Divine Encounters Episode 003 | Near-Death Experience Story
Betty Eadie was a mother of seven, ready to turn her back on organized religion, when she says she died in a hospital bed at 31 and ran into the arms of Jesus. In this Divine Encounters episode she tells Alex Ferrari about a childhood shaped by fear, a pitch black place that felt like love, and what she says she was told about choosing the life we live.
Key Takeaways
- Betty says she was told as a small child in boarding school that she was a heathen and a sinner, and she carried a fear of God and of dying for years.
- She says she hemorrhaged during and after a hysterectomy at 31, felt herself dying in her hospital bed and found herself out of her body at the ceiling.
- She describes three men in brown robes and golden belts who told her she had died early but that everything would be okay.
- She says she visited her home, saw her husband and children, and knew that they would be fine.
- She describes a pitch black place that felt like being bathed in love, and then a light that drew her out and became Jesus.
- She says Jesus told her that she chose her life, including the family and the challenges, as a test of her growth.
- Her message: learn to love one another, put God first, live without fear, and know that we praise God with our very being.
| Guest | Betty Eadie |
| Episode | Divine Encounters 003 |
| Age at the time | 31 |
| What Betty says happened | She hemorrhaged around a hysterectomy, felt herself dying that night and left her body |
| Where she says she went | The ceiling, her family home, a spiraling tunnel and a very dark place, then a light |
| Who she met | Three men in brown robes with golden belts, and Jesus |
| The message | Learn to love one another, and live free from fear |
| Time since | Close to 50 years since her experience, she says |
A Child Told She Was a Sinner
Alex opens by asking what Betty’s life was like before she died. Her answer starts in a boarding school, when she was about four years old. She says she was told that because she was Native American and Irish, she was a heathen and a sinner, and that she would be going down. The adults called it help. They said they were educating her about the ways of God.
What she learned instead, she says, was fear. She could not imagine why the color of her skin, or the fact that she was Native American, would make God send a whole people to hell. She did not believe God was the God they were teaching. But she did not know who God was either, and that was frightening. For much of her life she was afraid of dying.
She says she pushed all that into her subconscious and got on with living. She also describes low self-esteem and low self-worth, which she connects to child abuse. She does not describe what happened, and we will not guess at it here. It is simply part of the picture she paints of who she was before.
Seven Children and a Search for Something Forever
Betty married young and had seven children. She says growing up and raising them was frightening in its own way, but she wanted a family she could be with forever. That longing sits at the heart of her story.
She tried church for her children, she says, and then became disillusioned. The children were told they were sinners and had to get on their knees. They were seven, eight, nine, ten years old, she says, just babies. When they came home and told her they had spent time on their knees begging God for forgiveness, that was it for her and religion. She took them out.
That is the woman, she says, who walked into a hospital at 31 for a hysterectomy. It was the first time she had ever had surgery. She says she had always been a very healthy woman.
A Night in the Hospital
Betty says she hemorrhaged during the surgery, and again shortly afterward. The hospital, she says, had staffing problems, and there were only a few nurses around. She was told she was fine apart from a slight hemorrhage that had been repaired, and she was settled in for the night.
Then she woke. She says she felt herself dying, a sick feeling, and she knew something was wrong. She was too weak to call the nurse. The next thing she knew, she was out of her body, rising to the ceiling and turning to look down at herself in the bed. She came back down for a closer look. She was not frightened, she says. She was amazed at what she saw.
Shortly after that, she says, three men in brown robes and golden belts appeared by the bed. She says it took her a while to recognize them, but she was comfortable with them. They told her she had died prematurely but that everything would be okay.
Going Home to Her Family
Her first worry was her family. She wanted to go home and see them, so, she says, her spirit went out through the window and she arrived at her house. Her husband was sitting in a chair reading a newspaper. The children were running all over the place. He had promised to get them to bed early, but she knew they would be fine.
Then something more happened. She says she could see into each of her children’s lives. She knew that they would grow up and that they would be fine. It was okay to leave them. She returned to the hospital bed, and from there she began to travel.
If you would like to read about how others describe these moments of peace and separation, our complete guide to near-death experiences brings many accounts together.
The Tunnel and the Dark That Felt Like Love
Betty describes traveling down into a tunnel, spiraling, moving. She came to a dark place, very dark and very black. She compares it to camping in the forests of Washington State, where the trees are so tall that at night you cannot see the sky and it is pitch black.
