Next Level Soul Podcast with Alex Ferrari

Episode: BONUS MONDAYS: AFTERLIFE Researcher DISCOVERS How to EASILY SPEAK to ANYONE'S SPIRIT GUIDES!
Guest: Richard Martini
Date: December 8, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Alex Ferrari dives deep into the nature of the afterlife, spirit guides, and soul councils with filmmaker and afterlife researcher Richard Martini. Through candid discussion, the pair explore the mechanics of reincarnation, life reviews, council dynamics, spiritual evolution, and the surprising ease with which anyone can communicate with their spirit guides or ‘Divine Council’. Martini, renowned for his books and documentaries such as "Flipside" and "Hacking the Afterlife," blends firsthand stories, humor, and hard-won wisdom to illuminate the sacred mysteries beyond the veil.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Journeys into Spirituality and Filmmaking

• Both Alex and Richard share their unconventional transitions from the film industry to spirituality.
• Alex explains the "call" to start the Next Level Soul podcast, prompted by his own spiritual guide.
  • “My spiritual guide here on Earth... told me I had to do a spiritual podcast. And I said, ‘You’re insane...’ Three weeks later, we had guests, a website, the whole thing.” — Alex (05:41)
• Richard describes losing his close friend Loana Anders and subsequent experiences of her posthumous contact, which led him to explore Buddhism, hypnotherapy, and afterlife research.

2. From Skepticism to Research

• Martini’s approach is fundamentally skeptical, seeking verifiable information by asking identical questions to various people under hypnosis, guided meditation, or with mediums.
• He references research by Bruce Greyson and Michael Newton and describes receiving consistent details from thousands of case studies.

“You can get objective data from subjective experiences if you ask the same questions to people who are experiencing something.” — Richard (13:51)

3. The Nature of the Divine Council & Spirit Guides

• Martini finds that everyone has a 'council' of guides or wise beings available—anyone can make contact through guided meditation.
• The council typically consists of 5-15 members, each representing qualities (e.g., courage, wisdom, creativity) earned in various lifetimes.
• These council members may serve on multiple councils, not necessarily embodying the same role every time.

“Each council member has some quality that you’ve earned in a lifetime. So if you have like 15 council members, you’ve been around a lot.” — Richard (29:36)

• The council is met before birth (to discuss plans and lessons) and just after death (to conduct the life review).
  • [73:11]

4. Communicating with the Afterlife

• Martini employs mediums (notably Jennifer Shaefer) and guided meditation to facilitate afterlife conversations—including with notable figures like Carl Weathers and Amelia Earhart.
• He describes direct, verifiable information coming through mediumship, sometimes confirmed by obscure external sources.
• Contact with guides and councils is available to all—children, the elderly, and those in altered states often access these more easily due to “filters” on ordinary consciousness.

“I’m not doing magic. Anybody can do this. I’m just a filmmaker... People have filters on their brain when they’re born.” — Richard (25:41)

5. Incarnation is Optional and Life as a Play

• Incarnation is described as “optional,” and earth life as a powerful, fast-track learning environment akin to a play or film.
• Soul groups (or “homerooms”) are recast for each lifetime; all roles—positive and negative—are chosen for mutual spiritual evolution.
• Trauma, abuse, and tragedy are contextualized as mutually agreed roles for deeper growth, which can heal wounds in this life.

“We’re playing a play, a character on a stage. Nobody can hurt you on stage or in a movie.” — Richard (43:02)

• Everything is orchestrated perfectly for the soul’s growth—successes, failures, missed opportunities, and emotional highs and lows.

6. Life Review and Karma

• Upon death, a soul undergoes a “life review,” experiencing both the joy and pain imparted to others firsthand.
• Even figures with violent legacies (e.g., Genghis Khan, Hitler) endure immense challenge in life review and may spend many lifetimes making reparations.

