Saturday, January 24, 2009

Psychic Abilities, Abraham Lincoln and His Precognitive Dreams


Psychiatrist, and former Harvard professor, Dr. Diane Hennacy Powell was a guest on Coast to Coast AM Radio show this week. Her new book The ESP Enigma: The Scientific Case for Psychic Phenomena, combines philosophy, physics, and examines paranormal traits like clairvoyance, precognition, telepathy, intuition.

She mentioned how scientists in the field of study of the paranormal often times put their careers on the line by pursuing topics out of the mainstream paradigm. She specifically mentioned the late Dr. John E. Mack, Harvard professor, and how he fought to keep his Harvard tenure while studying the UFO abduction phenomena and writing best-selling books on the subject. He was able to keep his position at Harvard. Dr. Powell was Director of Research at the
John E. Mack Foundation.

Dr. Powell talked of how we all possess psychic ability but some are more psychic than others. Her studies go along with what I believe, that for many, it is genetic and runs in families. There is often a family history covering several generations. She believes there is an undiscovered “psychic” gene. She also mentioned psychic ability may show up after a head trauma. And we know others have had a traumatic event or a Near Death Experience and their psychic ability appears for the first time or is greatly enhanced. For instance,
Dannion Brinkley, Dr. Dianne Morrissey both recovered from NDEs and discovered their new ability. The late Peter Hurkos apparently fell off a ladder, had a head injury resulting in his psychic ability. Dr. Powell also touched on animals' psychic abilities, noting Rupert Sheldrake's work on dogs and their owners. (Read my article, Animal Communication: Animal Smarts or the Gift of Intuition? By Linda Pendleton) People with autism also have a higher probability of psychic abilities, such a autistic savants, according to Dr. Powell.

In a recent online Time interview by M.J. Stephey, Dr. Powell spoke of Abraham Lincoln’s famous precognitive dream of his death, several days before his assassination.

“Lincoln had a very vivid dream of walking around the White House and hearing all these people mourning and asking, "What's going on?" and then having someone tell him, "The president's dead." Then he saw his own corpse. He had this dream literally ten days before he was assassinated. He didn't tell anybody about it at first, but a few days before [his assassination], he told his wife and some friends.”

I just wrote about Lincoln’s dream in my new ebook,
How Thin the Veil! 150 Years of Spiritualism. He apparently often had meaningful and precognitive dreams.

Excerpt:
Dr. James Martin Peebles wrote about Abraham Lincoln’s dreams in his 1903 book, What is Spiritualism? and describes Lincoln's prophetic dream as told by Charles Dickens. "When Charles Dickens was in the United States in 1868, he wrote to his friend, John Forster, under date of February 4 of that year, that he had dined by invitation with Senator Charles Sumner, at Washington, on the previous Sunday, when Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War under Lincoln's administration, was the only other guest. The conversation having turned on the assassination of Lincoln, Dickens writes:

'He and Sumner having been the first two public men at the dying President's bedside, and having remained with him until he breathed his last, we fell into a very interesting conversation. ...Mr. Stanton told me a curious little story. On the afternoon of the day on which the President was shot, there was a Cabinet Council, at which he [Lincoln] presided. Mr. Stanton arrived rather late.

'He noticed that the President sat with an air of great dignity and was grave and calm. Mr. Stanton, on leaving the council with the Attorney-General, said to him: ‘What an extraordinary change in Mr. Lincoln!’

'The Attorney-General replied: We all saw it before you came in. While we were waiting for you, he said, with his chin down on his breast: Gentlemen, something very extraordinary is going to happen, and that very soon.

'To which the Attorney-General had observed: ‘Something good, sir, I hope?’

'When the President answered very gravely: ‘I don't know; I don't know. But it will happen, and shortly, too!’

'As they were all impressed by his manner, the Attorney-General took him up again. ‘Have you received information, sir, not yet disclosed to us?’

'No, answered the President, but I have had a dream, and I have now had that same dream three times. Once on the night preceding the battle of Bull Run; once on the night preceding such another,’ naming a battle also not favorable to the North. His chin sank on his breast again, and he sat reflecting.

'Might one ask the nature of this dream, sir?’ asked the Attorney-General.

'Well,’ replied the President, without lifting his head or changing his attitude: ‘I am on a great, broad, rolling river, and I am in a boat, and I drift and I drift...but, this is not business,’ suddenly raising his face and looking round the table as Mr. Stanton entered. ‘Let us proceed to business, gentlemen!’

'Mr. Stanton and the Attorney-General said, as they walked on together, [that] it would be curious to notice whether anything ensued on this, and they agreed to notice. That night Lincoln was shot by Wilkes Booth, at Ford's Theatre and died the following morning.'"

