What if the people you love aren't as far away as they seem?

For more than two decades, Dr. Irene Blinston has been quietly studying something most psychologists won't touch — an ancient Greek practice called the psychomanteum.

Grievers sit in a darkened room with a tilted mirror and open themselves to contact with the other side. The research is staggering: 92% of participants experienced a measurable reduction in grief symptoms, and the relief held for months afterward.

In this conversation, Dr. Blinston and I go somewhere most grief conversations never go. We talk about what happens when ancient wisdom and modern psychology stop arguing and start working together. She shares her doctoral research on adults who saw corporeal apparitions as children — including a thirteen-year-old in South Africa who found himself standing beside Jesus after a car struck his bicycle. She tells me about the woman whose only child was killed in a cycling accident, who walked into the psychomanteum devastated and walked out transformed, carrying a message from her daughter: "You feel the only way to stay connected is through pain. But we're always connected by love."

I got chills. You will too.

We also explore:

🪞 What a psychomanteum is and how the ancient Greeks used it as an Oracle of the Dead
📊 The 92% grief symptom reduction Dr. Blinston documented in her research
👁️ Why corporeal apparitions are so rare — and what makes them different from typical signs
💞 Why 60 to 75% of grieving spouses have after-death contact but won't talk about it
⚖️ How "scientism" became its own dogma and what it's costing grievers today
🌟 Dr. Blinston's own childhood apparition of Jesus and her years of "night school" dreams
🚪 Why she believes the mirror is a portal — and why you cover it when you're done

About Dr. Irene Blinston:

Dr. Irene Blinston is a transpersonal psychologist, independent researcher, and one of the rare voices in mental health who takes the sacred seriously as science. She holds a PhD in transpersonal psychology and is the author of Gazing into the Afterlife: Using the Mystery of the Psychomanteum to Heal Grief in All Its Forms. Her research spans childhood religious apparitions, mirror gazing as a grief intervention, and the convergence between ancient wisdom and modern psychology. She is developing a certification program to train new psychomanteum facilitators.

Connect with Dr. Blinston:

🌐 Website: https://portal2healinggrief.com
📖 Book: Gazing into the Afterlife (available on Amazon and major retailers)

What resonated with you in this episode? Have you had a visitation, a dream, or a moment of presence with someone you've lost? Leave a comment on the article at grief2growth.com — I read every one, and I'd love to hear your story.

If this episode meant something to you, share it with someone who needs to hear that the love doesn't end.

You've been listening. You're doing the work. But there's still this feeling that you're circling the same place.

Maybe you've thought about working with me one-on-one. Maybe something's held you back.

I get that. And I want you to know there's still a place for you.

All of it, pay what you want. You decide what it's worth. Nobody gets turned away because of money.

https://grief2g

The International Association for Near-Death Studies or IANDS will host its annual conference at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue. The event features an all-star lineup of keynotes like Proof of Heaven Author Eben Alexander, MD, and Dying to Be Me Author Anita Moorjani. I Early bird registration rates are available through July 15.

Visit IANDS.org to register

Want to go deeper? My Substack is where I share solo essays on grief, consciousness, and continuing bonds — thoughts that don't always make it into the podcast. It's also home to a community of listeners who get it, because they're living it too. Free to subscribe. Find it at substack.com/grief2growth.

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