The Trigger of After-Death Communications: Bill and Judy Guggenheim's Research

Thanks to Bill and Judy Guggenheim at www.after-death.com, a whole new phenomenon has been quantified. It is called the after-death communication (ADC). The Guggenheim's book, Hello From Heaven, documents a multitude of these kind of experiences. Many ADCs are identical to a near-death experience except the experiencer is in a completely normal, fully conscious state. Between 1988 and 1995, the Guggenheim's interviewed 2,000 people from all over the U.S. and Canada, ranging in age from children to the elderly, who experienced an ADC. They came from diverse educational, social, economic, religious, occupational backgrounds. The Guggenheim's conservative estimate is that at least 50 million Americans (or 20% of the population) have had one or more ADC experiences. In their study, they collected more than 3,300 firsthand accounts of ADCs from people who spontaneously and directly had such communications. The following are several examples from their book, Hello From Heaven, used with permission.  

Table of Contents
1. OBE ADCs: Out-of-Body Communications
2. Evidential ADCs: Communications of Validation
3. ADCs for Protecting the Living from Harm
4. Prophetic Death ADCs: Receiving Information of Death in Advance
5. Visual ADCs of Partial Appearances
6. Visual ADCs of Full Appearances
7. ADCs of Physical Phenomenon: Poltergeist Activity
8. Fearful ADCs: Unintentional Fearful Contact
9. Symbolic ADCs: Butterflies, Rainbows and Synchronicity
10. Olfactory ADCs: Smelling Their Fragrance
11. Auditory ADCs: Hearing Their Voice
12. Tactile ADCs: Feeling Their Touch
13. Telephone ADCs: Phone Calls from Beyond
14. Sleep-State ADCs: Contact During Dreams
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1. OBE ADCs: Out-of-Body Communications

Hello From Heaven book cover. Out-of-body ADCs (or OBE ADCs for short) sound very much like near-death experiences (NDEs), but there is one extremely important difference. All the people who had these OBE ADCs were in good health and were not in any kind of physical danger or close to dying when they made their trip. OBE ADCs come from people who stated they had contact with a deceased relative or friend during an out-of-body experience. Spontaneous OBE ADCs can occur while you are awake, in the alpha state, or when you are asleep. They are extremely vivid, intense, colorful, and vibrant experiences that people often say are "more real than life itself."

 

The following account is an example of an OBE ADC.

 

Multi-colored icon.   Ellie is a dam processor in Michigan who attained a new understanding of life four months after her son, Don, was killed in an automobile accident at age 26:

I had gone to bed and had my eyes closed, but I know I wasn't asleep.

 

Then I noticed I was moving towards a tiny pinpoint of light. I was in a tunnel and the light was getting bigger and brighter, but it didn't hurt my eyes. I knew this wasn't a NDE because I wasn't even sick!

 

This intensely bright light was peaceful and comforting - I couldn't take my eyes off of it. It seemed to pull me towards it, and I could see the outline of a figure in a flowing robe with his hands outstretched like he was welcoming me.

 

As I came closer, I could tell it was my son, Don! He was in this light.

I heard Don's voice in my head very firmly say, "Stop! It's not your time yet, Mom. Go back! I'm all right and you have much to do."

I don't remember going back down the tunnel. The light just pulled away from me and disappeared, and than I was fully awake.

 

I had never thought about my own mortality before, but now I'm not afraid of death. I know that someday, when my work is done here, I'll be with Don again.

This certainly sounds like a typical NDE account, and just like many NDErs, Ellie was emphatically told, "It's not your time yet." This supports the theory that physical life on Earth is a school, and we are not ready for graduation until we have completed all our courses. Our primary spiritual lessons seem to be learning how to love and serve one another.

