Animals and the Paranormal

By Robin M. Strom-Mackey

“While there is a prevailing belief that animals can sense things paranormal, I would suggest you first seek out explanations based in the, well, normal first.”

I’m asked more often about pets and the paranormal than any other topic of discussion.  Why is Fido acting afraid in the kitchen or barking at the wall in the den?  Could, should we consider the paranormal?  This always leaves me in a bit of a quandary because I’m a paranormal researcher, not an animal behaviorist.  So I hit the internet and the books for evidence for and against.  I will speak primarily of dogs, with no disrespect to cat people, but the last three inquiries were specifically about dogs.  My line of questioning was simply what can make an otherwise normal-acting animal start to act weird? What I found is that there are many sources for anxiety in animals, one of which may be sensitivity to the paranormal.

Egg on your Face

The worst thing I feel a paranormal investigator can do is to label something paranormal before exploring the more rational explanations. If you come out on the side of the paranormal when something normal is proven you look all the more like an idiot. Case in point:

The Animal Planet channel hosts a television show entitled The Haunted which “chronicles” the haunting experiences of animals and their terrified owners. One particular episode is about a young couple who move into an older home with their beloved pet rabbits.  This particular couple was very free with their furry friends, letting the rabbits out of their cages to roam free about the house.  Not long after moving into the home they noticed that the rabbits were becoming sick and dying.  Saddened beyond words at the tragedy unfolding, the couple concluded that negative spirits in the home had tragically killed their beloved bunnies one by (big sigh) one. 

Now, I thought this was a rather abrupt leap of faith.  After all, it’s common knowledge that houses built before the 1950’s are famous for lead paint.  Undoubtedly the lead paint has been covered over with fresh new paint. But what do rabbits do naturally? They chew. Happily, gleefully, these fuzzy rodents love to chew on anything, but especially wood – or wood work. Wouldn’t it first make more sense to seek out toxins in the environment, before assuming evil spirits were killing the animals?  The show producers of course never even suggested this explanation. After all lead paint poisoning does not drive up ratings, evil demons do.  It’s much more exciting, though less plausible, to suggest something sinister.

While television shows such as this one make for a half hour of spine tingling entertainment, they do nothing to promote rational thought. Still, when the family dog or cat suddenly starts acting bizarrely I can see why people would seek out an otherwise irrational explanation.  While there is a prevailing belief that animals can sense things paranormal, I would suggest you first seek out explanations based in the, well, normal first. So below, I’ve compiled the most comprehensive list I could as to what may make an otherwise normal animal start acting abnormally.

Fido may be Feeling Funky

On the Doggit discussion board of Reddit.com I found an interesting exchange between dog lovers who were having similar problems.  The first suggestion made was to take the animal in question to the veterinarian.  An animal may develop a hearing or sight problem unbeknownst to their owners that would cause them to start acting skittishly.  Having spent my youth among horses I can recall having dealt with horses that have lost eyesight in one eye.  These animals become very skittish when approached on their blind side. It makes sense, as they can’t see anyone approaching, and then suddenly you’re there touching them. Another of the writers recounted how her dog had developed pain in its hip. It began to act afraid of her, somehow connecting its owner with the pain it was experiencing.  Animals don’t reason through situations, but react to the stimulus present. 

The article, “7 Signs that a Dog is in Pain” offered some telltale signs of doggy pain. Such symptoms such as limping or crying are no-brainers. But the author also mentions:

1.       Excessive salivation (salivation above the norm that is) along with obviously diarrhea, constipation and vomiting as signs of gastrointestinal discomfort. 

2.      Whining and whimpering for no apparent reason can be a sign of pain, though knowing where the pain originates may be harder.   

3.      Temperament changes could be a sign that your dog is ill. An otherwise gentle dog may bite for no reason, while others may seek out more attention than is usual.

4.      Strange and unusual behaviors that may indicate a neck or back injury are a refusal to go upstairs, or to lower their heads to eat. They may stop jumping up on the couch or a favorite chair.

5.      Loss of Appetite especially if they’re experiencing oral pain, such as a toothache. 

6.      Excessive Licking especially if a localized spot may mean the area is sore or tender.

7.      Panting can be a sign of pain in dogs. Dogs in pain may pant excessively; sometimes trembling at the same time.  The author suggests you watch for panting at odd times, such as the middle of the night, when the animal normally would not be panting.

Strange Smell or Sounds

A veterinarian on the radio talk show recently pointed out that smell is a dog’s most developed sense. In fact the sense of smell is 1000 times better in a dog than a human, especially dogs who are trained to track (Gilbert) Think of it this way, humans see the world through their eyes, but dogs “see” the world through their nose. If a dog begins to react to one spot of the house in particular, barking, growling, backing away, it might mean they’re getting a whiff of something worrisome.  It is true too that dogs can have visceral reactions to a similar stimulus. 

