The Seeress of Prevorst

The clairvoyant and psychic abilities of Friederike Hauffe (1801–1829), documented through her lifetime by her physician and friend Kerner.

Kerner tells the story of his patient, Friederike Hauffe (1801–1829). Under his care during the last years of her life, she suffered lifelong severe spasms and fevers. When semiconscious she communicated with spectres of the dead, inner spirits of the living, and spoke and wrote in an 'innate' language.Friederike Hauffe (1801–1829) suffered throughout her short lifetime from severe spasms and nervous fevers, and in her semi-conscious state she allegedly saw spectres and spoke and wrote predictions in an unknown, 'innate' language. When physically well, Hauffe could communicate with spectres of the dead, and created a complex diagram of circles to explain the nervous energy of a person and its changes throughout the year. The flow of consciousness and one's waking state in the spirit world, or 'sun sphere', was individual and seasonal. After continued illness, she was finally taken into the care of Dr Justinus Kerner for the last few years of her life. His use of magnetic treatment apparently gave her some relief, and she was able to use her 'spiritual sight' to aid others. Kerner's 1829 account of her life, depicting a woman with unusual psychic gifts, was published in English translation in 1845.