Fear of Basements (why)

First Thread in Paranormal so I,m going to try to find out where this comes from. I remember as a child never wanting to go down in the basement. I was fine if other people where down there with me, never gave it a thought. My Father was a old school type(I think they all were) "make sure you turn off the lights" and back then , 2 of the basement lights had to be turned off while IN the basement, just the stairs light was at the top. So i found myself, and still to this day (mid 40's) as i ascend up the stairs , i get faster and do a kinda high kick with each step , lol,i can laugh now, upstairs on the laptop, but id still do it if i had to go in the basement. Ive never seen a ghost, never had a bad experience with any paranormal activity of any kind. I KNOW theirs nothing down there, I am rational, but that wont change my fears. Anyone have similar feelings.

Basements are naturally scary , for one the air is colder because its underground and its always covered in dust. I think a lot of people would share the same kinda eerie feeling confronting a lightly dimmed basement. You need to just go down there and confront your fear , stay in there for a while and just sit it out with a coffee and a smoke and take it all in. take control of the room or put more lights in hehe

So i found myself, and still to this day (mid 40's) as i ascend up the stairs , i get faster and do a kinda high kick with each step , lol,i can laugh now, upstairs on the laptop, but id still do it if i had to go in the basement.

LOL, that made me chuckle a bit because I used to do that as a kid when I was uneasy about going up the basement stairs.

I think people don't like basements because most are unfinished and just give off a scary vibe. Seems like we are conditioned from horror movies to stay away from damp dark places.

Can't say I have been scared of any basements in quite some time but I can see why others may feel uneasy.

[edit on 26-2-2009 by TV_Nation]

reply to post by branty


Hey there branty,

Being scared of the dark is a common phobia and more often than not it is no more than your conscious mind sending out a false flag warning >>> ('hang-on there's a shadow that looks like a person - danger, danger) !

You get the idea.

But if your fear is specifically orientated around 'dark cellars' (are you ok going down the cellar in daylight ?) ... then it could be a result of Pastlife Memories, that are drawn closer to the surface when you find yourself in a similar surrounding e.g; In a Pastlife you may have been ...

#1 accidently / purposely locked in a cellar / basement / dungeon

#2 trapped down a mine

#3 caught in a rock fall / avalanche / landslide

Tne possibilities are endless ... but if there is no logical explanation / experience from this lifetime for your adverse reaction to dark cellars then I think PLM could be the answer.

I'm happy to answer any questions you might have if you think this is a possibility. You can also find quite a bit of information / articles / case-histories, about Pastlife Memories (including my own) on my website;

pastlivesparanormalandpagans.webeden.co.uk...

Woody

reply to post by woodwytch

No problem in daytime tbh

'no problem in daytime'

In that case I stick with my original idea of PLM ... very interesting.

Woody

reply to post by woodwytch
I'm terrified of dark enclosed places and my greatest fear is being unable to distinguish where I am.I used to wake up in the middle of the night ,standing upright on the bed clawing at the wall.I am fairly sure it could well be due to one of my previous incarnations.Are you really a past life regressionist? The reason being I too live in North Yorks and am looking to have it done.

Its funny you bring that up..

I'm not scared to go in my basement but a family member I never met died there.

The house I live in now my grandmother owned since it was built. My mother used to live there and her grandfather (my great-grandfather) lived in the basement and passed away there. My mother used to tell me stories about how he'd get up in the middle of the night and raid the fridge. Well apparently after he passed away my mother would still hear steps and the fridge opening in the wee hours. She would tell me how terrified she was, then after several nights she had a dream where he (her grandfather, my great-grandfather) came to her in a dream, asking why she was so scared, that she knew downright he would never hurt her). Then that "phenomena" stopped arubrutly.

The house is kinda old and creaks, I used to be scared to death as a little kid hearing something come from the basement. As I've gotten older I still get uneasy about going down there in the middle of the night but I doubt if the house is haunted and if it is, that it is haunted by something that's gonna hurt me.

