Word for speaking with the dead

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How to speak with the dead; a practical handbook

by

Sciens

Publication date

1918

Topics

Parapsychology, Spiritualism

Publisher

New York, E. P. Dutton & co

Collection

library_of_congress; americana

Digitizing sponsor

The Library of Congress

Contributor

The Library of Congress

Language

English

xv, 136 p. 20 cm

Addeddate

2011-03-04 15:05:04

Call number

8251043

Camera

Canon EOS 5D Mark II

External-identifier

urn:oclc:record:1046530889

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0

Identifier

howtospeakwithde00scie

Identifier-ark

ark:/13960/t23b6w89p

Identifier-bib

00135236032

Lccn

19026087

Ocr

ABBYY FineReader 8.0

Openlibrary_edition

OL24615360M

Openlibrary_work

OL15687475W

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The Times-Picayune

Death is, most people agree, the worst part of being alive. If you aren’t scared of dying, you are probably either a monk or a liar.

One of the top two scariest kinds of death, just behind your own, is the death of a loved one. When someone you love dies, you feel sad, probably for the rest of your life. This is part of what we call «the human condition.»

Tim Hawk/NJ.com

But what if we could avoid sadness? What if we could believe that all the dead people we’ve lost are still here, and they are spending all their time trying to communicate with us?

Well, medium Sheri Engler of Medford is here to help.

«There’s actually no such thing as ‘dead’. No one ever dies,» Engler said in a press release sent to several Oregonian writers. «Much like leasing a vehicle, our spirit inhabits a body for a lifetime, then return to its natural state in the spirit realm.»

According to the release, Engler penned an article called, «Are Your Deceased Loved Ones Trying To Contact You? Here Are 10 Obvious Signs To Watch For.»

Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

It should be noted that in 2009, Engler was disciplined by the Oregon State Board of Nursing for impersonating a nurse. Now, Engler works as a psychic medium, a profession that does not involve an Oregon state licensing board.

And, in this non-regulated role, she has produced a list of ways to determine if a dead person is trying to talk to you.

Scientifically, there is no evidence that after you die your consciousness lives on. There is also no evidence that if, for some reason, it did live on, it would spend its time trying to send messages to living people, since if you are dead for eternity, you don’t have to wait that long for your living loved ones to also be dead and just like, talk to them ghost to ghost, right?

Still, with all those caveats, here are the signs she suggests you look for if you are hoping for a message from a dead person.

Coins

David Lassman

According to Engler, this is where the phrase «pennies from heaven» comes from — it is also a 1936 Bing Crosby song and movie.

«You will repeatedly notice a single coin in places you wouldn’t expect,» Engler said.

So next time you see a penny on the ground, remember: Maybe your grandpa is sending you a message even more passive-aggressive than that $5 birthday check he sent you in 1993.

Aromas

Ralph Farrow/The Birmingham News

«Tobacco smoke, perfume, a particular flower or even specific foods cooking,» Engler said, «any scent that was distinctively related to that person.»

Does this mean if you smell Old Spice deodorant your high school boyfriend is dead and finally willing to talk?

Dreams

Joanne Berger DuMound/Special to Cleveland.com

According to Engler, if dreams «stick with you and touch your heart differently than a normal dream,» they are messages from the dead.

Who then is trying to communicate with you when you have a dream that it’s high school and your brother took the car and you remain angry with him for three full days? Is this also your grandpa, who never really liked your brother that much and is trying to start a fight from beyond the grave?

Windchimes

Peter Forest

«This is one of the easiest ways for them to say hello,» Engler said, of dead people. «You’ll find they create their own jingle and then others join in and create theirs, too.»

Wind is created by air molecules moving en masse from one place to another due to changes in air pressure. Or dead people. Probably it’s just dead people.

Feathers, Stones, Symbols, Numbers

The Birmingham News

Yes, this is a broad category, but according to Engler, «these are things that will make themselves known to you as a message from them, like a white feather, or a unique number, or heart shapes showing up everywhere.»

This is the reason that accountants, geologists and chicken pluckers are usually people with a large number of dead loved ones.

