Ancestral Whispers: PROFOUND Stories of Healing, Destiny, and Life Beyond Death!- Katina Z. Jones EP 395

You know you need something, you're just not sure what. You've been listening, you're doing the work, but there's still this feeling that you're circling the same place, like you're waiting for the thing that finally moves you. Now maybe you've thought about working with me one-on-one. Maybe something's held you back, the timing, the money, or you're just not sure you're ready yet. I get that. And I want you to know there's still a place for you. I built a resource for exactly this moment, guided meditations for when the waves hit and you just need to breathe. Workbooks to help you get out of your head and onto the page, ebooks on what near-death experiences tell us about the people we've lost, and whether they're really gone, a full course for widows and widowers who are ready to find their way back to living, and a full course for the evidence of the afterlife. And all of it is available for pay what you want. Nobody gets turned away because of money. I think these resources are valuable, but I don't want to hold them back because you don't have the money to pay for them. You don't have to wait until you're ready for coaching. The next step might be a lot smaller than you think. To find out, go to grief2growth.com/store. That's grief, the numeral 2, growth.com/store. And check out the resources I've made for you. Close your eyes and imagine. What are the things in life that cause us the greatest pain? The things that bring us grief are challenges, challenges designed to help us grow, to ultimately become what we were always meant to be. We feel like we've been buried. But what if, like a seed, we've been planted? And having been planted, we grow to become a mighty tree. Now, open your eyes. Open your eyes to this way of viewing life. Come with me as we explore your true, infinite, eternal nature. This is Grief to Growth. And I am your host, Brian D Smith. Hey there, welcome to Grief to Growth, where we explore life's deepest questions: who we are, why we're here, and where we go when this life ends. I'm your host, Brian D Smith, and whether this is your first time tuning in or you're a longtime listener, I want to thank you for being here. This podcast is all about turning pain into purpose. And today's episode promises to be an enlightening journey into healing and spirituality. Joining us today is Reverend Katina Z. Jones, also known as the Purple Priestess. With over 25 years of experience as an author, palmist, medium, and career intuitive, Reverend Katina has dedicated her life to helping people find healing after loss. She's not only a spiritual advisor but also a certified doula, offering care and guidance to those navigating life's transitions, including birth and death. Reverend Katina is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Metaphysics and a member of the International Metaphysical Ministry, ordained by both the University of Metaphysics and the Church of Radiant Lights. She draws on a rich spiritual genealogy passed down through generations of healers and spiritualists. In today's conversation, we're going to discuss how her ancestral roots and spiritual lineage shape her work, as well as how she uses various tools like tarot, palmistry, Reiki, and mediumship to guide clients through their grief and connect with their higher purpose. We'll also explore her work, work as a doula where she provides compassionate care for people at pivotal moments in life. How does this tie into her spiritual practice and how we can all learn to embrace these transitions with more grace and understanding? So stay tuned as we explore those topics and more. And remember to continue the conversation at grieftogrowth.com community after the podcast is over. And with that, I'd like to welcome Reverend Katita Jones.

Hi, Brian, and everyone. Welcome. I'm so excited to be able to talk about this, this work. It is really funny and serendipitous how I came to it, because really, I was trained as a writer and author for most of my career. Worked at magazines, newspapers, marketing companies, advertising agencies, all the stuff.. And, um, it's funny how Spirit has a different plan in mind for you, and you, you always find out. You, you know, it's never a secret for very long. For me, how it happened was my mother passed away in 1988. She had ovarian cancer. This was my adoptive mother. It was very close to her. Um, obviously I was adopted, so, you know, um, But my mother, before she passed, was a very spiritual woman. She was Greek Orthodox. She believed in the afterlife too. And she always— but she, she was very quiet about it. She never said, you know, I'm going to come back and talk to you and give you messages or anything like that. She just said, you know, she just wanted me to be happy in life. Those were the last things she really said, just be happy. And she passed. And then I was working for a newspaper in Cincinnati, and I had an assignment to go to a psychic fair. And at that point, I wasn't real convinced, you know, I was still kind of skeptical about it all. And, um, and I didn't know about my birth family's legacy and all that. So I went to see this Reverend Patricia, who was a psychometrist, and I don't know if you know what that is, Brian, but it's, you know, they take, they take an object and they feel the energy of the object and read that. So at that point in my life, I had the habit of wearing my mom's wedding ring, even though I wasn't married. And I went in there on this assignment, you know, skeptical journalist, let's see where this goes, right? And I handed her the ring. And the first thing she said to me was, uh, who is Helen? And that was my mother's name. And I thought, well, that was a pretty damn good guess. All right, good. I'll give her that one. And then she just went into this whole thing about how my mother had many things to say to me about the future of what I would be doing. And she said that I would be called to this work eventually. And I was like, really? Because I think I'm a writer. And I was like, yeah, I can't see that, but we'll see. And as she proceeded to tell me things, she also said, um, who's Janet? Your mom wants you to talk to Janet. And I said, I have no idea who that is. And that's where she lost me. And I was like, you know, this is, this is nothing, this is malarkey. Okay, so I wrote this very skeptical article when I went back saying, you know, yes, you got these things right, but then this happened, right? Flash forward a few years, 5 years later, I had a baby, my daughter Lily, who is beautiful, and I had postpartum depression. And I was starting to wonder, is this like hereditary? What's going on with this? I also started to just feel things at a more, at a deeper level. I think it was hormonal. It was, you know, but my body was changing. The chemicals in it were changing. And I also felt like there was a connection with my mom. And it was interesting because one night I did wake up in the middle of the night, my daughter was talking to Yaya, who is what my mother, who, you know, she was Greek, she would want to be called Yaya. And I walked into the bedroom and I said very innocently, oh, who you talking to? It's 2 o'clock in the morning, you know, or like, what are you doing? And my little baby looked up at me and said, I'm talking to Yaya, Mommy, can't you see her?