After all it's family right?

[edit on 26-2-2009 by n1zzzn]

In the light of day , we can laugh about it, but in the dead of nite, our little fears come out,

Hey there 'uktoday',

Yes, I really am a Pastlife Regression Therapist (have been for nearly 16yrs ... long before it became the 'cool' and 'new-agie' thing to do).

Rather than hi-jack the OP's thread, you can find my contact details on my website (link in my signature) if you'd like to discuss it further or make an appointment.

(sorry for the detour OP) ... but back onto your account, how do you feel about the thought that it could be PLM ?

Does it make you feel apprehensive ... or does it feel like a logical explanation ?

(edit to add); reading the post above this ... do you feel their might be some kind of haunting there ?

Woody



[edit on 26-2-2009 by woodwytch]

I just wanted to interject that a lot of circut breakers are in the basement. High EMF fields can manifest paranoia and even hallucinations. It can create that feeling of 'being watched.'

I'm not trying to debunk anything supernatural, just giving a logical explaination. I too have had those uncomfortable feelings with basements. Luckily, my basement here at home feels very comfortable indeed. And just a note, the circut breaker is long way away from the stairs so that probably helps. Now, after turning off all the lights and starting to asecnd the stairs...have I ever high-tailed it? (blush) You bet.

reply to post by Whisper67

I fully agree with this hypothesis as a possible explanation for the OP's terror of cellars ... but if it was no more than high EMF (due to power supplies / cables / circuit breakers etc), then I would imagine his terror would be constant (albeit possibly weaker due to the comfort of any daylight filtering through) at any time of day / night.

Woody

[edit on 26-2-2009 by woodwytch]

Agreed wood, I meant to include that in my post. oopsies!

Second line fun!

I've never really liked basements either. A couple of years ago my cat went down into the basement of my old house and when we got him back upstairs he was insane. Ever since then basements have had me wondering.

It isn't a supernatural fear.

Basements are dark and hard to escape from. You don't go in there as often as the rest of your house and you rarely see it bathed in comforting natural light,the memories of which would push your darkness based fear aside. Assuming you aren't afraid of the dark.

Also, if someone or something were going to ambush you the basement is the best. There is no phone, no easy way of escaping, plenty of places to hide in wait, and probably power tools. Plus your neighbors will never hear you scream. These are all obvious logical reasons your logical side uses to give into your illogical fears. Also going underground makes you unconciously associate it with premature burial. The fear that you will be trapped underground with no hope of escape.

And if you are putting the wash on, the noise of the machine would easily muffle your cries from the rest of the household. Then little johnny comes down to see why mommy is taking so long, etc. etc. and pretty much all the work is done for said attacker, be it demon, alien, serial killer, or in the case of my childhood fear of basements: an evil cyborg. (Not kidding btw - I used to dream about him. His hands made typewriter noises and he would grab my ankle and drag me down as I tried to go up the stairs. My basement aslo had an unfinished room filled with mouldering baby furniture enclosed by a glass door. That's where he lived.)

When the laundry started getting backed up and my husband wonders why, I'm going to refer him to your post Callme.

It's 5am and you've got me freaked out being upstairs even! muhahaha good for you!

reply to post by Whisper67


If there are all the circuit breakers of whatever, couldn't they be creating so sort of uber-power that lets you temporarily regain some of your past life memories, so long as you stay in its field of power?

reply to post by branty


... (re:- 'callmemaury's post)

There you go branty ... there is always someone with a worse cellar than your own.

Woody

I spend a lot of time in the basement and it doesnt bother me but last night I was down there until 11pm watching a ghost show and I felt a little freaky.

The high kick going up the stairs is funny, my sister told me to do that when we were little. She said you kick the monsters before they can grab you.

I think they are scary because there is usualy one way out, dark, damp, quiet, usualy messy and dirty. Then you see in movies where people get chained up in the basement or murdered.