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Welcome to Untethered Consciousness, hosted by Rod Bland, where we share stories and insights to help you answer the most fundamental of questions: Who am I?
Through the conversations that we have with our guests, we aim to help you reach your own conclusions about the nature of our existence.
Ray Catania: And I'm
like, no guys, I'm fine.
I'm, I'm absolutely fine.
I feel great.
In fact, did anybody
see the light?
Did anybody hear the voice?
And they start looking at me
and start thinking, well, you
know, is this guy on drugs?
What is he talking about?
So I shut that up right away
before I wound up in the
wrong hospital where the
one where you can't get out.
Rod Bland: My guest today
is Ray Catania, an author,
a metaphysical teacher,
and he's a near death
experience survivor.
Ray, welcome and thanks for
coming on the show today.
Ray Catania: Rod, I
can't thank you enough.
I am honored and grateful
to be here today with you.
Thank you.
Rod Bland: Oh,
you're most welcome.
So, I'd like to start with
some background of what your
life was like growing up, and
then can you tell us about
your near death experience?
Ray Catania: Sure.
If we go back to the
beginning, uh, my childhood,
unfortunately, wasn't,
um, you know, perfect.
It was, a home that
was let's say angry.
A lot.
And there was a lot of
anger as well as arguments
and things of that nature.
Um, sometimes it would put
me in a position where I
would try to hide and get
away from the things that
were transpiring actually.
And when I did that, um, I
would isolate myself for hours
at a time, sometimes as long
as five or six hours where I
would just, um, you know, kind
of be in a meditative state.
I don't know that at the time,
of course, but I'm just kind
of staring at the blank wall.
And when you do this seven
days a week, six hours a
day, you can start to see the
energy that makes up the wall.
And this will come
into play later.
Um, as I get older, I sort
of push the envelope, if
you will, when it comes to
my own safety and I acted
out in a, in a self sabotage
type way because I came
from chaos and coming from
chaos, that's what I learned.
And when you learn that,
You repeat it, right?
So I'm repeating what I see
now as, as I'm getting older,
if there's no chaos around
me, I feel uncomfortable,
which is strange in that,
in those moments, that was
perfectly normal for me.
So I would do things to
put myself in a place of
where I could lose my life.
Um, and I would up the ante
and up the ante and, uh,
see how far I could push it.
And it was at the age of 20
when I had my actual NDE.
There was a fire in my home.
I was still living at
home with my parents.
The kitchen was directly
below my bedroom.
And what had happened was
is the stove was leaking
gas and the gas was
leaking up into my room.
So I was inhaling
the fumes of the gas.
We don't really know how many
hours, but it was many hours.
And in the morning, my
mom came down to just turn
on the stove and I guess
there was some sort of a,
uh, mini fire explosion.
It was nothing that was really
big or harmful to the house.
There was a very small
fire that I think my father
said he put out right away.
That wasn't what affected me.
What affected me was
the gas that was rising.
Uh, for, for hours.
And I was breathing
that in, not knowing.
So the fire trucks and the
police come to the house and
I hear all this commotion
and I go to get out of bed.
And this is when I noticed
something is seriously wrong
because I cannot move my legs.
I couldn't get my
head off the pillow.
It almost felt like my head
weighed a thousand pounds and
it just wasn't going to move.
And I couldn't yell.
So I know that I've got
to get out of this bed.
I know there's something
seriously wrong with me.
I don't know what it is.
Furthermore, I don't know
what's happening downstairs.
So one of the parts that
worked was my right arm.
And what I did was I
grabbed the edge of the
bed and I pulled myself to
try to get out of the bed.
And each time I would pull,
I'd make it a few inches
and then I would Go back,
I would pass out and then
they would make more noise
downstairs and it would wake
me up again and jolt me and
I, I would, I was like, I
got to get out of this bed.
I'd pull myself a
little bit more and
then I would pass out.
The third time I knew if
I didn't get out of this
bed, I was going to die.
So I pulled with everything
I had, I got to the edge of
the bed and I began, I fell
out of the bed face first.
But before I hit that
floor, I did not feel myself
ever hitting that floor.
I never felt pain.
I never felt the, the
impact because by that
time I was already out of
my body and I was looking
down at it from the corner
of the room and I was
looking at my lifeless body.
Colors were more vivid.
It, the room was completely,
um, more vibrant, if you will.
And there was this tremendous
cone shaped white light,
um, that was shining on me.
This light contained in it an
energy that I cannot explain
to you, but I can tell you it
was so euphoric that I never
wanted to leave that light.
There was no pain, there
was no suffering, there
was nothing but euphoria.
At the end of the light was
a being, I don't know male or
female, I'm not, I, I don't
know, uh, they said it's okay
to come into the light, right?
It's okay, come
into the light.
And so I did.
And each time I got a
little bit further, I felt
more euphoria, I felt more
relaxed, I felt better, um,
I felt fully encompassed.
In love, as strange
as that sounds.
And at this moment, I'm
still able to see what's
happening in the room.
My father comes in and he
scoops me up from the floor
and now he's screaming
for the paramedics.
You get upstairs.
My son, my son, get upstairs.
And he's distraught.
Now we didn't have a
great relationship to
say the least, however.
In that moment, I saw another
side of him that I thought was
what I always wanted from him.
I probably one of the
few times he hugged
me was the time when I
was dead on the floor.
And I think that that is
what made me ask the being
if I could go back.
Rod Bland: Hmm.
Ray Catania: And I said, I
can't leave my dad like that.
I can't leave my
dad like that.