Oh wow.

And I said, what does she say to you? And she said, well, she says she loves you, Mommy. And, and I said, well, that's just beautiful, you know. And then I said, would you tell her it's 2 o'clock in the morning and Lily needs to sleep and so does Mommy. Um, went back to bed and thought, well, that was interesting. So my mom and I had this connection and this continuing conversation. And, you know, my Later on, my marriage kind of fell apart. And I was— I remember being crumpled on the floor and saying to my mother, finally, you know, like, why is this happening?

Why?

Why is this a mistake? And what did I do wrong? And she was like, I'm so glad you finally asked. Now I can tell you. And she led me to the love of my life, who I have been married to now for 28 years. Wow. And Yeah, I ordered him off the menu at a restaurant. Um, but it was beautiful, and she's the one who picked him for me because she knew that, you know, they say you marry one of your parents, and I kept, I kept marrying my, my dad. I married him twice and then finally learned I needed somebody more like her, you know. And so that really saved my life, you know, the first time. Um, but it was interesting because during that postpartum depression phase, I found my birth family. And when I found my birth mother, the first thing that I found out was that her name was Janet.

Oh, wow.

Of course, then I was like, oh my God, I owe Reverend Patricia a huge apology, you know, because she totally nailed that. My mother did want me to talk to my birth mother. She wanted me to meet her and, and heal that, you know. Um, and it was a difficult relationship. I mean, we met, we, you know, it was very beautiful, but it also had periods of abandonment again because she still had issues that she was working through and never really worked all the way through, unfortunately, most of her life. And so when I got the family history, I looked and I saw all of these ancestors that were herbal healers and the spiritualist guy. That's the one that is my spirit guide. His name is Marcellus. I have his picture. I'll show you.

Yeah.

Can you see this?

Oh, wow. Yeah.

There he is. Beautiful person. He had a— he was a wholesale grocer and he got called to build a church, a spiritualist temple in Boston at the turn of the century. And it was a Christian spiritualist church. So he kind of pissed off both sides, you know, like, wow. He was an interesting guy.

I didn't know there's any such thing as a Christian spiritualist. Yeah.

Well, he believed that Jesus coming back to the apostles after his death was proof of life after death.

Sure.

And so to him, that was the penultimate spiritualist experience, you know. So he built this enormous temple, which is still standing and is now a Montessori school in Boston. And, um, anyway, he, he had this, this legacy, but he, one of the things he really wanted to do was do a hospice. He wanted to start hospice in America, and back then that was unheard of. He was way ahead of his time. And so when he found me, he was pretty excited because then he found somebody who he could call to do this work. And then I got the calling to do it, and that was when I was working at a newspaper called the Akron Beacon Journal, which won a Pulitzer. 'Not with me.' And, um, I was placing the obits, believe it or not. That was part of my job. I had two different jobs in the marketing and advertising department. One was working on the real estate publication, and the other half was placing the obits. And, um, the interesting thing about that was I would get the photographs, you know, and I would— and I would get the obits from the funeral homes, and then I'd have to do the layout, you know, for the paper, because it was done on the computer at that time. But then I'd have to run upstairs with the photos and make sure they all matched up with the obits and stuff. And I felt like, wow, this is kind of holy work in a way, you know. It's very important. Um, people's memories are important. People's grief is important. And, and so after that, um, I got, I got the call to go to the hospice. I had met people that told me, oh, you need to go do this. You need— and you know, you hear, you keep hearing it and you keep hearing it. People keep coming to you. And I don't know why I'm telling you this, and I don't know why I'm talking to you about this, but I feel comfortable sharing it, you know. And I would meet people on the airplanes and You know, they'd sit next to me and I'd be like, why? What am I, the, like, the travel agent for death here? I mean, but I started to get it and I did the hospice work. I got trained. I did it for 5 years. Um, it was one of the most beautiful experiences I ever had. My husband was nervous at first because he said, I don't want you to come home depressed every day. And no, it was the total opposite because you have the most real conversations with people when they're there. There's no time for the other stuff. And there are things that they share with you that they can't share with their families, or that they feel that they need help with, you know. And so you have this beautiful connection with people, and they become your friends, you know, like, they're all still my friends. And what I learned— oh gosh, I learned so many things there. But I learned that there's so much more than what we see. Um, that the people that are dying often know a lot, you know, when they're going through that process. They, they have the gift of knowing things and knowing when approximately. They can feel it. Um, it's, it's different when people are lost in a traumatic or sudden way, you know, that's a lot a lot more interesting in a way, because they, they are snapped out of their body and they have this really literally out-of-body experience. And, you know, like my ex-husband, for instance, passed away suddenly last summer. And this was Lily's dad, and he was just sitting in his barn having a cigar and a beer. You know, our daughter had just gotten her master's degree in teaching, and we had all been together that weekend in Atlanta. And celebrating, and it was all good. And then he went home and was just relaxing, and all of a sudden had a massive heart attack. And it was interesting because as soon as I found out, he came through. This is what happens with me too, is like, for some weird reason, they, they like to talk to me about their death story, their passing. So I get this immediate download of, okay, he was sitting there and having his cigar and his beer, and he thought it was the beer at first because he felt this cold going up his arm, and he was like, oh, that was weird. And then he felt himself almost like pass out, but then he saw the creek across the street and he thought, well, that's interesting. And this was a guy who was a computer programmer, so he's like more like a scientist, you know, more analytical. So he was like, This is very interesting, you know. And then he said it was like Google Earth. He just kept going up and up and up higher and could see more and more and more of the area where he was living. And he had realized that at that point, oh my gosh, am I dead? That's when he had the first thought. And then he understood that, yes, that's what it was. And he felt okay, felt good, you know. So he wanted very much for our daughter to understand for her healing, because it was extremely traumatic for her to understand that it was, it was so peaceful and so fast that he didn't even have time to really process it fully until he got up there. And so, um, but he also wanted to let me know that— well, he lets me know a lot of things. He likes to sit on the edge of the bed at 3:00 AM, you know, and have these chitchats. But he'll say things like Um, I, I was lamenting the fact that I don't have any grandkids yet, you know. I have 4 kids and no grandkids, and he was saying, oh, don't worry, you're going to be a grandma and you're going to love it. He's already met the grandson.

