Divine Encounters Episode 032 | Near-Death Experience Story
Sheila Gillette was a 24-year-old mother of three, with a newborn at home, when, she says, she could not breathe in an intensive care unit in 1969 and begged God to give her a job so she could stay. She tells Alex Ferrari that the room filled with light, Jesus stood at the foot of her bed, and a voice told her she was loved. In this Divine Encounters episode she explores what she says came next: a surprising new life as a trance medium, and a clear message about why each soul chooses a body.
Key Takeaways
- Sheila says she became a mother in her teens and was 24, with two small children and a new baby, when her near-death experience happened in 1969.
- She says she kept repeating, “Hey, God, give me a job. I’ll do anything,” because she wanted to stay and be a mother to her children.
- She describes the room brightening “as if the sun rose in the room itself,” and Jesus standing at the end of her bed with warm hazel green eyes.
- She says she heard an inner voice say, “remember my child. You are loved,” and felt a warmth moving through every cell of her body.
- She says her family was told she might not live through the day, and that she was in the hospital for about a month.
- She says psychic experiences began about six months after she came home, followed by angels speaking, automatic writing and a voice that said, “I’m here to prepare you for higher teachers.”
- Her message: each soul chooses incarnation, and “you all have won the lottery.”
| Guest | Sheila Gillette |
| Episode | Divine Encounters 032 |
| Age at the time | 24, in 1969 |
| Family at the time | Two small children at home and a brand new baby |
| What Sheila says happened | She could not breathe after the birth of her youngest daughter and was in intensive care |
| Who she met | Jesus, at the foot of her bed |
| Aftermath | About a month in the hospital, then psychic experiences six months after coming home |
| The message | You are loved, and each soul chooses a body for growth |
A Very Young Mother in 1969
Alex asks Sheila the question he asks every guest: what was your life like before you died? She answers simply. She was a very young mother. She started having children in her teens, and by 24 she had two small children at home and a brand new baby. After the birth of that baby is when her near-death experience happened. Before that, she says, her life was just being a mother.
Her family were Catholic and Episcopalian, which she describes as a form of Catholicism, and they went to church on holidays. Her parents did not go every week, but they took her because she liked going. She liked the sense of spirit. It was not the dogma that she paid attention to. She liked the building, the choir and the way it felt good in there. She admits she did not listen much to what the priest said.
Her friends brought her along to their own places of worship too: Protestant, Methodist and, with Jewish friends, the synagogue. “I was a student of spirit.” That, she says, was her spirituality, though it was not religion, and she thinks it came from many past lives spent in those kinds of experiences.
“Hey, God, Give Me a Job”
After the birth of her youngest daughter, Sheila says, she had a pulmonary embolism. She could not breathe. She describes it as “an elephant sitting on my chest.” She says her lungs were full of fluid, and she was in intensive care.
She kept repeating one request, like a mantra: “Hey, God, give me a job. I’ll do anything.” She had two little ones at home and a brand new baby, and her intention was to stay here and be their mother. Family was very important to her. She knew that if she closed her eyes she would never open them again, so she lay there in a cubicle holding on to life and asking for a position.
She adds a note of humor. If God had given her a roster of positions to choose from, she does not think she would have picked the one she got. It was 1969, and none of this kind of thing was spoken of openly.
The Room Fills With Light
Then, she says, it was “as if the sun rose in the room itself.” It was so bright she was blinking. As her eyes focused, there was movement at the end of her bed, and Jesus was standing there.
Sheila laughs about her reaction. Imagine a 24 year old, she says, going, oh, hello, this is interesting. She was mesmerized by his eyes, which she describes as warm and lovely, hazel green. She kept looking at him. He crossed his arms inside the garment he was wearing, which had long sleeves, and he smiled.
When he smiled, she says, she heard a voice in her inner mind, the way we hear our own thoughts. It was a distinct male voice. It said: “remember my child. You are loved.” For more on how people describe these encounters, see our glossary entry on Jesus of Nazareth.
