For most of the animal lovers we just don’t treat animals as animals as they are more than just pets—they’re members of the family. When they pass on, we grieve our deceased pets intensely and their absence leaves a huge hole in our hearts.

While they may no longer be with us physically, we can still keep their memory alive. If you’ve lost a dog, cat, bird, snake or another kind of pet, you’ll want to explore these seven creative ways to honor their memory.

1. Display a Favorite Photograph
When your pet has passed on, remember him or her by hanging your favorite picture of them in your home (or on your desk at work). Having a visual reminder may make you sad at first but you’ll soon smile every time you see your animal’s sweet face.

2. Commission Artwork
Take the first idea up a notch by asking an artist to draw, paint or even sculpt your pet. You can share photographs of your deceased pet and work with someone to create a timeless, one-of-a-kind piece of art to cherish and display.

3. Make a Shrine
Devote a small table or corner in your home to your deceased pets using special objects and keepsakes. You might create a shrine using a food bowl, collar, and a few photographs of him or her with a candle. This area could also become a great place to meditate or simply contemplate life.

4. Leave a Paw Print
This requires a bit of forethought before your pet passes. Consider having your pet step into a square of cement in your backyard (or use a clay kit to make a more portable mold) so you can have his or her paw immortalized. If your pet has already passed, you can always create a paw print yourself and draw his or her name beside it as a symbolic tribute.

5. Keep Their Tags
Consider wearing your deceased pet’s name tag on an anklet or bracelet, or just keep it in your jewelry box for a subtle, tangible reminder of his or her life.

6. Celebrate Their Birthdays
Each year, you can honor your deceased pets by continuing to celebrate their birthdays. Say a few words about what they meant to you and perhaps buy or make their favorite treat—you can share it with your new pet or a friend’s pet as a way of marking this special occasion and showing that you still have love to give to other animals in your life.

7. Donate in Their Name
Pay it forward to other pets and animals in need by choosing a cause that’s important to you—like your local humane society or the World Wide Fund for Nature—and giving what you can in your pet’s name. You can also schedule regular donations! This certainly allows your deceased pets to leave legacies that go beyond your family and help other animals enjoy better lives.

Have you ever thought about having a psychic medium perform a reading or afterlife séance for you? Have you felt a bit skeptical about the whole scenario? If you have wanted to connect with someone who is already in the afterlife or hear what is in store for your future then speaking with a psychic medium would be beneficial to you.

All true mediums have psychic abilities and can help you achieve what you need out of a visit with someone from the afterlife. It may all seem quite scary and somewhat unsettling to imagine seeing or hearing from someone that has passed on from this world, but if you choose to do it, go to a professional psychic medium. Here are 5 benefits of a psychic medium reading that might help you choose whether it is a good option for you.

A Psychic Medium Can Guide You

The benefit of seeing a psychic medium is that they can give you messages from your loved ones while also guiding you on the right path for a happy future. They can get in touch with the afterlife and also see your future occurrences. Therefore, they allow you to make any necessary changes which can protect you from upcoming stressful events.

When you choose to do this type of reading, make sure you have your questions ready so that you will get what you need from your ‘already passed on’ loved ones. A professional psychic medium is there to guide you through any pain you may be experiencing because of your loss and to encourage you that your loved ones are doing ok in the afterlife.

Renewed Faith and Courage

Many times in life we are held back or become stuck because something painful has happened. By having a psychic medium perform a reading on you, you just might find that you are freed from some anguish you have been holding onto. A psychic medium reading may provide you with comfort and it may offer you some insight about your recent choices. A reading may give you new found courage and faith that there is a silver lining and in your future.

Comfort in Knowing

A psychic medium reading can be powerful in the sense that your reader can tell you things that your loved one wanted to share with you but couldn’t. They can also allow you to share things with your loved one that has passed on so the air is all cleared. Imagine having the opportunity to tell your dad, who you had been arguing for years with prior to his passing, that you have always loved him no matter what? Or being able to talk with your mom and hear she is ok, with other loved ones and safe in the afterlife? It may allow you to move forward with your life.

Life Goes On

A psychic medium can give you the comfort in knowing that life truly does continue on after we pass on from this one. A psychic medium see’s and feels messages coming through from the afterlife and can pass them onto you, giving you the confidence that life does not end here. This can help with fears of death and relieve you of any anxiety you may feel over the subject.