Oh wow.

So, you know, he's— he knows that these things are happening, and I'm a little jealous, to be honest, because he's getting the preview and I'm not. Um, But a year or so ago, I started the groundwork for doing this business where I would make good on the promise to spirit that I would come back to this kind of work. Because I, you know, had been a writer, and I was doing that for a long time. And, and so there I was starting the groundwork for all of this. I went to the death doula training, got certified, did all the things. Really resurrected my spiritual tool game. Because, like, I had been learning all along the different modalities. And, you know, just learning how to, to read and learning how to be a medium, and learning how to get to that frequency where you can continue conversations with people. And this is what I tell people. And that's why I love when you said continuing the conversation. That's one of the things I tell people all the time. Continue your conversations.

Yeah.

Almost every time somebody loses somebody, that's the first thing I say. Because we can heal so much in that realm. Sometimes we can heal things that were buried in human life. Mm-hmm. And they come up for healing in this scenario because that person is in an elevated spot now and can see it differently. I had that experience with my own father. You know, he was a stoic Greek man, really had a lot of things that he kept inside, had a lot of bottled anger, and would sometimes have outbursts and terrify me as a child, you know. And it was traumatic. And when he crossed over, the first thing he said was, I told them that if anybody could hear me, it would be you. And then we proceeded to have a conversation. And over the years, we've had deeper ones, deeper ones where he's told me things like his mother used to dress him up as a little girl because she wanted a little girl so badly. And she would until he was almost 4 or 5 years old. So if you can imagine how humiliating that was for him, right? Like, he had curls, but he had dresses. And it was like a complete invalidation of who he was. And he shared that with me and said, this is why I was angry. I never could verbalize that, but this is why I was angry, right? And it was a deep wound. And, um, and his sister was born a few years later, thank God. Yeah, so he got to be a man the rest of his life, right? But, um, and, and I've had wonderful experiences with her as well. I mean, you know, it's— I helped her in the last year of her life, especially, um, in the last 3 months I spent with her in Ohio and helped her get into hospice and all of the things that needed to happen to help her. She ended up unfortunately dying from COVID But, and you know, you would think you don't have the normal closure, right? You know, we didn't, a lot of us didn't have that. And that's one of the other reasons I kind of got called back to this work, because, you know, we need to be able to help people remotely, we need to find new ways of doing this. But my aunt, when she passed, same thing, you know, came to me right away. First thing she said was, I can't believe you all did these things for me. For me, you know. And she was looking at all the good caregiving she got and all of the people that were in her life, and she was very grateful. Stay with us, we'll be right back.

You know, one of the hardest things about grief— most of the people in your life just don't get it. They want you to be further along than you are. They get uncomfortable when you bring it up, so you stop bringing it up. And that's why I started writing. My Substack is where I go deeper. Thoughts I don't always get to on the podcast. Essays on consciousness, on continuing bonds, on what it actually means to carry a loss and still build a life. The stuff that used to keep me up at night, written out in a way that I hope meets you in the morning. But here's what I didn't expect when I started it. The community that showed up. People who are doing exactly what you're doing. Listening, learning, trying to find their footing. Readers who comment, who share their own stories, who remind each other that none of us are as alone in this as we feel. And that's what the Substack has become— a place to go deeper with me and to find your people. It's free to subscribe. Find me at grief2growth.com/substack. That's grief, the numeral 2, growth.com/substack. Or just go to Substack and search for grief Grief to Growth. I hope to see you there. Time for a real quick break. Make sure you like and subscribe. Liking the video will show it to more people on YouTube, and subscribing will make sure you get access to all my great content in the future. And now back to the video. Yeah, that's awesome. That's, that's really— and I appreciate you telling the story. I think it's really important because I talked to so many people who say that they have unresolved things with people who have passed, and then it's too late, you know, we can't get— we can't continue the conversation. There are things I want to say to them that I can't say to them. I know a lot of times when people— and maybe this has been your experience also as a medium— what people say to you, tell them, you know, whatever. And you're— and, you know, what's your response when people say that to you?

I, you know, it's funny because they almost always laugh back, you know, like I laugh and then they laugh. Um, spirit You know, because they're saying, look, where I'm at, it doesn't matter anymore. Yeah, yeah, it really doesn't matter anymore because all of this stuff is almost like a play. It's like Shakespeare, you know, we're here to volunteer for each other, to help each other grow and to help our souls and spirits stretch. And sometimes things happen that are learning experiences. And, you know, it's okay that that happened. But also, when they cross over, they can see inside your heart. Hmm. They know what your intentions were. It's all clear now. It's like the fog lifts and they go, oh, that's why that happened.

Yeah.

No big deal. I know what that person— I know that person is sorry and they love me.

Yeah.

You know, and I think that's the thing that is the most healing to hear. Because for them, you know, they think we're stuck. And they think that person is also stuck when they cross over, right? But they're not stuck in that anymore. They're free from that. And just like they're free from their body. That's the— that's just— this is a loaner. This is what I always tell people. This is a loaner here. Yeah.

Well, and I think another really great point in your story is, like, about with your father, Um, is once we understand— and I've heard people say this, you know, if you understand where that person's coming from, then there's really nothing to forgive. Because we understand that people, they're doing— we're all doing the best we can. From our perspective, it doesn't look like it sometimes, right? We think, okay, well, they're really not trying very hard. But you, you find— when you find those things out, the— it just goes away. Everything that is to be forgiven just kind of goes away.

