She Died and Saw Hell, Heaven & the Hidden Truth About Earth’s Illusion with M.K McDaniel

Somewhere between the sound of a breath and the silence of death lies a story so vivid, it dances between nightmare and nirvana. On today’s episode, we welcome the astonishing M.K. McDaniel, a woman whose journey through what she calls “the bad place” profoundly redefined the meaning of love, suffering, and the ultimate mercy of spiritual transformation.

M.K. McDaniel is a near-death experiencer who spent what she perceived to be years in a harrowing dimension of hell before being lifted into a transcendent realm of love and light.

In this profound conversation, we have a front-row seat to the unmasking of illusion itself. She begins her tale in the most human of places—exhaustion. After months of caring for a dying friend and falling severely ill herself, she was placed into a medically induced coma. But what followed was not silence. Instead, she awoke in a void—an absence of light, form, and time. What she thought was a dark closet became the threshold to a series of nightmarish landscapes filled with fire, despair, and strange demonic figures that pushed her spirit to its absolute limits.

One would imagine that if consciousness continues after the body sleeps, it would do so with comfort. But not so. M.K. encountered realms that mirrored her internal desolation: abandoned cities, zombie-like beings, and mocking spirits that challenged her sense of self-worth and hope. “We are all alone here,” one specter said—a sentence that fell like a tombstone on the soul. Yet even there, she discovered something strange: the ability to adapt, to endure, and eventually to fight back.

There’s something poetic in hell’s darkest moment arriving on Earth’s brightest day. M.K. was told it was Christmas—“always the worst day in hell.” In rebellion, she began to sing a Christmas carol, “Away in a Manger.” The act was not just defiant, it was liberating. Her voice, once a whisper in the dark, ignited a rebellion of spirit. As she reached the climax of the song, a demon screamed and lunged—and in that very moment, she was propelled into an entirely different realm.

Here, there was no pain. Only light, warmth, and the kind of love that makes language seem clumsy. She swam in the divine. “It was just light and love and all that,” she said, marveling at how swiftly terror was replaced by bliss. There she met her former fiancé, healed and smiling. In that moment, she realized: she, too, was dead. And yet, there was a task unfinished. He told her, “You’ve got too much left to do.”

This message was repeated by angelic figures and three women she met along a flowing stream, each offering gifts and symbolic instructions. One gave her a piece of paper and said, “Give this to Ron. You must live together.” These visions weren’t hallucinations, but what M.K. described as more real than real. They were lessons disguised as miracles.

She awoke back in her hospital bed to the piercing light and her daughter’s joyful scream: “Mom’s back!” But the return was not just to her body—it was to a mission. “Nobody gets in because they have enough money, power, or fame,” she shared. “It’s how much you love.” That love, she realized, is the only real currency of the soul.

SPIRITUAL TAKEAWAYS

  1. Even the darkest realms have exits—if we carry the light within us. M.K.’s singing in the depths of despair revealed that even in hell, the vibration of love can disrupt the chaos.

  2. There’s more to reality than we can see—and more mercy than we can measure. Her journey from torment to ecstasy was not punishment, but a deep cosmic correction of the soul’s alignment.

  3. The true life review is not about judgment, but resonance. As M.K. learned, we will feel not just what we did, but how we made others feel—and in that, lies the invitation to be kind now.

And so, in the echo of her tale, we are reminded that even in the shadow of death, there’s a light waiting to greet us—if only we can hold fast to the melody of our spirit.

Please enjoy my conversation with M.K. McDaniel.

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Follow Along with the Transcript – Episode DE069

Alex Ferrari 0:00
Tell me what your life was like before you died.

