After my rain ritual, which required me to stand on open ground, the lawn of my deceased parent's home in this case, facing west, with feet spread about shoulder width, I ended the ritual by leaning backwards, so my upper body was almost parallel to the ground, my head facing upward and toward the east. That is when the ADC happened. The entire sky appeared to be like a thick, pink and blue blanket of cloud cover. One bright star appeared to be in its normal place in the sky, directly above me. I took this to be Dakota. Then as I gazed backwards toward the eastern horizon, a less bright twinkling star appeared to be in a usual place in the sky, except it seemed to be hiding behind a tall tree across the street from my parent's home. I took this to be my granddaughter who had died in the miscarriage. I was completely shocked by the appearance of the sky, the entire sky in all directions was covered by the pink and blue cloud cover and no other stars nor any break in the cloud cover appeared anywhere in the sky except for the two stars I described.

Was this experience difficult to express in words? Uncertain

Did you ONLY sense an awareness of presence of the deceased without actually seeing, hearing, feeling or smelling them? Yes

Did you hear the deceased or hear something associated with the deceased? No

Did you feel a touch or experience any physical contact from the deceased? No

Did you see the deceased? No

Did you smell a distinct smell, scent, fragrance or odor associated with the deceased? Yes

What smell, scent, fragrance or odor did you smell? The smell of fresh rainwater, as if it was coming up from beneath the earth at my feet and going up into the sky, even though the ground had been dried by a drought of about one week.

Was the smell, scent, fragrance or odor familiar? Yes, the smell of fresh rain.

Was anything communicated by the smell? Nothing that I can recall. Just that the drought was ended.

Is there any possibility that the smell, scent, fragrance or odor was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience? Uncertain?

How long did the experience last? The ADC itself was probably less than a minute. The rain ritual probably less than ten minutes immediately before the ADC.

Was the beginning and end of the experience gradual or more sudden? The ADC was completely sudden, except there appeared to be a quality of eternity within the few seconds of the ADC, that is, even though the ADC would certainly end in a few seconds, the actual relationship of the two children, and every aspect and being in the true reality would always be there in love and compassion.

Could you sense the emotions or mood of the deceased? Uncertain

Somewhat, the Dakota star seemed more bold, while his sister's star seemed shy.

Did the deceased give you information you did not previously know? Nothing that I can recall, other than what I described already.

How do you currently view the reality of your experience? Experience was definitely real

Please explain why you view the reality of your experience as real or not real: I believe the experience is actually the same intangible awareness that is always present. It is the only true reality, it has existed forever, and will exist forever, exactly as we comprehend and experience it now, except for our tangible, temporal distraction of human existence. The awareness is the light, for example, in an NDE.

Was the experience dream like in any way? No

Describe in detail your feelings/emotions during the experience: I was simply trying my first ever attempt at the Lakota rain ritual which I learned about from a small paperback book that I had bought a few years before the ADC. There are no memorable feelings or emotions other than the surprise that the ADC added to my intellectual pursuit of the ritual. After the ADC, I was comforted by the awareness that my loved ones, including the children I mention in the ADC, are always with me in great love and compassion.

Was there any emotional healing in any way following the experience? Yes

I felt that my daughter's grief at the death of her children would be addressed somehow between her and her own experiences such as the one I had in the ADC.

What was the best and worst part of your experience? Best part was knowing my grandchildren would always be with me in our spiritual existence. The worst part was I could not communicate with my daughter about her children because she had been living permanently thousands of miles away and we were somewhat estranged due to a divorce between her mother and I when our daughter was about six years of age.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience? Yes Describe: I began to relate immediately to any child, such as a passing toddler, in a shopping mall, holding a parent's hand and just barely able to walk, would look at me as if the child knew about my ADC, without any words, nor any type of interaction, other than a passing glance from the child.

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience? Yes As I described that the children who had died before birth were my eternal companions.

Did the experience give you any spiritual understandings such as life, death, afterlife, God, etc.? Yes Probably reinforced my current beliefs, except added a great personal feeling that our lives in the true reality always existed before our human conception, and outside of any time or tangible space.

Death Compacts are when two or more living people promise among themselves that whoever dies first will try to contact the other(s). Have you ever made such a compact? No

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later? No

What emotions did you feel during the experience? After the ADC, I was comforted by the awareness that my loved ones, including the children I mention in the ADC, are always with me in great love and compassion.

Was the experience witnessed or experienced by others? No

Did you have any sense of altered space or time? No

Did you have a sense of knowing, special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose? Uncertain

Not sure if I had decided before the ADC that a miscarriage or stillbirth was directly connected to an actual presence, an eternal family member, so to speak. I knew that my father's mother had many miscarriages, along with nine adult children, however, I think this ADC made me aware that these children who had died before birth were my eternal companions.

Did you become aware of future events? No

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience that you did not have prior to the experience? No

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body? No

Did you meet or see any other beings other than the deceased? No

Did you see a light? No

Did any part of your experience seem to occur in a place other than the location described above? No

Have you shared this experience with others? Yes Cannot recall.

Have you shared this experience formally or informally with any other researcher or web site? No

Is there anything else you would like to add regarding your experience? No

Were there any associated medications or substances with the potential to affect the experience? No

Following the experience, have you had any other events in your life, medications or substances which reproduced any part of the experience? No

Did you ever in your life have a near-death experience, out of body experience or other spiritual event? Yes

NDE at age seven, http://www.nderf.org/Experiences/1anthony_c_probable_nde.html

Did the questions asked and information you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience? Yes

Please offer any suggestions you may have to improve this questionnaire. Ok as is.