What Psychic Medium John Edward Needs You to Know About Life After Death…

1. 0:00 – 0:28

   Intro

   1. JSJay Shetty0:00

      [dramatic music] [camera clicking] What do most people

2. 0:28 – 1:06

   Why Do People Really Go See a Medium?

   1. JSJay Shetty0:29

      come to you searching for? What are they seeking when they come to you?

   2. JEJohn Edward0:32

      When a client first decides that they wanna see a medium, they are thinking, "I, I wanna make that connection back with the person who's left the physical world." That seeking of what they think is closure is actually really connection. So I think what they think they are seeking as closure, when it becomes the connection, I want people to recognize that there's a survival of consciousness, that life and love are eternal, and that a medium's not gonna fix their grief. So that's what they think that they're coming for, like they're gonna be healed, they're gonna be fixed. And I think, truth be told, it's gonna actually set them on a path of discovery.

3. 1:06 – 3:14

   Turning Grief Into Discovery

   1. JSJay Shetty1:06

      How many people are disappointed that they're not gonna get fixed and healed when they realize that's not the process? And how many people continue to actually say-

   2. JEJohn Edward1:14

      Ooh

   3. JSJay Shetty1:14

      ... "No, I'm gonna commit to this next phase"?

   4. JEJohn Edward1:17

      I, I don't know what the numbers would be, but I can go by feeling, right?

   5. JSJay Shetty1:20

      Yeah.

   6. JEJohn Edward1:20

      I think that in every reading, no matter how amazing the information may be, you're always starting as a deficit, because nobody wants to sit with me. Nobody really wants to sit with me. They want their loved one and friends to be here in the physical world, so we're already starting at a deficit. I think that there's an expectation that somebody has when they go for a reading, "I need to hear this. They need to say this. I need to know this." And then that kinda reflects back to them, "Then I'll be okay," and they may not hear that. They may not hear from the person that they wanna hear from, or they may hear from multiple people. So there's always a level of expectation management, and I think disappointment that comes into a reading, so that I always want people to be like, "Hey, if you're not ready for this, don't go."

   7. JSJay Shetty2:04

      Yeah.

   8. JEJohn Edward2:04

      Like, process your grief in a different way, because you can't make someone come through, and you cannot make them say the things that you want them to say.

   9. JSJay Shetty2:11

      Yeah. When people are coming, are they usually coming because they feel there was something I didn't say or something I didn't hear, or is it that I just miss that person and I wanna access them if they had some sort of dream, experience, revelation? Like where-

   10. JEJohn Edward2:28

       Right

   11. JSJay Shetty2:28

       ... where's that need coming from for humans to want to connect with someone who's passed on?

   12. JEJohn Edward2:33

       I, I think it's all of the above. I think people wanna know that they're okay. I, I'd start there. The physical death process takes them away from us, and as a result of taking them away from us, it makes us feel absent, it makes us feel empty, it makes us feel vulnerable. And now I wanna know, are, are they okay? So what I want people to know is they are okay, but we are not.

   13. JSJay Shetty2:56

       Hmm.

   14. JEJohn Edward2:56

       The grieving are not, and we're projecting onto them our not being okay. And I think the process o- of them coming through is to help assuage some of that, to say, "No, I'm okay. N- now let's work on you."

   15. JSJay Shetty3:07

       [chuckles]

   16. JEJohn Edward3:07

       Like, "I'm okay."

   17. JSJay Shetty3:09

       Yeah.

   18. JEJohn Edward3:09

       "Let's work on what my passing has now done. What are the obstacles and the blockages that are coming?"

   19. JSJay Shetty3:13

       Yeah.

4. 3:14 – 7:49

   Skepticism vs. Cynicism

   1. JSJay Shetty3:14

      You know, you're very open to skeptics.

   2. JEJohn Edward3:16

      I am.

   3. JSJay Shetty3:16

      And I can imagine anyone who's listening or watching right now is just like, "Jay, why are you doing this? What, what's the point? Like none of this works. It's not real. It's make believe." Or-- and you've probably heard every excuse in the book-

   4. JEJohn Edward3:28

      Every

   5. JSJay Shetty3:29

      ... or every, uh, thing in the book because you've done this for a long, long, long, long, long time. What has been your approach to meeting a skeptic who right now is going, "That is just not true. That's not possible"?

   6. JEJohn Edward3:43

      My approach is to come on the journey, and what I mean by that is I was that person. So at a very young age, I had a reading that put me on this path, and I had no choice but to come to the understanding that this woman was legitimate with what she was doing, 'cause there's no way possible that she could have known what she had known. I ruled out that it was mind reading for the simple reason that she could not have known something that was gonna happen when it wasn't in my mind if I didn't know about it. So I'm an analytical person, and I was like, "Okay, I need to understand what this is. How does she do this?" And this woman told me that I had this ability, and that in that first reading that I had with her, she said, "You're gonna change the way millions of people look at this subject matter." I was 15 years old. You know, when I jokingly say, it's like she could have said I parked my spaceship in the backyard and I'll take you for a spin when we're done, right? It s- it was like analogous to that. The reality is that sent me on a journey, and I became a seeker, and I think that when we're seekers, that leads to exploration. And my exploration took me to the public library, where I read every book back in 1985 on the occult, and I was insatiable with information. And my discovery, which raised my awareness, was this is common sense, like everybody has this. This isn't psychic. This is just basic, like g- you know, we all do this. So I started asking questions. I was-- I would ask like high school friends, "Haven't you ever seen your dead grandfather?" The answer was no. I said, "You've never had an apparition?" The answer was no. "Have you ever had dreams that came true?" The answer was no. So I started to recognize that maybe my understanding of myself at that time, I needed to reframe certain things. Then I went into the active development part. But before that, I was the person who was debunking the people that came to my grandmother's house to do readings, so I get it. But there is a difference between skepticism and cynicism. Skepticism says, "I'm not sure. Show me." Cynicism says, "I'm sure. No matter what you show me, I'm not gonna believe you." And I think that you can't give somebody a belief system, and I'm down with people being skeptical. The only part that I think is not, not cool is when somebody defines a person's personal motivations, 'cause they don't know me. So, you know, I've had every possible scenario, you know, scammer, fraud, con, grifter, you name it. They k- they kinda like fall off me now. Forty years of doing this, you're kinda like, it is what it is. But the reality is I've put myself through positions of being studied and tested. I'veRead for people in positions. I've made sure that when I read, I'm giving information, not philosophy. So I just want people to come on that journey. You know, many years ago, there was a woman who sent me a letter, and, uh, I hope I get this correctly. She was an insurance fraud investigator, and she kinda took it on herself like, "I don't like him. I'm gonna-- Like, I'm gonna use my skillset, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna follow him around." And so she came to different events. But before she did that, she went to the Skeptical Society meetings, and she was armed with what the things to look for, and so she was looking for, uh, you know, reading body language, verbal intonation, cues, and most importantly, she wanted to see if the same people were being read in different cities, that they were, like, you know, actors that were connected. When all was said and done, she wrote me this amazing letter, and she said, "Wow, I'm more concerned about the negative connotation that people are putting out about what you're doing than the reality that you are just doing what you're doing." And I'm still friends with her, like, twenty-five years later, right? And I remember, like, I got that letter, and I just called her up, and I was like-- Her name's Marsha. I was like, "Marsha?" And she's like, "Who is this?" I'm like, "It's John Edward." And she's like, "Oh." I said, "I just wanted to personally say thank you for the letter," because she did her due diligence. She came, she watched, she saw. And I think that when people do that with legitimate mediums, I think they will think differently because it's basically showing them that there's a process that's happening here. That is not to say that there aren't a ton of other people that are out there. Go on TikTok, you'll see them, right? Go on Instagram and YouTube, and they're there. I see them. I block them constantly. Skepticism is helpful, so I want everybody to have that. But be objectively skeptical. Don't be judgmental and skeptical.

5. 7:49 – 12:02

   The Science Behind Psychic Studies

   1. JSJay Shetty7:49

      What are the studies that you said that have, that have been done on you to help prove or show some of the capabilities that you have? What, what would we see if we studied your brain or, or what's being scanned? What's being looked at?

   2. JEJohn Edward8:01

      So the cool part for me is back in nineteen-nine, nineteen ninety-nine, HBO was doing a documentary called America Undercover: Life After Life, and it was produced by Linda Ellerbee and her production company, Lucky, Lucky Duck Productions. And I had not done a lot of television. I was mostly a radio guy. I love radio 'cause it was, like, interactive and live. But then they said that Dr. Gary Schwartz was gonna be part of this and, and he was going to study this. He wanted to study us, you know, Harvard, Yale guy, right? And I was thinking, like, "How do I not do that?" Like, one, I have a science m-mind. Like, I like data, so I'm like, "How do I not do this?" And then a, a colleague of mine was invited. Her name is Suzanne Northrup, and I was like, "Suzanne, are you doing this?" And she's like, "How do we not do this?" She's like-- And her, you know, her, her joke was, "How do we not sit in the seat?" You know? "How do you not put yourself in the seat?" So it was myself, Anne Gehman, Suzanne Northrup, George Anderson, and Lori Campbell. We were, like, five people that were, you know, lab rats, basically. And what they were doing is they were looking at EEGs, EKGs, and they, they-- The first testing that we did, which was on the documentary, they put the woman that we read, and they kinda looked at the data that came through. And then in science, when you do additional testing, as you know, that they have to replicate and extend data points. So we did that, and they introduced something called the silent sitter experiment. And then the third time we did that, there was another layer that they added in, and then he compiled all that data, and it ruled out that body language, verbal intonations, all, like, all of the things that the, quote-unquote, "cynics" would say we're doing, they were able to establish n-n-no, we're not, and here's the data. That book was written. It's called The Afterlife Experiments. And I foolishly thought, like, when the studies came out and when the book got published, I was like, "Okay, we're gonna take this work to the next level now." Like, people are gonna go like, "Okay, there's, like, science." Oh, no. They attacked the scientist. Now, the scientist was crazy. And it was that moment where I recognized it doesn't matter, right? Twenty percent of the population are gonna believe, twenty percent of the population are not gonna believe, and some people fall, you know, somewhere within that range. So that's where I came to the place of be skeptical. Question everything, so they're not taken advantage by people who are claiming to do this and can't. Make sure you're getting information and validation, evidence that that person is talking to your relative, and they're not just giving you philosophy. And I travel around the world. I do events constantly. The first part of my events are always to establish that 'cause I wanna protect people from, like, you know, anybody who walks in front of a crowd of people and says, "Who here connects with a butterfly?" Well, guess what? Somebody's gonna connect with a butterfly, right? Every afterlife book has a butterfly on it 'cause it's the quintessential transformation. So I try to do the debunking of my own field while raising the bar and kind of trying to put out there what I think people should be looking for, in my professional opinion.

   3. JSJay Shetty10:46

      Yeah, I think that's the natural concern people have is that the human mind can project anything back onto itself. So when you say butterfly-

   4. JEJohn Edward10:54

      Yeah

   5. JSJay Shetty10:54

      ...it's like every single person in the, the room is thinking of that exact moment. It's almost like saying, "Don't think of a pink elephant," and then naturally the whole room is thinking about a pink elephant.

