Posted on 16 June 2025, 6:33

In my recently released book, Consciousness Beyond Death, published by White Crow Books, I offered a number of near-death experiences that preceded Dr. Raymond Moody’s 1975 book, Life After Life, in which he gave a name to the phenomenon and prompted much research into it, all of it supporting the dualistic belief that we have two bodies – a physical one and a spiritual one, the latter separating at the time of death. Some of the older NDEs are more intriguing than the later ones as the skeptic finds it more difficult to argue that the experiencer had read about NDEs and was simply drawing upon ideas stored away in the subconscious from having read about them.  One that I neglected to include in the book is that of Dr. Richard Hodgson (upper left photo), as reported on January 1, 1908.  However, I did summarize it in my 2013 book, Resurrecting Leonora Piper. For those who are not familiar with it, I’ll summarize it again here.

While teaching poetry and philosophy at University Extension and Cambridge in England, Hodgson had gained a reputation as a keen investigator of mediums, debunking a number of them while representing the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). He was recruited by Professor William James of Harvard (upper right and lower right, old and young) to manage the newly created American branch of the SPR and his first and primary assignment was to study the mediumship of Leonora Piper, a Boston housewife who had impressed Professor James, one of the founders of modern psychology, with her ability to bring through messages from deceased loved ones. James called her the “white crow,” the one who proved that all crows aren’t black. Hodgson was certain that he would expose Mrs. Piper as a charlatan, but he soon realized that she was the real deal. While in a trance state, she (or the spirit communicating through her) told him many things about his past and about deceased loved ones that Hodgson was certain she could not have known. In fact, he initially visited her under a false name to rule out research into his youth in far-off Australia.

Although Hodgson was converted after several visits, he continued studying her an average of three times a week for some 18 years. He would bring many others to sit with her, observing and recording what took place. “I had but one objective, to discover fraud and trickery,” he wrote. “Frankly, I went to Mrs. Piper with Professor James of Harvard University about twelve years ago with the object of unmasking her…I entered the house profoundly materialistic, not believing in the continuance of life after death; today I say I believe. The truth has been given to me in such a way as to remove from me the possibility of a doubt.”

Like a Blind Man

Hodgson died on December 20, 1905, at age 50, while playing handball. Although he apparently did not anticipate a premature death, he jokingly told friends that if he were to die early enough he would communicate through Mrs. Piper much more effectively than others had because of his familiarity with the modus operandi. However, it wasn’t as easy as he had anticipated.  On January 8, 1906, he communicated with a friend through Mrs. Piper but explained that he was still in the awakening process and it was much more difficult to communicate than he had realized. He needed more time to figure it all out before he could communicate effectively. He was still struggling on June 27 and July 3, 1906 when he communicated through Mrs. Piper with Professor William Newbold, a professor of psychology and philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania (lower left). Communicating through Piper, Hodgson greeted Newbold as “Billy,” just as he called him when alive. “I find now difficulties such as a blind man would experience in trying to find his hat,” Hodgson told Newbold. “And I am not wholly conscious of my own utterances because they come out automatically, impressed upon [Mrs. Piper’s brain].” He explained further difficulties that he had not anticipated when he was studying Mrs. Piper.

Hodgson told Newbold that he was present (in spirit) behind him when he was carrying on a conversation with William James a week earlier.  He heard James tell Newbold that he (Hodgson) was very secretive and careful.  Newbold responded that he did have a talk with Professor James a week or so earlier, but that he didn’t recall James making such a comment.  Newbold later asked James about it and James recalled so describing Hodgson in that conversation.  As James saw it, there was no way Mrs. Piper could have known about that conversation and therefore the only plausible explanation was supernormal.

James also sat with Mrs. Piper and heard directly from Hodgson. In an attempt to prove his identity, Hodgson mentioned an incident that took place when he and James were at the Putnam Camp in the Adirondacks.  Hodgson was sitting in a chair before the fireplace when little Martha Putnam crept up behind him and put her hands over his eyes, asking him to guess who was there.  Hodgson replied, “It sounds like Martha but it feels like Henry Bowditch (a much heavier person).”  James remembered the incident.

Hodgson asked James if he remembered how he used to play leap-frog and bear with the boys and James definitely remembered those games.

Seeing Stars

On January 1, 1908, Mrs. R. Bergman, a former friend of Hodgson’s, sat with Mrs. Piper.  Hodgson reminded her of his experience when falling off a horse. “Oh, I told you about the experience with the fiery horse,” Hodgson communicated through the entranced Mrs. Piper.  “You remember he dismounted me. It was the first experience I had in seeing stars. I lost consciousness.  I experienced passing into this life. I remember my being unconscious and recovering consciousness. I remember telling you about this at the hotel.”  Bergman definitely recalled how Hodgson had related this experience to her at the Parker House in Boston in 1904.  She remembered Hodgson saying he was in a “spiritual universe” during the time he was unconscious.

“Do you remember how they used to talk about the canopy?” Hodgson asked her.  “It is an ethereal veil.  If your spiritual eyes were open you could see through this veil and see me talking to you perfectly.” Bergman definitely recalled Hodgson discussing the canopy with her when he was alive.

After Hodgson’s death, Professor James Hyslop, a psychologist (top middle), took over the research with Mrs. Piper. Hodgson also communicated with him, discussing what they had talked about during their last meeting.

Back to Professor Newbold. After a lengthy conversation with Hodgson, Newbold said,
“Dick, this sounds like your own (old?) self. Just the way you used to talk to me.  Hodgson replied: “Well if I am not Hodgson, he never lived.”

