I think of these sorts of things sometimes..
I sometimes have dreams when I am really struggling to wake up and can't , trying to shout help and nothing comes out it is terrifying.
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How do you know if you're dead dead?? đ€đ„Žđ
(148 Posts)After reading the Anaesthetic thread, this reminded me of my worst fearâŠ..I have this dread of being in my coffin and still being aware of whatâs happening. I donât mean being pronounced dead by mistakeâŠ..
Germanshepherdsmum
The mother of one of my colleagues had stipulated that if she was pronounced dead her arteries must be cut in his presence. He honoured her wish. Thankfully she was indeed dead.
That was actually not uncommon. Many people used to state in their wills that they wanted a main artery to be cut before they were buried to avoid the prospect of being buried alive.
keepingquiet
This is where the term 'wake' originates from. The family and community gather round the body until the funeral just in case they 'wake' up. I suggest you make a stipulation in your will (make sure your family know, to make sure) that a wake is held so people can come and visit to check you're dead and celebrate your life with food and drink before sending you off.
If you don't want this doing at home it could be arranged (I suspect at a cost) at the funeral home.
It is a practice still held in many parts of the world and I think we should bring it back here too, if you want of course, it shouldn't be mandatory lol!
No it doesnât! đ€Łđ€Łđ€Ł
In olden times, people would actually stay awake with the deceased from death until burial, literally âwakingâ or âwatchingâ with them. The Anglo-Saxon word âwaecceâ meant âsomeone who is awake/watchingâ. It referred to someone keeping vigil or guard.
Think of the late Queenâs recent death and her lying in state at Westminster Hall where a constant vigil was kept before the funeral.
I'm hoping if I'm not dead, dead, that bu the time I think "Oh, blimey, it's hot in here!" then it'll all be over.
I always read the death notices in The Daily Telegraph, just to make sure that I am still alive!!! Apart from burial, my only stipulation is that all my cremated dogs ashes are buried with me in their caskets. I am afraid of fire (which makes winters very chilly) and isn't Hades associated with a firey furnace? I might be sent to the wrong place!
I donât think thereâs much evidence for an afterlife, but could be wrong. I think itâs very rare that anyone is certified dead in error and the ones that I have read about tend to be when drug overdoses are involved.
With regard to an afterlife, I wasnât aware before birth and think it will be similar after death. Nothingless. It makes me appreciate this life more.
I have posted before that I have a small snapshot of a previous life.
Itâs interesting that when an exorcism takes place the spirit is told that it has died and may now depart, which seems to work. Maybe some donât know that they have died and need permission to pass into the next world. Who knows? I have an open mind but I also have a firm belief in life after death.
I share lemsipâs worry. I understand that hearing is the last sense to fail and I fear being pronounced dead when I can still hear (âPhew. Letâs go and put the kettle onâ)
I was with my husband when he died and there was no doubt in my mind that his last breath really was the last. I was quite amused by the doctor who came in to check that he was dead. He listened to his chest, shone a light in his eyes, and called his name loudly. I did wonder if he ever had anyone sit up and "Oh hallo! I was asleep"! It was interesting that I had never seen this doctor before. Apart from the nurse who came in when I first pressed the alarm all the regular nurses and doctors had disappeared. I think they were all as upset as we were.
karmalady
Poppyred, that silken thread which remains intact until you have permission to leave. It is invisible and your soul/energy will never remain in the confines of a coffin or a funeral home. Don`t fear that your soul/energy/essence will be trapped in your body. It won`t be. That is the time when you will be free to `visit` family and friends, some of whom will sense your presence. The funeral or just saying those words `you can go` will undo that silken thread and the spirit will become completely free
Such a beautiful post, thank you.
From my Professional Heath Care perspective, having had to deactivate many Implantable Defibrillator's within a large Hospital Mortuary, when your Dead your defiantly dead, no doubt.
Poppyred
What I meant was, what if we are still aware of whatâs going on even if we are dead? đ±
Haunt someone, it could be fun.
Couldnt it just. 
Germanshepherdsmum
I have posted before that I have a small snapshot of a previous life.
Itâs interesting that when an exorcism takes place the spirit is told that it has died and may now depart, which seems to work. Maybe some donât know that they have died and need permission to pass into the next world. Who knows? I have an open mind but I also have a firm belief in life after death.
That's so interesting GSM. I've missed your previous posts but would you be willing to share your snapshot. I also believe in life after death and I have reasons to do so.
Ooh yes!
I'd be interested to hear, too, please.
Itâs a very tiny snapshot. I remember walking hand in hand with a woman who I knew to be my mother, in a village which I moved to when I was two years old. My mother was wearing a flowery 1940s style dress. It wasnât my mother. I was born in 1951.
Have you always had that memory, gsm, or did it come to you as you grew up, please?
Iâve had it as long as I can remember. I canât explain it. I could take you to the exact place in the village where I was walking with this lady. It has always felt as though it was during WW2. I donât know what I was wearing, just what the lady who was then my mum wore.
As a child , I had a horror of waking up in a coffin after watching a creepy film .
Waking up has happened abroad .
I think that it no longer happens in this country due to stringent medical checks .
But you can stipulate extra precautions .
As a Christian , I hope for life after death .
Just enjoy life now and make the most of it !
do not discuss funerals ect round the bed of a dying person, they will hear you and may become agitated. I was told that.
The hearing is still there till the end.
Germanshepherdsmum
Itâs a very tiny snapshot. I remember walking hand in hand with a woman who I knew to be my mother, in a village which I moved to when I was two years old. My mother was wearing a flowery 1940s style dress. It wasnât my mother. I was born in 1951.
Have you ever thought to try and find out more, if it was possible?
It's so interesting.
There always seems to be such a long wait for funerals nowadays, so presumably thereâs plenty of time to come around - if you were going to.
Some people lose their sense of self while still alive e.g. during dementia. The sense of self is even absent in some dream states. The sense of self can't survive permanent brain death, therefor if these is life after death it is not life as we know it as selves.
I donât think it would be possible MissA, except possibly through hypnosis. They say that a childâs memory of a past life fades very early on but this has been with me for as long as I can remember. I do believe in reincarnation and I have thought about hypnosis to retrieve memories, but I might discover something I would rather not know so have left well alone.
Ah yes.
A work colleague of mine had a very similar, fleeting memory, and went for hypnosis.
While "under" she said she was a little boy who was a "runner" for the big house.
The tale she told was that as this boy, she lived with her mother, in a tiny cottage, and her mother worked in the big house, doing all the very menial tasks.
She (as this boy) would take messages, letters, fetch the doctor of needed, and basically "run" there and back, when needed.
Hence "a runner".
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