   6. JEJohn Edward11:04

      Well, what I do is I stand in front of the crowd and I'll say, "I'm gonna disappoint all of you right now." And they kinda get that look of like, "What?" I'm like, "Here's what I'm not talking about." And then I say, "Instead of me telling you, I'm gonna show you why." And I go, "Who here connects with butterflies? And that's your sign." And then people raise their hand. And then I go through cardinals and hummingbirds and dragonflies and finding pennies, dimes, and quarters, and then I go through feathers, and then I talk about seeing eleven eleven and other iteration of numbers. By the time I'm done, ninety percent of the room has raised their hand. And I'm like, "All of that's off the table. I'm not gonna bring it up. When we make connections today, we're gonna go deeper, and you may have to think about something that's not on your top ten list of what you wanna hear. But as long as it's a fact and a validation, then it's letting you know that it's them coming through." And a lot of times it's really trivial stuff, by the way, conversations that just happened, things that, you know, they did when nobody else was around, but it supports that there is a survival of consciousness and that our loved ones and friends are still part of what we're

6. 12:02 – 16:02

   How Messages Are Received in a Reading

   1. JEJohn Edward12:02

      doing.

   2. JSJay Shetty12:02

      Mm. I wanna talk about sessions with you, what they look like, because I-I almost wanna have a conversation that helps people understand what the process looks like and feels like. And I was talking to my producer, who I know had a call with you before we booked this and everything. So she was saying to me that when you were on Zoom with her, you asked her if you could read her quickly or whatever the right language is. Is that accurate? And she said you asked her a question like, "Who's Chris?" And Chris happens to be her ex-boyfriend.

   3. JEJohn Edward12:29

      Oh my God, I remember this. I did this?

   4. JSJay Shetty12:30

      And she-

   5. JEJohn Edward12:31

      Sorry, Paige

   6. JSJay Shetty12:31

      ... and she'd spoken to him, like she'd had an interaction with him like two days before that, she was telling me.

   7. JEJohn Edward12:37

      Okay.

   8. JSJay Shetty12:37

      And it was just like there was nowhere that you could have researched that. My-- Her page is a private page on social media, so you couldn't find it there. What are you experiencing? I wanna know like almost how are things revealed to you, because that feels-- When, when she was telling me that story, I was just like, "That's incredible." Like, that's, that's-

   9. JEJohn Edward12:56

      You should come to an event then, 'cause that-

   10. JSJay Shetty12:58

       Yeah, that's, uh-

   11. JEJohn Edward12:59

       ... that's just the tip of the iceberg of like-

   12. JSJay Shetty13:00

       No, for sure

   13. JEJohn Edward13:00

       ... the layers of like what comes through.

   14. JSJay Shetty13:02

       But I was just thinking, I was like, "There's no way," unless you were family friends of a distant and you knew some- It's a, it's a really hard thing to pull off for somebody to pull off on-

   15. JEJohn Edward13:09

       See, that's the good skeptic-- That's the good skeptical part.

   16. JSJay Shetty13:11

       Yeah.

   17. JEJohn Edward13:11

       Like, that's what I want people to have, right?

   18. JSJay Shetty13:13

       Yeah.

   19. JEJohn Edward13:13

       So I see, hear, and feel energy. My abilities are clairvoyance, clairaudience, and clairsentience. And what that-

   20. JSJay Shetty13:18

       Explain those.

   21. JEJohn Edward13:18

       Yeah.

   22. JSJay Shetty13:19

       Yeah.

   23. JEJohn Edward13:19

       Well, that translates, they're like French words. Like clairaudience means clear hearing, clairvoyance means clear seeing, clairsentience means clear feeling. And this is where I jokingly say there's absolutely nothing clear about it. You know, it should be like cloudy seeing, cloudy hearing, cloudy, cloudy feeling. And then in this kind of like downloaded vibe, I'm basically telling you what it is that I'm seeing, hearing, feeling. And-

   24. JSJay Shetty13:40

       So did you see the name Chris? Did you hear it or-

   25. JEJohn Edward13:42

       I probably heard it. I probably heard it, right? Where it's like a download. So let me give you an example of what that means. You know when you're reading a book or you're reading something, but your mind goes someplace else-

   26. JSJay Shetty13:52

       Mm-hmm

   27. JEJohn Edward13:52

       ... and you're thinking about something else, and then you have to go back and reread what it was? That's what it's like.

   28. JSJay Shetty13:58

       Mm-hmm.

   29. JEJohn Edward13:59

       So it's not an out loud voice. Nobody's yelling, "Chris!" You know? It's like I have two thoughts that are happening. So maybe somebody's asking me a question, and while she's asking me the question, it's like, "Chris." I'm like, "Can I ask you, like, who's, who's Chris?" In, in the case of a reading, it's just a lot of that, and then I put myself in the zone of receiving. And my style of reading actually changed from the University of Arizona study because the second time we went out there, they said, "We're gonna do something called the silent sitter experience." And I'm like, "Okay, great. What does that mean?" And they said, "You're gonna sit there. They're gonna put the person behind you, and for the first ten minutes of the reading, they're not gonna talk." And I about had colitis in that moment, and I went, "What do you mean they're not gonna talk?" And they said, "We wanna see if you can get information without the person having to say anything to you." And I remember thinking, "I don't think I can do that. Like, I think I need them to validate, like, what's coming through." So like an athlete goes into training for a competition, months leading up to that, all my clients, when they would come to me, I'd be like, "Hey, listen, I have to go through this, like, science testing. Can you not talk for the first ten, ten minutes? Can you try not to say anything?" And they would be like, "Okay." And I recognized that I was already doing it. I just didn't know that I was doing it, because I would stop people from trying to say something, 'cause if they gave me a bias, it might take me in the wrong direction. I'm also, like, by habit, and I have to stop myself from doing interviews, like while I'm talking to somebody, I will drift over to a blank wall, because what I do is I focus on a blank wall to see what I'm seeing in my mind's eye. So when I did my TV show, Crossing Over, I didn't design this, but they came up to me and they showed me the sets, and the original set of Crossing Over had these big white sails all around the room. And I thought, "Why'd you guys put those there?" And they goes, "Oh, we thought that, that it looked great, and, you know, these amorphous shapes." And I'm like, "Perfect." That's where I would focus, so I didn't look at the clients. So that's how information comes through. I see it, I hear it, and I feel it.

   30. JSJay Shetty16:00

       And do you believe that anyone

7. 16:02 – 18:07

   What Actually is a Psychic Medium?

   1. JSJay Shetty16:02

      can go from cloudy to clear thinking, hearing, and seeing? Or is that something that you uniquely, obviously the medium mentioned to you at fifteen that you had that. Could we all fine-tune ourselves to that level, or is that-

   2. JEJohn Edward16:16

      I think we can all fine-tune ourselves to our level.

   3. JSJay Shetty16:19

      Right.

   4. JEJohn Edward16:19

      And there are a lot of people that, you know, with the success of Crossing Over and with the success of what I've done, I have had a lot of people, like, come out psychic medium, and I don't believe that they're all psychic medium. I think that they might be ridiculously psychic, and they would probably be better numerologists, tarot readers, astrologers. But because they saw popularity with the word medium, they were like, "Oh, psychic medium," but they're flipping cards. Uh, "Psych- psychic medium," but I'm doing astrology. It's like, no, do, do what you do. And I come out of a healthcare background, so for me, it's like you have different specialties, right? So you have your doctors, you have your general practitioners, and then you have surgeons. So a medium is like a specialty of, of being a psychic. I think every person that does whatever metaphysical practice that they're doing is tapping into their intuition, and it gives them a framework, a boundary, something to work within. So I think everybody can do that. My goal is to get people to look at life through an energetic lens and not to think that they need the medium, right? If you could raise your awareness to a point of paying attention to your in- your intuition, then when you're making decisions, you're making decisions based upon not fear, but you're making decisions based on a feeling of, "This is good for me," or, "This is not good for me." And I think if most people just sit and just sit with what's happening around them, they're gonna go, "Wow, this feels not good. Maybe this is not a good person for me to be around." But then we talk ourselves out of that.

   5. JSJay Shetty17:46

      Mm-hmm.

   6. JEJohn Edward17:47

      "No, but I've known them forever, and they're, you know, and, and our families knew each other and blah, blah." But meanwhile, you're the one who's keeping the relationship going.

   7. JSJay Shetty17:54

      Yeah.

   8. JEJohn Edward17:54

      That person's not doing anything for that. So I think if people sit with what they're feeling and they're true to what they're feeling, they can make better informed decisions.

   9. JSJay Shetty18:02

      Mm-hmm.

   10. JEJohn Edward18:03

       So I always want people to look at life through an energetic pair of glasses.

   11. JSJay Shetty18:06

       Yeah. And then

8. 18:07 – 20:21

   Everything Is Energy

   1. JSJay Shetty18:07

      the next thingMy producer said was that you asked her if she had any experience with suicide in her, you know, friends and family or, or in her life. And she's talked to me about it before. She has had someone in her life who, uh, died by suicide. And, and then you asked her if she had any artwork to do with that person, and she actually has tattoos on her body that are based on that relationship. And I was like, you know, that-- to me, to do that over a Zoom call, I, I'm sharing all of this because this happened in real time, and-

   2. JEJohn Edward18:41

      Right

   3. JSJay Shetty18:42

      ... you know, it's not an event or-

   4. JEJohn Edward18:43

      Right, right, right

   5. JSJay Shetty18:43

      ... and just for people to get context of, of you doing this over someone that I know, uh, on my team. And I was thinking, "Wow," like, you know, it's, it's pretty amazing to be even to be able to do it across Zoom. H-how does that work?

   6. JEJohn Edward18:58

      It's energy, right? So it's just energy. First, I have to say thank you because I can't tell you how many people I have been interviewed by, whether it be radio or television, where stuff would happen, and they would never bring something like that up. So the fact that you're doing that is just like, thank you.

   7. JSJay Shetty19:13

      I, I, it, it's real, so I, I have to bring it up. It's, uh, you know, if I'm talking to my team and we always have-

   8. JEJohn Edward19:18

      See, that's just it. You don't have to.

   9. JSJay Shetty19:19

      Oh, right. Okay. Yeah.

   10. JEJohn Edward19:20

       You don't have to. And I can't tell you how many circumstances I've been in where that validation n-never happened. So gratitude. Thank you. But it's energy, you know? It's just simply, simply energy. So there's somebody that I, I know that does healing work. His name is Charlie Goldsmith. And one of the things that I witnessed Charlie do was like, you know, a, a healing, a group healing, maybe over Facebook or whatever, and I was talking to my kids, and I'm like, "You know what's kinda, like, interesting?" I was like, "I would think that as a healer you would have to, like, be next to the person, like, to heal them." [chuckles] And I see my kids look at me like... And I'm like, "What?" And they just like sh- they like kind of turn their head at me, and they're like, "Do you need to be next to the person in order to connect with them?" And I had that moment of like, "Ooh, that should've been my answer, right?" But look at me. I do what I do, and I still questioned, like, the process of something. Why? 'Cause I didn't understand it. But once I put it in the frame of reference of, "Oh, I get it now. I get it. Okay. There it is."

   11. JSJay Shetty20:19

       Mm. So before we dive

9. 20:21 – 24:31

   Red Flags to Look for in Readings

   1. JSJay Shetty20:21

      into more about the process that people-

   2. JEJohn Edward20:23

      Sure

   3. JSJay Shetty20:23

      ... actually come into you, and I wanted to share those examples just because I felt that they were, like you said, they... But they were just so real to me, someone that I know, someone who's producing the show, who, who isn't coming to you for a particular need.

   4. JEJohn Edward20:35

      Right.

   5. JSJay Shetty20:36

      And, and for them to still have that experience was pretty powerful. How can people watch out for anyone who's misleading them, taking their money, taking advantage of them? What are the things to look out for?

