A question for all of you.

I will first describe my personal experience in order to clarify what it is I'm looking to find out from you.

Three nights ago I woke up facing upward in my bed. As I opened my eyes, I saw a message etched into the ceiling above me. It looked like someone had taken a chisel to it, and the letters looked a bit Greco-Roman to me. I stared at it, but being one who needs glasses to make out letters from far away (the ceiling is a bit high), I couldn't read it. After about 10 seconds they began to dissolve, and disappear. Attributing this to an illusion (one of my many wake-up experiences), I didn't give it another thought. Then one night later (yesterday) I woke up to another message etched into the ceiling. I couldn't tell if it was the same message, but once again I could not read it before it dissolved.

I've woken up to strange hands retracting as I opened my eyes, to being surrounded by spiderwebs as if I had slept for centuries, to people walking through the room (usually they don't follow the design of the house,....i.e. walking at strange angles through walls, walking up stairs which don't exist, etc.), but I don't recall ever waking up to anything like this before. I've experienced sleep paralysis only once in my life. Usually upon seeing things I'm able to move, and to question whether I'm dreaming. My first reaction is always to extend my hand in order to try and touch whatever is in front of me, so that I can establish if I'm imagining it or if it is real. Whatever it is, it usually backs up out of my reach, or dissolves into thin air. When I realize what it is I'm actually seeing and doing, I sometimes become frightened, and retract my hand immediately.

I've also woken up several times (about 10 years ago) to feeling as if I were literally on fire. If you've ever heard of the spontaneous combustion stories, at the time of the event....that is exactly what I thought might be happening to me. I have no idea whether spontaneous combustion is real. I have no idea if what I experienced was even remotely the same thing, but I can tell you it was a feeling I never want to feel again. The heat seemed to generate from within my body, spreading from one point all the way to my head and toes as if someone had set fire to my insides first. It lasted at least half a minute to a full minute, and I didn't know how to make it stop. I think I might have even begged God to make it stop (although I don't practice any particular religion. Just a troubled-times reaction I suppose). For those of you who might suggest I had heartburn,... I know what heartburn feels like, yet I won't dismiss the fact that there might be a perfectly logical, medical explanation for this. That's why I'm sharing these experiences. I'm hoping someone with a similar experience might have some answers.

I've been 'seeing' things since I was a young kid. I've had a lot of different experiences, even in day-time while fully awake. Only once did I have someone (my dad) with me who heard the same thing I did. I won't start sharing every single story (this would be a very long post), but my main question to you is;

How many of you 'see' strange things upon waking up?
For those of you who do,...... what do you usually see?
Is there any 'vision' that appears to you more than others?
Have you figured out a pattern? Is there one?
Do you know what might trigger these 'visions' for you? (food, TV show/movie maybe, global events, mood, medication/vitamins, etc. etc.)

I'd like to make it clear that I don't drink more than twice-three times a year, I've never used any illegal drugs, I have never been diagnosed with any mental or physical illness (excluding getting the flu, etc.), I'm not on any medication, and the only drugs I take are Advil,..or cold/cough medicine, and I generally sleep at least 6-8 hours a night. I also usually remember most of my dreams upon waking, and I've noticed they have no connection whatsoever to what I might end up seeing when I open my eyes. I don't 'see' things on a daily/nightly basis. Sometimes I can go months without seeing anything, and sometimes I'll 'see' things more than two-three times a week.
Now that you know more about me than you probably should,... :

Have any of you found any good links concerning this subject? Is this perfectly normal? Am I insane? I've read up on sleep paralysis, but I feel this might be a little bit different. Am I wrong? What do you think?

Define Strange

Define USUAL

Define Normal

for anyone to really answer this question they wouls have to share your definitions
of the above. for instance I define NORMAL as follows,

Normal is relative. It depends on your relatives.

I have woken up seeing illusionry spiders infront of me on numerous occasions. 1 was the size of my hand that scurried away into my closet, and the other was only a few weeks ago when I woke up and saw a spider right infront of my face on the wall next to my bed, I jumped backwards then watched it slowly dissapear.

I have seen spirits and heard / seen what I would call paranormal things, but these sleep illusions confuse me. Some will say your in the ' twi-light zone ' of almost asleep to being fully awake. I woke up also in the past ( just remembered another story ) with my ex girlfriend. I started worrying about a hair on my face that I couldn't get off my face, my eyes were open and I was rubbing my face trying to get an irritable hair off me. I was calling her name to help me lol. Then she said there's nothing there.

