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After Death Contacts

A huge number of people have seen or heard a person or an animal after they have died. Very often people will tell you that someone they loved appeared at the foot of their bed and told them that they had just died. In many such cases the death was unexpected and the person had died just before they were seen.


HISTORY AND INCIDENCE

These after death contacts have been studied scientifically since 1882 when a study was begun in England. Altogether 32,000 cases were recorded, 17,000 in English. It was published in Volume X of the Society for Psychical Research Proceedings (1894).

Further studies were carried out by the American Society for Psychical Research and by the French researcher Camille Flammarion who compiled thousands of cases in his books The Unknown (1900) and Death and Its Mystery (1925).

All the researchers found that many people in every country experienced after death communications.

In 1973 a University of Chicago sociologist asked a sample of 1,467 Americans if they had ever felt they had contact with someone who had died. Twenty seven per cent answered that they had (Greenley 1975). A similar survey in Iceland (Haraldsson et al 1976) found that thirty-one per cent said yes.

Dr. W.D. Rees, a British physician found that of a sample of widows in Wales, forty seven per cent had experiences—often repeatedly over a number of years—that convinced them that their dead husbands had been in contact with them (Rees 1971: 37-41). An earlier British experiment by Dr P. Marris (1958) had found a figure of fifty per cent.

Dr. Melvin Morse, a pediatrician who has done many studies of death and dying, claims that they are so common that it is rare for someone to lose a child and not see them again in a death-related vision (Morse 1994: 135).



EVIDENCE THAT ADCS ARE NOT HALLUCINATIONS
Ken Vincent examined 1667 published ADC cases and found that 336 (20.1%) could be considered evidential. These cases fall into three commonly researched categories:
(1) Apparitions appearing before the experiencer’s knowledge of the death of their loved one (APD) numbered 180, (10.8%) of the sample.
(2) Apparitions appearing to multiple witnesses (AMW) numbered 57, (3.4%) of the sample.
(3) Apparitions that convey knowledge unknown to the experiencer that is later proven to be true (AKU) numbered 99, (5.9%) of the sample.
Read Ken Vincent's excellent analysis.



DR. JAN HOLDEN'S PRESENTATION ON ADCs
Dr. Holden discusses Jenny Streit-Horn's Systematic Review of Research on After-Death Communication (ADC).





THE OPEN-MINDED SKEPTICS GUIDE TO AFTER-DEATH CONTACTS
After Professor Sylvia Hart Wright's husband Paul died in 1983, Wright and her son jointly had an experience that suggested that Paul was trying to contact them. At this time two of his male friends reported similar events. This was startling to people steeped in the scientific method and agnosticism! Scholar that she was, Wright started researching the writings of doctors and social scientists on such phenomena and in time interviewed almost a hundred healthy, everyday people who had sensed contact with the dead. "When Spirits Come Calling: The Open-Minded Skeptic’s Guide to After-Death Contacts, is the book which grew out of this work."
Read the first chapter.
Professor Wright left her position at the City University of New York in 1991 to devote herself full time to afterlife research.






TYPES OF SPONTANEOUS AFTER-DEATH COMMUNICATION
Recent research shows that people who die make their presence known in some of the following ways.
(1) Sensing their presence
(2) Hearing their voice
(3) Feeling their touch
(4) Smelling something associated with them
(5) Seeing them as if they were real
(6) Seeing a flat vision of them like a photo
(7) Experiencing one of these while half-asleep
(8) Having a visit in a dream- but the dream is unusually vivid and you do not forget it like a normal dream
(9) Having an out-of-body experience and meeting them
(10) Receiving a telephone call from the person who died (two-way conversations have been reported.)
(11) Experiencing electrical appliances such as lights, doorbells, TVs, and radios going on and off
(12) Receiving a symbolic message, sign, meaningful coincidence, or synchronicity.



