Premonitions: An exploration of the 'sixth sense'

Premonition, a painting of Henry Wysenhoff, 1893

Carol Forsloff - Dr. Linda Okerke attended a special academic high school in Natchitoches, Louisiana, for gifted young people. I was her patient at an orthopedic clinic in Portland, Oregon, and saw her for the first time in 2012, a year after leaving Natchitoches, where my husband and I had lived six years. Dr. Okerke and I shared the remark: "What a coincidence," when we discovered we had both lived in Natchitoches, a statement often made in such circumstances. But are there such things as coincidences, or is there some predetermined or mystical planning that brings people together at opportune times?

People speculated after the death of Whitney Houston that she had a premonition of her own death as she spoke of wanting to be with Jesus. TMZ relates the conversations that Houston had with friends in the days before her death. She was said to have made this statement: "You know, he's so cool ... I really want to see that Jesus."

Others, however, maintain that there are no such things as premonitions, only coincidences. An article in the Daily Mail reasons that Whitney Houston took drugs on a regular basis and that the fact she mentioned her love for Jesus and wanting to be with Him was simply something that happened as it would at any other time in the singer's life, considering the regularity of her drug-taking.

Larry Dossey, MD tells us, "I used to believe that we must choose between science and reason on one hand and spirituality on the other, in how we lead our lives. Now I consider this a false choice. We can recover the sense of sacredness, not just in science, but in perhaps every area of life."

For me, I had been anxious about seeing a bone specialist, as the increased pain signaled that perhaps my osteoporosis condition was worsening, and I feared the type of medical treatment that might mean hospitalization or some special medication that would cause me to be unable to do the type of concentrated work in writing and music that I enjoy. I hoped, and literally prayed, for support or solace when I saw a specialist for the first time in Portland.

Having a doctor from the same town from which I had recently moved, and had so loved, immediately quieted my fears, as I recognized that in some fashion I had received that special solace that I seemed to know would come. It is this type of "knowing" that Dr. Dossey maintains is possible and that is a gift that helps us plan ahead and to manage problems that might otherwise have no answer.

Dossey writes, "Most researchers believe premonitions are trying to do us a favor. They are mainly about survival."  He goes on to say that whereas many premonitions are of possible danger, there are also positive ones as well. As he says, "They come in many flavors."

After interviewing many people about their premonitions, Dossey wrote a book entitled "The Power of Premonitions: How Knowing the Future Can Help Shape Our Lives." His scientific work and conclusions are based about anecdotal evidence, something others question.  On the other hand, the possibility of having that special something that comes to us, for whatever reason, in answer to a prayer or a feeling or a belief, folks say can certainly bring comfort and relief in times of crisis.