The Weird Events Thread: supernatural stuff

[Fragile Bird]

My parents always had these incredible dreams, dreams they would describe in the morning over breakfast, dreams with incredible detail and bathed in colour that they could talk about as if they were standing in and reliving them. And they would have serious discussions regarding the interpretation of those dreams, because both of them had many dreams that they considered as portents or advice, and found considerable value in trying to decide what the dreams were telling them. The dreams presented themselves like this: "I was walking through a forrest of large old trees, oaks and maples, but it was a tended forest because the bush was cleared and sunlight came down through the branches. And as the trees thinned out, I came to a field of ripening wheat, just before harvest, and followed a path through the field to a small, clear river. I looked down in the water and there I saw three gold coins. I reached down to take them and got two, but suddenly a fish swooped in and swallowed the third. Then I woke up, still feeling my wet hand holding the gold coins." *

Now, who the hell has dreams like that? And they would discuss every element of the dream, and decide what it meant and what they had to do. I still remember my mother coming down one morning and announcing that she dreamed about three rats, two big ones and a little one, in our house eating cheese. "Mark my words," she said "your cousins and their daughter are coming to see us." Damned if the phone didn't ring half an hour later, my cousin calling to say they were coming by. **

When I was in university my mother told me she had woken up in the middle of the night, and there standing beside her bedside stood my grandmother, holding a small basket and leaning over to speak to my mother. My mother said the figure was totally real, totally corporeal, she tried to sit up and reach out to her, and my grandmother straightened up and smiled and disappeared. The next day we received an overseas cable (no phone calls from Eastern Europe at that time!) telling my mother my grandmother had died the night before. My mother told me my grandmother never believed in ghosts, but if it were possible to come back she would try and show them.

I don't seem to have dreams like that, much to my sorrow. Only twice. After my mother died, after a lengthy illness, I was certain she would visit me. I waited and waited, but nothing happened. About 9 months later, just before Christmas, I had an incredibly vivid dream of my mother. We were getting ready for Christmas dinner, and my mother pulled up to the house driving my brother's newly purchased cadillac. She opened the door to the car and stepped out, beaming with pleasure, and told me to tell my brother she approved of the car. She apoligized for being late, she had purchased so many presents and had had them wrapped, and they were all piled up in the back seat. The dream was so vivid, in full colour, and when I told various friends about the dream they all said the same thing, that I had surely received a visit. And then several months later, I woke in the middle of the night and saw my late brother, who died in an accident when I was 28 and he was 29, sitting at the end of my bed and just smiling at me, in the way he always did when he was content. It was vivid, it was real, it was spooky, it was so comforting.

ETA: * that is word for word one of my dad's dreams as best as I can remember

** cheese? - my cousin came to borrow money from my mom, I forgot that part, lol!

[S John]

I thought of a pretty recent one. Two of my good friends, who are both part of the same social circle, got married in recently. So one weekend I had a wedding and the next weekend a bachelor party with all the same group of people. The wedding was at this couple hundred year old plantation house in Maryland. I wish I could remember what it was called but it was really nice. The wedding and the reception were at this place so we were there for several hours. The next weekend was the weekend of my other friends' bachelor party. The guy who got married the week before was doing a delayed honeymoon or something so he was also able to make the bachelor party.

Anyway, he gets in the car for the road trip to the bachelor party and starts looking through his camera to show me a picture from the wedding. I'm thinking... oh FFS we were all there, please lets not do a show and tell! He immediately flips to this one specific picture and its of the old plantation house from the outside and nobody is in the picture except in front of the house there is a little girl standing right in the doorway. She's a little out of focus but its clearly a kid standing there, so I ask him who's kid that is. He told me.... he doesn't know. He took the picture of the house and he swears that nobody was standing there, nor were there any little girls at the wedding at all. It was a small wedding too, maybe 30 or 40 people so he definitely knew everyone on the property that day. I looked at it again and the dress she was wearing was pretty old school. But it was definitely a solid figure. Kinda weird. He's not the type to be into that stuff either, but he was clearly a bit unnerved at the unexplained person in his photo.

[Zerrex]

Not to sound like an ass, but I can't tell if some of these posts are attempts to ridicule others or just extremely exaggerated.

In either case, I kind of like to think there's some ancient order of miscreants whose entire mission is to incite paranoia of "ghosts and the paranormal"; so dedicated to their craft of slamming doors and making staircases creak that they are never seen.

Just as likely that they're real as well I suppose.

[Sci-2]

Not to sound like an ass, but I can't tell if some of these posts are attempts to ridicule others or just extremely exaggerated.

