In the mid 1900s, Louisa E. Rhine, an American parapsychologist, put together and analyzed some of the most compressive collection spontaneous cases of psychic experiences ever gathered—over 30,000 reports! She received many of these cases as letters sent to her laboratory—where she had conducted psychic experiments with her husband (the famous parapsychologist J. B. Rhine). She published many in her books and scholarly articles.
Below are a few examples of the ones she received which were intuitive. As you’ll see, these are mostly between close family members—and they’re usually warnings, about the sickness, injury, distress, or death of a family member (Rhine, 1891) (Rhine, 2018).
Claircognizance (”Just Knowing”) Examples
Son “Knows” Father’s Condition is Getting Worse
“My father was sick for two years before his death. At the time, I was 14 years old. Now my age is 41. Having finished my supper one night, something told me that my father needed a doctor. First I told my mother and sister. We all went up to his room and asked how he was feeling. He replied that he was feeling great and that he was in good spirits. Something still told me that he needed a doctor and I insisted that they send for my older brother who lived across town from us. Everyone told me that I was upset and imagining things. It was a long time before sleep overtook me that night. Sure enough, my father was found dead in bed the next morning. Now I was the youngest in my family of seven sisters and one brother. Why this warning should come to me at the age of 14, I do not know. It has been on my mind ever since.” (Rhine, 2018, p. 58)
Son “Knows” Something Happened To Mother
“One day when I was working, I suddenly stopped and said to the girl next to me, “Oh, my mother! Something has happened.” The girl said, “Don’t be silly. They would have let you know.” But I got no work done. On returning home for dinner I found mother’s head all bandaged. She had been knocked down on the main road at the time I started to worry.” (Rhine, 2018, p. 62)
Mother “Knows” Son is Not At Camp
“A relative of ours was staying with us several weeks ago. Her son is in the service, a fine strapping lad who had been home for Christmas. One morning she said to my wife, “I know that something is wrong. Jesse is not at his camp.” Questioning brought no reason, but she was certain. For three days thereafter she was upset. On the third day she received a toll call. It was from her son. He was AWOL.” (Rhine, 2018, p. 58)
Mother “Knows” Baby is Choking
“A young woman in Chicago was in her kitchen while her baby was asleep in the bedroom and her three-year-old child was in the living room. All at once, the mother felt that the baby was choking on something her older sister had put in the baby’s mouth. The baby had not cried out, there was no reason to suspect that such a thing had happened, yet the woman “just knew.” She ran into the bedroom, took the baby up, held her with her head down, pushed a finger into the baby’s throat and extracted a piece of candy lodged in it.” (Rhine, 1891, pp. 134-135) (Berger, 1991, p. 201)
Presentiment Examples
Woman Has “Hunch” of Impending Tragedy and Bodily Reactions (Chills, Hair Raising, Butterflies) Before Niece Killed
“I had a sense of tragedy hovering between our new home and my brother-in-law’s . . just as though a depressive sadness hung between. Of course, I thought it over very hard but I made a mistake. I thought it was for my own daughter and I watched her very carefully. One night I began to feel the familiar hunch of something being wrong, tingling finger tips, chills, hair raising, and butterflies in my stomach. I began to cry in panic. My husband gave me three aspirins and tucked me into bed. I cried myself off to sleep. The telephone rang and we were told my brother-in-law’s daughter, the same age as my own, had been struck by a car and killed.” (Rhine, 2018, p. 61)