Observations placeholder

Flammarion, C., Carroll, L,
Death and its mystery: before death, proofs of the existence of the soul

On June 9, 1887, a warm and stormy day, I was taking my siesta swinging in a hammock that was hung in the dining-room and reading a pamphlet by Monsieur Edm. Gurnet. It was three o'clock in the afternoon. Not far from me, my wife was resting in an armchair; she was sleeping heavily. When I saw her thus, the idea came to me to give her, mentally, the order to wake. So I looked at her fixedly and, concentrating all my will in an imperious command, I cried out to her in my mind: 'Wake up! I wish you to awake!"

'When three or four minutes had passed without my obtaining the least result - for my wife continued to sleep peacefully - I gave up the experiment, saying to myself that, after all, I should have been very much astonished to see it succeed. I tried it again, however, a few minutes later, with no more success than the first time. At that I began to read again, and had soon completely forgotten my unsuccessful attempt.

AII at once, ten minutes later, my wife awoke, rubbed her eyes, and, looking at me with a surprised and somewhat annoyed air, said:

"What do you want? Why did you wake me?"

“I haven't said anything!"

“But you have. You have just been tormenting me to make me wake up."

“You are joking. I haven't opened my mouth."

"Can I have dreamed it?" she said hesitating, “Yes, it is true. I remember now, I simply dreamed it all."

“Come, what did you dream? Perhaps it was interesting," I said, smiling.

"I had a very disagreeable dream" she went on. “I thought I was at the cross-roads of Courbevoie. It was windy and the weather was overcast. All at once I saw a human form- was it a man or a woman: - wrapped in a white sheet, roll to the foot of the slope.

It made vain efforts to rise; I rushed to run to its help, but I felt myself held back by an influence which I did not at first notice, but which l finally understood to be you, who were determined that I should abandon the images of my dream. ‘Come, wake up!’, you shouted at me. But I resisted you and I was perfectly aware of struggling successfully against the awakening that you were forcing upon me. However, when I awoke, just now, your command, ‘Come, wake up ' was still sounding in my ears.

My wife was very much astonished to learn that I had really ordered her, in my mind, to awake. She did not know what book I was reading and psychic problems have never interested her very much. She has never been hypnotized, either by me or by any one else"

A. Schmoll, 6 rue de Foureroy', Paris.