Warmth in Every Cell
At that point, Sheila says, she felt her crown open up. A warmth began to seep down inside her body, in every cell. As it moved through her trunk, she felt she could take a deep breath. She started to feel better.
She did not know until afterward that her family was being prepared for the fact that she would not live through the day. Then, she says with a smile, she surprised them. She stayed in the hospital for about a month.
She notes that she had several of the things people list when they come back and talk about near-death experiences. But she says she truly believes something miraculous happened in that intensive care room. Next Level Soul shares her account as she tells it, and we make no medical claims.
Six Months Later: A Life She Did Not Expect
About six months after she got home, Sheila says, all kinds of psychic phenomena began happening to her, both outside and inside. She could hear messages, as she had heard Jesus’s voice that day. She just knew things, and she was given information about events in the world that she could not possibly have known.
It was frightening, she admits. A little scary, and in some cases a lot scary. She had no one to talk to. She did not know anyone having these kinds of experiences, and the only thing she could find that came close to what she was going through was a book about the life of Edgar Cayce. Her children’s father was terrified. She did not go into social situations and announce, guess what I can do, because she knew people would be frightened.
Then, she says, the angels started speaking. If you would like to explore this theme, see our glossary entry on angels.
Automatic Writing, Trance and Orlos
Sheila says she fell into a trance spontaneously after doing automatic writing, and became what she describes as a direct voice trance medium. The word channeling was not even used for this kind of work back then, she says. Information kept coming that she says she had no way of knowing. There was no way, she says, that it could have come from her own consciousness or intelligence. She kept getting confirmation after confirmation, and so she trusted what came through.
A voice came through her, she says, that identified itself as an entity named Orlos. It was very soft-spoken and genteel. It said, “I’m here to prepare you for higher teachers.” She was in a trance state, unable to move her body, which happened when she lay down, like Edgar Cayce. It was unnerving. She says she now knows that something like it happens at night to people having out of body experiences, and she understands that her body was being held in a certain state so her nervous system would not short circuit, because they were working on her frequencies. She says it sounded strange at the time, and she did not understand what that meant, but she trusted.
You can read about the practice in our glossary entries on automatic writing and trance channeling.
The Job She Asked For
The angels kept teaching her, Sheila says. They were her mentors. People started finding her, although there were no marketing tools back then to say she was open for business. She was invited to a conference at the University of Miami that gathered psychics and scientists who were researching parapsychology and metaphysics. She does not know how they got her name.
There, scientists tested her psychic ability. She says it was “like that good housekeeping seal of approval”: you are not a crazy person. For her it was real validation from science. She had already seen evidence in the information she was given, she says, but a third party’s confirmation was welcome all the same. She has been doing this work ever since.
Looking back, she tells Alex, she realized that when she was lying in intensive care and said, give me a job, this was the job. Had she been offered a roster, she says, she probably would not have chosen it. In that era, she notes, people were afraid even to talk about metaphysical things. Now she is very glad she did, and says she has learned so much.
A Message: You Chose This Body
Near the end Sheila shares a message that she says comes through in her work. Each soul chooses incarnation, and “you all have won the lottery.” You have a body, she says. It is not something demanded of you but a choice, made for growth and expansion and the experience of being human. To touch and be touched, to have all the senses, to feel emotions. She calls that a gift.
Purpose, she says, is life itself. The better question is not what your purpose is but how to express the life energy flowing through you, and to do it passionately. How do you know your passion? By how it feels. You would do it, she says, almost compulsively, the way many artists begin drawing very young and are then told they cannot make a living that way.
The opinions of others do not count, she says, “because they are seeing you through the lenses they see themselves.” If they think they cannot, you cannot. You all know where your passion lies, she says. It has been covered over by beliefs that you are not worthy of expressing it, and that is untrue.
Changing How You See What Happened
Sheila ends with a point about the hard parts of life. You can rewrite old scripts, she says, and change beliefs that were adopted about yourself that were untrue. The events will not change, and some of them were horrific. But “what can change is your perception of them.”