COMMUNICATIONS THROUGH WHATSAPP
Louise Hamlin was a solicitor and then a law fellow and lecturer at Cambridge University. In 2006, she moved down to Dorset to start a new life, but suddenly and unexpectedly her husband died. In her immense grief, she started to recognize signs that her husband was sending her that could only have come from him. Her book "WhatsApps from Heaven: Bereavement in the Twenty-first Century" is a book about bereavement and also about the many extraordinary happenings and signs from the afterlife that then followed.





MESSAGE FROM DAD SAVES A CHILD'S LIFE
Judy Guggenheim talks with John Edward about how she and later her husband Bill Guggenheim discovered After-Death Communication. Their 1997 book "Hello From Heaven" did a great deal to raise awareness of ADCs.





THE MESSAGES THEY SEND US
Our loved ones on the other side may have to take lessons on how to send us messages - some are better at it than others. They want to let us know that they are fine, that they are still living, just in a different location, and that they have met up with friends and loved ones. They also want to assure us that we'll be reunited with them when our time comes. They want us to remember the happy times and go on with our lives and, in particular, they ask us NOT to grieve for them.


ERIC ZIMMERMAN - "BEYOND CHANCE"
In some cases, particularly soon after a person has transitioned to spirit, they have fully materialised and been able to comfort a loved one. In this case, Fred & Marilyn Zimmerman heard, saw, and felt their police officer son, Eric, soon after he was killed. Later they were able to confirm what they had experienced in a comforting detailed reading with well-known medium George Anderson.





COLLECTION OF ADC CASES
The After Death Communication Research Foundation conducted by Jody Long and Dr. Jeff Long asks people to send in, through the Internet, details of their after-death communication. It contains more than 1800 recent cases from all over the world. It also has information about grief and life after death.



DREAM VISITS
Researchers in cross-cultural studies found that about half of all reported spontaneous psychic experiences occurred in dreams and that dream visits are the most frequently reported method of after-death communication. Usually the loved one appears healthy and much younger. Unlike normal dreams, these contact dreams don’t fade with time. They are incredibly vivid and you will be able to remember details even years later.





SIGNS FROM SPIRIT: THE WORK OF JOSEPH M. HIGGINS Joe Higgins, a medium and teacher of mediumship, has brought relief and comfort to countless people over the years and he has worked on missing person cases, cold cases, and murder investigations, as well as connecting clients to their loved ones, who have passed to the other side. He has written four superb books:
1) 'Hello...Anyone Home? : A Guide on How Our Deceased Loved Ones Try to Contact Us through the Use of Signs'.
2) 'The Everything Guide to Evidence of the Afterlife: A scientific approach to proving the existence of life after death'.
3) 'Always Connected for Veterans: Deceased Vets Give Guidance From The Other Side' and
4) 'I Got Your Message: Understanding Signs From Deceased Loved Ones' (Always Connected Series).


Many appear at the time of death

A very large number of cases involve a person who has recently died appearing to one or more loved ones. Sometimes, in the case of a child's death, a grandparent will appear telling the parent the child is now with them.

Typical is the case of Mrs. Gladys Watson who woke up from a deep sleep when someone called her name. She saw her grandfather who told her 'Don't be frightened. It's only me. I've just died.' When she woke her husband he refused to believe it. But when they telephoned the family home they learned that the grandfather had died unexpectedly a few minutes before (Spraggett 1975: 45-46).

How the Guggenheims discovered After Death Communication

 

Their book Hello From Heaven.

DR. MARK PITSTICK talks about After death contacts.






Roberta Grimes' The Fun of Staying in Touch: How our Loved Ones Contact Us and How We can Contact Them is a new book which outlines many recent methods of communication including signs and synchronicities. She explains how those in the spirit world are able to use energy to direct insects (especially butterflies and dragonflies) close to a person. Read more...

CONTACT DREAMS

Dream communication is the most frequently reported method of after death communication. Researchers in cross cultural studies found that about half of all reported spontaneous psychic experiences occurred in dreams.

