Do you believe in the existence of spirits, and otherworldy forces? What about the myriad of stories from people all throughout history of unnatural things they claim to have seen? Are they fictional to pipe up interest, or are they real, or do people illusionise and imagine these things? Do you believe in people being possessed by demonic forces, and abnormal incidents that have been reported over the years that Science and normal laws don't seem to be able to prove?

This stuff has been bugging me ever since last year, when I went over to a friend's for a Halloween Party (something possibly only the people on her street celebrate, since a whole bunch of the residents there are Americans, which is what makes going there fun). Her house was inherited from the grandparents, and they claim it was built over where an old gravesite where several people were buried used to be. We made one of those weegie boards to call up spirits, and apparently there was the spirit of a young girl named Zoe, who was 16 and killed in a car accident. I don’t think I believed in those boards much. Though after I had left, a few stayed for the sleepover, and everyone was crowded inside the one room. My friend woke up in the middle of the night to see the face of a young girl, just her face, on the wall straight above her, watching. She almost went pale and woke the person next to her, who also saw her. They were so scared that they didn't dare leave the bunk until morning. She was in a fit when she told me later… I’ve been freaked by her supposedly haunted place since- The reason I avoid sleepovers over there.

Jamie's hall in his house is 'haunted'. He had a family murdered there in the 18 or 19 hundreds. The graveyard is about a half a mile back into his woods [he has like 80 something acres] We sometimes go there to make sure it's in good shape, just out of respect I guess. He said when he first found it all the gravestones were fallen over or tilted and they went back that way when I found it like a year later. We've also had the digital camera and both flashlights go out soon after visiting it. [at night, and they were fully charged.] I'm not sure if I told you this story already or not. Anyways, I was coming out of the bathroom [in the middle of the hall] I look over, it's pitch black anyways since its the middle of the night...and I see a dark figure of a man standing there with a hat on [had a brim, but it wasn't anything like a top hat - the tall ones I mean] I felt like he, or it was staring at me. None the less I did stare back, I did a double take because I didn't believe what I had seen. When I looked back, it was gone. I went to bed and felt like wetting myself I was so scared. Lol, also his dad [who doesn't believe in this crap] has heard a blood curdling scream coming from upstairs. Jamie nor any of his siblings heard it, except his step-mom. Kind of creepy. His dad ran upstairs and was kind of in a fit going 'what's wrong, what's wrong?' and of course jamie was like 'uh, what's wrong? what happened?' because he heard nothing.

Also, this kind of creeped me out...but they had some lady hanging out around their house [in the woods, by their back porch] for a while, mumbling to herself. Later on they found that when they saw her, she'd been dead for a week. Creeeeeeepppppy. Nothing like that has happened since, thank god. I definitly would have had a fit if I knew that, and saw it.

:O You saw a spirit? You know, I'm starting to believe this crazy stuff now. That's two people I know. And apparently, there was this incident in the news somewhere that my Mum told me about, at the City. A guy who worked as a cleaner in one of the office buildings died during work when he fell off from someplace and hit the ground. Later on, one of his colleagues walks into the building a week or two later, and sees the dead guy there, going about as if nothing had happened. Of course, he was dead, and the witness freaked out after seeing him and refused to go back there.

You know what I believe? There could be spirits in haunted places everywhere, but only the rare few ever see them. And those people are ones that possess this abnormal ability to detect their existence (maybe like what you said about neurons in the brain? Can't remember...), and most normal people don't experience any of that in their lifetime, so they either don't know, or aren't likely to believe because they haven't seen it for themselves. I have a slight suspicion that you're one of those people, Ere :oddlook:

My sis was trying to convince me that there were no such things as ghosts after she heard Mum and me discussing that stuff about the cleaner. Little people are odd. I mean, she believes in Santa Claus and fairies O_o