   6. JEJohn Edward20:47

      So I think that if you see somebody that is saying stuff like, "You have a curse on you," that, like, you know, run. You know, "You pay me money, I'm gonna take off that, that curse. Pay me money, I'm gonna light candles for you." Like, all, all of that kind of stuff, that, that's red flag, red flag. Another red flag for me is when somebody who can't actually do a reading, they may be intuitive and psychic, but they're calling themselves a medium when they're not, and they then blame the person in spirit for not coming through. Like, they'll say something like, "Your dad's not evolved enough in spirit. He needs more prayers." M-m- no he doesn't. That person just couldn't make the connection. So, like, I will never blame my lack of connection on the person who's passed. I'll just say, "I'm sorry, I can't make the connection," which means it's a me thing. I was live on a Larry King night, like, you know, doing readings, and there was, uh, somebody that called up, and I got nothing, like absolutely nothing on this one person. And I said, "I'm so sorry. I can't make the connection with you." And we go to commercial, and Larry looked at me and he's like, he's like, "I might believe you more now." I went, "You believe me more now 'cause I couldn't do the reading?" He said, "Yeah, 'cause you could have said anything." I go, "No, I couldn't." I said, "I had nothing." So because I had nothing, I could not say anything. So I think we have to look at being careful that people are not just giving philosophy, and that's a big one for me. Like, when someone pontificates in a reading, and I always watch-

   7. JSJay Shetty22:14

      Give me an example

   8. JEJohn Edward22:15

      ... when somebody will not kind of feel like they're getting information, but then they get something, right? Hypothetically. And then there's a story that's built around it, right? So if you know that the person's passed, right? If it's a mother, it's a dad, it's whatever, there's personality traits, there's relationship dynamics that you may wanna hear. "Your mom wants you to know that she loves you, and she's standing with you," and it's, it's swirly, and it's-

   9. JSJay Shetty22:44

      Mm

   10. JEJohn Edward22:44

       ... flowery, and it's-

   11. JSJay Shetty22:46

       Mm

   12. JEJohn Edward22:46

       ... it's ornate.

   13. JSJay Shetty22:47

       And everyone wants to hear it.

   14. JEJohn Edward22:48

       Yeah.

   15. JSJay Shetty22:49

       Generally, yeah.

   16. JEJohn Edward22:49

       Yeah. They, they, they, they definitely wanna hear that. And, and I'll say that, but I'm gonna say it differently. I'm gonna be like, "Just so you know that they're okay, and they're coming through from a pl- from a place of love."

   17. JSJay Shetty22:59

       Mm.

   18. JEJohn Edward23:00

       Now, I have symbols. If I see pink roses, I know that they want me to express love. If I see pink roses with thorns on it, I know that they want me to express love, but they also want me to say in life they couldn't do it. Can't hold the flowers, right? They're, they're thorny. So I don't like when people give philosophy as information. I don't like when people, you know, go for the low-hanging fruit, "Who here has the, you know, butterfly connection?" Like, all of those types of things, I, I, I think you need to be careful about things like that. If they're asking you for any type of, like, questions. Like, I was watching something on- online one day, and the person said, "In, in order for me to make the connection with you, I need you to tell me the relationship of the person who's passed, the name of the person who's passed, the date that the person's passed, and how they passed." And I about levitated out of my chair. I was like, "W- then what are you doing?" Right? So if I'm doing a radio show, if I'm doing a, a call-in, I might say to the person, "Hey, how can I help you? Do you have a question?" And they may say, "I'd like to try to connect with my dad." That's it. And then I'm gonna say, "Okay. I may not get your dad, but pay attention to everything that's coming through." And then I feel like my job is to interview who's coming through. "Who are you? How did you pass? When did you pass? Any pertinent dates?" And then ultimately, I'm looking for the why now, right? So at the intersection of-You, me, and the universe. Why now? Why today? And what is that nugget that I have to mine for that I'm gonna help them with? That's what I'm looking for in a session, whether I'm in front of people or if I'm in a one-on-one.

10. 24:31 – 31:23

    A Session That Changed Everything

    1. JSJay Shetty24:31

       How did you, the first time you did this, feel-- Because you're in that reading yourself at fifteen years old.

    2. JEJohn Edward24:37

       Yeah.

    3. JSJay Shetty24:37

       How did you even end up there in the first place?

    4. JEJohn Edward24:39

       Doing the, the-

    5. JSJay Shetty24:39

       The, the reading that was done on you that you had, uh, that you got the message.

    6. JEJohn Edward24:42

       So my Italian side of the family, my grandmother and my mom, had psychics come to the house all the time. My dad was a New York City police officer, not a fan of the subject matter, made sure that I was never around it growing up. Uh, my mom and dad divorced, moved into my grandmother's house, paranormal hub of activity. And, uh, for about three years when they would do stuff like that, I used to make fun of the people. You know, I would, you know, jokingly... I remember one guy that was a, a, a card reader that they had, and after like three people came out, the third or fourth person came out, and I went, "Wait, let me guess. You're going to Florida." And the person went, "Yes. He said I'm going to Florida. How did you know that?" I'm like, "Because you live in New York."

    7. JSJay Shetty25:20

       [laughs]

    8. JEJohn Edward25:20

       Like, New Yorkers go to Florida and Aruba.

    9. JSJay Shetty25:23

       Yeah. [laughs]

    10. JEJohn Edward25:23

        Like, why is nobody going to Kansas, right?

    11. JSJay Shetty25:25

        [laughs]

    12. JEJohn Edward25:25

        So the reality was I was that person. So when I say I understand sc-skepticism. But after I had that first reading, I went to debunk her, and I went to debunk her because my grandmother came out of the room crying. She made my grandmother upset, and I was like, "What did this woman say to you?" Very protective of my grandmother. And, um, she said, "No, she told me that Tony was with me." And then I felt bad 'cause I'm like, "Grandma, you were..." Tony was my grandfather-

    13. JSJay Shetty25:52

        Mm.

    14. JEJohn Edward25:52

        Anthony. I was like, "You were introduced as Mrs. Esposito. It's not a big stretch that it's gonna be an Anthony or a Tony in your family, no?" And to my grandmother's credit, she said, "If you don't believe that your grandfather, who loved me more than life itself, is still with me, that's, like, a you problem, not a me problem." And then she said, "How would she know this?" And then she proceeded to tell me things that apparently were true that I did not know having to do with my grandfather. So I didn't leave it there. Here's what I did. I went through the list of people that were in the room that this woman read before my grandmother to see who could, her name was Lydia Clara, who could Lydia have extrapolated that information from and then given it to the oldest person in the room? None. There was nobody that that woman read before. So then my cousin went. My cousin's thirteen years older than I am, but she looked like she was the same age. And she came out, and she was like, "Oh my God." And I'm like, "Come on, Ro, not you too." And she's like, "You have to go. Like, you have to go." She's like, "I'll pay for you to go." And I looked at my mother like, "Could I go?" And she said, "You can go, but you better treat her with respect." And I said, "Oh, I'll treat her with respect. I'm just not gonna help her like the rest of you." So I went in armed with my, like, attitude, and she said, "Can I have your high school ring?" And I went, "Sure." I took off my ring and I hand it to her, and she went like this, did not look at me, and then proceeded to give me information that kinda sound, honestly sounded batshit crazy. I mean, she literally said to me, "You have highly evolved beings of white and gold light that are ready to work with you, and I'm here to put you on your path." And I, I remember, like, the way that she said it with such conviction. I'm like, "Oh, so she's crazy. Like, this is, like, this is crazy." So I was like, "Okay." And then, like, part two of the reading made sense, but yet it didn't, but it did make sense, so she was two for two. And then the last part was where she just, like, rocked my world, like, flipped me upside down. I was like, "Whoa." Like, "There's no way that she would know this." That set me on my path. And then from, like, 1985 to 1987, my readings were just what's happening now, what's coming up for a person. I had no interest in dead people. In 1987, my uncle died. That shifted my perspective, and I always tell people that when you have a perspective shift, that's where lessons come in if you're open. I was open, and it was the first time I saw what grief does to a family. And then, unfortunately, a year and a half to two years later, my mom was diagnosed with cancer, and then my world was just rocked, and that was a catalyst for me. That was a huge catalyst, and, um, it changed everything 'cause then it, then I was the client.

    15. JSJay Shetty28:29

        Is that how you first used the process-

    16. JEJohn Edward28:32

        Yeah.

    17. JSJay Shetty28:32

        was for yourself?

    18. JEJohn Edward28:33

        I think before that, so from, like, 1987 to 1989, when a client came in to see me, I would apologize to them and say, "Hey, I know you're here 'cause you wanna talk about, like, relationship stuff and job stuff and, like, life." I go, "But I'm also a medium." I said, "Well, I'm gonna have to get that out of the way in the beginning. Is that okay?" And people would look at me and go like, "Sure." And then I would do the first part of the reading where whoever's gonna come through is gonna come through, and then I got into what I thought was the real part, you know, their life, like, why they were here and how I can help them. And then I had this one woman where her dad, he was just loud. Like, he just... And it was going, the session was, like, fifty, sixty percent over, and there was no letting up. Papa was not stopping. And then I looked at the woman, I remember saying, "I am so sorry." I go, "But I, I, I, I, I can't get into other stuff." I said, "Your dad's, like, legitimately, like, not stopping." And I, I say this often. It was the way she touched my hand. She leaned over, and she touched my hand and said, "It's okay. It's my dad." And I, like, looked at her. I was like, "So you're okay spending your entire session with me just talking to your dad who's crossed?" And she went, "Yeah." And that was, like, my first kinda like, "Oh, I didn't think people really, like, had an interest in that."

    19. JSJay Shetty29:49

        Yeah.

    20. JEJohn Edward29:49

        And then I learned why people had an interest in that when my mom passed. So every reading I did for somebody else, I was kinda, like, doing for myself. It was reinforcing, you know, reading strangers. It was like, "Okay. Well, if their mom was with them, then my mom was with me." And that's what really helped me with my grief. People always say, like, you know, "What helped you deal with your grief?" I was like, "Doing readings."

    21. JSJay Shetty30:09

        Mm.

    22. JEJohn Edward30:09

        Just seeing the constant reinforcement, the validation, these people's reactions.

    23. JSJay Shetty30:15

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11. 31:23 – 34:07

    Do We Ever “Need” a Reading?

    1. JSJay Shetty31:23

       PURPOSE. At what point in their grief does someone have to come to really be open to it? Because everyone's gonna miss someone they love. Most people are sad when they lose someone that they were close to, especially a mother-

    2. JEJohn Edward31:34

       Right

    3. JSJay Shetty31:34

       ... father or grandmother or, you know, whoever it may be, a best friend. At what point do they really need what you have to offer? Is it because it's been too long and they can't move on? Is it because they really feel-- Because I'm just trying to understand, like, what-- I've lost people, but, and this is just who I am, so it's, I, I've just, I'm very at peace with the closest people I've lost in my life, and-

    4. JEJohn Edward31:59

       Right

    5. JSJay Shetty31:59

       ... I feel like I still communicate with them, even not in a, not in your way or in any direct way of listening that I'm not a psychic medium at all, uh, or, or don't believe I have those abilities, but I feel a connection to people in my own way.

    6. JEJohn Edward32:14

       Right.

    7. JSJay Shetty32:14

       So I'm at peace with that, so I guess I'm trying to understand what drives someone and, and at what point do they really va- do they value and need what you have to offer?

    8. JEJohn Edward32:23

       I think it depends upon the person.

    9. JSJay Shetty32:25

       Mm.

    10. JEJohn Edward32:25

        But if I could just say, generally speaking, I don't think anybody needs a reading.

    11. JSJay Shetty32:29

        Mm.

    12. JEJohn Edward32:30

        And I think that's kind of maybe shocking to hear me say that when this is what I do for a living. But I've been saying that since I was sixteen. Like, I don't think anybody needs a reading.

    13. JSJay Shetty32:40

        You know if you need one.