Birds

AP Photo/David Duprey

Birds, it turns out, are emissaries of the dead. According to Engler, «They will do something unusual to get your attention.»

Who are the crows that circle your neighborhood then, dive-bombing you when you walk out in the morning to pick up a breakfast sandwich? Is it Jefferson Davis? It’s Jefferson Davis, right?

Songs

“Though it seems impossible,” Engler said, the dead “are very good at playing songs on the radio at just the right time. Sometimes several in a row. These can be real tear-jerkers, so be ready.”

This of course explains Delilah, an ageless spirit futilely sending messages out every night in hopes that someone will understand the meaning of Celine Dion’s «It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,» followed by Tim McGraw’s «Just to See You Smile,» a commercial for a car dealership and then Extreme’s «More Than Words.»

Photos

Oregon State Highway

Engler knows that pictures are worth a thousand words…to dead people because they can move pictures but can’t say or write words.

«You may find a specific picture has fallen over or one keeps needing straightened on the wall,» she said.

Especially be on the lookout for pictures set askew in patterns that spell words like, «I DO NOT FORGIVE YOU.»

Electricity

Fredrick D. Joe/The Oregonian

«Since spirits are made of electromagnetic energy,» Engler said, «it’s easy for them to manipulate electric devices.»

«Just for fun, they may turn on or off your TV, lights, phone, and remote control toys,» she added.

So, just a great reminder to be nice to everyone in your family, lest they die and then start opening your garage out of spite while you’re at work.

Messengers

Samantha Swindler/The Oregonian

According to Engler, «Other people or media may say [your dead relative’s] favorite phrase or a specific joke reminding you, ‘Hey, I’m here! Can ya hear me now?!'»

This is why it’s important, as a living person, to come up with a catchphrase that your relatives will recognize after your death. Use it frequently, have it be something totally unique like, «Zucchini isn’t ice cream!» or «Being dead isn’t half bad!» Then it will be easy for your relatives to hear you when you plant the phrase in the mouth of an unsuspecting human host.

Advance Local

So there you have it. Sure, death is scary but now at least you can take solace in the fact that when you die, you will finally be able to figure out what it was that all the dead people were trying to tell you for all these years.

— Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052 lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker

V

vmtnezgil

Senior Member

SPAIN

• Oct 28, 2006

• #1

What´s its meaning here?
I’m not sure that I have told you guys, but I can speak with the deadThanks

T

transparente

Senior Member

at home

Spanish/Argentina

• Oct 28, 2006

• #2

No estoy seguro si les he contado, pero puedo hablar con los muertos.

E

Eride

Senior Member

España (Español)

• Oct 28, 2006

• #3

No estoy seguro de si os lo he contado, chicos, pero puedo hablar con los muertos.

Learning how to contact the dead isn’t something that comes all that naturally to many people. We’ve all had dreams about talking to the dead or visiting with a deceased loved one and thought, nah, that can’t have been real, I must have just been missing them. Right? Right? But in reality speaking to the dead isn’t necessarily about sitting down, lighting a candle and saying a spell. It’s about having an open mind, thinking about the people or person that you want to communicate with and following some of the tips we’ve outlined below. But if things don’t work out for you, that’s no big deal. If they do, that’s fantastic. The key is that you have to really believe in what you’re doing. Generally, if you think It’s all a load of all bunk, things aren’t gonna work out, so keep that in mind.

1. Dreaming

When we think about how to speak to the dead, one of the key things to think about is where we go and what we do in our dreams. Do you ever speak to deceased loved ones in your dreams, or see them when you go to sleep? Do they ever give you a message? Even if you’ve never experienced anything like that, if you think about your relatives or friends before you go to sleep, have a strong image of them in your head and think about everything you’d like to say to them. Dream visits are an excellent, non-threatening way to visit with your loved ones, to look for support and guidance, and to collect an interesting story or two for those who are still with you.

2. Visions

You might call them hallucinations (and so might your doctor) but mediums and psychics call them visions. Have you ever seen a loved one appear before you whilst you’ve been awake? Ever glimpsed a pet that’s been lost running across your bed late at night? It might be that you’re more open to these things than you think. If you’ve ever experienced anything like this, it’s possible that you’re contacting the dead without even realising it. Next time something like that happens, go with it. Speak to the person or spirit you see even if only in your mind, and try to hold a conversation. See where that conversation takes you.