For example, if a dog got the losing end of a tussle with a raccoon she might retain the memory.  If she later encountered another raccoon – or caught the scent of said coon –she would remember the episode and recoil in fear.  I always think of raccoons because they’re stubborn creatures.  For years now, my parents have had a problem with raccoons making nests in the attic crawl space above their garage.  Every spring my parents have the creatures forcefully removed, and every fall a new family moves in. By now I’m sure the scent of raccoon is pungent throughout the property.  So I postulate that if a pest or pests find a way into a house, the scent may be sending Rover into fits of fear.  Check for telltale signs of pests, such as feces in the attic, holes in an outside wall, foot prints in snow or mud that appear to stop right at the foot of the house etc. There may be sounds as well.  When the raccoons have moved back in for another winter foray, we will hear them scrabbling overhead or pitter pattering in the walls. 

Hearing is another sense in which dogs excel. Dogs can hear sounds that humans simply cannot detect, especially high pitched noises. Take the phantom sounds of the dog whistle for instance. I postulate that a dog may act oddly, therefore, to a high-pitched whine in a building that humans are otherwise unaware of. Electrical appliances, lighting fixtures, ceiling fans, televisions; all such appliances may create a disruptive hum when malfunctioning. Or perhaps the dog is reacting to the chattering of a critter living in the wall that we cannot otherwise hear?

Architectural Fears

We’ve certainly all met people who won’t cross a bridge or fly in an airplane. It makes no difference that far more people die in automobile accidents than aircraft crashes in a year.  The fear is still there.  It appears that dogs can develop irrational fears just as humans can.  The T.A.P.S. team investigated a house where the dog was afraid of the kitchen.  The dog appeared to avoid the area by the back door for no plausible reason, so the family assumed something paranormal was to blame.  T.A.P.S. brought their own dog to the investigation, and the dog was perfectly calm in this area of the house.  The team noted that the flooring in the kitchen by the back door was rather slick, and concluded that the dog’s fear was probably due to the fact that it couldn’t get a sound footing on the floor.

For years our family dog had a similar fear of storm drains.  We would take him out for a family jaunt and everything was fine, until he hit that storm drain grate. Then without warning the dog would take off in the opposite direction sometimes hauling us after him.  We finally figured out that the dog didn’t like that echo-ish sound the grates made when walking over them. He probably feared he’d fall in.  Finally after many grates had been traversed, he got over his fear.

If an animal appears afraid of one area of the house but not others, than it may behoove you to do a little investigative reasoning.  Are the floorboards creaky in this area, or the flooring slick?  You might also try some training techniques. Put the dog on a leash and take him into the area calmly. Have him lie in the area for a while. Use your best calm and assertive behaviors and always reward the actions that you wish to see repeated.  When the animal acts calmly give him a treat to reinforce the calm behavior you wish him to exhibit.

Storm Phobias

Storms are a common source of distress for many dogs, and they can undoubtedly sense an oncoming storm before we can. I spoke to one gentleman who said that his dog spent every thunderstorm cowering in the bathtub. In the article, “Why do Dogs Act Weird when a Rainstorm Comes” Animal Behaviorist, Nicholas Dodman admits it isn’t really understood how an animal might sense an oncoming storm; whether it be sensed changes in barometric pressure, or changes in the odor of the air, or rising static electrical fields which herald an onslaught. Dodman did say that in some dogs the polarized ion buildup that occurs before a thunderstorm can cause the fur to become statically charged. In other words, Zippy may be taking some uncomfortable zaps of electricity, and it may be these dogs that develop the worst storm phobias.  By the way, dogs that take refuge in bathtubs, sinks, shower stalls or behind toilets do so for a reason.  Apparently these spots are non-conductive and help dissipate the static electricity.

The terror that some animals experience due to storms is real.  According to a 2005 study in “Applied Animal Behavior Science” the cortisol level, a stress hormone in dogs, spiked 207% in the tested saliva of dogs with storm phobias. And the cortisol levels stayed high for hours after the storm had passed.

Dodson continued to speculate that storm phobias in animals may be triggered by more than one element, and goes on to suggest that it may symptomatic of a “general noise phobia.” During storms the panic attack may be triggered by high winds, thunder, and rain pounding on the roof…. At times when there isn’t a storm their phobia may be triggered by noises that are similar.  So check the barometric pressure and bar the door, for a storm may be brewing and Rover is way ahead of the Doppler radar reports. 

Dogs and Electromagnetic Energy

Paranormal investigators are extremely fond of anything to do with electromagnetic energy.  However, I found no studies on the effects of high EMF’s on household pets.  However, a 2013 study that has gained notoriety on the internet examined the polar electromagnetic sensitivities of pooping pooches.   The Czech study, which appeared in the Journal, Frontiers in Zoology, examined 70 dogs comprising of 37 different breeds.  The dogs were allowed a free area to roam and were not leased. After watching the animals poop and pee over 6000 times the study found that when the polar electromagnetic field was calm dogs preferred to align their bodies in a north-south pole when defecating. Apparently a calm magnetic field is not all that usual. The researchers noted that during the study the field was only calm around 30% of the time. And when there were electromagnetic field disturbances all bets were off. 

The researchers admitted they had no idea why the animals behaved this way, whether they perceived the fields through their senses or whether the animals simply felt more comfortable at a vegetative level when pooping to the north is unknown.  The researchers also raised the question as to how a magnetic storm would affect an animal’s behavior.

What is also unknown is why a researcher would want to watch dogs poop for two years and then admit it in public!  However, ashamedly, after reading the study results I did start watching my own dog who I noted predominantly faces south, and poops with his rear-end facing north.    This, I speculated, is what becomes of a person who reads too many scientific studies.

