“I know this much.  He had picked my thoughts out of my head.”

The famous writer Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was born in India, and in addition to writing poetry and books, he was also a journalist.

He once wrote about an unusual experience while covering a story in the land in which he was born, India.

“I was going about my normal routine of the day when I came across an elderly man who approached me and said he could help me.  Not knowing the man, and noticing that his attire was somewhat ragged, I kept walking with the hope he would take a different route.

“But I was under the wrong assumption, and the man stuck to me like glue.  The faster I walked, the faster he walked.  “And even when I politely asked him not to follow me, he merely smiled and nodded and kept up with me, foot by foot.

“Finally, I stopped and asked him what it was he wanted.  He said I should not procrastinate and finish my book. I asked him what on earth he was talking about and he said, come on, you know.

“Then he astounded me by giving me the title.  It was the exact title of a story I had been working on for some time but had put aside because I couldn’t figure out an ending that would be reasonable and interesting.

“And, what’s more, I had told no one, absolutely no one, what the title was.   So here I was with this strange little man whom I had never met hounding me for no apparent reason, then stunning me by telling me the name of my book.

“I was astounded.   When I asked him how he could possibly have known what I was writing, he pointed to his brain and said, I know it, I just know it.  He was giggling and spitting a bit, and I’m not sure his mind was intact.

“But I know this much.  He had picked my thoughts out of my head.  Here was a mind reader of the first order.  I gave him some money and thanked him for his encouragement.

“That evening, at home and after dinner, I opened the unfinished manuscript and to my amazement, the rest of the story seemed to pop into mind.”

“It was a most unusual day and I shall never forget it.”

“He had recurring dreams of Lincoln sitting in that booth”

John Wilkes Booth (1839-1865), the US actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, recounted to his brother Edwin how he had several dreams in which he shot the President.

And the dreams were identical to the way it eventually happened.

John and Edwin came from a distinguished theatrical family, and Edwin was one of America’s most acclaimed Shakespearean actors.  But after the public disgrace of his brother’s actions, Edwin’s career bottomed out due to the connection.

Edwin often felt guilt-ridden because he believed his brother’s dreams were nothing more than a figment of his imagination.  And had Edwin known his brother would follow the dreams step-by-step, he might have prevented the assassination.  Edwin said that John might have taken a different course of action, and protested his anger in a non-violent way, had Edwin taken the dreams seriously.

“Apparently, the dreams were a premonition that my brother felt obligated to follow,” wrote Edwin.  “I shall forever regret not taking decisive action that could have prevented Lincoln’s assassination.”

It has also been reported that Lincoln himself had recounted to his wife on a number of occasions that he had a premonition of being shot in the head and killed.

“She envisioned the ambush that took their lives, but Clyde failed to heed her warning.

Bonnie Parker (1911-1934) and Clyde Barrow (1900-1934) were the infamous US criminals who carried out a series of robberies in the Southwest.  They were eventually betrayed and then killed in a police ambush.

On the morning of their last day on earth, Bonnie had a premonition that death awaited them.  She expressed her concern to Clyde who at first heeded her warning, but then insisted everything would be OK.

Apparently, Clyde at first drove off without her when she refused to get in the car.  But after several minutes, he returned to get her and convinced her that her vision was only in her imagination.

It was said that Bonnie had a highly developed ESP and that Clyde apparently often relied on her psychic abilities.

Police had trouble tracking Bonnie and Clyde, and more than one officer of the law commented that it was as if the bandits “stayed out of harm’s way because they were could see what was around the bend.”

Before Bonnie met Clyde, she said she had dreamed of spending her life with an outlaw and that when he eventually showed up, he looked exactly the way she had envisioned.

“He could have taken my life, but for whatever reason he close not to.”

Marquis de Lafayette, the French soldier who fought the British in the American Revolution was a believer in psychic phenomenon.

In his memoirs he recounted several episodes of paranormal activities, a number of which he believed were lifesaving.