The next thing I knew I awoke.
I was not in that
room anymore.
I was on the living room floor
on my back and the paramedics
had all their equipment and
they were working on me.
And I came out of it and I was
like, guys, what, whoa, what
are you, what are you doing?
What are you doing?
And, and they're talking
like, you know, get
the ambulance up here.
We got to get this guy in.
We got to, and I'm
like, no guys, I'm fine.
I'm, I'm absolutely fine.
I feel great.
In fact, did anybody
see the light?
Did anybody hear the voice?
And they start looking at me
and start thinking, well, you
know, is this guy on drugs?
What is he talking about?
So I shut that up right away
before I wound up in the
wrong hospital where the
one where you can't get out.
So I just let them
do their thing.
Um, Oh, it was, I was more
concerned with the fact that
I had urinated all over myself
because apparently that's what
you do when you die and I was
more embarrassed about that
than anything else and I'm
trying to tell them about the
light and the voice and I'm
like, guys, really, I'm good.
I'm good.
And they're like,
no, you're not good.
And they took me away.
So, and I try to tell
my mom this happened.
She was clearly in
a state of denial.
I come from a Christian
background and I rebelled
against that because of
the things that transpired.
And I chose that I was
going to be an atheist.
And that's what I
was at the age of 20.
Um, so I proceed to
tell her and she says,
that's not what happened.
That's not what
happened at all.
That nothing like
that happened.
Now, when the book came
out, I had a heart to heart
conversation with her in which
she admitted not only that
it happened, but it actually
happened three more times on
the way to the hospital that
I had to be resuscitated.
Um, now I understand, I
have no resentment because
if Your child died on
your watch, that would be
traumatic enough to put
yourself in a state of denial.
There's parts of my tra
traumas that I don't remember.
There are certain
segments that are
blanked out, if you will.
I just can't recall them.
And I'm sure those were the
really bad moments, and this
was one of those for her.
But, um, it was just last
year or two years ago at
the age of 82 when she said,
yeah, I, I do remember that.
It was the scariest
moment in my life.
So.
wHen I returned from the
hospital, the feeling goes
from euphoria to like a bomb
goes off inside your body
because all the little aches
and pains that you have that
you kind of discard your
brain just pushes them aside.
Maybe you broke something
many years ago and it didn't
heal properly and now you
have a little arthritis when
it, you know, acts up when it
rains or something like that.
Well, all those little
pains are magnified by 10.
And it feels literally like
your body just blew up and
it's the most painful thing.
And all I wanted to do
is go back to the light.
I never had that relationship.
My father, I was looking for.
Now I have the pain.
Now I have the
emotional distress.
All my traumas are back.
What the heck did
I choose this for?
I want to do over.
I want to go back
to the light.
So at the age of 20 not
fearing death is not a good
thing for a 20 year old.
Um, so I would put
myself in more and more
precarious situations where
I could potentially die.
And every single time I was
in a situation where I could
die, there was the being who
told me how to get out of
that particular situation.
Instance, I started working
for some pretty bad people.
I didn't fear death.
One time there was a shootout
in the bar and I hid under
the bar and I was hoping that
nobody remembered I was there.
And the being says, side
door, side door, side
door, side door, side door.
I can't get to the side door.
They're going to see
me if I go to the side
door, but I've learned
to listen to this being.
So I go out the side
door and I run, and I
ran down the corridor
that you have to run to.
And I went out the
next door right there.
And my car was parked
there that night.
And in all the years I
had worked there, I never
parked my car there.
I don't know what made me park
there that particular night.
There was another time
when I was very young.
And I was swimming in the
ocean and the undertow was
pulling me back, pulling
me back, pulling me back.
And I couldn't get out.
And I, and I'm trying to wave
to the lifeguard and he's not
seeing me cause he's looking
completely the other way.
And I'm about to go under
and I'm thinking, this is it.
This is it.
I'm starting to panic.
My heart starts to beat.
The being, calm down, take
your time, swim on an angle
and take as much time as
you need to get to shore.
It's the undertow
that took me out.
I would never have known.
To swim on an angle
and that's how you're
supposed to get back.
But apparently
that is correct.
And that's what I did.
I just relaxed and it took
me a long time to swim to
shore, but I got there alive
again, um, I've probably
had eight or nine of those
instances where this being
has been there for me.
so I learned just to listen
to them or her or they,
um, they've never presented
themselves in a physical body.
I believe them to be a spirit
guide, um, above fourth realm.
If we, if we're going to
call this one the third,
because most people do,
I'll go along with that.
Here's the third realm.
The next one's fourth.
I believe they're at
the next level, which
would be the fifth.
And that's, I think, where
your spirit guides come from.
They have a shape of more
of like an orb and it's
just a circle of energy.
Not quite a circle, but
more of like an orb.
And I'll tell you more
about how I know that later.
So basically I'm going through
this life, not caring if I
die, not worrying about if I
get, I just want to get back
to that light, but I'm not
going to take my own life
because You know, when you
do come back, you have this
liberating feeling where
many of the things that
you worried about before
just become so benign.
They don't really make that
much of a difference anymore.
You don't really care.
You learn to not care.
And, It was a couple of
years later that I moved
out and I was getting
my first apartment.
And I remember I was
all psyched and it's
going to be great.
We're going to have parties.
We're going to have chicks and
this is going to be awesome.
And what happens is I could
see energy before, but now
I cross over, come back.
Well, they came back with me.
And when I came home to that
apartment, that apartment was
already filled with people.
I don't see them with my eyes.
