systematic study of deathbed visions took place in 1960, when American Society for Psychical Research investigator Karlis Osis collected information from doctors and nurses on thousands of deathbed visions in the US and India. Other studies followed, including an Indian survey in 1972. The findings and observations found in these studies confirmed those made by Barrett.
Typically deathbed visions occur to those who die gradually from a terminal illness or injury rather than those who die suddenly. Many of the visions are of apparitions of dead loved ones or family members known to the dying person, such as parents, siblings and spouses, or beings of light perceived as mythical or religious figures. The purpose of these apparitions – called take away apparitions – appears to be to command the dying to come with them and thus assist them in the transition to death. The response of most of the people dying to these visions is one of happiness, peace and a willingness to go. Their mood changes from one of suffering to one of radiance and joy.
Approximately a third of deathbed visions involve a vision of the afterlife, which is typically described as a beautiful garden. Some see apparitions there, others see streams, bridges and boats and other symbols of transition. Again the emotional response is one of great happiness and peace. The great majority of visions appear just before death with the patient dying shortly afterwards.
There are various natural explanations given for deathbed visions. Drugs, fever, disease, the brain suffering oxygen deprivation, hallucinations and wish fulfilment have all been given as possible causes. Although they are plausible explanations, Osis’s research showed clearly that deathbed visions are most likely to occur in the fully conscious and that medical factors do not trigger visions. Wish fulfilment is not a likely explanation either because visions appear both to those who believe and to those who do not believe in an afterlife, and also appear to those who want to recover and live. Finally there have also been reports by the living who are in attendance to the dying of clouds of silvery energy floating over the body, as well as take away apparitions and angels.
Deathbed visions are significant not just because they suggest the possibility of survival after death, but because they also demonstrate that the moment of transition to death should not be feared. If reports of deathbed visions are to be believed, for the person who is dying death can be a wonderful and beautiful experience.
DEATH OMENS
In folklore a death omen is a sign of an impending death. Every culture has its own unique death omens.
Death is frequently foretold by the appearance or behaviour of certain animals, insects or birds associated with the afterlife. Black birds – crows, owls, ravens, rooks – are often thought to be death omens when they appear in a village or cluster around a house. The howling of a dog or a black cat crossing the path are also thought to be signs that portend the death of someone nearby. Spiders are often associated with death, and according to American, British and European lore the deathwatch beetle, which makes a ticking or tapping sound during the summer months as it bores into wood, is considered the harbinger of a death in the family.
Death omens can be natural occurrences, for example the way wax drips from a candle, or accidents, such as a chair falling over backwards as a person gets up, or signs of nature, such as cloud shapes or star formations. They can also be supernatural occurrences, such as candles and lights that flicker in the night – see corpse candles and corpse lights – or the appearance of an apparition, such as the banshee, or a phantom coach with a headless coachman, or spectral black dogs, or other animals.
DECATUR HOUSE
The haunted house of one of America’s most celebrated naval captains in the war of 1812, Stephen Decatur. Located in Lafayette Square, Washington, DC Decatur House is said to be haunted by the ghosts of both Stephen and his wife, Susan.
Stephen Decatur moved to Washington with his wife in 1818 after the war ended. He was admired and even considered a presidential hopeful, but unfortunately for him, in 1807 he had served on the court-martial board of his friend, Commodore James Barron. Decatur had agreed with the rest of the board that Barron should be court-martialled, starting a feud that ended in Decatur’s death at Barron’s hands during a duel 13 years later in Bladensburg, Maryland (duelling being illegal in Washington). On 14 March 1820, the morning of the duel, Decatur was mortally wounded and taken home to die. His wife was so broken-hearted she could not bring herself to look at him or to live in the house after he had died.
A year after his death his apparition was allegedly seen looking sadly from the window where he had stood on the eve of his death. The window was walled up but this did not stop the ghost returning. Later sounds of a woman weeping – said to be Susan Decatur – were also heard.
Residents of Washington still report seeing Decatur’s spirit peering out of the second-storey window or slipping out the back door of his house with a black box under his arm, just as he had done on that fateful day of the duel.
DéJà VU
An expression of familiarity that is unexpected, déjà vu is the sensation of having been to a place or experienced a situation before. The French term for ‘already seen’ can apply to feelings, thoughts, places, dreams, meetings and living in general – whenever something familiar seemingly happens for the first time. The idea was first introduced to science in 1896 by F L Arnaud.
Studies conducted on déjà vu suggest that it is a common experience, with more than half of those polled reporting instances of déjà vu. It also seems more common in children and women than men. The phenomenon is thought to be a psychological process where the unconscious mind is stimulated to recall past events of a similar nature that somehow get mixed up with the present event. Some feel that it is evidence for reincarnation, memories of past lives being pushed to the surface of the mind by familiar surroundings or people in the present. Some say it happens when one draws on the collective memories of mankind while others believe it to be the result of out-of-body experiences during sleep, or other extra-sensory phenomena.
DEMON/DAEMON
To the ancient Greeks daemons, from the Greek word daimon meaning ‘divine power’, ‘fate’ or ‘god’, were intermediary spirits between the gods and humankind, rather like guardian spirits. They could be either good or evil. Good daemons were supportive and encouraging but evil daemons could lead people astray with bad counsel.
The Christian Church labelled all such pagan spirits as evil, which is why daemons, better known to us today as demons, are traditionally associated with evil. For centuries demons have been blamed for a host of ills and misfortunes including demonic sexual molestation, where a demon masquerades as a man or woman to molest its victim. Many possession cases in the Middle Ages involved sexual molestation by demons, although this may have been more to do with repressed humans than supernatural activity. In many cultures and religions demons have been exorcied. In Catholicism cases of demonic possession – in which demons battle for a person’s soul – are dealt with by formal exorcism rites that date back to 1614.
DEMONOLOGY
The study of demons or malevolent spirits and their powers, attributes and derivations. Demons were thought to be extremely evil and extremely clever, masters in the art of persuasion. Humans had to be constantly on their guard against them. In 1580 philosopher Jean Bodin claimed that:
It is certain that the devils have a profound knowledge of all things. No theologian can interpret the Holy Scriptures better than they can; no lawyer has a more detailed