What was interesting was I acknowledged it for him. And I said, I'm so sorry that that happened to you. And the mother in me wanted to hug my father and say, it's okay, I get it, it's okay. And that was a beautiful moment of healing between us. And we are so good now. I mean, we had several issues while I was growing up and later on as an adult, even when my my aunt was struggling with the Alzheimer's, we had some issues, because he was starting with dementia, and he didn't know how to interpret the things that I was doing or where I was coming from. And instantly, that was all cleared up. And it was so beautiful. And, you know, but I get people asking me all the time, well, how do you do that? How do you get to that point? Well, you have to be on that frequency to even connect to be able to talk, right? And so it's like being on the radio station. You need to tune in. And how you do that is through regular meditation, regular practices that really elevate your frequency level, because you need to be on that level. It's like Nikola Tesla said, if you want to understand the universe, then you have to understand energy, frequency, and vibration. So we have to get on that plane and on that level to be able to do it. And once we do, it's like on autopilot. You know, for me, the weirdest thing is that it happens. I happen to be on the same frequency when I'm driving. It's the same brainwave that I'm using, apparently, because when I'm driving in my car, that's when they all start talking to me a lot.

Yeah.

And so like they and I guess it's because my attention is focused that way, you know, and so all of a sudden I'm on that channel and they just start talking and telling me things. So I'm like sitting in my car having these conversations. Thank God we have, you know, like Bluetooth in the car now so people don't think I'm crazy. But we do have some deep, good conversations and I like knowing that I'm never alone. And yeah, I mean, there's a comfort in that. You know, there really is. And to know that I'm supported, and everyone is supported by their team of— or I call them the committee. You've got your committee of your ancestors, your guardian angels, you've got, um, ascended masters, you've got people who are just, um, random people that you touched. It's amazing. Um, sometimes they come back and just say, hey, Thanks. Yeah, that was cool.

So I'm curious, when you were doing your, your hospice work, and people were crossing over, did people come back to you, you know, and say, thanks for doing that? Or what do you have any experiences like that?

I had a real interesting one where a guy had lost his wife. And he was— that was the love of his life. And he kept asking me, how long does a guy like me stick around a place like this? And I said, look, it's however long it's supposed to be, you know. So I mean, I can't tell you that. The doctors can't tell you that. Only you could know. Couple days later, I came back and found out he had fallen out of his bed and passed away. And I thought, well, that's really sad, you know, and I was sad for him. And I, and I went to the chapel, and I even connected, and I just said, I just want to say, I'm sorry that happened to you. And, you know, that was terrible. And he laughed. And he said to me, you think that was an accident? Wow.

Yeah. Yeah.

Wow. So I was like, oh, well, are you happy to be back with your wife? Yes. Yeah, it was where he needed to be, and that was all it was about. And, you know, could I tell anybody that? No, because I didn't think they would. First of all, I didn't think they would believe me, but, you know, although at the hospice they do believe a lot of things. They do, because the nurses have seen it.

Yeah, that's what I've heard, that the nurses, they, they do have these experiences, um, because they're, they're in there, they're with the patients, and, and, and they're, they're not trained as much as the doctors to not believe, I guess.

Exactly.

But I know a lot of, a lot of nurses, you know, they'll say, it's been my experience, I have to believe it.

And, you know, I mean, I've been there and guided people through, and the most incredible experience I had was seeing the Archangel Azrael on the other side of a woman's bed.

Hmm.

I had never seen an archangel before. And he was 7 feet tall, very, very thin, very somber, no wings, you know, they weren't necessary. I guess, I don't know. But never looked at me, never engaged with me. It was clear that I was just to be there as, as a guest. You know, not even, I mean, I felt like I could even be kicked out if I did anything wrong. But like, there was a clear understanding that day. And my spirit guide had told me earlier that day, this is graduation day. And I thought, well, that, that's what Elizabeth Kubler-Ross used to use as her phrase when people passed, that's graduation. So I thought, oh, somebody's gonna die, and I'll be there. You know, I didn't think that this was also my graduation day. But it kind of was.

Yeah.

What an honor. What an awe-inspiring moment. And I can't even tell you how profound it was. And it took me years to figure out who he was. It wasn't like I knew instantly or anything. He never identified himself to me or anything. All I did was give her the words to be able to go with this spirit and go up the staircase and go through the door with him. You know, and as soon as she did, she flatlined.

Wow.

And then I panicked because I thought, oh my God, I've killed someone. You know, I mean, I didn't know what to do, you know. So I was like, okay, I gotta run down the hall and tell these guys, tell the nurses to call time. So I ran down the hall and they were all crying. And I said, I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were close with this woman. And they said, no, we had the room monitor on and we heard everything. Beautiful. And I didn't even know what I was saying.

Wow.

I just remember telling her about the spirit. I was describing him, I think. And then I said to go with him, you know, but, and that I would be there with her family. I think I said that too. And when they came back, because of course, they had just gone to lunch.

Yeah. Yeah, let's talk about that. Because I've heard that, you know, sometimes people will feel guilty because they've sat vigil for so long, you know, and but I just went to get a cup of coffee, or they went to, they went home to shower. Or whatever. And then, oh, I missed it.

Yeah, they didn't really miss it. Because first of all, the, the last sense to leave is the sense of hearing, and it goes 3 hours later. So they can still hear you right after they passed. So I always tell people, please be careful what you're saying. Please think about what you're saying, because sometimes the family fights start immediately, you know, right in the room at that moment. I'm like, do not do that, please. Be respectful, say what you need to say, and know that they hear you, because there is actual scientific proof of that brainwave measurement, you know, 3 hours is it. So that's an important thing. But I always say, look, the reason that happened is because they could feel your energy holding them in the room. They can feel that. And it's oppressive to them, and they, and they want to go to the other side, you know, they're ready to go. So they look for the first moment of freedom to dash, and it's usually when the cup of coffee happens or somebody's out in the hall or whatever, you know. It's because they knew, you know, that you wouldn't let go any other way. And they— and that's not a bad thing, it just means that you love them so much you didn't want them to leave. And, you know, they know that. But they also know that it's time, right? And they also know that they're going to come back and be there for you and tell you the same thing. They'll say, it's okay to go, you know.