Another interesting story about Lincoln's spiritual awareness is given in Carl Sandburg's Abraham Lincoln, where he reports that Lincoln was often haunted by his dreams. Sandburg relates Lincoln's own words, "It seems strange how much there is in the Bible about dreams. There are, I think, some sixteen chapters in the Old Testament and four or five in the New in which dreams are mentioned; and there are many other passages scattered throughout the book which refer to visions. If we believe the Bible, we must accept the fact that in the old days God and His angels came to them in their sleep and made themselves known in dreams. Nowadays dreams are regarded as very foolish and are seldom told, except by old women and by young men and maidens in love."

Mrs. Lincoln, Mary, remarked that the President looked dreadfully solemn and asked him if he believed in dreams.

Whereupon Lincoln replied, "I can't say that I do, but I had one the other night which has haunted me ever since. After it occurred, the first time I opened the Bible, strange as it may appear, it was at the twenty-eighth chapter of Genesis, which related the wonderful dream Jacob had. I turned to other passages, and seemed to encounter a dream or a vision wherever I looked. I kept on turning the leaves of the old book, and everywhere my eyes fell upon passages recording matters strangely in keeping with my own thoughts,–supernatural visitations, dreams, visions, etc."

Responding to a complaint by Mrs. Lincoln that this kind of talk frightened her, the President apologized for upsetting her, explaining, "...the thing has got possession of me, and, like Banquo's ghost, it will not down."

This was President Lincoln's dream:

"About ten days ago, I retired very late. I had been up waiting for important dispatches from the front. I could not have been long in bed when I fell into a slumber, for I was weary. I soon began to dream. There seemed to be a death-like stillness about me. Then I heard subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping. I thought I left my bed and wandered downstairs. There the silence was broken by the same pitiful sobbing, but the mourners were invisible. I went from room to room; no living person was in sight, but the same mournful sounds of distress met me as I passed along. It was light in all the rooms; every object was familiar to me; but where were all the people who were grieving as if their hearts would break? I was puzzled and alarmed. What could be the meaning of all this? Determined to find the cause of a state of things so mysterious and so shocking, I kept on until I arrived at the East Room, which I entered. There I met with a sickening surprise. Before me was a catafalque, on which rested a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were stationed soldiers who were acting as guards; and there was a throng of people, some gazing mournfully upon the corpse, whose face was covered, others weeping pitifully. 'Who is dead in the White House?' I demanded of one of the soldiers. 'The President,' was the answer; 'he was killed by an assassin!' Then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd, which awoke me from my dream. I slept no more that night; and although it was only a dream, I have been strangely annoyed by it ever since."

This dream came to Lincoln just days before he was shot on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, and he died the following morning.

It is obvious that Lincoln was very strongly connected and often aware of that whispering presence from beyond the veil. And he referred to those spirits on the Other Side as "our friends from the upper country."
~Linda

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

New Ebook, How Thin the Veil! 150 Years of Spiritualism by Linda Pendleton








Linda Pendleton's new  E-book,
How Thin the Veil! 150 Years of Spiritualism NDEe, Coincidences, Lincoln, Past Lives, Mediums, Spirit







Many of us are still searching for answers about life: Who are we? Why are we here? What happens when we leave here? Will we see our loved ones again? And for some, the questions may be broader such as: Have I been here before? Will I return at some future point? Why did I come back?

In about 1850, Spiritualism reached a high interest and continued for a number of years, not only in America, but world-wide. The poets, philosophers, artists, politicians of the time, along with the ordinary man and woman, in surprising numbers came to accept spirit communication as a comforting and fulfilling life experience.
Within my new ebook, How Thin The Veil! 150 Years of Spiritualism, you will read about the early days of Spiritualism and how it became a new era that brought with it a profound understanding of human destiny after death, and of the relationship between heaven and earth.

Many historical figures considered themselves Spiritualist, some more openly than others. One of our greatest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln communicated with spirit on the Other Side through mediums and referred to spirit as “our friends from the upper country.” It has often been said his writings and speeches were inspired by spirit, especially his Emancipation Proclamation.

The veil between worlds continues to grow thinner, communication is increasing, and part of the increase in communication may be a result of fear being released, and openness prevailing. Curiosity, yes, but probably more than that when intuition is allowed to have a role in everyday life.


Read about Abraham Lincoln in celebration of his February Bicentennial Birthday!