But as for seeing things with your eyes that aren't there...imo you can't trust what you see. It goes back to creating your reality, what you percieve to be real, and what you think can't happen and won't builds up your reality around you. Now who's to say that when you dream you connect with other dimensions or other realms ? Some people will rightly laugh that theory off because I am no dream expert or expert in the field of science. So I ask you...if you dismiss it then please show me 100% proof what dreams are. And I mean 100% proof so that there can be no question.

Dreams could be anything to me. If you believe in the soul, then it could be a time where the soul recharges, it could be a time where the physical vessel recharges ( i.e our bodies ) and it could also be a time where we leave this physical plane of existance, and our souls are in other spiritual realms. So when you awake and see these illusions it could be that you are seeing the ' left overs ' from the dimension you were just in, and the illusion / image fades because you eyes / brain / conscience is getting used to this ' normal ' every day reality.

Now through life we watch movies, we learn in school and we read magazines and we generally forget most of what we have read in the past and seen on tv. All the little details like symbols and history dates etc. But our brain is like a sponge and it remembers all this info. It is only out ability to recall this info that gives us our memory and our knowledge.
The point I'm making is you say you saw these symbols on the ceiling ? Well if you are 100% sure that you havn't studied history 4 example of egyptions, or any other coding, then where could you have gotten these ' illusionry ' images from ?

It's a shame you don't sleep with your glasses on Then you could give it a real good look and examine it. Maybe leave a piece of paper and pencil next to your bed, and after they have faded try quickly sketching out the symbols and you could then do your own research on them or I'm sure if you could upload them to this website someone with the knowledge could try and tell you what time period / what race / what alphabet they mostly resemble.

It could all be part of your dream...but what are dreams ? And what is reality ?

[edit on 7-8-2006 by Arawn]

Originally posted by stalkingwolf
Define Strange

Define USUAL

Define Normal

for anyone to really answer this question they wouls have to share your definitions
of the above. for instance I define NORMAL as follows,

Normal is relative. It depends on your relatives.

Well,.... normal is a relative word, but when I say "normal" or "usual" I mean something (a characteristic or event) that the majority of the human population experience almost on a regular basis. In example,... kids disagreeing with their parents is "normal". So is having dreams, or becoming ill. A family who constantly agrees and gets along with each other is not "normal" (as nice as that would be).

I would use the word "strange", when something isn't familiar or "normal" to most of the human population. A snake with two heads is "strange". Hearing voices in your head might be "strange". Seeing an object defy physics is "strange".

Originally posted by Arawn
I have woken up seeing illusionry spiders infront of me on numerous occasions. 1 was the size of my hand that scurried away into my closet, and the other was only a few weeks ago when I woke up and saw a spider right infront of my face on the wall next to my bed, I jumped backwards then watched it slowly dissapear.

It sounds to me like you and I experience the same thing.

I have seen spirits and heard / seen what I would call paranormal things, but these sleep illusions confuse me.

Got any you want to share here? I would be interested in reading them.

Some will say your in the ' twi-light zone ' of almost asleep to being fully awake. I woke up also in the past ( just remembered another story ) with my ex girlfriend. I started worrying about a hair on my face that I couldn't get off my face, my eyes were open and I was rubbing my face trying to get an irritable hair off me. I was calling her name to help me lol. Then she said there's nothing there.

Never had that problem, but I can imagine the frustration. I've heard of the in-between state of being awake and asleep at the same time. It is so difficult to distinguish these 'visions' sometimes. The 'falling-down-the-cliffs' scenario happened to me on numerous occasions when falling asleep, but I can distinguish those from reality very quickly. The waking-up visions are a little tougher, because they never relate to the dream I just woke up from. That's what is so disorienting about them. I wake up from just having been flying around the countryside, I wake up, and bam! Spiderwebs all around me,... or pale hands retracting from my face. Feels like the twilight zone alright.

I am no dream expert or expert in the field of science. So I ask you...if you dismiss it then please show me 100% proof what dreams are. And I mean 100% proof so that there can be no question.

It would be nice to get an official answer on dreams. I doubt we'll ever know 100%. I have many dreams which I recognize being influenced by a movie I had just seen,... or an event I didn't spend enough time thinking about during the day, so my subconscious tries to resolve the problem while I'm sleeping. Those are clearly moments when my subconscious is sorting through the junk,..... sort of like when you're defragmenting a hard drive on your computer.

Then there are the prophetic dreams. I've only had one or two of these thus far, in which I've seen an entire day unfold. Pretty mundane stuff, but after I woke up, I had dejavu the rest of that day,... just knowing what someone would say, where they would go, etc. etc.