So the question is raised, if a dog can sense electromagnetic fields, are they also similarly  sensitive to fluctuating or high EMF fields within a domicile?  Could an area in a building with an abnormally high electro-magnetic field also perversely affect a canine?

Young Female Animals &p; PMS

Young female dogs especially, going through their first heat may start acting anxiety ridden.  Animals that are normally independent may start acting clingy.  Others may be testy or even become aggressive. When hormones surge, especially for the first time, females of many species will act differently.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorders

Obsessive Compulsive Disorders, yes dogs can exhibit such symptoms too. I blame our schedule-driven, immobile society.  Dogs like humans used to have tasks to do. Hunting dogs pointed, groused and fetched. Herding dogs kept the other farm animals at bay.  My own dog now lies leashed twelve hours of every day so that he doesn’t destroy the house while we’re gone earning our kibble.  Intelligent animals with very little to do can develop obsessive compulsive disorders. Some of the symptoms listed include:

·         Self-mutilation especially around the forepaws, tail and back legs

·         Tail chasing, tail biting, whether bobbed or not

·         Staring into space

·         A behavior that intensifies over time and cannot be interrupted, even with physical restraints

·         Circling behaviors

·         Biting at imaginary flies, or chasing imaginary light

·         Sucking on a toy or on a part of their bodies

As animals age their playful behaviors decline, and that is when compulsive behaviors will often begin. As the animal ages so the behavior may progress.  For our own dog, it often results in tail biting and carpet licking. The author notes that while such disorders can occur in dogs they are not all that frequent.  She adds that the behaviors are labeled compulsive when they become an exaggeration of normal behaviors, they are exhibited for long periods of time and are repeated at times which appear to be abnormal and happen out of context of the situation (Radosta, 2015).

Compulsive behaviors in dogs are developed during times of stress, high anxiety or frustration.

Separation Anxiety

It probably comes as no surprise to animal lovers that some animals – especially dogs – can develop separation anxiety. Such behaviors can include urinating, defecating, howling, barking, chewing, digging or attempts at escape.  According to WebMD such attempts at escape can be truly destructive especially at egress points such as doors and windows and may result in animal injury.  So while you may think you have a poltergeist at work, it may be Rover just trying to get the heck out.

Adolescent Dog Anxiety

There is even a theory that young dogs have periods of high anxiety as they mature. This theory is as highly debated as some of the paranormal theories I’ve read, with veterinarians suggesting there are no such periods and enthusiasts swearing there are.  Dogs especially are pack animals, and pack animals as they mature must vie for positions of authority in the pack. Some adolescent animals may become anxious, therefore, as they age, worrying what their position may become in the pack- much like middle-school children begin worrying about their future contribution.

Cats and Low-Light Vision

Cats are by nature nocturnal, thus their vision is adapted to low-light situations, which makes them different from both humans and dogs.  While they see better in low-light situations they cannot see in total darkness.  Some of the anatomical differences are obvious just by looking at the eyes of a cat.  The pupil is a vertical, elliptical shape, which allows it to bring in more light into the eye. More light means better vision in low light situations. Another important feature is the tapetum lucidum a membrane within the eye that is reflective. This membrane literally bounces available light onto the retina; think tinfoil reflecting sunlight. Cat eyes are also comprised of more rods than cones. Rods are better at absorbing light than cones. Thus nature has prepared the purrfect (couldn’t resist) eye for these nocturnal hunters, allowing them to see far more detail in the dark than humans could ever hope.  This might account for them seeing something in the dark, such as a spirit or a mouse, that we do not perceive.

Animal Hearing

It appears that the hearing of dogs and cats is somewhat different on the spectrum than what humans hear. According to one source humans typically hear from 64Hz-23,000Hz.  Dogs’ low tones start at 67Hz but top out at 45,000Hz. Those account for those higher tones, like a dog whistle, that humans simply cannot hear. And cats can hear both lower tones and higher tones starting at 45Hz -64,000Hz. Thus we explain animal’s hearings something we cannot.

Animals and the Paranormal

I realize that this article was purportedly about animals and the paranormal.  The prevailing public opinion is that animals are more attuned to the paranormal than humans.  But public opinion may not always take into account that animals sense the natural world differently, which may make them appear to have preternatural abilities.  For instance, dogs and cats, and birds for that matter, appear to have the ability to sense impending earthquakes. Is this ability clairvoyant or do they sense earthquakes through sound, smell or vibration?  It also appears that dogs can smell certain illnesses in people, just as they can sniff out drugs or chemicals.  But can they sense the paranormal, and more to the point for parapsychologists, do animals have a sixth sense?  Parapsychologists have long speculated that we detect paranormal activity, not with our eyes or ears, but with our physic sight.

Obviously studying this premise is difficult at best.  We can’t make paranormal activity happen on cue, let alone study it in conjunction with animal behavior.  While particular animals with apparently highly developed psi skills have been studied, none were studied in conjunction with paranormal phenomenon.