That's why I would never go in supposedly haunted places at night. Even my last visit to the Graveyard by day creeped me out. There were freshly dug open graves by the side, and it was really dim inside, and it seemed as if there were bodies inside, but it was too dark to make out, so we couldn't see whether there was someone down there who had not been properly buried yet or not. I nearly stepped on the half slab of stone that covered it (which looked frail enough to have possibly broken under me if I had *shudder)

Hehe. Last night I pondered going off to this graveyard, where they cut off the head of the statue of Mary...for good reason. I guess she kept bleeding/crying bloody tears. None the less I probably would have wet myself going there, but I fell asleep before we ever really decided on much. [it came up on a search I did for the top haunted places in New York, lol, unsupringly to me my college came up. haha. Definitly was expected, and I learnt some things I didn't know about it before.]

All I can say to the 'your one of those people' comment is, well I've always been an oddball ;) nothing new there. My friend who is insanely like me just spent a few days here, and the entire time we never had to say much between the two of us we basically somehow knew what each other was thinking about, or what we were about to do. Weird, no? Also, after like an hour of us spending time together and after that we had a major tendancy to say the same exact thing the same time. Lol I just thought I would share that oddity with the rest of you.

And I thought I was the strange one ^_^ The only instance that's happened to me (only twice) were complete, or so I think, coincidences. But weird nonetheless. The other odd time a few years back was when I predicted the colour of about 12 cars before they came around the corner and we actually saw them. All of them also came in doubles, so it was really weird. So it would be like, red ford car, another red ford car, green four wheel drive, another green four wheel drive.

The other odd things that happen... I've always had the idea that dreams can somehow reveal something of the future. Like, there have been quite a few instances where I go somewhere completely new on holidays, and I have a really odd feeling that they are places I've visited before in dreams. I don't think I'm the only one that comes across those though. And the odd thing about dreams that is when you have nightmares, you're the one who's making the whole thing up, and yet you still get scared.
I had one last night :S I hate them. It was completely senseless, and involved me walking around in a graveyard after dark. I was supposed to take a torch but somehow forgot. I don't remember exactly what happened but something or other grabbed me from somewhere. Me no like graveyards *shakes head*

It could have either been that in your dream [future, like you said] or have you ever heard of astral projection? or rather O.B.E.'s? [I've accomplished an O.B.E. before, easily after a few whacks at it.] It lets you go wherever the hell you want, basically. It's hard though, kind of stiff movement at first until you get the hang of it. Haha, I'm just full of weirdness, aren't I?

Well, I haven't done it in a while because last time I did I felt something grab my arm and it really hurt...like a burning hurt, and then something kind of whispered right in my ear 'your mine' so...obviously I flipped out and went back to waking up. [its kind of like a dream, but not. it's a state your body can go into half-awake-asleep kind of, I don't know how to explain it. I guess that's the best state for any pyschicness to happen too, so I've heard.] I've wanted to try my hand at it though, because there's been a few instances where it's been awesome. I won't go into detail though, at least not at the moment. I thought it was all just crap at first too, like it wasn't possible, but once I tested it out for myself...things got interesting.

I've read about that stuff somewhere, where you manage to control your dreams or something, and make whatever you want happen? I was really interested when I was hearing about it, and wanted to try it out, but then it said that you needed some sort of thing to alert your brain that 'you are now asleep' while you were sleeping, so that you could go on sleeping and not wake up, and know you're sleeping at the same time, and then give it a go. Like some sort of light or sound mechanism. Apparently there's this really expensive thing you can buy that works just for that, and since I could not work out how I could possibly make one, I gave up :( It could be harder than it feels, but when I first thought about it, I figured the first thing I was gunna do when I mastered this odd half-awake/asleep thing was to fly. You know how odd senseless things happen in dreams? I figured maybe flying was possible. (I'm weird :frown:) but then maybe not, since dreams are based around reality *ponders*

I couldn't have seen futuristic things during something like that because I've never done it before, or at least, I dont think so. I haven't found a way to yet. But it would be really awesome, how did you do it? :oddlook: :O
Go the weirdness XD

I dunno, I just ...did. I didn't need anything special. If you look up astral projection on a lot of sites it will tell you a few different methods of trying to have a forced OBE. I tried again last night actually, got like half-way and then fell asleep because it took so long, haha. Don't get weirded out if you feel your body go numb, it's supposed to do that. [at least it does everytime I do] And yes, flying is possible

<---<< did it

Anywho, I couldn't resist commenting on this, even though I should be sleeping [really getting dressed for the day so I can help my dad] ...but anyways.