Yeah, well, and that's the thing, you know, for, for us, we want to hold on to, to people for as long as possible, no matter, almost no matter what state they're in. I lost both my in-laws to dementia. And so it does get to a point where you're like, okay, it's time, you know.

Yeah.

But I think in other cases where they're— when their minds are still with us, it's hard for us to let go. So what do you say to a family, or what would you say to the family listening that's got someone that's in hospice, they're, they're, they're at the end? Is there something we can do to ease that process?

Yes. Yes, you can invoke ritual, you can do something like a legacy project. You can put your energy into celebrating who that person is while they're still here on their way out, you know, instead of focusing on the loss part and saying, please, please don't leave me. And, you know, I mean, if you know they're going and you know they're going to be well and whole again on the other side, that's the thing to focus on. But also the gratitude, the extreme gratitude that you have for that person. If they can take that energy with them when they cross over, what a blessing. You know, that's so much better than taking that negative stuff and the grief, the grief and the guilt, you know, because then they feel like, oh, I feel bad, I left this, you know. But they know that the power of gratitude is— it's like unconditional love, right? That's the highest vibration that we have as human beings. So if you can focus on a way to give them that as a gift on their way out, honor who they are and what they would want, really come at it from their point of view. Ask them, what kind of things do you want? You know, do you want angels all around in the room? Do it. What do you want? And invoke that for them and create that for them, um, in the best way that you can. That's why I say that the end of life planning is so important and so critical. And that's why I do that too. Because, and I work with Thanacare to do that. But we do like, we create like an online, it's almost like an online journal of what do you want? What are your wishes? Yeah, you've got the regular legal documents in there. But you've also got a beautiful video that somebody does and says, here's what I want, so that there's no argument, because you can see the person literally doing this. And it's all accessible with a QR code. So, you know, if they have it on their phone, and they're in an accident somewhere, the doctors can access it, you know, they can know, oh, this is what this person wants.

Okay, yeah.

And so they can get all of their end-of-life documents, but also they can see the video of what they literally want. And I think that that's really important. I think that we don't— we do a huge disservice to in our society, where we don't talk about death. Nobody wants to talk about it. It's the thing that's going to happen after we go to the gym, you know, or after we are done with most of our life goals, right? But it's really something we should not be afraid to talk about. We should talk about what we want and how we want it to be. I told my kids, and it's in my documents, that there must be a Katina Z. Jones end-of-life clearance sale, and it must be called that with a banner. And, you know, like, after they take the things they want, they just sell everything else. It's like that one last garage sale in my honor, you know? Yeah, yeah. I want that. I have a playlist, you know, for the funeral. It's, I think, an important thing to do. When we don't do that, we leave it up to other people. And then they always wonder, did I do it right? Did I, you know, did I honor this person as well as I could have?

Yeah, I think that's a very important point. You know, that, that is a, that is a gift or service to the people that we're, that we're going to leave behind. Um, because as you said, a lot of times the family fighting starts right away, and then there's the guilt and what did, what did they really want, and did I do it right? Yeah, but there's this reluctance. And I remember when I was younger, you know, even getting life insurance or doing a will, I'm like, because you feel like it's bad luck, right? If I, if I do, well, you know, I'm going to die, so let's— if I don't do the will, then I'll never die.

Yeah, yeah. And any, any one of us who have ever seen, um, what are those movies called, the, uh, the Final Destination movies, we know that there's never a plan, right?

Yeah, yeah.

Then never— you could never plan what randomly could happen. Um, so it's always good to have those kind of things on hand, or at least have a general idea of it and express that to people so that they know. I do think that there are so many tools. And this is, this is what I kind of did. I'm trying to do with my business. I'm like pulling together things that are more practical, the practical side, and mixing it with the spiritual side and saying all of these things work. All of these modalities can work. It's just what you feel comfortable with. So some people I do the mediumship with, and some people I do not, you know. We, especially with the, the doula work, it's— you've got to meet people where they are. And you've got to be able to help them to best express who this person is, and who they continue to be.

Yeah. For people that don't know about what a, what a doula is, or what a doula does, when do people call you in? And what service do you provide?

So it's really providing that, that service in the gap between hospice care and family care. It's non-medical assistance. So I'm not giving any medicine to anybody or anything. But I am helping them to become more comfortable. So it may be rolling up a pillow, rolling up a towel underneath, you know, doing the things that are practical that help ensure their comfort. But it's also about respecting the process and talking to the family about that and educating them and saying, okay, here's what is likely to happen next. Here, here's what you can expect. Hospice can do that to a certain degree, but they have now a time limit that they can spend with people because they're more corporate now. And so they have different things that they have to follow. And, you know, there's a lot of HIPAA requirements and, and and also insurance requirements that they must follow, right? In, in my case, I don't have limits on the time that I can spend. So I can be there for the family throughout the process. And I can help them, I can be on call with them and say, okay, here's what's happening right now. If they tell me what, what's going on, then I can say, okay, now is a good time to do this or that, you know, now is a good time to call the hospice nurse back in, you know, because if the blood pressure is going down, we know that that's definitely a sign. It's really being there to be a handholder. And what birth doulas do is they, they guide new life into, into being. They're midwives. I like to call this being a midwife for the soul and helping the souls back home.