“I’ve always had a fascination with Abraham Lincoln and I very much enjoyed doing more research on him, discovering more about who he was, enjoying his wit and humor, learning more about what he believed, along with all he gave this country during his leadership, and the legacy he left.” ~Linda Pendleton 

 Was Abraham Lincoln a Spiritualist? by Nettie Colburn Maynard, 1891. A Mediums' Memories of President Lincoln, Introduction by Linda Pendleton;


 

Writings Of and About Abraham Lincoln, Our Sixteenth President by Linda Pendleton; 







 








"Linda writes with a pure intent to inspire others through sharing what spirit inspires through her. That is the best kind of writing because it is so authentic." ~Athena Demetrios, Medium and Trance-Channel

“Linda’s really done her research. How Thin the Veil! is a very interesting study on the history of Spiritualism, and I feel I learned a great deal. This research shows the acceptance and growth, the intolerance and fear, of the many facets of Spiritualism throughout history and today. This book shows how some people time and time again will not be stopped on their search for Spirituality, and how this has affected all aspects of societies, including our American politics. The Spiritual journey is as unique and diverse as each and every one of us, and no matter how different, when all is said and done, we are truly all connected. A fascinating read.” ~Anne Boss, California

"The veil that clouds your eyes shall be lifted by the hands that wove it." ~Kahlil Gibran

Saturday, January 17, 2009

The Synchronicity of Life


There are no accidents. A force that shapes our lives can be found in synchronicity. The web of life connects each one of us to everyone else. Therefore, the six degrees or less of separation. It is when we experience events of synchronicity that this concept of six degrees of separation makes so much sense, and lends itself to a convincing idea.

Have you thought about or become aware of synchronicity in this world we live in? Synchronicity is an experience of events which occur in a meaningful manner but which are casually unrelated. Often these seemingly chance occurrences may move our lives forward in some way.

Swiss psychologist Carl Jung coined the term “meaningful coincidence,” for the synchronistic events.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines coincidence as the occurrence of events that happen at the same time by accident but seem to have some connection.

Dr. Bernie Siegel, M.D., oncologist and author, describes coincidence as “God’s way of remaining anonymous.”

This whole idea that there are no accidents seems to be repeatedly verified for me, and for most people I know. How often have you said, “Oh, that was no accident.” I would imagine you’ve said it plenty of times, as I have. But maybe you’ve also heard, “That’s just a coincidence.”

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines synchronicity as the coincidental occurrence of events and especially psychic events (as similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a mental image of an unexpected event before it happens) that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality—used especially in the psychology of C. G. Jung.


When synchronicity occurs it may be a telepathic communication, bringing guidance of some kind, or could be a message or information from the universe. When one comes to understand all energy and matter is interconnected, and one part affects another, then it is easy to know that the inner experience of synchronicity is a message that life is bigger than what is visible, bigger than cause and effect, and has a mystery while creating a kind of awe about the experience.


"I am open to the guidance of synchronicity
and do not let expectations hinder my path."
~His Holiness The Dalai Lama


Soon read more about this in my new ebook, How Thin the Veil! 150 Years of Spiritualism, going on sale Jan. 20th at http://www.healingebooks.com/

~Linda





Saturday, January 3, 2009

Extraterrestrials, Vatican's Observatory, UFOs






Castel Gandolfo



EYES ON THE SKIES

One cannot help but wonder exactly what the Vatican knows about extraterrestrial life, and is not saying. I’ve often wondered why for centuries now, they have been so interested in the heavens. I don’t mean Heaven, we all know they have interests there, but I mean the heavens: the solar system, the cosmos, the stars, the universe or universes ... and extraterrestrials? Yeah, those guys.

The Vatican’s Observatory, a few miles from the Vatican at the Papal Summer Villa, Castel Gandolfo in the Alban Hills overlooking Lake Albano, a small volcanic crater lake, is one of the oldest astronomical institutes in the world. The Vatican’s interest in astronomy can be traced to Pope Gregory XIII who had the Tower of the Winds built in the Vatican in 1578. Pope Gregory XIII had called on Jesuit astronomers and mathematicians to study the scientific data and implications involved in the reform of the calendar which occurred in 1582. It appears from that time forward the Vatican has manifested an interest in and support for astronomical research.

The Tower of Winds is a three-story building rising up from Vatican Palace, and decorated in celebration of the accomplishments of Pope Gregory XIII’s calendar reform from the Julian to Gregorian calendar, which took away ten days during the month of October and made adjustments to leap years and is now the favored calendar by most.

In 1891, Leo XIII founded the Vatican Observatory (Specola Vaticana) and chose the Tower of Winds as its seat, and its roof was substituted with a flat terrace to allow astronomical observations. For more than four decades astronomical research was carried out, including an international program to map the whole sky.

