GREAT DEEDS III: PROPHECY & PAIN
The JFK and RFK assassinations were traumatic events in American history. Were there any warning signs beyond the threat of death to any great leader? Jeane Dixon as an American psychic became famous for her prediction of JFK’s death and that RFK would suffer a tragedy. She was credited with both hits and misses in her career as a seer.
Jeane L Dixon (January 5, 1904 - January 25, 1997) was born Lydia Emma Pinckert to German immigrants in Medford, Wisconsin. At the age of 8 while growing up in California, she claimed a gypsy read her palm and told her that she had a gift of prophecy. The gypsy predicted she would become a famous seer and advise powerful people and gave her a crystal ball. As a devout Roman Catholic she would claim that her gift of prediction came from God. Later in life she became well known for her syndicated newspaper astrology column, famous predictions, books, and as an advisor to celebrities and political leaders. She was also criticized for failed predictions and/or errors in her predictions.
That Mrs. Dixon as a Roman Catholic had a prediction concerning the first Catholic President is not surprising. Most prophets are based in their reality in their time. For example, many of Israel’s prophets wrote mostly of events that were to happen to the people of their time period and location. Sometimes predictions of the future were included that had a basis in what was to currently take place or that could be used to foreshadow a later event.
Her first prediction of danger for John F Kennedy was on August 18, 1952. That morning when she knelt in prayer before a statue of the Virgin Mary in the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C. she had a vision of the White House with the number “1960” above it. A very thick, heavy black cloud was hanging over it and draping itself slowly and surely around it. The man to be sworn in as president would be a youthful democrat with blue eyes and he would be assassinated.
Did she see a black cloud because of who was to be president or was it because a time of darkness was coming to the White House? At this time the threat of Soviet aggression and the danger of nuclear missiles were looming over the leader of the Free World. Economic problems and Civil Rights were also a gathering storm to be contended with. The one to be elected at this time would be at the center of these external and internal storms. That she had this vision of 1960 indicates that it was not because of Kennedy’s decisions or actions, rather it was what he would have to contend with when inaugurated in January, 1961.
In the May 13, 1956 issue of Parade magazine she said that the 1960 presidential election would be “dominated by labor and won by a Democrat” who would “be assassinated or die in office though not necessarily in his first term.” She later admitted, “During the 1960 election, I saw Richard Nixon as the winner.” She also made predictions that Kennedy would lose the election. (Wikipedia)
Even though Nixon won the popular vote, Kennedy was sworn in as President in 1960. Kennedy was a tall, blue-eyed man of Irish descent, a democrat and the second youngest elected President. Dixon reportedly saw gloomy clouds and caskets over the White House.
Beginning in January, 1963 Dixon had premonitions of Kennedy and impending death but her warnings went unheeded. On the Sunday preceding the fateful Friday of November 22, 1963, she had a vision of the ominous cloud descending on the White House. On the morning of the assassination she had told friends: “this is the day it will happen.” At noon she was having lunch at the Mayflower Hotel when she said that the President is going to be shot. Kennedy was killed that afternoon.
Also, three weeks before the assassination she said that she was shown the last name of the assassin. She was close to naming Oswald as the killer, saying that she saw a word beginning with a capital “O”, with the letter "s" following it, containing six letters with two syllables. She may have had difficulty seeing the name if she saw a signature as she later said the last letter squiggled up.
With Bobby Kennedy’s prediction of tragedy, Dixon was at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in 1968 when she was asked if he would become president. “No,” she replied, “He will never become President of the United States because of a tragedy right here in this hotel.” The assassination took place a week later when Bobby won the California primary. He had just finished addressing a victory rally from the stage of the Ambassador Hotel’s ballroom when he was shot.
The obvious question is why did her warnings go unheeded? A probable answer is that not all of her predictions came true and she had many skeptics. There are many possible reasons for her inaccuracies beginning in human nature. Dreams and visions are not always clear with meaning and intent and are subject to interpretation. It also takes discernment to know what is true and what is false. Factor in personal beliefs, teachings and superstitions and it can be surprisingly easy to have a true dream or vision and misinterpret it or to have a false dream or vision and believe it to be true.
Dixon was a Catholic Christian and this could have influenced her predictions if she saw them through the filter of her Catholic beliefs. She could have made the mistake of making some of her predictions fit what she personally believed would take place.
Another human trait is to embellish what was seen to make a stronger impact. The embellishment can then change the focus of what was seen and a false prediction is given to the world and later denounced as a failure.
Add to all of this the question of timing: when should a warning go out to the world? A temptation is to speak out fresh from a dream or vision. But this can be dangerous if the prediction is not yet fully understood or events need to unfold to make it clear. However, if too much time passes it could be too late for it to be seen as prophetic.
Dixon explained her inaccuracies in this way: “When a vision is not fulfilled as expected, it is not because what has been shown is not correct it is because I have not interpreted it correctly.”