Yeah, I love that you said back home because we think of birth and death as opposites, right? You come into the world and you become into being, and when you die, you're going out of being. But it's not. You're being born into a new world. So you're actually helping that soul. So, and I think, I think that's a big, big part of our grief, because we grieve because we miss our loved ones, and we're going to miss, you know, who they were physically when they were here. But there's also this, this But a lot of people don't have an understanding where they are. So they're just— they're gone, right? Yeah, they were there and now they're gone.

Yeah. And, you know, think about what I was saying about my daughter talking to my, my mother, right? You know how healing that was for me? I mean, I didn't realize it even in the moment because I was kind of sleepy. But in the time since, of course, I've just been— I marvel at that. She has— my daughter has no memory of this now as an adult. But it's something that'll stay with me forever. And, and the fact that my ex-husband has met my grandchild already, you know, that's kind of cool. So I know they're close there, you know, and that is home. You know, and when people cross over, there is such a sense of relief. It's, it's weird because as humans, our first instinct is to like pound on somebody's chest and get them to start breathing again, right? We want them to— yeah, we want them to come back. We don't want them to go. But when you realize, and I had this experience with my own mother when she passed, because I felt like I wanted to do that. And then later on, as I stood in the room, I could feel— that was my first instinct. The second one was to stop breathing myself.

Right.

I had to tell myself to breathe. And then the third thing was I realized I could feel her spirit about 3 feet above her body. I could not understand why at the time, but that is where they hover right before they, you know, and in that 3-hour period where they still can hear, that's where they are. So I could feel her up here, you know, which was real unique. And, and now that I've been with people who are dying in the hospice and, you know, at home, I can feel that same kind of energy, you know, 3 feet above, and I could feel, I could feel them starting to elevate. And it's good to be able to talk to people about that process as it's happening so they understand it too, and they can say, oh, you know, now I understand why I feel that, because I can feel them around me still, you know. They stay in your energy field for a while. And that's what, you know, when we do Reiki, that's what we try to do is, is remove any of those kind of attachments too, because, you know, you want to be able to let them go and you want it to be a free-flowing communication, a two-way thing. You can't hold them in, you know.

Yeah, well, let's, let's talk about that a little bit more because there are, um, I've heard people say, well, I don't want to hold them back, right, from where they're, from where they're going or whatever. So what are your thoughts on that?

Well, I'm a psychopomp, so, um, you know, I mean, my whole thing is, you know, I, I've gotten a little bit of shamanic training on that too, where you actually do this, the spirit release, the soul release, and let that spirit go. Um, because people tend to hold on and hold people back, and I think that that is a disservice. I think that's a selfish move. And the reason we do that is because we're afraid we're going to lose them forever. And what we don't understand is that's impossible.

Right? Right.

That's impossible. You can't lose them forever. I can't shake them off when I want to sometimes. I'm like, hey, you know, the first time I went into the hospice, they— I could hear everybody, you know, they were all excited that I was there. I almost turned around and left.

Really?

I was in the parking lot. And I said, I can't do this, guys. If you're gonna— if If this is going to be what it's like, I cannot do this because it just freaks me out. And so they were like, okay, you know. So then from that moment on, I learned too that if I went into the chapel first and did like a kind of an opening up to serve, be there, then all the things that happened to me, I could leave there too before I went home. So I didn't carry it with me. I didn't carry everybody with me. They just come and go freely, like, like any of us should. So that's what I tell people is you got to give them the space and trust that they'll always be there.

Right. So I know you do death doula or the doula work and you're a medium, but you also do— you mentioned your different modalities in terms of healing. I know you do Reiki. What other modalities do you do?

Well, right now it's pretty much the Reiki. I do the oracle readings, and I love to use medicine cards for those because I feel like what this world needs right now is more of the medicine. How do we, how do we heal the things that are going wrong in the world, you know, and within ourselves? How do we become better people and better humans and better spirits that help other spirits? Because that's ultimately what we are, right? You know, this is, like I said, this is the window dressing. This is the loaner car. What we are is the spirit that's inside, and that part is eternal. So as we, you know, progress on our journeys, it's important to learn how to be better at all of it, you know. And how do we do that? Well, we do that with gratitude. We do that with unconditional love, We, we do that by the highest vibrations we can achieve and getting there and trying to stay really far away from those really low ones. You know, low ones, they're the easiest, right? They're the— it's the rabbit hole. But if we can stay out of that rabbit hole and stay higher, we will find that we attract more goodness into our lives. We attract more abundance into our lives, but we also attract all the, all the good that the universe has to offer, including continuing support and relationships that we thought were gone forever, but they're not. Yeah.

Yeah. So I know you do some, or you, you've talked a lot about ancestral guidance. So, and you mentioned earlier, you know, we're never, we're never alone. A lot of times we do, we feel like we're alone and we're we're told, but we feel that way. So how does ancestral guidance— how can we get more guidance from our ancestors?

That's an interesting question. I often joke that Marcellus and I are in couples counseling, you know, because he was a vegetarian. He also did not like caffeine. He does not like that I use caffeine at all. He would prefer that I not do that and be a vegetarian like he was. He felt that those those things, those energies interfered with his spirituality. And so for me, I don't agree on that one. But we agreed to disagree. And we're good. But how do I use that? And how do I honor him? I have— well, obviously, I have a framed photo of him. And I'm lucky enough to know who he is. Not everyone is lucky enough to know or have a photograph or any kind element like that. But what you can do is you can create an altar space in your home. And I've written books on feng shui too. So I know that it's important to have a spiritual place, a corner in your room. So you create that space for them. And he's got a space of honor on my altar. And so I'll light incense by him and I will talk to him and I will ask him for guidance. A couple of weeks ago, I was really down about about some things, about just the state of the world. I was thinking about it, and I was like, oh, some days it's so hard to just get up and want to do anything, you know? And so when I'm having a dark night of the soul like that, he's the guy I'll go to, and I'll say, look, I need you to bring— I need all hands on deck, first of all, if it's really a bad one.. But if it's just, you know, moderately bad, I'll say, look, I need you to give me some downloads, you know, give me some dreams, give me some experiences. Give me something that tells me why I need to keep going, why I need to keep doing this. And almost always, immediately, something happens, you know, like, I was asked to do a celebration of life ceremony for somebody in my neighborhood. And it's beautiful thing. Really excited about it. And because she was special in— but in such a, such an ordinary way. And such a beautiful way to celebrate that, you know. And it was fun to be able to create things. Like she used to wear a bow in her hair. And so we're gonna have bows everywhere, you know. Yeah, you know, to celebrate that and celebrate who she was.

