Review of Afterlives of the Rich and Famous

It’s Thursday, that means, Review! Today I review:

Afterlives of the Rich and Famous by Sylvia Browne

I have a hidden passion, or maybe just guilty pleasure of reading tabloids like People magazine and Entertainment Weekly. I love to see what the celebs are up to, and especially like to see their humanity and how they are very much like the rest of us with problems, spiritual lessons and all. Therefore, I jumped at the chance to review Sylvia Browne’s new book, which has great bios on stars who have recently crossed over to the Other Side, including one of my personal favorites, Brittany Murphy. How are they doing now? Have they found happiness or healing on the Other Side? What did they learn while they were here? That’s the premise of her new book.

I enjoyed the intro which includes a breakdown of what makes up the world of the Other Side and what steps we go through when we return, as I love all info about the afterlife.  As with many of Sylvia’s books, I did differ with some details or facts she presents including her definition of “soulmates,” that we have only one Guide and I’ve experienced several, and a few other facts.  That can be explained as our paths and psychic experiences are as individual as our thumbprints and therefore, our perceptions or knowings are different. Even those who have had near-death experiences described their time in heaven differently.

I read with interest the bios of each hand-picked celebrity whose tales of life and then demise were told. I was like the kid in the candy store indulging on a giant lollipop taking in facts I had read before, and some I didn’t know.

Sylvia was taught that we all have life themes that we came in to explore. I had a hard time choosing which one resonated with me, my mind jumping around from “psychic” to “caretaker,” “rescuer,” and then “artistic pursuits,” and wondered why there wasn’t one marked “teacher” as I know is one of my missions. So far, my life hasn’t easily fallen neatly into any specific boxes, and I don’t think there is a simple formula that we all follow. It seems I had several themes and “to do’s” on my list to learn this time around, but it was fun to read about each celebrity’s themes chosen for them.

I haven’t always been a fan of Sylvia’s hard-ass style on delivering messages and have been upfront with that opinion. I did enjoy her book on dreams and recommend it as a resource in my Talking to Angels, Guides and Dead People class. I enjoyed the down-to-earth style of the writing this time around, but I did have a hard time with a large portion of this book.

As a teacher, I push that everyone can communicate with their Guides and doesn’t need a middleman. Mediums, like myself, simply can assist or get things rolling. From direct experience talking to or feeling your Guides, consciously recognizing their guidance, you become a believer. You feel that truth of what they say because you develop a trust and see their messages validated in your life. The messages of how the celebrities are doing on the Other Side are transcripted from information channeled from Francine, Sylvia’s longstanding Guide. Francine’s summaries on each celebrity can’t be backed by any kind of validation, which made it hard for my logical mind to embrace.  I don’t know Francine. I haven’t worked with this Guide directly for years like Sylvia has. I am sure she is highly trustworthy, but my mind still couldn’t grasp it. I’m not on the Other Side to concur the details she gives. To my mind, the recaps of where they are now could have been wish-for fantasies or made-up stories that we would want to hear. I would have embraced it more if, perhaps,  Sylvia retold mediumship readings she did with the relatives of the celebrities. Then there would be a logical psychic connection between relative and the crossed-over, and instant validation of the information or facts coming through from the left-behind brother or spouse. Instead, it felt like the heresay in People magazine, “So and so saw our celebrity having lunch with big time movie star and is rumored to have said…” I just couldn’t make that blind leap.

It was fun to read as a guilty pleasure, and if I simply saw the book as another tabloid report, took in the details about the afterlife that I enjoy, then it was an entertaining read.

Thanks to Trish for giving me the opportunity to review this book for Ronni’s Psychic Room.