She also has claustrophobia, which makes what happened next meaningful to her. It was “pitch black in this space, but I felt no fear,” she says, and she remembers noticing that even in the moment. In her words, “I felt like I was being bathed in love.” It was warm and beautiful. If she had not known what was beyond it, she says, she would have wanted to stay there forever. She could live eternity in that space.
It did not last long, though. She saw a pinpoint of light that grew brighter and brighter, like a searchlight that moved around a little before it focused on her. As it did, it broadened, and it drew her out of the blackness.
Running Into the Arms of Jesus
When she reached the end of that light, she says, it was brighter than ever and had widened. She could see a shape inside it, an outline, though the light was too bright to see more. She knew it was Jesus. She knew that she loved him, and that she had always known him, perhaps for eternities.
What surprised her, thinking back, was that there was no thinking involved. She responded in a natural, normal way, the way you might run to your mother or father after a long time away. That is what she did. She ran to him, he opened his arms to receive her, and they embraced.
You Chose It
Then she let him have it. Betty says she asked why he had sent her to earth, why he had sent her down there at all. She told him, in her words, “I never ever, ever want to go there again.” She ranted that he had sent her to be an Indian and an Irish person who was criticized and condemned for everything you can think of.
He chuckled. He leaned back, she says, and he was amused. She wondered how he could be amused when she felt so irritated, even angry. And then he told her that she had chosen it. She asked, did I? Yes, he said. He explained that every spirit there is at a different level of growth, and that each one is on earth to be tested on the growth it has gained so far. She says she chose to go down into the family that would give her the greatest challenges.
She told him she did not think she would do that now. He said she probably would not have to. As he spoke, she says, it was less about words and more as if he were speaking to her heart. Every thought and feeling resonated. She tells Alex she is resisting tears even now, because the glory of the experience cannot be put into words.
The Message: Love One Another and Live Without Fear
The last time she saw him, Betty says, she asked how she was going to share all this. He told her the most important thing is to learn to love one another, and that all else will be fun. She says it comes down to putting God first, loving God, loving one another, and freedom from fear so that your spirit can grow into the person you mapped out. She calls it a blueprint you made yourself.
She also says there are few if any coincidences in anyone’s life. To her, we are co-operators with God, and each day we get up and help create our day. In the Native way, she explains, if you are going down a path and see that it is the wrong way, you stop and turn around. It is that simple. Why keep going the same way when it is not working? That, to her, is the freedom of life. If this speaks to you, our entries on soul contract and our hub on finding your soul purpose explore similar ideas.
Betty says that next year she will celebrate 50 years since the experience. She has devoted her life to embracing the light and sharing it. She wants others to feel the glory of God, and also the freedom to live, to explore and to live as rightly as they can, not necessarily within the structure of any religion, except for faith in God. She remembers thinking that this is how we praise God, with our essence and our very being. When we love, think good thoughts and are kind to one another, we glorify him.
How Betty’s Story Fits With Other Near-Death Experiences
Many people who report a near-death experience describe leaving the body, seeing it from above, passing through a tunnel and meeting a being of light. Betty’s account has each of those pieces, along with a theme that comes up often: a loving rebuke that turns into understanding. What stands out in her telling is how directly it answers the fear she was handed as a child.
That is why her story is a useful one to read beside a more clinical overview. If you want the terms in plain language, the glossary entry on near-death experience is a good companion. We share Betty’s account as her own, in her own words, and make no medical claims.
Bringing It Home
You do not need to share Betty’s faith to take something from her story. A child who was told she was unworthy grew into a woman who says she was met with unconditional welcome. If you were taught to be afraid of God, or of your own worth, her account offers one gentle alternative to sit with.
Her practical advice is simple. When you notice you are heading the wrong way, stop, turn around and go another direction. You can do that in a small way today, in a conversation, a habit or a belief that no longer fits. Start where you are.
Questions to Sit With
- Betty was taught early on to be afraid. What did you absorb about God or worth as a child that you could set down now?
- She says she chose her family and her challenges. Whether or not you hold that view, how does it feel to ask what your hardest chapters might have taught you?
- Where in your life are you walking a path that is not working, and what would turning around look like this week?
This week, notice one moment when you start doing something out of fear. Pause, breathe, and ask what love would do instead. Then do that one small thing.
Spiritual Takeaways
- Betty says fear of God was taught to her, and love is what she met.
- She says every spirit is at a different level of growth, and that earth is a place where that growth is tested.
- She says we choose the lives and families that challenge us, and that there are few if any coincidences.
- She says the most important thing is to learn to love one another.
- She says we praise God with our very being, through love, kind thoughts and kindness to each other.
