Welcome to Mysteries over Martinis! This blog is a mix of unexplained phenomena and personal encounters served up with a mystery-themed cocktail. It’s a recipe for intrigue!

A Message Mint to Be

Ingredients:

2 parts Absolut Orient Apple

2 Wheels Lemon

4 Mint Leaves

Ginger Ale

Muddle lemon and mint leaves in a glass. Fill with ice cubes. Add Absolut Orient apple. Top up with ginger ale.

Precursor to Death

In my second article entitled “Presidential Precognition,” I discussed Abraham Lincoln’s dream and vision which foretold of his own demise. I recently interviewed several people who claimed to have been given insight prior to the passing of someone close to them. I refer to this chilling phenomenon as a “precursor to death.” The thing I find most fascinating about the following stories is that the method in which the messages were delivered vary so drastically.

One way of receiving these messages is while in a meditative or dream state. The following story was recounted to me by Kari.

About 6 years ago, I was in bed and I wasn’t in a dream state but I wasn’t quite awake either. It was kind of like tunnel vision. I had 3 women in my room and they kept saying, “It’s time.” I said, “I don’t know what that means.” They wouldn’t elaborate, they would just continue to say, “You know it’s time.” I was able to pick up on two of their personalities. One was really gruff and one was really sweet. The one who was super sweet was named Emily. I felt a comfort from her. The other one was named Aleta. The third woman was there but didn’t really speak. When I woke up, I felt the urge to tell my mom. I told her I didn’t know what they wanted. It was so weird. My mom asked, “What did the women look like?” I told her the one had dark hair, a growly face and was kind of a bitch. I didn’t like her, she was very pushy. When I told her I didn’t know what she meant, she became more forceful. The other one was named Emily and she seemed very sweet. My mom responded with, “That’s your great grandmother Emily Potter.” I knew of her but I only knew her as great grandma Potter. She died before I ever had the chance to meet her. Aleta would have been her daughter. Family described her as being a big grouch when she was alive. My mom wanted to try something so she dug out some family photos I’d never seen before. One was a photo of Emily’s 12 kids. My mom wanted me to point out Aleta. I recognized her frowning face and wrinkles. I was able to pick her out successfully and my mom agreed that she was a very unpleasant person. The other photos were of Emily when she was young. I recognized her right away even though I’d never seen pictures of her when she was young. The next day, I was pulling into a parking lot when my mom called. She told me my uncle Terry had passed away. I told her that I guess I kind of knew that was coming. We learned that my uncle died of ALS but he did not tell anyone about his diagnosis. He had stopped taking his medication and suffocated. Come to find out, these 3 women were Terry’s favorite aunts and his grandmother.

In other circumstances, people report having a visual encounter that occurs during their waking state. This is Rose’s account.

My brother Joe had fallen off a 10 foot ladder on May 27^th of this year while doing some electrical work. He suffered high impact trauma to his head, including multiple skull fractures and a broken neck. He had to be intubated and sedated. Unfortunately, his condition worsened and he never regained consciousness. He was on life support for several weeks. Joe lived in California and I live in Iowa. I was unable to make the trip out to see him. On Saturday June 21st, I was at work at Mercy Hospital. We had a very busy night and something told me I need to go with two of the nurses who were going outside for a smoke break. I never, ever smoke while at work but something told me to bum a cigarette and tag along, so I did. We had enjoyed our cigarettes and we ran into the security guard outside so we chatted with him for a bit. The three of us came in from the rose garden located on the west side of the hospital. I was lagging behind the two other nurses as we made our way through the sliding glass door and we approached an intersection where we ran into the security guard for a second time. The nurses began to speak with him again so I waited a couple feet behind when I noticed some movement out of my peripheral view. I turned my head to the left to look and I saw a male figure floating from behind a partition and headed towards the rose garden door. The man stopped and turned his head to look at me. It was my brother Joe. He smiled at me and then slowly drifted through the closed glass door. The next morning was when we learned he had passed away. Seeing him told me that his time was coming soon. I felt like his visit was his final goodbye since he was so far away and he knew I wouldn’t have the chance to get out to California.