That means seeing the gifts and blessings rather than the victimization, and recognizing who you are today: a strong being, because those parts of you “had the courage to keep going and to survive at all costs.”
Placing Her Story Beside Others
Many people who report near-death experiences describe a bright light, a warm presence, a message of love and a return with a new sense of purpose. Sheila’s account has all of these, and it also includes a path that not everyone describes: a new set of abilities after returning, and years of work as a medium. She is open about how frightening it was, and about how little language there was for it in 1969.
For a broader introduction, see our complete guide to near-death experiences. The glossary also has a short entry on mediumship.
Questions to Sit With
- Sheila asked God for a job and received one she would not have chosen. What unexpected work has found you?
- She says other people see you through the lenses they see themselves. Whose opinion are you still carrying?
- She says the events of your past will not change but your perception can. Which memory would you like to see with fresh eyes?
Write down one thing you would do creatively just because it feels good. Spend ten minutes on it this week with no one watching.
Spiritual Takeaways
- Sheila says the message she heard was simple: you are loved.
- She says she felt warmth moving through every cell of her body.
- She says each soul chooses a body for growth, expansion and the human experience.
- She says passion is a sign of purpose, and you know it by how it feels.
- She says you cannot change events but you can change how you see them.
Please enjoy my conversation with Sheila Gillette.
Guest Links: Connect With Sheila Gillette
- Sheila Gillette’s NLS Mastery course, The Awakening Code
- Sheila Gillette’s free masterclass, The New Human Blueprint
- Sheila Gillette’s official site
- Sheila on Twitter
- Ask Theo on YouTube
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
Go Deeper with Sheila Gillette: The Awakening Code
Sheila Gillette and THEO guide you through The Awakening Code, an 8-lesson course on rewiring your mind and stepping into a new reality. It is part of NLS Mastery.
Not Ready Yet? Watch Sheila’s Free Masterclass on the New Human Blueprint
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Sheila Gillette?
Sheila Gillette is a near-death experiencer, trance medium and author. She was 24 and the mother of three children, including a newborn, in 1969 when, she says, she had a near-death experience in intensive care.
What happened to Sheila Gillette in 1969?
She says she could not breathe after the birth of her youngest daughter and was in intensive care with a pulmonary embolism. She says the room filled with light and Jesus stood at the foot of her bed.
What did Sheila ask God for?
She says she kept repeating, “Hey, God, give me a job. I’ll do anything,” because she wanted to stay and be a mother to her three children.
What did Jesus say to Sheila?
She says she heard a distinct male voice in her inner mind say, “remember my child. You are loved.” She says a warmth then moved through every cell of her body.
What happened after Sheila came home?
She says psychic experiences began about six months later. She says she heard messages and knew things she could not have known, and angels started speaking to her.
Who was Orlos?
Sheila says Orlos was an entity that identified itself through her in trance. She says it was soft-spoken and genteel, and said it was there to prepare her for higher teachers.
Why did the University of Miami invite Sheila?
She says she received an invitation to a conference that gathered psychics and scientists researching parapsychology and metaphysics. She says scientists there tested her psychic ability and that it felt like validation.
What does Sheila mean by “you have won the lottery”?
She says each soul chooses incarnation. She says having a body to touch and feel and sense is a gift and a choice made for growth.
How does Sheila say you can find your passion?
She says you know by how it feels, and that it is almost a compulsion to do it. She says it has often been covered over by beliefs that you are not worthy of expressing it.
Is a near-death experience proof of an afterlife?
Next Level Soul shares near-death experiences as lived experiences told in the guest’s own words. Researchers continue to study and debate what they mean. Nothing here is medical advice or a medical claim.
How old is Sheila Gillette?
Sheila has not shared her current age on the show. She says she was 24, with two small children and a newborn, when her near-death experience happened in 1969.
Is Sheila Gillette married, and does she have children?
Sheila says she became a mother in her teens and had three children by the time she was 24, including a newborn daughter. She mentions that her children’s father was terrified by what she was going through. She has not shared details about a husband or spouse on the show.