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2. Evidential ADCs: Communications of Validation

Some of the most fascinating ADCs from the Guggenheim's research are ADCs which are evidential, that is, when the experiencer learns something they did not know and had no way of knowing before. For instance, the experiencer may be told the location of an object that is lost which is later confirmed by acting upon the information and finding the missing item. Such veridical ADCs assure the experiencer that their contact with their deceased loved one was genuine. All sorts of evidential information can be received from deceased loved ones in this manner. However, their true intention seems to be to convince the experiencer that there is life after death and they are watching over you with loving kindness.

 

The following account is an example of an evidential ADC.

 

Multi-colored icon.   Debra is a 48-year-old psychologist in Florida. She assisted her grandfather with some unfinished business after he died very suddenly from a heart attack:

After my mother called and told we my grandfather had died, I lay down in bed to pray for him and say good-bye.

 

With my eyes closed, I received a message from him telepathically that was very strong and very specific.

Grandpa said, "In my apartment there is a credenza. In the left-hand top drawer there is a yellow legal tablet. It contains a list of stocks and bonds. Some need to be sold immediately. It is imperative that your father get this information!"

He was very intense and very eager to impart this knowledge. There was no endearment at all - he was strictly business. This was very much in character for my grandfather. I got up and called my mother and told her my experience. A few days later, I found out my father had gone to Grandpa's apartment and looked in the credenza. The legal pad was exactly where Grandpa said it would be. It contained a list of securities, just ache had told me.

I don't know what my father did about those stocks and bonds - we never discussed it. The only thing my father ever said was, "There must be something to this, Debra, because you had no way of knowing about that list."

It's likely Debra entered a semi-meditative state while praying for her grandfather. This can be a very effective way to have an ADC experience.

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3. ADCs for Protecting the Living from Harm

Nearly all ADCs are inspired by the ongoing love and concern your deceased relatives and friends feel for you. It is, therefore, understandable that they might attempt to protect you from time to time, especially if you are facing imminent physical danger or some other threat to your well-being. There is no stronger personal evidence that an ADC is real than having your life actually protected or saved by one. And imagine how fulfilled your deceased family members and friends must feel when they accomplish a successful intervention.

 

The following account is an example of an ADC of a deceased loved one protecting a living loved one from harm.

 

Multi-colored icon.   Bernice is a writer in the Northwest whose son, Gene, gave her some strong advice about three years after he took his life at age 32 when he was terminally ill with Hodgkin's disease:

The Captain of the Golden Odyssey sent us an invitation to go on their Mediterranean cruise in the spring of 1977. My husband wanted to go, and he asked me to make the reservations.

 

The next morning I got all dressed up to go to the travel agency. Halfway to the car, I heard my son, Gene, say, "Mom, you must not take that plane to Athens."

My son's voice was very calm, but he made me feel we mustn't go. So I turned right around and went back in the house.

 

That night I told my husband what had happened. He accepted it, and we didn't make the reservations.

On the night we would have taken the plane From Los Angeles to Athens, I sat in our living room and felt sad that we weren't going.

 

The next day the same plane took off from Tenerife in the Canary Islands and collided with a Dutch KLM airliner. It was the greatest passenger plane crash in history - 581 people were killed!

This account suggests that our deceased loved ones may have foreknowledge of some human events and, if appropriate, can alert us to life-threatening situation, Perhaps they are telling us indirectly that it is not yet our time to die, as NDErs are frequently told. The implications of this theory are far-reaching because they support the belief that each of us has a spiritual purpose for our life and enough time to fulfill it.

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4. Prophetic Death ADCs: Receiving Information of Death in Advance

Some ADCs occur when a deceased loved one contacts the experiencer before they actually learn of their death. That is, first an ADC occurs where the experiencer receives the news of a loved one's death; then, at a later time (usually very soon), the experiencer is informed that indeed their loved one has died.

 

The following account is an example of a prophetic death ADC.

 

Multi-colored icon.   Dominic is a 38-year-old physician in Florida who had an ADC while he and a classmate isolated themselves in a country cottage to study for their medical school examinations:

While my friend and I were studying. I experienced the extremely strong and distinctive smell of a medication that my mother used on Grandmother - camphor and alcohol. This home remedy was used as a cold compress that was applied to her forehead when she was feeling weak.

