She Said Spirit Is Real… And Then Proved It - A Conversation with Medium Barbra Banner

What if the signs you’ve been noticing… aren’t coincidence?

In this powerful and deeply personal episode of Hope Comes to Visit, I am joined by Barbra Banner—a no-nonsense psychic, evidential medium, and transmedium known for delivering messages with clarity, humor, and heart.

Together, we explore what happens when we open ourselves to the possibility that those we’ve lost are still with us—just in a different way.

Barbra shares her unexpected journey into mediumship, what it means to trust your intuition, and how connection to spirit can help us move through grief—not by letting go, but by understanding love never leaves.

I also share a bit about my own experience of loss, signs, and the moments that changed everything.

This episode is for anyone who has ever wondered:

• Are the signs real? 
•  Can I trust what I feel? 
•  And what if they’re still with me?

 Because sometimes… hope arrives in ways we never expected.

Connect with Barbra on her website.
On Instagram. And on her YouTube Channel.

Thank you for listening to Hope Comes to Visit. If this conversation helps, follow the show, share it with someone who needs hope today, and leave a review - it helps others find their way to these conversations.

New episodes drop every Monday, so you can begin your week with a little light and a lot of hope.

For more stories, reflections, and ways to connect, visit www.DanielleElliottSmith.com or follow along on Instagram @daniellesmithtv and @HopeComestoVisit

Transcript

Grief, Love, And Why It Hurts

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Because grief is so paralyzing. It is, it can just like want to just rip you apart. And you have to go through the process and go through the stages. But I try to help people maybe pivot a little sooner to instead of thinking about how much you've lost, looking for maybe the gratitude that you had this amazing person that you love more than anything. Because the only thing stronger than grief is love in vibration.

Welcome And Meet Barbara Banner

Danielle Elliott Smith 0:41

Let's take a quick moment to thank the people that support and sponsor the podcast. When life takes an unexpected turn, you deserve someone who will stand beside you. St. Louis attorney Chris Duly offers experienced one-on-one legal defense. Call 314-384-4000 or 314-DUI HELP. Or you can visit Dulilawfirm.com. That's D-U-L-L-E lawfirm.com for a free consultation. Sometimes hope arrives softly, and sometimes it arrives with a message you didn't see coming. Welcome to Hope Comes to Visit, where we tell the truth about grief. We hold space for the unexplainable unexplainable, and we leave room for all of the light to come in. I'm Danielle Elliott Smith, and as always, I'm both thrilled and grateful that you're here with me today. Today I'm joined by Barbara Banner, a certified no BS psychic, evidential, and transmedium who brings messages with remarkable clarity, humor, and heart, with a deep connection to spirit, and a delivery that is equal parts validation. And did she really just say that? Barbara helps people lighten the weight of loss while honoring the love that never leaves. Barbara, I'm delighted that you are here with me today. Thank you for joining us.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

I'm delighted as well.

From Advertising To Spirit Work

Danielle Elliott Smith 2:03

Absolutely. So one of the things that intrigues me about your path, in addition to the fact that we're going to talk about all things, spirit and medium. And I know for some people that is an unknown place, is that this hasn't always been your path. You held many different careers before you landed here. So will you take us through a little bit of who you are and how you ended up in this space?

SPEAKER_00 2:33

Well, I was in advertising. I was marketing and advertising writer for big agencies. And, you know, I had a wonderful, like 30-year career until they changed the word copywriter to content creator. And I said, okay, I've aged out of this one. Then, and through that, I have always been involved in interesting volunteer projects. And one of them was 14 years on a women's crisis hotline. And that and the the training you get for that is amazing. I mean, you work with wonderful people. And then at Cedars Hospital for in the emergency room, that that sort of scratched my uh adrenaline itch. And then the craziest one where I knew something was was up. Um the city of Los Angeles has a crisis response team, and they call a team out when there's a um deceased body on the scene, and the police are there, and the coroner and the the family shows up. So that's where we came in to take care of them on the worst day of their life. So when you police do, and the coroner do their job and keep everybody away. And I just and then, you know, I didn't think anything of it until, you know, all hell broke loose here with lights going on, flashing, and fans in both rooms at the same time, like, you know, 50 miles an hour, orbs in in an audition tape I did, and things flying off the wall and and pictures throwing themselves down. And I just said, and I wasn't afraid. I mean, I thought it was so cool. Um, because I've always been interested in that.