What religion was Sheila Gillette raised in?
Sheila says her family was Catholic and Episcopalian, and they went to church on holidays. As a girl she also visited Protestant, Methodist and Jewish places of worship with friends, and she calls herself “a student of spirit.” She says that was her spirituality, though it was not religion.
Keep Exploring
- The complete guide to near-death experiences
- What channeling means
- A short explanation of trance channeling
- Brian Hoyland, a veteran who describes meeting Jesus
- John J. Davis on a tour of heaven with Jesus
- Annette Bricca, a psychic whose near-death experience changed her gifts
- Elizabeth Krohn on two weeks in heaven after a lightning strike
- Jane Thompson on why we come to Earth to be human
- 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.
Sheila Gillette 0:08
Well, I was a very young mother, so I had two small children at home, and I had a new baby. And after the birth of that child is when I had my near death experience. And so I my prior to that was just being a mother, a young mother, very young. I started having my children in my teens, actually, and so I was 24 when this, this all happened to me, and it was, you know, an interesting experience to your point about jobs or positions to be had in the world. In my near death experience, I had pulmonary embolism after the birth of my youngest daughter, and I could not breathe. I had an elephant sitting on my chest. My lungs were full of fluid, and I could not breathe, and I was in intensive care, and I I just kept saying, Hey, God, give me a job. I'll do anything, because I had two little ones at home and a brand new baby and and my intention was, I want to stay here, to be their mother. Family was very important to me, and so I I just kept repeating that like a mantra, because I knew if I closed my eyes, I'd never open them again. I just knew that I just lay there in that cubicle in the bed, just holding on to life and, you know, asking for a position. Now, if God had given me a roster of positions to take, I don't know that it would have been this one, because this was 1969 and none of this kind of thing was spoken of openly. You know, the the only thing, only thing that I found that could speak to what was happening to me was a book about Edgar Cayce's life. Because the only thing I could find that even resembled what was happening to me. It was in intensive care, and it's as if the sun rose in the room itself. It was so bright, and I was blinking, and as I look and focused, there was a movement at the end of my bed, and Jesus was standing there. Well, you can imagine a 24 year old going, Oh, hello. Like this is interesting. I was mesmerized by his eyes so warm and lovely and beautiful Hazel Green eyes, and I just kept looking at him, and he took his arms like this and folded them or crossed them inside the garment he was wearing had long sleeves, and when he did that, he smiled at me, and when he smiled, I heard In my inner mind, hearing like we hear our own thoughts. I heard a distinct male voice say, remember my child. You are loved. And at that point, I felt as in my crown opened up, and this warmth started just seeping down inside my body, in every cell and as it went through through with the trunk of my body, I felt as if I could take a deep breath. Andrew start getting better, and I didn't know till after the fact that my family was being prepared that I would not live through the day. Well, I surprised them, and I know that we call it near death experiences, and I had several of the kind of list of things that people have that come back and talk about it, but I really, truly believe I had a miraculous healing in that intensive care. So I was in the hospital about a month, and I got home in about six months after I was home, I started having all kinds of psychic phenomena happening to me, externally, internally, I could hear messages as I heard Jesus's voice that day, and I just knew things, and was given information about things that were happening in the world I couldn't possibly have known. And this, it was a little scary, but, well, a lot scary, in some cases, because I didn't have anybody to talk to about it, and I didn't know anybody that was having these kinds of experiences. Then the angels started speaking. I had the phenomena happening, and then I try trance spontaneously after doing automatic writing and became a direct voice trance medium back then that the term channeling wasn't even used for this type of work, and I started getting. All this information, like I said, that I couldn't know, you know, there was no way in my consciousness, in my intelligence, they could have had that information. So I kept getting confirmation after confirmation, and I trusted what was coming, because things were coming through. But it was off putting. As you can imagine, my children's father terrified him, and like I said this, I didn't go into social situations. Let's say and say, Guess what I can do. Because people would have been they would have been terrified, but the angels kept teaching me. They were my mentors, and people started finding me, and I don't know how you know, we didn't have the marketing tools to say I'm here and open for