    14. JEJohn Edward32:41

        I think they need an understanding. So I've always seen myself as being the teacher or the educator. And a reading can support what you believe or know, right? And that's important. But I think if we can get people to be fifty percent of the equation when someone passes, and you are legit still communicating with them, you're incorporating them in your lives, like, I love the movie Coco for that purpose, right? It's like you're not forgetting the person, you're including them. I include my family and friends that have crossed in my daily lives.

    15. JSJay Shetty33:13

        Yeah.

    16. JEJohn Edward33:13

        Like, I keep their presence very much with me 'cause I talk about them. That doesn't mean that I'm in channel with them. I'm not, I'm not having conversations. But I kinda am, right? So, like, what, what really is social media, right? When you do social media, people are posting their lives out there for the people that follow them to see it.

    17. JSJay Shetty33:34

        Mm-hmm.

    18. JEJohn Edward33:34

        Your photos or your, whatever you're doing, you're putting that out there. So you may not send it as a text to someone, but you're putting it out there for those to watch.

    19. JSJay Shetty33:43

        Mm-hmm.

    20. JEJohn Edward33:43

        We're living our lives, and they're watching. So we're like the social media for them. We're like the reality show for them, actually. But they may or may not like your photo, but they may come through to you in a dream. They may come through the, that song on the radio, that scent or smell, that dragonfly, hummingbird, butterfly, penny, whatever those things are that is your pattern. All real, by the way. But I don't think anybody needs a reading. They need an understanding.

    21. JSJay Shetty34:06

        Mm. Mm.

12. 34:07 – 39:00

    Discovering Your Life Path

    1. JSJay Shetty34:07

       So let's say someone walks into your space-

    2. JEJohn Edward34:10

       Right

    3. JSJay Shetty34:10

       ... and they say, "I've lost my dad, my mom," you know, lo- some-- a parent. How does that-- Walk me through the process almost.

    4. JEJohn Edward34:18

       Sure. So if, if I'm doing a one-on-one reading or if I'm standing in front of a crowd of people-

    5. JSJay Shetty34:23

       Let's do one-on-one

    6. JEJohn Edward34:24

       ... yeah.

    7. JSJay Shetty34:24

       One-on-one, yeah.

    8. JEJohn Edward34:24

       So in a one-on-one session, and even in a crowd, n-nobody's saying anything to me. I'm gonna sit with you. I'm gonna tell you exactly what I'm seeing, what I'm hearing, and what I'm feeling. Sometimes if I'm in person, I'm gonna do psychometry, where I'm gonna ask to hold onto an object of yours so I can tune into you.

    9. JSJay Shetty34:37

       Mm-hmm.

    10. JEJohn Edward34:37

        Just think key, unlock your energy. And I'll make sure that that object is only yours and yours alone, and that it's not related to anybody who's passed, 'cause I don't wanna pick up their energy and read the energy and not make the connection. And then the first part of what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna look for where you're at in your life right now. And I may do that with numerology. I may, like, look at your personal year and kinda see what, what, what the lesson is, 'cause that'll give me a frame, framework for you. And then past that-

    11. JSJay Shetty35:01

        What does that mean? What's that?

    12. JEJohn Edward35:02

        So-

    13. JSJay Shetty35:03

        Personal year?

    14. JEJohn Edward35:03

        So in numerology, there's a lot you can do, right? So every letter has a correlation to a number, and there are certain things that you can do numerologically. When I say you can do an entire chart with numbers, your birth name, your birth date, I have found, for me, I like two things. I like a personal's personal year, which is a yearly vibrational pattern that goes from birthday to birthday, and your life path, which is kinda like the number that you are, right? So, like, I'm a life path nine, which means I'm a life of service, the humanitarian.

    15. JSJay Shetty35:34

        How does someone know their-

    16. JEJohn Edward35:35

        So the, the life path, you would take your birth date, like the number, and add it all across, right? So you take, like if-

    17. JSJay Shetty35:42

        So I'm seven.

    18. JEJohn Edward35:44

        Do you mind telling your-- What's, what's your birthday?

    19. JSJay Shetty35:45

        1987. Oh, but you're taking the full-

    20. JEJohn Edward35:47

        You have to take the month-

    21. JSJay Shetty35:48

        Okay. So I'm-

    22. JEJohn Edward35:49

        ... plus the date.

    23. JSJay Shetty35:49

        Oh, so my month is September, so zero nine.

    24. JEJohn Edward35:52

        Right, so that's nine.

    25. JSJay Shetty35:53

        Then zero six.

    26. JEJohn Edward35:54

        Mm-hmm.

    27. JSJay Shetty35:54

        That's fifteen. And then 1987 is the year I'm born.

    28. JEJohn Edward35:59

        I think you were a four if I did the math correctly, but I'd have to-

    29. JSJay Shetty36:01

        We're just adding them all up?

    30. JEJohn Edward36:02

        Add everything straight across.
13. 39:00 – 42:41

    Challenges That Arise in Readings

    1. JSJay Shetty39:00

       How do you stop yourself from predicting, projecting, or connecting in a more logical, rational sense that we all would do?

    2. JEJohn Edward39:09

       I think there's a little bit in there.

    3. JSJay Shetty39:10

       Okay.

    4. JEJohn Edward39:11

       I think there is a little bit in there where I have to go like, "Okay, I'm seeing this. This is what it makes me feel like."

    5. JSJay Shetty39:17

       Right.

    6. JEJohn Edward39:17

       And then I, I give that to the person.

    7. JSJay Shetty39:19

       Like when you're interpreting the rose and the thorns, is that your interpretation-

    8. JEJohn Edward39:24

       Yes

    9. JSJay Shetty39:24

       ... or is that something that they get to-

    10. JEJohn Edward39:26

        Right. So if I teach somebody how to read tarot, right, there's 78 cards in a deck. Before I have them read a book on it or even the little pamphlet that comes, I want them to sit with that deck and create their own notebook card by card and write down what they think that card means. Because when they looked at it, it gave them a feeling. So they have to pay attention to that-

    11. JSJay Shetty39:48

        Mm

    12. JEJohn Edward39:49

        ... before you learn what the cards actually mean. So then you have, like, kinda a dual-

    13. JSJay Shetty39:52

        How much self-awareness does that require on their part too?

    14. JEJohn Edward39:55

        A lot.

    15. JSJay Shetty39:55

        Yeah. That's the challenge, isn't it?

    16. JEJohn Edward39:57

        A lot, and getting, getting out of your way. And, and there've been a lot of moments where, like, you get information, and the person says no. But the information doesn't change because if you do have that person, and that person is coming through, and the client says no-

    17. JSJay Shetty40:13

        Mm

    18. JEJohn Edward40:14

        ... I'm gonna go with what they're showing me. 'Cause what I'm hearing from the person is, "No, that's not who I want. No, I don't have to think about that." But what they don't realize is that sometimes behind the person that they don't wanna hear from is the person that they do wanna hear from. And in my style, I'm a little bit like a dog with a bone. I don't give it up 'cause I feel like my job is to make sure that I say everything that I'm seeing, hearing, and feeling. 'Cause sometimes the biggest validations happens outside of the reading when they go home, when they go home, when they talk to their family, and they find out, "Oh, yeah, we, we did have that, but we didn't talk about it. Nobody talked about that." Happens a lot.

    19. JSJay Shetty40:49

        Do people often have people turn up in their readings that they don't know? Or is it generally people that you know?

    20. JEJohn Edward40:57

        Most of the time it's gonna be people that you know.

    21. JSJay Shetty40:58

        Yeah, that would make sense. No, I was just wondering whether... Yeah.

    22. JEJohn Edward41:00

        Most of the time. But there are moments where, like, there are connections that come in, and then the person won't know about it until, like, they talk to somebody. Like, one of my favorite stories is I had a Saturday afternoon reading. It was my last reading of the day. Wonderful woman sat down, and I'm bombarding her with information. Like, it was very clear to me. And she's like, "Yeah, I know how this works." She's like, "So, um, I'll go in your waiting room, and then whoever's out there that this is for, we'll let them come in." And I looked at her. I was like, "There's nobody in my waiting room." And she's like, "Well, there has to be." She's like, "'Cause none of this is my family." She's like, "So, you know, um, I, I get what you do. I'm open. This is not for me." And I was like, "It's kinda gotta be for you," I said, "'cause you're the, you're the only one here." And she's like, "Well, it's not like that." And I said, "Can I see what you do for a living?" And she goes, "Me?" She's like, "I'm a, I'm a grief therapist." I was like, "Okay." And that's all I said. And she just went, "Oh my God. You just brought through my last five clients." So she had five clients that she saw that day. I brought through the people that her clients were coming to see. And she looked at me and said, "What do I do with this?" She's like, " 'Cause they're not coming to me for mediumship." I was like, "You are the psychiatrist or the psychologist." I go, "You're gonna have to figure out how to do that on, on your end." I said, "But these are the validations that came through." So she wound up working-- I believe she wound up working that into a, you know, "Hey, I had this experience. Are you open to the world of energy? Is this something that you have ever considered?" And it wasn't to get me clearly clients 'cause there was no need now. The information came through in that way.

    23. JSJay Shetty42:37

        Mm.

    24. JEJohn Edward42:37

        So I like those moments 'cause those are validations that happen after the fact.

14. 42:41 – 48:59

    Exploring Reincarnation and Consciousness

    1. JSJay Shetty42:41

       Where do you believe these people who have passed on exist?Because so there's, you know, I assume there's, there's a spiritual or religious version to what-

    2. JEJohn Edward42:52

       Right

    3. JSJay Shetty42:52

       ... happens after death, and then there's the material world version of what happens after death. Like in my tradition, karma and reincarnation are really prominent belief sets in the idea that people are taking birth as could be animals, could be people, could, you know, regenerating.

    4. JEJohn Edward43:10

       Right.

    5. JSJay Shetty43:11

       And, and there's lots of Eastern-

    6. JEJohn Edward43:12

       In my belief system as well.

    7. JSJay Shetty43:13

       Right. Where, where-

    8. JEJohn Edward43:14

       May-may- maybe not so much into the, the animals o-of it-

    9. JSJay Shetty43:17

       Right

    10. JEJohn Edward43:17

        ... but for the consciousness to keep coming back here to the classroom of life.

    11. JSJay Shetty43:20

        Yeah.

    12. JEJohn Edward43:21

        And that probably is the thing that freaked me out the most when my mom passed 'cause I was 19, and I'm like, "If I live to be 90 years old, when I cross over, I wanna see her. I don't wanna get there and have somebody say to me like, 'Phew, you know-

    13. JSJay Shetty43:34

        She's not... Yeah

    14. JEJohn Edward43:34

        ... you missed her. She's in Jersey now.'" Like, you know, that was like a, a concern for me.

    15. JSJay Shetty43:37

        Yeah, she doesn't look like that anymore.

    16. JEJohn Edward43:39

        Right. And she's-

    17. JSJay Shetty43:39

        A form of reincarnation

    18. JEJohn Edward43:40

        ... and she's not that energy.

    19. JSJay Shetty43:41

        Yeah.

    20. JEJohn Edward43:41

        So I, I've talked to people who do the reincarnation, past life regression-

    21. JSJay Shetty43:46

        Mm-hmm

    22. JEJohn Edward43:46

        ... like therapy stuff 'cause I was like, "Go to the specialist, get the information, find the data." And, um, the way they explained it to me is that if the entirety of the consciousness is not necessary to incarnate, then you could still make your connection with the oversoul, the, the bigger super consciousness, even though there might be multiple lifetimes that that person's still working through. I'm like, "I can work with that." That, that made me feel, um, that made me feel confident that I'll see her again.

    23. JSJay Shetty44:09

        So you're saying that there's a space between which that person is reincarnated or not is where you're getting them, and so if they've already fully reincarnated as a new being, you can't?