Pope Pius XI had the Observatory moved to Castel Grandolfo. There at the modern observatory, entrusted to the Jesuits, three new telescopes were added in the mid-1930s, the installation of an astrophysical laboratory for spectrochemical analysis, and expansion of research programs on variable stars, carrying on the work of mid-nineteenth century Jesuit Father Angelo Secchi, the first to classify stars according to their spectra. In 1957 with the installation of a Schmidt wide-angel telescope, research was extended to other topics. In recent years, month-long summer school in Astronomy and Astrophysics for a small number of students from around the world is taught by eminent scholars invited for the occasion. The school has become a biennial event in the Observatory’s programs.

Castel Gandolfo’s library contains more than 22,000 volumes and possesses a valuable collection of rare antique books including works of Copernicus, Newton, Galileo, Kepler, Brahe, Clavius, and Secchi.

There is also a unique meteorite collection that is being researched for clues to the early history of the solar system.

As modern time increased the population of Rome, the skies above the Observatory again became too bright and in 1981, the Observatory founded another research center, the Vatican Observatroy Research Group in Tucson Arizona. They now have access to all the telescopes at Tucson’s Mount Graham International Observatory.



The 10,713 foot Mount Graham, northeast of Tucson, Arizona surges up from the desert floor giving the appearance of a giant island in the sky, the site upon which the Vatican Observatory has established its own powerful telescope to scan the heavens, operated in conjunction with Mount Graham International Observatory. The International Observatory also houses telescopes operated by the University of Arizona.

One may wonder if the Vatican is mounting a search for God–or maybe for the Virgin Mary as she travels the cosmos leaving a "sign" in the skies to be recognized by we humans here on the Earth plane.

It seems that the Vatican is searching for neither–or, at least, that is not their announced intention. However, according to a story in the London Daily Telegraph, the Reverend George Coyne, then director of the Vatican Observatory, is quoted as saying, "The church would be obliged to address the question of whether extraterrestrials might be brought within the fold and baptized. One would need to put some questions to him such as: 'Have you ever experienced something similar to Adam and Eve, in other words, original sin? Do you people also know a Jesus who has redeemed you?'"

In a syndicated Knight-Ridder News Article in late 1992, columnist Steve Yozwiak reports that the Reverend Chris Corbally, a staff astronomer and project scientist in Tucson, said that the possibility of encountering alien life raises profound theological questions. "Surely, it would be fascinating to have a real encounter with another intelligence," Corbally stated, adding, "We would be open to that sort of thing."

This has to be seen as a gigantic leap forward for a church which, in ages past, executed scientists such as Giordano Bruno (1600). Pope Clement VIII ordered that the "impenitent and pertinacious" heretical astronomer be burned at the stake for insisting that our Earth was not the center of the universe. Bruno believed in an infinite universe and a multiplicity of worlds.

In contrast, to show how far the Catholic hierarchy has come, Pope Pius XII, in an address in 1951, stated, "The more true science advances, the more it discovers God, almost, as though He were standing, vigilant behind every door which science opens."

And again: In 2000, Pope John Paul II had to issue a formal apology for all the errors of the Church over the last 2000 years which apparently included the trial of Galileo and the burning of Bruno, among other events. The Church was a little slow in recanting their sins, I would say.

Today, of course, our scientists are not at all reluctant to discuss the possibility of intelligent life beyond the earth and are even unashamedly seeking communications from those other worlds.

In regards to extraterrestrial life in the universe, in May 2008, in an interview by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, was quoted as saying the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.

"How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" Funes said. "Just as we consider earthly creatures as 'a brother,' and 'sister,' why should we not talk about an 'extraterrestrial brother'? It would still be part of creation."

Funes said that such a notion "doesn't contradict our faith" because aliens would still be God's creatures. Ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom, he said.

Monsignor Corrado Balducci (1923-2008) was a high Vatican official, a Catholic theologian, a parapsychologist, expert on Demonology and an author. He made several statements during interviews on Italian television about extraterrestrials and attended conferences. He stated, “There are already many considerations which makes the existence of these beings into a certainty. We cannot doubt. Even if we say that among a hundred of these phenomenon there are only... even if we said that 99 were false and that one was true, it´s that one that says that some phenomenon exist.”

He often proclaimed that extraterrestrial contact is a real phenomenon. Balducci provided an analysis of extraterrestrials that he feels is consistent with the Catholic Church's understanding of theology. Monsignor Balducci emphasizes that extraterrestrial encounters "are not demonic, they are not due to psychological impairment, they are not a case of entity attachment, but these encounters deserve to be studied carefully."

