The 16th President of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865) lived a life literally saturated with mysticism.
Suffice it to say, for example, that Lincoln, being a great admirer of spiritualism, spent a lot of time in communication with otherworldly forces and, having become a real professional in this field, he subsequently did not need a board, a candle, or other magical attributes, it was enough to close in a room in complete darkness, close your eyes and "tune in", began to teach the basics of calling spirits to many of his followers - over time, they say, there were hundreds.
During one of his dives, he learned from the spirits the date of his own death and shortly before his death gave instructions to his disciples: when in the future they will establish contacts with the world of the dead at the Ouija board, the first thing to do is to call his spirit, and he, in turn, will do everything to come from another world to earth, make contact and answer all questions.
By the way, to this day, mediums all over the world claim that the spirit of the former American president is the most contact and sociable, newcomers taking their first steps in the field of spiritualism are recommended to start their practices with him.
Abraham Lincoln developed an interest in spiritualism at the very beginning of his political career. After the death of his beloved son Willie, he was very sad and, as they say, could not eat or drink, all the time he walked sad and pale, and sometimes he could lie in bed all day without getting up. And then someone advised him to attend a session of the medium and enter into communion with the spirit of Willie.
Most historians assume that his wife Mary Todd was this advisor, but there is evidence that Lincoln himself, independently of Mary, was previously interested in spiritualism, and the tragedy in the family was just an excuse for "immersion" in this topic headlong.
In a letter to his friend Joshua F. Speed, written in 1842, Lincoln notes that he was “always strongly attracted to mysticism,” and that he always felt that he was directed “not by his own will, but by some other force that pushed to the world of the dead, communication with which is possible only through a talking board with letters, numbers and an indicator, which is controlled by spirits."
Promotional video:
Historians believe that Lincoln's experience of communicating with several mediums, as well as his own sessions, influenced the entire course of world history. After all, it was at the spiritualistic séances that the president came up with the idea of a non-standard measure for those times, thanks to which he entered history. We can say that with the light hand of spirits in 1863 a manifesto on the emancipation of slaves in America was published.
One of the famous mediums of that time, Mrs. Cranston Laurie, wrote in her memoirs that the president always took a firm anti-slavery position, considering slavery evil and opposed the spread of this system throughout the United States, and therefore in sessions he constantly asked whether it was possible the abolition of slavery, and what it could be fraught with.
During his presidency, Lincoln conducted sessions with various mediums, including JB Conklin, Nettie Coleburn, Mrs. Miller, Cora Maynard, and many others. By the way, Maynard took credit for the manifesto on the emancipation of slaves, asserting this in her autobiography. Nettie Coleburn also attributed this honor to herself, referring to the way she spent an hour and a half in a trance convincing Lincoln that the war would not end until he abolished slavery.
Lincoln's position in relation to slavery led to his assassination - and this, according to some sources, was also predicted to the president at one of the sessions. On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln in the back of the head as he and his wife sat in a box at Ford's Washington Theater. Lincoln passed away several hours later.
Apart from seances, Lincoln had two startling warnings about his own death. Shortly before the elections of 1860, he saw his reflection in the mirrors several times, and this threw him out of balance. He saw two different reflections simultaneously. One of the faces was covered with a deadly pallor, and when you tried to peer into it, it immediately disappeared. Mary Todd Lincoln interpreted this as a sign that he would be re-elected for a second term, but would not live to see it.
Ten days before the assassination, Lincoln had a prophetic dream where, in reality, he saw his own death. He wrote this in his diary, preserved in museums to this day:
“I went to bed late. And soon he began to dream. It seemed like a deathly silence spilled around me. Then, choked sobs were heard, as if many people were crying. It seemed to me that I got out of bed and slowly went down the stairs. And here the silence was broken by the same mournful sob, but there were no mourners to be seen.
I went from room to room, but I did not see a single living soul, although all the way I was greeted by the same sorrowful sounds of sadness. All the rooms were lit, every object was familiar to me, but where are all these people who grieve as if their hearts were breaking with grief? It puzzled and alarmed me.
What does that mean? Determined to find out the cause of what was happening - something mysterious and terrible - I continued to walk on until I reached the East Apartments, where I entered. Before me was a hearse, on which rested a body, dressed in a funeral garment. Around him were soldiers on guard of honor and a crowd of people crowded around him - someone gazed mournfully at the body, his face was covered, the rest were crying bitterly.
"Who died in the White House?" I asked one of the soldiers. “President,” came the answer. And then the crowd burst through in a loud sorrowful cry, which awakened me from my sleep. That night I did not fall asleep anymore, and although it was only a dream, since then I have not left a strange anxiety."
