Divine Encounters Episode 137 | Near-Death Experience Story
Chrystal Rae was heading back to the airport from Vail with friends when, she says, an icy mountain road sent their car off an 80 foot cliff. In this Divine Encounters episode she tells Alex Ferrari what she experienced as time slowed, how she was held in a luminous presence, the timelines she says she was shown, and the three simple gifts that brought her back to her body.
Key Takeaways
- Chrystal says her car spun on an icy road in Vail, was hit on the passenger side, and went off an 80 foot cliff, flipping 10 times.
- She describes time slowing to nothing, a calm with no fear of death, and then finding herself outside her body in a luminous presence.
- She says she knew everything that could be known, and every question she had was answered.
- She describes a 360 degree life review with no judgment, just deep compassion, in which she saw the ripple of her actions forward and backward.
- She says she was shown timelines, including exit points, and saw her children’s lives without her, which showed her that each soul is here for its own bliss.
- She says the timeline she chose included writing a book to tell the world that love is all that matters.
- She says she was shown three simple gifts: freshly cut grass, human touch, and the sun rising and setting.
| Guest | Chrystal Rae |
| Episode | Divine Encounters 137 |
| What Chrystal says happened | A car spun on an icy mountain road near Vail and went off an 80 foot cliff, flipping 10 times |
| Where she says she went | A luminous presence where she felt held |
| What she was shown | A 360 degree life review, timelines, and her children’s lives without her |
| What changed her mind | A timeline in which she wrote a book that love is all that matters |
| Three gifts | Freshly cut grass, human touch, and a sunrise and sunset |
| The message | Open your heart and love; you keep your own score |
Heading Back to the Airport
Chrystal and her friends were heading back to the airport from Vail. They had stopped at one of the cute little hotel bars with a cozy fireplace while waiting for the plane. Then they got in the car and headed up the mountains.
A young guy of about 29 had been hitting on her friend Carmen, and they were laughing about it. She remembers the driver, her friend, looking back and laughing. When he turned back around, the car was spinning.
Time Slows to Nothing
Chrystal explains that sudden storms can happen in mountain towns, and the roads were already icy. They were spinning, and then the car was coming down the mountain and could not stop.
Inside the car, she says, time slowed down to nothing. There was no sense of time, she says, and time doesn’t really mean much to her anymore. They were spinning, but it was in slow motion. She felt all the emotions and fear of everyone in the car: the driver, and her cousin in the back. She had no fear of death, so she was very calm. She describes herself as the person you want around when something tragic happens.
She remembers looking back at Carmen and seeing a fear, horror and despair she says she had never seen in someone. She felt it as if it was her own. The driver was frantic.
The Cliff
Their car was hit on her side, the passenger side, by a car that she says was estimated to be going 50 miles an hour. Throughout, she says, she was in an altered state with time slowed. Then suddenly she was outside her body, watching from a distance, in a luminous presence.
She is careful about the word. “I wouldn’t say there was a beam of light there. It was more of a luminous presence, and I was being held.” She was dispassionate about what was happening in the car. She watched it spinning.
They went off an 80 foot cliff, she says, and hit at 25 feet, and flipped 10 times. When she felt the car go off the cliff, she thought: “We don’t have wings.” Then she thought she hadn’t known she was going to die today. It wasn’t sadness, she says. It was surprise, and not even fear.
You can read how others describe this kind of detachment in our glossary entry on the near-death experience.
Knowing Everything
In that instant, she says, “I knew everything that you could possibly know about everything.” Every question was answered. When she thought, oh no, I can’t die because I have two children, they will be orphaned, she was shown that we have different timelines. She notes she doesn’t know why she said orphaned, since they have a dad.
One of the timelines she could have chosen was to leave the planet.
A 360 Degree Life Review
She was shown her own life review. She says she not only saw what she had done but also “the ripple forward and backward of what I’ve done in my life,” good and bad, and not from a place of judgment. It was almost instantaneous. How can you see every moment of your life at once, and the ripple to infinity? She says it seems impossible, but it is not impossible, because it happened.
