Ghosts, Angels, Past Lives, etc

[Anela]

I don't think I can bump older threads, otherwise I would. I don't expect many responses, I'm just curious as to what you have experienced that has left you feeling that there is more "out there". I'm not religious, and I stopped believing in anything good out there for a while, but I've been thinking about this again.

 

When I was almost four years old, there was a lot of tension in our little home, and I couldn't remember why - in my strongest memory from when we first lived in America. I could only remember my mother being awake in the early hours of the morning (unusual for her then), and a friend of hers was sitting at the kitchen table, talking with her. My sister and I were playing underneath the table, with our toys.

 

Later that night, as mum's friend was leaving (around 5am) to go back to her own trailer (we lived in Clear Lake, CA, over the other side of a very steep hill, and my mother hated it there), I was running off to crawl into my parents' bed with my dad, when I suddenly stopped, and said to mum, "Oh, Mommy, look at the beautiful angel!" I was in awe of something that neither of them could see. Her friend, Mona, got all nervous, and asked my mother to call her at home, and to leave the phone off the hook so that she would hear anything if something happened (she was Catholic, I think, and thought that angels were a bad omen). I added something like,"Angels won't hurt you, will they mommy?" and she assured me that they wouldn't. I then went into bed with my dad, snuggled up and went to sleep. About half-an-hour later, my baby sister ran to my mother, buried her head in her lap, and was twisting around, frantically saying something about a bird, and that it was going to get her (she'd pointed up in the air).

 

I had a dream about this when I was sixteen, and going through a really hard time. I asked Mum if I'd ever mentioned seeing an angel, and she told me the above. It turned out that that parts of that night were burned into my memory, because it was the night before Mum left Dad, and took us back to England. She was afraid he would catch on to what she was doing, and stop her from taking us home with her. I feel bad talking about this, because he's a good dad (they remarried in 1990), and a good husband now, but they were going through a bad patch. He'd been upset that night, because he was annoyed, threw his shoe, and it accidentally hit me.

 

I've had a few experiences that lead me to believe in spirits hanging around, but this has stuck with me - and I'm not religious. I'm not sure what to believe, but I don't want anyone coming in here and saying, "Pfft, angels don't exist, you imagined it, blah blah blah." Not in this thread. I just wondered if anyone else had experienced something like that.

[gaius]

I didn't know you're British. Or that your dad threw his shoe and it gonked you. Sounds like an interesting childhood.

 

Growing up I had a suite in my mothers basement since I was the oldest. Never saw or heard anything but always got the feeling there was someone else around. I left home when my sister was very young but when talking to her recently she mentioned she won't go down there, thinks there is a ghost. So I guess it wasn't just my wild imagination.

[january2011]

Sometimes I think I feel the 'energies' of certain places. I don't know if I really do or if I'm just easily spooked.

 

I remember going somewhere for work and had this huge feeling of sadness and death - there was just something about the buildings and I didn't like it there. Then found out later that it was an area that saw regular flooding where many people drowned.

 

After my dad passed and I was clearing out his house on my own one day, I spent the entire time almost p*ssing my pants because I was really freaking out at his place. I kept thinking that I'd see him or hear him and jumped at the slightest noise. I just wasn't prepared to see an apparition (don't remember ever seeing one before) and thought that I might on this occasion.

[Anela]

Thank you for responding. I need to come back to this...

[Radu]

I always had the feeling that if there is a God out there it has a sick sense of humour when it concerned me.

 

Because i've been incredibly lucky and incredibly unlucky at the same time, read life and death situations.

 

I don't believe in God, because my HS religion teacher told me that animals don't have a soul so they can't get into Heaven, while true 'animals' [read ppl] have acces to this with repentance.

[pureinheart]

I had a dream when I was 4 yrs old also, which I consider an encounter with angels.

 

It was in the foothills above our home, I was wading with my feet in some rich dark soil/mud and there was one really tall/big angel and a smaller one there with me. There was this indescribable peace.

