posted on Sep, 8 2012 @ 02:39 AM
Have you had a paranormal, ghostly or spiritual experience that you'd like to talk about, but no one seems to care? That's not unusual in most
cases. While talking about such topics is gradually becoming more acceptable in modern society, it still is unsettling to those who can't or won't
accept the idea. Even some of my closest friends have no idea just what I've experienced over the years. It's not that I don't trust them; it's
more a situation of sparing them the anxiety that sharing would cause.
At this point I am not a licensed therapist or counselor, but it is one of my educational goals. What I am able to do is listen and offer some advice
for coping with your new experiences, based completely upon my own experiences and/or research. Please keep these things in mind:
1) I don't dare claim to know everything, but I have had several types of experiences and I am always more than happy to share them.
2) Many of my experiences have changed me for the better... AFTER I realized I wasn't losing my mind.
3) I know how hard it is to open up if you've always had to keep it to yourself out of fear of ridicule. Being a regular contributor to one
other paranormal thread, "Has Anyone Had More than One Type of Paranormal Experience?" I can say my ATS experience has been nothing short of
wonderful. I feel comfortable sharing anything on here, and any ridicule has been dealt with swiftly by the person creating that thread. So far ATS
has been very user friendly in that regard!
To give you a tiny bit of background on myself, I've seen, heard, felt, been touched by, and sensed ghosts or spirits around me. I mention both,
because as a result of my research, I believe ghosts are more likely those who are still trapped in this dimension for one reason or another. Some
seem to be attached to a place or person, and some seem to have no idea they're dead. I believe this can happen if death is very sudden, or if they
are in such a mental state at their time of death they are unable to process it completely (such as Alzheimer's or dementia). One of the two ghosts
I've helped to cross over was an elderly lady who seemed very childlike, and it took me a few minutes to get her to trust me and let go of the only
thing she knew - her former home.
I will take a moment to explain something... when I mention that I've helped ghosts cross over, I don't get to have a two-way conversation with
them, at least not yet. I feel some emotion, like fear or confusion, and kind of see something in my mind's eye. This elderly lady had a very faint,
transparent sijhouette, and I could barely see features and clothing. It's almost like she had a very weak signal, but I was able to tell she was
maybe in her eighties, short silver hair, and was wearing a grey knit dress with a lavender colored sweater. I was at a friend's house for the first
time, and she was showing me around. We went upstairs, where there was a small bedroom with gables in the closet area. Chatting away, I didn't
mention the impression of the ghost at first, because I wasn't sure how my friend would take it. I didn't want to scare her to death! We left that
room and went into another, and then when she asked if I was ready to go back downstairs, I got brave and said, "Could we go back in there? I felt a
presence." As we walked back toward that room, I "saw" the elderly lady in my mind's eye, standing in the doorway - her head cocked playfully to
one side, smiling peacefully, and drumming her fingertips together slowly. As we got closer we must have intimidated her, because she suddenly was in
the center of the room. I walked toward her again, and then she was by the closet door. I changed direction and when she saw that I was still coming
toward her, she suddenly was kneeling in the floor next the gable at the back of the closet, with her head down and one arm raised in front of her
face as if she was afraid she was going to be hit.
This made me sick to my stomach, and I was more desperate than ever to help this sweet little old lady. I'd never spoken to a ghost out loud but I
didn't want to leave my friend clueless as to what I was saying; after all, it WAS still her house. She had a right to know what I was saying to this
ghost. Anyhow, after talking to her and telling her she was no longer alive and she needed to move on into the white light whenever she got the
chance, FINALLY she began to weaken until I couldn't feel any other energy besides my friend and myself in the room. I turned to her and said, "I
think she's gone now, I can't feel anything. I got the feeling she was an elderly lady, and maybe had Alzheimer's." My friend's eyes got huge as
she said, "Do you know that every once in a while my daughter comes running into my room and saying there's an old woman standing at the foot of her
bed?" It made me feel good to know I was probably right on the feelings and "visions" I'd been seeing in my mind, and I was really hopeful I'd
helped her go home.
My whole attitude toward ghosts is one of wanting to help. This experience, as I was sort of feeling my way through the situation, was the most
rewarding thing I've ever done. I actually felt like I had to right to call myself a member of the human race... I'd done something to REALLY help
somebody I didn't even know, even if they didn't have a physical body at the time. I have a "ghost hunting" group made up of a couple of friends
who blessedly don't happen to think I'm bonkers, and we've had a couple of exciting things happen. Even though I take part in one of those, which I
will be the first to admit they can sometimes be exploitative of ghosts and spirits, I feel our attempts only help to put me in the right place at the
right to time to be able to help another ghost if I encounter one that is scared or confused.
Contrary to some TV shows, I don't believe every single touch or whisper is evil or an attempt to kill me or possess me in some way. So many
paranormal shows are built upon the belief we should turn every encounter into our own little horror movie. That CERTAINLY doesn't help the
reputation of paranormal activity any! Others look so hard for any real evidence, and then when they get some, it would appear they just replay it,
pack up their equipment and move on to the next episode. Hopefully they do more off-camera to help the people they've just done an investigation for,
and especialy for the ghosts or spirits they may have encountered. Like one guy from a ghost show said, "We keep hearing these spirits say Help Me;
shouldn't we be doing something to help?" I about fell out of my chair when I heard that... sometimes it seems like a very unpopular opinion in the
world of paranormal shows.
I am not out to make fun of anyone's experiences, and I will not allow anyone else to either. I will make every attempt to protect those who wish to
speak freely on this thread, without constant fear of ridicule. The great moderators on ATS are providing a wonderful place for us to come to with our
"different" views and experiences, and I applaud their efforts.
I will post more about my own experiences shortly... in the meantime, please feel free to share your own experiences that may be troubling you, and I
will be glad to help you figure out what may be going on.
Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful day!