Ernesto Bozzano attempted this feat in his study of 69 collected accounts involving animals, humans and paranormal activity. He published his study in the Annals of Psychic Science in 1905 and again in 1926 in the Animaux et Manifestations Metaphychiques in which animals as agents induce telepathic hallucination; in which they act as percipients simultaneously with, or previously to, human beings; in that they see human or animal phantoms, collectively with human beings in which phantom animals are seen in haunted spots or periodically appear as a premonition of death (Melton, 2001).” Of the original 69 cases he determined that in 13 cases the animals, “were subject to supernormal psychic perception in precedence [before] to humans, and in 12 they perceived things that the persons present were unable to see (Melton, 2001).” In over one-third of the cases, therefore, animals appeared to have better faculties for detection than their human counterparts by either seeing the phenomenon first or seeing it when the humans could not. 

He believed that animals, “’besides sharing with man the intermittent exercise of faculties of supernormal psychic perception, show themselves further more normally endowed with special psychic faculties unknown to man (Melton, 2001).’”  Among these he listed as their abilities at direction and migration and what he felt was their precognitive ability to predict earthquakes and volcanoes.  A highly developed psychic sense he attributed to instinct, which all animals, except man, appear to have developed. But one study is hardly conclusive.

Greg Pocha of the Eidolan Project Canada takes a different view of animal abilities. He makes a distinction between true psychic ability in humans and animals and “gut feelings” for which he notes there is a physiological explanation. Pocha writes, “I believe that true human medium or psychic ability is found very, very rarely. Intuitiveness is more common - the so called "gut feeling". But there is a physiological reason for that instinct that dates back to our cave man ancestors. Scientists have discovered a second primitive "brain" located in the tissue around the stomach, small intestine and colon, which recently lead to the science / study of gastroenterology. This "brain" is connected to our survival instinct, and may account the feeling that one gets in places of no noticeable danger or threat. Its original function was to warn us of impeding dangers, such as a predator in the neighborhood. It may be what a "sixth" sense would be based upon. There is no reason that the ancestors of dogs and cats would not still have the remnants of such an organ as well. But this primitive brain does not explain psi abilities, only reactive, instinctive "gut feelings”. If the ratio for other animals is about the same as for humans, then only a handful of animals have a psychic ability (Pocha, 2015).”

This instinctual response to danger might then explain why horses especially appear to be able to predict avalanches. Or how dogs and cats sense earthquakes.

Pocha points out that much of what we know of animal reactions is anecdotal, but that it doesn’t make them untrue. He writes “….Recently I have heard from a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police regarding one of their dogs who got spooked at the doorway of a room and nothing could get him to enter that room. This is a trained police dog that was frightened of something "not there". Was it merely reacting to its handlers’ fears? No, the officers entered the room without issue or problem (Pocha, 2015).”

 “I guess that the conclusion we can reach, based on the evidence at hand, is that SOME humans and animals may have psychic abilities whilst the vast majority do not.  So what exactly are they reacting to when they seem to sense a presence or follow something about a room etc? It’s likely something perfectly natural but out of sight.  And this is what I think most of the reported stories are. Some may be psychical in tone, but most I believe are merely dogs and cats being dogs and cats and their actions being misinterpreted [or sought after verification]as evidence that there is paranormal activity in a home where paranormal activity may or may not actually exist... and that is a human fallacy (Pocha, 2015).”

 So can Fido tell when a ghost is near? It appears that some animals may have psychic abilities, and some may have more highly developed skills than others – just as humans do.  I guess I would have to admit a grudging yes…maybe. Before I label something paranormal, however, I still believe we need to explore the other possibilities.  Has the home had paranormal activity in the past for instance?   Have other members of the family experienced anything unexplainable? Was the activity recent? Is it possible that Rex got into the bag of Easter candy and now is having an all-holy gastro-intestinal attack?  

Resources

Anonymous (2013). “7 Signs your Dog is in Pain.” Pawsitively Pets. Retrieved January 27, 2015 from http://www.mypawsitivelypets.com/2013/01/7-signs-that-your-dog-is-in-pain.html#.VMfXaDg5DIU

Anonymous (2015) “Separation Anxiety in Dogs.” Web MD. Retrieved January 31, 2015 from http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/separation-anxiety-dogs

Anonymous. (2015) “Night Vision in Cats.” Cat Health.  Retrieved January 31, 2015 from http://www.cathealth.com/vision/night-vision-in-cats

Bragg, Rebecca (2015). “Why do Dogs Act Weird when a Rainstorm comes?” On Demand Media. The Daily Puppy. Retrieved January 27, 2015 from http://dogcare.dailypuppy.com/dogs-act-weird-rainstorm-comes-7958.html

Discussion Board Doggit (2013). “My dog is suddenly skittish and scared for no reason.”  Reddit.com Retrieved January 25, 2015 from http://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/comments/1hmxx6/

Gilbert, Joe (2013).  “My Dog Is Acting Weird, Like She Is Scared Or Worried, What's Wrong?” Official Site Anxietrex™

Melton, Gordon J. (2001).  Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology; 5^th Edition Vol. 1. Pgs. 37-38.

Pocha, Greg (2015). In response to Query Animals and the Paranormal. Eidolan Project Canada: Parapsychology and Paranormal Research and Investigation. Edmonton, Red Deer, Calgary, Alberta Canada. Http://www.EidolonProject.org

Pocha, Greg (2015). In response to Query Animals and the Paranormal. Eidolan Project Canada: Parapsychology and Paranormal Research and Investigation. Retrieved February 2, 2015 from www.allexperts.com: Ghosts and Hauntings.

