Category: Psychic Phenomena

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Personal experiences: Part 3– The painting or painted faces filled with rage.

Image-1 (1)This is a six part story about a paranormal event that occurred in January 1980. As usual, it’s told without any embellishments and according to a document that I had written after the event.

As mentioned the presence of the staircase had vanished one morning, and Shawn and I were there messing around, trying to work out why. Rather foolishly, I might add, as we had no clue what we were doing. I guess we were feeling disappointed that it had gone as it had been rather exciting.

The painting of the red face was hung between the middle landing, and I honestly did not like it. It made me feel uneasy. We looked at the it and I suddenly decided I didn’t like it at all. I felt it would be better if I went and turned it around. There was no logical reason why I thought that would be worth doing, but at least I knew I wouldn’t have to look at it. However, Shawn decided that it needed to be turned around the correct way. He might have just being contrary for the sake of it, so I asked him why had he turned it back over. Did he like it?

He said, no, it just needed to be up the right way. He had to put it like that. I once again went to turn it over but he held me back so I left it along. In hindsight, maybe I should have just removed it when he wasn’t looking. On the other hand, I doubt it would have changed anything.

Between band practices, Shawn became more and more drawn to the stairs. He would ask me to come along. Normally I would, but after a few more times, I started to feel it was time to let this thing go and I told him no. I wasn’t sure what was really going on, but part of me was now saying: this is enough.

But Shawn said he felt he had to go there. He indicated he was compelled to so do, and when I asked if he could resist the urge, he couldn’t or didn’t want to and went through the doors.

I must admit, I, too, felt something drawing me there. Not sure if it was curiosity, or something more. There was one moment where I was alone in the dorm, and I suddenly felt something pulling at me. I could have resisted, but I didn’t. Part of me was curious as to what was happening.  Truth was, I was fascinated with the whole thing,  and wondered how true it was, and how far things might go. What is something tangible manifested itself. That would be a story worth telling others. Even though those were my motivations, I had not really defined them at the point of time. All I knew was that I was feeling compelled, and I was going to play the game. 

So, I got up from the bed, and slowly, almost like I was in a trance like state, made my way towards the doors. I could have snapped out of it at any time, but I was choosing not to. 

I was about to enter the staircase, when someone walked in from behind and broke the spell. The feeling suddenly left and I turned away, and went back to my bed. Five minutes later, Shawn walked in and asked if I wanted to go down the stairs with him. I was still amiable to the idea, and I agreed. We went down to the first landing and stopped. I suddenly felt very uneasy, and decided to leave.

Shawn said, no, stay here.

“You can,” I said, “but I’m going.”

And so I did. As I walked back out, I fancied I heard a voice in my mind say “Now I’ve got rid of you, now for Shawn.’

At that moment, Shawn claimed he suddenly felt weak in the legs and he nearly passed out.  He did not look good when he came back through the doors a minute later. The urge to return still was present, so I decided to just leave the dorm.

The thing about that thought in my mind made, in hindsight, no sense. If, whatever it was didn’t want me there, then why compel me? Did it just want just one of there alone? Did it want me or Shawn or both? Did I just think it to myself?

The only reason I mentioned it was because of the fact of what  happened to Shawn at the same moment I heard it.

That’s the thing about thoughts in your mind. Some of them do come from you, even if you’re not consciously thinking them. Some of them do appear to be from other sources, too, but I’ve have my fair share of random thoughts that lead nowhere, and I’ve certainly have my fair share of thoughts that later proved to be true.

Of all the things I experience, I’d say the thoughts in your mind are the ones that need to be the most scrutinized. Never accept them on faith that they are from another source, but on the other hand, don’t just dismiss them either.

Next: Mirror mirror.

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Personal experiences: Part 2 – Is there anyone there? or the little séance

A modern ouija board plus planchette

This is a six part story about a paranormal event that occurred in January 1980. As usual, it’s told without any embellishments and according to a document that I had written after the event.

After I had told people my experiences and people started to feel something on the stairway, everyone got excited and someone suggested that we have a séance, because there was a memorial in our room to someone called ‘Robert Rice’. Some were guessing that maybe he had died here, and his spirit was haunting the room.

I don’t believe this was the case and to this day I have no clue who Robert Rice actually was. He could have been a founder or maybe a student who died there.

Having no real Ouija Board, we created our own out of paper and used a plastic cup to spell out letters.

Just before the séance occurred, the top stairway light blew out for the first time, which meant, if I remember correctly, everyone was using torches to illuminate everything.