So, Katina, you, you mentioned earlier about, um, we're here— I think, I believe you said to learn. You talked about, you know, these bodies are loners and stuff. And you also talked about, you know, sometimes we all get down, we all get kind of like, okay, this is too much. So what is the reason? Why, why are we here? Why are we doing all this?

We're here to learn unconditional love, number one.. And when we achieve it, some of us achieve it really fast. And some of us only want the experience of being born. So some spirits volunteer to do that. And they just have that experience of being born. And maybe it's to teach the parents a lesson of some sort, a lesson about appreciation of small things, or, you know, everyone has their meaning, everyone has their mission. And, and we tend to volunteer in groups to do the same sort of play again, only this time you're going to be the mom and I'm going to be the kid, you know. And so, you know, we do these things for each other, but we help to exercise and expand the soul and expand our non-human capabilities, our spiritual capabilities. And I think it's all about being able to elevate those, you know, it's all about upping our game.. And when we reach that certain point where we are at the highest level, like I think Wayne Dyer probably did before he died, reach that level, um, you become more or less an ascended master. You become a guide to others from where you are, and— or, or from the legacy that you left behind, even, you know, that that's possible. So some of us are here for a short time, some of us can be here for a long time. And it's all about the lessons. It's all about how we lift each other up. Mm-hmm. It's the things that we do for each other, because, you know, when we cross over, that's, that's the movie we get to see, right? The life, the life review. And I used to joke about that and say, well, there are a few people I'd like to bring the popcorn for, you know. Yeah. Yeah. But the reality is we're the ones who judge us. We're the ones who sit with our angel and say, ooh, that was weird that I did that. Oh, that maybe wasn't the best choice. Maybe next time I could do that differently. If there is a next time.

Right, right.

You know, because sometimes, sometimes there is, sometimes not. So when it comes to how we ascend—

yeah, so, yeah, so when it comes to that, because, uh, I had a friend, I, every time I, I think about reincarnation, she comes to mind. She had a really rough life. She, she'd gone through a lot of illness and poverty and all kinds of stuff. And whenever anybody would bring up reincarnation, she would just start crying. She said, I don't want to ever come back here again. And so, you know, some people look at reincarnation as a punishment. What is your thought on reincarnation?

Well, I always say, I don't know what they said to get me to come to this life in this world at this time, but whatever it was, it's not going to work again. You know, it's just not— I'm not doing it. I want to go to a higher place where people are nicer.

Yeah.

Because, wow, this place has been a real learning experience, right? And I do think that we have choice. I do think that. And we do volunteer. And maybe it's because of those other people that are in the circle and we don't want to let them down, you know, because if we're not in that, then it might upset the balance of what they need to learn. So, you know, and they did it for us. So now we got to do it for them. We have an obligation, you know, kind of. I also think that we do it, we sign up because we just want to learn more. And we want to— there were good parts about life. And we remember those too. And we go, hmm, that wasn't so bad. You know how you have a bad experience, and then later on, you kind of look back and yeah, that wasn't as bad as I thought.

Right? Do you? Do you know the movie What Dreams May Come?

Yes.

Okay, I think that's one of the best movies ever. And when you, when you said that, I just thought about them because after all the hell that they go through and they finally get to where they— then, then you're like, let's do it again, let's do it again.

Yes. Yeah.

And I, I remember, uh, I'm part of an organization called Helping Parents Heal, so we all, we've all lost children. And we were at our first conference, we're all sitting around and everybody And he was like, I'm never doing this again, you know, because when losing a child is like, I would never go through that. And of course, we all said that. And then I started thinking later, you know, as I— it's been 9 years since my daughter passed now. And I'm like, I don't say never anymore, because you don't know, there are good parts of life. And when we're here, we focus on the negative. That's the way our brains are. It's the way we're wired. But I think once we get back to the other side, we realize, you know, all the good that was accomplished. The lives that we touch and stuff like that. And maybe we've had a little vacation, you know, back there. We're like, okay, yeah, maybe I'll do it again.

Yeah, I'll do it again. You know, and the thing is, you don't know, your daughter may be the volunteer for you in your next life to help you through something, you know. And so once you start to understand that it's all part of this intricate play, right, then you'd see it differently.

Yeah, that's another really thing that I think a lot of people don't really understand about our lives. We think it's just about us, you know, it's just for— it's just for me, it's for my growth, it's for my whatever. And it is partially, but it's also about the people in your, in your soul group, in your collective, whatever you want to call it. And we do—

we're all connected.

Yeah, we're all connected. And so you know, someone will say, I will, I will be the baby that, that is stillborn, or I'll be, I'll be the one with Down syndrome, you know, so that you can learn how to care for me or whatever. So you learn the compassion, and we all, and we all get something out of it. It's not like there is sacrifice, but there's also something to be gained from either perspective.

Yeah, there really is. And each time we learn something different. Something we didn't know before. And I think that that's the beauty of it, really, is that I don't know that there's like this grand design that it's all predestined. I don't think so, because I think there's a lot of free will involved. But I do feel that the connections are— the connections are always there. Those are eternal. And that all of us have a connection to each other. Even, even the worst of us are connected in some ways as a way of teaching us how we don't want to be.