One scene was of a day she was walking down a street. A woman was sitting there with a little pregnant belly, in a bad place. Chrystal was drawn to her, sat down next to her and asked if she was okay. The woman looked scared, like an animal that does not trust you, but somehow her guard went down. She said no, she was not okay, and told her story: she was pregnant, the dad did not want the baby, she had no money.
Chrystal listened first, then told her she would be okay, gave her the few pennies she had in her purse, and gave her a hug. She never thought about her again. They did not exchange numbers. It was just a hug and a few inspiring words. Yet she says that was the pinnacle, up to that point in her life, of what she had done. It was a 360 degree review, with “no judgment, just deep compassion.”
Our glossary entry on the life review offers more on how others describe it.
Timelines and Exit Points
Chrystal says she calls what she was shown timelines, though she does not know what others call it. Think of your life as a line, with many lines, and a neutral center point. Positive and negative are only adjectives, she says, not judgments. For example, if you get cancer, we would call it negative, but if it takes you closer to the divine and the truth of love, is it negative?
She was shown that you cannot jump from one timeline to another. “You can only really move within the resonance of your current energy state.” There are possibilities this way and that way, and your choices let you choose. At that point, she says, she had many possible exit points. She could come back and be in a wheelchair, or come back with some mental deficiencies. When they showed her leaving the planet, she said she could not, since she had two children.
See our glossary entry on timelines for a plain language explanation of the term.
Her Children’s Lives Without Her
Immediately, she says, she was shown her children’s lives in completion. If she chose that timeline, what would happen to them? And, to her surprise, she saw that they were fine without her. She had thought of herself as a mother hen. But she saw them at her funeral, going to college, getting married and having children without her.
The message she received: “Each soul is here for the bliss of its own experience.” With or without you, your children will find their bliss. You do not need to stay for your children.
She shares this as part of her own account. It is not advice for anyone else, and if you are struggling, you are not alone. In the US you can call or text 988 any time.
A Timeline With a Book About Love
Then she was shown a timeline in which she comes back. She describes it as a male presence, because it was so powerful. In it, she would write a book and “tell the world that love is all that matters.”
Her soul lit up, she says. She knows it sounds cliche, but in that moment she understood the profundity of it. She would also get to be on Alex’s show. That, she says, is what excited her about coming back. She decided, and then she was suddenly back in her body.
Upside Down in the Jeep
She woke up in an upside down Jeep. The wheels were still spinning. The lights were shining on a wall of ice that they hit. The driver next to her was full of blood, but he said he was okay. Carmen was silent. Chrystal says she has no idea, and that she was in shock. She calls it miraculous, truthfully, since nobody goes off an 80 foot cliff, hits at 25 feet, flips 10 times and ends up alive. You can go to a stoplight and get hit and die, she says.
Three Gifts: Grass, Touch and the Sun
Rewinding, she says, while in the luminous presence she had been given a light preview of three things she needed to know. First, she had never really smelled freshly cut grass, even though she had. Now she had that aroma, that earthiness, and she thinks the lesson was gratitude for Mother Earth.
Second, she had never really touched somebody, even though she had combed her children’s hair. The gift, she says, is being able to connect physically, which we do not have in our light bodies. She does not like the idea some teachers share about not letting others put their dirty energy on you. “If they have dirty energy, that’s my energy too.” She believes “you are me, and I am you.”
Third, she had never really seen the sun rise or set. The metaphor, she says, is “the gift of a new day,” and how important night is, because night is where we rest.
After those, she thought it was too late for her, since she was rolling down a cliff, dying or dead. Her last thought was that at least she was going into the light, and she was kind of excited about it.
Be More Present
She also describes simple things she saw, like a little yellow flower stuck in the grass that you don’t see because you have seen it so many times. She asks her students how many trees are in front of their studio, and no one knows, because they do not see them. One gift of the experience, she says, was to be more present.
Her closing thought: “All you need to do is open your heart and love.” It is not complicated. “It’s not like someone up there keeping a score. Like you keep your own score.”
For more background, start with our complete guide to near-death experiences. At Next Level Soul we share each story in the guest’s own words, as an experience.
Questions to Sit With
- Chrystal says time slowed and she felt calm. When have you felt unexpectedly calm in a crisis?