M.K. McDaniel 0:08
I'd been caring for my best friend who was going through treatment for leukemia, and we thought it was going to be a two or three month ordeal, but it turned into almost eight months, and by the time he died, I was pretty much a physical, emotional wreck, and there was a bad flu going around. I picked it up. It became pneumonia, and then I got super sick, and had to have a friend take me to a dock in the box. And before we got there, I got out of the car, and just I felt my life force just kind of leaking out. It was the weirdest thing, and I just fell to the ground. He carried me in. They got me going again. I wake up in a hospital with an oxygen tent and my family around. And they're from California. I was living in Washington at the time, and Colorado, and I thought, what's going on? You know? They said, wow, you're super sick. You've got something called ARDS acute respiratory distress syndrome, the doctor said you got about a 38% chance of making it, because this is kind of new to us. This was 23 years ago. I was kind of a guinea pig for the project. We're not sure what to do, but we're going to put you into a drug induced coma. We're going to intubate you my scar to prove it, and then we're going to do our best, you know, but we're gonna give you something called White amnesia, so you will remember nothing. Your brain will just shut down as far as remembering anything while you're gone. And hopefully, you know, we'll see you, see you soon. But I had no options, so and my dad gave me a thumbs up and gave him a thumbs up and waved goodbye to everybody, and black. All of a sudden, I woke up. I was conscious. It was totally dark. Later, I'd learned that was the void, but at the time, I thought somebody had stuck me in a closet. It was just quiet, and I thought, What is going on? And I didn't know if I was standing or sitting, and I thought, I better not move. I might, you know, hurt myself. So I just kind of hung out and thought this was kind of strange and and waiting and waiting and waiting, and then all of a sudden it started to get a little lighter that got my attention. It was kind of like a reddish glow. And I thought, sun's coming up. Great, you know, maybe I can see what's going on. And as it got lighter, this fog was swirling around, so I really couldn't see anything. And I thought, what's going on? And then I started hearing moaning and shrieking, and started getting kind of warm, and I smelled really bad. I'm just thinking, I don't know what's going on. And all of a sudden, scared me half to death. This voice comes out and says, Do you know where you are? I thought mine's racing. Only thing I could come up with was hell. And then that thing just scared living, you know, what out of me. So I just freaked out, and I turned to the left. I mean, you never forget this stuff. It's always very fresh. And ran into the darkness. I didn't care if I hit a wall or fell on a hole or what, I had to get away from that thing, and all of a sudden it was like, light, bright lights came up. And I looked around and oh my gosh, I'm like, in New York City after a bomb, buildings are falling down, the windows are blown out. There's fires everywhere. There's people screaming. I mean, it was like, What now, you know? And I thought, well, I'm out here in the middle of this, you know, parking lot, what's remaining? I better go hide, because I don't know if there's been a war or what's going on. So I tucked in behind some concrete, and was just, you know, trying to look and see and get some clues. And I do remember seeing there was like, eventually this ragtag bunch of people kind of started toward me. And I thought, like a homeless camp, people were coming at me. And I thought, Oh no, you know. And I just said, Well, maybe we can get together, you guys, you know, you know, I'll get some fire for the you know, firewood when you find some water. And this one guy just said, we are all alone here. Where's here? And I thought, No, this is just too scary and that. And I thought, well, I better find another place. So I started running. There was this metallic scuttering sound like, like aliens, you know, expletive, here. So I tried to get up this concrete kind of wall thing. But I fell, and I was going backwards on my back, and I thought, this is going to hurt. And then it all went black again. The lights would come up. This happened over and over and over. And each time, God, the scenario got worse. And a lot of times I was challenged. The time I woke up or the lights came up and and here's this huge demon standing there. And I thought, I know this is a demon. It looks like a big foot with a bad attitude, but I just know that's what it is, holding a big stick. And it was very far away. And I looked up, and I just stared. And I thought, Oh, now what? And he says, you want to get out of here? Yeah. And he's. Says, I can make that happen. And I said, I thought that was strange. He was speaking English, you know. And I said, okay, yeah, sure. What do you got? And he says, well, I need you to do one thing for me. So