Paranormal experiences — does everyone have them?
I am American by birth; Scottish, Scotch-Irish and German by ancestry. I have had a variety of “paranormal” experiences throughout my life, nothing terribly dramatic, but certainly all very real to me, and not easy to explain away.
I am American by birth; Scottish, Scotch-Irish and German by ancestry. I have had a variety of “paranormal” experiences throughout my life, nothing terribly dramatic, but certainly all very real to me, and not easy to explain away. These have included: living in a house with a mischievous poltergeist for two years; encountering a number of “unseen presences”; deja vu (while in the West of England); and finding that in photographing one of my dogs, I had taken two photographs of what seems to clearly be the spirit energy of another dog, his best friend, who had crossed over several hours earlier.
I recently began writing a blog where I am gradually posting essays detailing these experiences. This has led to my mentioning the topic to random acquaintances, and it seems that once I have opened the door, nearly everyone (e.g. massage therapist; aesthetician; pet supply shop owner) has at least one eerie, unexplained occurrence to relate. I’m wondering now, whether such experiences are really the rule rather than the exception, and it is only fear or insecurity that keeps most people from speaking about them freely.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? Have other people had the same observation? — that by speaking freely of the paranormal, it has brought out surprising confidences from people who are not even particularly inclined toward what could be termed the mystical?
By the way, readers are welcome to go to my blog and read the full essays mentioned above; the spirit energy photos are posted with the article, “The Passing of Andrew.” http://patricialeslie.wordpress.com
Re: Paranormal experiences — does everyone have them?
Almost anyone you meet is likely to have had one or two odd experiences in their lifetime. What is more unusual is someone having such experiences frequently.
Re: Paranormal experiences — does everyone have them?
Hi Patricia. I think I would agree with Mysteryshopper that someone having multiple experiences on a regular basis, such as those you describe is rare, though I think there are some other people who misinterpret everyday occurances and report these events as being more paranormal than what they are, sometimes using this as proof to claims of a link to a "psychic realm".
Re: Paranormal experiences — does everyone have them?
Hi Ian. Thank you for your response. I am familiar with the behavior you describe (having a mundane experience and inflating it). And I have known a number of people who look for some mystical significance in every random occurrence (they turn up a lot in Wicca groups, at least in California). What I find interesting, is the converse of that — people who have had some quite distinctly paranormal experience, but are actually frightened by it, and try to either forget it or explain it away. (As I describe in my “Haunted House” story on my blog — my parents came up with some very absurd rationalizations for what happened with the toy.) And then there are the people who just have things happen occasionally (like myself) and don’t generally talk about it, or try to parlay it into some kind of career, but just accept that there’s a lot going on on other levels of existence than the one where we are generally operating, and sometimes there’s some convergence. But I’m interested in getting those people who keep it all locked away, to be more willing to accept their own experiences, which is why I decided to start the blog. It seems Mysteryshopper’s view is that some slight (real) paranormal experience happens in almost everyone’s life. And that is what I would find most interesting to know if anyone has researched, formally or informally. I am curious whether others have found that, just by bringing up the topic, a lot of people who don’t in any way pursue a mystic lifestyle, suddenly have a story to tell, such as seeing their dead grandfather sitting in the living room. And what total percentage of general humanity might it be?
Re: Paranormal experiences — does everyone have them?
Hi, M. Thank you for your response. So, is that your own experience — that almost everyone you’ve met, has had some paranormal occurrence? Because it seems to be mine, lately. Just out of further curiosity, what would you estimate to be “frequent”? I have developed no yardstick for such an evaluation, but I’d like to know what other people think is average, and what is frequent, when it comes to unexplainable/paranormal experiences in one person’s life. And what do you think are the most common types of encounters?
Re: Paranormal experiences — does everyone have them?
I think a recent statistic this year revealed something like 1 in 4 people claim to have seen a ghost, but from what I could make out, that is not 1 in 4 people claiming to see an apparition (which is probably still fairly rare), but instead having a haunting like experience. I wonder how this would compare if a similar survey had been taken in the 1920’s, 1940’s, 1960’s etc. Should it be the same or do you think that todays media may have an influence in how we interpret some experiences we have.
Your right that people can act very differantly when they have an experience and it is very much an individual thing which is quite evident when interviewing witnesses. I think we have to look at each individual experience as open mindedly as we can and take it from there. We have to respect though that some people get very disturbed when they have an experience and don’t want to discuss it, so many cases may never come to light fully.
Re: Paranormal experiences — does everyone have them?
[quote=PALeslie]Hi, M. Thank you for your response. So, is that your own experience — that almost everyone you’ve met, has had some paranormal occurrence? Because it seems to be mine, lately. Just out of further curiosity, what would you estimate to be "frequent"? I have developed no yardstick for such an evaluation, but I’d like to know what other people think is average, and what is frequent, when it comes to unexplainable/paranormal experiences in one person’s life. And what do you think are the most common types of encounters?[/quote]
I would say most people have had one or two weird experiences in their lifetime. A few people have had dozens or more which I would regard as frequent.
Re: Paranormal experiences — does everyone have them?
hi my names paul ive had so many things happen to me involving entitys and more email me for chat kind regards paul