Please enjoy my conversation with Betty Eadie.
Guest Links: Connect With Betty Eadie
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Betty Eadie?
Betty Eadie is a near-death experiencer who shares her story in this Divine Encounters episode with host Alex Ferrari. She says she was 31, a mother of seven, when she died after hemorrhaging around a hysterectomy.
What did Betty Eadie experience before she died?
She says that as a child in boarding school she was told she was a heathen and a sinner because she was Native American and Irish. She says that left her afraid of God and of dying, with low self-worth, until she was an adult with seven children.
What happened to Betty during her near-death experience?
Betty says she hemorrhaged during and shortly after surgery. That night she felt herself dying, found herself at the ceiling looking down at her body, and was met by three men in brown robes and golden belts who said she had died prematurely but that everything would be okay.
Did Betty visit her family?
She says she did. She describes her spirit going out through the window to her home, where her husband was reading a newspaper in a chair and the children were running around. She says she could see into each child’s life and knew they would be fine.
What was the dark place Betty describes?
She says it was a very dark, pitch black place, like the middle of a forest at night. She has claustrophobia, yet she says she felt no fear and felt bathed in love. She says she would have wanted to stay there forever if she had not known what lay beyond.
What did Betty say happened when she met Jesus?
Betty says she saw a pinpoint of light grow brighter, knew the shape within it was Jesus and ran to him like a child to a parent. She says she told him she never wanted to go back to earth, and that he chuckled and told her she had chosen her life.
What did Betty say Jesus told her about choosing her life?
She says he told her every spirit is at a different level of growth and is on earth to be tested on the growth it has gained. She says he told her she chose the family that would give her the greatest challenges.
What is Betty Eadie’s main message?
Betty says the most important thing is to learn to love one another. She also speaks of putting God first, living free from fear, and turning around when you are on the wrong path.
How did Betty feel about organized religion afterward?
She says she wants people to live righteously and freely, not necessarily within the structure of any religion, except for faith in God. She says we praise God with our essence, through love and kindness.
Is a near-death experience proof of an afterlife?
Next Level Soul shares near-death experiences as lived experiences told in the person’s own words. Researchers continue to study and debate what they mean. Nothing here is medical advice or a medical claim.
Keep Exploring
- The complete guide to near-death experiences
- What a soul contract is
- Nanci Danison on what she was shown about religion
- Nancy Rynes on love without dogma or religion
- John J. Davis on a Catholic upbringing and meeting Jesus
- Dr. Rod Chelberg on learning our divine blueprint from Jesus
- Tricia Barker on who surprised her in heaven
- Sheila Gillette on a divine meeting with Jesus
- Browse more free masterclasses and the Divine Encounters podcast.
Follow Along with the Transcript
Alex Ferrari 0:00
Tell me what your life was like, before you died.
Betty Eadie 0:09
When I was a child at a boarding school, I was about four years old, I was told that because I was Native American, and because I was art Irish, that I was a heathen and a sinner, and that I would be going down. And part of their help for me was to educate me about the ways of God. What I learned instead was fear of am frightened, and I couldn't imagine why the color of my skin and the fact that I'm Native American would, why would God select this this type of people to put into hell. And so I was fearful, all my life, I was fearful of dying. I didn't particularly believe that God was the God that they were teaching. But I didn't know who God was. And it was brighten very frightening for me. But that was just a that wasn't something that led my life. I think I pushed that into the subconscious mind and just got on with living. And I had low self esteem, low self worth all the things that come with child abuse. And so at the age of 31, I had married young and had seven children. It was it was very frightening to me to go through that experience of life just growing up. But I wanted a family that I could be with forever. And so I'm married and had my my children race and the way that I wanted to race them. I actually took them and put them into churches, only to become disillusioned and take them out because they were told that they were they were sinners and had to get on their knees and they're like 7,8,9,10 years old, you know, just babies. And when they came back and told me what they that they had to spend time on their knees, begging God for forgiveness that just did it for me and religion. At the age of 31, I went into the hospital to have a hysterectomy. And it was during that time first time I'd ever had any surgery or anything at all I'm very healthy woman I've always been healthy. went into the hospital I hemorrhage during surgery. And Ryan shortly after. And, and they had staff problems. And there were few nurses that were around. They told me that I was fine. After the surgery, except for a slight hemorrhage that they had repaired and bedded me down for the night. I woke and I felt myself dying actually, you just feel this sick feeling and, and I knew something was wrong, but I was too weak to call for the nurse. And the next thing I knew I was out of my body. I went up to the up to the ceiling and turn to look down and I could see myself laying there. I came down for a closer look at