Yeah. Yeah. I always say we can learn from everybody. And sometimes we learn what to do, and sometimes we learn what not to do.

Exactly.

Everybody can be— I forgot the exact quote, but, you know, either you can be a great example or a big warning, right? So I look at certain people, I'm like, yeah, I Oh, you taught me something that I don't want to do. I do not want to be like that.

You know, it's funny because I'll look at people sometimes and I'll say, oh, you didn't get the memo about last time, did you?

Yeah.

Yeah. But that's okay. That's the way we can bless it and move on and hopefully not hold it, you know, inside. Because I think, I think that that's what too many people do. And the internet has made it so easy for people to just attack each other without even knowing each other and not even feeling the connection. Of the energy between us.

Right, right.

And, you know, that's, that's unfortunate. I hope that in the future it gets to be— I, I hope that we return more to those roots of finding the commonality. And, you know, yeah, you know, the internet is a really interesting thing.

I think it's, um, there is so— there is bad, you know, you've got the keyboard warriors that say and do things that, you know, they would never do in real life. But also I've got, I've got hundreds or thousands of friends all over the world that I would have never met. And I've never met in person. And some of them are some of my best friends. Me too. Me too. They live in Australia or they live in England. Right. Um, so it does also, it can bring us together in ways that we can't even imagine.

That's for sure.

Yeah.

It's like anything, you know, you use it for the good and you get more good, right? You use it for the bad, you get more bad. What we put out is what we attract.

Yes, exactly. I think that's exactly right. So I do want to ask you this question also because, um, I love the color purple. As you can see, it's my microphone cover, and it's— Shane is my daughter's favorite color. Uh, before she was even born, we painted a room purple because she's gonna have a purple room. So I know you're the purple—

I love her already.

What's— so what's the deal with purple? Why are we attracted to it?

Purple is a very spiritual color. It's the color of royalty, first of all. But, but so, you know, it already has, it already has that like higher elevation to it, right? But purple is a very deeply spiritual color. It's the color of amethyst, which is a crystal that helps us to connect to our higher source. So it's got a long and rich history in many different realms. But purple is that color that really resonates and it coordinates with the third eye chakra. And that is the chakra that, you know, where you're using— that's where you connect, but it's also where you leave your body. That's a little secret. Hmm. I don't know if you knew that, but I'll tell you that.

No, no.

So there were, there were some girls that were, and boys that were in an accident in Ohio several years ago, and this is a good illustration of it. And, um, they— it was one of those things, they went to Wendy's, too many people in the car, you know, and it rolled over and people got thrown out because no safety belts, right? Everybody died except one girl. The girl who didn't die was laying there, and she said what she saw was she saw angels bent down over the heads of each of her friends, and, and the angels were strokIng where the third eye is. Hmm. And the spirit came out. And she was wondering, where's my angel? Why don't I have one? And it was because she wasn't dying. It wasn't her time.

Wow.

But this is how we release, is through here. And, and it makes sense because, you know, that's our highest level, but it's also our strongest connection to source. So that's how we go home.

Wow. Wow.

Yeah, it's like there's an imaginary hole there and we just— yeah.

Wow, that's good to know. So, um, we're coming to the end of our time, so tell people, um, we've touched on what you do and you've got some books also, so tell people about your books, where they can find you, and what it is that you can do for them.

Well, the first place to find me is at thepurplepriestess.com. So that's my little home online. And it's still evolving. I call it an eternal work in progress. But the books that I do are available on Amazon, and I've got a lot of different books. Like, I have one, the Everything Palmistry book. These are all older books that I have. The Everything Feng Shui book. So I've done a lot of different books on that. You'll see I also co-wrote Jessica Simpson's first wedding book.

Yes.

Oh, wow. Okay. Wow. So I've done a bunch of different things. This was during my writing career. But the things I've done since then are the last book I did was The Little Book of Feng Shui with Simon Schuster, and that's on my Amazon page. And then the Career Conjuring book that I just finished and I did on lulu.com myself.

Yeah.

That was kind of a little labor of love. And I was a career coach, a metaphysical even career coach. So I would do people's charts and then also help them guide them into the right type of work that makes them happy. So I had a business called Crazy Happy Work. But that's what it was. And I, and I helped them with that.

Yeah.

AI has changed that business a little bit, but also spirit dragged me the other way and said it's time now to do this. Even to the extent that I went back to grad school. So I'm working on my social work degree to add that to the mix.

Oh, wow. Okay.

So yeah. Yeah, at the age of 60, baby. Yeah, never too late. But the Career Conjuring book is really just a bunch of spells, meditations, and affirmations and things you can do to help you find and create the work that you would love doing. And it's something that I used to help me to do this career.

Mm-hmm.

So, you know, it's kind of a big deal in that sense. That it was something that was a full circle project for me. Yeah.

Awesome. Yeah, it's been great getting to know you and having this conversation with you. Any last words you want to share with the audience before we sign off for today?

I think the most important thing is always, always continue your conversations. They're listening. They're talking. Sometimes you can't hear them. But when you get to the point where you can tune into that frequency, you will hear them, or you'll have signs, and, um, know that they're always with you.

All right, thank you. Uh, well, enjoy the rest of your day.

Thank you, you too, Brian. Thank you so much.

All right, bye. Hi there, I'm really excited to tell you about my latest ebook. It's 4 lessons that you can learn from the near-death experience without going through all the trouble of dying to learn them. I've been studying NDEs for several years now. I am completely convinced that not only are they 100% real, but that there's some very universal wisdom that we can get from the near-death experience. And I've distilled that down in this book into 4 short lessons. And I've also given you all the reasons why I believe that NDEs are absolutely real. So go to www.grieftogrowth.com/NDElessons to pick it up for free. www.grieftogrowth.com/NDElessons. I hope you enjoy it.