I don't hear with
my ears because then
I'd be schizophrenic.
It's all here.
It's third eye, but this
room is filled and I
can see the lines going
across the white walls.
I could see the little
movements out of the corner
of my eye and I can feel
them pushing my insides.
Well, needless to say,
I could not sleep.
I had the worst case
of insomnia That I've
ever had in my life.
So I turned to drugs and
alcohol like any other
smart 22 year old would
do and really abused
any product I could that
would put me to sleep.
And so I did not hear
and see them anymore.
Told no one because no
one's going to believe me.
Nobody believed me
about the near death.
No one's going to
believe me about this.
In just one time I was on
the phone with one of my
friends and I said, Hey, I
think my house is haunted.
Click.
I called him back.
I said, why'd you
hang up on me?
He goes, I didn't
hang up on you.
I said, okay, well, I
don't know what happened.
We're on a landline now.
This is back in the
days of landlines.
And I said, Well, uh, what
I was saying was, I think
my place is haunted, Klik.
So they would mess with
anything they could that was
electric in that house to
maintain my focus on them.
I think I'm losing my mind.
I'm trying to hold on to
these atheistic beliefs.
You know why?
Because they're easier.
I don't have to
process this stuff.
I don't have to overthink it.
Uh, I can just put it in
a box and put it away.
So what I do with my NDE,
since no one believed
me anyway, I said, well,
the light that came
through the white light
was probably the sun.
I probably fell on the
floor on a sunny day.
The light came
through the window.
I was stoned out of my
mind from breathing in the
gas for hours and hours.
And that's, I hallucinated
and I chalked it up
to that, it away.
But now this insomnia, these.
Beings is getting a
little harder to deny.
I've left that place in
10 months thinking I'm
going to get another place.
It's going to be different.
It's going to be great.
We're going to have
parties and we're going
to have chicks and it's
going to be phenomenal.
And I move into that place.
And don't you know, the
exact same thing happens.
It's not the place
that is haunted.
It's Ray.
Ray's haunted.
I could go to Siberia.
They're going to come with me.
I don't know what
to do with this.
I don't know what
to do with this.
Nobody else can see it.
Nobody else can hear it.
I'm the only one.
I must be out of my mind.
More drugs, more alcohol,
more drugs, more alcohol.
That's the only way I can
turn it off because I don't
know how to deal with it yet.
So as I approach
the age of 30.
I get married and
I have two kids.
Now I have a reason for
living and it's not me.
It's them.
I have these two tiny
humans that are counting
on me to carry them through
the rest of their life.
So I checked
myself into rehab.
Um, I, I drive, I drove
myself to rehab literally
and just gave them my keys
and said, don't let me out.
Um, I went back to college.
I got my degree.
I got a good job, quote
unquote, in New York City.
Um, after that I got
an even better job.
I worked my way up
the ladder again.
And I had sort of a
relationship where it was
like, okay, I'm not going
to mess with you guys.
You guys don't mess with me
and let's just all get along.
And that was fine for a while.
So I got divorced maybe three
years into the relationship.
It wasn't very long.
The kids were very young
and, um, it was a long
time before I dated again.
It's a very long time, but it
was about in my late forties.
I'm at the top of my
game in my career.
Um, aside from the fact
that I have these beings
that pop up every now and
they're not as intrusive
now, they know I'm not
going to talk to them maybe.
So they're, they're just
not as intrusive or I
learned to live with them.
I don't know which, but I
decide that I'm going to join
one of those internet sites
where you meet a partner.
And I'm viewing the different
sites, choosing which
one I'm going to join.
And when you do that, uh,
they show you some examples
of the women that are on
the sites that are in your
area to try to get the
guy to spend the money.
Right.
And so I'm clicking around
and I I'm on this one
site and there she is.
I mean, she just popped
up and I was like, Oh
my God, that's my wife.
That's my next wife.
So I joined the site
and I sent one email to
her one and one only.
And I told her, I
said, hi, I'm Ray.
You're my wife.
You don't know it yet,
but this is how it is.
And luckily she
found that funny.
I said it in a
more comical way.
Of course, she replied, LOL,
you're out of your mind.
I was like, yeah, I know.
Um, but we started dating
and currently we're married.
We live in this house and,
um, it's a pretty, pretty good
story, but it's when I meet
her that things take a change.
And it was probably
third or fourth week.
Into our dating when we
just begin getting serious.
And she says to me, what
are your spiritual beliefs?
And I said, I don't think
I have any, I have no idea.
And she says, Hmm,
that's interesting.
She says, you know what,
for your birthday this
year, I'm going to buy
you a spiritual clearing.
And I'm like, okay, great.
Uh, we're going to have cake.
I hope.
Because I don't know what
a spiritual clearing is.
I don't know what sort of
thing this is or what it
entails at this moment.
She's like, listen, you
don't have to show up.
You don't have to do anything.
She's going to call you, tell
you when she's going to do it.
Just don't book any
important appointments
on that particular day.
and don't make any
big life changes.
That's what they told me.
I said, okay, I'll do it.
So I'm at work and the lady
calls me and she says, okay,
I'm going to get started.
I'm like, okay, great.
Don't book any appointments.
Don't do any life
changing things.
It was like, I'll
try to avoid that.
Thanks a lot.
Click cake.
So She does the clearing and
sure enough afterwards as she
warned me, I started to feel a
little woozy and I mean woozy
like to the bathroom woozy,
like almost like I felt like I
had a drink, but I haven't had
a drink in almost two decades
and I'm like a little wobbly
and I said, um, I left work
and I said, I got a headache.
