welcome, Ell. I'm not in favor of policing this stuff, no matter how fraudulent (consciously or unconsciously). I'm also not as sure as you as to how much harm it's causing - other than maybe turning off people from the idea of an afterlife because they've been "fooled", which would indeed be quite sad. I guess it's up to people getting the word out on the internet and maybe other platforms. My main problem here was the recommendations by the "Afterlife Stars" - who most likely didn't take a close look at the book.
 
OK, so I was browsing on Amazon and impulsively purchased a relatively new book (2013) called "My Son and the Afterlife: Conversations from the Other Side" by Elisa Medhus MD. It wasn't completely impulsive, because the reason I bought it was the recommendations by Eben Alexander, Thomas Campbell and Craig Hogan, among others. (And I've been reading very old books recently and wanted a nice, easy contemporary read.)

Medhus lost her son to suicide in 2009 or so, she was an atheist and a skeptic, raised by atheist parents, but that loss (and her family getting a lot of after-death communications) made her research psi and decide to open her mind up to possibilities, then she decided to go to channelling mediums, and they related information that convinced her it was her son Erik coming through, and she went about creating a blog that's become very popular, channelingerik.com, and now the book.

I didn't check out the blog. I thought "What the hell, I'll read this, I know it's channeled material, but I'll see what it's about". I just started the book (30 pages), but then shared this with Trancestate, who checked out the site and told me about it. Man, this is BS. The same mediums, from the same "Erik" sessions, are channeling Jesus, Hitler, Buddy Holly, John Lennon, Billie Holliday. Any celebrity you want, Erik just has to call them up, and they show up. And it's just... bad.

It doesn't automatically mean her son Erik isn't communicating or hasn't communicated, but the channeling overlay is something else.

http://www.channelingerik.com/best-of-erik-channeling-adolph-hitler/
http://www.channelingerik.com/channeling-john-lennon-part-one/
http://www.channelingerik.com/channeling-billie-holiday/
http://www.channelingerik.com/channeling-john-f-kennedy-part-one/
http://www.channelingerik.com/channeling-jesus-part-one/
etc.

So... I'm not going to read this book. What got me, over and above the fact that there' s hundreds of 4 and 5 star reviews completely crowding out the bad reviews, is the recommendations by these people that I wouldn't have expected. They must surely not have visited the website.

I should have read this Amazon review:


I also resonate with this one:
 
Your kind of lost, aren't you?
i have to tell you that you need to understand one thing. You are a human being not much more evolved than a cat or dog, so how is t you think you can outguess the afterlife as to what it should be or shouldn't? Either sign up to the blog and have him visit you or please just stop speculating about what and how a thing should be to you. It's a little narcissistic.
 
Last edited:
Your kind of lost, aren't you?
i have to tell you that you need to understand one thing. You are a human being not much more evolved than a cat or dog, so how is t you think you can outguess the afterlife as to what it should be or shouldn't? Either sign up to the blog and have him visit you or please just stop speculating about what and how a thing should be to you. It's a little narcissistic.
Yeah he's a little more evolved than a cat or dog.
 
I have no real comment on the book per se, but I don't agree with the criticism against some of the ideas espoused by it. For instance, it stands very much to reason that we can do and have anything we want in Heaven. Thus, any car, TV and luxurious item would be a non-issue. As would it be to contact those that were celebrities on Earth, because they are no more celebrities in Heaven than anyone else. This is obviously the case as the degree of fame we'll experience in this short visit on this planet here is just another parameter we chose before arrival. John Lennon might have been famous in this incarnation, but he might have been a rock, a mosquito or a dirt poor peasant in the life before that or in a life yet to come.

We tend to think of the afterlife as this very limited place where nothing happens, but I take the completely opposite view. There, we have everything we can do here (including gay horse sex and all other things which prude people might think of as "unholy") and an infinity of more things to do. Yes, we will actually do stuff there, and not just float around on a cloud of ecstasy all day long. And I strongly suspect that most inhabitants are going crazy and doing all kinds of things while they're there. I mean, who wouldn't?

There's TV and radio and internet and more things of that nature than we can even relate to there, and infinite amount of channels and stuff as well. As a person on a deep Ayahuasca journey related,

"When I plugged into gods head I saw technology indescribable, yes god is a geek at the highest level. Of the hour of god connection about 0.01 percent of it related to earth or this style reality. I kept thinking please stop all this information as it has no bearing on this life or reality and no one will ever believe or comprehend this in any way. I will tell you that after this experience I truly feel like Einstein at the zoo, but on the animal side, yet sadly everyone believes the zoo is cool and we are free. Our sadistic brother has us locked into his version of reality, with media, endless wars, work, money, useless trinkets yes useless. Whatever tech you think is badass here is a fucking joke compared to the other side. An iphone lol we can telepathically speak yet we hold cancer emitters to our face."

