Karen McCarthy: Irish author, journalist & medium

PRIEST HELPED JOURNALIST RECOGNISE SIGNS FROM SPIRIT

Growing up in the Republic of Ireland, author and journalist Karen McCarthy soon learned that her childhood conversations with long-dead relatives were not an asset.  They were bad for her mother's nerves, and they did not win her many friends.

There was also the religious aspect.  As a pupil at a Dublin convent school, such eccentricities were not particularly welcomed.

Deciding to become "a normal teenager", she ignored her spirit voices for years and by the time she was an adult they had stopped entirely.  Everything changed, however, when she met John after she moved to New York.

McCarthy tells her story (17 January) on Salon.com website, one of the first entirely digital major media outlets on the internet, under the headline, "Love, sex and death: What my fiance's death taught me about the afterlife".

"John was handsome, smart, artistic yet vulnerable, generous of spirit yet deeply wounded," she writes.  "When he suddenly said we should get married, it hit me in that moment that I had a visceral remembrance of something I was born with but somewhere had forgotten.  I was always meant to be with him."

Two months later, John went for his usual Saturday bicycle ride.  "By noon he was dead", she writes.

Not only did she have to cope with her grief but also with the good intentions of those who tried to console her with words of sympathy that she found irritating.

In desperation, she visited the local Catholic priest, something she had not done for years. He spoke to her of the afterlife, and how our loved ones send signs to let us know they are alright.

Thus inspired, next day she visited the local Spiritualist church where the medium told her, "There's a man beside you.  Hes young, tall, blond and recently passed to Spirit.  He seems to love cycling.  He's very protective of you.  Do you know who he is?"

The priest had suggested that John might send her a butterfly, as sometimes happens to the recently bereaved.

"After that, butterflies appeared everywhere", she writes.  "Along the street, on the windows of every room I was in."  This sense of humour was typical of John, so she asked him mentally, "Are you sending me butterflies?"

A butterfly then landed on her foot.

"This was not some abstract heavenly concept", she adds.  "In that moment, everything I thought I knew about life and death was up-ended.  We weren't separated by space and time; we were united in something bigger than ourselves."

Karen McCarthy is a former political journalist and war correspondent.  She is also an accredited medium.  At present she is writing her second book, on science and religion, and studying for a PhD in Religious Studies.

Triona Sheeran
Jan 17, 2017

I attended College and studied Science and also Computing science hons degree for many years. I had a logical thinking job, in fact I was very successful.

I had a closed mind in regards to religion.. in other words I was not at all religious. I wasn't sure about life after death. I was skeptical to say the very least. We weren't a religious family.

A close friend of a friend was a Medium. When my friend asked "did i believe her" my reply was "I believe that she believes" and left it at that.

Nearly two years ago my husband passed very suddenly under difficult circumstances. He was fit and healthy and just turned 41 the week before. Needless to say I was distraught as were my children and in deep shock.  It was the saddest and hardest time of my life, and I have more then my fair share as a comparison.

I went to two mediums and although everything they said was to be the truth nothing could quite "convince" me that he was still with us on some level, another life, heaven whatever you wish to call it. Even though It gave me comfort and enough support to still push through the grief to be there for my children i was constantly questioning the "proof" i personally needed to know for sure he was ok.

My children witnessed items moving in front of them, lights flickering on and off, bulbs going within hours and a sense that someone was in the room with us. The cat was playing with "something or someone" we couldn't see. One night a few weeks afterwards I saw his face in full colour right beside me. It woke me from sleep. The next morning I convinced myself it was the sleeping tablets. It was all encouraging but my mind always juggled 50/50 at best in its beliefs.

I decided the only way I would know for sure is if I trained and became a medium or not whatever the case would be. Hear / see / know for myself or accept that it wasn't real . I started reading several development books, attended a few development workshops.

The very first time I could hear and feel someone in spirit was such a unique amazing experience , I'm not a journalist and cannot possibly begin to explain in words.

 I could feel their thoughts and feelings. I could feel how they passed away, They told me by their thoughts and pictures in my head, when they had passed, what they did for a living, what hobbies they enjoyed and who met them in spirit when they passed.There was no way whatsoever I could be imagining the strength of love this father had for his daughter and how proud he was of her accomplishments. The strength of the emotion bringing me to tears (and I'll add I cannot stand crying in public so this was another first).

I have since continued on with my passion for developing and studying this in my private time between work.

I was shocked and humbled instantly. I had obtained the proof I personally needed.

Some people can argue its disillusionment , a psychosis of some description, a lie or whatever acronym they wish to say.  I get it, I was the same prior 2 years ago.

I feel so shamed when i think back about how I had to be proven wrong and also how grateful I am that whatever source / spirits decided they would communicate with me and grant me that freedom , the enlightenment to talk to me.

Am I the same person ?  No, I'm a better me. Better for not being as arrogant and assuming I knew everything about our universe and how things worked. Better for being humbled, and better for being able to fully appreciate the amount we take for granted and the support we get for our loved ones who have passed over.

I completely understand this article.  It is so brave of Karen to post this and obviously came from her heart and genuine in its entirety.  It absolutely sucks that I lost something so so precious to me and my children but so amazing that he is still with me to help and support me when I feel I'm going to fall. His soft words , his ruffling of my hair like a soft breeze, the slight smell of his aftershave. I constantly tell people I don't want to be with anyone else I have my husband. People don't get it.

Its extremely hard to say to friends and family what you believe in and what you do (communicate with spirits). One of these days I joke and say "I'll have to come out" .

I however am at least not arrogant enough anymore to say things are a load of crap or to dismiss ideas, stories or beliefs out of hand. To outright call anyone a liar if its something that doesn't personally resonate with me.

Lovely article , well written. Thank you for posting Salon and Karen. I look forward to more.