Michael Tymn is the author of The Afterlife Revealed: What Happens After We Die, Resurrecting Leonora Piper: How Science Discovered the Afterlife, Dead Men Talking: Afterlife Communication from World War I. and No One Really Dies: 25 Reasons to Believe in an Afterlife. His latest book Consciousness Beyond Death:  New and Old Light on Near-Death Experiences is published by White Crow books.

Posted on 02 June 2025, 7:26

As I read the newly released book Original Sin, about the alleged cover-up of then-President Joe Biden’s cognitive and other aging issues, I continually wondered if there is a relationship between a person’s reluctance to recognize or even consider the limitations of aging and his or her unwillingness to give some thought to what happens to consciousness at physical death. That is, if you are in denial about aging, as the book suggests Biden was (and apparently still is), is it likely you’ll also struggle with death?

The book, authored by CNN newscasters Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, makes a strong case for Biden being in denial at age 81, feeling that he was as sharp as ever and fully able to carry on as president of the United States from ages 82 to 86. His advisors saw it differently, observing both cognitive and physical decline, but they struggled in their efforts to finally convince him that it was time to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. He is said to have withdrawn with much anger and resentment, refusing to recognize his age-related limitations.

According to AI, psychologists call it “Affective Forecasting,” which involves overestimating one’s future energy or cognitive sharpness and extends to not preparing for one’s death, such as in not discussing end-of-life care or making a will. One of the most common forms of Affective Forecasting is not recognizing one’s inability to drive safely and thus continuing to drive at an advanced age.

“So, while there's no single term that perfectly encapsulates ‘failing to consider aging in a future-oriented decision,’ errors in affective forecasting, present bias, and optimism bias are the closest psychological explanations,” AI says, going on to explain “that research in in psychology (notably by Daniel Gilbert and Timothy Wilson) has shown that people often misjudge the intensity and duration of their future emotional and physical states. In this case, someone might overestimate their future energy or cognitive sharpness or base decisions too heavily on how they feel now rather than anticipating realistic age-related decline.”

When Biden was president, he continually preached that everyone should “look at the science” concerning climate change. And yet, it seems obvious that he never looked at the science of aging. He was focused on how he felt at the time, at ages 80 and 81, not what science says might be ahead between ages 82 and 86. I don’t have to research it. I know from experience that those years are significantly declining years for everyone. I had a number of friends and former classmates who were doing reasonably well at 80 and 81 but who were no longer around at 86. One needs only look at the actuarial tables to confirm the impact of those years.

At 82, I could still do 40 pushups and walk a few miles every day, but I’m fairly certain that I didn’t have the energy, mental stamina, focus, whatever it might be called, to work a demanding job 8-12 hours a day. From what we could see on television, Biden was no exception. He was continually headed to his Delaware home before the end of the week for rest and recuperation. Had I not known his age, I would have guessed he was then 90 or older. I also wondered about his medication, whether he could be quickly awakened at 3 a.m. in the event of an emergency, but I never saw a word about that. I do remember reading that he had sleep apnea.

Actually, there was one comment in the book that did point to the future. That’s when Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told Biden, “This is not about today. It’s about when you are eighty-six.” Biden apparently nodded in agreement, but he didn’t have an answer on that issue for Blinken.

I have the same concerns about President Trump, who will be 79 in two weeks, especially considering his not overly thin build. In a recent television appearance, he looked as if he had aged three years in three months. I recall someone saying that Obama aged much more than expected during his time in office. It is clearly a demanding job, one for a younger and more fit person. Trump does not appear to be the type of person who will admit to being too old for the job.

Death Anxiety

The fear of death is called Thanatphobia or simply Death Anxiety.  It also falls under the definition of Existential Angst.  According to the Cleveland Clinic website, this is a common disorder among people, although few report it or seek treatment for it. Whether someone suffering from “Affective Forecasting” is likely to suffer from Thanatphobia, Death Anxiety, or Existential Angst, I couldn’t find a clear link but I infer that such is the case from the discussions at various websites.

“The idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human mind like nothing else,” wrote anthropologist Ernest Becker in his 1974 Pulitzer prize-winning book, The Denial of Death.  Becker explained that to free oneself of death anxiety, nearly everyone chooses the path of repression.  That is, we bury the idea of death deep in the subconscious and then busy ourselves with our jobs and families, partaking of certain pleasures as much as possible, and otherwise pursuing material wealth, while seeking a mundane security that we expect to continue indefinitely, all the while oblivious to the fact that in the great scheme of things such activities are exceedingly short-term and for the most part meaningless.

Becker referred to this “secure” person as the “automatic cultural man,”  a modern description of existentialist philosopher Søren Kierkegaard’s “Philistine.”  For Kierkegaard, Philistinism was man fully concerned with the trivial without any regard for searching for ultimate meaning.  As he saw it, many people are so tranquilized in the mundane or the trivial that they lack the awareness that they are in despair.  Today, Kierkegaard might see a typical male Philistine as someone focused on “babes, booze, and ballgames,” all the while striving to be One with his Rolex. 

To once again call upon the renowned psychiatrist, Carl Jung:  “A man should be able to say he has done his best to form a conception of life after death, or to create some image of it – even if he must confess his failure. Not to have done so is a vital loss.” My guess is that by taking Jung’s advice, Biden might have avoided his problems with Affective Forecasting. He might have been able to accept that he was in his declining years and not up to such a demanding job if he had looked at the bigger picture, the one that holds that this life is part of a much larger life. 

Michael Tymn is the author of The Afterlife Revealed: What Happens After We Die, Resurrecting Leonora Piper: How Science Discovered the Afterlife, Dead Men Talking: Afterlife Communication from World War I. and No One Really Dies: 25 Reasons to Believe in an Afterlife. His latest book Consciousness Beyond Death:  New and Old Light on Near-Death Experiences is published by White Crow books.