Danielle Elliott Smith 4:20

And then I just know what it was. Did you instantly say, no, wait a second, I'm being visited by spirits? Or was there a piece of you that thought I'm having an electrical problem?

SPEAKER_00 4:31

Are you kidding? I never, never. Um, I knew that it wasn't that. I as I said, I've been watching paranormal and mediumship shows since I was like 14. Um I just said they're calling me and I better do something about it because if they can do all this, I want to be on the good side. So I I signed up for a class with Suzanne Geisman. Amazing choice. And I had never even meditated before. So I was like a newbie. And on my first meditation practice at home, I locked myself in the closet. It was dark. And I saw my father. This was like the first time I tried. And then later people told me, you've been doing this for centuries, so that's why you just hit the ground running. And then I found out for my mother when she was 104, that my grandmother had some juju and was dragging her around to tea leaf readers and you know, crystal and all that stuff when she was a kid. So I said, What are you waiting for? You're 104 before you're gonna tell me. She didn't care.

Danielle Elliott Smith 5:39

So this feels like a family connection, something that has Which I never knew.

SPEAKER_00 5:45

But Grandma now is is like one of my mediumship uh guides.

Danielle Elliott Smith 5:50

Okay. So what have you decided to do with this gift?

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Well, everybody has the ability to do it. You could be a fabulous medium or psychic or whatever you want it to be. We all have a soul, and that's all you need. That's that's all that's all you need in your toolkit, is a soul. And the desire or the the push to to do this, because it takes a lot of uh training, and you know, uh, we'll always be, I'll always be signing up for some class to make it better. Um so that's really all you need. Anybody can do it. And I I once I started doing mediumship, I said, okay, this is my bally wick. This this is what I'm meant to do. I have found my purpose in life. And luckily, um, James von Prague uh was listening to something, and he said, when you find your purpose in life, you don't age anymore. And and uh, you know, that's that was enough for me. I said, okay, I picked the right one. And you don't get sick. So those two things I said, all right, those are my my go-to.

Danielle Elliott Smith 7:06

So what is it about mediumship that feels like such a calling for you?

SPEAKER_00 7:15

Every single day, whenever I do readings, they're all different. And and I get to use all my training with the psychiatrists, with the psychologists, and the grief specialists. You know, I have 35 years of of training with really interesting people. I mean, I every every way you can pass, there's a different way to handle it. You know, if it's suicide, you do this. If it's they went over by a truck, you do this. So I get to use everything that I've I've learned. And it just seems to all work. It seems that I just want to lift everyone's spirit. You know what I mean? I just, because grief is so paralyzing. It is, it can just like want to just rip you apart. And you have to go through the process and go through the stages. But I try to help people maybe pivot a little sooner to instead of thinking about how much you've lost, looking for maybe the gratitude that you had this amazing person that you love more than anything, because the only thing stronger than grief is love in vibration. I've got I've got goosebumps all over me right now. So I try to show them that they're not gone. I always say they're not gone. They just went a little ahead of you. And you're all gonna have a fabulous reunion. And then try to show them that even if they have no training and don't know anything, at the end of a session, I do a little, I do a little ex not experiment, a little um training with them. Just just uh just to show them that in a few days you're gonna get this message, and it's just gonna show you that they're around you and they see what you're doing, and they know what you're doing, and they know what everybody's doing. So, and once if they do it right, I said you can do this every week. Every week. Give them, say I want I want another one. And it it can just like really open you up because there's nothing like grief to keep spirit away with that low vibration.

Danielle Elliott Smith 9:35

A few years ago, I lost someone who was incredibly important to me, and it was the first time I experienced that depth of grief and learned very quickly that we grieve in direct proportion to how we love. And I did go to a medium because I had been seeing lots of signs, and I started to read lots of books, and honestly, the the signs and the connection and tapping into my intuition were a huge part of my grieving and healing process.

