Queen d'Oude
The Queen d’Oude was questioned after death. She had died in France in 1858. Her answers showed intense pride, confusion, and attachment to status.
The medium’s hand begins writing...
AllanWhat have you felt since you left the earthly world?
Queen d’OudeI am still confused. It is impossible to explain. I miss life... I do not know... I feel a sharp pain. I think physical life would have freed me from it. I wish my body could rise from the grave.
AllanDoes it trouble you to have been buried among Christians and not in your own country?
Queen d’OudeYes. The soil of India would weigh less heavily on my body.
AllanWhat do you think of the funeral honors given to your remains?
Queen d’OudeThey were not such a great thing. I was a queen, and not everyone bowed before me. Leave me alone... do not force me to speak. I do not want you to know what I am now... Be sure of this, I was a queen.
AllanWe respect your rank. We only insist because we are seeking instruction. Do you believe your son will recover the lands and inheritance his parents left him?
Queen d’OudeMy blood will reign, certainly. He has the right to it.
AllanDo you still think the same way about your son’s place in society as you did during your life?
Queen d’OudeMy blood could not be mixed with the blood of the crowd.
AllanYour birthplace was not written in your death record. Can you tell us now?
Queen d’OudeI come from one of the noblest bloodlines in India. I think I was born in Delhi.
AllanYou lived in luxury and were surrounded by honors. What do you think of all that now?
Queen d’OudeThat I had the right to it.
AllanDid your earthly rank give you a higher rank where you are now?
Queen d’OudeI am still a queen... Let them send slaves to serve me. But I do not know... it seems no one cares about me here... and yet... I am still the same person.
AllanAre you Muslim or Hindu?
Queen d’OudeMuslim. But I was too powerful to concern myself with God.
AllanIn your view of human happiness, what is the difference between your religion and Christianity?
Queen d’OudeChristianity is absurd. It teaches that we are all brothers and sisters.
AllanWhat is your opinion of Mohammed?
Queen d’OudeHe was not the son of a king.
AllanDo you believe he had a divine mission?
Queen d’OudeWhat importance does that have?
AllanWhat is your opinion of Christ?
Queen d’OudeThe son of a carpenter is not worthy of my thoughts.
AllanWhat do you think of the Muslim custom that women must hide their faces from men?
Queen d’OudeI think women were born to rule. I was a woman.
AllanWere you jealous of the freedom European women enjoy?
Queen d’OudeNo. Why should I care about their freedom? Do they not serve on their knees?
AllanDo you remember any earlier lives before the one you have just left?
Queen d’OudeI must always have been a queen.
AllanWhy did you answer our call so quickly?
Queen d’OudeI did not want to. I was forced. Do you really think I would consider you worthy of an answer? What are you compared with me?
AllanWho forced you to come?
Queen d’OudeI do not know... There should be no one here more powerful than I am.
AllanIn what condition did you come here?
Queen d’OudeAlways as a queen. Do you think I could stop being one? You do not show proper respect. I tell you, this is not how one speaks to a queen.
AllanIf we could see you, would we see you with your jewels and ornaments?
Queen d’OudeCertainly.
AllanAnd how do you explain that, after losing everything, you still keep those jewels and ornaments?
Queen d’OudeI have not lost them. I am as beautiful as before, and I do not understand your opinion of me. The truth is, you have never seen me.
AllanWhat do you think of finding yourself among us?
Queen d’OudeIf I could avoid it, I would. You treat me with such disrespect.
Mediums’ GuideLeave her alone, poor troubled soul. Have pity on her blindness and let it serve as a lesson. You do not know how much her pride makes her suffer.
Given the education of women in her country, no one expected wisdom from her, but a clearer sense of reality might still have been expected.
Instead, her earthly prejudices remained as strong as ever. Her pride had not weakened after death. She fought against the weakness now exposing her, and she was destined to suffer greatly because of that helplessness.