On the evening before the assassination, Lincoln told his cabinet members that he had a dream about an assassination attempt on his life. On the day of the assassination attempt, Lincoln shared with his bodyguard W. G. Crook that he had been dreaming for three nights in a row that he would be killed. Crook urged him not to go to the Ford Theater that evening, but Lincoln objected, saying that fate was inevitable, and if he was destined to die, so be it.
“And I also promised my wife that I would go to the theater with her, and it’s not good to deceive women,” he joked, after which this phrase of his was included in the number of quotes of great personalities. Send him to the theater, instead of the usual "all the best", he said to Crook "sorry and goodbye." All historians are convinced that he knew he would be shot that evening.
A funeral train took Lincoln's body home to Springfield, Illinois, to be interred there. It is said that since then, annually in April, on the anniversary of Lincoln's assassination, the ghost of the funeral train moves along the tracks along which a real funeral train followed from the capital of the country, Washington, through New York State and further west to Illinois. … However, the ghost train never reaches its destination.
At the same time, there are stories that there are two ghost trains. At the first, a locomotive pulls several black-draped carriages and throws out black smoke. One of the cars is a military one and the sounds of mourning music can be heard from there. At the second, the locomotive pulls only one platform with the president's coffin.
An American newspaper, whose journalists were convinced that the story of the train was just a legend, and conducted its own investigation, once published the following material:
“From year to year in the month of April, somewhere around midnight, the air on the paths becomes somehow penetrating, piercing to the bones, although on both sides of the path it remains warm and motionless. Any observer, sensing such air, immediately tries to quickly get away from the tracks and settle down somewhere, look. Soon the head locomotive of the funeral train, entwined with long black ribbons, with an orchestra of black instruments playing funeral music passes by, and grinning skeletons sit everywhere.
It passes silently. If the night is moonlit, then the moment the ghost train passes, the clouds obscure the moon. When the lead locomotive passes, a mourning train with flags and ribbons rushes in behind it. The rails appear to be covered with a black carpet, a coffin is visible in the center of the car, while all the air around it and the entire train behind it is filled with countless people in blue military uniforms, some of them carry their coffins on their shoulders, while others lean on them.
If at this time a real train happens to go, then its noise dies down, as if it is being swallowed by a ghost train. When a ghost train passes by, all clocks stop, from pocket clocks to floor clocks. And if you look at them later, they are all five to eight minutes behind. It was noticed that on the night of April 27, it suddenly turned out that all the clocks were behind all the way.
Already in our days, ufologists from all over the world, who visited the place where the train appeared, agreed in a single opinion: it exists! Its passage was recorded by many devices, but so far no one has succeeded in photographing or filming the train - nothing is displayed on film and in digital format.
Some time after Lincoln's death, his widow Mary Todd decided to arrange a photo session for herself, inviting the famous photographer William Mumler. The snapshot he took has become historical. The black-and-white photo turned out not only a portrait of the president's wife, but also vague outlines resembling the face of the late president himself.
Lincoln's spirit is said to continue to roam the White House. For the first time, the steps attributed to the ghost of Lincoln were noted by employees in the corridors of the second floor. The first person who allegedly saw his ghost was Grace Coolidge, wife of Calvin Coolidge, the thirtieth president of the United States, who was in power from 1923 to 1929.
She noticed the silhouette of Lincoln standing by the window in the Oval Office, looking out over the Potomac River. Since then, his ghost has been seen in this position or felt in this place. Poet Karl Sandberg once said that he felt (but did not see) Lincoln standing next to him at the window.
The apparition of the ghost recreates the real scene that the military chaplain Bowles happened to witness one evening during the Lincoln presidency. Bowles arrived at the Oval Office to meet with Lincoln. The President at that moment looked sadly out the window. “I thought that never in my life had I seen such a deep sorrow on my face, but I saw many sad faces,” Bowles wrote about the incident.
Lincoln's former bedroom, which is called "Lincoln's room", is one of the places where his ghost appears. This part of the building houses the heads of state who have arrived on an official visit, many of whom talked about the strange phenomena taking place there - from the sound of footsteps to visual hallucinations.
When Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands once visited President Franklin D. Roosevelt, she heard footsteps in the hallway and then a knock on the door. When she opened it, she was amazed to see Lincoln standing in front of her in a frock coat and a high top hat. The queen fainted. This could have been attributed to visions if at least two other guests had not seen Lincoln sitting on the bed and putting on his shoes.
Eleanor Roosevelt usually worked in the evenings and was often aware of Lincoln's presence. Sometimes Roosevelt's dog, Fala, would suddenly start barking madly for no apparent reason.
President Harry Truman, too, was confident he heard Lincoln walking around the house. When Truman's presidency ended, the ghost seemed to disappear from the White House. During the Ronald Reagan administration, President's daughter Maureen said she saw the ghost of Lincoln in Lincoln's room.
In addition to the footsteps of Lincoln's ghost being heard in the White House, they are heard at his burial site in Springfield.