I think everyone here is being genuine. Heh, if I won the lottery tomorrow I'd try to investigate all kinds of paranormal claims. The world seems more interesting with the fantastic as a part of it.

[Salome the Persian Witch]

I keep coming back to this thread, but am reticent to post too much. My experience is that when most people feel safe enough, they'll tell stories of their experiences - even when they don't believe in them intellectually, or were unable to find a good explanation. Sometimes there are things that go beyond logic. (Although I'm of the belief system that we haven't yet found solid scientific explanations or models for things just yet. That's why the study of paranormal phenomenon fascinates me in addition to studying other cultures' supernatural beliefs)

I'm gratified by Tobin's post. I have gotten into trouble a few times answering questions where people swear they didn't say anything out loud. And if someone is trying to tell me something but they can't remember the name or the words, I ask them to think of it very clearly, and then I'll usually tell them who or what they're talking about. And yes, at Trivial Pursuit if someone "sends me an answer" I can usually pick it up. I also have certain people that I am (or have been) strongly connected to, and "feel" when something is going on with them.

I also have an uncanny ability to tell when people are pregnant - even in the very early stages. And in some cases, when they're about to get pregnant. Or even that they WILL get pregnant - and when it happens. (Pregnant women "feel" different to me. Hard to explain. Although, I have been known to be more correct than pregnancy tests. (I felt friends' pregnancies who had denied them because of negative test results - only to find that they had taken the tests too early in the pregnancy, and I was in fact right!) Very odd, really, considering I don't have children myself, but it's become a bit of a joke in my social circle.

I guess the best way I would describe myself is a strong "empath".

[Stubby]

The thing that freaks me out the most is talking in my sleep.

My greatest hits:

"What the hell are you doing to my sheepskin seat covers!?" (I don't have sheepskin seat covers)

"What do you reckon Chewbacca thinks about all these people in his tree house?"

[Salome the Persian Witch]

The thing that freaks me out the most is talking in my sleep.

This for me, too. Hubby regales me with stories of what I (seemingly wide eyed and awake) say to him. His favourite to date: me sitting bolt upright in bed, turning to him, and yelling "sex party!" (And no, I have no idea to what that could have referred...).

[Winter's Lady]

This for me, too. Hubby regales me with stories of what I (seemingly wide eyed and awake) say to him. His favourite to date: me sitting bolt upright in bed, turning to him, and yelling "sex party!" (And no, I have no idea to what that could have referred...).

Haha no idea at all eh...

But this brings back memories. I had a slumber party with friends when I was about ...say 14, and one of my friends started to recite a recipe for spaghetti bolognese in her sleep... :rofl:

[gryphon strike]

Come now, you can't just say that and not give details.

I also want to know more about Min's demon conjuration.

I should also confess that sometimes I get feelings, like something bad is going to happen to someone. I try to always give a warning without sounding like a total loon, just in case.

Details like that only occur in private discussions not on the net like this. There are several reasons for that and one of the major ones is that anyone just blabbing out stuff about the Astral is more likely than not a fraud trying to suck you in. A private one on one personal discussion allows compulsio err beleif to be established :P

Honestly mate this is to do with my religion etc and I am not really comfortable speaking of it on a forum like this. I will state that there are several interesting books on the subject and most of them speak of different beleifs and experience of the astral.

[Nichole]

My cousin Jamie died in a car accident when she was 15. As you can imagine, this was devastating to the entire family. I was 10 at the time and looked up to her thinking she was the coolest person.

The day after she died, her older sister Dee Dee was at my aunt and uncles house. She was in the living room when she saw Jamie walk through the room towards the guest bedroom. She said Jamie waved at her as if to say 'hey.' It took Dee Dee a second to remember that Jamie was dead since the whole situation had seemed so normal and the death had only happened the day before. Dee Dee ran towards the guest bedroom to look for Jamie but found no one. She thinks it was Jamie stopping by to try to say that she was alright.

A few months later I had a dream that still makes me cry when I think about it. In it my brother, sister and I were at Jamie's house and we were all running around playing like we always had. I remember it being so fun, and just good. Suddenly I remembered that Jamie was dead and I even said to her "But, Jamie, how are you here? You're dead." She got the saddest look on her face and said "yeah, I wish I could stay."

[Tears of Lys]

Now, who the hell has dreams like that? And they would discuss every element of the dream, and decide what it meant and what they had to do. I still remember my mother coming down one morning and announcing that she dreamed about three rats, two big ones and a little one, in our house eating cheese. "Mark my words," she said "your cousins and their daughter are coming to see us." Damned if the phone didn't ring half an hour later, my cousin calling to say they were coming by.