 

There was definitely no alcohol or camphor in the cottage. Yet the odor was so strong that I told my friend I believed my grandmother had just died.

 

He sort of brushed it off, but noted the time when it happened, 10:10 a.m.

 

Shortly after that, I felt the very peaceful presence of my grandmother. I realized that something extraordinary was happening!

 

The whole feeling was that she was saying, "Good-bye. Don't worry. Everything is fine."

 

Grandmother had Alzheimer's disease. In the last months of her life, she was incoherent. But when I felt her presence, she was the person I had known before she became ill.

 

She left me with a sense of relief and serenity and peace.

 

When I went home that day, my mother was waiting for me. She said. "Your grandmother has taken a turn for the worse."

 

I told her, "Don't worry. I know what happened. She died at 10:10 this morning."

 

Then my mother confirmed that my grandmother had died at exactly that time.

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5. Visual ADCs of Partial Appearances

Some ADCs occur as only a partial appearance of their deceased loved one. That is, they were able to see only a part of their body, or if they saw the entire body, it appeared to be less solid. These accounts describe seeing a loved one in one of the following ways: as a bright light, as a face in a bright light, only the upper portion of a body, or as a complete body ranging in solidity from a transparent mist to not quite solid.

 

The following account is an example of a visual ADC of partial appearance.

 

Multi-colored icon.   Rosalyn, a 39 year old chemical dependency counselor in Washington, had the healing power of prayer and forgiveness dramatically revealed to her:

Uncle Mickey came to live with us when I was seven years old after my parents divorced. He was an active alcoholic, and my mother was trying to help him out. But he sexually abused me during the two years he lived with us, and this was emotionally very traumatic for me.

 

By the time I was seventeen, I was an active alcoholic myself. And at eighteen, I was very heavily into drugs. I drank and drugged for years, and then I sobered up.

 

In order to stay sober, I had to go back through my past and look at the people, places, and things that had harmed me. I had to be as honest as I could about the effect those things had on my life. I also needed to make peace with my uncle because I chose to believe that if he had been sober he wouldn't have abused me.

 

So I wrote Uncle Mickey a letter and told him how I felt and told him that I held nothing against him. But I don't know if he ever received it.

 

Over the years, I asked the Lord to let my love cover that sin for my uncle.

 

In the spring of this year, I was sleeping and woke up. I turned over and Jesus and Uncle Mickey were next to my bed! I only saw their heads and shoulders, and there was a light behind both of them. There was an overwhelming presence of love and a seriousness too.

 

The Lord was asking me a question that I heard in my mind. There was authority and power and yet a gentleness in his voice.

Jesus said, "Do you hold anything against this man?"

I told him, "No, I don't."

 

Then Jesus turned and looked at my uncle and said, "Neither do I hold anything against him."

I knew then Uncle Mickey was at peace and was with the Lord - and that he was free.

 

A couple of days later, I got a letter from my mother that said Uncle Mickey had died.

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6. Visual ADCs of Full Appearances

In visual ADCs involving the full appearance of the deceased loved one, the experiencer sees their deceased loved one's complete body which looks absolutely solid and real. Such ADCs often show the deceased as being healed and whole, regardless of their age when they died or their cause of death. Nearly all such apparitions appear much happier and freer than when they were wearing a physical body. Such full appearance by a deceased loved one is generally a very healing event where experiencers gain a new mental / emotional portrait which can replace any old, painful memories they may have.

 

The following account is an example of a visual ADC of full appearances.

 

Multi-colored icon.   Deborah, a medical researcher in Kentucky, felt grateful when her brother, Joseph, returned after he died of cancer at age 44:

I was a card-carrying skeptic before this experience. I'd had dreams about my brother, but this wasn't a dream.

 

About three months after Joseph died, I was asleep in bed with my husband. I felt somebody shaking my leg to wake me up. I looked over, and there was Joseph sitting on the edge of the bed with his hand on my leg.