I read this passage about it (got a bit curious, just a little)... it's even weirder than when what I knew before. It sounds almost like pulling yourself out of your subconcious body, like a living spirit... It sounds so awesome, Ere, you're making me want to do it *grins* I need to try it sometime (somehow)... Any tips? ^^
Actually, I was half-trying to do it last night. Didn't quite work (well, it was slightly late), and I figured I fell asleep sometime during the course of whatever I was trying to do. I remember dreams sometimes, that's a start :) Well, to put that better, I remember pointless ones from ages ago and ones I have the previous night I forget by the next night O_o

You can force it to happen while you're awake? :oddlook:

Yeah actually, your supposed to be awake for it. Well, in a half-awake half-asleep kind of state. It's hard to explain. Have you ever been asleep, but you're still aware of your surroundings? It's kind of like that. And yes, your body is asleep but your 'spirit' is awake. The most I ever accomplished was forcing myself out enough to either float for a few minutes or walk around whatever house I was in. Sometimes I would fall asleep and then 'dream' about it. It's really the same thing though. I think only once I went to what's called the 'astral plane' which, I'm not quite sure I even believe in really...it's been a long time since then though. Everything's a blur now. Here's a definition to describe what it is:

"A plane of creation. It's medium is concrete emotional energy. It is where our consciousness is focused after we're done with the physical plane."

I remember at least half my time there. Everything is seriously, just as real as you get being here. The best part is, it all comes from whatever you're feeling. XD I remember walking around, from one place to another. I think one minute I was in one 'world' [in my head] and then I walked into Narnia. Haha. Seriously though, when you think of something it just kind of sprouts from there. I chased Mr. Tumnas down. XD [favorite character] I got to see Aslan walking around creating Narnia too...lol, apparantly I still have my head in the clouds even when I'm dreaming. Well, actually, I don't ever remember 'dreams' unless it's precognition, or astral-ness. I woke up feeling like I never wanted to come back here though, which is apparantly a common feeling when it happens. [so I've read] You lose all your negative feelings, like you can't remember a care in the world.

I also think I walked over Caradhras [sp?] with the fellowship a little/and I was in Rivendell. Hehe. I say that because I seem to distinctly recall the sound of rushing water. [waterfall.] You can also change how you percieve yourself too, which I did...:) which was of course a mythical being. :D

Astral Plane n : the word astral on its own means relating to, resembling or emanating from the stars. The astral plane is namely a place where all the thoughts, memories, fantasies and dreams of everyone in the world exist. The astral plane is thought to be a fantastic place to travel in, with many different travelers, entities and levels to it. It is said to operate at a much higher frequency than the physical plane we inhabit.

It is thought that the etheric body, spirit or mind can travel on the astral plane which is said to appear more solid than the physical plane we all inhabit, this is because in order to travel it the etheric body has to be existing and operating at the same higher frequency. The astral plane is believed to be far more mutable than the physical and is said to be changed and altered simply by the power of thought.

Ah, sorry I do have to correct myself above. I only astral projected once, there's another word for my other attempts called 'etheric' projection.

2). Etheric Projection is believed to be the commonest form of astral projection and the term that is most often confused with it. Etheric projection is said to be the result of a conscious effort to separate from the physical body. Unlike astral projection this time the etheric body stays on the physical plane but simply separates from the physical body. It is often reported by persons who have experienced this phenomena that they find themselves next to their physical bodies or floating above them. Subjects often report the ability to move at speed across rooms, streets, cities, even counties and planets on the physical plane that their bodies normally exist in. As with astral projection the etheric body is said to operate at a higher frequency so this enables it to move through solid objects such as doors or walls. In many respects it is similar to an out of body experience the main difference being that etheric projection is achieved by a conscious effort to do it.