    24. JEJohn Edward44:20

        No, I'm saying that I don't think that we ful- I don't believe that we fully reincarnate, like in the entirety.

    25. JSJay Shetty44:26

        Oh.

    26. JEJohn Edward44:26

        So, like if we take this glass of water, the amount of water, if this whole thing is consciousness, our soul-

    27. JSJay Shetty44:33

        Mm-hmm

    28. JEJohn Edward44:33

        ... a portion of this might have multiple incarnations-

    29. JSJay Shetty44:36

        Yes. Yes

    30. JEJohn Edward44:37

        ... at different periods of time-
15. 48:59 – 50:43

    Choosing Between Fear and Love

    1. JSJay Shetty48:59

       For someone who feels like the process feels spooky or we've seen too many Exorcist movies or, you know, whatever it is-

    2. JEJohn Edward49:06

       Right

    3. JSJay Shetty49:06

       ... it's like that, I think the visual that you have is from movies because-

    4. JEJohn Edward49:09

       Sure

    5. JSJay Shetty49:09

       ... you've never seen it-

    6. JEJohn Edward49:10

       The stereotype

    7. JSJay Shetty49:11

       ... in real life. And so you have this stereotyped version of like, "God, you're letting spirits back in," and like, "They're coming to visit you," and you know, that-- how much of that is real true? How does, how does that fit in the world?

    8. JEJohn Edward49:22

       Well, I think we, we have two motivations in life, right? Fear or love. So if we're coming from the place of love, then we understand that where there's love, there's connection. It's fine. When we're coming from the place of fear, that means that we're allowing some religious dogma to get in the way. You know, when somebody wants to throw the Bible out and start, you know, quoting Bible base-- Bible verses and all that kind of stuff, save it. Like, I'm gonna be like, "I'm not gonna do that with you." There's a lot of stuff that's written in the Good Book where it's just ridiculous and preposterous, and people argue over it, and bad things happen as a result, right? So for me, it's energetic based. I feel like I'm painting a portrait of energy, and how somebody frames that portrait is their religious upbringing or, or not. But, um, I see this as being more scientific and energy based, and that's not scary for me. That's educational. So I feel like I lean into the education. I lean into the empowerment. I lean into helping to enlighten people in their-- on their path, like wherever I'm, wherever I'm meeting them. If I'm meeting them here today for the first time, I'm hoping that this is sparking something in them where they're going like, "Oh, I should, I should meditate." Yes. Yes, you should meditate. "Oh, I should learn about, you know, my numerology." Yes. That has nothing to do with me. That has to do with them. Like, they-- multiple books that people can go do. So I feel like part of my job is to raise awareness and teach, and wherever I meet that person, helping them on their journey of grief, that's

16. 50:43 – 56:26

    When Grief Truly Begins

    1. JEJohn Edward50:43

       my job.

    2. JSJay Shetty50:43

       Yeah. I appreciate what you said at the start, which was this idea of we usually come to this process wanting to check if the person's okay, but it actually becomes about the person who's checking to become healed and grow. Talk to me about grief and where we almost miss out on the growth or how we don't process it well. What have you-

    3. JEJohn Edward51:04

       Whoa. We could be here for hours on that one. Let's start with, let's say, somebody who is diagnosed and they're terminal, right? Many times, families will not tell the person that they're terminal because that would just be too hard for them. The soul knows they're leaving. The s- the consciousness knows it's gonna be passing. So now we're just going to, what, wait a month, three months, six months until that person leaves the physical world, and nothing gets said. Nothing gets talked about. Nothing's communicated. And I think we rob that person, that individual, as well as ourselves, the opportunities to say the things that maybe you wanna hear or need to hear or need to say or they need to say. So I think starting from a place of where does grief really begin? It comes in with the understanding that something's ending, right? So you can grieve the ending of high school.

    4. JSJay Shetty51:53

       Mm.

    5. JEJohn Edward51:53

       You can grieve the ending of college. You can grieve the ending of your job. There's no death in that. You can grieve the ending of a relationship, the ending of a friendship. So grief is grief in various different ways. But when we're talking about not acknowledging that grief, that's the problem. So I think we have to start with acknowledging the grief and then expressing it, not suppressing it. So say the things that you need to say to the people while they're here, and give them the opportunity to say it back because so many people sit in front of me with that look of, "Did they know that I love them?" I don't know. Did you tell them? You know, tell them. Say the things. You know? Have those conversations. If you know somebody's passing and they're not gonna be here in ten years, but you're getting, you know, you're gonna get married in five years, ask them what they wanna know about your wedding. Have that conversation. I think it's not morbid or morose or maudlin. I think it's healthy to talk about grief.

    6. JSJay Shetty52:48

       Yeah. And it's almost... Have you ever had anyone almost when you're reading where they go back and go, "Yeah, you never told me how much you loved me." Like, can it get-

    7. JEJohn Edward52:55

       Yeah.

    8. JSJay Shetty52:55

       Wow.

    9. JEJohn Edward52:56

       Yeah. Oh. Oh my God. Oh, yeah. Yes, very much so. Or the release of something, like, the, where, where they're, they're hearing something in the reading. I remember reading for someone, she was seventy years old, and her stepdad came through, and the message was, "It's not your fault." Like, his passing was not her fault. And she had had an argument with him and went to high school, and he took his own life. And she lived with that for fifty years, sixty years, however old she was, feeling like it was her responsibility. Her whole life she lived with that.

    10. JSJay Shetty53:33

        Wow.

    11. JEJohn Edward53:34

        So, you know, that's a, that's an extreme example, but I think there are a lot of people that just need to have the reinforced understanding, right? So I want everybody to, to, to do it now. Like, say the things now so that if you, you know... I have a, I have a thing with my kids, right? When they were younger, I would say to them, "In case I get abducted by aliens," and they would laugh. But then that usually was followed up with a really heavy conversation. So I couched it in a way that they would participate in it. And, um, you know, I think my son was twelve, we were on a walk, and he goes, "Daddy, I get the whole, like, psychic thing." He goes, "But at what age did you become obsessed with alien abduction?" And I was like, "I'm not." And he's like, "Hmm, you kinda are." And I'm like, "No, dude. I'm really not. Like, why are you saying that?" He goes, "Well, you always say, 'In case I get abducted by aliens.'" [chuckles] So I laughed. I was like, "Well, I think you're old enough to understand that it's like a trust." I go, "I mean, if I'm no longer existing on this dimension and I'm now existing on a different dimension, I'd want you to know the things that we talked about." He goes, "Do you mean like in case you died?" I went, "Yes." He goes, "Well, that's not funny." I go, "Not meant to be funny. Meant to be a conversation starter." So for your listeners, your viewers, use that phrase. Watch the people's reactions. They'll laugh, but then you c- you're icebreaking. You're, you're literally kinda setting up the opportunity to have a conversation that might be serious.

    12. JSJay Shetty54:49

        Yeah.What ab- I, I love that. I, I really love that, and I think it's so important to be able to normalize some of these conversations because it's so much harder to change afterwards. And I think part of my peace is because I've always lived in a way to say how I feel in the moment and-

    13. JEJohn Edward55:05

        Yep

    14. JSJay Shetty55:06

        ... say what I believe and make sure people know how loved they are, and even if they didn't know how to reciprocate or respond to it in the moment, I was always happy to express how I felt because I just never wanted to feel that way.

    15. JEJohn Edward55:18

        You wanna hear a really kinda, kinda cool but somewhat unique thing that happens quite a bit?

    16. JSJay Shetty55:24

        Yeah, sure.

    17. JEJohn Edward55:24

        So I could be reading for somebody, and I could bring mom and dad through. I could bring their husband through. I could bring their grandmother through. I could bring their friends through. The moment I bring in their pet, the moment their dog comes up, their cat comes through, that's the moment where they're gonna lose it. They're gonna absolutely lose it, and sometimes in a really, really big way. And I'll, you know, I'll kind of make a little, like, joke and be like, "Wow, look at that. Like, all your family right now is going, 'The dog rates more than I do.'" [laughs] Right? But here's the thing. What does that dog do to that person? Unconditional love. That pet shows you unconditional love. It's a reciprocal energy. You love it, it loves you. There's nothing that gets in the way of that. So I use it as a teaching tool when it happens and say, "Listen, look at what took place." It's about connection. It's about communication. So I always want people to say the things. You know, if you're leaving the house, I don't care you're in a rush. Let the people that you're leaving know how you feel about them because what if you don't come home?

    18. JSJay Shetty56:24

        Yeah. What about when people have

17. 56:26 – 58:47

    Say What You Need to Say Before It’s Too Late

    1. JSJay Shetty56:26

       had really poor experiences with people, and so they're coming to you because there's trauma, there may have been emotional or other types of abuse, there may have been-- People have just had painful experiences with-

    2. JEJohn Edward56:39

       Yeah

    3. JSJay Shetty56:39

       ... this person, but they love them too. It's messy, right? Like, that's what-

    4. JEJohn Edward56:42

       It is messy

    5. JSJay Shetty56:42

       ... that's what love is. It's not, "Oh, I love them, I miss them." It could be complicated, and I imagine if they're coming to you, there's some, there's some layers to their love that need to be explored. How do you help them and guide them through this already difficult process-

    6. JEJohn Edward56:59

       Right

    7. JSJay Shetty56:59

       ... but with the emotions that could come back of like, "Yeah, you didn't tell me you loved me. We-- I treated you that way because of X," or whatever it may be. Like, how, how does that work? What does that look like?

    8. JEJohn Edward57:08

       So one, again, for people that are listening, I want to establish that everything that comes through is gonna come through in pieces, and it's not conversational. It'll come across in pieces, and I will symbolically interpret what that is. That's number one. Once I go down that path of helping them to understand and establish what's coming through, and I know it's being validated by, like, the way I validate stuff, it is not always easy when you are hearing from someone who's crossed that was in that exact relationship dynamic. But oftentimes the person that's coming through is coming through to assuage that feeling of guilt or disappointment or anger to help them. The hard part about that is that as the medium, you kind of feel like you, you now represent that person, so you could feel that coming back at you. So I'm not a therapist, and I will say, "I don't know if you work with a therapist, but maybe you may wanna have a conversation with someone that can help you move through this."

    9. JSJay Shetty58:01

       Right. So you actually encourage them to meet experts in particular things that come up.

    10. JEJohn Edward58:04

        Oh, God, yeah. I think a lot of my-- A lot of-- I mean, I've had, I've had moments where I sit with someone for about five minutes, and I'm very clear, and I go, "Do you trust me?" And they go, "Of course, I trust you. That's why I'm here." And I'm like, "I'm, I'm, I'm supposed to get you someplace else. What you're looking for is, is not me." And they're like, "What do you mean?" I'm like, "You need to work with an astrologer."

    11. JSJay Shetty58:27

        Yeah.

    12. JEJohn Edward58:28

        "Where you're at, I can't help you. I could read you, but it's not gonna help you, and I think it's gonna be a waste of your time and money. So how about we save your money, and let's just have a chat," and I'll usually spend the time with them anyway. And then I find the astrologer that I think that they're supposed to work with, and I always trust that.

    13. JSJay Shetty58:46

        Yeah. What do you think

18. 58:47 – 1:01:18

    Grief is the Other Side of Love

    1. JSJay Shetty58:47

       grief teaches us about love?

    2. JEJohn Edward58:48

       Grief is the other side of love. And if-- I used to work in a hospital, and when people would have open heart surgery, they're given, you know, the, the heart pillow that you're supposed to hold onto, so if you cough or sneeze, that you don't affect your sc- you know, your scars and the, and the surgery. And I always imagine that heart pillow. One says love, and the other side says grief. And I think throughout our lives, we're holding the love side close. But when we lose a person, it flips to grief. And I think honoring our grief, honoring our feelings, not ignoring them, gets us back to the other side of that pillow, which is the other side of grief, and that's love.