- She says a small act of kindness, a hug for a stranger, was the pinnacle of her life review. What small kindness might matter more than you think?
- She asks how many trees are outside the studio. What ordinary thing around you have you stopped seeing?
This week, take a slow five minute walk and notice something you usually pass without seeing, such as a tree, a flower or the sky.
Spiritual Takeaways
- Chrystal says a life review can happen without judgment, just deep compassion.
- She says the smallest kindnesses can be the pinnacle of a life.
- She says each soul is here for the bliss of its own experience.
- She says to be present to grass, touch and the sun.
- She says all you need to do is open your heart and love, because you keep your own score.
Please enjoy my conversation with Chrystal Rae.
Guest Links: Connect With Chrystal Rae
- Chrystal Rae’s official site
- Chrystal Rae on YouTube
- Chrystal Rae on Facebook
- Chrystal Rae on Instagram
- Full NDE story with Chrystal Rae
Listen to the Episode
- Watch this episode ad-free on Next Level Soul TV
- Download the MP3
- More episodes: Divine Encounters
- Listen to Divine Encounters on Apple Podcasts
- Listen to Divine Encounters on Spotify
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Chrystal Rae?
Chrystal Rae is the guest on this Divine Encounters episode. She says she had a near-death experience when her car went off a mountain cliff near Vail.
What happened to Chrystal Rae?
Chrystal says her car spun on an icy road, was hit on the passenger side, and went off an 80 foot cliff, hitting at 25 feet and flipping 10 times.
What did she experience when time slowed?
Chrystal says time slowed to nothing, she felt calm with no fear of death, and then found herself outside her body in a luminous presence where she felt held.
What did Chrystal learn from her life review?
Chrystal says she saw the ripple of her actions forward and backward without judgment, and that a hug for a stranger was the pinnacle of what she had done.
What does Chrystal mean by timelines?
Chrystal says she was shown that life has many possible lines, and that you can only move within the resonance of your current energy state.
What did Chrystal see about her children?
Chrystal says she saw their lives in completion and learned that each soul is here for its own bliss. She says this is part of her account, not advice for others.
Why did Chrystal choose to come back?
Chrystal says she was shown a timeline in which she writes a book to tell the world that love is all that matters, and her soul lit up.
What were the three gifts?
Chrystal says she was shown freshly cut grass, human touch, and the sun rising and setting, as reminders of gratitude, connection and the gift of a new day.
What happened when she woke up?
Chrystal says she woke in an upside down Jeep with its wheels still spinning. The driver was bloodied but said he was okay.
What is Chrystal’s main message?
Chrystal says all you need to do is open your heart and love, and that there is no one keeping score but you.
Is this a medical claim?
No. Next Level Soul shares these stories as lived experiences in the guest’s own words. Nothing here is medical advice, and researchers continue to debate what such experiences mean.
Keep Exploring
- The complete guide to near-death experiences
- What a life review is
- Timelines in plain language
- Dennis Bullock on meeting timeline versions of himself
- Amber Cavanagh on being shown different timeline versions of herself
- Ginette Biro on parallel lives in the afterlife
- Sharon Kumara on a bus crash and being shown many worlds
- Lee Papa on a choice between leaving her son and returning
- 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.