Was one of them Fez's ex "roommate"? :P

Seriously, those dreams of your parents' were delicious to read. You must have had a charmed childhood.

[Nukelavee]

Jed - the "black man" seems to be some kinda archetype, lots of people have had the experience.

I had a buddy who back in the day, insists he and a gf "summoned" a big ball of nothing that scared the shit out of him. Decio isn't above fucking with people...but, based on his obvious fear when he told the story, and his girlfriends excitement... they experienced something.

They later split, because she wanted to try it again, and he refused.

There's a concept in a Tim Powers novel, bar time - it's when you start reacting to things before they happen. Happens to me a lot, enough that friends use to actually comment on it. There's actually a "feel" to those moments, sort of teh opposite of the deja vu "on the rails" feeling.

Not saying it's a special power, lol, just, it's weird. Likely, it's all pattern recognition and reflex working on a seperate level than my actual thoughts.

[Sci-2]

big ball of nothing that scared the shit out of him

Really, unless you have the right talisman, you shouldn't fuck with Spheres of Annihilation. :-)

[WrathOfTinyKittens]

Salome Sand Witch once told me in chat that my creepy bathroom in my old condo gave her a feeling of a woman in the sink, as if she had perhaps lost something valuable down the drain. I never looked because it freaked me out but it made me feel a little validated about not wanting to be in there.

[AverageGuy]

In either case, I kind of like to think there's some ancient order of miscreants whose entire mission is to incite paranoia of "ghosts and the paranormal"; so dedicated to their craft of slamming doors and making staircases creak that they are never seen.

Just as likely that they're real as well I suppose.

I've done this. Not that I'm a member of any society, but when someone says they get a creepy feeling in a room, I'll drop the "somebody was killed in there a few years ago" bombshell. I always considered it another form of ghost story, I've known plenty of other people who like to do the same thing.

Beyond a couple dreams that came true, and relatively vague dreams/quick snippets at that, no odd experiences.

[Fragile Bird]

Was one of them Fez's ex "roommate"? :P

Seriously, those dreams of your parents' were delicious to read. You must have had a charmed childhood.

Poor Fez will never, ever lose the "she ate my cheese" comment, will he? :lol:

Somehow naked encounters with burglars and breaking ribs in mosh pits and losing your cookies with MC sound so much more. . . . . . . glamorous? :rofl:

[Francis Buck]

At the doctor's yesterday, I happened to read in a magazine that some researchers believe the earth's magnetic fields could be the cause of certain places feeling "haunted". Apparently you can place magnets near the frontal lobe to create a sense of strange "presences", which some people may find particularly disturbing (they achieve this -- and other creepy sensations -- with electrical stimulation as well).

So that, combined with expectations and biases (you're more likely to "see" something if you're looking for it...like at a reputedly haunted location) could account for a lot events, particularly in specific areas.

Related articles:

http://publicparapsy...-phenomena.html

http://science.howst...life/ghost3.htm

Interesting if true.

EDIT: The magazine was Psychology Today.

[Sci-2]

At the doctor's yesterday, I happened to read in a magazine that some researchers believe the earth's magnetic fields could be the cause of certain places feeling "haunted". Apparently you can place magnets near the frontal lobe to create a sense of strange "presences", which some people may find particularly disturbing (they achieve this -- and other creepy sensations -- with electrical stimulation as well).

So that, combined with expectations and biases (you're more likely to "see" something if you're looking for it...like at a reputedly haunted location) could account for a lot events, particularly in specific areas.

Related articles:

http://publicparapsy...-phenomena.html

http://science.howst...life/ghost3.htm

Interesting if true.

EDIT: The magazine was Psychology Today.

This idea has been posited for awhile. Attanasio actually uses the idea, that consciousness is connected to the Electromagnetic Spectrum, to great effect in his novels.

[Nukelavee]

Subsonics have also been linked to sites of hauntings, and that feeling of dread.

[polishgenius]

The only time I've been really freaked out by something was when my mum text me wondering if I was feeling okay at a time I really, really wasn't and she couldn't possibly have known. My mum hardly ever texted me when I was at uni and never just a random text asking how I am. I fibbed at the time - no need to worry her- but talking about it some time later she says she just got a really strong feeling that I was unhappy.

We also had a few unexplained things at our house in third year at uni and the one next door, but never anything major enough to really freak me out or convince me that it wasn't just a trick of the mind or something. The only one that I really remember now was a ping-pong ball bouncing by itself (which I wasn't the only one to witness), but it was only two bounces and we were passing through the room in a hurry from kitchen to party so we couldn't be sure.

A friend of mine recently got absolutely terrified by poltergeist activity at his workplace though.