    3. JSJay Shetty59:26

       Mm.

    4. JEJohn Edward59:26

       So I think grief teaches us about love and appreciation and communication, and that's the goal.

    5. JSJay Shetty59:32

       What do you say to someone who just feels like they'll never experience joy again?

    6. JEJohn Edward59:37

       I like to validate their feelings and say that you won't feel the kind of joy that you had before.

    7. JSJay Shetty59:43

       Mm.

    8. JEJohn Edward59:44

       But you can find joy in different ways and take them on that journey with them, so it's not just the absence physically, but that you still have the connection with them. I can never remember, Jay, I never remember what it's called, but there's Japanese art where when things get broken-

    9. JSJay Shetty1:00:00

       Yeah, kintsugi. That's beautiful

    10. JEJohn Edward1:00:01

        ... yes, and they put it back together, and it's got the golden glue.

    11. JSJay Shetty1:00:04

        Mm-hmm.

    12. JEJohn Edward1:00:04

        It actually highlights the cracks. I feel like grief is highlighting the cracks. We put ourselves back together 'cause we have to, but we're never seen the same way again. How, how, how could you?

    13. JSJay Shetty1:00:15

        Mm.

    14. JEJohn Edward1:00:16

        You know? My son's middle name is after two boys that have passed, both named Michael, and one of the, one of the boys, he's one of the boys, man, he was a firefighter in, in nine eleven, Michael Kiefer. And, uh, his mom, when I read for her, she's a, a powerhouse of a lady. She's a powerhouse of a mom. And she told me a story once, and she said-- Somebody asked her, "How you doing?" And she said, "Well, there was the me before nine eleven, and there's the me after nine eleven." No greater phrase could be said 'cause we all have that. There's the you before the event, and there's the you after the event.And I think when you recognize that there's a different version of you now, and again, that's in every way that you can grieve, by the way. It's not just death, right? If you've gone through a divorce, there's the you before the divorce, there's the you after divorce. If you broke up with a long-term friendship, there's the you before that, the you after that. How, how do you navigate life in this new way? Trying to be the old you can't. Doesn't work.

    15. JSJay Shetty1:01:16

        Yeah. That validation piece is

19. 1:01:18 – 1:03:16

    Finding Your Way Through Grief

    1. JSJay Shetty1:01:18

       so important.

    2. JEJohn Edward1:01:19

       Huge.

    3. JSJay Shetty1:01:19

       Even hearing you just say to someone that, "Yeah, you won't feel the joy you felt before," in one sense it's so freeing because we're trying so hard to feel that joy again, and knowing that you won't is, is liberating because-

    4. JEJohn Edward1:01:37

       Mm-hmm

    5. JSJay Shetty1:01:37

       ... it stops you from chasing and pursuing something that isn't gonna happen again.

    6. JEJohn Edward1:01:41

       But it also could be a free fall.

    7. JSJay Shetty1:01:43

       Tell me about that.

    8. JEJohn Edward1:01:44

       So when my mom passed, the morning that she passed, I had to go, long story, but pick up a tuxedo to be in a family wedding that I promised I would, I would do in case she did pass, and, and she'd passed right before the wedding. So that morning I was, like, sitting in my car and I looked up at the window of the room that she had just passed in maybe three hours earlier, and my first thought was, "Nobody's ever gonna care what time I come home again." I had no boundaries, and I was like, that's a scary feeling. There was no- nobody to tell me no. There was nobody to stop me. There was nobody that was gonna be like, "You shouldn't do that," 'cause nobody, nobody would probably dare at that time. It was a scary feeling.

    9. JSJay Shetty1:02:25

       Mm.

    10. JEJohn Edward1:02:26

        So in life, when you find yourself in a place of questioning something like I did, right? And you could be 36 doing that, you have a feeling that could be like free falling, and that's a scary place. You know, you don't know if there's a net. You don't know if somebody's gonna catch you. And then with that grief, maybe you stop talking to people and you shut down, or maybe you start drinking, or maybe somebody puts on 47 pounds, whatever the, the thing is. So it could be a, it could be a scary thing to recognize that life's never gonna be the same. Joy's not gonna be there. So how do you work through that? You know, having a reading not gonna fix you. Having an understanding about what readings can do can help give you an understanding of putting one foot in front of the other, knowing that there's a survival of consciousness and that they're still, they're still with us.

20. 1:03:16 – 1:06:29

    The Truth About Time and Healing

    1. JSJay Shetty1:03:16

       Yeah. We've all heard the cliché, "Time heals all wounds"-

    2. JEJohn Edward1:03:19

       Yeah

    3. JSJay Shetty1:03:19

       ... but sometimes it feels like things get harder as you get further away from them.

    4. JEJohn Edward1:03:24

       Yeah, 'cause sometimes it feels like it was a different lifetime. Sometimes it feels like, like t- like it's a, it's a book. Like, I had so many amazing experiences with my mom after she passed, and I shared them. And you know, there's like a whole purple coat story I put in my first book, and one of the things that I remember one day, it was probably like maybe seven or eight years after she died, and I was telling the story, and I got very good at explaining the details of the story. I knew the beats of the story. I knew how people were gonna react to the story, and then the story was over, and I remember not feeling it, and I was like, "Oh. Oh, that's not good." I'm like, "This is, like, a really personal, powerful moment for me, and I think I'm not gonna share that for a while," and I stopped telling it. And I remember being at events and people were like, "Oh my God, can you tell your mom's purple coat story?" And I'd be like, "You know, I actually, I can't right now." I set a boundary because I wasn't feeling it anymore. It almost became, like, flat.

    5. JSJay Shetty1:04:29

       Mm.

    6. JEJohn Edward1:04:30

       And it was too powerful of a story for me, and I needed to own it again.

    7. JSJay Shetty1:04:34

       Mm.

    8. JEJohn Edward1:04:34

       So I think sometimes when you're grieving, we go to places that become superficial, and I think that we have to make sure that we never lose the depth of what that emotion is and that depth of what the person is. And for anybody that's watching this, journalize. Write down your feelings. Don't forget what it is that you're feeling because you wanna make sure that you're, you're honoring yourself, but you're also honoring them. 'Cause sometimes we go through these moments of like, "I'm gonna forget this. I'm gonna forget their voice. I'm gonna forget that this happened. I'm gonna forget..." Write it down.

    9. JSJay Shetty1:05:09

       Yeah. My wife was extremely close to her grandmother who passed away a couple of weeks ago.

    10. JEJohn Edward1:05:14

        Oh, I'm sorry.

    11. JSJay Shetty1:05:15

        And she was 91, I think, when she passed away, and she had a, a beautiful send-off and really special and peaceful and it's amazing. My wife was by her bedside for four months, uh, in hospital and at home, wherever. And my wife had the foresight probably, like, maybe now, like, six, seven years ago, to interview her grandma.

    12. JEJohn Edward1:05:36

        Oh.

    13. JSJay Shetty1:05:36

        And so she had all this video of-

    14. JEJohn Edward1:05:38

        How awesome is that?

    15. JSJay Shetty1:05:38

        ... asking her questions and stories, and so when she was preparing her speech for the funeral, which was such an emotional thing for her to do, it was filled with all these stories that she had from this video that they would never have known. And yeah, I, I feel like there's such a need to interview your parents and interview your families before they're not here anymore.

    16. JEJohn Edward1:06:00

        I love that.

    17. JSJay Shetty1:06:00

        Because it's-- there's so many stories your parents haven't told you, even though you think you know them. And I did that. I interviewed my mom maybe a few years back now, maybe five, six years ago, just at the dinner table. We didn't record it. I wanted to record it, but I learned so much about my mom that I would never have known, and it brings you so much closer. And so whether you're an interviewer or not, it's a, it's a beautiful thing to do while someone's still here.

    18. JEJohn Edward1:06:26

        Shared connection.

    19. JSJay Shetty1:06:27

        Yeah.

    20. JEJohn Edward1:06:28

        It's a shared connection.

21. 1:06:29 – 1:08:12

    Moving Forward When You Feel Stuck

    1. JSJay Shetty1:06:29

       Yeah. What do you do when you meet someone who's-- tells you they're stuck in their grief and they're just stuck with processing? I'm sure you hear that a lot.

    2. JEJohn Edward1:06:37

       So when I hear someone's stuck, I usually try to get them to go work with a... If they're not working with a counselor on some level, and sometimes they'll tell me, "Oh, I did that. It didn't work," then I will remind them that there's multiple counselors. It might not have worked with one. Maybe find someone that you do click with. But I will look at trying to get them to have their astrological chart done. Here's why. If they look at their chart-When that person passed, it's like a snapshot of like what was the syllabus you were spiritually supposed to be learning?

    3. JSJay Shetty1:07:06

       Mm.

    4. JEJohn Edward1:07:06

       And I like people to look at that because then it gives, it gives a meaning and a context to the pain. It's like diagnosing an energetic thing. I like that.

    5. JSJay Shetty1:07:18

       Yeah.

    6. JEJohn Edward1:07:18

       I like, I like people to do that. And this is where like, you know, people are like, "Oh, he's talking about numerologists, he's talking about an astrologer, he's talking about..." I do that a lot. I feel like as a, as a practitioner-

    7. JSJay Shetty1:07:28

       Yeah

    8. JEJohn Edward1:07:29

       ...for me, it's gotta be like, "How do I best serve this client?"

    9. JSJay Shetty1:07:31

       No, absolutely. I mean, I, I coach people, and I'm constantly introducing them to sleep experts and therapists-

    10. JEJohn Edward1:07:38

        Right

    11. JSJay Shetty1:07:39

        ...and, and, you know, trainers.

    12. JEJohn Edward1:07:40

        And, and, and you probably know-

    13. JSJay Shetty1:07:41

        Yeah

    14. JEJohn Edward1:07:41

        ...a lot about all of the things that you're sending them to, but it's not what you do.

    15. JSJay Shetty1:07:47

        It's not my expertise.

    16. JEJohn Edward1:07:48

        Right. So you go-

    17. JSJay Shetty1:07:48

        And I may not be-

    18. JEJohn Edward1:07:49

        Correct

    19. JSJay Shetty1:07:50

        ...spe-specifically trained in it, and so it's better that someone else can come in and step in. And, and I think people need groups of people around them to heal, not one person. And again, going back to the ego point, I don't believe I have any power to heal anyone or be the person who solves all their problems. And often I found a collective is healthier for that person as well.

    20. JEJohn Edward1:08:10

        Agreed.

    21. JSJay Shetty1:08:10

        I was gonna ask you though, can you talk to us about

22. 1:08:12 – 1:11:48

    Astrology as an Energetic Blueprint

    1. JSJay Shetty1:08:12

       the difference with real astrology and then your horoscope that the version that has become astrology today?

    2. JEJohn Edward1:08:19

       Right.

    3. JSJay Shetty1:08:20

       Because I think the challenges, and, and I ask that question because astrology, again, is a big part of Eastern traditions-

    4. JEJohn Edward1:08:26

       Yep

    5. JSJay Shetty1:08:26

       ...and I have not only heard of, but seen incredible things happen through astrology from true astrologers who-

    6. JEJohn Edward1:08:34

       Yep

    7. JSJay Shetty1:08:35

       ...are not doing, you know, your daily horoscope.

    8. JEJohn Edward1:08:37

       Right, not the pop astrology.

    9. JSJay Shetty1:08:38

       Yeah, not the pop astrology.

    10. JEJohn Edward1:08:39

        Not fear-based astrology.

    11. JSJay Shetty1:08:40

        Again, I have no issue with it.

    12. JEJohn Edward1:08:41

        Right.