We set up the pieces at the bottom of the stairway and five people sat in a circle around the board and put a finger on the cup. They claimed they were just letting them hover over the cup, but I have my doubts about that, as one of them as a trouble maker called Norman and he was there for a lark.

The first question they asked was ‘Are you Robert Rice?’ The cup appeared to jump slightly and moved towards the ‘yes’ sign, (and I am certain this was someone pushing the cup rather than any spirit being involved) but before they could continue, something happened.

The tingling which we had been feeling around the stairs suddenly manifested itself very strongly and I felt it over my entire body.

Then Norman suddenly yelled ‘Bullshit!’ and scrambled the Ouija board and fled up the stairs. He was spooked and scared, and though he never spoke of what happened, it was clear he must have felt or something something. And suddenly, everyone else was screaming and bolting up the stairs leaving just me, Shawn and another teen called Terry.

We exchanged notes and found we have all felt the same sensation.

Now, I don’t know if everyone was just agreeing with each other, or how many others felt what I felt, but I think everyone did certainly get pulled into the excitement and drama of it all, and whether they felt anything or not, they joined it. I don’t recall the general reaction afterwards, but people seemed to just carry on with what they were doing.

However, the experience was real enough for one of the boys named David (who actually was a student there) to get this large cross and place it at the bottom of the stairs. I was not aware he did this, but when I next went through the doors, the stairway felt clear as though the presence had left it.

Then I saw the cross. I called Shawn and without explaining anything, I asked him to come and see what he could feel. When he joined me, he asked how come there was nothing there.  I then showed him the crucifix.

The cross didn’t last very long, however, because one of the brothers who lived at the college found and remove it. The brothers then complained to our band masters, who in turn were sceptical and said that they couldn’t believe their ears and gave us a small lecture about leaving property alone.

So when it was removed, I didn’t know it had been. So as I headed to the showers, I once again felt the energy. I was puzzled why until I saw that the cross was gone.

The presence now felt angry, well at least to my mind, though I could have been imagining that. The feeling I was getting, though, was very strong. Then, abruptly, without any apparent reason,  the next morning it was gone.

As I said, at times it felt like I was walking through static electricity, and I do not that it’s presence did not match my expectations of it.

Next : The painted face

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Personal experiences: Part 1 – The presence on the stairway or don’t go there alone in the dark.

The dark staircase

This is a six part story about a paranormal event that occurred in January 1980. As usual, it’s told without any embellishments and according to a document that I had written after the event.

As a youth, my father insisted that I play in a brass band, and so I ended up playing that Euphonium. So every year I would end up going on a god awful band camp to play awful music that your family would end up politely listening to in the inevitable end of camp concert we’d subject them to.

Between January 13th and 26th, 1980, I attended one of those camps for The Victorian State Youth Band.

During this camp, quite a few unusual events occurred.

After the camp, I took it upon myself to write it all down, lest I forget. I’m glad I did, as I had forgotten most of it. What follows is my slightly edited version.

This camp was held at a Christian boarding school which, I recall correctly was called St. Patrick’s College in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, which is a historical gold mining town.

There were two large rooms for sleeping in, and one of them led to a landing and a stair way.

When going down the steps that lead to the showers, a then friend of mine, (let’s call him Shawn), claimed that he got an uneasy feeling there and he didn’t like going down there at night.

At the time, I dismissed this as just being in his mind so he dared me to go down there myself. I did, and I did feel uneasy, but considering I did it in the dark, I would naturally feel that way.

There was nothing special about the staircase. Just two flights of steps winding from the boy’s dormitory down to the boy’s shower block.  As a rule, it was well lit, though the light bulbs kept on blowing. Five times in total, which is also something I have noticed occurring whenever there appears to be some type of spirit energy play going on. It was that, or just bad wiring!

Hanging on one of the walls, was also this abstract painting on the first landing. It was like a red angry face, and I didn’t like it. It gave me the creeps. Personally, if I had to put what happened down to anything, I would have to say that this entity was connected to the painting. In my experience, such things are possible, and it would certainly not be the last time I’d see something like that.

It wasn’t very long, though before we both felt a slight tingling in our mind every time we went through the double doors that lead to the stairs. It was a pricking sensation, like walking through a field of static electricity. It was almost as if some force was pushing against you. This gradually got stronger over a matter of days. It certainly didn’t take very long for it to become noticed by several of us.

