Perspectives - Vol. 1, No. 5 - A Further Instance Of Preternatural Knowledge

As in the case of my earlier article, Persephone and Her Owls, I wish simply to put on record a further example of knowledge being gained by means other than ordinary channels of communication.

Many years ago a mother and her two young daughters were involved in a horrifying and catastrophic accident. One of the young girls was killed instantly, her sister and their mother were gravely injured. The survivors needed intensive hospital care which necessitated them being nursed in conditions of isolation from each other and in ignorance of the death of the girl who had been killed.

Both of them, unknown to each other until a substantial time later, received 'information' relating to the death - one explicitly, the other by inference - which was not only the first intimation either had had of the tragedy but which also carried the same 'message' of 'comfort' in respect of an event neither knew had happened.

The mother's experience was of the near-death type (NDE) when she herself was close to death - viz.: 'I went flying along this long black tunnel and there at the end of it was this light - and a beautiful tree. And I saw S. running so happily up a hill with big bright flowers all over it - such beautiful fragrance all round me - she looked so happy'.

The daughter's experience was more explicit. Seven days after the accident and still immobilised in the hospital she saw her sister approach her bed dressed in 'a little communion dress, but all in colours' and heard her say, 'I'm going now, don't cry. I'll miss you, but don't cry - I'm fine'. Only later did she learn that the day in question was her sister's funeral (which neither she nor her mother were able to attend).

One could, of course, argue that, as both the mother and her surviving daughter were so seriously injured, their experiences were the result of post-traumatic cerebral dysfunction. It is difficult though to explain the timing of the sister's hallucinations (visual and auditory) on such a basis, and even more difficult when one appreciates that she was unaware that her sister had died.

It is perhaps relevant to offer the observation that it was only after I had spent many hours with the mother and her daughter (dealing with clinical and medico-legal issues) did they feel sufficiently confident to tell me of their experiences, even though both retained vivid memories of them and regarded them as of very great importance to them - so important, indeed, that they were not prepared to have them exposed to possible derision and cynical disbelief One wonders how often this factor operates in other cases as well.

Reference
Anton-Stephens, Derek (1996). A further instance of preternatural knowledge. [Online]. Network. [1996, November 15].

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