    13. JSJay Shetty1:08:41

        I have no issue with it, just what's the difference? Because I think when people say, "Go and see an astrologer," it's like I don't think we even know what that means today.

    14. JEJohn Edward1:08:48

        So by, by m-my definition, it's somebody who's dedicated their lives to understanding, and they still are on their journey of d-you know, deep dive learning, delving into the past to understand the present and maybe what the future looks like. It means having your natal chart looked at, which would need your birth date, the time, and location that you were born. And then if you don't have that time, they can do something called rectification, where you give them events in your life, and then they kinda like retrofit where they think your planets are. And then they will kind of look at your, your life and kinda tell you who you are. Now, the control freak in me, when I have a client that I'm going to send to an astrologer, so I have a platform called Evolve Plus, right? So on Evolve Plus, I have various creators that I've worked with that I send my clients to. Certain clients need certain people with their expertise and what they do. So I usually give them a directive. So I look at astrology like an MRI. You don't MRI your entire body most of the time. I mean, you can now, but you normally, you would just, you're going for a specific reason. So I would say, "Okay, well, if you're an Aries, then you're gonna have Saturn in your chart. Maybe go see how Saturn's gonna play out for you." So now there's an intro into your chart. But in that specific example, I would say, "Hey, I lost my person on, you know, December 13th, 2022. What is the lesson? You know, I had a reading with John Edward, and he said that I should look at, like, what's the lesson I'm supposed to be learning from that?" I think the more information we get regarding the lessons we're here to learn can help us to move through-

    15. JSJay Shetty1:10:25

        Yeah

    16. JEJohn Edward1:10:25

        ...whatever the stagnant, stuck part of it is.

    17. JSJay Shetty1:10:28

        Yeah, that's a better question too, as opposed to what's going on in my life right now-

    18. JEJohn Edward1:10:32

        Yes

    19. JSJay Shetty1:10:33

        ...which is a bit more broad and open-

    20. JEJohn Edward1:10:35

        Right

    21. JSJay Shetty1:10:35

        ...and kind of could be like, "Yeah, well, right now this planet is making this happen, and this..." It's more like a weather forecast-

    22. JEJohn Edward1:10:40

        Right

    23. JSJay Shetty1:10:41

        ...rather than being specific and like, "What lesson am I gonna learn right now? What, what, what is needed of me right now?"

    24. JEJohn Edward1:10:46

        I'm also not a fan of the word predictions, right?

    25. JSJay Shetty1:10:48

        Yeah.

    26. JEJohn Edward1:10:48

        So, like, when I'm doing a session or if I see somebody as a practitioner and they kind of predict stuff, I'm more of a projector. I like to say, "These are projections from where you are. If you don't like some of this, try to make the changes now so you can adapt that," right? No different than health. Like, right now, your test results are showing this. Your lab results are showing this. If you don't change this, these numbers are gonna go up. That can cause this. That's how my brain works. I used to work in a laboratory. So it's like when I'm doing a reading, I'm seeing the energy projections, and I'm like, "Hey, this is the line of probability that you're flying on. You know, you may wanna shift this."

    27. JSJay Shetty1:11:20

        Yeah.

    28. JEJohn Edward1:11:20

        Or, "Hey, this is awesome. You know, gas up. Keep going."

    29. JSJay Shetty1:11:23

        Yeah. I think that's the language switch that's needed in some of these traditions too. It's because when you think about the conversations you have with your doctors, there's a lot of diagnosing going on. They're the ones who could read the scan. You can't, right? Like if-

    30. JEJohn Edward1:11:37

        Mm-hmm
23. 1:11:48 – 1:13:12

    Honoring and Living With Grief Every Day

    1. JSJay Shetty1:11:48

       how do you honor your grief without letting it define you?

    2. JEJohn Edward1:11:52

       Living with it. Like, I, I feel like owning it, living, living with it, saying the person's name, making sure that you're, you're including them, journalizing. Sometimes people feel like nobody wants to hear me talk about my person anymore. You know, I'm, I'm too, I'm too much. It's too much. It's overwhelming. They don't want-- They, they're tired of me always bringing him up or her up. Living with that, acknowledging it-

    3. JSJay Shetty1:12:16

       Mm

    4. JEJohn Edward1:12:16

       ...writing about it, journalizing about it, and making sure that they're not forgotten because that means that you're not forgetting your connection to them. And then I'll make it about living grief as well. Let's say you had a relationship with somebody, a 30-year friendship, and, or it's a sibling, and all of a sudden you have a falling out with that person, and now there's no contact. That's a painful moment for you. So I ask people to mine for the positivity in that because half of that relationship is positive. It doesn't mean that you'll ever-- Like, I have people that are out of my life. They will not have access to me again. They've-- That's not happening. But when I reflect back on my time with them, it's not negative.

    5. JSJay Shetty1:12:56

       Mm.

    6. JEJohn Edward1:12:56

       Like, I know that negative things might have brought us to where we're not connected now-But I'm not gonna take away my past.

    7. JSJay Shetty1:13:02

       Yeah.

    8. JEJohn Edward1:13:03

       I had a great time with you. I had a great time for the time that we were spending, spending together. So I'm not going to be spending negative energy mourning the negative side of it.

24. 1:13:12 – 1:14:01

    Supporting a Grieving Parent

    1. JSJay Shetty1:13:12

       Yeah.

    2. JEJohn Edward1:13:12

       I get the negative side. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna reminisce about the positive stuff.

    3. JSJay Shetty1:13:16

       Mm. Yeah, I have a friend who sadly lost, tragically lost their child at, like, two weeks old, and they'd named it and, you know, and, and that's been a really big part of their grieving is being able to say the name, you know, not forget, not, you know-

    4. JEJohn Edward1:13:31

       Yeah, if anybody's listening to this-

    5. JSJay Shetty1:13:32

       Yeah

    6. JEJohn Edward1:13:32

       ... or for who is listening to this, if you have somebody that you know that's lost a child, please say their name.

    7. JSJay Shetty1:13:38

       Mm.

    8. JEJohn Edward1:13:39

       You're not gonna offend the parent. They want to-- they want that child to matter.

    9. JSJay Shetty1:13:44

       Mm.

    10. JEJohn Edward1:13:44

        Doesn't matter if that child was two days old or 22 years old or 40 years old, they want their child to be remembered. So you're not gonna make them sad by saying their name. You're gonna, you're gonna make them feel connected and that you're honoring that person.

    11. JSJay Shetty1:14:00

        Well said.

25. 1:14:01 – 1:17:28

    The Comfort in Knowing No One Really Dies Alone

    1. JSJay Shetty1:14:01

       How can someone find peace if they were not with their loved one in their final moments?

    2. JEJohn Edward1:14:06

       So COVID taught us that, right?

    3. JSJay Shetty1:14:08

       Mm.

    4. JEJohn Edward1:14:08

       COVID happens, and people can't be with their loved ones and friends when they're passing. So what I want everybody to know is that nobody dies alone. When we leave the physical world, nobody passes alone. And you might say that's not true-

    5. JSJay Shetty1:14:21

       Yeah, what do you mean by that?

    6. JEJohn Edward1:14:21

       ... because nobody was there. I mean that people come for us. We have loved ones and friends that are waiting for us, that are there, and if you're at someone's deathbed, they may do things where they're having deathbed visions. They may call out to a person. You may sense that yourselves. There's always people that come for us, so if you were not able to be with the person when they transitioned, please know that they were not alone. There's always people, sometimes pets, that, that, that come for us, so nobody passes alone. And you could set up a schedule to make sure that grandma's not alone and that everybody's gonna be with her. She'll never be alone. That one moment where grandma was alone may be where grandma transitions, and the reason why is people choose who they wanna be with when they pass, and if it's too painful to leave while that person's there, they'll wait till that person's not.

    7. JSJay Shetty1:15:11

       Mm.

    8. JEJohn Edward1:15:12

       So if you were not able to be there, please don't take offense to that. Don't think that you failed them. They may not have been able to pass with you in the room.

    9. JSJay Shetty1:15:18

       Because they loved you too much.

    10. JEJohn Edward1:15:19

        'Cause they loved you too much. We can't, we can't hold them back. Our grief can't hold them back once they left the physical world. I think we can hold them back while they're here, though.

    11. JSJay Shetty1:15:27

        Mm.

    12. JEJohn Edward1:15:27

        'Cause if we have that energy of, "Please don't go, please don't go, please don't go," they may not go.

    13. JSJay Shetty1:15:32

        That's -- I mean, yeah, that's so reassuring for so many people who are trying to time that moment perfectly.

    14. JEJohn Edward1:15:37

        And that's why if you say to somebody, "It's okay," they may transition right after that-

    15. JSJay Shetty1:15:43

        Mm

    16. JEJohn Edward1:15:43

        ... 'cause you've given them permission. You've released them as best as you can.

    17. JSJay Shetty1:15:47

        Yeah. Well, that's the push and pull, isn't it? When you love someone, you don't want them to leave, and at the same time, you don't want them to be in pain.

    18. JEJohn Edward1:15:53

        Correct.

    19. JSJay Shetty1:15:54

        And so until you're willing to let go and recognize that that's better for them, there is some energetic force that makes them hold on and stay on as well.

    20. JEJohn Edward1:16:06

        So I have a phrase that I use with my kids, but I think it's applicable when it comes to grief as well.

    21. JSJay Shetty1:16:10

        Mm-hmm.

    22. JEJohn Edward1:16:11

        I have an aunt that said, "You know," she's like, "I know you're really close with your kids." She's like, "But you gotta think they're growing up. You're gonna have to let them go." And I said, "I'll never let them go."

    23. JSJay Shetty1:16:19

        You said that?

    24. JEJohn Edward1:16:19

        I said, "I'll never let them go, but I will let them grow."

    25. JSJay Shetty1:16:23

        Mm.

    26. JEJohn Edward1:16:23

        And I feel that when it comes to grief. We may have to let them go physically, but let us grow together-

    27. JSJay Shetty1:16:31

        Mm

    28. JEJohn Edward1:16:31

        ... until we are able to connect again.

    29. JSJay Shetty1:16:33

        That's beautiful, and I feel like when people leave, they w- the way I felt, though, with my, my wife's grandmother passing, it was so peaceful, and she left so much peace because she was this radiant, vibrant, you know, deeply conscious powerhouse of a woman. She left, like, this, you know, really peaceful, sweet, celebratory energy, which was hard 'cause it wasn't, you know, it's-

    30. JEJohn Edward1:16:57

        And a legacy of love for the family to-
26. 1:17:28 – 1:20:41

    Keeping Their Memories Alive After They’re Gone

    1. JSJay Shetty1:17:28

       How can people connect with people they've lost in their life on a daily basis? You mentioned earlier that you do that. I was talking about how, how I do that. How do you suggest people do that and keep that person alive in their life, and is that healthy?

    2. JEJohn Edward1:17:44

       I think it's healthy. I think it's important. I think telling stories to people that never knew them.

    3. JSJay Shetty1:17:50

       Mm.

    4. JEJohn Edward1:17:50

       Like, I never knew my grandfather. I never met him. My grandfather died before I was born. My mom did an amazing job at making him a three-dimensional figure for me, from explaining what he looked like, how he was emotionally, like, positive and negative, by the way. Like, she just made him a real person that I kinda felt like I knew him. So it would be like if you go see a movie, and I'm not gonna get a chance to see the movie, and you now tell me all about the movie.

    5. JSJay Shetty1:18:18

       Yeah.

