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Bobby Kennedy. She also predicted the launch of Sputnik and the sinking of the submarines USS Thresher and USS Scorpion, as well as the unexpected presidential defeat of Thomas Dewey by Harry Truman, the landslide election of Dwight Eisenhower, the demise of Nikita Khrushchev, and the plane crash that killed UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld.

      Jeanne Dixon, who was told by a gypsy when she was eight years old that she would become a great psychic, also made hundreds of trivial predictions about celebrities and insignificant events and earned the dubious nickname of ‘gossip prophet’. As she explained it, ‘When a psychic vision is not fulfilled as expected, it is not because what has been shown is not correct; it is because I have not interpreted it correctly’

      Like Nostradamus (C. 1:60) and St John (in the Book of Revelation 8: 10-12), she prophesized that Earth will be struck by a comet. Her timing, however, was premature:

      I have seen a comet strike our Earth around the middle of the 1980s. Earthquakes and tidal waves will befall us as a result of the tremendous impact of this heavenly body in one of our great oceans.

      And like several other prophets, Dixon also has foreseen the advent of the Antichrist and the False Prophet:

      Satan is now coming into the open to seduce the world and we should be prepared for the inevitable events that are to follow. I have seen that the United States is to play a major role in this development.

      Ms Dixon believed her powers were a gift from God. She made little financial profit from them, making it a policy not to charge fees and to donate income to a children’s charity. Sceptics argue that her predictions were vague, wide open to interpretation and often completely inaccurate or wrong. They also believe that the media played a part in the cult surrounding her.

      The term ‘Jeanne Dixon effect’ is used to refer to a common ploy used by ‘psychics’ to make dozens of predictions knowing that the more that are made, the better the odds that one will prove accurate. When one comes true, the psychic counts on people conveniently forgetting the 99 per cent that were wrong. The term also refers to the tendency of the mass media to hype or exaggerate a few correct predictions by a psychic, guaranteeing that they will be remembered, while ignoring the much more numerous incorrect predictions.

      DOLPHINS

      In classical mythology dolphins are associated with the soul’s journey to the underworld, and in Christian myth the dolphin represents salvation through Christ. To many alternative therapists dolphins are a symbol of healing and emotional release. This may have something to do with the fact that dolphins live in water. Water in many traditions (including that of astrology) is related to feeling and emotion. Dolphins invite us to enjoy water in its physical form and also to swim freely and flow with our feelings. We can also learn from their breathing patterns. The dolphin breathes deeply, holds its breath while underwater, and then exhales explosively. This is an excellent breathing pattern for releasing tension.

      Dolphins and humans have had a special bond for centuries. Swimming with dolphins is thought to have remarkable healing benefits, especially for those suffering from learning difficulties. In the words of the Greek essayist Plutarch: ‘The dolphin is the only creature that loves man for his own sake.’ Indeed, dolphins are highly intelligent animals that appear to enjoy human company for its own sake, perhaps enjoying the observation of our antics and as much as we do theirs.

      DOMOVIK

      In Russian folklore the domovik is a spirit with a grey beard that typically lives behind the stove in every home. He is always referred to as the grandfather or he - never by his personal name. Traditionally it is the spirit of the ancestor that founded the family and it moves with the family from house to house. The domovik is believed to watch over the family, keep evil spirits away and occasionally help out around the house. If, however, family members do something that displeases the domovik it is said to resort to poltergeist activity, and that can include burning down the house!

      DOORS

      As a universal symbol of opening and new possibilities it’s not surprising that there are many superstitions concerning doors and spirits. Most of these superstitions are concerned with keeping ghosts from entering homes or letting ghosts escape to the afterlife. For example, it is widely thought unlucky to enter a house via the back door, as traditionally corpses are carried out the back door. Opening doors and windows when there has been a death in the house is thought to help the spirit leave the corpse. A circle chalked on a door is believed to prevent evil spirits from entering, and slamming a door several times during a row is believed to trap a ghost between the frame and the door and force it to leave.

      DOPPELGÄNGER/DOUBLE

      The appearance of a double of a living person, thought to be a death omen, or bilocation - the astral body of someone having an out-of-body experience. ‘Dop-pelgänger’ comes from the German, meaning ‘double walker’.

      The belief in the spirit or soul existing in a double is ancient and widespread. The ancient Egyptians said the soul had a double or Ka, and a special kind of tomb, called the house of Ka, was reserved for the double. Doubles are said to be exact copies of the living person and are usually seen at a location distant from them.

      As a death omen there are reports of seeing doubles just as the individual in question is about to die. The double usually appears real but has a ghostly, filmy look about them and can sometimes act mechanically. In some rare cases, such as that of the poet Shelley who saw his own double before drowning, the double appears to the dying individual him or herself. As well as being a death omen, many psychical researchers who have examined cases of doppelgängers believe they are projections of consciousness that somehow take on a form resembling reality. This can happen involuntarily or it can be accomplished at will. English medium Eileen Garrett suggested that the double is a clairvoyant projection that can be manipulated to develop supernatural powers.

      DOWDING, AIR CHIEF MARSHALL LORD HUGH [1882–1970]

      The hero of the Battle of Britain Air Chief Marshall Lord Hugh Dowding claimed on numerous occasions to be in contact with the spirits of the dead, especially airmen who had served with him or under him in both world wars. Dowding was a prominent member of the London Ghost Club and took an active part in many investigations of allegedly haunted locations with the organization.

      DOWSING

      Also known as divining, rhabdomancy and water witching dowsing is a form of divination performed using a forked stick, pendulum or rods to find hidden things, in particular underground water, minerals and oil. Today it is used to locate lost objects, buried treasure, mineral deposits and water wells, and to diagnose illness.

      Dowsing is an ancient practice with unknown origins, however it is thought to date back at least 8,000 years. Wall paintings, estimated to be about 8,000 years old, discovered in the Tassili Caves of North Africa show tribesmen surrounding a man with a forked stick, possibly dowsing for water.

      Ancient Chinese and Egyptian artwork depicts people using forked tools in possible dowsing activities. Dowsing may have been mentioned in the Bible, although not by name, when Moses and Aaron used a ‘rod’ to locate water. It was in the Middle Ages, however, that the first unambiguous written accounts of dowsing come, when it was used to find coal deposits. In seventeenth-century France, there are records of a man called Jacques Vernay a stonemason by trade, who used his dowsing talents to successfully track criminals. However, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, dowsers were often thought to be practitioners of evil. Martin Luther described dowsing as ‘the work of devil’ -hence the term

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