Departing Spirits

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tabby
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Departing Spirits

Post by tabby »

This link was sent to me in an email and it took me forever to get around to reading it. I finally did so and I found it to be interesting. I couldn't stop ... just one more ...

Whats your best nursing ghost story? - General Nursing Discussion

I don’t really think of these as traditional ghost stories although these vignettes certainly touch on the spiritual world.

I wasn’t so much intrigued by the sightings of the long deceased or the troublesome poltergeists but the stories involving a person’s moment of death and the visual sight of mist or vapor rising from the body is something I’m curious about. I’ve never witnessed a death and have no frame of reference to fall back on. Whether you’re a spiritual person or a complete nonbeliever of anything outside the known physical world, read a few of them and see what you think.



Are what these nurses seeing a genuine release of the spirit in physical form or simply a release of bodily energy upon expiration? Both? Neither? Since not everyone sees it, I ‘m assuming it’s something the more spiritually sensitive would be more inclined to see but that doesn't necessarily negate it or at least to me it doesn't. I think some people have more awareness in general.

Have you ever witnessed a death and if so, did you see anything like that?

The stories of demons waiting at the foot of the bed or hovering over the near dead were unsettling to read ... especially at night and this close to Halloween! :yh_devil
fuzzywuzzy
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Departing Spirits

Post by fuzzywuzzy »

I'm not so sure peoples deaths' should be corrolated to Holloween. Most people feel sad, not scared of pumpkins when a relative or friend dies.
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tabby
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Departing Spirits

Post by tabby »

Coincidentally, I'm in the middle of reading a biography of Louisa May Alcott by Susan Cheever. Her beloved sister Lizzie passed away after suffering heart damage from complications after a bout of scarlet fever a few months prior. The paragraph in the book reads:

"Louisa and her mother were at Lizzie's bedside when she took her last breath at around three in the morning. "A curious thing happened," Louisa wrote in her journal, "and I will tell it here for Dr. G. said it was a fact. A few moments after the last breath came, as Mother and I sat silently watching the shadow fall on the dear little face, I saw a light rise from the body and float up and vanish in the air. Mother's eyes followed mine, and when I said, "What do you see?" she described the same light mist. Dr. G. said it was the life departing visibly".
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theia
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Departing Spirits

Post by theia »

On the ward we always the window after someone has died. It's traditional, to allow the spirit to fly home. I think it may come from a Hindu tradition, but I'm not sure at all.

I saw my father minutes after he died and he had his mouth open. The staff apologised for not having closed it but, for my brother and I, it was quite symbolic...his spirit had flown.
Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answers...Rainer Maria Rilke
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tabby
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Departing Spirits

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That's interesting, Theia, I know the article had several references to opening the window so the spirit could leave and it seemed as though it were an accepted practice, although new to me.

To actually witness the physical manifestation of a departing spirit would be ... what ? I don't even know the word for it. Imagine how it would affect you especially if it were a loved one. The obvious grief and loss aside, I think it could have a very calming and peaceful affect on a person though.
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AnneBoleyn
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Departing Spirits

Post by AnneBoleyn »

theia;1437691 wrote: On the ward we always the window after someone has died. It's traditional, to allow the spirit to fly home. I think it may come from a Hindu tradition, but I'm not sure at all.

I saw my father minutes after he died and he had his mouth open. The staff apologised for not having closed it but, for my brother and I, it was quite symbolic...his spirit had flown.


We have a TV commercial I see a lot & I found a discussion of it:

"i wonder is anyone else bothered by the johnson and johnson “pro” nursing commercial with a home care hospice nurse and “gerta” a scandinavian lady, who tells the nurse about a custom that when a person dies, a window must be opened to allow their spirit freedom. the nurse then says, Not tonight, gerta, not tonight” WOW!!! talk about meeting one’s OWN needs..there’s Gerta, possibly looking to talk about her impending death, and she’s cut right off….no open ended questions, and no assurances that if this is something she believes in, the nurse will make sure it is done…nope! just “not tonight gerta” and PS, how does this nurse KNOW it wouldn’t be that night? didn’t anyone ever tell her in Nursing School, “don’t make promises you can’t keep”??? The OTHER commercials done by them, the little girl who’s nurse sings with her while he’s giving chemo..that’s good, but the Gerta one makes me uneasy every time. nancy walters RN"

See more at: “Not tonight, Gerta” | Mighty Nurse

BTW, Jews believe the spirit leaves through the souls of feet.
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theia
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Departing Spirits

Post by theia »

I read your link, Anne, and I loved the comment, "Tonight you can fly, Gerta. Tonight you can fly." Beautiful.
Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answers...Rainer Maria Rilke
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