 

He looked real, like any living person sitting there. He looked great! He radiated a warm, yellowish white light like an aura. He looked very calm and peaceful.

 

He hugged me - I felt his hug - it felt wonderful and warm and loving. And I smelled his cologne too.

Joseph told me, "I am all right, and you shouldn't be unhappy. Everything is all right. It is beautiful where I am."

 

I talked to him with thoughts, and I told him I loved him.

 

Then he just gradually faded away.

 

I felt relief because I didn't have to worry anymore about my brother being all right.

A number of interviews the Guggenheims conducted began with a statement similar to Deborah's, "I was a card-carrying skeptic before I had this experience ..." Their research reveals that having prior belief in ADCs is not a requirement for having communication with a deceased loved one, as Deborah's special encounter with her brother clearly indicates.

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7. ADCs of Physical Phenomenon: Poltergeist Activity

Many people have an ADC involving unusual physical or "poltergeist" occurrences following the death of a relative or friend which the Guggenheim's call "ADCs of physical phenomena." Examples include lights being turned on and off; radios, stereos, televisions, and other electrical devices being turned on; mechanical objects being activated; pictures and other items being moved; and a long list of similar happenings.

 

The following account is an example of an ADC of physical phenomenon.

 

Multi-colored icon.   Mildred is a retired real estate agent in Florida who reported these affectionate incidents after her husband, Albert, died from cancer at age 70:

One time when Albert was still living, we were cutting up, just kidding each other.

 

I said, "If you die before I do, come back and do something so I will know that it's you."

We had two little ceramic dogs. We kept them sitting on the windowsill in the kitchen. Everybody that knew us knew that when we were upset with each other, we would move the dogs apart, separating them. And whenever we were happy, they were kissing each other, snuggled up. Even the kids, when they came home, would go to the kitchen window to see how these little dogs were getting along.

A few days after Albert died, I was standing at the sink in the kitchen looking at the windowsill. His little dog was knocked over.

 

Since I live alone, I thought, "I wonder how it got knocked down?"

 

So I picked his dog up and put it back with the faces snuggled together. Then I didn't think anymore about it.

 

About three days later, his little dog was turned backwards, walking away from my little dog. They were about six inches apart!

 

Then I understood that Albert wanted me to know that he had to leave me.

 

This really happened! But sometimes you are scared to tell people things like this for fear they will think you are nuts!

Albert chose a very familiar and trusted method to convey his message. Their long-standing form of nonverbal communication allowed Mildred to easily comprehend his intended meaning, "Now it's time for me to say good-bye."

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8. Fearful ADCs: Unintentional Fearful Contact

Almost all ADCs are positive, joyful, and uplifting events, and they generally accelerate spiritual growth. But for a variety of reasons, some people may experience fear when one occurs. Many people have never heard of ADCs, so if they have one, they may think they are going crazy or losing their mind. This is especially true if they are bereaved and don't have a support system which accepts the possibility of ADCs. Adults who have an ADC may have difficulty reconciling it with their own personal philosophy or religions beliefs. Young children may become confused when they attempt to tell their experiences to their parents, who don't believe them. But based upon the Guggenheim's research, it is not the content of an ADC that is fearful; but rather the experiencer's reaction to it.

 

As the following example clearly illustrates, the intentions of the deceased loved one seem as positive as other ADCs.

 

Multi-colored icon.   Charlotte is a 43-year-old nurse in New Jersey who became a widow when her husband, Glen, died of cancer:

The night Glen died, I needed to talk to someone. So I sat down in the living room and called my girlfriend, Joni, who lived next door.

 

As I was talking with her on the phone, I saw Glen standing right in front of me, just inches away!

 

He was as solid as a rock, and I couldn't see through him. But he didn't look the way he did when he was sick - he looked absolutely healthy!

 

Glen leaned down and put his hand on my knee and said, "Charlotte, it's me. I'm okay. Everything's all right. I don't have any more pain. I feel great!"