I'm just going to go
home and lay down and
this is on a Friday.
So Friday it begins
and here's what begins.
This man comes to me.
This is unlike any of, this is
not floating energy anymore.
This is an actual man
that I see here, not here.
And he comes to me with
a message and he says, I
effed up, I made a mistake.
You can help her.
I cannot.
Don't know who he is.
Don't know who the
message is for.
I have absolutely no idea.
He proceeds to repeat
that message probably
every hour on the hour
on Friday into Saturday.
It's every half hour.
And by Sunday, I
can't function.
It's every just a
couple of minutes.
I don't know exactly what it
was, but I could not function.
I could not drive.
I couldn't do much of anything
without seeing him right
there over and over again.
So I'm, I remember the moment
I'm in a store paying for my
goods, paying for my stuff.
And I took out my card and
I don't know what I did.
Maybe I just
froze or whatever.
And the woman behind
the counter says, sir,
are, are you okay?
And I said, definitely not.
I am not okay.
And I went out to my car and I
sat in there for a moment and
I said, okay, so this insanity
that I've been fighting
off my whole life is here.
This is the, this
is it for me.
So I started thinking about
getting my affairs in order.
I had a will drawn up at
a DNR because I'm going
back to the light and
my brother had all that.
So I just wanted to call
him and make sure he had
the stuff, you know, and
because I'm preparing for
the end, I want to make
sure my children are taken
care of everything else.
Now I have this woman I love
and I have to tell her, I
guess here's the kicker.
She is by trade, a
doctor of psychology
and neuropsychology.
By trade.
That's her day job.
I'm going to tell this
woman I hear people.
I see people.
She's going to just
run for the hills.
Well, I'm crazy anyway, so
I may as well just tell her.
So, she can get on with
her life and maybe she
can recommend somebody
to me that can help me.
So, I figure that that's the
way it's going to happen.
And I begin to tell her
the story and I say,
this man, he's just, he's
there, he's in front of me.
It's like right here.
I can't not see him.
And he says the same message
and I give her the message
and I, and I said, he's a
big stocky guy and he's got
a mustache and a beard thick
and he's got thick black hair.
And she says, Oh, well,
that's probably my dad, silly.
And I was like, what
are you talking about?
She goes, well, I've been
to mediums and my dad comes
through and he's like,
they've all told me he's very,
very strong and powerful.
And I'm like, what's a medium?
What are you even
talking about?
She goes, listen, you're
probably a psychic medium
and you don't even know it.
I used to make
fun of that stuff.
I would, I would be the first
one to crack a joke if you
told me that that was real.
And I'm like, that's not the
response I was expecting.
I thought it was going to
be, here's a number to Dr.
So and so, never
call me again.
That's what I was
expecting, not what I got.
And I said to her, I said,
but the picture on the mantle,
isn't that your father?
And she said, yeah.
I said, well, that
doesn't look like him.
This guy I said was big
husky, had the beard, had
the mustache, had the hair.
And she's like, well, the
picture you're looking at
was from 20 years ago or
20 years before his death.
So that's even longer
than 20 years ago.
She goes, here's what he
looks like on a day to day.
And she shows me the picture.
And I'm like, oh my
God, you know that guy?
She goes, that's my dad.
And in that moment, I
don't know what I felt.
I felt all these different
emotions in a way.
It was good.
I was relieved that I'm
not insane, but at the
same time, then what am I,
what is happening to me?
And it, and I feel like
I'm way back in that
apartment when I was lost
and distraught and turned to
drugs and alcohol because I
didn't know what else to do.
So she says, let me, there's
a medium coming to town
and her name is so and so.
She's very, very well known.
Um, let's make a couple
of appointments with her.
You can sit with her and
you could tell her how you
see things, how you feel
things, and you guys can
just kind of chit chat.
And I'm like, yeah, let's go.
That's good.
That's good.
I'm thinking if I make it that
long, but here's the thing.
As soon as I give her
the message, it's gone.
He's gone.
Because that's what
I was supposed to do.
I was supposed to
deliver the message.
I did not know that.
But as soon as I did, he's
gone and I feel great.
I'm back to this like
mini high vibration,
euphoria feeling.
So I get more messages,
however, and I give them
to her and she always seems
to know who they're for.
And she, she knows the people.
And I remember this one
time because I'm still
not buying this yet.
Okay.
I'm just still not believing
it a hundred percent.
And this guy came to
me and he gave me a lot
of personal information
about, um, his death and
it, and it was supposed to
be delivered to his wife.
And I gave it to
her to deliver.
But at the end of the message,
he said this to me, he said,
Remember the silly shoes.
I don't know what that means.
I don't know what any of
the message means actually.
And I give this to her and
she has dinner with the woman
and I said, whatever you do,
honey, don't tell her it's me.
I don't want anybody to
know I'm this psychic thing,
whatever you called it.
I'm, I don't want the
neighbors finding out.
There's no way they're
going to think I'm nuts.
Everybody's going
to think I'm nuts.
Just, just say you heard it.
You, you talk to
somebody or something.
She says, I will, I will.
And I said, by the way,
if she says anything
about silly shoes where
she understands what that
means, I'll be a believer.
So she takes the message,
delivers the message.
Next day I see her and
she says, Oh my God,
Ray, you don't know what
you did for that woman.
She needed to know
that information.
She needed that closure.
And I was like, okay, great.
What about the silly shoes?
Because that's all
I wanted to know.
And she goes, Oh, the
shoes that was hysterical.
