The Night-Side of Nature; Or, Ghosts and Ghost-SeersCrowe, Catherine
Religion
The Night-Side of Nature; Or, Ghosts and Ghost-Seers
Crowe, Catherine
Ghosts; Parapsychology
The next class of dreams are those which partake of the nature of second
sight, or prophecy, and of these there are various kinds; some being
plain and literal in their premonitions, others allegorical and obscure;
while some also regard the most unimportant, and others the most grave
events of our lives. A gentleman engaged in business in the south of
Scotland, for example, dreams that on entering his office in the
morning, he sees seated on a certain stool a person formerly in his
service as clerk, of whom he had neither heard nor thought for some
time. He inquires the motive of the visit, and is told that such and
such circumstances having brought the stranger to that part of the
country, he could not forbear visiting his old quarters, expressing at
the same time a wish to spend a few days in his former occupation, &c.,
&c. The gentleman, being struck with the vividness of the illusion,
relates his dream at breakfast, and, to his surprise, on going to his
office, there sits the man, and the dialogue that ensues is precisely
that of the dream! I have heard of numerous instances of this kind of
dream, where no previous expectation nor excitement of mind could be
found to account for them, and where the fulfilment was too exact and
literal, in all particulars, to admit of their being explained away by
the ready resource of “an extraordinary coincidence.” There are also on
record, in both this country and others, many perfectly
well-authenticated cases of people obtaining prizes in the lottery,
through having dreamed of the fortunate numbers. As many numbers,
however, may have been dreamed of that were not drawn prizes, we can
derive no conclusion from this circumstance.
A very remarkable instance of this kind of dreaming occurred a few years
since to Mr. A—— F——, an eminent Scotch advocate, while staying in
the neighborhood of Loch Fyne, who dreamed one night that he saw a
number of people in the street following a man to the scaffold. He
discovered the features of the criminal in the cart distinctly; and, for
some reason or other, which he could not account for, felt an
extraordinary interest in his fate—insomuch that he joined the throng,
and accompanied him to the place that was to terminate his earthly
career. This interest was the more unaccountable, that the man had an
exceedingly unprepossessing countenance, but it was nevertheless so
vivid as to induce the dreamer to ascend the scaffold, and address him,
with a view to enable him to escape the impending catastrophe. Suddenly,
however, while he was talking to him, the whole scene dissolved away,
and the sleeper awoke. Being a good deal struck with the lifelike
reality of the vision, and the impression made on his mind by the
features of this man, he related the circumstance to his friends at
breakfast, adding that he should know him anywhere, if he saw him. A few
jests being made on the subject, the thing was forgotten.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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