 

Well, all I did was scream! He scared the daylights out of me! And the more I screamed, the more he said, "It's okay, Charlotte. It's okay. It's okay. You don't have to worry about me. I'm okay!"

 

That was it, and then Glen just kind of evaporated.

I sat there frozen in my chair - spellbound with disbelief!

 

Joni wondered what on Earth had happened. So she came over and we talked, and gradually I calmed down.

Though Charlotte was shocked when she saw Glen and felt his touch, he was probably equally unprepared for her hysterical reaction. The intention of our deceased loved ones who appear to us in an ADC is certainly not to frighten us.

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9. Symbolic ADCs: Butterflies, Rainbows and Synchronicity

Many people report receiving a "sign from heaven" which affirms their deceased loved one has survived death and continues to live on the afterlife. The Guggenheim's call these "symbolic ADCs" or "ADC signs." They are a relatively common type of ADC. Some people are given a sign spontaneously as a gift, while others ask or pray to receive one. Depending upon one's belief system, a person may ask their deceased loved one to give them a sign, or they may pray to God or the "universe" for one. Typical symbolic ADCs include butterflies, rainbows, flowers, many different species of birds and other animals, and any number of inanimate objects. Whether a sign comes immediately or takes days or weeks to arrive, most people intuitively recognize their sign right away and feel it was intended just for them. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross often spoke of the numerous drawings of butterflies she saw in the barracks at Hitler's concentration camps in Europe. These lasting symbols of hope were scratched into the wooden walls by courageous children and adults during the Holocaust. Today, pictures of butterflies can be found throughout almost every hospice. This symbol is also used extensively by many grief counselors, spiritual centers, and support groups for the bereaved.

 

The following account is an example of a symbolic ADC.

 

Multi-colored icon.   Al is a retired New York police officer now living in Florida who had this unforgettable contact ten months after his daughter, Diana, died in an automobile accident when she was 17 years old:

On the Fourth of July, we were up at our summer home in Pennsylvania. I was there with my wife and her aunt, her uncle, and her cousin. We were sitting out on the lounge chairs, and I was having a cigar.

 

This butterfly just happened to be flying around. I looked at it and right away thought of my daughter, Diana.

 

I thought, "If it's you, Diana, come down and tell me." And it did!

 

Immediately, the butterfly landed on my finger! It waked up and down on my finger, then onto my hand, back and forth. I could even see its little feelers moving. I couldn't believe it!

 

My wife sort of looked at me - I think she knew what I was thinking.

 

I finished my cigar and got up. The butterfly stayed right on my hand.

 

I walked all the way to the house, went to the kitchen sink, and drank a glass of water. The butterfly was still with me - I couldn't believe this!

 

I said, "Well. I gotta go take a shower. You gotta go outside."

 

I opened the door and went out on the deck. I sort of pushed the butterfly with my finger and it flew off. I watched it fly away, down the yard. It was just unbelievable! Never had a butterfly landed on me before.

 

Then I went in to take a shower and cried.

I really didn't know that the butterfly had any significance to The Compassionate Friends until I went to their annual conference a few days later. During the opening ceremony, I realized, "Oh, my God! Their symbol is the butterfly!"

Founded in 1969, The Compassionate Friends has more than 650 local chapters throughout the United States and Canada. It is the largest self-help organization for bereaved parents, siblings, and grandparents in the world.

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10. Olfactory ADCs: Smelling Their Fragrance

Some ADCs involve smelling a fragrance associated with a specific deceased loved one. They are a relatively common type of ADC and the Guggenheims call them "olfactory ADCs." Typical scents include the fragrance of a perfume, cologne, or aftershave lotion; the essence of roses or other flowers; and the aroma of a food, beverage, tobacco, or commercial product. The variety of odors that can be identified is virtually unlimited. During such ADCs, people reported smelling a fragrance which was clearly out of context with their surroundings. The room or area they were in was suddenly filled with a particular aroma, but it had no physical source. Occasionally, two or more people who are together in the same place at the same time can smell this scent. In fact, according to the Guggenheims, an olfactory ADC is the one type of after-death communication that is most often shared by a group of people.