I don't know, it's just self-evident to me that in an infinite afterlife, we can do absolutely everything, and given eternity, we will want to do nearly everything as well. And this is even why we're here in this random world right now - we're just playing a role, exploring a certain character in a certain society to see what it's like for the shits and giggles. As deep NDErs say, in that sense we are always home, and we're partly exploring the idea of not knowing that we're home right now. We can never really leave home, because we can never leave god's/the creator's/the source's mind. So being in Heaven means being able to do all kinds of things - including temporarily leaving it from your perception in order to experience all kinds of environments as all kinds of beings.

You figure things out a lot? Do you?
Yeah he's a little more evolved than a cat
Human beings are not much more evolved than a cat or dog. Not Erik. Why is it when they tell you people that if you register your name with the blog, Erik will visit and all I hear is people are willing to talk it to death but no one acts on it...instead everyone wants to "figure it out" on their own...what a waist of air. By the way, hes been to see me, and friends and a client of mine more than a few times .
 
You figure things out a lot? Do you?

Please take the time to write out your full thoughts when you make a post, I think you will find both your time here and the community to be much more pleasant, short blurbs like this only serve to hurt your own interests by guarding your feelings against criticism which we all sorely need to grow.
 
Begin by explaining why you feel a need to defend this particular author (or the mediums involved) to the point of debuting in the forum by randomly lashing against the OP.
 
Although I never had an Erik "visit," I followed this site for years and, while I always saw the mom, Elisa Medhus, as a self-absorbed, [not-so]-closeted-elitist, it was only after Trump became a contender for president did I see just what a hypocrite she is. During Trump's campaign, some people became emboldened to voice their bigotry and intolerance and she started doing that all over the site and in her Youtube videos. She seemed to forget that not only were her parent immigrants, but also her own husband, when she would rant about how immigrants "take all our jobs" and how she didn't "want them here." I guess she doesn't see how her profound hypocrisy hurts her credibility. I used to believe the whole Erik story as real and I often defended it to "haters." Looking back, after seeing Elisa for who she is, I think we all have been a little duped. There is a reason that, despite Elisa's desperate efforts to get an Oprah interview on OWN, the producers flat out refused. It's not easy to book a new interview for every "Super Soul Sunday," but they would not even consider interviewing her. And the older posts on the CE site had her literally begging her "peeps" to vote so she could win the online Webby award. She tried for several years, but never won, so she stopped the begging. Her being a former physician should give her some credibility too, but unfortunately, after you find the disciplinary actions against her online, it carries little weight. It took me a long time to see through Elisa and to admit to myself that she is probably a sociopath. She's definitely a parent who needs to brag about her children - what schools, what majors, what professions, etc. She is so desperate to achieve acclaim through her kids, that she perversely parades her son's suicide under the pretense of helping others. She has a need to make his "failure" into her "success." Maybe she's embarrassed because she had published a few books years ago about how to be a great parent, as in literally "wrote the book" on how to be the best parent possible, and then one of her kids committed suicide. Anyway, that old saying hit home to me: "It is easier to fool someone than to convince someone that he has been fooled." It took a while to see it, but I think I was fooled.
 
The question for me is 'where is the evidence?'. People can make whatever claims they like but if it isn't supported with evidence of identity and that the process is genuine then I don't really see the point.
When I read a bit ahead in the book, I noticed "Erik" gets into scientific matters regarding consciousness and science.

For all you Skeptiko science, QM & consciousness nerds out there ;), "Erik" says it's all bout the neutrino:

http://www.channelingerik.com/what-is-consciousness-and-what-is-it-made-of/

That particular page made me cringe!
Me: Let’s talk about neutrinos. It’s said that those are the particle of consciousness, that it’s the carrier of all information. Is that true? If not, what is the soul or consciousness made of?

Erik: Well, it has to, um, the soul and consciousness—

(Long pause)

Jamie (to Erik): Great imagery, but you have to put it to words for me, Erik.

Erik: The soul and consciousness has to morph to fit into whatever dimension it’s in. There’s not one single package that you can say works for all dimensions. For the human life, as you mentioned, Mom, it’s the neutrino. In spirit is has a different terminology.

(Pause)

Jamie (to Erik): Right, because it can’t be lower vibrational and physical.

Me: So, the neutrino is different in the physical than it is in spirit?

Erik: Yeah.

Me: In what way? Is it more of a wave pattern than a particle pattern there?

Erik: Wave makes me think of sound, but I’m talking in terms of vibration.

Me: Oh, okay. So, it’s a higher vibration. And what’s important about the neutrino? What makes it special?

Erik: Just like the soul, it’s one of the only things that transforms from three-dimensional life into the afterlife. It carries on without getting broken or destroyed, whereas your hair can’t do that; anything on your physical body can’t do that.

