What is your perspective on death and dying? Do these words mean loss? Why do we grieve when someone important to us dies? In this episode of Reclamation, The Reclas: Justin, Tonya, and Neva, view death and passing through a different lens, a perspective far different from the usual. Whenever someone dies, the little pieces they left— memories, things, and experiences make us mourn and feel empty. Furthermore, the fact that we identify dead people as physical bodies we cannot see anymore gives us a sudden burst of emotions. Tune in and join The Reclas: Justin, Tonya, and Neva discuss death, loss, fear, and seeing ghosts.
Justin Recla:
In this episode of Reclamation, I see dead people. This episode is called On Death and Dying. And for those of you who don’t know, yes, I actually do see dead people. I’ve seen dead people since I was about eight years old, maybe even younger, but eight is the earliest that I can remember. It just so happens that my parents lived in what we found out like three or four years later, what used to be a hospice home. And so it was a house that a lot of people went to die in and that’s a whole nother conversation of itself. And then I really want to focus on the topic at hand, On Death and Dying, because I know, for me, my entire life I’ve experienced a lot of people dying. I’ve had a lot of deaths in my life.
I mean, I think there was a period of time in my early twenties that I think I lost 15 friends in a single year. And that was intense. And compared that on top of my ability to see spirits and see ghosts, I, it always, it was a driving force of, I wanted to know why. It was really a driving force behind my own spiritual journey and understanding that. And not that I ever really feared it, I just didn’t really understand it. And I know that’s something that in our family, we wanted to make sure that in setting up Neva for success, we wanted to make sure that we didn’t pass along any type of fear around the concept of death.
And so we’ve elevated the conversation on death and dying to a place that is one of acceptance. We actually joke about it a little bit in the house. And joking in a way that doesn’t… It’s not from a place of turning away or not wanting to look at something, but from a place of just acceptance and knowing that it is part of life. And so, Love, this concept of death and dying… And I know you recently did an episode on the science of superpowers. And I don’t know if it’s aired or not yet. If not, it’s coming out.
Tonya Dawn Recla:
Spoiler.
Justin Recla:
But you talk about that in your book, The Science of Superpowers. And it’s such an amazing chapter on the concept of death and dying. What does that look like for you? I mean, my experience in it has been completely different because like I said, I see dead people. And it’s there. What has your experience been with death and dying? We’ve had an amazing journey from just all of it and we’ll get to that. Get some more of that on the backs of this conversation too. But for you, what has your experience been with death and dying?
Tonya Dawn Recla:
Oh, I think that’s a huge question. From the book standpoint and where I’m sitting with it now, while I don’t see dead people, I see the patterns that are associated with death and in our perceptions of it and what we think about it and what it is and all of these other things. And in the part of the book you’re talking about, what I’m discussing here is how everything dies. And it’s a touchy subject for people because when we put our foundations in the physical, when we identify as bodies, or when we identify as humans as of this world, then the fact that things of this world and of our bodies die makes us real squirmy. It threatens our very existence, essentially.
The only way to truly transcend death is to identify as something that transcends death, that’s beyond death. And that’s that aspect of us that exists in the divine. And it’s a very different walk. And so for me, traditionally, I mourned death when I was younger. I didn’t have a lot. I wasn’t surrounded by a lot of it, but I can remember grandparents passing and still having real feelings about that because the perception was always one of loss. And it took quite a bit to turn that into one of celebration. And it doesn’t mean that-
Neva Lee Recla:
Yay, they died.
Tonya Dawn Recla:
Yeah, it doesn’t mean the human aspects don’t mourn. That there’s not, that they’re not susceptible to those waves of emotion coming through. Because they want to stomp their foot and go, “Wait, wait, but what about us?” Yeah, maybe you’re doing what you’re doing and you’re on your path, but I enjoyed having you here with me. I enjoyed being able to hug you and touch you and kiss you and talk with you, maybe on the phone or face to face, not authentically. Not channeling you through somebody else. Whatever it might be, we do have those human pieces that feel left out when that happens. And their lives, especially if you were really intimately connected with that person, your life changes.
Justin Recla:
Well, especially because of the energetics. The energetics completely shift, because the person’s no longer there. You’re not necessarily in their energy field. But I think it just elevates.
Tonya Dawn Recla:
Well, I would say you’re not… I would say it’s… I don’t know. I don’t know about the energy field. I think that is part of what you can continue to sort of access. I think it’s the physicality of it that really trips us up. And again, it only impacts us at the place where we identify as bodies, as people separated from each other. And that’s how most of us were programmed.
Justin Recla:
Yeah. We see each other as meat suits.
Tonya Dawn Recla:
Right.
Justin Recla:
Right. And not the spiritual beings that we actually are. So, Neva, I know you have had some really interesting experiences with death. I mean, you’re 11 years old, but you’ve experienced death. I think there’s a lot of kids that are your age that has experienced death. And at a very young age, you saw beings. You saw things as well. So what’s your experience with death be?
Neva Lee Recla:
Yeah, I think that’s a good question. I think for me, it’s been a bunch of different things. Last year, our close friend, Berny Dohrmann, passed. And I was, I guess, sad. My human was sad. But I didn’t feel a sense of feeling left out if that makes sense. It was knowing that the physical things weren’t going to happen again, but also knowing, just sitting in a space of gratitude. And I actually did a eulogy for him. And that was a really interesting experience because I was 10. But I think for me, it’s always been, especially since I also see dead people, in a sense, being able to see beings and light energy and stuff. It’s been… I’ve always been in a state of curiosity around it because I would see beings coming to my room and stuff and wonder, “Ph, were you a person before? Or are you just kind of vibing in the spiritual realm?” And there were cases where it was both.
And so I think… And we’ve talked a lot about seeing things, seeing energy… I see energy move a lot. But how do you sit in a space, especially when there’s such, I guess, fear around the idea of ghosts, around people dying? I think I had to get to a space where I had to release the fear about it to be okay with it. And I think for a while it was a big fear of mine. It was like, “Oh, am I going to say, see a ghost? What does that mean? Are they going to haunt me or something?” I’ve never been haunted or at least I don’t think I have. But I think-
Tonya Dawn Recla:
Well, then you haven’t. If you don’t think you have, then you haven’t.
Neva Lee Recla:
Exactly. So I think about releasing the fear around it. Because society says, or when someone dies, I think the first thing someone says to you is, “Oh, I’m sorry for your loss.” That’s the immediate thing you say. But I think I had to release the story that you lost something. The human did. The physicalities may not be the same, like knowing you may not be able to hug that person the same way again. But I also think not letting that affect you when you are able to. I think a good story that people go to, is that when you lose somebody and they pass over, I think that you forget the good that happened when they were here. And so get in a story that the things that you did have with them, weren’t the same.
Justin Recla:
Wow, that’s a great segue because we’re going to explore the elephant in the room on the backside of this conversation because this is going to open up. You just, you really, that’s a great, great segue, baby girl. I absolutely love you. Folks, if you are enjoying these types of conversations, you want to learn more, dive into the human consciousness, the human subconsciousness, how to explore these types of topics, and what they look like in your life, come play with us inside the superpower universe. Go to superpowerexperts.com and join the Superpower Universe Plus, the SPU plus membership. Stay with us. We’ll be right back.
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