I wasn't born psychic but I was born knowing. But, like most people, I didn't know what I knew and I didn't realize that not everyone was like this. That's one of the things that my paranormal study revealed - the number of adults who, as children, felt different from their peers. Very different! That sense of difference, and in some cases the acting out of that difference, had a marked impact on people's lives. In the survey, participants confided about their early encounters with the paranormal. Some were embraced and encouraged by their families and friends. Others were ostracized and made to learn early in life to keep their own counsel. Subliminally or consciously they learnt to keep quiet about the things they saw, heard, smelt and felt that were not part of the physical world. Oftentimes, this sense of isolation has stayed with them.
The paranormal wasn't talked about much back then - how could it be? There wasn't a lot of time and it certainly wasn't a topic that featured much. Remember, that's all there was back then. This was the world before technology took hold. Words like cyberspace, email and Google hadn't even been coined and the Internet was still in the making. No social media: no blogs; no Twitter; no internet forum or podcasts; no Facebook, Digg, Flickr, or YouTube. Just the radio, the t.v., the newspaper, the library and a sparsely stocked bookshop. That's all. Very little opportunity for information sharing; even less chance to discuss paranormal experiences.
Back then, things tended not to be dealt with at an international or even a national level. Life was very much played at the local level and for some people local meant very localized. In our house, there was talk of old aunts and their magical powers and ghosts in dimly lit hallways, but psi wasn't something that was dwelt on. There wasn't time. My parents were doing their best at making a life for their family - working full time, running their own business and raising two daughters. The paranormal was neither encouraged nor discouraged. It was always just there.
It's against this background that my desire to understand the other side of life lingered - sometimes simmering to the top, oftentimes bubbling away unobtrusively.
(PS I googled Cummins, where I was born and this is about the only photo that came up.)
I understand about the childhood. There were several unexplained events I experienced as a child only to be told it was just m imagination. To this day I can still remember the events as if they just occurred. So this is a very interesting subject for me.
ReplyDeleteMartha My research indicates that the paranormal is not confined to any age bracket and as with other experiences in childhood, encounters with the psychic realms tend to have a lasting impact. And this is not always positive.
ReplyDeleteMy research collected sufficient numbers of accounts to be statistically significant. My hope it that adults who are caregivers of children - in whatever capacity - begin to accept that paranormal experiences can and do begin early in life.
Later in my blog Ill be revealing more about this and some of the collated quotes may well strike a chord....
For too long children's accounts have been swept aside as unreliable fantasies. I'm sure some stories are indeed just that. But, there are many accounts that don't fit this bill. The trick is to discern the difference and to that the guardians of our youngest members must at least be made aware of the early onset of psychic incidences.
this talent i believe is inherent to all people taking an example (this is my personal assessment)that we are created into the image and likeness of god and i would say not on the level of being blasphemous nor sacrilegious to any religion which up do this writing is against the paranormal to what they say is devilish.
ReplyDeletewe are created into his likeness and his image like for example taking a cupful of sea water and strewn into land we believe that every essence of the droplet of the sea water in the land is a part of that huge body of water and we are the same as Jesus says in the bible what ever i can do you can do better after i have gone he already knew that people possesses the same paranormal powers that he has in different degrees to different people. this is highly debatable but much have been written about this phenomena more so here in the country where i was born the Philippines, where there are healers who up to this day performs paranormal surgery and the like but not to discount countless people who are fakes but then again the master Jesus says we will know them by their fruits.
one of the books i read was from a medical doctor a scientist who delved into the paranormal and together with other scientists performed test on those practitioners of the unknown and he is Dr. George Meeks
i hope i contributed
As you said, interest in the paranormal in my family was neither encouraged or discouraged. Grown-ups were just trying to keep on, make a living, and survive. My grandparents were from another country and we were still brought up in a very old-fashioned manner with a strong Catholic influence. The mysticism of the Catholic religion and the works and miracles of the Saints left an indelible impression upon me. My sister and I were always open to the reality of these types of things. Although for a very long time, I never personally had any encounters or paranormal experiences until my grandma, mother, and sister died. . . When you share these events with others, you are often met with skepticism. It is easier to keep it to yourself. But I know what happened.
ReplyDeleteSkepticism is hard to deal with Louise - especially head on. I tend to shy away from it. The paranormal is such an emotive topic but Im not sure why actually. Any ideas why it pushes so many buttons?
