Lögberg-Heimskringla - 08.06.1984, Page 6

6-WINNIPEG, FÖSTUDAGUR 8. JÚNÍ 1984
Few doubt life after
death
Continued from page 5
Schopenhauer in one of his works,
must conclude that death is the
ultimate end. It was found, however,
that Icelanders are much less drawn
by the notion of reincarnation than
by other ideas in the general sphere
under discussion. A quarter of those
polled had formed no opinion on the
possibility of reincarnation. Only one
in seven (14%) held that state of be-
ing to be certain or probable —
though nearly an additional one-third
feit that reincarnation might be a pos-
sibility. Yet another one-third were
highly sceptical about the notion or
rejected it entirely.
"But what of our neighbours to the
east and west? There was a Gallup in-
quiry into the subject in 1968, cover-
ing eight Western European coun-
tries as well as the U.S. and Canada.
''An average of some 18% in
Western European countries, it was
discovered, beiieved in reincarna-
tion, while the majority in each case
did not. Acceptance of the idea varied
considerably from one population to
the next. Canada, West Germany,
France and Greece ranked highest-
(26-22%) — with lowest figures
reported from Norway, Sweden and
Holland (14-10%), which is marked-
ly lower statistic than the one for
íceland. As we recall, oniy around
one-third of the Icelanders polled re-
jected the notion of reincarnation
almost wholly. Admittedly, a com-
parison is difficult because the
Gallup survey and the Icelandic
research did not make use of the
same questionnaire scheme, but it
seems reasonable to infer that belief
in Iceland in reincarnation is at a par
with the rate for West-Germany,
France and Greece.
"Among the populations mention-
ed in the foregoing, Canadians seem
to be the strongest believers in rein-
carnation (26%), as against a U.S.
figure of an even one-fifth. Examina-
tion of the findings on reincarnation
and pre-existence shows nothing
very much out of the ordinary about
Iceland in comparison with countries
to the west and east except that the
Icelanders are a good deal more in-
clined toward belief than their Nor-
dic neighbours."
In his recent book, Dr. Haraldsson
delves into many other aspects of
religion and parapsychology. As a
whoie, the work is a very interesting
and novel document on how the
Icelanders view the world and the
human condition. Of necessity, many
intriguing findings can not even be
touched upon in a brief article like
this — though no treatment would do
justice to the book without mention
of the sensed physical presence of the
dead and communication with them,
reports of such things have always
been common in Iceland, Dr.
Haraldsson writes.
As has already been made clear, a
very large majority of Iceianders are
convinced that sychic experiences of
different kinds, whether occurring
during sleep or when a person is
awake, invoive perception of reality,
not imagination. But what of ex-
periences of the dead — that is, the
visual perception of deceased per-
sons or beings of another world? We
have already seen that most
Icelanders believe in the continuation
of life after the death of the body. But
can people sense what survives when
a person departs from this world? Is
it possible to communicate with
those who have died? Or is it possi-
ble for them to appear to people in
some way?
Visits from the Bevond
"Severai questions asked in the
Icelandic study were of this general
nature. One thing we asked . . . was:
Do you believe that sensing or
perceiving the presence of the dead
is ... inconceivable, improbable,
possible, probable, not to be doubted,
or is this something you have no opi-
nion on? As it turned out, this was a
question eliciting more expressions of
definite opinion than did any other
that was posed — though the score on
this point was even in the case of the
question on afterlife. And what were
people's views on clairvoyance?
"Roughly a third felt sure that it
was possible to see deceased ones,
and just over a quarter held that this
was likely. So, in fact, around 57%
•thought it was at least probable that
the presence of the dead could be
sensed in some manner. Besides,
close to a third replied that they saw
the experience as a conceivable one.
Only a small fraction of the sample
— 7% to be exact — regarded truly
perceiving the presence of the dead
as unlikely or as an outright im-
possibility. In other words, a large
majority of Icelanders not only
believe that the human personality
survives the death of the body, but
are also convinced that visits from
the beyond to the living can take
place.
"This author is familiar with just
a single foreign survey that lends
itself to direct comparison. It was a
British project in 1968, conducted by
Opinion Research Center, on request
of Sunday Times. The question ask-
Þjóðræknisfélag íslendinga í Vesturheimi
FORSETI: JOHANN S. SIGURDSON
Lundar, Manitoba
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ed was: Do you believe it is possible
to communicate with a deadperson?
With that phrasing, we might note,
interpretation of the query as a
reference to communication via a
psychic medium cannot be ruled out.
Of those responding in Britain, 13%
gave an affirmative answer, 75% said
no, and 12% were undecided. In this
survey, an outright denial of the
possibility of clairvoyance came from
three-quarters of respondents, which
is poles apart from the mere 10%
having the same opinion in Iceland
according to our findings. It should
be mentioned, however, that in a
survey sponsored by The Daily Mail,
another major U.K. newspaper,
rather more Britons were found to
believe in communication with the
dead than was inaicated by the study
cited earlier . . .
"As researchers in Iceland, we dis-
covered that many believed that
communication with the dead was
far from being restricted to clair-
voyance. One-fifth of those com-
pleting questionnaires here reported
feeling sure that such communica-
tion was possible at mediumistic
seances, and another one-fifth con-
sidered this to be likely; in short, four
out of ten expected that a contact can
be made at a successful seance. Just
one in ten thought it impossible that
communication with the dead
through a medium could take piace.
Interestingly, more Icelandic women
than men trust that mediums can be
links to the beyond; such a belief was
expressed by a good one-third of the
women, against just one man in six.
It might be added here that of
icelanders who had attended seances,
half felt confident of having com-
municated with persons who were
dead. Judging by what has been
learned, one might conclude that Ice-
landers tend to believe that the
distance between earthly existence
and the other world is not very great,
and that there are some bridges
across the gap.” (See Table 3.)
Many Seek Help from Faith
Healers
The degree of interest in Iceland in
both pubiic and private seances pro-
bably has few parallels. Mediums
who have a reputation for outstan-
ding mediumistic abilities are as well
known nationaliy as prominent
politicians, actors, etc. In many parts
of the country, announcements of
public seances have brought turn-
away crowds, to large meeting halls
though only a limited number are
allowed to attend the private seances,
where the medium falls into what is
called a deep trance. Apart from ali
that, faith healers have been rather
active in Iceland, until recently at
least, and many are convinced of
their curative powers jTabie 4). Dr.
Haraldsson has this to say on the
subject:
'Many Icelanders seek help from
Continued on page 7
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