She said that was their
first date and he wore
the most ridiculous shoes.
And that was a running joke
through their entire marriage.
And now I'm just, now
I got to believe this.
I told her I would believe
it if he said anything
about the silly shoes.
So we go to see the medium
and I sit with her and
I said, hi, I'm Ray.
She said, she looks at me and
she goes, Oh, you're that Ray.
And I was like, Oh, what Ray?
She goes, just tell
me what's going on.
Right.
And I said, well,
I'm losing my mind.
I'm crazy.
I see things.
I see.
People, they sometimes talk to
me and I see things on a, what
looks like a movie screen.
And, and she's like,
tell me about that.
How does it start?
How does it begin?
What happens first?
And I proceed to tell her
about the vibrations and this
and this and this leading
up to the, the screen.
And she said, she stops me
and she goes, that's exactly
the way I see them too.
That's how we all see them.
And I was like, okay.
And again, a little relief,
not much because I still don't
know what to do with this.
And I tell her about two other
types of premonitions that I
have and she says, this one's
clairvoyance and this one is
this and that one is that.
And she's like, that's
really rare that one
guy has all of these.
And I'm like, you know,
I don't even know.
She goes, women, yes.
Men, no.
And I was like, I kind of
get that because my wife can
do 46 things at one time.
I can do two, you know, I
could chew gum and walk.
I'm good.
Um, so.
Cool.
She's telling me you're,
you're the real deal and this
is not necessarily what I want
to hear, but it's better than
I'm nuts, I guess, so I wanted
to exchange numbers with
her and she acted, you know,
she's like, Oh, I don't know
where my business card is.
And so I just, you
know, kind of left my
tail between my legs.
My wife goes in next and
she comes out and she
goes, are you excited?
Are you excited?
And I say, excited for what?
And she goes, she's
going to work with you.
You're going to be her mentee.
She's going to be your
mentor for the next year.
And I'm like, she didn't, she
didn't want my phone number.
And she says, yeah, well,
she doesn't take students
anymore, but she's making
an exception for you.
And she saved my
life because she.
Proceeded to tell me her
story about how her parents
did not believe her and
her parents put her in
a mental institution.
thinking she was
schizophrenic.
So she's been fighting
this, trying to explain
that she's not crazy
for most of her life.
She totally knew where
I was coming from.
And she taught me a lot
about how to control this.
And there were moments
when I said, you got to
tell me how to make the
stop, make it go away.
I don't want this anymore.
This is not a gift.
This is absolutely ridiculous.
I don't make it stop.
Just make it stop.
And she goes, give
it two more weeks.
And if you still decide
you want it to stop.
I'll help you do that.
I don't even know if there was
a real way to make it stop.
She just wanted
me to calm down.
So I worked with her for
a year and she did, as we
progressed, really made
me feel more confident.
Um, she did help me turn
it off and turn it on.
And she taught me how to
meet my spirit guide, the
guide who spoke to me,
the one who saved my life
over and over and over.
And that was an
amazing moment.
I mean, meeting him, her,
they, whatever, was like, The,
one of the greatest moments.
It was like, you know, uh,
meeting Elvis or something.
It was just, I, I just
wanted to, to hug him,
saved my life so many times.
I want to, why,
why did you do it?
I'm, I'm not special.
I'm, I've never done
anything good for anybody.
Why?
And he hands me a piece
of paper, not a piece of
paper, a pad, And a pen.
And I, I guess I got to
write it, write a book.
He's telling me I
got to write a book.
And this is how the first
book comes to be the
atheist in the afterlife.
And it's a story of
me going from atheism
to being a believer.
And it's that relationship
led me to the next mentor
in my life and the way
we found each other.
is another crazy story because
it was my birthday weekend.
It's one year after
the year that I had
met my first mentor.
Um, We go away every year for
my birthday and we do this all
the time now because something
crazy always happens.
And we went away and, um,
while we were away, she took
out a picture of her dad that
the medium drew of her dad
because he's a spirit artist.
I looked at the photo
and I was like, Oh my
God, that's exactly
the way I see your dad.
Just like with that shirt on.
It was like a
distinctive shirt for
that era when he died.
So there's no mistaking
that shirt, the beard,
the mustache, the
hair, the whole thing.
And I was like,
who is this guy?
I have to meet this guy.
And so we looked him up on
the internet and it turns
out he's a pretty big deal.
And he's the guy who teaches a
lot of the people that you may
see on television, although
he's never been on TV himself.
He has no desire to be.
He is the teacher
of the teachers.
And I'm like, he's never,
you know, this, I don't
know what's going to
happen here, but we get to
his website and it says.
Now taking applications
for a two year mentorship
program with Medium Joe.
The deadline to apply
is February 15th.
That's my birthday.
She says, are you
going to do it?
I said, am I going to do it?
I said, if there's, if any
of this stuff is real, that's
a universal intervention.
I think now I'm talking
like everybody else.
And she says, great,
this is great.
So I submit my application
and it doesn't stop there.
They send you back another
application and you
fill that out and then a
bigger application comes
and you send that back.
And it's a long drawn out
process because, and there's
an interview as well.
They want to know undeniably.
That you are the real
deal or you cannot get in.
This program costs thousands
of dollars to get into.
And I figured after a
while when I didn't hear
from them that I just
wasn't the real deal.
And this is, you know,
I'm going back to denial.
This is all in my head.
And um, but I sent an email
to his assistant and she
said, listen, bear with,
bear with Joe because there's
hundreds of applications.
