Do our souls know when we're going to pass away?

[SwiftieGrainger]

Please, please do not read on if you find themes of loss or bereavement triggering. This is hopefully intended to be light hearted as a thread. I'm just wondering if anyone believes we subconsciously know when we or people close to us are going to pass away?

I am not hugely superstitious and I have no real view or opinion on the afterlife that makes me more susceptible to taking on such beliefs but I think I do. I was at work and for absolutely no reason at all as I heated up my pasta, I felt the need to call my dad's uncle. We rarely speak- he's an absolutely wonderful old man, but I have never called him in my life. I just did it without any real thought and I could not tell you why. It was lovely, just a light hearted chat that I found time for in my day but hugely unlike me. He peacefully passed away in his sleep the next day and I'm so glad I called. I'm also really glad that somehow the phone call happened when I'm usually so busy at work I don't even respond to texts. It's made me really happy tbh to know he knew I was thinking of him before he went, has anyone else had similar experiences?

Yabu - death is random and we can't know it on a cellular level
Yanbu - this is a common phenomenon

Most death isn't quick so most people know they are dying.

It depends on whether you believe we have such a thing as "a soul". To me, death is simply when our physical body ceases to function. That's it. Nothing else.

People that have had a near death experience say their life flashed before their eyes. That must happen in other circumstances too then? Ie a elderly person in a bed as opposed to a car crash for instance. So they will know at the end at least.

And there are often reports of people saying loved ones have come for them, often a few days in advance.

With regards to the grandad that left his funeral plan on the table, and others that have done things like that, its a shame they didn't write what they felt/saw/knew too.

That's your opinion

I would say no as I also don’t believe we have a “soul”. We have a consciousness which is linked to our brain activity, and we have self awareness, but I don’t know what we have or that would count as evidence of a “soul”.

I'm a true believer. In the weeks leading up to my mum's death, even though she had Alzheimer's and didn't know who any of us were, she was constantly telling us she saw her mum and her mum was waiting for her.

She might not have been aware she was dying but she died so peacefully with a smile on her face. It was amazing to see her face, it was just so serene and young again.

But I've never really seen how anyone actually "forces' these views on anyone. Just relating their experiences is probably all they do and I can't actually think of anything by that that could possibly upset someone. After all it's just someone else's experience, it's not being forced on anyone.

Some people do force their views on others, within families, relationships, friendship groups etc.
Some people assume that their experience can be applied generally, sadly.

Oh. @Processingprocesses that made me well up 😞

My Mum definitely knew she was dying - said goodbye to us all.

I'm not really woo and so was going to say it's all random. Then I remembered I was there when my nan died of a heart attack many years ago. She'd had dementia and no longer knew me from Adam. Immediately before all the alarms went off and nurses came rushing in, she looked me straight in the eyes and said her goodbyes to me - "God bless, be good". In that instant, she knew me and she knew without a doubt that she would die.

If you look at the dying 'process' for someone diagnosed with a life limiting disease, there is a very definite physiological process as the body shuts down. Changes in skin temperature, pallor, breathing. Those signs are used by professionals to determine how long a person has long left, to ensure their loved ones can say goodbye. Even before it gets to that stage, the person who is dying tends to behave in a certain way, do and say certain things, in preparation.

I'm not sure I believe in a remote 'connection' between two people that might drive contact with one another before death. It seems improbable.

I'm not triggered by this thread. In a way I'm finding it quite comforting as one of my dearest friends is having end of life care and has just days left. I whispered into the wind yesterday early morning that it was OK for her to let go, there is nothing she's left unsaid. Just in case she can sense me somehow.

I have known when people died, before I was told that they died.

My grandad absolutely knew he was dying. I went to visit him in the hospital the night before he died and he was very chipper. I got him a fizzy drink from the shop, he was sitting up in bed fully alert, conscious and happy. I had taken my nan with us and left them to spend time together alone. When I came back he told me that his friends had come to visit him that day (these friends were long dead). I said I would see him soon and he chuckled and held my hand and told me to tell the kids he loved them and that he loved me. He died very early the next morning. I'm so glad my grandparents said what they wanted to say to each other (they met at 13 and he died at 86 so their love had been so long) and that they got their last goodbye.

My nan knew. She had a bit of dementia but was still living at home, fairly independent, etc. They went on holiday to Scotland, where she grew up. She came home saying, 'I can go /home/ now.' She fell over, hit her head and never woke up the week after.