Radosta, Lisa D.V. M., D.A.C.V. B. (2015) “Can Dogs have Compulsive Obsessive Disorders?’ Pet.MD. Retrieved January 30, 2015 from http://www.petmd.com/dog/behavior/evr_dog_behavior_compulsive_disorder

Scuiletti, Justin.  (2014).   “Dogs Poop in Alignment with Earth’s Magnetic Field, Study Finds.”  PBS News Hour Retrieved January 26, 2015 from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/dogs-poop-in-alignment-with-earths-magnetic-field-study-finds/

Published article originally from the Journal, Frontiers in Zoology.

Famous People and the Paranormal VII; Abraham Lincoln

By Robin M. Strom-Mackey

President, Abraham Lincoln, aside from being one of America’s greatest leaders was also probably the country’s most accepting of the spiritual realm.   Honest Abe, as he was nicknamed, was a man of great personal convictions.  He left a lucrative career in the law to enter politics in order to halt the spread of slavery, a practice he felt abhorrent.  He was as equally invested in maintaining the union, and felt the country should not be divided.  The Civil War became his personal cross to bear, and accounts describe his dejection at the loss of so many lives.  Those who knew the president best verify that he felt the division of the country and the loss of life due to the Civil War keenly, as if each boy lost were his own.

Lincoln’s personal life was no life as no less riddled with tragedy and loss. It was during his presidency that he lost his own son; young Willie.  All told, his presidency was a period of extreme personal duress, and sleepless nights and stress quickly took their toll on his already craggy countenance. 

As the war progressed the president appeared to withdraw further into himself, and was described as acting melancholy and silent.  A man bearing the loss of so many souls could only be searching for answers to the universe’s deeper mysteries, and there is evidence that he did seek out guidance in those years from well-known spiritualists, many of whom were invited to the White House by the first lady herself.

 

Personal Loss

Lincoln’s personal losses were both devastating and life-changing.  His mother died when Lincoln was only a child, struck down by a frontier-epidemic called “Milk Sickness.” The willowy, Nancy Hanks Lincoln nursed family friends Tom and Betsy Sparrow who had succumbed to the illness, at which time she herself was infected.  Nancy died shortly after, leaving a husband and two children behind.  Lincoln, devastated by the loss, reportedly helped to build her coffin, and lower it into the ground.  Afterwards, Lincoln buried his head in his hands and wept for hours, despairing that he was now, “completely alone in the world.”

Lincoln funneled his despair into hard work, laboring at odd jobs to pay his way through college and law school.  It was in the law that Lincoln developed his greatest talents. He had both an ability for political maneuvering and a genius for oration and debate. Once he established his career he met his future wife, the young Mary Todd. After a rocky courtship beginning in 1839, Lincoln finally married Mary in 1842.

Mary Todd Lincoln

 The early years of their marriage were strained, however, with Lincoln’s constant and lengthy absences from home as he traveled on business. Nevertheless, Mary gave Abe four sons, Robert Todd Lincoln (1843-1926), Edward “Eddie” Baker Lincoln (1846-1850), William Wallace “Willie” (1850-1862) and Thomas “Tad” (1853-1871).  Eddie lived only to the age of four, and died shortly before the birth of Willie. Incidentally, Robert was the only son of the four to survive to adulthood.  He would follow in his father’s footsteps and became first a lawyer and eventually Secretary of War and Minister to Great Britain.  Oddly, Robert was probably the son least close to the president. He was born at a time when the Lincoln was constantly away on business and had very little contact with Lincoln as a child. When Robert turned 16 his father won the White House, but Robert was departing for school. Robert later reported that he had had about 10 minutes of the president’s attention while Lincoln was in the White House, as the President was constantly preoccupied.

Robert Lincoln

Lincoln dedicated most of his early years with his own education in the law, and later at establishing his reputation as a lawyer. His law practice was extremely successful, and the more successful he became the further afield he went, trying cases the length and breadth of Illinois. He’d served a stint as a Congressman in the early 1840’s, but gave it up because of the demand on his time. He was adamantly against slavery, but he was satisfied with the Missouri Compromise which made slavery illegal anywhere west than the line drawn by the Louisiana Territory, as he felt that the future of the country resided to the west.

When that same compromise was challenged by a congressional act spearheaded by an old rival, Stephen Douglas, Lincoln felt that the time had come for another run at politics, he threw in his hat for Douglas’s senate seat.  A fiercely contested campaign ensued in which Lincoln and Douglas squared off in several heated debates, so heated in fact that they aroused the attention of the news media across the country.  Lincoln displayed his finest oratorical talents in eloquent and passionate arguments. At a time when passions throughout the country were running high, Lincoln spoke for reason and compromise.  Though he lost the seat to Douglas in the 1858 election, he had garnered the attention of many political pundits including the newly formed Republican Party. In May 1860, in Chicago, Illinois, Abe Lincoln became the Republican Party’s candidate for president.