 

My parents ended up divorcing a couple of years later, this was hard but accepted it. Then back in 2003 I moved back very close to my childhood home. The circumstances were truely unusual as to getting this place, I knew it was meant to be. I asked God shortly after moving back, why do You want me here, why have I come back? His answer to me was that I had been uprooted before my time, and now it's time to replant you...full circle...so basically I was receiving the interpretation to that dream.

 

My physical encounter with an angel was a TRIP. True encounters with angels are never forgotten and they are undeniable. I was on my way to work and was stopped at a red light (lol it was "Fig Avenue" and God had been speaking to me about the fig tree) a man was crossing the street holding up a lady (she was having trouble walking) ...well they were halfway across the street and the light turned green (they were walking very slow) as he was passing by my car his look was penetrating...he looked at me with such love, then his attention was turned to the lady in the car next to me cussing and screaming...his demeaner changed and he looked at her with the same penetrating sadness.

 

It's their eyes ....it was definitely an angelic encounter.

[pureinheart]

I always had the feeling that if there is a God out there it has a sick sense of humour when it concerned me.

 

Because i've been incredibly lucky and incredibly unlucky at the same time, read life and death situations.

 

I don't believe in God, because my HS religion teacher told me that animals don't have a soul so they can't get into Heaven, while true 'animals' [read ppl] have acces to this with repentance.

 

I believe animals do go to heaven, I believe God's Word indicates this:)

[KathyM]

Some of the miracles I've witnessed myself or people I know have witnessed personally:

 

1. My son was driving his car on an icy road one winter morning, had a spin out and hit a tree. Every inch of his car was badly mangled and destroyed, except for the exact space where his body was sitting. Every other part of the car a few inches from his body was badly mangled. No air bags, since it was an older car. He didn't have a scratch on him and was perfectly fine. What are the odds that every inch of the car would be mangled except for his body space? Pretty astronomical. There was another man a week later that had a spin out on the same road and hit a tree. He was killed instantly. No doubt in my mind that divine intervention was involved in saving my son from injury.

 

2. Our business was faultering in the bad economy, and I prayed for a sign if we should continue in the business. That very month, despite the horrible economy, we had an extremely profitable month, and we are still doing well in this business.

 

3. My sister started a new business some years ago, which was also struggling. They had no business coming in. No calls. She prayed about it, and immediately after the prayer, and I mean within 5 minutes, a customer called wanting them to bid on a job.

 

4. A friend of mine had a terrible spin out in his car in the wintertime and could not regain control of the car, so he said a short prayer, let go of the steering wheel, and the car immediately stopped. He walked away without a scratch. He is convinced it was divine intervention, since the car would not just suddenly stop after spinning out of control unless it hit something.

 

5. A friend of mine suffered from severe depression that lasted for months. She said a prayer for recovery, and immediately she could feel her depression lifted, and she was totally healed.

 

6. In a church I belonged to, they had a time set aside for prayer and healing, where people could go up and be prayed for individually. The church had members who had the gift of prophesy, and some who had the gift of healing. I heard the accounts of members who had been prayed for having been healed on the spot.

 

7. I worked in a hospice, and it was a well known and experienced fact that when people are preparing to die, they often see visions of angels or loved ones who have died who are there to provide comfort for the transition to their spiritual life. Some of my patients experienced these visions.

 

10. I could go on with many more accounts of miracles or answers to prayer that I have personally experienced or others have whom I know personally, but I'll leave it with this.

[quickjoe]

Yet for some reason, no miracle has done anything about mass starvations and genocides of people around the world.

 

But hey, glad to hear your home business is doing okay.

[M30USA]

Yet for some reason, no miracle has done anything about mass starvations and genocides of people around the world.

 

But hey, glad to hear your home business is doing okay.

 

Oh, that miracle will happen one day. I wouldn't look forward to it until you have been washed in the blood of Christ.