Unlike normal dreams, contact dreams don’t fade with time. They are incredibly vivid and you will be able to remember details even years later. The person who has died usually looks much younger and in perfect health. They are smiling and telling you that they are fine and happy. They tell you that they did not suffer during their passing and that they are with family members. You may wake up with a feeling that they have hugged and kissed you. Some contain evidence that suggest it was more than just a dream.

Mediums and out of body explorers tell us that our astral body lifts out of our physical body when we sleep and we actually visit with our loved ones in the afterlife. It is a world just as solid as ours but on a different frequency. Some contact dreams are fragments of memory of those visits. Those living in the afterlife are surprised that we don’t remember anything about these visits but we are told that when we finally cross over we will remember each one.

Some dream communications can be verified.

One case, the Chaffin Will case, was intensively investigated and accepted by the American courts. A father who had died appeared in the dreams of one of his sons and gave him details of how to find his last will (Fontana 2005:52-3).

Diane Arcangel relates the case of Charles Vance in her book Afterlife Encounters. He began having recurring dreams about his deceased friend Murphy. The friend kept telling him to get a message to Murphy’s widow Lorraine to look inside a wall in their house. Charles Vance eventually called Lorraine who broke into the wall. She reportedly found thousands of dollars hidden there. When Lorraine called her own daughter (who did not know Charles Vance) she found that the daughter had been having the same dreams but had disregarded them (Arcangel 2005:74-85).





Claire Sylvia was a dancer who had a heart-lung transplant and began having vivid dreams about her donor. She discovered: ‘He is tall, has sandy colored hair and his name is Tim L.’ The story of how she finally traced the donor’s family through a series of dreams is told in full in her book A Change of Heart: A Memoir (Sylvia and Novak 1998).

My life After Life:A Posthumous Memoir
The journey began for Dr. K. Paul Stoller one evening in 2007 when he received a phone call from the state police that his 16-year-old son Galen had been killed. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Stoller's son appeared and eventually began to communicate with him in dream states. Dr. Stoller experienced difficulty in accepting what was happening to him-both the stress of the loss and the stress of the contact. Eventually convinced that it was his son, Dr. Stoller began journaling hundreds of pages of communication from Galen about his new circumstances, which led eventually to this book. Read more...


Asking for a contact dream

Phone calls from the Dead
There have been many reports of phone calls or messages left on answerphones by someone who has died. Sometimes the person who receives the phone call is not aware that the person has died.
Sometimes multiple calls are made from the phone of a crash victim. Sometimes the calls are simply dead air or filled with static, but the calls are traced to old disconnected numbers that once belonged to relatives.



COLLECTIONS OF ADC CASES

The After Death Communication Research Foundation conducted by Jody Long and Dr. Jeff Long asks people to send in details of their after death communication through the internet. It contains more than a thousand recent cases from all over the world. It also has information about grief and life after death.


John W. Sloat's site Beyond Religion has a wonderful collection of ADC cases.


Professor discovers the afterlife
When her husband died in 1983 Professor Sylvia Hart Wright and her son jointly had an experience that suggested he was trying to contact them from beyond the grave; two of his male friends reported similar events. Using her academic skills Wright started researching the writings of doctors and social scientists on after death communications and in time interviewed almost a hundred healthy everyday people who had sensed contact with the dead. The result was her book When Spirits Come Calling: The Open-Minded Skeptic's Guide to After-Death Contacts { Read online}



Feathers Brush My Heart: True Stories of Mothers Connecting with their Daughters after death The women who contributed stories to Sinclair Browning's book are of all ages and income brackets. Dreams, impressions, and objects all figure strongly, and many women write of the particular significance of a special flower, ribbon, vase, or article of clothing. Linda Blanchard saw her mother as an angel in a dream and Carolyn Niethammer felt her mother's arms keep her safe when she was hit by a drunk driver. Read more...