Some dreams look like past lives. I can manifest as different gender, different race, different age,.... and experience things (usually something frightening such as war) that seem to make sense. They usually follow our physics laws. That doesn't have to mean anything,.. it just distinguishes them from the usual non-sensical dreams.

And lastly, there are the dreams in which I realize I'm dreaming, and try to control the surroundings (which usually takes a lot of concentration), or just go with the flow.

Dreams could be anything to me. If you believe in the soul, then it could be a time where the soul recharges, it could be a time where the physical vessel recharges ( i.e our bodies ) and it could also be a time where we leave this physical plane of existance, and our souls are in other spiritual realms.

Interesting theory. It would be pretty neat if one were able to control his/her dreams on a regular basis, maybe do a little exploration of one's own dream-land. It takes such strong will though. I wish I knew how to induce it more often, when I want to.

Now through life we watch movies, we learn in school and we read magazines and we generally forget most of what we have read in the past and seen on tv. All the little details like symbols and history dates etc. But our brain is like a sponge and it remembers all this info. It is only out ability to recall this info that gives us our memory and our knowledge.

You're absolutely right. That happens. We have so much sensory input in our lives,.... especially with TV and the internet, that it would be virtually impossible to figure out if something you're dreaming about isn't something you briefly glimpsed when you were five years old. It would be very interesting to see a study on someone who's never had a TV, or spent most of his/her life inside a blank room. As cruel and improbable as it sounds, I would love to hear about their dreams.
I'm a fan of history, though I couldn't tell if my insterest in history grew because of my dreams and visions, or the other way around. I've always been fond of it. Of course growing up in a country surrounded by castles, both in ruins and restored,...... that probably has a big impact on my interests.

It's a shame you don't sleep with your glasses on

Then you could give it a real good look and examine it.
It could all be part of your dream...but what are dreams ? And what is reality ?

Yeah,.. too bad. Not the most comfortable thing to do.
I definitely remember at least one shape out of the many. Initially it looked to me like 'Delta',.. but since it wasn't a triangle resting on it's straight edge, it can't be Delta. I just did a little search, and found this character in the "Oscan" language. I can tell you right now, I've never consciously heard the word "Oscan" before, but the shape is there. Oscan Alphabet. You have to scroll down a little to see it. The letter I saw is the one that's supposed to be a "d", the first one out of the four listed. Of course this doesn't mean anything, but that's interesting. At least I learned something new.

Just throwing wild ideas at you really, but maybe..... ( if you believe of course ) you had a past life using that language living in ancient Italy ? Maybe some thoughts were recalling through your sub-conscious mind ?

Maybe it was your spirit guide ( possibly a friend ) from those times trying to leave you a message or piece of information.

Again I stress if your sure you have never studied that alphabet, and your sure that was the symbol, it always baffles me how we can picture things we have never seen or heard of.

You don't have to see things in the flesh in order to build up a picture of what you think they / it would look like. By this I mean, vampires, mermaids, were-wolfs, aliens etc etc. Most people ( probs all lol ) have never made physical contact with these creatures, yet from descriptions in books and peoples so called accounts we can build an imaginary image of what we imagine these beings to look like.

But having not heard of that alphabet, or heard descriptions of it...or anything related, it puzzles me where you got that image from.

spelling edit :

[edit on 7-8-2006 by Arawn]

Originally posted by Arawn
Just throwing wild ideas at you really, but maybe..... ( if you believe of course ) you had a past life using that language living in ancient Italy ? Maybe some thoughts were recalling through your sub-conscious mind ?

That's always a possibility, but then I also have to consider the more probable possibility of having seen it somewhere long ago, and my brain sort of spitting it out that morning. Who knows. I just wish I could have seen the rest of the characters.

Maybe it was your spirit guide ( possibly a friend ) from those times trying to leave you a message or piece of information.

I don't know,... but I sure hope they would have used one of the languages I'm familiar with in this lifetime.

Again I stress if your sure you have never studied that alphabet, and your sure that was the symbol, it always baffles me how we can picture things we have never seen or heard of.

I'm absolutely sure I've never studied this alphabet. Never even heard the term "Oscan" until a couple of hours ago when I did the search. But that, of course, doesn't mean I didn't see it somewhere without really concentrating on it,.... you know, kind of like a brief visual sweep of something on TV or in a book.