and I wasn't frightened. I was amazed at what I saw. And shortly thereafter, three men in brown robes and golden belts appeared by the side of the bed. I knew them that I was taking me a while to to really recognize them. But I knew I was comfortable with them. And they said that I had died prematurely but that everything would be okay. I was worried about like family I'm wanting to go home and see them and so I went out My Spirit went out through the window and I arrived at my home. My husband was sitting in the chair reading a newspaper The kids were running all over the place he had promised put them to bed early and get in but I knew that they would be fine. And I started to I could see into each one of their lives and I knew that they would grow up and that they would be fine. It was okay to leave them. I went back to the hospital bed and started traveling down into a tunnel like of that. Just spiraling down it I mean it was it was moving. I came to a dark place very dark very black. I, I love to camp and have gone camping a lot. And when you're in the middle of the forest, especially in the state of Washington, where the trees are, oh, my goodness, you know, they're so tall. When you're in the middle of them, you don't see the sky at night. It's pitch black. Well, it was pitch black in this space, but I felt no fear. And I have claustrophobia. So it was challenging for me, even in that moment to think I have no fears I have no I'm not frightened of this black. In fact, I felt like I was being bathed in love. It was warm and beautiful. It was, you know, I have often said, if I didn't know what was beyond this, this blackness, I would have wanted to stay there forever. I could live eternity in that space. But it didn't last for too long. And there were I saw a pinpoint of light that became brighter and brighter. It was almost like a search light, moved around a bit, not a lot, but just a little bit where I was watching it, and then it focused on me. And as it focused on me It broadened. But more than that, it drew me out of that blackness. But when I came to the end of that light, and the light was brighter than ever, it just widened. And a turn, there was a beam in in the light. And I could see that shape in the outline. But the light was so bright. I knew that this was Jesus. And I knew that I loved him. And that I had always known him, perhaps for eternities as well. And then what surprised me is I thought back about on it, when I'm going through the process, there was no thinking you were just responding in a very natural, normal way to this beautiful man that I knew that I had known forever. So it'd be like dying in and needing your mother or your father and you run to them to embrace them. And that's what I did with him. And I ran down. And as I ran to him, he opened his arms to receive me in them. And we embrace and I said why did you send me the earth? Why did you send me down there? I never ever, ever want to go there again. And I said much less send me down to become an Indian and an Irish person who was criticized and and condemned for everything you can think of. And I just ranted and raved. I was just irritated. He chuckled. You lean back and he just he was amused. And I thought at the time, how can you be amused at something when I feel so in irritated, even angry about? And he said but you chose it? I said I did? He says yes you did. He said every spirit here is at a different level of growth. Everyone. And each one is on earth to be tested to test with it their growth that they have acquired thus far. And you said and you chose to go down. Do in to the family that would give you the greatest challenges. I said wow. I don't think I would do that now. He said you probably wouldn't have to. And he went on and he just and as he spoke it was even words it was like it was more like he was speaking to my heart because it just it resonated any I mean everything every thought every feeling. It was wonderful, beautiful. I can't even tell you I'm resisting breaking out in tears Even now because the glory of this experience cannot be put into words. First off. Well actually, that's kind of the third thing. The first is to learn to love one another. And that's what Jesus said to me. The last time I saw him, I said, how you know, how am I going to share all this? He says the most important thing is learn to love one another and all else will be fun. And so putting God first love God, love one another and freedom from fear so you can grow your Spirit can be the person that you mapped out. You, it's a blueprint you made yourself to be. And there are few if any coincidences in anyone's life. They're just not. And you and we are co operators with God, every day we get up, and we create our game every day, you know, in the native way, if you're going down a path, and you see that you're going down the wrong way. Stop and turn around. It's gotten turned around. It's that simple. Why keep trying to go that same way, when you're off the earlier, it's not doing it you you know, you're, you know, don't call it that way. Turn around and come back or go one another direction. But and that's what the freedom of life is all about. You'd be surprised. I mean, I have, you know, it's kind of next year, I will celebrate 50 years. having had that experience, years, I have given my life. To embrace by light, why? I want others to feel like what I feel, first the glory of God, second, freedom to live freedom to explore freedom just to, you know, to live righteously and surely as you can, and not necessarily in the instruction, structure of any sort of religion, except for faith in God. And I remember thinking, that's how we praise God. We praise God with our essence, our very being. When we love when we think good when we are kind to one another. We glorify Him.
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