Are you sure?

[Adios]

Guys, you have to have an open mind. Too much intellectual clutter is too much intellectual clutter.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I've experienced a couple of things, some of which can be attributed to hypnogogic states, some not (due to lack of sleep paralysis). One fairly disturbing one that is recurrent is the feeling of a presence in the room. Occasionally I'll wake up in the middle of the night, and I'll have an intense thought that I must not, under any circumstances, open my eyes while the presence is still there. Reason being is that I know I'm not going to like what I see, and what I would see, for some reason, would then be able to see me. I know this sounds exactly like a fnord, but I don't associate it with anything like that. More accurately, it can see me, but for some reason can't do anything to me if my eyes are closed. On top of this, I am uncomfortable sleeping in a room where the windows don't have the shades pulled down or curtains closed. I don't want to see outside and I don't want the outside to see me. This of course makes sleeping in the summer kind of uncomfortable one way or the other.

Something more tangible and while I was fully awake occured when I first moved out of my mom's house. Coincidentally, it was to a house down the street that my grandparents owned at one point and that my mother and all of her siblings grew up in (and I ended up taking the attic, my mom's old room as my own) and my grandfather passed away in. I had basically met this woman at the bus stop, we got to talking, and I ended up taking care of her birds while she was away until I decided I didn't want to live with mom anymore, and bird lady offered to let me board for a couple of hundred bucks a month. Well, anyway, she had gone on another trip and I was alone, it was day time, I was sober and up in the attic. I heard some footsteps going down the stairs and some doors slamming. Naturally, it freaked me out quite a bit, and I cautiously went down the stairs to look around. I checked the whole bloody house, and not only was I definitely the only person in the house, but all the doors and windows were still locked, which naturally freaked me out more.  I rationally told myself that it might have been one of her sons, who have keys, so the next time I saw them I asked them if they came over at all that particular week. Neither of them had. I told myself that it was probably my grandfather's shade coming by to visit on hearing that I had taken up residence in his old house, just to keep myself from being scared if it happened again, but it didn't.

A couple of my family members also experienced strange things in that house. The night that my great-granmother died, one of my aunts woke up my grandmother. My aunt was visibly shaken and cleaning her room. My grandmother asked her why she was cleaning her room at 2 in the morning, to which she responded, "Nana came in and yelled at me about the mess."

One of my uncles swore up and down that he would occasionally feel a hand on his shoulder.

This next one doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, probably because it was told to me a long time ago and I'm probably missing a vital detail that makes sense of it, but I'll include it here anyway, since all of my family members insist that it is true. When my grandfather had died, my family apparently had someone house sitting while they were at the funeral. There was a man at the door, offering his condolences and asking if everyone was ok.  He was told that everyone was holding up, and that they were at the church if he wanted to go see them himself. He said he couldn't stay and was only stopping by to check in on them. When my family came back, they were told about the visitor. They couldn't think of who it was since everyone in the family was accounted for. They went through a photo album with her to try and figure out who it was. You know where this is going. She pointed out my grandfather as the visitor.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

I can't say I've experienced ghosts myself. My kids say they have, my son used to have conversations with people who weren't there, he'd wave at nothing and say it was somebody, stuff like that. My nephew has spoken a couple of times about previously being old and dying and being buried under rocks, when he was really too young to be aware of that kind of burial. I can't say it means anything but it makes me wonder.

When I was a kid, maybe 4 or 5, I remember an incident where I floated away from my body and down the street, while I was fully conscious. I remember it completely, more vividly than anything else from that long ago. I'm told when I was 1, I used to have night terrors where I was physically punching and kicking at nothing, until the room my bed was in was blessed by a preacher, at which point the problem promptly stopped.

I was raised in a strictly religious family and have since rejected organized religion on the grounds that it is too easy to give up your personal autonomy to a set of beliefs you have no real understanding of, and doing that can't be morally right. It isn't to say I don't believe there's nothing beyond my 5 physical senses because I know there is, I just refuse to put names to it because then I'd start developing a religious attachment and building a dogmatic framework around it that would be false.

Knowing what I do about death (practically nothing), I can't say that I do or don't believe in ghosts. I can only say that because of various personal experiences I don't believe death is the absolute end for consciousness; but I have no way to know those experiences aren't complete bullshit, so I don't allow myself to base my actions or beliefs on them.

[Nast]

Oh, I just remembered a little something. This didn't happen to me, it's just hearsay:

My great grandmother was French Canadian and a devout Catholic. In her rose garden there was a statue of the Virgin Mary. I guess one day the people who were occupying the house after her death wanted to move it. When they tried to, though, they felt what they described as hands pulling it to anchor it in place.