SPEAKER_00 10:11

Healing.

Danielle Elliott Smith 10:12

Um, how do you I imagine that you have some people who come to you very familiar with mediumship, and some people who come to you first time in a bit of a uh a doubting place, but wanting desperately to believe. So, how do you help someone through that place where you are guiding them, not forcing them, but but helping them over the hump of understanding that they can trust their senses?

Skeptics, Evidence, And Energy Blocks

SPEAKER_00 10:48

Well, it's this is like a a sore spot for me about because it it makes it very difficult when somebody comes and they're a total skeptic, and everything you say is, well, that could have been in the paper, or you might have you might have Googled that. I mean, what yeah, and or they ask you very specific things, which like what was my nickname when I was six? I don't know. You know, spirit knows the questions you're asking, and sometimes he will answer, or she or they, what uh and sometimes they won't. And all I can do is I'm just the mouthpiece. Right. Sometimes spirit will do amazing things because this person needs it. But for the most part, if it's just somebody uh who's just sort of being mean about it or or just negative, because I I can't get through that muck. Okay, I need to raise the right vibration. If you can go through a reading with me and not smile, then I am not, you know, doing my work. Um, but some people are such low energy. I had to tell one client, I said, Look, this is so low energy. And I had read her once before, so otherwise I wouldn't say that. I said, I can't do this reading unless you stand up and do 10 jumping jacks right now. And she did. And she sat down, she goes, I needed that. And it was a great reading. I couldn't have read her. It was like she just tore herself out of bed and you know, hadn't had coffee, and I couldn't get through that. Um, sometimes when I'm if there's uh a block or something, sometimes if I end it and say, you know, let's pick this up in a couple of days. Spear comes to me in the middle of the night if he's got a good piece of juicy in you know, evidence, and they'll give it to me, and then I'll just start writing it. You know, I'll just go in the other room and and write down everything they gave it and just give it to the person and they'll say, that that's it. That's that's who it is. That's exactly what I wanted to know. So sometimes Spirit's smart enough to say, let's do it this way. Just just let me let me come in the middle of the night. Now they know not to come with with a you know a flimsy piece of evidence. Do not wake me at three o'clock and tell me, tell her, you know, uh tell her to look for a spoon. Okay, that that don't do that.

Danielle Elliott Smith 13:23

Okay, they know that have you had any foresight or any visits in preparation for our conversation?

Purpose, Trust, And Saying The Weird Thing

SPEAKER_00 13:35

No, I I like I I'm organic. I just want it to be let's just let it flow. Spirit's gonna take us where they need to go, with where your audience might need to hear something. So I'm just I'm just like a little marionette, not the guy who's who's uh you know pulling the strings, but just I'm just I'm just being guided by by you and guides and whatever. So it'll be what it's supposed to be. I love that. Now if I if I was talking like this 10 years ago or six years ago, I would have thought, okay, something happened to me. I must have had a stroke or something, because that's not I I'm not this spiritual, I wasn't the spiritual person at all. It was so it just like it's it's eaten away at me. It's it's in my it's in my um soul now.

Danielle Elliott Smith 14:32

So talk to me about that shift then. What do you think that is that that allowed you or that that called to you to make that fundamental heart and soul shift?