You don't have to see things in the flesh in order to build up a picture of what you think they / it would look like. By this I mean, vampires, mermaids, were-wolfs, aliens etc etc. Most people ( probs all lol ) have never made physical contact with these creatures, yet from descriptions in books and peoples so called accounts we can build an imaginary image of what we imagine these beings to look like. But having not heard of that alphabet, or heard descriptions of it...or anything related, it puzzles me where you got that image from.

I certainly don't know anyone who's ever come across a real werewolf (aside from that family living in Mexico, who happen to grow hair all over their face), or anything of the sort. Vampires maybe, but those are usually misguided teenagers and adults with a strange sense of what's "fun". Like dragons, I'm sure these fantastic creatures were born out of uncorrected vision, mirages, and dinosaur skeletons burried in the sand. The Greeks believed that the elephant skeletons they found were that of giant men for instance. Anyway,.... either past lives are possible and I happened to experience one or two,.... or I glimpsed this alphabet somewhere in this lifetime. Darn TV!! We cram so much junk into our heads daily, its hard to determine what's real and what isn't.

Have you ever recalled a memory from childhood only to realize seconds later that you saw it on TV somewhere? That's when you know you watch too much TV. Happened to me only once, but that sent an alarm through my head.

.
Hi, 2manyquestions. What you've recounted is fascinating. I've only had one experience re: 'strange writing' and that occurred when I was standing in a crowded milk-bar, aged about seven, waiting to be served. Three or four friends of the same age were nearby, also awaiting an ice-cream cone. We were chatting excitedly and trying to squeeze through the adults for a chance to be served. Then, during all this, I saw ornate writing begin to form on the top of the wall above and behind the serving area. During the time I stared at it, everything 'went silent'; I could no longer hear my friends or the hub-bub around me. The writing was yellowy-golden in colour. It was only one line in length. The lettering was relatively large, or seemed so to me. The writing was in the process of being written as I watched it. I stared at it for several moments. Then, in an instant, everything went back to normal; 'sound' and movement returned.

I don't know what language was used in the writing, nor do I remember what it said. All I remember is that the lettering appeared 'complicated', ornate, 'grown up'. I sensed a strange intelligence behind it. That is to say, my sensation was that whoever was responsible, they certainly weren't the same as my parents or other familiar adults. I remember feeling a little bit nauseous and stunned -- awestruck, puzzled and frightened.

Although I can't remember what the writing said, I'm confident it's in my memory somewhere. And no doubt I was meant to see it. For what purpose, i have no idea. But then, these odd spontaneous experiences are out of our control.

I thought about it from time to time and sometimes when I was in the milk bar, I looked to see if any other writing would appear. It didn't. I didn't tell anyone about the experience. For some reason, I felt guilty/uneasy about having seen it, and about having it shown to me. If it had been 'good' or 'for the good', then everyone would have seen it. That was my take on it.

I was having quite a few peculiar experiences at the time; common enough for adults of course, but difficult for a child to reconcile with programmed 'reality'. Deja vu, for instance and ghosts and positive and negative feelings about people and places.

Like you, I feel compelled to explain that I don't indulge in drugs, alcohol, etc. nor have i ever suffered or been treated for mental or even many physical ailments. In fact, I suspect that most folk who spontaneously experience what are termed 'paranormal' events tend to actively avoid drugs, alcohol etc. -- largely out of fear/caution, I would suspect. Paranormal experiences obliterate whatever feelings of 'control' you may believe you have over what happens to you. And this is most probably where the 'fear factor' arises. It tends to make you cling all the harder to the comfort of a 'normality' you KNOW doesn't actually exist. Often it creates a heightened 'startle' response that remains life-long. It tends to make one avoid anything that might dull vigilance or rob control, such as alcohol and drugs.

The writing I saw wasn't a reflection, nor was it reversed neon-advertisement or anthing similar. I went into that milk bar at least once a day, to buy groceries for my mother, etc. In rainy weather, we played in there. We knew the owners well. It was a large, old fashioned place, built to accomodate seasonal influxes of tourists and campers; at either end of the actual milk-bar area were huge seating areas. It was a cavernous, multi-function place. The area of wall where the writing appeared momentarily was simply an expanse of ordinary wall. The appearance of the writing makes no sense, sounds highly improbable, yet it happened and I saw it. I might have told one or two people in my life. Why bother? It's only in forums such as this that there's much point in mentioning these things, in the hope it may help someone else by confirming their experience.
I know it can't have happened, but I saw it. That's the way these experiences are.