[KathyM]

Yet for some reason, no miracle has done anything about mass starvations and genocides of people around the world.

 

But hey, glad to hear your home business is doing okay.

Bad things happen because there is sin in the world. Genocides happen because there is sin in the world. God chooses to allow sin and Satan to have a foothold in this world because it is a temporary one where we will be tested. Our spiritual home will be with Him where there is no sin or suffering. That is what His intent is for us--for those who wish to receive it.

 

Thank you for your comment on my home business. It's doing well.

[quickjoe]

My point is that people who claim that gods intervene positively in their lives usually don't come from 3rd world countries. And a neutral observer honestly has to wonder what on earth is up with god's priorities.

 

Why would he actively help some athlete win a sporting event or somebody's business to prosper, but not prevent crops from failing or war from killing hundreds of thousands in Africa?

 

This isn't just a dig at Christianity (as you incorrectly accused me of in another thread), but a serious question for those that claim god does actually intervene in the physical world. How do you explain the unfairness of it, where people who are already well fed and clothed and privileged in so many other ways seem to reap the majority of god's favours as well, but entire nations are starving and poor with no magic coming their way.

 

Simply saying "there is sin in the world" doesn't cut it. If there was any justice, any fairness in god's character, would not the majority of his blessings and compassion go to those who need it most?

[pureinheart]

QJ- instead of blaming God and Christians, why not take a look at the governments where all of this is going on, they seem to be to doing quite fine and well fed. Monies are given...millions/billions, but most of the time intercepted by their own governments for what????? Certainly not to feed their people.

 

FTR Christians do intervene by the grace of God, there are many organisations that help and have made a difference.

[quickjoe]

I'm not blaming mythical beings for anything, pureinheart. I was asking people who believe that god intervenes to answer prayers (a belief I don't share) to think about it a little bit more, because it doesn't seem to make sense.

 

I'm aware that people intervene and help all the time, but I see no reason to think that any divine being does as well.

[Anela]

I always had the feeling that if there is a God out there it has a sick sense of humour when it concerned me.

 

Because i've been incredibly lucky and incredibly unlucky at the same time, read life and death situations.

 

I don't believe in God, because my HS religion teacher told me that animals don't have a soul so they can't get into Heaven, while true 'animals' [read ppl] have acces to this with repentance.

 

I told someone the other day, that at the moment, if god existed, then I considered him/her/it to be a sadistic git.

 

That wasn't what this thread was supposed to be about, though. I just wanted a thread in which someone would be able to post about an experience without it being trashed by somebody else. There are other threads for that.

 

I believe that animals have souls, just as we do, so I'm with you there.

[Anela]

My point is that people who claim that gods intervene positively in their lives usually don't come from 3rd world countries. And a neutral observer honestly has to wonder what on earth is up with god's priorities.

 

Why would he actively help some athlete win a sporting event or somebody's business to prosper, but not prevent crops from failing or war from killing hundreds of thousands in Africa?

 

This isn't just a dig at Christianity (as you incorrectly accused me of in another thread), but a serious question for those that claim god does actually intervene in the physical world. How do you explain the unfairness of it, where people who are already well fed and clothed and privileged in so many other ways seem to reap the majority of god's favours as well, but entire nations are starving and poor with no magic coming their way.

 

Simply saying "there is sin in the world" doesn't cut it. If there was any justice, any fairness in god's character, would not the majority of his blessings and compassion go to those who need it most?

 

Immaculée Ilibagiza - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[TaraMaiden]

I posted this in another thread, where similar questions were asked, and as that thread has now disappeared off the radar, maybe this will be of interest.

 

 

I will tell you a true story.

 

In 1997, I lived in Hampshire, UK.

Some fine day, I forget when, among much bumph, mail and advertising literature, a leaflet was posted through my door.

It advertised a local Psychic Fair taking place in a week from the date I got the leaflet.