A Deeper Understanding of Self

A psychic medium has psychic abilities that allow them to see what your future looks like. They can give you tips and guidance on which paths to go on and which decisions you need to be prepared for. The more you know about what you might encounter in the near future, the sooner you can make decisions about what you want your life to be like. If they tell you news that you are happy and excited about you can steer yourself towards that path faster. If it is negative news, you may be able to stop certain events from happening.

     Being cheated on is difficult, having someone leave you is heart breaking but losing a loved one is incredibly painful and moving on from the pain is often even harder. The grieving process does and should take time, and there is no set timetable for getting through it, but remember that your loved one would not want you to suffer endlessly. When the time is right for you, here are five tips to help you move on with your life.

Seek Continued Support

When a loved one passes over, you will likely find available support at every turn. After the first flurry though, people tend to get on with their own lives. If you still need to talk about your loss, attending a bereavement group can pay dividends. Hospitals often offer these kinds of sessions, although you may prefer a one-to-one session with a trained therapist.

Look After Your Physical and Emotional Health

It’s important to take care of yourself, both in the immediate aftermath of loss and in the following months and years. While it’s tempting to use alcohol or drugs to lessen the pain of grief, it is of more benefit that you focus on getting enough sleep and exercising regularly. It’s equally important to take care of your emotional health. Make time to see friends or perhaps join a class.

Plan Ahead for Emotional Triggers

You may feel like you are getting your life back on track, but grief can make an unwelcome return at any point. You are particularly likely to feel its effects on special days such as anniversaries and milestones. Plan ways you will deal with these emotional blows in advance and you may find them easier to cope with when they arrive. A small memorial service such as releasing lanterns may help mark the occasion.

Draw Comfort From Your Faith or Spirituality

Your faith or spirituality is an immense source of support during difficult times. You may wish to speak to a clairvoyant psychic or a minister at your church. It’s natural for loss to test your beliefs, and these people can help you reaffirm your beliefs, find new peace in your life, and move forward in a positive way. If you don’t wish to talk to anyone, quiet meditation can also help.

Take Care of Practical Matters

It’s likely that you’ll need to take care of some practical matters after your loved one dies. It might be that he or she took care of all the bills or managed children’s schedules. If these roles now become your responsibility, it’s important to get on top of them. Not doing so will only cause more stress; something you can definitely do without.

These tips can help you move on with your life when you are facing a difficult time. To benefit from personalized tips, you may wish to chat to an authentic psychic online. Many people find these sessions useful when trying to move forward from the loss of a loved one, but it’s important to find what works for you and to take one day at a time.

   One of our clients, Angela came to our reading with the desire to reach out to her recently deceased mother. Her mother had gone into a coma after a stroke and Angela had sat with her in those final days making amends over some past hurts but her mom never regained consciousness.

“I don’t know if I should try,” Angela said. “Is it—will it be harmful to her? Keep her from moving on? Or will it even be possible? I thought I’d be ok with it when she died, but I just need to know that she heard me, you know, when I was by her bedside. That it’s ok between us.”

“This isn’t my area of expertise,” I told her, “but I’m willing to try, and if I can’t make contact, I’ll refer you to a friend who specializes in working with transitioned souls.”

Asking to speak to or hear about deceased loved ones is a common theme in psychic readings. Often we don’t get to properly say goodbye or find the closure we need. Making that contact from “beyond” can often be helpful to both souls, creating peace and the ability for both to move on.

Choosing the Right Psychic

It’s important to choose the right kind of psychic for making this type of connection. While it is possible for any psychic to contact your deceased loved ones, there are people who specialize in these sorts of readings. Usually they call themselves Mediums and will be clear about their services. With Angela, I was able to get some general information about her mom, but she wanted to see if she could speak to her directly. For this task, I referred her to a colleague of mine, Claudette, who is a Medium.

Mediums develop their abilities like any other psychic, but Claudette has had a gift for speaking with the dead since early childhood. She is clairaudient and will typically hear the voice of the transitioned soul in her mind. She will locate the person her clients want to speak to, and if they are available, she will ask them to speak to her on behalf of the client.

