All Things Human

An anthropologist explores the science of anomalous occurrences, death and dying, grief, and societal beliefs.

by Carole A. Travis-Henikoff

Peaceful Endings

Alice was distraught over her best friend's health. Nancy, an adoring mother of three growing children, hadn't been feeling well. Alice encouraged her to go in for a check-up. Nancy said she would but tried everything she could to get over her symptoms. Eventually she realized something was seriously wrong and called her doctor. Read More

Death, Dying and Doctors

Everything that comes into "being" changes through the course of its "life" and eventually goes out of being whatever it was. Mountain ranges, rivers, stars, even galaxies die. Read More

The Knowing of Death

As I mentioned last time, my book on death, dying and anomalous occurrences is now out. My son Chris figures in the book as he too lost many of his immediate family, including his sister, Kim, and some years later, his young wife, Kiera. After reading the printed version he called to say that I had forgotten to add a strange occurrence he experienced on the morning of his sister’s d Read More

Apparitions

My next book, Passings: Death, Dying and Unexplained Phenomena, will be available as of February 1, 2010. It is this book that brought me to writing All Things Human for Psychology Today. The book was 23 years in the making and covers a wide range of experiences and deaths that entered my life, coupled with research into multiple aspects of death. Read More

Humor and Poignancy

On the day of the fire I begged for silvadene ointment for my burns. Read More

Recovery

The fire of July 18, 2009 changed my life in many ways.

On that day I narrowly escaped Death. That afternoon the fire inspector from Jackson enhanced my awareness by telling me I was lucky to have gotten out with my life. But it was in the weeks to come that I would learn and realize that it was a mini miracle that my life had been spared. Read More

Fate or Coincidence?

If, after opening the back side door and seeing the wall of flames, I hadn't grabbed a phone and raced through the old part of the house and out the front door in order to get a hose, I wouldn't be here. If I'd stopped to get my purse and car keys, I wouldn't be here. To quote fire inspector Rusty Palmer, when I lamented to him that I hadn't even grabbed my purse, "If you had, you would have died." Read More

FIRE

A 40-foot wall of fire burned my house to the ground and I lost everything. But I'm still here. Read More

Anomalous Occurrences

"Nothing happens without a causeAnd nothing happens unless it can happenWhen that which can happen, does in fact happenIt cannot be considered a miracleHence there are no miracles." Cicero 106 - 43 BC

Anomaly - Oxford English Dictionary: something that differs from what is standard or normal.Normal: Usual, typical, or expected. Read More

UNMENTIONABLES

I was asked to write this blog because of my soon to be published book, Passings; Death, Dying and Unexplained Phenomena. In this blog I will concern myself mostly with unexplained phenomena - "anomalous occurrences" - that do not fit into test tubes, cannot be prepared for the microscope, replicated or proven. Read More

Carole Travis-Henikoff is the author of Dinner With A Cannibal: the Complete History of Mankind's Oldest Taboo, and Death, Dying and Unexplained Phenomena (spring 2010).

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