by Clam 53 Replies latest jw friends
were you scared, fascinated or straight to denial?
I'd say I've had to deal with all three over the issue . Not a very pleasant feeling seeing spirits . They don't just glide around quietly but go bump in the night making all sorts of noises . Until I figured it out and saw for myself what was going on it can be a very disturbing experience . You may even think somebody is trying to break in your home . I even believe they do try to possess you .
Never saw one myself, but I've had a few experiences that could have been supernatural, were it not for the fact that they were actually "natural". I was lucky enough to be able to tell what was causing them.
I'm not dogmatic on it -- maybe ghosts exist. But I know my own mind's capacity for "figuring out" what it thinks it's seeing, and doing a poor job of it. I wonder how many ghosts people have seen are actually examples of this?
But again, let me emphasize, I've never even thought I was seeing a ghost. Those that feel they have seen one say that it is an unmistakable experience and I'm in no position to contradict them.
Dave
Never seen a ghost but I have at times felt fear come over just standing in the kitchen or anywhere in the house.
It's as though there is a sinister presence near me and I feel it as fear rushing through my body. It doesn't happen often and I can't explain it. I'm not a jumpy person at all and I rarely get startled by people approaching me quitely from behind.
Has anybody else felt this fear?
Has anybody else felt this fear?
Yes, but only when I was a believer in it. Once I more or less dropped active belief in the supernatural, I haven't felt it since.
That also strikes me as evidence -- though hardly conclusive -- that such things come about because of beliefs rather than realities.
Dave
Almost immediately after I stopped attending the meetings, I stopped believing in demons/ghosts/angels. I have absolutely no belief in the "supernatural".
When I was a JW, I was scared of the dark, I couldn't watch horror films or films about the supernatural (i.e., Poltergeist, Exorcist, vampire flicks, etc.). I always thought the demons would get me. And here I am a grown a$$ man!!! LOL!
Now, I have zero fear and I can sit through a scary movie and they don't scare me at all.
Okay, I am going to tell you about an experience that I had many years ago. I was in the state of Wisconsin painting a house that was previously owned by the man who invented the wrapper on single sliced cheese. When he made his millions he moved from a 5,000 square foot home to a 10,000 square foot home. He had the old home for sale, but it would not sell. The market was good at the time so there was really no reason for the house to not sell.
So he used it for a tax break and donated it to the local hospital. The Hospital hired many contractors to give the house a face lift. I was the painting contractor on the job. The house was a three story home with two bedrooms and a bathroom on the top floor. Also on the top floor was a set of french doors that went into and office type room with a built in desk on the left wall. If you were to continue through this room you came to a very short hallway, you had to bend over to walk through it. There were several short doors that led into storage rooms.
The contract was to paint the ceilings and walls and touch up any trim. In this office room on the other side of the french doors was a small section of wall that needed paint. I could kneel on top of this desk and reach across the french doors to paint. While I was doing so I seen a girl walk pass me under my arm. I turned my head to follow this girl. As I did she disappeared, right in front of me. Scared the crap out of me. I didn't say anything to anyone about what I had seen cause I figured they would laugh or call me nuts. That night I spoke about it to my business partner. The next day he went to all the other trades on the job and told them about what I had seen. Guys were hiding in closets and scaring others and making jokes about it.
Well when it came time to touch up the trim I found a built in ironing board closet in the wall. I opened it and on the inside was a child's measuring chart. It had several kids names and years on the door. There was a girl on this door but she had stopped while the others continued up the chart. I showed everyone this chart and people began to believe me.
The carpet layers came to pull up the old carpet and in one of the rooms under the carpet pad was a 5x7 manila envelope. Inside was a black and white photo of a family and in the photo was the girl I seen walking pass me.
After that it was hard to get the other trades in the house to finish their work. It scared grown men and how it all played out so perfectly as if I was being led to this spirit. I had to go back to that house to do the final touch ups and I was alone and I was scared and when I got to the house I went upstairs sat down next to a wall and I just talked to her, told her that she was scaring me and that she did not need to do that, that I was her friend, finished my job and left. Come to find out through some research I learned that the girl drowned in the pool in the backyard and after it had happened the family had the pool covered with dirt.......
That is a true story.... I have had other experiences too.
Yes. I saw a man with common sense just the other day. lol
I saw the "little people" once, when I was a kid. They were actually in our house, playing in the hall outside my bedroom. They`re called the "little people" in my country, the irish have a name for them too, but I can`t remember what that is. The even talked to me and were nice, didn`t do anything threatening, but I got really scared afterwards, when I realized that this was not natural, and that this might be the thing my mother referred to as "demons".
I saw the "little people" once, when I was a kid. They were actually in our house, playing in the hall outside my bedroom.
Ever see the movie "Gremlins"? Remember Gizmo? I saw him step out from behind a trash can in the kitchen, take a few steps toward me, and start dancing. Sort of a to-and-fro rocking deal. I looked away, then looked back, and he was still there. I was on the phone at the time, so I described the whole event to whoever it was.
Of course, I was on a half-dozen antidepressant drugs at the time... that may have been a factor!
Dave
*any of you*.
any of you who are convinced ther are such things as ghosts, then listen up! you could be rich, very fast. swing by james randi's office and collect your million dollars for *anyone* who can show *anything* supernatural to exist, or have existed:
http://www.randi.org/research/challenge.html
clam,
hey man.
for my part, i am a materialist and reductionist until i come across conclusive evidence of anything supernatural existing, including ghosts.
when i first DA'd myself, i was enthralled with this concept:
true believers and xians may say that i am already possesed of the devil, or that he thinks i don't need any more help in being evil, and that's why none of this shit works for me. and all i have to say to those people are: "go ahead. burn another witch."
i think i will always go in for this sort of testing. it is fun, and entertaining. i try to go into it with an open mind. but each failed test makes me more and more skeptical. however, i do advise anyone interested, to test these things out for yourselve. and if you find something, then you can be my newest million dollar buddy!
cheers,
TS