Me: Okay. And they say it can pass though anything, even lead, so that must be why, you know, you can pass through walls when you’re in spirit. Is that right, Erik?

Erik: Correct.

Me: So they are the building blocks of consciousness, of the soul. Is that what you’re saying?

Erik: Yes.

Me: Tell me more. What is consciousness?

Erik: It’s the link between all of the thoughts, all of the emotional experiences, memories, things of that nature from past present and future. It’s the thread that ties them all together. Links everything together, but not only from a current life point—life viewpoint—it also does it from many life viewpoints. Other lifetimes.

Me: How does a neutrino function?

Erik: It functions just like the thread. It holds everything together, but there is no hole or gap in existence.

Me: But on the level of the particle itself, how does if work? Does it create some sort of energy, for example?

Erik: No, it’s not creating some sort of electrical current. It’s more like a glue. It doesn’t have information or data in it, but it holds it.

Jamie (to Erik): Okay, that, my friend, did not make sense.

Erik: It doesn’t possess energy. It carries it. It creates these glue-like connections and carries information.

Me: Oh. So, it’s not information, itself.

Erik: No, it’s like a transmitter.

Me: Oh, it transmits information?

Erik: Yeah, like, you know, Bluetooth.

Me: Oh!

Erik: Like the Bluetooth in your car.

Me: Oh, I see.

Erik: It doesn’t have all of the information, but, through it, you can find all the information.

Me: So, are we the information? Are we sentient energy, so to speak?

Erik: Yes.

Me: It’s so interesting, what consciousness is, isn’t it?

Erik: Yes. We are information that is self-aware.

Me: And the neutrinos—waves in spirit and particles here—are what carry that information of, not only self-awareness, but all of the information that we’re gathering from different lives?

Erik: Bingo.

Me: Wow. So, it’s all about the neutrino being the Bluetooth technology that gets us all the information we need, including our own awareness of self.

Erik nods his head.

Me: Phew! My brain is about to explode.

***************************

When Robert was over at our house for our usual Friday night get together, I asked him to translate Erik’s take on neutrinos as well.

Robert’s translation of Erik’s neutrino description:

Erik: You can think of a neutrino like a bubble. It floats around, and all the information that ever was is inside that bubble. When you’re observing it, that’s what you’ll see—everything. But when that bubble pops—in other words when you’re not looking at it—then that information is everywhere. So, it’s like a way of condensing it into one little place, one little point. But at the same time, that information, there are millions and billions and trillions of neutrinos everywhere, so that same information is in all of those. It’s condensed in all of them, but then it’s also not condensed. That stuff makes you crazy doesn’t it?

Me: And are we, as consciousness, made of neutrinos? As the particles of neutrinos?

Erik: Yeah, there are a component of neutrinos—neutrinos are a part of it, but they’re not all of it.

Me: So, we can observe neutrinos—

Erik: But in fact, Mom, when you die, neutrinos are one of the things that help take all the information that was you and carry it back to where it belongs.

Me: Wow. Before, you said that neutrinos are different in the physical form than they are in the spiritual form.

Erik: Right. They’re like a carrier wave. You can think of it like that. All the information is in there. It’s like transitional, but it’s also to hold everything in place, to hold everything in this dimension.

Me: Wow.

Can I get a “WOW” from the audience? That’s so amazing, and doesn’t it just ring true? Thanks Robert!
The funny thing is, that even though the page is junk, to the extent that it hangs together at all, it is trying to paint a materialistic picture of the afterlife - run by information and neutrinos!

To those who went to that site because they were bereaved and then came here, I would like to suggest you stay and explore Skeptiko a bit. We most certainly do not rule out the existence of a genuine afterlife, but we aren't dogmatic about it, and everything here is free. I would suggest you start by exploring some of the podcasts devoted to Near Death Experiences.

David
 
Last edited:
You're right, David. But if you go to the Amazon page, it's almost all 5 star reviews. You have to dig to find bad ones. And what puzzles me is the praise the following people I respect give it. I wonder what they would think if they looked at the celebrity-channeled information on the website.

