ABSTRACT
“Hallucinations”, “illusions”, “awareness”, “continuing bonds” – the phenomena that are the focus of this chapter have come under varied descriptions (see Table 12.1). Some invoke a medical framework of understanding – others suggest spiritual, others still relational connections. Acknowledging that every term evokes a landscape of associated concepts and relevancies, we have used the terms “sense of presence” (Steffen & Coyle, 2011) and “experiences of continued presence” (Hayes & Leudar, 2016) in our own doctoral work to align with the phenomenal qualities of the experience. Here, we join forces and use the term “sense of presence” to refer to voices and visions of the deceased, smells and feelings of touch relating to the deceased, as well as the “feeling of presence” or “impression of the presence” (first reported by James, 1890, p. 322) that many report that seems at times to be independent of the five senses. The experiences are not only relationally vivid and meaningful, but such is their cultural embeddedness that the socio-cultural environment may even change the frequency at which they are reported; in Anglo-European studies the proportion of the bereaved reporting experiences of presence has been in the range of 40–60% (Rees, 1971; Castelnovo, Cavallotti, Gambini, & D’Agostino, 2015) – a study of widows in Japan, however, put this figure at 90% (Yamamoto, Okonogi, Iwasaki, & Yoshimura, 1969).
