A Fiery Crash, a Lost Soul and a Call for Help By Sheldon Shalley and Jennifer Foley

When a person dies the physical body is gone, usually cremated or buried. However, the energy body or soul may linger. Instead of moving on or “going into the light” some people become earthbound. There are reasons for this. Sometimes guilt, fear, unfinished business, confusion, or the grief or pull of family members left behind prevent a deceased person from going into the beyond. In a sudden or traumatic death the soul is often confused as to what happened or where to go. Earthbound spirits cannot move on. But neither can they enjoy the pleasures of living. Psychopomp work is a shamanic skill that helps the spirits of deceased persons to pass over. The term Psychopomp originates from the Greek words “pompos” meaning conductor or guide and “psyche” means breath, life, soul or mind. A psychopomp is a guide, who escorts souls to the afterlife.

Jennifer, a client of mine and energy worker, reported that one of her clients and his brother, who I will call John and Eric respectively for the purpose of privacy and confidentiality, were traveling at a high speed. John lost control of the car and crashed. The car caught fire. A week after the death of John and Eric, Jennifer reports that she began feeling John’s energy. She said it was a demanding energy, wanting her attention and wanting her help. She stated that she told him that he had passed over and that he needed to go to the light. John refused and wanted her to “do more.” Jennifer reported that John’s energy continued to escalate into a state of panic. His energy became more and more intense. Jennifer felt him around her constantly during the day. At night he would stand at the side of her bed. Jennifer said that she was not afraid of him, just that there was an incredible sense of urgency. Jennifer came to understand that John was not crossing over deliberately because of his brother.

One night Jennifer was awakened to all the fire alarms going off in her home. She stated that they were not “beeping” like needing a battery replacement but the loud consistent sounds of the alarm. Jennifer and her husband got up, checked on the house, checked on the children, checked outside and everything was fine. There seemed to be no reason for this to happen. It had never happened before. Jennifer wondered if this was somehow related to John’s death since he had died in a fiery crash a little after 3am. As her client, Jennifer had been quite involved with the family and wondered if the alarm going off at 3:10am might have something to do with this accident and deaths of John and Eric. A couple of days later Jennifer reported that she kept waking up at 3:10am each night. Her own tracking told her that the fire alarms going off in her house was in fact her client reaching out to her, needing help, really trying to get her attention to help him. At that point Jennifer told John that she was aware that he needed something and that she was seeking help for him.

Jennifer contacted me and told me of the situation. After some discussion and additional tracking, Jennifer and I decide to do psychopomp work to help John cross over in his transition. We met at the designated place and time. I opened sacred space and had Jennifer lie down on the table in preparation to serve as the surrogate for her client. As soon as I opened sacred space, I was aware that John had followed her and was, in fact, in the room. I called him by name and introduced myself. I told him that I knew that he died in a fiery crash and that he seemed to be having difficulty crossing over. I informed him that sometimes in such traumatic accidents, souls don’t realize that they are dead and they need assistance. I explained that Jennifer and I were here to help him. At that point he told me it was his brother, Eric, he was concerned about, that his brother needed help.

I then addressed Eric and let him know that his brother, Jennifer and I were here to help. I informed him that he had been in an accident, and that he had been killed in that crash and that we were here to help him pass on.Following the psychopomp protocol of my training in shamanism I brought Eric’s energy body down and laid it over Jennifer’s body who was serving as the surrogate. At this point Jennifer became aware that Eric was not aware of the violent death that had killed him and his brother. He could not “hear” John’s urgent calling for him, even with John right there with him. Jennifer noted that Eric was not connected to anyone or anything. He was in an abyss, a place of nothingness. Jennifer reported that Eric felt to her like a very young soul. She states that his energy felt cold, dense and disconnected and that there was a lot of “sludge” noting that he had lived a life of very low vibration. I cleared Eric’s chakras, clearing out the dark sludge energy that he had accumulated during his lifetime as well as the trauma imprint of this accident. I completed what is called the Death Spiral and let him know that it was now ok to “go home.” The Rescue Spirits of Light and guides came to assist him to go into the light.

Jennifer reported that she felt Eric’s energy rise up to the left corner of the ceiling of the office. She said there was a portal or an opening for him to go through and someone came to get him—to actually pull him through. This spirit also seemed to help him on the other side to break out of the Abyss. I then addressed John. I sensed that John had actually completed what he needed to complete by having us help his brother to cross over and was himself ready to cross. In fact, it didn’t seem like he needed any assistance, that he was in fact ready to leave and could cross over on his own. But to make sure, I invited him to let us help him and brought him down and laid his energy body down over Jennifer. The energy body felt very light to me and was in fact ready to go. I quickly cleared the chakras, completed the Death Spiral and sent his energy body on its way and closed sacred space. Jennifer reported that John crossed over very quickly. John indicated that he had been ready to go but would not leave because he was responsible for the death of his brother. He wanted to “do right” by not letting his brother stay as an “earth bound spirit.” Jennifer reported that John’s energy was dense but not as dense as Eric’s. John had a more focused energy and released quickly after his brother crossed over. Jennifer reported that after they both crossed over, she felt a sense of release, lightness, clarity and a knowing that we had helped John and Eric in a sacred way. Days after our work, Jennifer reported that there had no more activity in her house.