JOSEPH M. HIGGINS has been a working medium for over 15 years. He has complied two excellent books on Signs.

Hello...Anyone Home? : A Guide on How our Deceased Loved Ones Try to Contact Us through the Use of Signs, has been well received for helping people understand the process of contact.

In Got Your Message!: Understanding Signs From Deceased Loved Ones Joe explains why millions believe in signs from the departed…and you should too! • What we can learn from signs • Why people refuse to accept signs • Why don't I get a sign? • Do children see signs more than adults? These and of other inquiring questions will be answered in this book as well as
about 50 accounts from people who have received signs and contact.


U.S. 9/11 victims make contact from the afterlife.
This video above promotes the book "Messages- Signs, Visits and Premonitions from Loved Ones lost on 9/11" by Bonnie McEneaney whose husband Eamon, died in the attacks on the World Trade Center. A mother and former business executive, Bonnie was always skeptical of the spiritual world but after talking to a number of other families and friends of loved ones lost on 9/11, she realized she was not alone.

Watch an interview with Bonnie.

EXTENDED AFTER DEATH COMMUNICATION WITH A PARTICULAR PERSON

A child who committed suicide communicates directly with his mother Anne Puryear's son Stephen killed himself at the age of 15. He began to communicate directly with her and virtually dictated this wonderful book, Stephen Lives, that will be of help to any grieving parent. Has excellent resources on suicide. Read more..


Scientifically trained doctor experiences ADCs with her son. Dr. Elisa Medhus never believed in life after death. As an accomplished physician, she placed her faith in science. All of that changed after her son Erik took his own life and then reached out from the other side. After a number of after death communications she found a medium who was able to bring through detailed confirmation and messages from Erik. Dr Medhus' new book Conversations with My Son in the Afterlife has just been released.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XzA3aZ7vgU



A Swan in Heaven: Conversations Between Two Worlds Terri Daniel's book blends thought-provoking narrative with stirring afterlife messages from a 16 year-old boy who began communicating with his mother telepathically after his death. What makes this account unique in the world of channeled books is that during his life, this extraordinary child was severely disabled and unable to speak. But after death his language was fluent and his words were insightful, inspired and eloquent. Read more...
Terri has gone on to conduct the Afterlife Awareness Foundation

Terri Daniel interviewed for Conscious Media Network

Josie Varga- Visits from Heaven

Judy Collier's Quit Kissing My Ashes

 
http://www.quitkissingmyashes.com

REASONS TO BELIEVE ADCS ARE GENUINE

There are many reasons why many ADCs cannot be regarded as imagination or the product of the unconscious mind.

1. The witnesses were relaxed

In most of these cases the person are in a perfectly ordinary state of mind, free from shock or stress. In many cases the witnesses are scientifically trained people of high credibility.

2. Objective phenomena.

Sometimes the spirit visitor moved or broke an object. Sometimes footsteps have been recorded on tape. Some cast a shadow, were reflected in a mirror, overturned furniture, left a scent.

In some cases the person who appeared even left behind samples of their handwriting. Dr Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a gifted doctor who pioneered the study of death and dying, claims that a former patient appeared to her when she was thinking of giving up her work. The woman, Mrs. Schwartz, got into a lift with her and accompanied her to her office where she told her not to give up her work on death and dying. Kübler-Ross thought that she must be imagining it because the woman, Mrs. Schwartz, had died ten months earlier. But when she asked her to write date and sign a note the woman did so before disappearing (Kübler-Ross 1997: 178).

3. Experienced by more than one person

Many of the recorded cases have been seen by more than one person. For example in a case investigated by the Society for Psychical Research, nine people resident in a house in Ramsbury, England saw a man who had died ten months previously. He was always seen beside his dying widow's bedside with his hand placed on her forehead and was visible for up to half an hour at a time (Holzer 1965: 52-56).

Professor Hart in his book The Enigma of Survival (1959) claims that between one third and two thirds of all people who appear after death are seen by more than one person, and are seen differently by each viewer according to the position the viewer is sitting in.