I decided to go, because I knew there would be crystals, (both decorative light-reflecting ones, and natural semi-precious ones) and I wanted to buy some.

I decided while there, to see a psychic.

It was a crowded, well-attended and very busy evening, so this seemed like a good and opportune chance, to connect with someone at random.

I waited in the middle of the room, until I caught sight of one, looking at me, and smiling.

I went over to her table, and the first question she asked me, was

“Good grief, how many people have you got with you?”

Apparently she could see 9 presences accompanying me. Two, she described with startling accuracy as members of my family I knew well, and had loved. Others, I didn’t know, but she said they were probably family members I had never met, but whom knew my parents, or sometimes we had a guardian who latched onto us, because they liked our energy and attitude.

She also mentioned a very tall, very lean, shaven-headed Buddhist monk, whose robes were creamy white, who wore makeshift sandals tied to his feet with leather thongs, and who carried a long staff. He seemed to be smiling broadly.

She said this presence was extremely significant, and very important to me. While the others would come and go, as presences did, this one was stuck by me forever, and would be my mentor and Continuous companion.

i simply took this as useful information, but didn't latch on to it in any significant way.

 

Fast forward to 2002.

 

Now living in France, I had been teaching Qi Gong with a local Martial Arts school, the head of which (Gabbi) was also an extremely accomplished, experienced and adept crystal therapist.

As I needed surgery to a severely herniated spinal disc, he offered to give me a crystal therapy treatment.

This took about an hour, involved no tactile contact, but merely needed him to work on my Chi, or Energy, in order to stabilise it, smooth it out, replenish it and strengthen it in readiness for my operation.

I sat the whole while, in an extremely calm and relaxed state, and was faintly aware of some wonderful music. It felt like 10 minutes. It took an hour.

At the end of it, Gabbi said that in all his years working on people, he had only ever seen a person’s “Internal Master” or Designated Guardian twice. Once, many years ago, and now, he had seen mine.

He described exactly the same figure the psychic had described 5 years earlier, right down to the sandals, staff, white robes and smile.

 

I know who my Guardian Angel is.

And I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to have him close.

 

Make of this what you will, take it as a simple contribution to this thread.

[Nohbody]

Crowley talked about a Holy Guardian Angel that may have been the higher self or inner genius, or may have been an outside presence.

 

Some people also think they are receiving spiritual guidance from aliens in proximity to the star Sirius.

 

Having not attempted to make contact, I remain agnostic on the matter.

[TaraMaiden]

Crowley talked about a Holy Guardian Angel that may have been the higher self or inner genius, or may have been an outside presence.

 

Some people also think they are receiving spiritual guidance from aliens in proximity to the star Sirius.

 

Having not attempted to make contact, I remain agnostic on the matter.

 

 

the first may well be a possibility, an intuitive notion.

the middle one, I really wouldn't like to say...

the third - I think is an excellent stance to adopt.

 

[Lobouspo]

When I was in 9th Grade I was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis, a serious neuromuscular disease. I had a droopy eyelid and my neurologist told me to prepare to be on medication for the rest of my life, and the possibility of never playing sports again. Needless to say, I was scared and worried, and all I had was my lukewarm faith (at the time). I was on the medication for a couple of months which fixed the droopy eyelid problem, and decided to get off it while I was running track that year because of the annoying muscle twitches it was giving me. Needless to say, the droopy eyelid and progressive muscle weakness never came back. A miracle, I don't know. I do know that I prayed alot and other prayed alot for me.

 

I also since I was about 19 or 20 years old had this annoying wart on my right middle finger. When I was nervous and agitated I alway had a bad habit of picking on it until it bled, and of course it always came back. I had bought this beautiful wooden crucifix, and one day when I was picking on it, I randomly touched the crucifix (not with the intent of being healed). The bleeding stopped and the wart went away, no scar no nothing.

 

BTW, since we are in the Spirituality and Religious section, those of you with faith, please keep me in your prayers as I am having a rough go at it with my job recently.