Chrystal Rae 0:08
So that day we we were heading back to the airport, and we stopped at this like you know in Vail they have these like cute little hotel bars where it's like a cozy fireplace. We were waiting for the plane, then we got in the car. We were heading up the mountains. There was a like a young guy that was kind of like hitting on Carmen, you know, and he was like 29. So we're laughing about it, and I remember the driver, my friend, looking back, laughing. And then when he turned back, the car was like spinning because it was like kind of like I don't know, sudden storms happen. I think these mountain cities, and so it was like suddenly, like I mean, the roads were already icy, and we were spinning, and then the car was coming down the mountain, and it couldn't stop. And this time, for me, inside the car, time is slowing down to like nothing. Like it's there's no sense of time. Time doesn't really mean much to me anymore. Time slows down, and and we're spinning, but it's like in slow motion, and I'm feeling all the emotions and fear of everybody in the car being the driver and my cousin in the back, and I'm feeling it all. I had no fear of death, so I'm very calm. Like I'm like a cat calm, especially when there's something tragic, like you want me around, like I am like going to be the one to save you. I promise. Like that's, that's that's the kind of energy I have. And so I remember just feeling everything. I remember looking back at Carmen, and I think this is why I got this really. And I never have seen so much fear or horror or despair in someone. And I felt it like it was me. And then the driver was just frantic, right? He was just frantic. And so we get hit on my side of the car, and this person who was estimated to be going 50 miles an hour and hit my side of the car, passenger side. And during all of this, like I am in this altered state, time slowed down, and then suddenly I'm outside of my body, and I'm watching from a distance, and I'm in this luminous presence. I wouldn't say there was a beam of light there. It was more of a luminous presence, and I was being held. And I had very like I was very dispassionate about what was going on in the car. So I'm watching the car spinning. By the way, we went off a cliff. We went off. It was an 80 foot cliff, and we hit at 25 feet, and we flipped 10 times. But I remember when we went off the cliff. Like when I felt the car go off the cliff, I was like, "We don't have wings. I remember thinking, "We don't have wings, and then I remember thinking, "I didn't know I was going to die today. It wasn't like a sadness about it; it was more of a surprise, and there wasn't even a fear about it. It was just a surprise. But with that, then I'm in this luminous presence, and all I can say is, like, in that instant, I knew everything that you could possibly know about everything. Like every question was answered. If I had a question, for example, I was like, I was like, Oh no, I can't die because I have two children. They're going to be orphaned. I don't know why I said orphaned. They have a dad, obviously, but I said they'll be orphaned, and I was shown that we have different timelines. And one of the timelines that I could have chosen was to leave the planet. I was shown my own life review. My first time held, then I'm shown a life review. I not only see what I've done, but I've seen the ripple forward and backward of what I've done in my life, like good and bad, not from a place of judgment either. And it's almost instantaneous, like which is so bizarre. Like how can you see every single moment of your life instantaneous and the ripple to infinium? Like this is impossible, but it's not impossible because it happened.
Chrystal Rae 3:29
And so I was shown like one day I was walking down some street, don't remember where, and there was a woman sitting, and she had like a little pregnant belly, and she was just like her hands were like this, and she was just not in a good place, and you could see it. And I was just drawn to her. And I went and I sat next to her, and she kind of looked looked up, surprised. And she was probably a homeless woman. I'm not sure. But I said, "Are you okay? And she looked at me like kind of scared, like an animal would look at you when they're scared, like they don't really trust you. And she's, but somehow her guard went down, and she said, "No, I'm not okay. And she told me her story, which was like she was pregnant. The dad didn't want the baby. She didn't have money. Blah blah blah. All the stuff. And I just said, I listened to her first of all, like listening, like what you do is so well. Is I just listened to her, and then I I said, I promise you're going to be okay. I gave her whatever few pennies I had in my purse, and I gave her a hug and I left and I never thought about that woman again. Like we didn't exchange numbers. It wasn't. It was just like, can I give you a hug? Can I help you a little bit? Can I give you some inspiring words? And just like this was like the pinnacle up to that point in my life of what I had done. And so I was shown this 360-degree life review, no judgment, just deep compassion, and here's the point that you wanted to talk about: the timelines, which I call timelines. I don't know what other people call it, but for me, I was shown think about your life like think about a line, and there's all these lines. And let's say the center point, let's just say neutral, and we'll say positive and negative, but only as adjective like way to think about it, not as. Judgment, because for example, let's say you're here and you get cancer. So we would say cancer negative, right? But if cancer takes you closer to the divine, closer to the truth of love, is it a negative? You see what I'm saying? So that's why I say just relatively speaking, positive and negative, right? So I was shown all these different timelines, and you can't jump like from here to here. You can only really move within the resonance of your current energy state. You have these possible this way, possible that way. Your choices get to choose, right? And so one of the things I was shown is like I had I had so many possible exit points at this point. Like you could come back, you could be you know be in a wheelchair, you could come back, you could be have some mental deficiencies. And then I said, "Oh no, no! Like when they showed me exit the planet, I said, "Oh, I can't exit the planet. I have two children. And immediately with that, I was shown my children's life in completion. I saw that if I chose that timeline, what would happen to them? And here's the surprising thing: I was like shocked because I was like, "Oh, I thought being a mother and a very mother hen, by the way. But what I was shown is that they were fine without me. I saw them at my funeral. I saw them going to college, getting married, having children without me. And I was, and they're like, so no, you don't need to stay for your children. Each soul is here for the bliss of its own experience, and so with or without you, your children will find their bliss. But then I see a timeline where I get to come back, and this is where the presence kind of like here is a timeline that I think you're gonna like. And he shows me it was a male like presence because it was so powerful. But that I'm gonna write a book, and I'm gonna tell the world that love is all that matters. And I was like, my soul just lit up.