SPEAKER_00 14:52

Just being able to do it and to have a lot of success and accuracy and and you know, in the beginning, I was just going by the seat of my pants. I I didn't know what I was doing, but everyone was happy and signing up. So I donated lots of readings and did uh it just it was supposed to be this is what I'm supposed to do. Now, there's not just one purpose in life for people. Your purpose in life is what makes you full of joy right now, that you want to get up in the morning and do it and you're excited about it. That's your purpose in life right now. And until it gets either boring or you just lose interest, that's that's what it'll be. And then you'll find maybe something else is gonna come. Maybe you're gonna decide, wow, I just did some spirit art and and I got it, I did good. So maybe you'll switch and do spirit art, and that'll be your calling. It you just know it. Our soul knows everything. You know, people always say, What's what's you know, what's my purpose in life? I said, I can't tell you that. But you know what it is. And they all know. They said, You're right. It's in the, you know, it's in the back of their head, it's in their heart. You know what you're passionate about. So they just everyone wants validation. So I never tell anybody what their purpose in life is, except this one person, and it was spirit guided. She didn't know what to do, she didn't want she just she said, I love animals, you know. I don't know. And all of a sudden, out of my mouth came, and believe me, I didn't. I said, You should go to Africa and work on a compound for elephants. And she almost like fell out of the chair. She said, first of all, elephants, I have a collection of elephant paraphernalia in the other room. She said, those are the exact words I said to myself yesterday. And I said, your father is telling you, go ahead. It's a good idea. Because I believe he put it in her head, because he knew spirit knows everything. And then he made me say it. So she couldn't, she couldn't doubt her own intuition. Other than that, I don't even remember telling anybody what you're supposed to do. I just say, what do you love to do? It's in the back of your head. You know what you love, you know what gives you passion.

Danielle Elliott Smith 17:28

You know, it's a one when I think about the hesitation I had around believing. I was actually speaking to one of my therapists, and I said, Look, these are the experiences I'm having, these are the senses I'm getting, these are the moments where I sense him, I know him, things are moving, these are this is how he's showing up for me. And I said, How do I know I'm right? And she said, Do you feel it? And I said, Yes. And she said, then no one can tell you otherwise. And that's the important thing that I always go back to is how do I feel surrounding those moments? How do I feel when there is that what feels like a cosmic connection, or I have one of those he's here moments, or I'm I'm being gifted a spiritual moment. It's a feeling, it's not just a this song reminds me of.

A Child In Heaven Riding A Butterfly

SPEAKER_00 18:33

It's like clear sentence. Yeah, it's a knowing. It's a knowing. And you have to trust that's one of the hardest things that that was like at the end of uh after a lot of classes and training and mentors and things. It was that last piece of the puzzle that I had to trust what they gave me. Because there were times that like things came out of my mouth, and I said, I didn't say that. I don't know how it came out. I told a young girl, a granddaughter, uh, that her grandmother just told her to go do some phone sex if she wants money. And then I just said, I'm sorry. Uh I apologize, I didn't say that. And it was something that she started cracking up because her and her husband have had that running thing for years about you want to you want a chair, you do phone sex. That chair's perfectly fine. And they had just been talking about it the day before. So I just learned, just let it come out.

Danielle Elliott Smith 19:35

What has been one of the most profound moments for you in having an experience with someone that you knew you were giving them a healing gift?

Asking For Specific Signs

SPEAKER_00 19:47

Oh my gosh, I have one because you know I am certified with helping parents heal. And on I think my first, I have a picture as well at the end, on my first reading for somebody who lost a child and they she lost her six-year-old. And in my readings, I uh I do a little QA, they can ask questions to spirit. And the first one I sort of hijack and say, I'm I'm I want you to think of a question that fits in this box. You know, it just can't be anything. Um, that they're around you and they're with you and they know you and love you and whatever. And I said, but don't tell me the question, okay? Just say it telepathically and I'll tell you what I see. And she goes, Okay, I've asked him. And I said, I see your son writing on the back of a giant butterfly in heaven. I mean, just having the best time. Every time I even say that, he comes back and gives me the chills. And I said, Does that have anything to do? Because I don't even know what the question is, um, with what you asked. And she said, You have no idea. She said, I asked, What is my son? What are you doing on the other side right now? And she said, After he died, I bought a book to describe and help a sibling, a younger sibling, through dis you know, discussing that their brother's not going to, you know, be hitting her in the back anymore. Um and in the book, they had a spread with a picture. I don't know if you can see this. And it's of a little boy on the back of a butterfly riding in heaven. So when I gave that to her, that I said, I am meant to help parents who lose their children. Because that was so profound. That was such evidence for her that her boy is still. His consciousness lives on and he's still around. And it she would he know she she knows he's he was here in the in the session, and and that he he knows about the book. I mean, when you give somebody like that, and not every reading has a wow kind of thing that someone's gonna just like, okay, I'm I'm not gonna grieve anymore. I know he's here. Um, but she needed it and spirit gave it to her. And that was a turning point in saying, I know I am doing the right thing because I just lifted her up to another level. Or spirit did. I don't, I'm just here.

