“I see dead people,” is a famous quote from the film “The Sixth Sense” that’s often used to mock spiritual mediums, but for my cousin, Rebecca Rosen, this phrase has helped shape her career. 

Life after death is a difficult concept to grasp, causing people to ponder the question, “Do the deceased still live even after they have passed?” Rosen believes she has the ability to bridge the spiritual world with the physical world, allowing the living to experience a sense of peace. To her, the dead are not actually dead.

Rosen discovered her ability during her junior year in college at the age of 20. She was going through a particularly difficult time in her life and began to realize that she was experiencing what her paternal grandmother had experienced: depression. Her Grandma Babe committed suicide when Rosen was only 10 years old.  It was her grandmother who connected to Rosen first. 

“[She] started talking to me by ‘automatic writing,’” Rosen said. “She told me she was coming to me in response to my prayers for help out of depression.”

After this surreal experience occurred, Rosen set out to see if communicating with the dead was her destiny. She began approaching strangers in public to see if she could heal them the same way her grandma healed her. 

“After doing several readings out of a coffee shop in West Bloomfield, Mich., I was approached by the Detroit Jewish News to do an article about me,” Rosen said. “It turned into the front cover.”

And the road to fame had begun for Rosen.

 “Currently, I am booked out for several years for private and group readings,” Rosen said.

With both types of readings working equally well, she uses this time to help those in mourning stop second-guessing about their loved ones demise. While her readings benefit people in mourning, they have also made a big impact on Rosen’s life.

“It’s a priceless feeling to be able to use my intuitive abilities to help bring healing, comfort and faith to those seeking it,” she said.

“Mediumship” is not the only way she is able to convey that hope still exists. She also does so through writing. Last month Rosen made her second appearance at the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival where she offered both “Spirited” and “Awaken The Spirit Within,” her two books for sale and showed her talents to the large audience in attendance. 

Initially not planning to attend the festival, one local woman decided to go at the last minute and was grateful she did. Rosen ended up giving her a reading that would ultimately bring comfort to her. She believes   that Rosen chose her because she has been able to talk about the experience more than her other family members.

“I felt a little freaked out that she was talking to my loved one and a bit skeptical at first,” said the woman, who asked that her name not be used, “but after I had time to digest what had happened and shared it with my husband and family members, I felt great about the connection.”

Although Rosen didn’t use his name specifically, she was able to zero in on the family member who had passed and the specifics of his passing. 

Michelle Rubin, who belongs to Congregation Shaare Emeth, also attended and agreed that Rosen definitely has a gift.

 “She read my good friend and they had no contact before she saw Rebecca,” Rubin said. “Her answers were so specific. I totally believed it.”

Rosen’s books are a way for her to inspire others to become more spiritual and enlightened, in a way allowing them to become their own medium.

“This book helps people to wake up and remember who they are and why they are here,” Rosen said. “[Everyone’s] here for a reason: to fulfill our soul’s purpose.”

Yet thinking about fulfilling our soul’s purpose means one thing: there is an end. The majority of people feel uncomfortable and threatened by the idea of death because of their fear of the unknown. What will happen after I die? Where will I go? Will I ever live again? The unanswered questions close off the possibility that dying can be a peaceful thing and even a new beginning.

But the readings can drudge up a whole host of emotions. Having the questions answered can bring confusion and even feelings of guilt. For the woman who didn’t want to be named, guilt is exactly what she felt.

“I felt like I was betraying my family’s privacy by having such a personal tragedy come up in such a public forum,” she said. “But once I shared the information with family members, I felt relieved that I could pass on such an important message and apology from our loved one.”

Life is messy. Death can be even messier. But it is people like Rosen who help us bridge the two worlds and bring closure. Ultimately, though, we all need to listen to our own sixth sense, our own inner voice. So meditate, talk to a medium, pull out your Ouija board, whatever makes you happy. The unknown is scary, but so is not being able to get beyond a loved one’s death. Maybe Rosen’s message is not about death after all. Maybe it is really about living. •