I've been half awake, half asleep many times... during some mornings (I was never much of a morning person), when I get woken up by my Mum rapping on the door, and before I'm even fully awake she starts talking to me. You distinctly think you're awake at the time, because you hear and understand what people say to you, but afterwards, when you're really awake, it's hard to tell. I used to always think that when people talked to me, it was always in my dreams, until I realise (because they tell me) that they really were talking to me (while I was half asleep). hm. It happens when I'm tired too. I nearly drop off to sleep, but I don't go to sleep. Argh, in fact, sometimes I can't tell which one it is when I think on it afterwards. Also, during late night music performances (because I'm in a string ensemble, and concerts are usually at night), on the side panels just before them, every time, when the lights go dim (it could be just the funny lights though), everything goes fuzzy after a bit, people's voices tune out, and for several seconds I get this inability to determine reality from non-reality. Tell me that's normal? >.<

I get it all slightly more now XD I tried to make myself go into some sort of trance just before. It didn't quite work, but I guess it does take some patience, and people downstairs were talking too loudly O_o Do you know how easy it is to make your mind go into complete blank when there is absolutely no point to it, as opposed to purposely doing it? I don't suppose I make much sense there ^^ One question, are you aware of physical surroundings when you're in a trance, or is your mind completely absorbed in it? Had an odd impression of someone walking in while you're at it, and thinking you're half dead because you don't respond... But then, they could pull you out of it with a sudden jerk, couldn't they? Can't imagine that to be very nice.

Hm, how long did it take for you to make something happen?
Ooh yay, you visited Narnia and Middle-earth? *gapes* How was it? How awesome would that have been?! :O

It was probably over the course of a few months that I got it to happen. That was when I was new to it and had never done it before. Some people say they feel their body tremor just before they are separated, I've only felt that once. It's kind of a funny feeling. I've also had people jolt me out of it before, but only because my roommate would come in from a class, and then I'd be 'woken' up. Haha, she also constantly dealt with my sleepwalking. XD ^_^

Well apparently, I sleep talk, or sleep sing. People have said they've walked past my bedroom and heard me singing in my sleep :O That would be pretty hilarious.
It's probably going to take me a while to get close to separating. I'd lie there, trying to make my mind remain blank and concentrate on something for what seems a long time (it's really probably only several minutes), then I'd get distracted by some noise or other. I don't even know if I'm doing it right.
You know that floating sensation? I've felt something like that when I try to get to sleep sometimes. The feeling that the surface of the bed is like one of those lifts that travel up and down, and you're moving with it. I don't know whether it means anything, but when I read about imagining things in your mind, like climbing ladders and going on lifts, I remembered that.

If you begin to feel as if you're floating, that usually a better sign for Astral projection. If you do accomplish an etheric projection you'll feel stiff at first and everything will be a blur. It's going to take a few more tries until you get the hang of anything. Think of it as an infant learning to crawl or something.

Hm, etheric projection is conciously trying to do it, so astral projection is unconciously doing it then... wait, how does that work? You don't just non conciously project and float off for no reason do you? You would have to put some effort into getting it to work... (As usual, I am confusing myself.)
Heheh I think I need a step by step guide or something XD Everything does kind of go blurry after a bit, but I'm thinking that's just from staring at one thing for a long time. You know how you stare at something (in my case, a star on my ceiling) for so long that it goes blurry then disappears? That happens.

Haha. You're going 'round in circles trying to explain the unexplainable. That amuses me :)

Heheh well I kind of think that some people are starting to wonder whether I'm going paranoid, insane or otherwise mental XD You should have seen the look my cousin gave me when I told her all this. 8-)