Now, more than likely, this was the power of suggestion at work. I know what I felt (and considering I was always under some kind of psychic attack back then) I may have been more sensitive to it. I couldn’t speak for Shawn, though. I just accepted that he was feeling what I was feeling, and of course, everyone else joined in.

It’s like your tongue. You don’t feel it, even though it’s always there. But if you think about it, then you notice it, and somehow it doesn’t seem to fit into your mouth correctly.

So I certainly can’t discount that people focusing on feeling weird would not have produced something from their own minds.

It also could have been a group phenomenon brought on by suggestion and then our minds creating this.

What probably didn’t help was that I had shared a few of my own experiences, as I was want to do in my youth. I didn’t have many people I could talk to back then, and it was still all exciting and dramatic for me.

So, by taking about possessions and attacks, I’m sure I fueled the imagination of others.

Now, whether we attracted something or something was already there, or we made the entire thing up, I am not sure, but the things that followed were out of the tackiest Hollywood horror movie.

Interestingly enough, as I told the others about my experiences, these black beetles filled the dormitory and fell around my bed. Strangely enough, none fell around the stairway or the toilet area which was only meters away.

I’m not sure what type of beetles they were and if you asked me to identify one now, I wouldn’t be able to as there are a few varieties that are black, fly and swarm.

These ones apparently just dropped dead once they reached my bed, and I’ve no clue if that is normal behaviour or something that was unique.

I will note, though, this happened at two different times during the camp, the second time being after a group of boys had messed around with a ritual.

I’ve not actually seen anything of that nature occur before or since.

Next: The séance. 

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Paranormal series: Being adaptable or Swinging like a pendulum.

English: The seconds pendulum, a pendulum with...

One thing I have done several times in the course of my lifetime was change what I actually believe in.

In fact, like a pendulum, I’ve swung back and forth on several subjects as new or compelling experiences or evidence comes up.

Each time I seem to get a bit further, and each time more of the missing puzzle pieces seem to fall into place. What is important is that I need to acknowledge when I am wrong and believe me, it is a blow to the ego because you doubt yourself and call your entire reality, and your own credulity, into question.

Also, when you’re trying to be a credible source, anything that is shown to be wrong can hurt your reputation.

But that is the illusion.

Personally, I’d trust someone who is willing to admit they had it wrong and will take new evidence into account. At least you know they are doing their best to be honest and trying to find out what is really going on.

Of course, there is also the hope and excitement that something really is happening.

What if all those phenomenon are real? What if the house you live in really was haunted or what if we were really being visited by aliens from other worlds?

And the same goes for things such as past lives and the like. Part of us wants it to be real, even if we can’t prove it.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that they are not and I’m not suggesting they are fake either. I’m saying that making things fit to try and prove our case will, in the end, discredit it.

We need to try and remain as objective as possible, and not become attached to results which actually end up proving nothing, or hurting our case.

For instance, for myself, I have either remembered or created past life memories of things that may or may not have happened. I honestly can’t tell you which. I have no way of proving it, and only other psychic people seem to validate them or claim to share certain memories.

But are they making it up, too? Are they fitting their own created thoughts to match mine? There are no easy answers.

I can only go on my feelings, and if something feels right, then I’ll trust in that. However, I should also point out that something can feel mostly right, but you still feel you’re missing part of the story, or you don’t have all the facts.

And that’s where you need to look deeper, and continue researching the answers.

Thankfully, from time to time, I do get validation of certain things I have done and happily they occur before I mention them to anyone.

When I get confirmation of events or memories before I mention them, it helps a lot. I’ve had various people arrive at the same conclusions about who I was without me telling them a thing.

And it helps, yes, but it certainly doesn’t make it sound any saner or believable.

As always, I try to remain critical about things, but accept the evidence as it comes and see how likely other explanations are and hope people aren’t making it up or telling me what they think I want to hear. (Fortunately, there are cases where I know they were not.)

However, one thing I had learned is you should be careful what you wish for, and messing around with the paranormal  can really spiral out of control very quickly and end up becoming a nightmare.

This is the case with people who mess around with Ouija boards, and end up feeling there is something following them around.

The Ouija board is actually a game, however when used as a device to contact spirits, it may produce undesirable results. To date, I don’t think anyone has been able to use one under scientific conditions, making their validity debatable for getting answers, however that does not mean they don’t leave people open for mischievous entities or spirits to cause trouble.

When I was a preteen, I remember we tried to hold a couple of séances. We cut out the letters and numbers, lit candles and messed about with that once or twice. Nothing happened. Nothing ever came of it and it certainly had no impact on my life.

