The Night Side of Nature

This is an absolutely fascinating book for two main reasons. First, it covers a variety of paranormal phenomena. Secondly, it's quite old, being published in 1848. If it weren't for the slightly formal writing style and some slightly different terms used it could be published today as a regular paranormal book.

She has obviously done a lot of research for her book. Some of the things she brings up date all the way back to the BCE times. She also notes how the field of the paranormal (which is not a term she used, actually) does not get accepted by traditional science.

A lot of her writing deals with the spiritual nature of humans. She states that humans are composed of spirit, soul and body.

She does bring up the subject of phrenology which has been strongly disproven by modern scientist and was actually used by the Nazis to try to find the origin of the Aryan race.

A term which she uses frequently is 'magnetic' which seems to have different meanings.

Topics she discusses include dreaming (including of the future); prophetic dreaming; symbolic expression; doppelgangers; wraiths; 'second hearing' (now known as clairaudience); lucid dreaming (she uses different words for this); a 'halo of light' (now referred to as the aura); magnetizer (a hypnotist); troubled spirits; ghosts; spiritual light; poltergeists; possession; the hearing of 'heavenly music' when near to death; stigmata; the use of diving rods and a lot of other things.

She has numerous examples (some of which are from people she knows). She also uses the term 'palinganesia' which I had to look up. It means ' a concept of rebirth or re-creation, used in various contexts in philosophy, theology, politics, and biology. ' (It's been discredited in biology.)

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