Observations placeholder
Aksakof, Alexandre - Proceedings of the S.P.R - The repeated apparitions of a young girl named Palladia
Identifier
028586
Type of Spiritual Experience
Inter composer communication
Hallucination
Background
Also cited in Professor Ernesto Bozzano - The parapsychological manifestations of animals - 130 cases proving animal mediumistic abilities who comments thus
In this story, the best demonstration that the dog had the same vision as his master is provided by the terror he felt in front of the manifestation. Mr. Mamchitch said that the dog had jumped on his bed, his fur spiked on his back, shaking, moaning and squatting all over his body, looking with amazement in the direction where his master was seeing "Palladia".
He adds that the animal used to scold and bark at anyone. However, the unusual terror experienced by the dog shows in an indisputable way that not only did he see the ghost of "Palladia", but that he instinctively understood that he was not in front of a living person. If it had been otherwise, he would have greeted the intruder with a growl and a threat.
A description of the experience
Case 51. - (Collective visual-auditory.) - I take the following passage from another very remarkable story by Mr. Alexandre Aksakoff, published in the Proceedings of the S.P.R., vol. X, pp. 387-391. I would add, for the full understanding of the event, that the case reported here refers to the story of the repeated apparitions of a young girl named Palladia, who died at the age of fifteen. The reviewer, Mr. Mamchitch, was also the main percipient:
In 1858, I lived with my parents in a countryside run by the Poltava government. A lady whom we known had come to stay with us for a few days with her two daughters. Some time after their arrival, as I woke up at dawn, I saw Palladia (I slept in a separate wing where I was alone). She stood in front of me, about five steps away, and looked at me with a happy smile. As she came closer to me, she said two words to me: "I have been, I have seen", and while smiling, disappeared. What these words meant, I could not understand. In my room, my setter slept with me. As soon as I saw Palladia, my dog raised his hair and with a yelp, jumped on my bed. As he pressed against my body, he looked in the direction where I saw Palladia. The dog did not bark, while usually he would not let anyone into the room without barking or growling. And whenever my dog saw Palladia, he snuggled up against me, as if seeking for refuge.
When Palladia disappeared, I went down to the house and told no one about this incident. On the evening of the same day, the lady's eldest daughter at home told me that something strange had happened to her in the morning: "When I woke up early in the morning," she said, "I felt as if someone was standing at my bedside and I clearly heard a voice saying to me, "Do not fear me, I am good and loving." I turned my head, but I didn't see anything. My mother and sister were sleeping quietly. I was very surprised because nothing like this has ever happened to me."
On that basis, I replied that many unexplainable things happen to us. Only a year later, when I was her fiancé, I told her about Palladia's apparition and words on the same day. Wasn't she the one who came to see her too? I must add that I had seen this young lady for the first time then and that I didn't think about marrying her at all.
Mrs. Mamchitch confirms this story thus:
May 5, 1891
I remember very well that on July 10, 1885, when we were visiting Mr. E. Mamchitchi's parents, I woke up at dawn because it had been agreed between my sister and me that we would go for a morning walk. Rising up on the bed, I saw Mother and my sister sleeping, and at that moment I felt as if someone was standing by my bedside. Having turned halfway - to be sure to see better - I saw no one. As I laid down again, I heard immediately behind and above my head a woman's voice telling me softly, but clearly: "Do not fear me, I am good and loving", and also a whole sentence that I forgot at that very moment. Immediately afterwards, I got dressed and went for a walk. It is strange that these words did not frighten me at all.