From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!
Funny how one brainless little comment can open up a whole Pandora's box of thoughts. As I was leaving the computer lab at work today, our techie guru complained to me of items gone missing from her room. With one foot out the door, I looked back and flippantly said, "Oh, it's probably poltergeists." I didn't mean anything by it; I was just filling space with words, and, yes, perhaps being a little silly. I know this surprises you. But this seemingly goofball statement, designed to move me along out the door and Onto the Next Thing, triggered something in TechLady and before I knew it we were knee deep in a conversation about ghost hunters and personal woo-woo experiences and satellite TV. I know, I know, how did it all happen so fast??
Turns out TL, as I shall call her, is a junkie for some show about people who debunk ghost stories. Maybe you've seen it; since I live the Amish lifestyle, which only has 6 channels, I had no idea what she was talking about. Apparently these guys go to places where sightings take place and essentially ruin all the fun by explaining how the ghostly images occurred. From time to time, though, they get stumped. And when they do, it gets TL's attention. She described a situation that ended with two big, burly ghost watchers dumping all their fancy equipment, screaming, "Ruuuuuuuuuun!!" at the top of their lungs, and stampeding out of the room faster than Paris can violate her parole.
It was all very interesting on this level of TV shows and other peoples' lives, but then TL had to go and get personal. And let me just mention here that this is one very levelheaded, pragmatic woman. No scent of incense wafts from her, no beads and feathers fall from her pockets. She is practicality in the flesh. But here she was telling me about how something unearthly visited her one night and--I shudder to even say it--sat on her! Sat! on! her! She was in bed, sleeping on her stomach, and something came in and plopped its heavy spiritual ass on her back. She felt actual weight, folks, to the point where she had trouble breathing and had to flop around a little to get it off. I hardly knew what to say. So I called her crazy and she told me to shut up. Then we resumed our conversation, because we were both fascinated.
Turns out that strange things happen in her house from time to time. Her husband, who regularly ends up on the couch because he has trouble sleeping, has on several occasions head loud, clompy footsteps coming down the hall in the middle of the night when no one else is up. Sometimes the hair on the back of his neck rises because he can feel someone watching him, even though no one is there. Creepy, I say. Stephen King creepy.
I, of course, had my own stories to add, like the night that I, too, had a visitor to my bedroom. Not the good kind, either, who brings chocolate sauce and brightly colored balloons. This one sat down on the bed right next to me, although thankfully not atop me. Friends, I am telling you now that I felt the mattress sag and immediately knew two things: 1) I was fully awake, no dreamy-dreamy; and, b) yes...something...was...there. I actually thought an intruder had entered my house and that this was the end of me. Fortunately, I kept my wits about me and immediately assumed a frozen popsicle pose, which no doubt saved my life.
Anyhoo, all this talk of ghoulies and ghosties and things that go bump in the night got me thinking. I'm not sure what I believe about the afterlife and spirits and such. I want us to be more than just flesh and blood, that's for sure, but I can't help but be a doubting Thomasina on the subject. Proof, people, I need proof. I live not on faith, but hope. And I wonder, if we are spirits who survive beyond the physical plane, why do some hang around here, looking at live people and sitting on them in the dark of night? Wouldn't there be better things to do, like, oh...well, I don't know, but there must be something more interesting than pestering us, don't you think? For reasons unknown, I envision an amusement park for ghosts.
So this all leads me back to you, of course. What are your ghouly stories? I bet you have some, or at least some opinions on the matter. Maybe AJ will chime in with some of his stories about the veil between worlds lifting, 'cause I know he's got 'em. Bring them all on, because the Day of the Dead is just around the corner and the spirits need some attention. I stand at the ready, prepared to be startled, creeped out, and amazed.
Boo!
8 comments:
maybe, but i'm sure not going first.
Brrrr . . . those sitting on the bed presences just added to my case of the willies.
Because. Well. Okay, so you know Moi, Ms. "Show Me the Empirical Data, Honey.", right? Never really had anything stupornatural happen.