There was one other séance I took part in, though and that in 1980. I was fifteen and got caught up in the excitement of what appeared to be a haunted staircase.  Certainly very odd things happened during a two week period, and no doubt we, as teens, gave it the energy to do so.

As some may find it an interesting story, I’m going to retell it in full over the next week or so and make some observations about those events.

Next: The haunted stairway. 

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Paranormal series: Science or fiction or just the facts, ma’am.

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Back before the net, it was a lot harder to know what was fact and what was fiction.

For instance, if you went to a health food shop and they told you that the herb Echinacea helped your immune system, you would accept that as a fact.

You really didn’t have many ways to verify that it was true and really, if someone who was in the business of knowing such thing told you this, why would you doubt them? That was their job after all.

I did look up such things in herbal books that were in the metaphysical bookshops, however, they give the same information, so it appeared to validate what I was told.

Trouble is, many things are told to us based on vague or apocryphal information.

It took me years to realize that Echinacea did nothing for me, and it was the vitamin C in the complex that was actually helping and the claim that it helped ended up being based on very shaky evidence.

It does seem that once people believe something, they are very reluctant to change that belief, even in the face of new or overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Long term readers of mine might know that I used to be an avid follower of Tuesday Lobsang Rampa. Many things felt right and made sense to me, and the rest I would just accept on faith. However, it was the rest that, while clearly wrong, seems to be ignored by his followers.

For instance, he made a lot of predictions about world events that should have occurred by now. From my observations, none of them have actually happened, but that doesn’t seem to bother his fan base, who just seems to completely ignore such things and never call them into question.

Any suggestions that he might be wrong are ignored or met with hostility.

This is generally typical of people who choose to believe in something but refuse to look at any inconsistencies critically.

The question is: Why?

When something is so clearly shown to be wrong, why aren’t people calling such thing into question? When something has inherent contradictions in the philosophy (and I’m looking at many cults, faiths and religions here) why do we resist looking at it or dismiss them as not important?

Just because some parts are wrong, it doesn’t mean it’s all wrong. And just because some parts are right, it doesn’t mean it’s all right.

We stymie our own growth and give our power away to others by refusing to think critically about everything.

You might say, I’m a researcher for the truth, and I use the word ‘truth’ very loosely here because the more I look, the more I see that there are no hard and fast rules, but there are come consistent universal laws that seem to apply to everything.

When I write about something, I write about my own observations and experiences. I’ve always done this, though I have been just as guilty of being dogmatic about a particular belief system, even if there were some blatant inconsistencies there.

Now, I know this type of talk might seem weird or even hypocritical coming from me, as I have written about belief systems, astral levels, alternative time-lines and many other unprovable subjects.

However, I do try and come from a place of observation and research and try to find other alternative explanations.

Next: Adapting to new evidence. 

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Paranormal series: Being a skeptic or let me just ignore that fact.

Image-1There’s a balance to being Empath who has psychic experiences and yet tries to be remain objective to what is going on.

To say that I’ve had more than my share of interesting experiences would not be an exaggeration. To say that many of these could not be explained away somehow would also be correct.

Some of them can’t. Some things that happened would require either a shared delusion, or timing and circumstances so contrives that it would make the most blatant Hollywood blockbuster script look disjointed by comparison.

I suppose it would be easy to ignore everything that doesn’t fit, but I also feel that would be doing myself a great disservice.

For instance, if someone tells me about having the same types of experiences as me, I need to consider if they had them before they met me or read any of my works, or if they arrived at the same types of conclusions independently.

Fact is: We, as humans, have a tendency to make stuff up, or change the facts ever so slightly to make it fit our stories.

I noticed this in my mother from a young age. She would adapt her stories and just put a small little twist into things to completely change the meaning.

She would tell you about her own psychic experiences, but only after she got your version. Then, mysteriously, it would match.

Or she would have the answers to puzzles that she claimed she already knew, but only after she was told the answers.

I never called her on these things, and really, I didn’t see the point to doing so, but it did make me very much aware of just how easy it was to make something into whatever you wanted it to be.

I do a lot of research and listen to sceptical podcasts because I learn a lot from them. (Plus, I find their observations hysterical at times because they are true.)

Problem is that it’s at the other extreme of the spectrum.

Where the true believer seems to accept everything they are told, the sceptic seems to refute anything they are told.

There just doesn’t seem to be a balance.

We need to be able to think critically about things. If something doesn’t seem to fit, look closer at it. It may not appear to fit because it does not fit.

Next: Fact or Fiction.