4. Sharing information not known to the observer

In many cases the person who appears tells the observer information about how they died, where they were buried, or other information not known to the observer. In one famous case accepted by the American Courts—the Chaffin Will case—a father who had died appeared and talked to one of his sons and gave him details of where to find his will.

In some cases people come to save loved ones from danger. This happened to Elaine Worrell who lived with her husband Hal on the top floor of an apartment building in Oskaloosa, Iowa. One day she saw a young man in her hallway who led her downstairs into the apartment of a young widow she barely knew. She found the young woman collapsed on a bed after having slashed her wrists. After she recovered, the young woman showed her a photograph of her late husband; Elaine recognized it immediately as the young man who had led her downstairs and into the apartment (Holzer 1963: 138-141).

5. Some leave physical evidence

After Death Contact Researcher talks with Dr Heidi Horsely

6. Some events are so statistically improbable that they shake even the most hardened skeptic:
See Michael Shermer's Scientific American article



GROUPS WHICH HELP THE GRIEVING WITH ADCS

The Open to Hope Foundation
Run by mother and daughter Drs Gloria and Heidi Horsely the Open to Hope Foundation is the largest and most trafficked grief website on the Internet. They have over 300 regular contributors, who have written over 3,000 articles. They have produced over 350 radio shows, 100 YouTube forums, two self-published books,—all focused on grief, loss, hope, and healing. They also have an international calendar where people and organizations from around the world can list their upcoming workshops, camps, and events related to grief and healing. They are very supportive of discussions about Afterlife Death Communication and the Afterlife. Watch videos.

CHRISTINE DUMINIAK is a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist, who runs a free online Prayerwave Group
which helps people process their ADC and pray to have one with their loved ones. Here she talks with a priest and a rabbi about ADCs

Coast to Coast Interview with Christine.

Christine is also the author of a book about Children's contacts with departed loved ones:
Heaven Talks To Children: Afterlife Contacts, Spiritual Gifts, and Loving Messages

SUGGESTIONS FOR HAVING YOUR OWN AFTER DEATH CONTACT
See our page on Grief Resources

WHAT ABOUT RELIGION?

THE VATICAN SAYS DIALOGUE WITH THE DEAD IS POSSIBLE by John Hooper

London Observer Service ROME - One of the most authoritative spokesmen of the Roman Catholic Church has raised eyebrows among the faithful by declaring that the Church believes in the feasibility of communication with the dead.

The Rev. Gino Concetti, chief theological commentator for the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, denied he was signaling any change in approach. But he agreed that his remarks might come as a jolt to many believers.

He said the Church remained opposed to the raising of spirits, but added: "Communication is possible between those who live on this earth and those who live in a state of eternal repose, in heaven or purgatory. It may even be that God lets our loved ones send us messages to guide us at certain moments in our life.

"His comments were first made in support of an American theologian, the Rev. John Neuhaus. Neuhaus had described how a friend had seen a ghost. He said there were various explanations, but "the important thing is not to deny such things a priority."

Concetti said the key to the Church’s attitude was the Roman Catholic belief in a "Communion of Saints," which included Christians on earth as well as those in the after-life. "Where there is communion, there is communication," he said.

Concetti suggested dead relatives could be responsible for prompting impulses and triggering inspiration - and even for "sensory manifestations," such as appearances in dreams.

Concetti said the new Catholic catechism specifically endorsed the view that the dead could intercede on earth and quotes the dying St. Dominic telling his brothers: "Do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you then more effectively than during my life."

This article was published by London Observer Service on January 31, 1999 and was written by John Hooper.

Other useful websites on ADC:

Louis La Grand: "Messages and Miracles
"After Death communications. Final Farewells"
Love Lives On

Video: Conference presentation: The extraordinary experiences of the bereaved: Clinical and Practical applications.

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Updated 1/12/2104