Until yesterday morning.
When a sound woke me up at 6:00 a.m. A growling sound, coming from the living room. I sat straight up in bed and listened hard. Yup, a low but well defined, sustained growling.
"Huh," I thought. "Wonder what's up with Ivan? But then I noticed that Ivan was standing next to my side of the bed.
So I listened even harder. The low, persistent growling continued. And all the hairs on my body did their little tin soldier thing.
I bolted out of bed and shut the doors to the bedroom. My first thought? I didn't want Ivan to get hurt.
Then I woke S.B. and made him get his big ass gun out and go be all Clint Eastwood through the entire house. At which point, of course, there was dead silence.
And there was nothing there. Not in the house, the garage or anywhere outside in our immediate environs.
Thinking about it still freaks me out, though. Because I know what I heard, and, except for occasionally mistaking a price tag on a pair of shoes, I'm not given over to either visual or aural hallucinations.
So what the holy frig was that sound? And, more importantly, where was it coming from?
The New Yorker magazine recently had an article by a neurologist type who said there are scientific explanations for out-of-body experiences. They've done experiments where they sit folks down with mirrors that allow them to see an image of themselves from behind. Then they touch the person with a long stick while at the same time projecting an image of a stick touching their reflected image. When the person is accomstomed to stick experience, they do something like throwing water on the IMAGE, and the person experiences that it was done to them. Projection?
I tend toward the scientific in my thinking. Maybe I feel safer that way as we approach the dark season.... I think we store heavy-duty feelings (like birth) in our bodies, and maybe they come up from our subconscious when we are in the midst of a scarey change or something.
I got one... well.... this didn't really happen to me. Robert told me this happened this year at Roaring River. He roused from his sleep by a vibration on his bed and heard a soft humming sound. He immediately opened his eyes and saw nothing out of the ordinary. He closed his eyes to go back sleep and dream about homocidal tendencies, when he was stirred by the same vibration and humming as before, with no explanation. I told him it was probably the air conditioning unit.
Of course, I knew what was going on. We had our two twin beds pushed together and I had to expel some gas (as true Fergusons do) and heard him stir, so I did it again, just to mess with him.
A good trip...
OK this is too much fun. I was on the LAND camping. After a campfire where we admittedly smoked a bit of hooch, after everyone left, I turned around and there stood a wee fellow about three feet tall, all luminous white - shaped like a troll with a wide girth and pointed head. He said (non-verbally ofcourse) "Would you like to come with us?" I looked at the horizon, considered for a moment and answered, "No, I like it here." I was chicken - but at least I learned that I did like it here, which at the time was a valuable notion for me. Maybe these experiences are there to teach us something, and appropo of that GO SEE "LARS AND THE REAL GIRL" at your first opportunity! - about how we use other creatures to heal ourselves.
well I was sure A.Fanny would regale you with stories about her poltergeist in Chicago, emptied salt shakers and silly stuff. For me, I have had a couple of way cool out of body experiences, but not for a long time.Nothing *bad* scary, tho.
Oooh, you guys write the best stuff! I want to have you all over for a pajama party. We'll pop popcorn, tell scary stories, and levitate each other. It'll be fun.
Moi: Freaky early morning growling! The timing of your experience was perfect. What did Ivan do in response to this growling presence??
a.fanny: I just knew you'd be riddled with stories. The research info was very interesting, too. Aren't humans odd??
zak: How long did it take for Robert to, um realize what was happening? I'm guessing no more than 3 seconds. Wafting, you know.
Doris Rose: Did you go anywhere cool on your out of body journeys, like Vegas?? Wouldn't you love to see a ghostly presence sitting at a one-armed bandit? Dressed like Elvis?
AJ: Whenever you're ready, dude.
Oh, the veil grows thin...
whenever *i* see the veil begin to lift between worlds, i ain't there real quick.
same goes for whenever zak passes wisdom.
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