I was like, wow.
Okay.
And I did.
And I remember the moment
I got the email that said,
congratulations here.
Here's the, though, the
integrity of this man.
So you get an idea of him.
He had hundreds of
applications and this program
costs thousands of dollars.
And when I showed up to
my first day of class,
I was the 11th person.
There was 11 of us.
I don't know if I was number
11, there was 11 of us.
That's all that made it.
He could have taken everyone's
money and really made a nice
chunk of change for himself.
Didn't.
11 of us were there.
And I was the least
experienced of all.
I, I didn't know the verbiage.
I didn't know what
anybody was talking about.
I was just some guy with a
natural ability that didn't
go over well with classmates.
but you know, um, it did
with him and he's, I've been
with him for four years now.
It's a two year
program, right?
I've been with him four
years, took me 10 years
to graduate college.
So I'm like right
on track with that.
And, um, you know,
he's taught me so much.
I mean, he's taken me to
a level of spirituality,
not just mediumship,
but I mean everything.
He's like, Ray, you've
been fighting your entire
life for everything.
Have you ever thought
about not fighting?
And I said, well, then
how will I get anything?
He goes, you're always
fighting upstream.
You're always trying
to swim upstream.
He goes, if the stream's
coming down, the fish
are coming towards you.
Just pick out the
ones you want and let
the other ones pass.
You don't have to move.
And I was like, wow,
maybe I don't have to
fight for everything.
And then he taught me how to
manifest using nothing more
than this, and I remember
the first time I tried it
at first, I didn't try it.
Here's what happened.
I was stuck in between
a rock and a hard place.
I was short 10 grand
for my kid's college.
He had to, he was going
away to school, living
on campus, campus.
Somehow I made a mathematical
error of exactly 10, 000.
So I'm embarrassed with
the school and I, there's
no way I can tell my son
that he can't show up to
school in a couple of days.
I just need to find 10 grand.
So I said, maybe this
thing will work and you're
supposed to do it in the
morning and in the evening.
And there's a process that
we do and I explain all of
how to do this in, in, I
think it's in both books.
It's definitely in
the second book.
Um, and I w I was doing
it six times a day though.
I wasn't doing it twice a day.
I couldn't mess around.
I needed to this money.
So after six times, my
mail comes very late.
It comes at five o'clock.
And I remember that my son
had given me the mail and
I looked through briefly
and I see that I have a
letter from my accountant
and it's a big letter.
It's like an envelope
because I had just filed
my taxes and I always owe.
And I'm like, you, you, you
don't understand universe.
Listen, I need money.
I don't need this.
And I throw it aside
and I get back to it.
And I'm like, I need 10, 000.
We are co creators.
I know this, you, we're
going to work together.
I need 10, 000.
I need 10, 000 now.
And you know, I wasn't asking,
I was like, I need this now.
Next day, nothing.
Again, nightfall comes
around and I decide to
go through the mail and I
opened this envelope that
was from the accountant.
My accountant does it
the same way every year.
The first letter is thank
you for your business.
You owe me this much money.
Okay.
Next one comes out.
It says you have overpaid
the federal government
by 8, 200 and something,
something dollars and
something, something cents.
And I read it four times.
You overpaid.
That means I get a refund
of 8, 200 and change.
And I put the letter down
and I took out the return,
and another letter comes out
and it says, you've overpaid
the state of New Jersey 1,200
and something, something
dollars and something cents.
That's exactly $10,000,
just a few dollars over.
And I wept like a child,
I dropped to my knees.
It was there the first day.
It was there after the
fifth or sixth time
that I had done this.
And I, I, I'm a believer.
to say the least.
And so the first book, you
know, is how I got to that
position, how I, how I went
from atheism to spiritualism.
And then the second book picks
up where I meet my second
mentor and he takes me to
higher and higher levels.
And as I'm using these
Techniques that he's teaching
me because I'm a skeptic
and I am a diehard skeptic.
I have to understand
the science that's
behind the process.
So I go back to school for
metaphysics, which is where we
take science and spirituality
and we bring them together.
And I also studied physics.
I studied Einstein,
Niels Bohr, Tesla,
Hubble, you name it.
I studied them all.
And I started to figure out
what was behind the curtain.
What makes this work?
So I think about it and
I bring it about, well,
how does that happen?
And I started to put
these things together
and it works because the
universe speaks vibration.
It does not speak Spanish,
English, French, or any other
language that you speak.
It speaks vibration.
So when you think
of thought, you must
visualize that thought.
Say it in a positive tense
that that is what you want.
Never say, I don't want to be
in debt because the visual is
I and debt, so you're getting
more debt because that's
what you're sending out.
It doesn't speak English.
Remember, I want an abundance
of money where I need 10, 000.
You say it that
way repeatedly.
You envision the 10, 000
and you send that signal
out on that vibration.
The earth resonant
frequency is 7.
83 Hertz.
We try to get as close to
that frequency as we can
get because the earth lives
harmoniously in the universe.
If we get there, we're
harmonious with the
earth that is harmonious
with the universe.
Now you ask, that's when
you ask, that's when you
send your out your signal
and you try to stay in
your resonant frequency
for as long as you can.
And if you can do that.
You're going to, you're
going to get what it is
that you're asking for.
It works like a cell phone.
If I dial my cell phone
and I dial your number,
why do you pick it up?
It rings.
Why does it ring?
Because my frequency
aligns with your frequency
and your phone rings and
then we can communicate
over that frequency.
It's exactly like a
satellite dish and a radio.