Another example is Nostradamus whose predictions were mostly centered on Europe with his native France in particular. It is easy to believe that he had vast and varied predictions of events all over the globe. However, he mostly wrote of cataclysmic events that would take place in France and Europe beginning in his day and continuing into the future. He did not write of events that should have taken place or alternate realities. Like the prophets of Israel, he wrote about events that would impact his countrymen. There are a number of his quatrains that are believed to be about the assassinations, unfortunately they lack enough detail to be conclusive.
The most famous one is from Century VI, Quatrain 27. Most of the translations indicate that this is about the Kennedy assassination with Oswald being innocent and the guilty one hidden in the grassy knoll. This backs up the belief that the killer shot at Kennedy from behind a fence. However, if there was a shot fired from this location it missed the target. Also, there is no proof that a shooter was in that location, whereas there were many eyewitness accounts of Oswald as the shooter from his location. The shots that hit the mark came from behind and from Oswald’s location.
There were three shots that were recorded to have come from the sixth-floor window of the Book Depository building where Oswald worked. The first shot hit Kennedy in the back of the neck and exited through his throat to go on to hit Governor Connelly in the back as he was seated in front of him. The bullet went into his backside, exited to hit his wrist and to lodge in his leg. The bullet could do this as it did not hit bones in Kennedy passing through his neck. No sound came from Kennedy but Connelly’s wife heard her husband say: “My god, they are going to kill us all!”
Had this been the only shot that hit its mark, he more than likely would have survived. There was a slight pause after the first shot and then the second and third in rapid fire. This is because the shooter Oswald paused to see that he hit Kennedy but did not kill him conclusively. The second shot is believed to have missed, hitting the sidewalk and slightly injuring a spectator when it hit the curb and a piece of the curb flew up. It was the third shot that was the killing shot, hitting Kennedy in the back of the head.
Everything else is just speculation as there is no visible proof of any other shooters or that anyone else could have made the kill shot. Clearly, Oswald did not act alone even though he was the lone gunman. There was a conspiracy that acted behind him to set him up to take the fall. In all likelihood, the only others on the ground who were a party to the conspiracy were there to witness what was to take place, not to participate in any way. They were probably shocked when Oswald actually shot and killed the President. They would have made haste to exit the scene of the crime so as not to be implicated.
There was probably more than one conspiracy to kill the president as he had made many enemies, both within and outside of America. But in the end, only Oswald succeeded in killing Kennedy. If there were any other shots taken, they either missed or were fired mistakenly, caught up in the moment. The ones who wanted the President dead to satisfy their agendas saw fulfillment that day.
The timing of the shooting is important as Kennedy was in a good place for his many accomplishments. It was also a campaign trip to kick-off re-election. Clearly, the many who hated Kennedy and wanted him dead did not want to see him reelected. Oswald had been plotting to kill the president for some time, knowing that he would be on his own at the time of the shooting. The dark spirit of Oswald determined to do his killing on this day. It was this dark determination that steadied his hand and the dark deed was accomplished.
The assassination of JFK was a surreal moment in time, so much so as to make even the strongest man to be weak in the knees. It was not just the killing of an American president, who was important on the world stage, but a marker on the timeline of history. A defining moment in the history of mankind; felt in the spirit of humanity. It stirred something in the consciousness of those that were alive to witness the spectacle. And those not alive at the time or touched by it were changed non-the-less. It was a defining moment like 9/11 is to this generation: a darkness that pierced the azure blue skies. Like lightning that strikes suddenly and swiftly and leaves a change landscape behind in its wake.
It is more than the killing of a man, even a great man or the killing of nearly 3,000. What is witnessed is the fall of mankind at that moment; a game changing event. Even when heroes rise up to save lives and redeem mankind, the game has been forever changed. The king has been put into checkmate, laid down and soon replaced by another. With the new king the game feels different, not the same as before. The hopes and dreams of many has been dashed and reduced to rubble and yet remembered.
New hopes and dreams will take their place but with a scar on the heart and on the land. When blood is spilled on the land the earth will cry out for justice. With Kennedy, it just does not feel like justice has taken place. Those that wanted the President killed and those complicit in it were not brought to justice. This is why the assassination haunts the psyche of so many who were touched by this tragedy.
The one who was probably most traumatized by the tragedy was Jackie Kennedy. The murder of her husband by Oswald haunted her for the rest of her life. She was his confidante and she was intimate to all that took place in Jack’s life. She understood the importance of his presidency in that because of his decisions a possible nuclear holocaust was averted. She played a key role in his election and was his main support in his presidency. She was born to play this role, so to speak, and found her true calling as First Lady to America and the world at large.
After Oswald killed her husband she was clearly traumatized and lost her place in the world. It could be said that she suffered from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) afterward. She was seen as strong in the face of the tragedy but clearly it wounded her. She supported her husband when he was first shot, reacting with love. When Oswald hit him with the killing shot, she valiantly hoisted herself onto the back of the car to retrieve his skull fragments and brain matter. Clearly in a moment of shock, she was probably trying in vain to put back what the snipers bullet had done to her beloved Jack. She would later say that she had no memory of this event. With her husband’s blood on her clothes, she stood by his side in the hospital, refusing advice to leave.