"Dr. Elisa Medhus offers a heartfelt, deeply moving story that invites readers to question their own beliefs of love, loss, and the afterlife." (Eben Alexander, MD author of the NY Times bestseller Proof of Heaven)

“Elisa’s journey has been amazing and she is well-qualified to share her knowledge with both the medical community and the grief community. She has the credentials to bridge the gap that often exists between these two groups, and by doing so, she is breaking new ground and leading the way for many of us working in the field of bereavement, hospice care, and consciousness.” (Terri Daniel, author, educator, end-of-life advisor, interfaith chaplaincy, and founder/director of the Afterlife Education Foundation and the Annual Afterlife Awareness Conference)

My Son and the Afterlife contains the clearest, most informative answers to questions about what happens after a person passes into the afterlife that I have read in one book. The topics explored a range from very human, personal issues such as who greets the person after their passing to insightful descriptions of the nature of consciousness and reality.” (R. Craig Hogan, PhD, author of Your Eternal Self)

My Son and the Afterlife by Elisa Medhus, MD is a book that will tug at your heart strings, make you laugh, cry, and more importantly, consider possibilities that you had probably never thought about before. This book, a record of the author’s conversations with her recently deceased son, Erik, is as real, authentic, and straightforward as it gets. Dr. Medhus and her son Erik, are both in a state of flux struggling to make sense of new perspectives that were thrust upon them as a result of Erik’s suicide. Both are determined to fully explore and share their newfound awareness as they provide much needed healing for each other, find new meaning and significance in the love that binds them, and invite you to come along on their poignant journey to the other side of death.” (Thomas Campbell, physicist and author of My Big TOE (Theory of Everything))

“Raised by atheist parents, Elisa Medhus, MD. believed only in a material reality—until her mind was jarred open by the excruciating loss of her son, Erik. Following his death she began to receive anomalous communications matching with Erik’s distinctive personality. Always direct and sometimes crude, the insightful messages forever changed Elisa’s worldview. I was touched by the continuing dialog between mother and son, finding it both comforting and enlightening. Don’t be surprised if Elisa’s story alters your ideas about the nature of reality too.” (Mark Ireland, author of Soul Shift)

“The hide-bound reductionist materialism of 19th and early 20th century science is crumbling under new discoveries and their relevance to what sensitive people through the ages have known all along. Dr. Medhus meticulously guides us through her own epiphany as she, a medical doctor, an exploring mind, and suddenly a re-focused mother finds the intensely personal strength to understand her son's suicide and its larger meaning in the nature of which we are all part, and the courageous professional strength to bring her realizations to us. While this book is obviously an invaluable resource for theologians and physicists, and ethicists and counselors, it is truly a touchstone for all of us who feel and who seek to understand the transcendental nature of the human condition.” (Marco M. Pardi, MA, DPS, anthropologist and thanatologist)

“Dr. Elisa Medhus has approached her conversations with her son Erik in a courageous and systematic way, using all the analytical skills of a trained scientist. She asks Erik the hard questions that any parent who has lost a child would want answers to, and more. Erik answers all these questions with his own characteristic laid-back directness in a no-nonsense way that brings our understanding of the afterlife into the twenty-first century. This is a remarkable book written by remarkable people, which will bring hope and comfort to the bereaved and change many lives for the better.” (Dr. Victor Zammit, author of A Lawyer Presents the Evidence for the Afterlife)

I missed this - is it conceivable that these reviews are fake? I am really on the edge of this issue, but Ian, would you be willing to contact one or more of those people to find out if they really wrote those reviews.

David
 
I missed this - is it conceivable that these reviews are fake? I am really on the edge of this issue, but Ian, would you be willing to contact one or more of those people to find out if they really wrote those reviews.

David

I've never read this but this has bothered me for a while now. Do any of these guys even normally give out reviews? I've never seen them do so before, I haven't read huge amounts of the literature though.
 
I missed this - is it conceivable that these reviews are fake? I am really on the edge of this issue, but Ian, would you be willing to contact one or more of those people to find out if they really wrote those reviews.

David
They're not reviews on a website, David, they're blurbs on the book (of which I had a copy, since thrown into the recycle bin). Which no doubt means they're real. I'm guessing these Afterlife Lit Stars get contacted by the publisher and gloss over the book and give a positive review without too much thought about it. I don't have the time or inclination to contact these people, but anyone else can - although I would gather it'd be a waste of time.
 
They're not reviews on a website, David, they're blurbs on the book (of which I had a copy, since thrown into the recycle bin). Which no doubt means they're real. I'm guessing these Afterlife Lit Stars get contacted by the publisher and gloss over the book and give a positive review without too much thought about it. I don't have the time or inclination to contact these people, but anyone else can - although I would gather it'd be a waste of time.
Of course, unless you have emptied your recycle bin, it is still there!

I must say this worries me somewhat - because surely people like Tom Campbell etc don't write blurb like that without at least skimming through a pre-release copy!

David
 
Of course, unless you have emptied your recycle bin, it is still there!

I must say this worries me somewhat - because surely people like Tom Campbell etc don't write blurb like that without at least skimming through a pre-release copy!

David
Well, since I started this thread in July 2014, yes, by now, my recycle bin has been emptied. :)

I'm afraid it seems like skimming is just what these people did and restricted themselves to.
 
I did have a visitation( a few) from Erik who pranked me and so my time was wasted. He could have fixed something or made nice smells. Im just saying.
 
Back
Top