“It’s not like people get off scot free. You will experience all the negativity that you’ve caused. So no time like the present to go, hey, let me fix that right?” — Richard (77:11)

7. Questions of Time, Simultaneous Lives, and Higher Beings

• Time is nonlinear in the afterlife, but events still happen in sequence for the sake of learning (83:32).
• 'Ascended Masters' like Jesus, Buddha, and Yogananda bring a larger portion of Source energy into their incarnations and may remain available to communicate.
• Each soul’s journey is unique and continuous—graduating to roles of guide, council member, or teacher as experience accrues.

8. Memorable Quotes & Humor

• Martini often imparts profound concepts with humor and irreverence:
  • “[Jesus]’s a funny guy. He changed into jeans and a t-shirt... It says The Grateful Dead.” — Richard (16:37)
  • "You can spend 500 years on some boring planet where nothing happens, but you can learn more from tragedy in one day on Earth spiritually..." — Richard (39:00)
  • "Why are avatars different? [Jesus said,] I brought more of Source with me to this lifetime." — Richard (95:39)

Deep Dives With Timestamps

Filmmaking to Spirituality & First Spiritual Nudges

• Transitioning from Hollywood to podcasting and spirituality: [03:40–06:45]
• Alex’s spiritual calling to podcast: [05:41]
• Early influences (Yogananda, Beatles, Catholicism): [06:45–09:26]

Near-Death Research & Consistency in Reports

• Jesus in NDEs; all religions as metaphor: [09:48–13:51]
• Objective afterlife data; Bruce Greyson’s research: [10:11–13:51]

The Mechanics of Afterlife Communication

• Hypnotherapy, guided meditation, and mediumship: [18:21–25:41]
• Specific examples (Carl Weathers, Amelia Earhart): [21:36–24:34 and 59:54]

Council Structure & Access

• What Divine Councils are and how to meet yours: [66:45–75:28]
• Process of contacting and asking questions: [72:02–75:25]

Incarnation, Life Purpose, Karma, and Trauma Healing

• Incarnation as choice; life as a play: [35:35–46:56]
• Healing trauma through spiritual context: [43:02–45:31]
• Life review: Joy, pain, and growth: [77:11–78:54]
• Impact on famous/infamous historical figures: [78:54–81:08]

Time, Ascended Masters, and Advanced Souls

• Simultaneous lives and perception of time: [83:02–89:03]
• Communicating with avatars (Jesus, Buddha, Yogananda): [92:56–98:41]
• "Everything is a construction of consciousness." — [99:33]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the Function of Divine Councils:
  • "You meet them before you show up, and you meet them when you leave, and they go, so, how'd you do?" — Richard (75:28)
• On Spiritual Evolution:
  • “Living a fulfilled life? Doing what you said you came here to do.” — Richard (101:19)
• On God and Love:
  • “Love is the only reason to be on the planet… To love, love.” — Robin Williams via Richard (103:20)
• On Afterlife Skepticism:
  • “Believe in the possibility of an afterlife so then you won’t waste your energy arguing about it like I did.” — Harry Dean Stanton via Richard (87:14)
• On Life as a Movie:
  • “All I see in life is movies. That’s all it is.” — Alex, citing Yogananda (45:31)

Conclusion and Takeaways

• Communication with spirit guides, councils, and even famous avatars is within anyone’s reach—often just a matter of intention and relaxation.
• The afterlife is loving, forgiving, and humbling, with a focus on growth, compassion, and letting go of earthly fears.
• Roles in life—no matter how painful—are pre-arranged for mutual learning; reviewing them from a soul perspective can bring profound healing.
• Time is relative and non-linear in spirit; what matters is the evolution and expansion of the soul’s (or conscious energy’s) capacity for love.
• The ultimate spiritual advice: open your heart to everyone and all things, and don’t take yourself (or the drama of the play) too seriously.

Learn More

• Richard Martini: richmartini.com, "Hacking the Afterlife" podcast, "Flipside" & related books.
• Next Level Soul Podcast: nextlevelsoul.tv

Summary by Next Level Soul Podcast Summarizer Assistant.