Lincoln won the presidency handily in the Electoral College.  The popular vote, however, revealed a different story; a story of a country divided.  Lincoln gained just 40% of the popular vote, and the numbers were even grimmer in the south, where Lincoln won none of the popular votes.  He became a minority president.

In his home state of Illinois, however, the day of the election had a carnival atmosphere.  There was a parade which wound its way past Lincoln’s house and lasted for hours. Later there was a picnic with tubs of lemonade and roasted whole steers.  Clearly Illinois was proud of their presidential hopeful. An evening dinner was held with political allies, and then Lincoln repaired to the local telegraph office to await last minute messages.  In the very early hours it became clear that Lincoln had won the election in the Electoral College. After an intense and tiresome twenty-four hour marathon, Lincoln returned home.

The Prophetic President

Lincoln was exhausted. Too tired to remove his clothes, he lay down on the first flat surface he could find, a small settee. Near the couch was a bureau with a mirror on top.  Lincoln was shocked at his appearance in the mirror. His face looked wan and thin and bleached of all color.  When he later recounted this to his friends they suggested he grow a beard to hide the narrowness of his countenance and to give him a more presidential image. It was then that Lincoln felt he had his first vision, what he felt later was a vision of prophetic import. He realized that when he looked in the mirror what he saw was two distinct images of himself superimposed. He could tell there were two images because they didn’t quite align with one another, and he could tell distinctly that the tip of one nose was about three inches beyond the other.  As he stared in the mirror the vision disappeared, but reappeared a few moments later more strongly outlined. Staring at the dual images he realized that one of the images was far paler than the other, as pale as the face of death. The vision disappeared again and Lincoln dismissed it to sleep deprivation and the excitement of the last few days.

He did, however, recall the visions to his wife Mary, who felt she knew the significance of the two faces.  The healthier face, Mary felt, was the face of her husband during his first term as president. The fact that the face had more color and appeared healthier she felt indicated that he would live out his first term as president.  According to legend, Mary interrupted the second paler face to indicate her husband’s second term of office. She felt he would achieve a second term, but would not live to see it through.  Over the course of the next few days, Lincoln apparently tried to recreate the vision in the mirror, which he was able to do on several occasions. 

He did scoff at the notion of prophecy later to friends and colleagues saying that it must have been an anomaly in the glass or a hallucination brought on by lack of sleep.  However, this apparently was not his only prophetic moment.  Shortly before winning the election Lincoln apparently was talking to a group of friends when he said about the probability of the Civil War, “Gentlemen, you may be surprised and think it strange, but when the doctor here was describing the war, I distinctly saw myself, in second sight, bearing an important part in that strife (Taylor,  2003).”

According to union war documents, late one night during his presidency Lincoln burst into a local telegraph office demanding information.  He told the operator to immediately contact Lincoln’s union commanders as he was quite sure the Confederates were about to cross federal lines.  When the stunned operator asked the president how he had obtained such information the president blurted out, “My God, man, I saw it!”

Willie Lincoln

Tragedy Befalls a President

Mary and Abe’s second son Edward had died in 1850, but it was the death of Lincoln’s third son Willie in 1862 that nearly derailed the president.  Willie was the son that most resembled his father, and therefore was his parent’s favorite. He was reportedly reading and writing proficiently by the age of eight, while his more athletic brother, Tad, did not achieve such distinction until the age of twelve. William Wallace, named for a doctor in Springfield, Illinois, had been a quiet and thoughtful child who excelled in reading and academics.  With a wonderful memory, Willie had been able to recite whole bible passages by rote, and often told his parents that he intended on becoming a minister when he grew up.

While so many Americans were losing their own sons to the war, perhaps the death of Willie was a tragedy that resonated with the populace.   Even the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, sent condolences after the death of the boy.

The loss was exceptionally painful to the president.  Lincoln reportedly locked himself in his office for several hours after the death and would not answer the door.  The boy’s body was supposed to be sent to a grave in Springfield, Illinois. However, a family friend, William Thomas Carroll, offered a place in his family’s tomb where Willie’s body could be put temporarily while Lincoln remained in Washington, and later moved back home. Apparently Lincoln could not suffer to let the boy be too far from him. Reportedly Lincoln returned on two separate occasions demanding the casket opened.  The embalmer apparently had done a good job, and Willie looked as if merely asleep.

It is said that after Willie’s death that the President withdrew further within himself.  With the gloom of the Civil War upon his back, coupled with his own loss, some speculate that he might have contemplated suicide shortly after the death.  He was often said to work at his desk with one eye on the door as if waiting for Willie to come in and give him a hug, as the boy had done in real life. He also began to speak about how he felt the boy’s presence lingering in his office and bedroom. It was perhaps his concerted love that kept the spirit of the boy connected with him throughout what remained of his presidency.

The Spiritualist Movement

It is not surprising that Lincoln would have distanced himself from the Spiritualist Movement of the day, seeing such involvement as being damaging to his political career. Mary Todd Lincoln, however, was a firm believer in the Spiritualist movement and furthermore had lost two children prematurely.  Todd Lincoln is often cited as having mediums to the White House for séances.  Lincoln, was never officially claimed a member of such, but private diaries and accounts by attendees indicate that he at least occasionally attended.