Lafayette recalled one instance in which he sensed imminent danger.  “I was atop my horse when I felt I was going to be struck by an enemy bullet.  I turned and stared into the barrel of a gun held by a young British soldier.

“We made eye contact, and both he and I knew if he fired the gun, I’d be dead.  But somehow in that moment, we made a connection.  I don’t understand how or why, but the young man lowered his rifle and we stared at each other for a moment.  I tipped my hat to him and nodded.  He did the same and we went on our way.

“I don’t know what happened to him, or whether or not he survived the war, but he could have taken my life that day. For whatever reason, he chose not to.  I owe him my life.”

On another occasion, prior to a battle that Lafayette felt could go either way, he consulted with an astrologer who advised him to take a different course of action due to the stars being aligned in a certain way.

Lafayette recounted how he failed to listen to the advice, and in the ensuing battle his forces suffered a severe setback, precisely the way the astrologer had predicted.

“It was as if time was standing still.”

It was the ninth of August, and my brother and I were on the way back to our cabin in the northern part of Wisconsin.

We had spent the day fishing and hiking, and it was a pleasant way to end our week’s vacation and head back to our families in Milwaukee.

When we walked into the cabin, we were greeted by two smiling men, dressed in jeans and T-shirts, and we instantly knew we were in trouble.

One of the men was brandishing a knife, and the other was sitting at the kitchen table with his muddy boots resting on top of it.  We asked what they were doing here and they just laughed.

We started to leave, but the guy at the table pulled out a gun and asked us to stay.  It was surreal because we had seen this type of scenario on TV a thousand times, and here it was happening to us.

My brother said they could have our money and watches but to just go and we wouldn’t tell anyone.  They just snickered.  I felt they were on something, perhaps drugs, maybe alcohol.  But these were bad guys and our lives were in danger.  Big danger.

All of a sudden I heard myself asking my brother what time the other guys were coming back.  Fortunately, he was sharp enough to play along and he looked at the two guys and asked them if they knew what they were getting in to.

For a moment, I didn’t know whether or not they believed us or were going to get angry and do something unthinkable.  It was as if time was standing still – but our bluff worked.  They were out of there within seconds, taking only our money, not our watches or wallets.

My brother told me afterwards that he had a bad feeling while we were walking back to the cabin.  He said he could hear voices in his head talking, and that when we opened the door to the cabin and the men started speaking, he said these were the identical voices he had heard.

Although we did report the incident to the police, the men were never apprehended.

V. Pierose
Milwaukee, WI

“It did help me at the poker table.  I’ve made a lot of money.”

My profession is business.  I am the owner of a medium-sized company, and I often apply my psychic skills to help give us an edge on the competition.

I first started to notice my “gifts” when I was a youngster.

Mostly, it occurred on the ball field where I often found myself anticipating what was about to occur.  If it was a baseball game and I was at the plate, sometimes I could just “feel” where the exact location of the pitch would be.  If it were in football, I’d know where the quarterback was going to throw the ball.

It didn’t happen every time, otherwise I’d be making millions, but it occurred often enough to alert me that I had something extra going for me.

And it did help me at the poker table.  I’ve been playing for years, have made a lot of money – a lot of money – and I must admit I’ve been tempted to play professionally.  Because my business was handed down to me by my father, and to him by his father, I feel it’s my obligation to keep the tradition going.  One day my son, if he’s interested, will follow suit.

My psychic skills help me anticipate what my competition is going to do and when.  I can usually read the mind of the person sitting on the other side of my desk and help negotiate the best product at the best price.  Some people may call this intuition, but what I have is far beyond what the normal person feels.

And in my personal life, I can anticipate what my lovely wife is thinking, trying to keep one step ahead of her.  And I believe my oldest child, Emily, who is now in her last year of medical school, is benefiting from the same psychic powers.  We have had many long talks about it, and she says she knows she has these powers and has used them in a positive way.  Needless to say, I am very proud of her.

Life is sometimes difficult, but with this added edge, it’s a definite help.

K. Dreyfuss
Kansas City, KS