business. It's just people kept finding me, and I was invited to go to a conference by the University of Miami called psychics and scientists, which they gathered psychics and and scientists who are researching Parapsychology and metaphysics. I don't know how they got my name. I got an invitation. I went to that I met some scientists, and they tested me for my psychic ability, which, in that time gave me, it was like that good housekeeping seal of approval, you know, like you're not a crazy person, you're psychic, which you know, for me, was real validation from science, that this was something that was real in my life. I had the evidence of the information, but you know, it's as we all do. It's nice from from a third party, validation like that. And so I've been doing this work ever since my family were Catholic and Episcopalian, which is a form of Catholicism, and we went to church on holidays. My parents didn't go every week, but they took me because I liked going. I liked the sense of spirit. It wasn't the dogma that I paid attention to, but I like the building. I like being in the building. I liked the choir. I liked it felt good to me there, you know, I didn't really pay attention to what the priest was saying much, you know, but I thought, sure feels good in here. And so I used to say, will you please? They just thought I would go, okay, and they take and drop me off and come pick me up. So in a sense, that was my spirituality, but it wasn't religion, and I think that was just from many past lives of being in those kinds of experiences. And my family was very I was curious about spirituality. So I had when I had friends in school, I went to church with them too, you know, I went to Protestant and Methodist and and my Jewish friends, I got to go to synagogue with them. And so I was a student of spirit. Let's put it that way. I was doing automatic writing, and I trance spontaneously, and then this voice came through me. And the voice that came through me identified as an entity named orlos. And orlos said, very soft spoken and very genteel, said, I'm here to prepare you for higher teachers. And I was in a train. I was in a trance state, in the sense of I couldn't move my body. It happened when I was laying down like Edgar Casey, and that was a little unnerving to not be able to move. And now I know, you know it happens at night to people when they have out of body experiences that night paralysis, but it was my body being held in a certain state so the electrical system on my body, my nervous system, wouldn't short circuit, because they were working on the frequencies of my body. Now this sounds a little strange it did at the time to me, because I didn't know what that meant, but I just trusted Alex, you know, when I was in that intensive care room and I said, Hey, God, give me a job. I realized when this all started happening to me, this was a job. And like I like, I said, I had I been given a roster of positions, I probably wouldn't have chosen at that time this particular one. Now I'm very glad I did and and have learned so much, but in that time, people were afraid of even talking about metaphysical things. No, each soul chooses incarnation, and you all have won the lottery. You have a body. It's not something demanded of you. But a choice to be made for growth and expansion and awareness and the experience of the human experience, having a body to touch and be touched, to have all the senses to be experienced and to experience emotions, that is a gift. So the purpose all purpose is life itself, and most importantly, each soul wishes to survive once in a body, survival is the ultimate desire for that choice of experience. Yes, though, to understand that what you're looking for is how to express that life energy flowing through you, purpose, in purpose, but passionately so. The better question is, how do you know what your passion is? You know by how it feels you would do whatever you're inspired to do creatively in life. It's almost a compulsion to do it for the artist? How many artists begin drawing at a very young age, and then are told, you can't survive, you can't live that way, and then they stop until later on, as much more mature to see and try again, but the good opinions of others about what you should or should not do do not count, because they are seeing you through the lenses they see themselves. And if they think they can't, you can't. Yes. So remember, the inspiration comes from within and under. The I don't know, is the knowing. You all know where your passion lies, it's just been covered over by beliefs that you are not worthy of expressing it, and that's just untrue. And when you can rewrite those scripts, change change those beliefs, events won't change situations, circumstances that you've been through where beliefs were adopted about yourself that were untrue, those events won't change, and some of them are very horrific, but what can change is your perception of them, seeing the gifts and Blessings rather than the victimization and who you are today because of that, the strong being, because of these little parts of yourself that had the courage to keep going and to survive at all costs.
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