[Cain]

I've experienced a couple of things, some of which can be attributed to hypnogogic states, some not (due to lack of sleep paralysis). One fairly disturbing one that is recurrent is the feeling of a presence in the room. Occasionally I'll wake up in the middle of the night, and I'll have an intense thought that I must not, under any circumstances, open my eyes while the presence is still there. Reason being is that I know I'm not going to like what I see, and what I would see, for some reason, would then be able to see me. I know this sounds exactly like a fnord, but I don't associate it with anything like that. More accurately, it can see me, but for some reason can't do anything to me if my eyes are closed.

That sounds like classic sleep paralysis.  I've had it twice now, that I can recall, and in addition to the paralysis, I have the exact same feelings and worries.

However, luckily, when it first happened to me I was already aware of what sleep paralysis was, and when I tried to move and it failed, I realised what it was and calmed down a degree.  Not entirely, but because I knew this was meant to feel like this, I kept on top of it much easier than someone who had no clue what was going on would have done.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I've experienced a couple of things, some of which can be attributed to hypnogogic states, some not (due to lack of sleep paralysis). One fairly disturbing one that is recurrent is the feeling of a presence in the room. Occasionally I'll wake up in the middle of the night, and I'll have an intense thought that I must not, under any circumstances, open my eyes while the presence is still there. Reason being is that I know I'm not going to like what I see, and what I would see, for some reason, would then be able to see me. I know this sounds exactly like a fnord, but I don't associate it with anything like that. More accurately, it can see me, but for some reason can't do anything to me if my eyes are closed.

That sounds like classic sleep paralysis.  I've had it twice now, that I can recall, and in addition to the paralysis, I have the exact same feelings and worries.

However, luckily, when it first happened to me I was already aware of what sleep paralysis was, and when I tried to move and it failed, I realised what it was and calmed down a degree.  Not entirely, but because I knew this was meant to feel like this, I kept on top of it much easier than someone who had no clue what was going on would have done.

I'm capable of movement when this happens to me, so it's probably some other screwy sleep disorder. My brain likes to fuck with me when I'm falling asleep or wake up in darkness. I also have, on  a couple of occasions heard malevolent voices. I also feel and hear electric shocks through out my body every so often, though i know what that particular thing is. Still sucks balls though. It's funny though, you have the conscious part of your brain telling you to calm down and another part of your brains saying, STFU! Shit's happening!

[Prince Glittersnatch III]

For some reason when I was a child I would experience sleep paralysis VERY often, like 3-4 nights a week. It would come in 3 forms,

1)Hallucinations(Stuff flying around the room)

2)If I dont see the Fnord it cant eat me(mentioned above, the eyes closed thing)

3)I cant move or open my eyes no matter how hard I try.

I only had 1 on two occasions but I soon became familiar with 2 and 3(ESPECIALLY 3). I was about 9 years old when this started and had no idea what sleep paralysis was. I slept on my stomach at the time so almost every time that I had type 3 I had a pillow in my face blocking my breathing. I ended up developing a fear of sleep and as a result suffered from Insomnia for several years and continue(to a lesser extent) to today. 

[Cardinal Pizza Deliverance.]

I've experienced a couple of things, some of which can be attributed to hypnogogic states, some not (due to lack of sleep paralysis). One fairly disturbing one that is recurrent is the feeling of a presence in the room. Occasionally I'll wake up in the middle of the night, and I'll have an intense thought that I must not, under any circumstances, open my eyes while the presence is still there. Reason being is that I know I'm not going to like what I see, and what I would see, for some reason, would then be able to see me. I know this sounds exactly like a fnord, but I don't associate it with anything like that. More accurately, it can see me, but for some reason can't do anything to me if my eyes are closed.

That sounds like classic sleep paralysis.  I've had it twice now, that I can recall, and in addition to the paralysis, I have the exact same feelings and worries.

However, luckily, when it first happened to me I was already aware of what sleep paralysis was, and when I tried to move and it failed, I realised what it was and calmed down a degree.  Not entirely, but because I knew this was meant to feel like this, I kept on top of it much easier than someone who had no clue what was going on would have done.

I have panic attacks in my sleep and wake up paralyzed but trying to scream. All that comes out is a faint hissing. It sucks. A lot. I stay that way until I go unconscious again and wake up normally. It isn't really falling asleep because it's damn hard to go ni-ni in the midst of freaking the fuck out, I just sorta black out. I don't think this has anything to do with the paranormal, but yeah. It isn't the paralysis that bothers me anymore, it's the the god damn panic attacks. It does make me wonder how much of the other weird stuff that I do attribute to the paranormal is just another manifestation of my broken brain as opposed to something external.