You tune it into the right
frequency and guess what?
You get to hear the song.
If it's off just a smidgen,
you're getting static.
So you got to be on point.
And when you master the
technique, you're going
to keep getting stuff.
It's just going to keep,
I did it four more times.
I was like, let me go for 24.
Let me do whatever it was.
I didn't abuse it.
I really didn't.
I did it when I needed
money in an exact amount.
I always ask for
the exact amount.
And I got the amount.
This story is in the book too.
This is in the second book.
So I continued learning about
science and spirituality
and how I could put them
together and I evolved.
While I was writing the
second book, I had my
spiritual awakening.
Now, I believe people
have many awakenings.
I had it when I I met her,
my wife, and I met her father
and, you know, there were
many, many awakenings, but
the biggest one was while I
was writing that second book.
And it was when I learned how
to lose negative emotions.
For me, my go to emotion
was anger, was always
anger for everything.
So if I was sad, I was angry.
If I was this, I was angry.
Any negative emotion was
instantly transmuted to anger
because that's what I knew.
I knew chaos.
I knew anger.
And I knew I had
to get rid of that.
And I started practicing
techniques to get rid of that.
I started using, uh,
techniques both from my
mentor, but also Eckhart
Tolle, who suggests that
you take yourself Out of the
situation you're in and you
look at yourself from the
third person as though you're
a director of your own life,
starring in your own movie
and you tell yourself what
you want yourself to do.
And I did it over and
over and over and over.
Even if I made the mistake,
I would go back and say, this
is the way I meant to do it.
And I would visualize it.
This is how I meant to do it.
This is how I meant to do it.
So one day something
transpires where
I should be livid.
And I should have blew my top.
Nothing happened at all.
I was driving my car and
it was an expensive car.
I just got it.
And I thought that
was a big deal.
I don't think it's a big deal
anymore, but when I bought it,
I thought it was, I thought
it was a status, a symbol
stat, you know, whatever.
It was silly to even think
that way in hindsight, but I
drove it into a deer and it
was a snowy night and I was
upset with myself that I had
done something so stupid.
I didn't feel the anger.
I felt nothing.
I felt compassion
for the deer.
Who the hell am I?
What have I turned into?
It's great, but I don't
recognize myself anymore.
So I get out of the car.
I don't even check the car.
I check the deer and
the deer gets up and
we look at each other.
I was never that close
to a deer in my life.
I mean, we were
like nose to nose.
And she walks off
and she's fine.
And I look at
myself and I'm fine.
And I look at the car and it's
trashed, but it's just a car.
In that moment, I
realized that's nothing.
I'm okay.
The deer is okay.
It's just a car.
And that changed my
whole perception of life.
That anger, it, it
doesn't come out anymore.
That was the biggest
awakening moment for me.
So I had to go back and I
rewrote the book and I had
to put all the steps in
that led up to having this
awakening so that I could
share this with other people.
That wasn't my goal.
I walked away from my high
paying job at the top of
my game, just walked off.
I said, I can't, this
is not for me anymore.
I'm, I can't do this.
I am being called to
help other people.
I have to write books.
You're out of your mind.
I know that already.
I know I'm out of my mind.
Don't worry about it.
I got this.
My boss said, I did
not see that coming.
I said, neither did
I, but no offense.
I got to go.
So I wrote both books.
I have a coaching practice
that is successful and
I'm grateful for that.
The books are doing well
and I'm grateful for that.
Um, and there will
be a third book.
Because I have so much more
craziness to share, um,
and in the books, I always
try to put the story of my,
what really transpires in
my life, how it equates to
a spiritual technique and
then what's under the hood.
What makes that so?
Because I don't, I
don't expect anybody
to believe any of this.
I didn't believe it.
I didn't believe it
until I figured it out.
So how the second
book came about.
You're still alive
now, act like it.
The title is, first of
all, live every day as
though it's your last.
Some of the things I've done
now and implemented is I never
let any of our children leave
the house without, I tell
them I love them, um, my wife,
my kids, and anybody who I
feel that way about because
I don't know if there's
going to be a tomorrow, but
I'm okay if there's not a
tomorrow, but I don't want
to be one of those beings.
That comes to find a medium
and has to say, I regret not
saying this when I was alive
because I know what it's
like to be on that side and
I don't want to be that one.
So I say it every day
and I just try to spread
that love to them and
anybody else who wants it.
I don't know who the
hell I am anymore,
but it feels really good.
It feels good to lose
those negative emotions.
And they don't come and
I remember I almost ran a
stop sign and, and I stopped
at the last second and this
guy, you know, he, I almost
hit him and he got so mad and
he was yelling and yelling
and mother effing me up
and down and almost got out
of the car and everything.
And I just started laughing.
I was like, Oh my God, I
used to be just like you.
Here's my card.
Um, and now I just see the
world in a different light,
how it's just so simple.
And, you know, we all come
from this one source to
harm another, you're harming
yourself since we are all one.
That is a true statement.
I know it's thrown around a
lot, but it really is true.
We all come from this one
energetic source and the
realization of that and
the realization of being
able to lose the negative.
Uh, qualities that I had
and having these moments
it's just completely
changed everything for me.
And now I want to give that to
as many other people as I can.
Rod Bland: you
mentioned about the 7.
83 hertz.
Is that the Schumann
frequency that you're
talking about I don't Okay.
And, um, you said getting into
sort of vibration with that.
Could you briefly explain
to people how go about that?