Danielle Elliott Smith 22:41

Yeah, it's it's amazing. It's uh I I ended up buying a handful of books after he passed because I I needed to know as much as I could. And one of the books said, ask for a specific sign. Don't just say, I want a butterfly, or or or I want to see the color orange, or you know, get really, really, really specific. And um, and so that day after reading the book, I did. I said, okay, so he loved skulls, and I loved monarch butterflies, and it was something that he knew. So I was like, you know what? I want to see a skull and a butterfly together. I I need to see them meshed together in some capacity. And he had passed in August, and so it was early September, and I was helping my son pick out what he was gonna wear to his homecoming dance for his senior year of high school. And right after we picked things out, I said, you know what, I'm gonna go across to the bookstore. I just need, I need to find another journal. And so I was looking through the journals and I thought, you know what? I'm just going to, I'm gonna try to find something that that calls to me. And the first thing I picked out was covered. Um, it was almost like um like a Mexican tradition. It was covered in skulls and butterflies. It was the first thing I picked out. And I thought, okay. Yeah, if you were led over to that store because I see you. Like, I get it, I got it. Okay, thank you. You know, and and one of the other things that I that I was told is that anytime I ask for and am given, I say thank you. And so anytime there there is that moment of showing up, I always say thank you.

Defining Hope And Building Intuition

SPEAKER_00 24:33

That's very similar to the exercise I do. If you want me to tell you, it just takes one second. Um, first of all, Spirit put those two things in your head because they knew you were going to see them across the street because you were gonna go over there and look. Um, so I tell somebody when I count to three, um, and you can play along too. Okay, I want you to tell me the very first thing or item that comes into your head. One, two, three, what is it? Peonies. Uh, peonies, okay. So Spirit put that in your head, and you will see some peonies or representations of them. It could be even a license plate in the car stuck ahead of you. Uh, peonies. And Spirit knows that that is going to be something that you are gonna see, and that you will know that he put it there. I had a podcast host, and she told me, uh, elephant. And then she said, Oh, that's not good. I said, It has to be the first thing, and it has to be immediately. Anyway, two days later, she sends me this. She said, I took my son to a mini golf, a new mini golf place, and look what was on. Oh my gosh. Giant 20-foot elephant that you have to hit the ball underneath. She still talks about it to this day. I mean, she can't believe that that and other crazy, so many. I have lots of pictures, but it's it's just crazy. It's and they know. So as much as you think you were giving spirit the signs, he gave you the signs. Because they know what's good, they know everything. They know that you're out of, you need another notebook, and they'll just say, Oh, go, you know, put it in your head. Just go go get the notebook now. They knew everything. So, and that's that's wonderful. And so I tell people, you know, if it works for you, because some people have two things in their mind or whatever, um, do it every week. You'll know they're around you every week. It'll be, and you don't need a medium, you don't need anybody. You just spirit's always going to be there for you. So those little things can give people belief. How do you define hope? Um it's hard to define that without using the word hope. Um that things that the things you have in your mind that you believe will make you happier or fulfill you, or uh even just come true, that there's a possibility that they will. To me, that's that's hope. As long as it's nothing really crazy, like, you know, my old dog that I just buried is is coming back, you know, and they could, but you know what I'm saying. Um so yeah, it's it's just the possibility of something good, and it's possible for you to attain that.

Danielle Elliott Smith 27:54

What would you say to encourage someone to tap into their own intuition to help them through grief?

SPEAKER_00 28:08

Well, if they're believers, and I I I always say believing is seeing because it's not seeing is believing, or you're gonna get nothing. Okay. It's you've got to believe, and things you'll understand. So many people when when I'm doing a reading, they say, I'm not saying any signs and nothing, and I just tell them all the signs. Oh, I didn't know that. Or I just, you know, I said, because I said your butterflies are gonna be one of your things. And she said, There's not gonna be any butterflies. It's you know, it's like Wisconsin. It's it's uh, you know, it's it's below zero. And then she gives me, then she like gets in touch with me and she says, I went to see a patient in a hospital. And this is what she had on herself. She had a blanket covered in a thousand butterflies. Just believe, and you'll see it. Um what was the question?