Other Mediums actually channel the dead, which can be a little unnerving if you’ve never experienced it. This means that the departed souls will actually speak through the Medium, and you as the client can interact with the soul through the body of the Medium (think of the movie Ghost, though not quite so dramatic).

When Is It Appropriate to Contact A Loved One?

No one is absolutely clear on how souls transition after death. From my own experience and that of others who have been in contact with transitioned souls, it seems that most souls move along fairly quickly—usually within a few days. If there has been a sudden or shocking death, if the person was quite young, or if there are other unusual circumstances, it is possible for the soul to become confused and unclear about how/if to move on. If there is much unfinished business, such as a grudge, long-standing hurt, or lack of forgiveness, a soul may also feel reluctant to transition on toward their next stage. If these circumstances describe your situation, it may be appropriate to try contacting your deceased loved one.

If you are merely curious or trying to contact someone who has been dead a long time, there is less certainty or reason that the transitioned soul would be hanging around and available for communication. Many spiritual traditions do speak about messages from “the ancestors,” but this is a different situation than trying to contact your great-great-grandmother. Of course, you can try to reach whoever you like, but I advise my clients that results may be spotty at best.

Contacting the dead is not a guaranteed process. You may not be able to reach them; this is usually a good sign that the soul has moved on—and that is what is best for them.

What to Expect

If there is one thing I’ve learned, it is that there is no “typical” contact with a deceased loved one. But you can make some general preparations.

Be clear about why you want to make contact. Keep your own messages simple and to the point; this isn’t going to be the time for a rambling natter about the good old days! It probably won’t be like having a regular conversation either, even if the Medium is channeling the soul.

Be open about what to expect. Although most people report (from near death experiences) that the other side is at the very least a neutral, loving space, whoever you are trying to contact may not be able to give you the closure or forgiveness you want. They may still be connected to their emotional body, where all the same hurts that existed in life are housed. But they may also be in a space of peace and unconditional love. There is no way to tell before contacting them.

The most important thing you can do is send your wishes for love and peace. Let them know, if they appear confused, that they have in fact died and that it is okay for them to follow their angels or whatever guide appears (Jesus, other departed loved ones, pets, etc.) to their next stage. No soul will go without guidance into the light.

The passing of a loved one is always a transition for us as well as them. We can help a soul to move forward by engaging in whatever version of prayer we believe in, sending our love and encouraging them to go on. Sometimes it is appropriate to reach out to a loved one who has passed on, but the most selfless thing we can do, however deep our grief, is to let them go.

      “The love of a half dead heart will keep you half alive”  We all must pass away sometime—but when we lose someone we love, the pain and sadness we experience are very difficult to bear…. It seems like we are just living for the sake of living but there’s no more dream, no more hope, no more happiness. What can we do to overcome this sadness? How can we step forward into the next phase of life?

In our darkest moments, we all need some reassurance: we need to believe that death is not the end.

Love does not die even after death

I’ve just read a remarkable book – “Hello from Heaven” by Bill and Judy Guggenheim – that provides convincing new evidence of life after death.

The  couple’s field of research is After-death communication (ADC), which occurs when we are contacted directly by a deceased loved one.

The authors’ seven years of study seeks to prove that life and love are eternal. According to the Guggenheims, 20-40% of the population of the United States have had one or more ADC experience:  sensing a presence, hearing voices, feeling a touch, smelling a fragrance, seeing partial or full appearances of passed relatives, etc…

Their study tells us our loved ones want us to know they continue to exist, albeit in a different state; that we don’t need to be concerned about them as we will be reunited when it’s our turn to leave. Death is simply a transition from the physical world to the spiritual world.

Grieving and moving through it

There is no right or wrong way to grieve. The important thing is to allow ourselves the time and space to get over our loss.

Professionals distinguish seven stages of grief that you have to go through: shock, denial, panic, anger, guilt, depression and acceptance.

Talking to a psychic who offers hope and clarity can help you work your way through these stages.

How can a psychic help?

Psychics and spiritual mediums bridge the gap between the physical and the spiritual worlds. A gifted psychic connects the energies of the living and the dead and provides reassurance – when a loved one passes – that they are not really gone. They show us that not even death can bring true love to an end.

Our loved ones still exist, and that they been set free through “the transformational process of death”.

It is very comforting to know that we can continue to communicate with our loved ones.Whether we choose to talk to them out loud or silently… they can hear us.