Chrystal Rae 6:40
I'm like, I get to write a book about love, like, and tell the world that love is all that matters. I get sounded, and I know it's like very cliche, but the profundity of it in that moment, I understood what that meant. And I get to like be on Alex's show. That was what made me excited about coming back. And so I, I was like, okay, and then you know that was what I wanted to do, and then suddenly I'm back in my body. This is miraculous, truthfully. Nobody goes off of a 80 foot cliff, hits 25 feet, slips 10 times, and ends up alive. But you go to a stoplight and get hit, you can die. Like you can walk down the street and you can die. Like so, I end up. I wake up in an upside down jeep. Right, we're in a little jeep, and the wheels are still spinning. The lights are on the wall of ice in front of us that we hit, and the guy next to me, the driver of the car, is full of blood. But he says he's okay. And Carmen, silent or absent, I have no idea. I'm shocked because go back in time, rewind. I'm in this luminous presence. I'm given the light preview, and I was shown three different things, which I don't know why. One first thing is like three things that you need to know. First of all, you've never really smelled freshly cut grass, which of course I had, right? Like I have, and and then I had that aroma, that earthiness, and I think the metaphor here, or the lesson here, was like the gratitude for Mother Earth, like just to be here on this planet, and you never have really reached out and touched somebody, like truly touched them. Of course, I had I had two children, right, and combed their hair and so on and so forth, and but the gift of being able to connect in a physical way, which we don't have when we're in our light bodies, right? Like if I meet you, like I met you and and and your beautiful wife, like it's a hug. Like I I connect, you know, in that way. And I and I'm not sure why I was showing you, but I showed that this was the most poignant thing of like you know being able to connect in a human way. And I've heard a lot of gurus say, like, even though you don't want people to get their dirty energy on you or something like that. I don't like that idea, and for me, it doesn't work. I'm not going to judge anyone else because what I believe is that we're all the same. Like you are me, and I am you, and if they have dirty energy, that's my energy too. And I and I also believe that I don't take on anything that it won't be in my residence if it's not in alignment. And then suddenly I'm like, there's this this knowing that I'm like I'm dead or whatever. I don't know how to explain it on the other side, and I'm like I've never seen the sun rise or set. And then the metaphor of the the sun rising and setting is the the beauty of a new day, like the gift of a new day, and then also like how important night is, because night is where we rest, you know. So then, at the end of that, then I was like, well, that's beautiful, that's nice, but it's too late for me, because I mean, I'm rolling down a cliff, I'm dying, or I'm dead, so it's too late for me. And I remember thinking, because I don't have fear of death, well, at least I'm getting to go back into the light-that was my last thought. I'm going to the light, and I was kind of excited about it. I'm not going to lie. I was like, okay, well, it was almost like like all these things I was shown that I hadn't really seen or done that were available to me. It's just like simple things, like seeing a little yellow flower stuck in the grass that you don't even see it. You just you've seen it so many times that you don't see it. Like one of the questions.
Chrystal Rae 9:59
I always ask my my students is like how many trees are out in front of our studio. Nobody ever knows because they don't see it. And one of the the gifts of that experience was like to just to be more present. The end of the day, you don't have to worry about any of this. All you need to do is open your heart and love. Like it's not that complicated. It's not like someone up there keeping a score. Like you keep your own score.
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