Some historians have postulated that Todd Lincoln’s involvement with the spiritualists may have caused her mental instability.  Certainly the death of two sons would have left her seeking solace from whatever source available. It is noted that after Willie’s death Todd Lincoln never again entered the guest room in which the boy had died, nor would she enter the room in which the viewing had been held.  It is reported that she had increasing bouts of headaches, mood swings, and irrational exchanges of temper.

It was during this time that she began to invite mediums to the White House.  Nettie Colburn Maynard, a celebrated medium, was invited to the White House on several occasions. During one sitting, Maynard began playing the grand piano in the room when it began to levitate off the ground.  According to accounts, both Lincoln and Colonel Simon Kase climbed on top of the instrument only to have it buck and shake, causing them to climb back down.  He later referred to the event as, “proof of an invisible force (Taylor, 2003).”

Lincoln may have consulted with mediums at the White House, asking them about the war.  He appears to have questioned them for tactical information and troop movements, and noted that sometimes the information they gave him correlated with his own precognitive visions and the events as they happened.  

Entering his second term Lincoln appeared to fear some type of doom.  Besides his own premonition there were constant death threats that kept his bodyguards on constant alert and himself on edge.  At another séance with the celebrated Nettie Colborn Maynard, Maynard reportedly told the president, “The shadows that others have told of still hang over you.”  Lincoln apparently replied that he had received letters from mediums all over the country that warned him of the same thing.  When Maynard prepared to leave the president graciously extended an invitation for the following fall. Maynard accepted with some hesitation saying, “I shall come of course, that is…if you are still among us.”

Premonition of Death

Ward Hill Lamon had been a colleague from Illinois and close friend of the President for many years. During his White House years Lincoln appointed Lamon his personal head of security.  The tireless Lamon was said to take his duties very seriously, often chiding the president for not taking proper precautions when he left to go to the theater or out to dinner.  Lamon, unfortunately, was on an errand for the president in Richmond, Virginia on the night of the Ford’s Theater assassination.  Many historians have speculated that the assassination may have been thwarted had Lamon been on duty.  As it was, Lamon felt bitter regret and personal responsibility for years after the assassination, especially as he had been forewarned of the event by the president himself. Years after the assassination Lamon would recount Lincoln’s words:

“About ten days ago I retired late, and soon began to dream.  There seemed to be a deathlike stillness about me.  Then I began to hear 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 painful 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 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 the state of things, so mysterious and so shocking, I kept on until I arrived at the East Room which I entered. 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 one of the soldiers.

“The President,” was his 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 (Taylor, 2003).”

At eleven in the morning of the day that Lincoln was to attend the play Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theater, April 14, 1865, Lincoln called a cabinet meeting.  The union was close to winning the war. Just days before General Robert E. Lee had surrendered to Union General, Ulysses S. Grant.  Lincoln was awaiting word from North Carolina of a further surrender by Joseph E. Johnston.  Word was in the morning paper that Lincoln was to attend the play that evening with General Grant and his wife.  Prophetically, Grant’s wife supposedly felt a foreboding of the night’s events, and begged her husband to break the engagement.  Lincoln would instead invite Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancé Clara Harris.

Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton missed the first twenty minutes of the cabinet meeting, and arrived with the meeting in full swing.  Afterwards in a conversation with Attorney General, James Speed, Stanton noted that the meeting had been very productive.  Speed undoubtedly gave Stanton a peculiar look before stating,

“But you were not her at the beginning. When we entered the council chamber, we found the president seated at the top of the table with his face buried in his hands. Presently, he raised it and we saw that he looked grave and worn.

“‘Gentlemen, before long you will have important news…I have heard nothing, but you will hear tomorrow. I have had a dream. I have dreamed three times before; once before the Battle of Bull Run; once on another occasion; and again last night. I am in a boat, alone on a boundless ocean. I have no oars, no rudder, I am helpless. I drift!”

One of the members of Lincoln’s security team, Colonel William H. Crook begged the President not to go the theater that evening.  Lincoln had shared his prophetic dream with Crook, and Crook who was doggedly protective of the President felt he should not discount the meaning of the dream.  The President, however, said that he needed a night away, and that he had already promised his wife.  Crook who had already worked a full day, then offered to accompany Lincoln to the theater himself, but Lincoln refused telling Crook he couldn’t possibly work around the clock. Crook would later recount that Lincoln would always wish Crook, “good night,” upon retiring. But on this fateful evening, upon leaving for the theater Lincoln instead said, “Good bye, Crook.”

When Crook got word of the assassination hours after, the President’s fateful words took on a new significance.

"It was the first time that he neglected to say ‘Good Night’ to me, and it was the only time that he ever said ‘Good-bye’. I thought of it at that moment and, a few hours later, when the news flashed over Washington that he had been shot, his last words were so burned into my being that they can never be forgotten."

Lincoln had further informed Crook that there would naturally be a guard outside the presidential box at the theater. And there was. Police guard John Parker was stationed outside the door to the box. A notorious drinker, shortly into the first act started Parker left his post to go across the street to get a drink.  It was sometime in the third act that the assassin, John Wilkes Booth approached the unmanned door to the President’s box and finding it unguarded let himself in.  He approached the president unencumbered, put a derringer pistol to the head of the president and shot him. Dropping the gun he then took out a knife and stabbed Major Rathbone, slashing his arm to the bone.  In trying to depart, Booth got the spur of his boot caught in a flag. He fell over the railing of the box and crashed to the stage floor, breaking his leg.  Somehow he still managed to escape out a back stage door, despite Rathbone’s demands he be detained. 