Sometimes these messages come telepathically, almost as if the information is downloaded into your brain.

Amanda: Last week, I was relaxing in my living room with my husband and dogs. Suddenly, the word “Death” popped into my head as I was looking at one of my dogs. I was concerned that something might be wrong with my dog which made me nervous. The next day, my husband called me to tell me that his friend’s wife was in the hospital. This woman also happened to be one of my clients. She wasn’t doing well and they weren’t sure if she was going to make it. Later that same day, I received a text message saying that our friend’s wife had actually died the night before. The news of her passing hadn’t been released right away. I was in shock. They were very private people. We knew she’d had some health issues but we had no idea how severe it was. I realized then that the message must have been regarding her.

I had a similar experience: In August of 2000, I was attending Cosmetology school. One of my dearest friends, named Kitty, was in my class so we spent a lot of our time together. She had a boyfriend named Shalor who would occasionally pick her up and take her out for lunch. One afternoon, I was sitting on the steps outside the school enjoying the end of my lunch hour. Shalor pulled up in Kitty’s indigo Jeep to drop her off. He waved at me and I waved back. As he pulled away, an ominous thought popped into my head, “This is the last time you will ever see him.” It was. He died of an accidental drug overdose that weekend. He was only 23 years old.

The following story is a different spin on this eerie phenomenon. I received an account of someone who was given a message to give to someone who was dying.

Vicki: I was making a quilt for my aunt Delah who was dying of cancer. She was a patient of hospice and didn’t have very long to live. I was trying to hurry and get the quilt done so she could have it before she passed on. The quilt that I was making was pieces of material from t-shirts provided by her kids and those close to her. When I was walking downstairs to get started on the quilt, all of a sudden, a message just popped in my head. It was, “Tell her Jesus is waiting for her with arms open and he will be there to comfort her and take away all her pain when she’s ready to go.” I thought this was very weird and just began working on the quilt. The next morning at work, it popped into my head just as it did the night prior. I was planning to head to my aunt’s house that night to give her the quilt. I was worried that I wasn’t going to be able to get it to her before she passed. Then, the message came again around noon. This time, I felt peace as if she was going to wait for me and I knew I had to give her this message. After work, I went to her house. When I walked in, her two sisters and daughter were there. They said “She’s been waiting for you. She shouldn’t last much longer. She’s been waiting for someone and we believe it’s you.” I walked over to my aunt and I placed the quilt on her. I gave her the message. She was having a hard time breathing and it was difficult to watch. Her daughter and sister continued to encourage her to let go. It was upsetting to me because it was so painful to watch so I started to pray that God take her. Then, I heard in my head, “She will go when she is ready.” I thought, “You’re right.” Then, I suggested that we talk about memories and stories we had about Delah. As we began telling stories and started to laugh, she decided that was the time for her to go. At Delah’s funeral, I asked my mom if I had told her about the message I gave Delah. She said I hadn’t so I whispered it in her ear. She began sobbing and when she stopped, she said she felt at peace.

These peculiarities seem to happen more frequently than one might think. Some claim these stories are the result of coincidence. Others believe it’s the third eye tapping into the ethereal realm. It may be the workings of a subconscious mind putting puzzle pieces together and revealing the big picture when our thoughts are unoccupied. Regardless of how we receive the messages, most of these experiences bring a sense of peace. However, there’s a small amount that unnerve the person receiving the ominous message. In our culture, death is an incredibly uncomfortable topic. However, here at Mysteries over Martinis, we explore all angles of the bizarre and macabre. If you’ve had a mysterious encounter you’d like to share, please e-mail me and be sure to like the Mysteries over Martinis Facebook page. Weirdness is always welcome!