Jackie truly loved Jack and defended his honor till the end. She was loyal to his memory and what they accomplished in life. She knew of the importance of their time in office as she was also aware of their being flawed human beings at the same time. Jack answered the call to serve in the highest office in the land and she answered the call to stand by his side. Jack was her husband, the father of her only children and as president: the father figure of the nation. Much has been written of their many affairs, but they both would exhibit deep character when it mattered.
The world would later learn of Jack’s physical problems (bad back, Addison’s disease) and that he was on a cocktail of drugs to help him function. This no doubt contributed to his poor personal choices and behavior while not excusing them. She had to know this and probably respected him even more when he had to stand up for what he believed in. Bobby knew of the drugs and it was probably the reason for the hasty retreat from the hospital after the assassination. They were not trying to cover-up an internal conspiracy; they didn’t want the public to know the extent of the drug use. Had he remained in the hospital, his physical health would have been made public record and disclosed.
This was a very different America than today, both naïve and with different sensibilities. Image was more important and with the Cold War at a zenith, to disclose the Presidents drug use would be to lose faith and appear to be weak and corrupt. Given that Khrushchev openly believed Kennedy to be weak: this revelation would have given him ammunition to wage a psychological war of cultures. Khrushchev’s wife was said to believe that Russian women were better (stronger) than American women which was a point of contention for Jackie. However, she stood strong during this unexpected personal trial; even displaying enviable character.
The President was killed because of the Cold War battle over Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a psychological war battle that left many wounds on both sides of the conflict. Oswald in particular was angry about the Bay of Pigs invasion and fearful that Kennedy would invade the island again. All those who supported the Kennedy in his stand against Khrushchev felt the gravity of the situation and the elation when it ended without nuclear weapons being fired.
The threat of nuclear war was a reality to a man like Jack who had fought in WWII and lost a brother to the conflict. He knew that a world war could take place again with the right trigger. A prideful man like Khrushchev was unpredictable enough that the threat of weapons going off over a miscue or slight was very real. Jackie said that if war did take place that she wanted to die by her husband’s side and with their children.
They didn’t die then and the world didn’t end, but Jack did die by an assassin’s bullet that was an act of revenge for his victory that day. Jack was elated by his victory in ending the crisis and remarked at the time that if he was to be killed that this was the day to do it. It didn’t happen that day but it did happen because of that day.
Oswald didn’t just kill the President of the United States that day: he killed the hopes and dreams of those in Jack’s life and of those that believed in his vision for America and the world. The Kennedy family would never be the same and as a symbol for America: America would never be the same. Because of what happened to Jack and Bobby, Jackie said that she hated America. It wasn’t her nation’s fault that they died: it is what they stood for that they died. All Americans were wounded when they were killed and if America changed it was because of the wounds. Jackie’s America changed just as she changed in adapting to a new reality.
The Vietnam War took place in part as a response to the assassination of the President. This is similar to the Afghanistan War that was a response to 9/11. The Vietnam War would divide the nation for many years. The Cold War would end and give way to the War on Terrorism. Two battles have been fought in this generation’s time of war, with Iraq dividing the nation. Truly America has changed, just as the wars being fought have changed. What has not changed, however, is America’s role in the world and for this Americans will continue to be a target and good men will fall.
The Cold War battle of Kennedy’s time could be seen as a forerunner to the current War on Terrorism. The adversary is no longer the Soviets or Communism it is now Islamic radicals. The danger of a nuclear war is growing with the threats by extremists and their ideology. Safeguards among nations that were initiated during Kennedy’s time are not embraced by rogue nations, organizations or individuals. This was the reasoning behind the invasion of Iraq: to eliminate a rogue ruler who would not hesitate to use a nuclear weapon on his enemies.
The role of America as the leader of the world is under attack by those in the world who seek to lead. Islamic radicals claim that their beliefs are superior to Western culture. They cite Islamic law (sharia) as being morally superior to the secular law of the West. They blame American values and culture as a corrupting force in the world as they seek to expel all of Western Civilization from the world. I believe that the world is in danger of a nuclear holocaust as it was in Kennedy's day.
In addressing the U.N. on September 25, 1961, Kennedy said:
“Today, every inhabitant of this planet must contemplate the day when it may no longer be habitable. Every man, woman, and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident, or miscalculation, or by madness. The weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us.”
In Kennedy's inauguration speech in January, 1961, his now immortalized words rang out: “And so my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country!”
JFK gave his life for his fellow Americans, for his fellow man, and and the impact of his life and death will continue to be felt in the times to come. This story should not be forgotten as we go forward to face the storms and darkness to come.
"Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - A Psalm of Life