3. Scents

If you’re really wondering about how to talk to the dead, an excellent place to start is with scents. When you think about your childhood, for example, there are probably a lot of evocative scents that take you back to certain places and times in your childhood. The scent of an opened tub of Playdoh can make you think about when you were in nursery, while the smell of beans and sausages cooking can make you think of teatimes after primary school (for me, anyway). We all have our own unique scent memories that can be incredibly handy in communicating with the dead. If you want to communicate with someone that you have unique scent memories with, such as a perfume, try leaving the perfume around the home. Not only will it help to bring comfort to you, particularly if you’re missing your loved one, but it will also signal to spirits or ghosts that you’re trying to communicate.

4. Coincidences

When you have “coincidences” with the spirit world, or you run into anything or everything that reminds you of the deceased loved one or friend and you think it absolutely just has to be a coincidence, stop and think for a second. For example, if you hear a record that reminds you of your friend, then see someone that looks just like them, order their drink at a bar, etc etc. it might be more than a coincidence. Your friend or loved one might be trying to send you a message. Listen to that message and appreciate it for what it is.

5. Be Aware of Everything Around You

When you’re looking for instruction on how to talk to spirits, the most important thing to remember is to be aware of everything around you. Not every communication from the other side is as solid as a full apparition that looks as true as the person that you remember and a full conversation. Some can be as fleeting as a glimpse of a translucent apparition, or a conversation in your head that feels real. If you reach out for help or guidance in whatever form and feel like you’ve gotten something back, isn’t that all you need?

6. Talk to Them

One of the best things you can do is talk to your loved ones as if they’re still around. If you feel like having a chat, open your mouth and talk. Spirits generally stay around their loved ones, particularly if they feel like they’re suffering or if they’re in trouble, but you also need to keep in mind that they may well have moved on to the next realm so they won’t always be around to hear your cry for help. Talk, ask any questions that you need to ask, say anything that you feel needs to be said, and say anything that you think was left unsaid. You might receive spoken words back, or spoken words in your head. You might receive a message in another way – just keep an eye out for it.

7. Look for Feathers

White feathers have long been considered a sign that our deceased loved ones are near. They’re often left as messages, particularly if you’re feeling strong emotions. I’ve received a lot of white feathers over the years and they often get stuck in places that are directly in my line of vision to ensure that I can see them and that I’ve gotten the message that someone is there to check up on me. Keep an eye out for those white feathers – they could signal something very important.

8. The Unconventional Route

If you’re looking for the more unconventional means of speaking to the dead, there’s always things like ouija boards, séances and using the services of a medium to contact the deceased. These are often a little bit tricky as they can have mixed results, particularly if you’re participating with other people around the room who don’t believe or who are trying to sway the session a certain way, the results that you’re looking for might not quite turn out. Going to see a medium could be the better option, but again, they could do a cold read and tell you things that you want to hear. Ultimately, this comes down to your own personal choice and whether or not you trust the people going into the séance or ouija board with you.

Thinking about how to contact the dead can be a little bit daunting, but the thing to remember is that just because someone is no longer with us in body does not mean that they’re no longer with us in soul or mind. You might still be able to speak with your loved ones and they may still be able to leave you messages – all you need to do is open your mind, your heart and communicate, whether anyone can hear you or not.

Can the dead speak to us from beyond the grave? No, of course not. But that doesn’t stop literally millions of superstitious people from believing they do. And some think they can use technology to facilitate the conversation. Of course, when you put technology into the mix, it simply cements the belief in place, no matter how ludicrous. And the internet has provided a platform for this silliness to reach worldwide.

A recent post on the BBC website made me do some investigation. The BBC story is really about EVP – Electronic Voice Phenomenon. EVP, as Wikipedia tells us, is:

…electronically generated noises that resemble speech, but are supposedly not the result of intentional voice recordings or renderings. Common sources of EVP include static, stray radio transmissions, and background noise. Recordings of EVP are often created from background sound by increasing the gain (i.e. sensitivity) of the recording equipment.
Interest in EVP surrounds claims that it is of paranormal origin, although many occurrences have had natural explanations including apophenia (finding significance in insignificant phenomena), auditory pareidolia (interpreting random sounds as voices in one’s own language), equipment artifacts, and hoaxes.