Danielle Elliott Smith 29:07

What would you say to someone who is experiencing grief to encourage them to tap into their own intuition to help them through that process?

SPEAKER_00 29:18

It's it's really a matter of trust. Now, what I tell people to do is I said, especially if they feel spirits, uh like spirit will tell me, yeah, she knows I'm around. You know, she she can feel that little nudge or that little change in the in the energy. I say, lay down, ask your father to help you with your intuition. And say, if it's a yes, let me have, you know, a little tingle in my solar plexus. And that's what I get from my grandmother. I say, Grandma, you think I should do this? And uh, she'll give me a little thing if it's a yes and not if it's a no. And I also use this, but it takes a while. Um so try to work something out, but you but do a lot of do a lot of studying and reading first about spirituality so you are more aware of the things that are possible. And watch NDEs and do watch podcasts and and learn what's possible out there and what other people are experiencing. And then you won't feel so silly saying, you know, I just had a feeling I should get chocolate ice cream, you know, and then the next day you find out it's in the news that, you know, the ice cream store vanilla people were dropping like flies. It had some, you know, toxic waste in it or something. It's follow your intuition. Those people who don't get on a plane because, and I have to say that I would probably get on a plane, even if I was a little um, I don't know, it hasn't been that that strong that I wouldn't, but you know, ended up okay um when the plane went down. And those people followed their intuition. So sometimes you just have to. The thing is, in this reincarnation that you are in, there's no wrong answer. Because if you do make a decision and and it it turns out to be not so great, that's what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to have that challenge, you're supposed to overcome it and maneuver it because that's a lesson you needed to learn. So you just have to trust that if you get stuck, you know, in the mud or the or the ice or something, uh, that you were the you're gonna have to like get the get the jack out and you're gonna have to do something on your own. And it's gonna be a lesson for you, and it may not be a pleasant one, but after you're done and you've done it, you are gonna have this like, I am woman, I am strong, I have, you're gonna get your power back, and you need confidence, and that's what trusting is it's confidence that there's something bigger than us.

Danielle Elliott Smith 32:21

I agree. There is, there definitely is, and I'm I'm excited that you've been here with me. Where can people find you?

SPEAKER_00 32:27

Uh, banner medium, b-a-n-n-e-rmedium.com, and there's little little um icons you can click for my TikTok and Instagram and Facebook where I put in little funny or heartwarming um like 30-second clips of some of the crazy things that go on in in uh in my in my readings. I have very funny guides, so um, I'm always laughing as well.

unknown 32:55

Fantastic.

Danielle Elliott Smith 32:56

Thank you so much for spending time with me today. I so appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 33:01

Well, I've had a good time, and I hope I've given somebody um the uh impetus to just trust, trust, trust, trust your intuition. And then it gets a lot easier.

Danielle Elliott Smith 33:14

I I do believe you have, and I I like talking about this because I think trusting ourselves and and if we're we're hesitant, reaching out to someone like you and and learning the process and figuring out how to trust is is life-changing. So I I am grateful. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, friends, for spending time with me and with Barbara here on Hope Comes to Visit. As always, it is wonderful to spend this time with you. If you have garnered some love and hope and wisdom from this particular episode, I hope you will turn around and share it with the people that you care most about. And until we spend time with you again, take very good care of you. Naturally, it's important to thank the people who support and sponsor the podcast. This episode is supported by Chris Dully, a trusted criminal defense attorney and friend of mine here in St. Louis, who believes in second chances and solid representation. Whether you're facing a DWI, felony, or traffic issue, Chris handles your case personally with clarity, compassion, and over 15 years of experience. When things feel uncertain, it helps to have someone steady in your corner. Call 314 384 4000 or 314 DUI Help, or you can visit Dulilawfirm.com to schedule your free consultation.