 

The following account is an example of an olfactory ADC.

 

Multi-colored icon.   Lorraine is employed by an optometrist in New York whose daughter, Tammy, was 25 years old when she was killed in an automobile accident:

When my daughter, Tammy, went to the Bahamas, she bought me a bracelet and a necklace.

 

The night that she died, she had the bracelet on and it was destroyed.

 

For over two years since the accident, I had been trying to find a new bracelet to match my necklace. I would have paid anything for it!

It was nighttime, and we were coming out of one of the attractions at Epcot Center at Walt Disney World. My other daughter, her friend, and my husband were with me.

 

My daughter turned to me and said, "Ma, do you smell that?"

 

I said, "Oh, yeah!"

 

We were smelling the Gloria Vanderbilt perfume that Tammy always wore! But as we looked around, there was nobody near us.

 

Her girlfriend smelled it too and said, "Why don't we go in here?"

So we all went into the store and I began browsing in the front.

 

My daughter called, "Ma! Ma! Come back here!"

 

I went to the back of the store, where they were selling jewelry. And there was the bracelet - the exact match to my necklace from Tammy! It was unbelievable!

It seems reasonable to assume that Tammy wanted to replace her mother's bracelet and found a clever way to provide it.

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11. Auditory ADCs: Hearing Their Voice

Receiving a verbal message, by hearing the voice of a deceased loved one, is also a very common type of ADCs. The Guggenheims call them "auditory ADCs." Some people report hearing an audible voice from an external source, that is, they heard the voice through their ears the same way they would hear any other person talking to them. But most people report hearing a voice internally - inside their head - and are equally certain the voice originated from a source outside of them.

 

The following account is an auditory ADC experienced as an external source.

 

Multi-colored icon.   Philip is a psychiatrist in Kentucky who was caught off guard when he heard from his 15-year-old daughter, Tina, after she died in an automobile accident:

Tina had friends all over the city. We didn't realize how involved she had been with so many kids. She was quite a force for good in the community.

She had told one of her friends from Sunday school that if she should die, she would like everyone to have a party for her and not to mourn. Her friend reminded us of this statement.

 

So the night of Tina's funeral, we had a very large gathering at our home with 200 to 300 kids, some with their parents. It was wall-to-wall people!

 

I was passing through the hallway downstairs when I heard Tina say, "I love you, Daddy!"

 

I wheeled around because this was an audible, external voice.

 

I am a board-certified psychiatrist, and I'm not given to hearing things that are not there. Having lived my professional career as a pretty hardheaded scientific person, I really hadn't expected this! However, this experience took a good bit of the sting out of the loss because you know you really haven't lost them.

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12. Tactile ADCs: Feeling Their Touch

Some ADCs involve feeling a physical touch by a deceased loved one. Overall, this type of ADC is relatively less common. The Guggenheims call them "tactile ADCs." Such ADCs usually are felt as a light tap, a gentle touch, a soft caress, a tender kiss, a comforting arm around the shoulder, or an all-embracing hug. Feeling a touch is a very intimate kind of ADC and it seems they take place only between people who have had a very close relationship. The deceased loved one returns for the purpose of conveying affection and providing encouragement to the experiencer.

 

The following account is an example of a tactile ADC.

 

Multi-colored icon.   Gail is a nurse in Pennsylvania who was filled with new hope six weeks after her two sons, Matt, age 26, and Eric, age 24, were killed together in an automobile accident:

Every night I would go out and sit on the steps of my front porch and just cry and cry and cry.

 

I was having such a hard time, and I had been doing this for so long.

 

One night in the middle of October, I was looking at the moon, when all of a sudden, I felt this real warmth.

 

I felt Matt to my left and Eric to my right with their arms around my shoulders.

 

I knew Matt was to my left because he was so much taller - Matt was 6'4" and Eric was about 5'11".