The bullet entered Lincoln’s skull just behind his left ear and traveled across his brain, mortally wounding him. Alive but unconscious his body was carried across the street to the Peterson House.  Several surgeons were called to attend him. One such doctor broke the news to Secretary Stanton that Lincoln would not survive the night. Indeed, he passed away sometime in the early morning hours of April 15^th. The first coherent statement Mary Todd Lincoln made following her husband’s assassination was regarding the accuracy of his dream.  Lincoln’s body was displayed in the East Room to hundreds of mourners.

The Ghost of Lincoln

His haunted existence and his failure to finish the war might account for Lincoln’s continued presence at the White House.  There are other spirits that apparently continue to reside in the edifice, but none have made so many appearances as the late president.  Winston Churchill, during a stay at the White House in 1941, had just come out of the shower wearing nothing but a towel and a halo of cigar smoke. Emerging into what is now known as The Queen’s bedroom, he found Lincoln leaning against the mantel of the fireplace.  With his usual aplomb, Churchill responded, “’Good evening, Mr. President. You seem to have me at a disadvantage.’” After the odd encounter, Churchill started sleeping in the bedroom across the hall.  



Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands



Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands also noted seeing Lincoln in her bedroom.  The Queen was sleeping when she was awoken by a knock at the door.  Upon opening the door she found Lincoln looking back at her from the hallway.  I’ve found no mention whether she asked to be moved, although Lincoln did have the decency to knock first. 

Lincoln has most often been spotted in the aptly named Lincoln bedroom, though this is not the only place he has been seen.  It should be noted that the bedroom was actually Lincoln’s office during his tenure at the White House, the Oval Office and entire West Wing of the White House being a later addition started in 1901 by Theodore Roosevelt. I speculate that this may account for its activity, this being the room in which he spent the most time ruminating over the war which was ravaging the nation. Lincoln actually slept in the room now referred to as the ‘Master Bedroom’, with Mrs. Lincoln sleeping in an adjoining room which is today a private living room.

People that have witnessed Lincoln in the now famous Lincoln bedroom include Claudia ‘Lady Bird’ Johnson, Grace Coolidge and Eleanor Roosevelt.  Coolidge also reportedly witnessed Lincoln in the Yellow Oval Room.  Reagan regaled a room-full of dinner guests in 1986 with a story about his dog, Rex.  Rex was discovered barking unaccountably in the Lincoln bedroom, upon which he backed out of the room refusing to enter it again.  Rex also ungraciously interrupted an evening of television watching by barking furiously at the ceiling for no obvious reason.  However, it was Reagan’s daughter Maureen and her husband that actually saw a ghost. They both reported seeing a transparent form in the Lincoln bedroom, oddly on different occasions.

Lincoln’s specter has been seen by other witnesses at the White House as well, by both ordinary household staff and celebrities.  Tony Savoy, Whitehouse Operations Foreman in the 1980’s witnessed Lincoln in the hallway outside his office and gave a rather detailed account in an interview on the official White House Website. Savoy who was watering plants on the second floor happened to run into Lincoln rather unexpectedly.

“’When I turned the light on one morning, he was sitting there outside his office with his hands over the top of each other, legs crossed, and was looking straight ahead (Ruickbie, Belanger).’” 

Savoy’s account was quite detailed. He noted the late president was wearing, “’a grey, charcoal, pin striped suit, and a pair of three-buttoned spats turned over on the side with black shoes.  He was sitting there, and he startled me, and I stopped. And when I blinked he was gone. And I left there and went down the stairs and told Assistant Usher, Nelson Pierce, what I had seen. And he said I’m just one of the other ones that had seen him throughout the house over the past years.’”

Other Sightings

Lincoln’s ghost is a restless spirit, however. Aside from the White House reports he has reportedly been sighted at his home in Springfield, Illinois and also at his tomb. He has also been reported at Fort Monroe, Virginia and Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C.

Resources

Belanger, Jeff (2004). The World’s Most Haunted Places. Fall River Press. NY, NY.

Eye Witness History (1999, revised 2009).  The Death of President Lincoln, 1865.Retrieved on January 21, 2015 from http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/pflincoln.htm

Haining, Peter, editor (2008). The Mammoth Book of True Hauntings. Constable and Robinson Ltd. London, UK. Pg. 74.

Robert Todd Lincoln. (2015). The Biography.com website. Retrieved 02:52, Jan 18, 2015, from http://www.biography.com/people/robert-todd-lincoln-20989843.

Melton, Gordon J. editor (2001). Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 5^th edition. Gale Group, Inc. Farmington Hills, Michigan. Vol. 1 A-L.  Pg. 924

Steiger, Brad (2003). Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits and Haunted Places. Visible Ink Press. Canton, Michigan. Pg. 288.

Taylor, Troy (2003) Séances in the White House? Lincoln and the Supernatural. The Haunted Museum. Ghost of the Prairie. Retrieved January 2, 2015 from http//www.prairieghosts.com_lincoln.html