Ray Catania: So, uh, it's
usually the very first,
uh, sign that I know
that I'm getting a visit
and the vibration could
be very low and deep,
or it can be very high and
tingly, and I know if it's low
and deep, that it's something
that's going to be serious.
or negative or bad or
something that needs to
be dealt with immediately.
And the high tingly ones
are more, uh, lighthearted
in, in, so to speak happier.
Um, now I'll tell
you, I got caught.
A lot of mediums get caught
in this trap where we react
to the negative ones all the
time and we never go take
the positive ones in because
we're like, well, this could
be something really serious.
What if this is like, You
know, has to do with my
family or this or that.
And I, you know, you
get that and it usually
isn't, but it could be.
And you let the nice ones
pass you by because, well,
you know, that's what we do.
Um, which is why, you
know, the news is negative.
Everything's negative.
We watch negative
things on TV.
If the news was all
positive, nobody would
watch it anymore, which is.
Not right, but
it's the way it is.
So I learned to accept the
good ones and the bad ones.
So the lows are bad.
The highs are good and
interact with them, um,
to the best of my ability.
Now I had to leave mediumship.
I could not do it as a
profession because it
was too taxing on me.
I had just found happiness.
I had just learned how
to be happy after the
first 50 years of my life.
being, you know, anything
but happy, not really
understanding where
happiness came from.
Thinking it came from material
things or thinking that it
came from drugs and alcohol
or thinking that it came
from something that's just
so minuscule to realizing
and opening up for the
first time and understanding
where happiness comes from.
I find it very hard.
For me, and this is why I
respect mediums so much,
it's hard to take that
information that's given
to you because you have to
co mingle your energy with
theirs to get the message
and deliver it to the sitter.
And what happens is at
this point is that stays
with me and resonates
with me for a few hours.
And whatever that emotion
is, whether it's sadness or
whether it's, um, regret or
guilt or what have you, that
sits with me for a long time.
And I have to isolate
myself from my family.
Sometimes it's even anger and
I have to stay away and I just
have to wait for it to end.
And I just found happiness.
So maybe I'll go back to that
one day, but for me right now,
it's more about helping people
find their own spirituality
and have their own awakening.
And that's really more about
where my focus is today.
Rod Bland: So you've,
you've gone through quite an
evolution, especially sort
of fighting these constant
messages that you were getting
from the other side it seems.
What advice would you
have if you could give
advice to 25 year old Ray,
knowing what you know now?
Ray Catania: You
know, what's ironic.
I work with a lot of 25 year
olds, their parents send
them to me because they're
in that college age where
they're confused about what
they're going to do next.
And it, it really
overloads them quite a bit.
And what I tell them is.
It doesn't make any
damn bit of difference.
It really doesn't
because whatever you do
today, you're going to
reinvent yourself again.
You're going to reinvent
yourself again, and it's
meant to be done that way.
So you can become anything.
Just don't become nothing
because whatever you become,
if you do the techniques,
if you believe you,
something will come from
that, a door will open that
will bring you into the
next phase of your life.
And a door will open that'll
bring you into the next phase
of your life and whatever
it is, that's what's right.
If it feels good and you
love it and you enjoy
it, that's where you go.
Don't make your determinations
based on what you were
told happiness is.
It's not money.
I've been rich and poor.
It doesn't make
any difference.
You could be just as miserable
in both boats, promise.
So go with what you, your gut,
what your insides tell you.
That's where you go.
Just don't do nothing.
Take the step.
It'll lead to the
next step, to the next
step, to the next step.
And inertia is the
only bad thing.
You're still alive.
Now act like it.
So I see a lot of 25s
and I like, I like having
them as my clients.
Rod Bland: If people want
to get touch with you, Ray,
like if they have questions
for you, what's the best
way to, for them to do
that and just, just give
us a summary of everything
you've got going on.
I know you've mentioned
your books and anything
else that you have as well.
Ray Catania: Sure.
Uh, at RayCatania.
com.
That is, I'm going to roll
out a new website, but you
can still go there now.
And there's a couple of
ways to contact me on there.
And if you're interested
in coaching with me, um, or
just, you have a question, you
can go through that website
and get in touch with me.
The information about
the books are up there.
Um, you can buy
them on Amazon.
You can buy them
Barnes and Noble.
They're actually sold in
62 countries I understand
right now in all formats.
Um, the second book
isn't audible yet, but
every other format is
available in both books.
And um, I would be
honored and grateful
if anyone purchased it.
So thank you.
And, um, and, uh, yeah,
that's, uh, I'm looking
forward to rolling out the
new website and speaking
to more people and helping
whoever I can because I, I,
what I have right now, what I
know I've, I've got to, I've
got to give it to somebody.
I have to give it to people.
I know that's, I know
that's my calling.
Rod Bland: And have you
got any final message
that you want to leave
with people before we
wrap up the conversation?
Ray Catania: Um,
final message.
Remember, we're all one.
Remember that because,
you know, when you go
back to the other side
you're going to realize
that we are all connected
through this energetic
life force and, you know,
do something positive
for someone every day.
Also do something positive
for yourself every day.
So self care is important.
Take care of yourself,
do one selfish thing for
yourself every day and then
do one thing for someone
else every single day.
And remember that
harming anybody else,
you're harming yourself
because we're all one.
We're all one.
Rod Bland: I like
that as a task list.
One selfish thing, one
thing for someone else,
tick both those and
you're good for the day.
It's a good message.
Ray, it's been my pleasure to
have you on the show today.
I really appreciate
you taking the time.
Ray Catania: I can't
thank you enough Rod.
Thank you so much.
My pleasure.