[writergal]

I know I've commented that I don't believe in ghosts or anything but I've had experiences that I can't explain. So maybe I need to rethink my skepticism.

 

I don't know if these experiences apply but they sort of do I think?

 

1. When I was a teacher in China, I was told by a Buddhist monk that he'd known me in a previous life (my first reaction was to think he was trying to flirt with me because I was with several of my Chinese students. But who knows.)

 

2. I had a dream 6 months before my Dad died, where I saw the details of his death. And he died exactly like my dream predicted.

 

3. When I was biking home the day of my accident, about 5 minutes before the truck hit me that I didn't see coming, I felt warm hands on both shoulders. I never shared that with anyone before. This feeling of warmth washed over me and then I was hit by the truck, knocked off my road bike, and went unconscious. Edit: Makes me a little teary eyed to recall that and share it publicly here.

 

4. When I was in the ICU the 3rd day post-accident, my sister came to visit. She'd just learned that she was 3 months pregnant with my nephew. Out of nowhere, I groggily asked her how her ovaries were doing (head injuries make people say weird things) and then told her that she was pregnant with a son. I also knew he would be born with autism. Turns out he was.

 

5. The day of the 35W bridge collapse in my city (a terrible tragedy) I went to my sister's house to go shopping with them. She wanted to take the 35W bridge to the mall but I had a sick feeling and persuaded her to go to a closer store instead. When we watched the news and saw the bridge collapse and all the victims we both burst into tears because we would have been on the bridge when it collapsed driving back to her house.

 

6. When I was an undergrad, I heard a voice in my head tell me "you're going to be robbed today at work" as I drove to my work-study job which was at the graduate business office of my university. Turns out, I was robbed and safety and security didn't get to the business office in time to catch the guy who luckily didn't harm me.

Edited June 18, 2012 by writergal

[Radu]

QJ- instead of blaming God and Christians, why not take a look at the governments where all of this is going on, they seem to be to doing quite fine and well fed. Monies are given...millions/billions, but most of the time intercepted by their own governments for what????? Certainly not to feed their people.

 

FTR Christians do intervene by the grace of God, there are many organisations that help and have made a difference.

 

 

Governments are run by politicians or dictators, rarely by monarchies.

They are [politicians and dictators] to one degree or another sociopaths.

The older i grow, the more i see that 'nurture' is not such a bad thing.

 

Tara, the 2nd story was interesting.

The first one, my cinic self reminded me that i too am trying to learn cold reading.

[TaraMaiden]

.

 

I believe that animals have souls, just as we do, so I'm with you there.

 

"You don't have a soul.

 

you have a body.

 

you ARE a soul."

 

(much as I'd love to claim ownership of that, because it has a wonderful ring to it, C.S. Lewis said it.)

[M30USA]

I'm not blaming mythical beings for anything, pureinheart. I was asking people who believe that god intervenes to answer prayers (a belief I don't share) to think about it a little bit more, because it doesn't seem to make sense.

 

I'm aware that people intervene and help all the time, but I see no reason to think that any divine being does as well.

 

Where are you looking for these divine beings? What would they appear like? How would you know if they did intervene?

 

I suggest to you that it's happening everywhere, but for some reason only those who have spiritual discernment can see it. There are even cases in the Bible where beings physically manifest--but are only visible to a select person or group of people at any given time.

[M30USA]

In continuation of my last post, I want to add that I have done hundreds of hours of research on this subject and have concluded that the biblical angels are the occupants of what we call UFOs. The Bible is ripe with examples of UFOs. It even says God, himself, is among the "chariots" which fly in the "clouds". I will warn people, however, that this subject poses great risk for deception and cult practice, so be warned. That being said, many of the so-called UFOs are either operated, occupied by, or remotely operated by angelic beings who carry out either Gods will or Satan's. Additionally, as is the case with biblical angels, they operate in secret for whatever reason.