[Adios]

Very interesting stuff.

[BadBeast]

ITT, We are all delusional, hallucinating psych cases     Subconsciously trying to break out of the Matrix  gifted with amazing Oracular superpowers  Regularly baffled by Lady Eris.

[Phox]

I like this thread more and more with each addition.

[Dysfunctional Cunt]

My mother died in December of 2006.  I was in Florida at the time.  Some of you may recall.  I brought home a lot of her things.  One was my old radio alarm clock that she had used for years after buying me a new one for college, the only thing that worked on it was the alarm.  I have no idea why I grabbed it, but I did and came home and plugged the sucker in.  

About 3 weeks later I was woken up by a very staticy woman's voice talking over the radio. By the time I actually realized what was happening it had stopped.  

From that night on, every night when we go to bed, you hear static and what almost sounds like a woman.  The kid's started saying "goodnight nana" and it would immediately stop.  However, it still happens every night.

I can't tell you how many nights I've woken up to this voice.  Only three times has it been clear enough to understand.  

Once a couple of days before my oldest son was hurt very badly on a broken fence we ditinctly heard her say JW don't climb and then static....

The second time was when I was having a lot of inner turmoil over the MS diagnosis.  I mean at my age to have so much shit wrong with me.  We distinctly heard her say Michelle take the damn shot.

The last time we heard anything was the last night I spoke to my father alive.  She woke me up in the middle of the night and said call your father.  I have never told anyone that and the guilt for not following through, eh well, that's my issue to take to the grave huh?  They found my father dead on the kitchen floor a week later.  No one had seen or heard from him since right before I last spoke to him.

So yeah Hawk, I believe.  I believe that there are people so close to us that even death doesn't take them completely away.  I also believe they send us messages in a lot of weird ways and if we listen it can make a big difference.

I also believe there are people who are so wronged in this life that they don't move on or whatever or wherever it is we go because pure emotion keeps them here.  

I still have the radio, but mom hasn't said a word other than good night since May.

[Adios]

Damn.

[Sorchafae]

I completely believe in the paranormal, supernatural, ghosts, wtf ever you want to call it.  I believe in past lives, I have been called out on it, called crazy and what not, but eh.. lol. As i told my boyfriend last night, i keep life interesting, to which he snickered and walked away.... i'm pretty sure he was agreeing with me to an extent that i don't want to know... ANYWAY..

1st thing is one night about 3 years ago, i was sitting watching Braveheart with my little Bribri (7years old now, so was 4).. It had just started, and we were snuggled up eating popcorn.  The wedding scene was on, when Bri announced "Momma we were there!!" well I thought she was meaning Th Gatherin' which is a local festival held the first weekend of the month every may.. I asked her if that was what she was referring to... which she corrected me that no, what she was thinking of was during the day light hours.  So she described this scene in very great detail. the way only an excited, duchy 4year old can.

I mean at that point, what else can you do, when your child is looking at you to remember this place and time, large childish eyes full of emotion and verging on the edge of tears because you can't remember this wonderful amazing time that you and the child had together??? So i hugged her and kissed her cheek, and then thanked her for reminding me...... (all the while i was freaking out inside.)  I remember having these "memories" when i was younger, just not THAT young..

I go looking for the supernatural (ghosts).  We have a local legion around here, the blue light lady (elizabeth polly) i have looked for her more times than i can count, but eh, i'm not lucky enough

However what i can say, is that go into an open space (be it outside, in a small room, a cellar it doesn't matter).. the feeling of stepping into a cold space, where there is no explanation for the temp dropping just there. feeling the hair on the back of your neck and arms stand on end, and a feeling of a hand squeezing your insides, telling you that you shouldn't be there. I love this feeling, were you just "know" that something is there with you, something that you don't know is friend or foe.  If i could afford it, i would spend all my time trying to find 'ghosts' but damn day job keeps getting in the way.

My love for the supernatural has gotten me 'known' around work and circles of my friends' friends.  I make jewelry, i use only natural stones, many times ppl will ask me to make them specialty pieces, which i do.  Sun-catchers and such (have a friend that makes dream catchers, so we will weave my stones in the dream catcher even... need to talk to her to get some more... hmmmm... ).   People have said that my stones help them, that they aren't as apt to have the problems with their "supernatural" friends. (or as one said.. it chased the bad juju away teehhee)

[Adios]

I love this thread.