Hoaxes. Put that near the top of your list. The Skeptics’ Dictionary is more caustic, as expected:

Despite widespread belief in EVP, scientists have shown about as much interest in the phenomenon as they have in John Oates’s reverse speech theory, and probably for the same reason. We already understand priming and the power of suggestion. As Alcock says, the simplest explanation for EVP is that it is the product of our own wonderfully complex brain, aided by the strong emotional desire to make contact with the dead.

In other words, we hear what we want to hear and what we expect to hear, because our brains are designed to hunt for patterns in everything, even randomness. It’s not a picture of Jesus on your toast or your grilled cheese sandwich: That random pattern on cooked bread is just pareidolia.

I know, you’re thinking this is just another of those chemtrails or anti-vaccination idiocies that are rampant online. But these people are much further into the deep end than that. They bring in the hardware and, since few of us are electronic engineers, it sure seems to be doing something amazing. Well, it is, just not what you think it’s doing. Read on.

Browse over this report of an allegedly technical study. A causal reading would make it seem almost serious. Until, of course, you read about hooking up a “psychophone.”

Despite the belief by some, the device commonly referred to by this name wasn’t a device invented by Thomas Edison to speak to the dead; the first patented device of that name was a photograph designed to play subliminal messages while you sleep, and condition you for the next day (see here). The device referred to in the article is an electronic box; the “invention of Austrian scientist Franz Seidl for the reception of the alleged transcendental voices during his experiments with Raudive (Breakthrough pp. 362-365).” You can see more about this device here.

And what do the samples recorded on this device sound like? Take a listen here. None of those I listened to sounded anything more than electronic noise. In fact, most sounded like the old crystal radio sets of my youth; picking up bits of stations, fragments of transmissions, wrapped in that echo-y, chorus-y sound they used to make. Not a single one sounded to me like “Paul is dead,” either.

And likely that’s all they are: stray radio waves picked up by an unshielded receiver. The listeners just delude themselves into hearing something more in them. Could easily be snippets of cordless phone conversations, utility service walkie talkies, AM radio broadcasts, even cell phone calls.

As the BBC story notes,

The simplest explanation is that EVP voices are just stray radio transmissions. Usually they are so faint and masked by static interference that it’s hard to make out what they are saying, and the EVP investigator has to “interpret” them for you.

That might seem like a weakness but that’s also their power. As Joe Banks, a sound artist, points out, a dead person speaking in studio quality wouldn’t be nearly so convincing as a voice you must strain to hear.

The other giveaway in the article that they’re deep in the codswallop are the 12 references to the phase of the moon during the experiments. Wingnuts believe that the moon affects paranormal activity (not surprising since millions of them still follow astrology as if it was something more than entertainment):

Over the centuries people have associated the full moon with the paranormal and supernatural. And it would seem that the full moon phase can be a very favorable time to ghost hunt.

The new moon phase is another time people associate with ghost hunting. During a new moon, the moon rises at the same time as the sun. Because of the suns bright rays you can’t see the moon, making it really dark for ghost hunting.

But the best time to experiencing paranormal phenomena is two to three days before or after the full moon and new moon. Which would be a waxing crescent phase, the waxing gibbous phase, the waning gibbous phase, and the waning crescent phase.

I know, the words gullible and superstitious claptrap go through my head, too, when I read that stuff.

And if you can’t build yourself your own handy-dandy psychophone? No worry: just listen to your wireless router, says this guy:

As you may know, one of the theories out there is that “entities” use different frequencies that are flowing through the air around us on a constant basis in order to communicate through EVP. With that said, what else has increased in the past 10 years aside from occurrences of EVP evidence? The answer is Wi-Fi. Could they be using the unique frequency used by your every day wireless router to more easily communicate?