sure, I'll take a look. He didn't seem to be gonna hurt me, you know. I just it's so weird to be in a place like that. You adapt, all right. So the lights come up behind him, and as far as you can see, is this huge BlackBerry field with it really high canes are all twisted up and the big old thorns on them. In Washington and a lot of places I've lived, they grow wherever nature pours a vacuum. So anytime there's an empty space, blackberries come up. And I know how hard it is to cut them, and you usually need really thick gloves and thick cutters and all that stuff. So I looked at that, and I went, you know? And he says, just cut those down for me. Save me the job. I'll get you out here. And then he hands me these kindergarten scissors that they cut paper with. And then he starts laughing. And I thought, Oh, you creep. I said, All right, you're not gonna I'm up to this, you know, you're just being a creep. But I'm, if it's a chance to get out of here, I'm gonna do it. So I scritched down in there. I'm going to all cut up and I'm gnawing on one of these damn canes. And finally get one cut, and I put it behind me. I turned back around to grab another one, and the thing grew back. Now, this demon person just thinks that's hilarious. You know, he's really laughing. And, you know, I'm a fighter, I'm a survivor. And I thought, I'm just going to show him. I'm going to keep doing this if I got no place else to go, even though. So I start cutting. But then the lights went out, and then the lights came up, and I was in another place. There's no time over there, so you really, you don't have a watch. There's no clocks. There's Sun doesn't come up and down. You don't know how long you're there. When I got home, I'm back home is not, not here. When I got back to my body, I was in pretty terrible shape. I couldn't move or anything. So I kind of recreated what went on to try and figure out a timeline. And the closest I could come up with all the time that I was on this road. Also, there was this road to nowhere that I was on a lot, walking, walking, walking, I think two years. That's what it felt like, with all that that went on at the very end after it was going to get so much worse. I mean, like I say, they kept getting worse and worse. We went to the road. I met two living people, which was very rare. In fact, there's a lady that's going to start doing a study on the very few people that have seen alive, people and hell, because I had to give them both messages. But the one there was a terrible one in an abortion clinic there was coming off the road toward the end. Of course, I didn't think this was ever going to add. I noticed up ahead of me, it looked to be people on this road, and they were kind of wandering back and forth. And they didn't look human, because they were lurching and muttering, and, you know, think zombies. And I thought, this is really dangerous. I don't I've got this road is the only road there is, and I've got to get through. So I thought, well, if I just kind of adapt their stance and mutter and keep my eyes down, I can get through the group onto the other side of the road. So I got about halfway in, and all of a sudden they all froze. And I thought, oh, been made, you know. And so the ladies, the ones with rags on their heads, and they moved to the outside. The male portion of this mob moved to all around me, and then one pushed me and another one knocked me down. And then there was a very unpleasant interchange of things. You know, you can imagine what a mob would do to a single lady in the dark over there. So this was a horrible experience. And then just be the last guy up said, we've all got AIDS, and now you're going to get it, and you can't die. So you're just going to get worse and worse and worse, and you'll look like us, and he had skin falling off his face and all that stuff. So demon lady came over and said, You're with us. And I got up, left my clothes together, and joined a whole bunch of other ladies that were going to tromp on out follow this lady. At this point, I was getting kind of tired, and I thought, maybe I'm not going to get out of here, but I'm a stealth fight anyway. We went through as this the snow started, and we got into this deep snow thing. We finally got out to this hideous little shack out in the middle freaking nowhere, and the wind's blowing, and we go in the shack, and there's no insulation. The snow is coming in. We're all cold, and we're sitting on the floor. And she says, Now we wait for customers and perky little thing. And then I said to her, you know, I've been here a long time, and this seems like a particularly dense, dark so what's going on? She says, Oh, well, it's Christmas on Earth. That's always the worst day in hell. And to that point, I really didn't know I was dead. Your soul is is you, and it's alive, whether it's incarnated in a body or not. So that was a little depressing and and to think that, you know, I thought, No, I'm gonna get out of here. I'm not gonna sit, sit. And just had this happen. So I started singing a Christmas carol just to tick her off, and