Was Abraham Lincoln a psychic? Yes, claims a recent book titled "The Psychic Life Of Abraham Lincoln", written by Susan Martinez, who is a self-professed "spiritualist." Today's Chicago Sun-Times contains a brief article about this book and the author's claims. It appears that she makes the claim simply because Lincoln attended a handful of seances with his wife Mary after the death of their son, Willie. Most historians claim that he attended them simply to pacify Mary, who was desperately trying to reach her dead son in any way possible.
I'd think a better claim for any latent psychic ability Lincoln may have had would be based on his dreams, which are well-documented in numerous sources. For example, Lincoln had a very vivid dream just a couple of weeks before he died that he found himself amongst mourners in the White House. When he asked "Who died?" in his dream, he was told that the president had been killed by an assassin. He also had the same recurring dream of being on a ship or boat, rapidly nearing a shore, before momentous occasions in his life. He had this dream before major Civil War battles, and had it again shortly before his death.
The book might be a fun read, but it doesn't strike me as being essential for one's Lincoln library. Seems like it's another one of these books which are speculative at best, along those which claim Lincoln was gay, or that he had some terrible disease of some kind or another.
2 comments:
Just as we now know about the Reagans consulting astrologers throughout their time in the White House, it seems less unlikely that the Lincoln's would NOT have called upon mediums to assist them. Many great leaders have been linked to "seers" throughout history. As a rising movement in the mid 1800s, Spirituality was given some credence (like New Age practices today) before it was eventually debunked. It was something enlightened people experimented with. Real or not, I do believe that Lincoln looked closely at his dreams and found symbolic messages in them. This was the key to his greatness, in fact. Perhaps it's the people of today, void of conviction and insight who are trying to see Lincoln in their own limitted image.
I just recently read this book, although am having a hard time believing much of it. I have read many many books on Lincoln and Martinez has introduced so many quotes by and about Lincoln that I had never heard before. There is also some information in there that I know to be incorrect (including the date of Jefferson Davis' inauguration which she claimed was in 1862). I am just trying to find other people's reviews on this to see if they agree with me.
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