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a family where psychic experiences were just normal and discussed openly. I knew I was different for I could communicate with my animals when I was in my early teens. I look back on that now and wow, what an experience. I still have a unique way with animals. I also saw at a friends house a spirit of a small boy crawl under a bed.I couldn't believe my eyes. I bent down and pulled up the bed skirt and he was not there. It took me awhile to tell my friend of what I saw, he believed me. But not to tell the children for it would frighten them.
ReplyDeleteCindy, thanks for adding your own experiences. I, for one believe that children are much more resilient and open than we give them credit for. I have brought my two daughters up assuming they will take their lead from me and they have. They are open to the possibilities of the universe and they will find their own truth!
ReplyDeleteThough I don't recall any paranormal experiences as a young child, my extended family included my maternal grandparents who had come to America from the proverbial "Old Country." My grandmother in particular was a believer in, shall we say, "non-scientifically based" phenomena, something my "modern" parents thought was silly superstition. Indeed it probably was, but it left me open to and curious about the subject.
ReplyDeleteI do think that our experiences as children provide one of the important filters through which we see life. Some parents tell their children outright that the paranormal doesnt exist. What they fail to say it that this is a statement of their belief, nothing more. It would be interesting to follow this idea through and see exactly what kind of message, those who do experience the paranormal, actually received on the home front.
ReplyDeleteAnother area worthy of further research, I think, is the connection between formalised religion and belief in the paranormal. Does a strong religious faith support or contradict belief in the paranormal? I dont know the answer. Any thoughts?
I was bought up in Mormon church who preached about a heavenly afterlife, and spirit world with god or go directly to hell. Always felt out of place with this religion as I asked too many questions (of the wrong kind) and they didn’t have the answers I seek. One question I asked when I was 7 yr old is, "Where are the dinosaurs, there not in the bible, but there are dinosaur bones." They were shocked that I questioned the bible and never did give me an answer.
ReplyDeleteDiscovered I had an extraordinary psychic gift if you could call it a gift (more a burden) in my late 20’s. Tried to open up to my family, some are still in the church, but very bad idea, they looked at me like I needed exorcising. I never spoke about my experiences with the spirits ever again, as this subject bought fear into their eyes. I don’t ever discuss it now, but I was instructed to keep a diary (by the spirits) and did so over 12 years. “They” tell me now is the time to open this up, but I don’t know, I am not so sure ad its still very difficult to discuss this subject openly. JS
You were one smart child by the look of it. Funny how we are encouraged to ask questions - but more so the right questions (i.e. the ones that lead to the acceptable answers). Its quite a curious thing that many followers of the Bible and other ancient texts are afraid of the paranormal? As I discussed in my thesis what is the difference between everyday ghost sightings and the historical accounts of sightings in these tomes? I suggest it is just a different name for the same parapsychological phenomenon - so why be threatened?
ReplyDeleteRe the timing of your opening up - Id like to suggest that you might like to find a mentor to help you. Some people put it out to the universe to provide an answer - when the student is ready the master appears. I believe fully opening to the universal possibilities of the paranormal does require help and protection. So, if you are not ready to open up, then it might be because you havent got all the supports you will need in place. Hope that makes sense.
Is there anyone else who is a Psychic Revolution participant who can offer more suggestions and advice?
i guess by posting here it might bring about more controversy but it is my experience that whilst ALL of us are borne with these wonderful psychic intuitive 'gifts', some children come through with a more 'openess' than others. Some children are borne with this 'knowing' 'feeling' 'seeing' and some find it extremely easy then to connect on a spiritual level (in particular - mediumship, by being able to connect to the 'other side', especially if it is at a time when there is some upheaval or abuse (be it physical, emotional, or just environmental by listening to abuse)in those early childhood years, when the inner child is being developed. The vibration of hearing abuse is nearly as potent as experiencing it, if one is sensitive. The psychic phenomena can be increased at that point until they are about 12 years of age, when our higher self (teenage years and rebellion) starts to develop and we (society) start to rationalise the mind more, and then start to 'close down'. Though some of us choose not to.
ReplyDeleteI recently played my Crystal Singing Bowls to a classroom of 30 children of 11 years of age and 85% of that class felt the vibrations within their physical body, could see the colour of the note and describe where it was connecting to them. The teacher in the class could not! and was astounded at how 'open and intuitive' children are !!! (HELLO!)
Its definately time as parents, as a society, to 'learn' with our children and 'teach' them about 'SPIRIT', so they are EMPOWERED as to how to manage and protect themselves and their 'gifts'.