Originally posted by Dock6
It was only one line in length. The lettering was relatively large, or seemed so to me. The writing was in the process of being written as I watched it. I stared at it for several moments. Then, in an instant, everything went back to normal; 'sound' and movement returned.
don't know what language was used in the writing, nor do I remember what it said. All I remember is that the lettering appeared 'complicated', ornate, 'grown up'. I sensed a strange intelligence behind it. That is to say, my sensation was that whoever was responsible, they certainly weren't the same as my parents or other familiar adults.

Hi Dock6,

Your description sounds a lot like mine (except for the color). The ornateness/complexity, the one-liner, the size,... that sounds a lot like what I saw. Like I said, the only shape I was able to make out was the triangular "d" that appears in the Oscan alphabet. It was placed somewhere in the center of the short sentence. Maybe if you remember at least one shape, you might be able to look it up.

I I remember feeling a little bit nauseous and stunned -- awestruck, puzzled and frightened.

I was awestruck/puzzled, but didn't feel sick.

Although I can't remember what the writing said, I'm confident it's in my memory somewhere. And no doubt I was meant to see it. For what purpose, i have no idea. But then, these odd spontaneous experiences are out of our control.

I think it might be possible to retrieve it through hypnosis. I have yet to allow anyone to hypnotize me (Lack of time, and slightly intimidated by family who might look at me funny afterwards. ). If you can get past these things, I would love to hear about your experience, and what you found out. One day I'd like to go through it as well.

For some reason, I felt guilty/uneasy about having seen it, and about having it shown to me. If it had been 'good' or 'for the good', then everyone would have seen it. That was my take on it.

I feel no guilt, just wish I could have understood. Of course I also think that this might have been just an illusion, so who knows. I agree with you,... if it were meant to change anything in the world, you'd think whoever sent the message would have made it more clear to see. Of course there's also the 'butterfly effect' argument, in which every single action that takes place can and will have an effect on the world in some way. Who knows?

I was having quite a few peculiar experiences at the time; common enough for adults of course, but difficult for a child to reconcile with programmed 'reality'. Deja vu, for instance and ghosts and positive and negative feelings about people and places.

Would you mind sharing any of these experiences here? If you don't feel comfortable, you don't have to.

Like you, I feel compelled to explain that I don't indulge in drugs, alcohol, etc. nor have i ever suffered or been treated for mental or even many physical ailments. In fact, I suspect that most folk who spontaneously experience what are termed 'paranormal' events tend to actively avoid drugs, alcohol etc. -- largely out of fear/caution, I would suspect.

That sounds like me. Last thing I need is to enhance any sort of dellusions I might be having. If there is a chance that I might be mentally ill, I don't need any type of drugs to make it even worse.

Paranormal experiences obliterate whatever feelings of 'control' you may believe you have over what happens to you. And this is most probably where the 'fear factor' arises. It tends to make you cling all the harder to the comfort of a 'normality' you KNOW doesn't actually exist. Often it creates a heightened 'startle' response that remains life-long. It tends to make one avoid anything that might dull vigilance or rob control, such as alcohol and drugs.

You are so right-on! My experiences always catch me when I least expect them. There are some nights during which I feel frightened, especially after I've watched a scary movie that might remind me of past experiences. My imagination goes into overdrive, so I try to keep as many lights on as I can, but I've never seen any apparitions after watching movies. It's always days or weeks later when I'm completely comfortable in my surroundings and I've forgotten all about it. Just two nights ago I saw a shadowy figure go from the hallway into the living room. I was in the kitchen preparing food when I saw it. Of course it didn't frighten me, because I thought it was someone I knew. When I came out of the kitchen to follow him into the livingroom,... he wasn't in there at all. He was walking out of the hallway right as I stood in the livingroom. Physically Impossible. Maybe I was imagining it, who knows,... but once again it came at a completely unexpected time.

The appearance of the writing makes no sense, sounds highly improbable, yet it happened and I saw it. I might have told one or two people in my life. Why bother? It's only in forums such as this that there's much point in mentioning these things, in the hope it may help someone else by confirming their experience.
I know it can't have happened, but I saw it. That's the way these experiences are.

I agree. This isn't something you can discuss anywhere, with anywhom. I don't need people thinking I'm completely off my rocker. I've mentioned the sightings to one other person on this board, and last time I discussed it with friends was a couple of years ago. Strangely enough the conversation started because of a sighting! One of our guests happend to glimpse a black cat walking into one of the upstairs bedrooms. Seeing as the house was closed up and we don't own any cats, it was a conversation starter. We checked the bedroom, and as expected, it was empty.

Mystery solved! (Sort of). HH Hallucinations

I made a thread about this in the Medical section. Those of you who've had similar experiences should check out the links I posted within that thread. Now you've got a name for it!