 

I heard them saying, "Mom. it's all right. We're fine. Just don't worry. Everything's going to be okay."

 

I felt a peace that I hadn't felt since their deaths. It just lifted me so. I felt a real relief when they said they were okay and that I shouldn't grieve so much. That was a turning point tor me, and I gradually began to sleep easier.

Few people can imagine the utter despair of a bereaved parent who has endured the death of two or more grown children. Gail received a triple blessing when both her sons let her know they were still together and were all right.

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13. Telephone ADCs: Phone Calls from Beyond

Imagine hearing the phone ringing, and when you answer it, you have a two-way conversation with the voice of a deceased loved one. The Guggenheims call these experiences "telephone ADCs," or "ADC phone calls," and they may take place while the experiencer is sound asleep or wide awake. They are the least common type of ADC for obvious reasons. Receiving a telephone call and having a conversation with a deceased loved one while you are sleeping is like a "sleep-state ADC" except the conversation takes place by phone rather than meeting face-to-face. In awake telephone ADCs, the deceased's voice may sound strong and clear, or it may seem to be coming from far away. After the call is completed, the experiencer doesn't hear the receiver at the other end being hung up or even a dial tone. Instead, the phone will be silent as though the line had been cut.

 

The following account is an example of a telephone ADC while awake.

 

Multi-colored icon.   Ellyn is a human resources manager in Nevada who had this phone ADC after her 12-year-old daughter, Ashley, died of leukemia:

This was more than three years after Ashley died. I was going through a real bad health problem. I had been diagnosed with a lung disease, and I was afraid I was going to die too.

 

That night, I was making spaghetti on the stove and the phone rang. I picked it up and I heard this little voice say. "Mommy!"

 

I thought, "What? Who is playing this terrible joke?"

 

So I asked, "Please, who is this?"

She said, "This is Ashley. What are you doing, Mommy?"

 

I said, "Ashley? I'm cooking."

 

And she said, "You're making my favorite meal. You're making spaghetti!"

It was Ashley's voice - she sounded strong and healthy - and nobody could imitate her voice.

 

At that point I thought I was crazy, but no one knew what I was cooking for dinner because it was a spur-of-the-moment thing to make spaghetti.

 

Then I asked her, "Ashley, are you okay?"

 

And she said, "Mommy, I'm okay. I just called to tell you that you're going to be okay too."

 

Then the phone went dead. There was no dial tone. No noise. Nothing. I just sat there with the phone in my hand for the longest time.

I had lung surgery six months later.

 

A month ago I went to the doctor. My blood count was normal for the first time in three years, and next month he'll start weaning me off my medication.

 

Ashley was right - she told we I was going to be okay!

No wonder Ellyn was stunned! Not only did she hear Ashley's voice on the telephone three years after her death, but she couldn't begin to find a rational explanation for how anyone could possibly know she was cooking spaghetti at that very moment.

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14. Sleep-State ADCs: Contact During Dreams

Many people report having been contacted by a deceased loved one while they were sound asleep. Because they didn't have any other name for their experience, they usually called it a "dream." However, most quickly added, "But it just wasn't like an ordinary dream." The Guggenheim's call these experiences "sleep-state ADCs," and they are a very common type of ADC.

 

There are many significant differences between an ordinary dream and a sleep-state ADC. A dream is generally fragmented, jumbled, filled with symbolism, and incomplete in various ways. Though some are very intense emotionally, they typically have a quality of unreality about them and are often soon forgotten.

 

In contrast, sleep-state ADCs feel like actual face-to-face visits with deceased loved ones. They are much more orderly, colorful, vivid, and memorable than most dreams. In fact, some may be ADC visions that occur during sleep.

 

Multi-colored icon.   You can read several accounts of sleep-state ADCs on the Dreams and NDEs web page.

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"When we come to the last moment of this lifetime and we look back across it, the only thing that's going to matter is 'What is the quality of our love?'" - Richard Bach

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