We were in the middle of a conversation about death when the phone line went dead. No, that’s not spooky at all, is it?

“Trippy,” laughed James Van Praagh when he called back. It was an appropriate pun, for he had been telling me about a scary plane trip and how that relates to his own death at some point in the future.

Van Praagh is one of America’s best known psychic mediums. In the 1990’s he hosted his own television show, “Beyond With James Van Praagh” but most recently was the creative force behind the CBS hit show “Ghost Whisperer”. He has several more television show ideas in various stages of development, plus several books, CDs and events that bear his name. Van Praagh will take the stage Sunday, Feb. 27 in Phoenix for “An Evening With Spirit”, where he will do what he has become famous for: communicating with the spirits of our dead loved ones.

But it was his death that interested me most.

“That thing about knowing when you’re going to die is freaky,” I said.

“I think it’s reassuring,” he replied. “I know what the age is I’m going to die and I know how I’m going to die.” The giggle that followed might be considered morbid to many. But Van Praagh is very comfortable with death. “There is no such thing,” he writes in his book Ghosts Among Us . “Death refers only to the end of the physical body.”

He won’t divulge whatever details he may know about the end of his life. In fact, he won’t divulge whatever details he may know about the end of anyone’s life. And people do ask.

“Yeah they do ask,” he said. “And I say ‘I can’t tell you.’ I just say, you know, ‘Go to the doctor, get all your papers in order,’ because when you know something like that, you’ve got to present it in a way where you have compassion with it. You don’t want to scary anybody.”

Death is a topic that frightens many. We fear the uncertainty of when it may happen. We fear the finality of our existence. And while sorrow, tragedy and grief are real emotions that accompany the death experience, Van Praagh says life is never-ending. Those who have left the physical world, he writes, “walk among us, impressing us with their love, guiding us with their wisdom, and protecting us from harm.”

Van Praagh plans to discuss fear during his appearance Sunday night. “I do a whole thing about choices,” he said. “I will discuss a lot about choices and what our choices are based upon- fear and love. I talk a lot about fear and love.”

Fear and love. Perhaps the two most powerful forces in the universe. We could use less of one and more of the other.

Tickets to see Van Praagh tonight in Phoenix are still available. He regularly tours the country hosting seminars, group communication events and teaching sessions. Information can be found on his own web site.

-By Scott Davis, Paranormal Matrix Reporter