Observations placeholder
Mr A Villinger prophesies the death of his manager
Identifier
012961
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Pericarditis is an inflammation of the pericardium (the fibrous sac surrounding the heart). A characteristic chest pain is often present.
A description of the experience
Death and Its Mystery – Camille Flammarion
Letter 2291 from A Villinger, Winterthur, December 23rd 1912
I wish very much to impart to you, for your most valuable research, a premonitory dream fulfilled exactly. At the time, I was attorney for a large accident insurance company, with which I am still connected today, as a member of the board of Directors. This is what happened to me personally:
The night of Thursday the first to Friday the second of August 1901, I went in a dream, into a beer garden and saw the general manager of our company seated at table on the terrace with a glass of beer before him, which was, in fact, his habit. I went up to him and sat beside him.
He was very pale and looked as though he were in pain. I asked him if he felt indisposed.
“Yes” he answered “I’m not at all well; besides on the 15th of August there will be a death of importance and it is I whom it will concern”…..
Thereupon I awakened; it was 6.15, the hour at which I usually got up in summer. While dressing I told my wife of the dream observing:
“It’s strange; the manager is certainly in good health. Yesterday Thursday, he made a trip to Lindau on the Lake of Constance ad must have got back last evening”
About half past seven I went to the office; I waited for the mail, which was late. They brought it to me at last, telling me that the manager had, in fact, come to the office the day before and had begun to look over the mail, but that, feeling unwell, he had had to stop and go home in a carriage. He did not come back to the office and died on the following Thursday, on August 15th, about 10 ‘o clock at night carried off by pericarditis.
I am telling you everything just as it happened to me, without comment and will merely add that on August 15th my wife had told my dream to our regular physician, who had come to see her that day. Knowing that he was one of the doctors consulted also by my manager, my wife had asked news of him and had spoken of my dream.
The doctor had answered evasively, telling her, however, that the manager was ot, relatively speaking, so very ill.
In closing I will add that the general manager, who thus announced in a dream, 15 days in advance, his early death, treated me in the office with the same kindness as he did my colleagues and the other employees, without any special preference for me. So there is no reason why I, rather than another should have been chosen to receive this communication. What shall we conclude? I refrain from passing any judgement.