And I though all those little annoying voices were the sounds of pop-up ads or incoming email. So why don’t the spirits just talk to people through the air so others can hear them? One comment in this paper says they dead use radio frequency because they can “manipulate energy”:

The “departed” can somehow suppress those signals in such a fashion as to generate intelligible speech. As the machine was being tuned for the best operation, the technician was being “guided” by voice from the other side. A most interesting arrangement…

Since there is no physical matter on their level, all they have to work with is energy. By causing the energy to flow in a vortex, it naturally achieves a focal point which allows action to occur from their level to our physical level.
The technician stated that they were still learning how to “tap the spiral” which shows that the ever tightening spiral segments increase in power as they condense toward the center or focal point.

Amazing how much pseudoscience gibberish you can pack into a couple of paragraphs. The author also mentions “13 waves, the magic number” – numerology is another form of quackery the wingnuts pursue.

Listening to the original tapes made by one of the EVP pioneers, Konstantin Raudive, author of Breakthrough, the BBC reporter was not impressed:

According to a book published at the time by Smythe’s partner, a Russian voice at that session said “Stefan is here. But you are Stefan. You do not believe me. It is not very difficult. We will teach Petrus.” But on the tape there was nothing, just hiss.

Makes you wonder why the spirits can’t speak in coherent sentences. Raudive went from loony to huckster in a very short time, sounding more like a Monty Python skit than a serious investigator:

But once you start experimenting with EVP, it’s hard to stop. After Breakthrough was published, Raudive progressed from voices captured on tape to voices coming from animals, in particular a budgerigar named Putzi, who spoke in the voice of a dead 14-year-old girl.

Who says madness isn’t contagious? Decades later, the BBC reporter adds, other EVP “researchers” are hearing dead people’s voices in animal sounds, even in creaking doors:

Similar work today is being done today by EVP researcher Brian Jones in Seattle.

He records the noises made by seagulls, dogs, cats, and even squeaky doors and crunching pebbles. They all contain voices. One dog says, “Where’s Sheila?” referring to its owner. Another complains of its owners, “they always sail away”.

Jones thinks he can capture thoughts that somehow are in the air. “I have documented a lot of things that are pretty stunning that way,” he says.

If you read down towards the bottom of this report, there are several technical comments about the construction of these “psychophones” that identify them as noise generators with oscillator circuits:

I have carefully studied the schematic of this device and built a test unit, I have noted a few things. First, not every oscillator is a radio transmitter. Second, the oscillators in this device are highly unstable circuits, and have adjustable potentiometers that will literally allow you to make it talk. By rotating the knobs you can alter pitch and cadence. As for “transcendental voices to modulate” I
have yet to see that proof. What this device will do is allow any frequency present in the audio range to modulate the carrier. Twisting the knobs will also modulate the carrier. This thing is a win/win situation. If you don’t detect an EVP, you can generate one.

So you generate what you’re looking to hear. And another comment from a different author in that paper:

These boxes are essentially synthesizers, very similar to the one invented by MOOG in the early 1960’s. In fact I have an old synthesizer here in the lab and I can make say whatever I want. It certainly is no proof of voices from the dead, although I could make it seem as such.

I had an old Moog synth back in the 1970s, and now that you mention it, it DID sound like those sound samples linked above. Maybe they should just add small piano keys to it. At the end of this piece, the above author notes:

But the truly astounding thing is I have talked to witnesses that are firmly convinced that they spoke to a dead loved one… The same results could most likely be achieved using a white noise generator, a magic 8-Ball, or a deck of Tarot cards.

In this report from the same website, it says there is a “a correlation between EVPs and EMF” which suggests to me simple feedback from the electromagnetic fields of the recording devices.

So EVP is, like the rest of the psychic, paranormal world: just more bunkum to suck in the gullible. People “hear” voices in the electronic noise because they want to believe, desperately want to believe that death isn’t the end. They want to believe we can carry our ego on to another “realm” and maintain our individual selves. That when we shuffle off this mortal coil, we wake up in another world. We willingly suspend belief in logic to avoid the alternative: that death is the end. Period.

Sorry to debunk that for you.

I suppose it’s better to have these folks glued to their “psychophones” for hours on end than engaged in some social activity. Who knows, what they might be up to if let loose.