Oh another one about a dog.

I had a dog when I was a child and she lived for a very long time. She was part of the family. She lived until she was about 15.

I was 22 and I was working far away from home. The dog became very very sick and the vet said she had a tumour and was dying. I was young and I felt I couldn't take time off work for a sick dog (though I really should have). I couldn't get down home for three weeks as I had some work things or something I had to go to.
She was deteriorating fast. I used to ring home and my mum would hold the phone to the dogs ear.
I would say to her "hold on and wait for me to get home".

Mum said the dog was holding on to see me. Then near the end of the second week. My mum called the dog to the phone while I was on the phone, and the dog could barely walk and she collapsed. And I could hear her panting and suffering . And I said to her "it's ok go on , you don't have to wait for me to come and down and see you, you can go on, I love you, I don't want you to be suffering". And she died a couple of hours after that phone call.

I still feel sad

I don’t think our “souls” know - but I’m about as spiritual as a cabbage.

I do think we can subliminally pick up on clues our conscious minds don’t notice, particularly about those we know well.

In a similar vein, I knew when my children were about to get ill before it happened as there was a tiny change in their scent. By the time they had symptoms, it was pronounced.

My Dad was ill with heart issues. I drove over 250 miles to visit him at the weekend intending to come back Sunday night but I couldn't leave him. I just knew when I left I wouldn't see him alive again. We shared a lovely few days together and he died on the Wednesday morning of a massive heart attack. I rang my sister who also lives far away and told her if she didn't come home that day she wouldn't see him alive. She didn't believe me and said I couldn't possibly know that and she'd come at the weekend. She ended up coming on the Friday 2 days after he'd died. He'd love to have seen her again and I found myself feeling angry with her because as soon as he died she rushed down. She just didn't believe me. I noticed when Mum was very ill she was there all the time so I think she regretted not coming to see Dad.

I believe we do, my dad passed away a few years ago and about an hour before he passed he asked to see a priest, also his last words were " I'm going now" so yes he knew 💔

I watch a lot of "Near Death Experiences" on YouTube. There's a common theme in a lot of them where they say they knew they'd "gone home". Even if they'd had this experience years and years before they seem to remember in fine detail every bit of it and how it made them feel, and that it was nothing like a dream which will fade in time.

Amongst other things they talk of speaking telepathically, of an immense feeling of love, the intensity of colours of trees and flowers etc, the knowledge of all things, especially of the Universe. But more importantly they speak of their awareness of our Creator, that we are all part of God and the over riding feeling of love and perfect happiness.

Every single person that had these experiences didn't want to come back, but it wasn't "their time".... they have since had no fear of death, they know that we're only here to learn.......

I've had a near death experience. I was terribly sick when I was a teenager. I kept getting constant really bad chest infections to the point where I could barely breathe. One night I was in bed really sick and I was the worst I'd ever been I just couldn't breathe at all. I was fighting to breathe.

Next thing I was going upwards diagonally in a place that was all white. I was travelling upwards diagonally. I had this realisation that I was dying, I thought oh I'm dying! And then I thought but I'm only young I've more things to do, and I also thought of my mother coming in and finding my body and I couldn't bear it. I said "I want to go back I want to go back" and I went back

It’s impossible to tell whether is an actual “thing” without comparing it against the times that it doesn’t happen. So how many times has someone’s relative or friend died where they haven’t felt compelled to contact them shortly before, or felt compelled to think about them? I’d suggest that those instances far outweigh the times when, for whatever reason, someone has an experience similar to your own.

My grandma always said that her great grandma woke up one day, did her usual chores and then put her Sunday best dress on. Everyone asked what that was about and she calmly said that she was going to meet her maker now and wanted to look her best. Obviously they didn't really believe it, told her not to talk like that etc. as far as they knew she was old but well. She went for her usual "granny nap" and never woke up.

I think if you have a close friend or family member you can tell if they are pregnant way before they show. I think it must be a pheromone thing or some other subtle sign. It's happened to me a few times.

True. I'm a nurse, nearly 40 years in and my DH is a hospital consultant.

Also, I knew when my dad died. I was 6 years old and he was living elsewhere. I can't explain it but it's like a light went out and I sensed it. A while later the phone rang and I said it was someone ringing to say that daddy is dead. My mum told me not to say such things as she went to answer it (old days when it was in the hall) and that's exactly what it was.