she screamed at me to shut up. And I just kept going. And it was my favorite Christmas carol Away in a manger, and some of the other ladies started singing too. And now the demon ladies shouting and waving her stick around and all that other stuff. And I got to a certain part in the song, and she screamed and leapt at me like the spider, and I just shut my eyes, and when the lights came up, it was a whole different story, just infused with this incredible love and light and warmth and joy and bliss and and all that other stuff just wiped from my mind. I was just swimming in love as all I can describe it. It's wonderful. It was just light and love and all that. But then it started kind of settling down, and I could kind of make out everything was still white, but the floor and there was kind of walls and kind of not a ceiling, but a archway or something. And I looked off to the right, and there was, weirdly enough, like an architect's table with this huge book, and it was open about halfway. I thought, when I looked at that book, I thought, Whoa, wait a minute. Somebody was showing me something in that book. And I said to them, no, no, I want to stay here with you. And I looked up, and there's my fiance, ex fiance, former fiance that had died the month before, and he's standing there and and he died of leukemia, and all his hair had fallen out, and it was all blotchy and blue and everything. And now you look great instead of 52 he looks like he's 35 and and he was laughing, and his hair was brown instead of gray. And and I thought, What the heck, you know? And I thought, oh, shoot, he doesn't know he's dead. And then he started really laughing. And I thought, oh, wait a minute, if he's dead, you know, brilliant. I figured it out I'm dead too, and we're in heaven. Doesn't get any better than this. And I was, happy to see him. And I says, Why are we standing here? I said, Let's go see the angels and the butterflies and all the good stuff. And he came a little closer, and he says, Now, Mary Kay, you've got too much left, too what they're throwing me out. I said, No, no, no. And bye, bye. I think I went to a time out place, and it was beautiful, you know, nice meadow, pretty, you know, the stream and all this stuff. So I had followed this stream back. And during that time, I met three different ladies who gave me messages and stuff. So there was a lady sitting or standing there going down this stream, and she had, like, a quilt or something handmade. And I thought, just says, get any weirder, you know? She handed me the quilt, and I said, thanks. And she spoke to me in a language I didn't understand, but it was that lilting kind of dealer seniority, yeah, you can hear from the Swedish people or whatever. And I thought, okay, you know? So I took the quilt. I'm walking down the stream trying not to trip on the rocks and come around. And there's like a sandbar with a lady in a rocking chair, and she had, like, I don't know, a lace 90 or something like that. And she gets up and she hands it, and she's, you know, happy to see me. And so now I gotta, I gotta quilt on one shoulder, and I got this thing on the other. And I thought, okay, so I came down to the bottom, and there was in one more lady. And I thought, Okay. And she's speaking blah, blah, blah, but and all of a sudden it becomes English, and she says, Give this to Ron. You must live together. So I got this piece of paper in my hand, so then I wake up. Lights come up, and there's these people, and they're all screaming, and the lights are too bright, and I can't move. And I thought, now what? I'm back in hell. Oh no. And my daughter turns around, says, Mom's back, and my mother's screaming, yay. And I thought, what's going on? And they come over, and I can't talk. I got that thing my throat, and oh, she says, Oh, Mom, you've been so sick. We thought, you know, they told us you were gonna die, but you're not. You're you're here, and we're so happy, and you've been really sick. And there's gonna be a lot of things you're gonna have to but right now, just don't worry. You're safe. You have no idea where I've just been. I was in heaven, and now I'm here. What with too much left to do. And, you know, God must have a great sense of humor, because that's was the worst thing about hell. Nobody had a sense of humor. You know, it just gets you through it. Lighten up, I guess would be the thing. Lighten up. It's not that the stuff that we deal on a day to day basis is just not that important in the long run. Nobody gets in because they got enough money or enough power or enough fame. It's how much you love. That's what what counts in the life review, you know, that's what I hear about that life review, I love that I was seeing my life. But that thing about flipping it around so you can feel how it it felt to interact with each person, another thing that encourages me to be kind now just to continue with the loving, kind, merciful, forgiving, encouraging, grateful, non judgmental and useful. That's I say, that to everyone.

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