Late to the party as usual but was rofling at the favourite JWN insult - 'asshole'. To be fair bum holes are probably a good description of the skeptical person since we efficiently deal with regular helpings of sh*t. I daren't take this analogy any further lol.
If only subjective believers would stop validating themselves with other peoples subjective delusions. There are no supernatural manifestations recorded that are not better explained by brain perception failures or by mental illness. We need to get over the stigma of talking about the brain as being capable of getting ill. I can get a cold and don't feel offended if someone suggests paracetamol and menthol oil. Putting aside mental illness as a source of spirit manifestations lets look at perception filters.
When we experience something, especially something novel, we attempt to find meaning by relating it to what we have already associated in our mind with similar perceptions. This can produce quite harmless effects ( like making us feel warmer when a yellow light bulb is turned on though the temperature remains the same ) but it can also produce harmful effects (like making us afraid of heights to the extent that aeroplane flight triggers an involuntary and intense adrenaline surge .) Perhaps the most harmful of all is the ideological perception filter that once learnt and accepted can literally alter perceived reality. The most insidious ideas are the ones that require a priori acceptance of the expected outcome and attach a punishment for the failed perception. To illustrate - Santa knows your thoughts, is watching you and only brings presents if you are good. This sick idea led to 4 year old me 'hearing ' sleigh bells on the roof of my Grandma 's house one Christmas Eve and scaring me as I tried hard to pretend to be asleep in case Santa got angry at being seen.
The problem we have here ( and I guess in general ) is an initial silly idea ( or ideological package ) which has been accepted at some point ( almost always as a child ) regarding an invisible world , whether that be a spirit world, a god , a world of grey aliens, a reptilian invasion etc. it matters not, once accepted it becomes a master perception filter. All new phenomenon are then fitted into a mental structure that supports the big 'idea' and a little like dry stone walls ( google them - they are all over UK farms ) they are substantial structures that nevertheless cannot be sustained under rigorous assault. Liz happens to have a filter that associates - lets take one listed thing - skin triggers ( touch) to invisible spirits. Her brain has happily concocted a framework story of two spirits ( probably with names and personalities ) and she is now filtering everything past them. A key to unlocking mental made up personalities is to actually ask what information they bring to the table that is authentic and uniquely unknowable ( ie not potentially sourced from within ) and in all cases an honest appraisal turns all personal gods, spirits, demons etc. into a friend in the pub limited to simply re- phrasing stuff you have already said to them. This is why no god/ spirit ever reveals new mathematical formulae or cancer cures or accurate useful prophecy.
As a former believer I also used to have chats ( prayer ) with my perception filter ( Mormon god ) which gave me some pretty awesome experiences ( like when I received my mission call and was depressed to be going to Manchester but literally overnight, after a prayer for understanding, was filled with a feeling of love for all the people of Manchester - this 'feeling' was exposed rapidly as I met some real evil bar stewards and realised that people are the same everywhere and ' feelings ' don't match experienced reality. I didnt really suddenly love the 'people' of Manchester ) This perception filter does colour the world so that it seems to reinforce the filter ( confirmation bias re prayers, faux love, bliss while contemplating, emotional response to choral singing, peace in stressful situations etc.) And then we come to this...
We subtly reinforce each others filters when a perceived threat to one would also threaten our own. Like a class action suit we leap to each others defence when just minutes before we were arguing the toss about what our filter allowed scripture x to mean. The hypocrisy that allows Protestants to burn Catholics and Catholics to pull out fingernails from heretics also allows believers to privately accept the falseness of others perception filter (anyone want to defend my former Mormon god ?) while publically defending and reinforcing them to shore up our own mental drywall ( there really is a spirit world you skeptical assholes !)
Liz go live a full life, you almost certainly aren't being harassed by any real things. Suggest you don't do any more meditative studies until you confront your controlling meme and slay it first.