    6. JEJohn Edward1:18:18

       You give me the plot, you give me the characters, you, the cinematic of it, all of it. Y- and I feel like I've seen the movie now 'cause you did such a good d- good job describing it. Well, I'm happy she did that because she gave me language, and that language is what I had to use with my kids for her. And I will have conversations with my kids legitimately where I'll be like, "Make sure you tell my grandkids this." And my daughter will be like, "You tell your grandkids," meaning, like, "You ain't going anywhere." But the reality is, what if I'm not here? That is a reality. I may not be here when they have kids. So I'm having that conversation with them, "Make sure you tell my grandkids this. Make sure that they know about this." So I think having the conversation is important, communicating with people that you know will never know them or meet them.So that you're keeping this three-dimensional archetype of a personality present, 'cause really what it's doing is keeping a bridge between you and them and, and, and doing that. On my Instagram, I, I think it was April, I was feeling my mom. I was just thinking about her and, you know, she's been gone 30 years, and I was like, "I'm gonna post a photo." And I, I, I posted it. It had nothing to do with birthdays, anniversaries. I was in a moment. I was feeling my mom. I posted a photo of my mom. It was me honoring her. So, you know, I have this, like, image of my mom, um, image in my head of my mom being in the afterlife going, "Look, my son posted a photo of me on Earthagram. Look, let's go look," you know?

    7. JSJay Shetty1:19:45

       Yeah.

    8. JEJohn Edward1:19:45

       But it's where I'm honoring. I'm keeping that person. Food. Food is another way that you can honor someone. So with my grandmother, we, we talked about, you know, your wife's grandmother, and with my grandmother, I lived with her. She had arthritis, so she used to cook every Sunday for a lot of people. So she'd be like, "Come help me." So I cooked with her. I didn't know at the time how important that was, like, that I had, like, my grandma's recipes that I could, if I wanted to make at Christmastime struffoli, I can make struffoli for the family. Not that I do, but, but I could if I wanted to, right?

    9. JSJay Shetty1:20:23

       Yeah.

    10. JEJohn Edward1:20:24

        So there's a tradition that gets passed down. So what are the legacies? What are the traditions? Food, like music, all of those things are, are ways to keep them present-

    11. JSJay Shetty1:20:34

        Yeah

    12. JEJohn Edward1:20:34

        ... and, and allow them to still be part of our lives.

    13. JSJay Shetty1:20:37

        Yeah, those are beautiful. Love those. Really helpful for people who are going through

27. 1:20:41 – 1:22:24

    Letting Go of Their Belongings to Heal

    1. JSJay Shetty1:20:41

       it right now. What's your take on keeping things that they owned and physical items?

    2. JEJohn Edward1:20:47

       Again, I think that depends upon the person. M-my thing is they don't care. Nobody ever comes through going, "You gave away my car," you know, "You threw out my clothes." Like, they don't care. The value for them is love and connection, not articles, not things. They don't come through when people are fighting over the house. They don't talk about stuff like that. They don't take sides because in the physical world, material things matter. That doesn't matter there. The true, true value of the world energy universe is love-

    3. JSJay Shetty1:21:17

       Mm

    4. JEJohn Edward1:21:17

       ... and connection, communication. That's what they value. That's what they come through, you know, mostly about.

    5. JSJay Shetty1:21:22

       Fascinating.

    6. JEJohn Edward1:21:23

       Um, but I think for some people, they're in positions where they can't keep a house, right? So if someone can't keep a house and they know that their, let's say their spouse loved the house, they lived and breathed for the house, for the garden, they put their entire life into that, and now they have to sell the house 'cause they can't afford it, that's devastating on top of the loss. So I've had so many readings where people come, come through saying, "It's okay, you can sell the house. You're not losing me." But that's great to be released of that, but that person still is losing their house, so now they're gonna grieve the loss of the relationship, and they're gonna grieve the loss of the house. So what's the solution? In an example like that, I say hire a real estate attorney-- a real estate photographer to come in and film your house in that three-dimensional thing, so you can always have a walkthrough of the house that you remember. Because you don't have to be in the house in order to feel the house. You could legitimately walk through that house anytime you want. So you find ways to navigate and, and kind of experience your grief, but to work with it and through it.

    7. JSJay Shetty1:22:23

       Yeah.

28. 1:22:24 – 1:24:40

    Internalizing, Not Externalizing Feelings

    1. JSJay Shetty1:22:24

       So a question that I have, John, is I feel like for a lot of people, they can become a sort of dependency on a lot of this work, and it can start to become somewhat of a crutch. Obviously, we all need time to process. We need time, but it can become something that you just fall back on all the time. How, how do you help someone move on or move through that? Because it can kind of feel self-fulfilling to just sit in this space, try and get affirmation and validation, but not really do the work and apply and move forward.

    2. JEJohn Edward1:22:58

       So I think it's a really powerful question, and I think it's really important that people don't look at this work as a crutch.

    3. JSJay Shetty1:23:05

       Mm.

    4. JEJohn Edward1:23:06

       It should be something that is an asset to their way of life and the way of their thinking. So we should never externalize our feelings, whether it be love or grief. We should be internalizing those moments, and I think I was very kinda like, you know, lucky because I was popular, like, from the beginning of my career, so it was, it was hard to get back in to see me, so I could keep a buffer between people. But before that kind of, like, happened, I would say to people when they would say, you know, "When can I come back and see you again?" I'd be like, "A year? Nine months? Like, take, take some time." And they'd be like, "That's a long time." I'm like, "Well, yeah." But when I used to work at a psychic fair when I first started, the same people would show up, like, every, like, two or three weeks, and they had the same questions. And I remember saying to this one woman, I'm like, "Can we let some, like, life happen here?"

    5. JSJay Shetty1:24:00

       Mm.

    6. JEJohn Edward1:24:00

       I was like, "'Cause I feel like I should be coming over for dinner now. Like, I feel like we're friends, and I don't really feel this is professional." And then I had, um, another client that I, I jokingly fired her, and I just was like, "I cannot read you anymore." And she was like, "Why?" I go, "Because he is never leaving his wife for you."

    7. JSJay Shetty1:24:17

       Mm.

    8. JEJohn Edward1:24:17

       I was like, "I'm not the right person for you. I'm not gonna tell you what you wanna hear." So I think it's important to set boundaries, so I set boundaries with clients all the time. Like, I'll just be like, you know, "You can't come back and see me." If, if I'm doing a Zoom group and I recognize somebody, I will literally say to them, "I can't read you. You know, I, I've just, I've just seen you. I remember you. Like, I don't wanna remember you," so.

    9. JSJay Shetty1:24:39

       Yeah.

29. 1:24:40 – 1:30:00

    Chasing Evil

    1. JSJay Shetty1:24:40

       Your new book kind of took you to different lengths, almost outside of your uncom- outside of your comfort zone-

    2. JEJohn Edward1:24:46

       Yes

    3. JSJay Shetty1:24:46

       ... to really uncomfortable spaces beyond what you'd usually do.

    4. JEJohn Edward1:24:51

       Yes.

    5. JSJay Shetty1:24:51

       Talk to me about how Chasing Evil even came about.

    6. JEJohn Edward1:24:55

       So Chasing Evil is the 30-year culmination of me assisting an FBI agent, now retired, on his casework, and he, like multiple other people, uh, did not believe in the subject matter, except he took it to another level.He heard me on radio. I do a lot of radio, live call-ins. He heard me multiple times, and he thought I was a fraud, a grifter, and a con, as he puts it. And he came to me under the guise of a real cold case that he was working, and he wanted my assistance. He brought nine items, five of which were pertaining to the case, four of which were control items that had nothing to do with the case. And in the beginning of my meeting with him, I separated the four things that did not belong to the case, got his attention. He had arranged for the woman that was missing her daughter to be on standby because he heard me make connections with people on the radio. So he thought, you know, put me on the phone with the woman. The woman comes through, I solve the case. That didn't happen, but I wound up reading for him and gave him information that was applicable to his life and then information that when he went home, he had to get validated from his parents, things that he did not know. So his world got a little bit rocked, right? He got the reality of what a reading looks like, the validation, and said, "Can you use your ability to help me?" And there was a sense of duty that I kinda had. Now, the ironic part is my dad was a New York City police officer and told me, "Don't sully my name with this BS that you're doing, and never let me find out that you're, like, working with the police. Like, like, just don't do that." And I didn't. And by the way, I really didn't have an int-interest in it. And with great respect with this book and this process, I still don't have an interest in it. It's not where my passion lies. My passion is not into crime solving. My passion is to help everyday people in the same way that when I did, you know, crossing over in TV shows, I hated when they brought celebrities on 'cause I didn't wanna read celebrities. That's not my thing. Chasing Evil was different. I got pulled in with Bob, and it took me on a journey that I wasn't expecting. It forced me to review that although I had thought I did the work where my dad was concerned, apparently I didn't, and I, I might have been seeking some patriarchal approval by helping him. And we had some great success working together, and there's multiple cases. There's a lotta, a lotta sadness, and I f-felt, again, the word was duty to try to help this man, uh, on his path. I say openly, I didn't solve anything. I do-- did for him what I do for my clients. I gave him information, he used that information, and he solved those cases.

    7. JSJay Shetty1:27:44

       And, and what book would you recommend to my audience who wants to learn about your work from a foundational level and to really dive into it?

    8. JEJohn Edward1:27:52

       I have a book called "The Infinite Quest," and that book is on a platform that I created called Evolve Plus TV.

    9. JSJay Shetty1:27:59

       Mm-hmm.

    10. JEJohn Edward1:27:59

        That's probably where I would send people because Evolve Plus TV is a one-stop destination where you're gonna hit all the things that we talked about.

    11. JSJay Shetty1:28:07

        Mm-hmm.

    12. JEJohn Edward1:28:07

        You know, we have somebody that does past life regression therapy on there. We have numerologists on there. We have astrologers on there, and they're all people that I work with. Like, I've worked with them-

    13. JSJay Shetty1:28:14

        Yeah

    14. JEJohn Edward1:28:15

        ... sent clients to. So I kind of brought them together in, like, one spot. And on Evolve Plus, people have the opportunity to set up a profile. We do a ton of live streams, so there's multiple opportunities to interact, evolve, learn, and grow. But the book "Infinite Quest" is on my channel under Books, and then I have an eight-part development worksop- workshop that's, that's on there called Project You, and it's all geared towards helping people to do exactly what it is, evolve.

    15. JSJay Shetty1:28:41

        So if anyone's feeling very curious after this conversation, they should go to Evolve Plus.

    16. JEJohn Edward1:28:44

        evolveplus.tv, yep.

    17. JSJay Shetty1:28:46

        Mm-hmm. Amazing. John, thank you so much for your time, your energy, your insight. It's, it's remarkable. It's something, like I said, I'm so curious about. I'm really fascinated by the way you present it.

    18. JEJohn Edward1:28:57

        Thank you.

    19. JSJay Shetty1:28:57

        I feel like I've learned so much and-

    20. JEJohn Edward1:28:58

        Thank you for having me.

    21. JSJay Shetty1:28:59

        And yeah, have I-- was there anything I didn't ask you that you wish I asked you?

    22. JEJohn Edward1:29:03

        No, these are really thought-provoking questions.

    23. JSJay Shetty1:29:05

        Okay.

    24. JEJohn Edward1:29:05

        Thank you.

    25. JSJay Shetty1:29:06

        Good. I'm glad. Well, thank you so much again, honestly.

    26. JEJohn Edward1:29:08

        Thank you.

    27. JSJay Shetty1:29:09

        And, uh, yeah, I, I look forward to learning so much more. And this, the book sounds fascinating, so I'm excited for people to dive into it as well because-

    28. JEJohn Edward1:29:16

        The feedback has been, like, off the hook

    29. JSJay Shetty1:29:17

        Yeah

    30. JEJohn Edward1:29:17

        It's probably the best-reviewed book that I've been a part of, so I'm, I'm-

Episode duration: 1:30:00