The Jesuit Father and astronomer Fr. Angelo Secchi (1818 - 1876) wrote: “It is absurd to claim that the worlds surrounding us are large, uninhabited deserts and that the meaning of the universe lies just in our small, inhabited planet.”

The apparent reconciliation between church and science seems to reflect the spirit of Albert Einstein, who once stated, "The cosmic religious experience is the strongest and noblest force behind the driving force of scientific research."

Ironically, the Vatican's six-foot diameter mirror telescope, one of the most accurate in the world, is poised near the New Mexico border, a mere 150 miles (or just a few seconds of supersonic flight) due west of White Sands–which has been a bee hive of UFO activity since the early atomic tests in that region–few more publicized than the incident at Roswell in 1947.

In 1992, as reported by the Dallas Morning News, a 73 year old Texan, Wesley Nunley, living on the outskirts of Dallas, built a UFO landing strip, which he proclaimed U-F-O LANDING BASE 1, with two-foot high letters painted on concrete.

So the Vatican and the scientific community had better watch out–they had a competitor. While the "eyes" of the scientific/theological world are focused so far out into the vastness of the universe, they may miss the fly-by of the extraterrestrials on their way to Texas or other places which give them a nice landing strip. There in Texas, less than a thousand miles distant from Mount Graham, that Texan had not lost sight of any bets, though. The landing pad on his property also reads, "WELCOME LORD JESUS."

So maybe the Vatican knows something we don't.

Or do we?

But it definitely seems the Vatican is dropping hints here and there that we are not alone, and they want us to know that.


Preparing us? Could be, but most will not be surprised. Will we?

Check out this newest video. The BBC has been allowed into the Pope's Observatory at his Villa Castel Gandolfo outside Rome. The Catholic priests who run the centre have strong views on everything from life on other planets, to whether the Star of Bethlehem actually existed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7808878.stm


~Linda

Friday, January 2, 2009

Spirit Communication, Life After Death and the Other Side

John Edward is a gifted psychic medium. I believe he has done so much for increasing the acceptance and understanding of spirit communication with those on the Other Side.

His books, One Last Time, Crossing Over, After Life, are excellent. For me, I first want to know how the psychic gift came about or was enhanced, and I am drawn to books which reveal that, such as John’s. The latest one I read was Lisa Williams’ book, Life Among the Dead. She’s an excellent medium, also.

One thing I have liked so much about John Edward is his humor. He is able to laugh at himself, laugh at the interpretation of the symbol he receives, and lighten up what can often be heavy with grief, sadness, and pain. He has said, “Information comes through to me in 3 basic ways seen, hearing, and feeling the energy of the person that's crossed over. In which it is a symbolic type of language.”

I believe his humor allows people to be more comfortable, instead of being uptight or nervous while knowing he talks with dead people.

Ho often mentions “psychic amnesia,” the inability to recall during a reading a person, a name, an event, that is very much a part of you. I had that happen, at least to a small degree, when I had an on-the-air telephone reading with psychic Cher Margolis (another good one) a few years ago when she appeared on the CNBC Show The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. I was so nervous that my mind went blank for a moment over a name but I quickly recovered.

You would think I would not be nervous because I do, myself, communicate with spirit clairaudiently, mainly with Dr. James Martin Peebles, and my late husband, Don Pendleton, and a couple spirit guide/angels here and there. But when in the situation of a reading, with a medium bringing me the messages, I am still in awe when it happens.

No matter how the messages come to us from the Other Side, through mediumship, dreams, intuition, apparitions, however, it is comforting, reassuring, and confirms that consciousness and love live on. And I have come to believe that consciousness does go on after the shedding of the physical body. Without a doubt.

And obviously, I am far from alone in that belief.

Here is one example how others believe. John Edward has a survey on the website for his TV show, Cross Country, on the WE Network. (His show is on Saturday Nights).

98.6 % Believe in life after death. (over 40,150 respondents).

96.1% Believe in communication with those who have died. (over 13,000 respondents).

97.3 % Believe we reconnect with loved ones when we pass. (13,500).

69.6 % Have experienced communication with the Other Side. (12,800).

58.6 % Received communication through dreams while 21% received communication with apparitions. (9,900).

97.9 % Believe the soul lives on. (11,900).

92.9 % Plan on communicating with someone when you pass, but 76.5 % have not made a pact regarding the message or sign they will send. (11,655).

85.4 % Think a belief in afterlife makes the process of dying easier. (over 13,300 respondents).

Those are encouraging numbers.

~Linda

John Edward on Mediumship...