I hope you enjoy how subscribers answered my paranormal survey as much as I did!

The first question: do you believe in the paranormal?

Of the twenty people who filled out the survey, twelve of you said yes, while the other eight either said they were on the fence or no. You may ask, does Nancy Gardner believe in the paranormal? My answer is a qualified “yes.” I think there are people who have the gift of extraordinary knowing, but charlatans and faux-psychics give them a bad name. Dr. Christian Smith noted when he spoke with us last month that he suspects scientists will someday develop tools to measure psychic abilities. Such tools would separate honest psychics from charlatans. I can’t wait!

The second question: have you or someone you love had a prophetic dream?

A surprising percentage of folks answered yes—nine of the twenty. Many of those dreams foretold a sad occurrence. One person was eight and woke believing their father had died; instead, they learned it was their grandfather who’d died the night before. Another person’s mother dreamed of broken glass and blood. Hours later they learned the mother’s nephew had died in a car crash.

Still another person’s father dreamed he was in a car accident. Shortly thereafter, the dream came true. And another person’s mother saw a casket and smelled funeral flowers. Less than a week later, the dreamer’s father died. Then there was the respondent whose sister-in-law visited her in a dream to make it clear she would soon leave the dreamer’s older brother—and did.

And another respondent dreamed of a car climbing a steep hill in a blinding rainstorm on a road that ended with the car hanging over a cliff looking down at a raging ocean. When the dreamer turned on the news, they learned that a deadly storm hit Florida the night before, and a family in Florida, driving to escape the rising sea water, plunged off a cliff to their deaths.

The most prolific psychic dream respondent reported she dreamed about her sister, and the next day learned her sister had died. That same respondent also dreamed her ex-husband couldn’t cross a bridge to be with her, then he was diagnosed with an incurable disease and died. Needless to say, she pays attention to her dreams.

On a lighter note, one of our respondents has dreams that introduce them to relatives they haven’t met yet.

The third question: have you ever been to a psychic and, if so, what was it like?

Again, twelve out of twenty said yes, but with mixed results in terms of useful information .

Two people prefer to consult the Tarot or I Ching to solve their dilemmas. They reminded me of something Dr. Smith’s famous psychic mom believes, “everyone has the potential to…develop intuitive skills to use in their own life so they would never need to see a psychic.”

As to my own way of tapping into intuition, like those two respondents, I sometimes consult I Ching cards. The psychiatrist, Carl Jung, believed that consulting the I Ching can be a way to access the wisdom of the unconscious mind.

The fourth and final question: do you have a favorite book, movie, and/or TV show featuring the paranormal?

Books mentioned included, The Journalist: A Paranormal Thriller by David Gardner, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss, the Bible, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The Haunting of Hattie Hastings by Audrey Davis, Dr. Sleep by Stephen King, Grimm’s Fairy Tales by the Grimm brothers, The Dead Zone by Stephen King, Favorite African Folk Tales, edited by Nelson Mandela.

Movies mentioned included: The Sixth Sense, Avatar, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and that all-time romantic favorite, Ghost.

Two TV series were mentioned: Supernatural (streaming on Amazon Prime), and Carnivale (streaming on HBO Max).

Applause to all twenty of you who took time to reply. You made creating a survey and reporting back a pleasure. Thanks!

PS: Let’s end with a wonderful quote from a thoughtful respondent, “There were days after my husband died when I heard him call me. I’d leave the kitchen and scurry to the bedroom, saying, ‘I’m coming Hon, I’m coming.’ It did not frighten me; in some strange way, it pleased me. My take: he’s still here with me.”