I’ve had a fair number of experiences that some people would say qualify as paranormal. On some of these experiences, I agree, on others, I think another explanation seems more likely. The main reason I’m writing this is to show how there is a lot of uncertainty in dealing with anything paranormal, and even if there are some pretty solid experiences, it’s still very easy to question yourself. This is healthy, as I pointed out in my last piece on the paranormal. At the same time, it may also be frustrating to practice for a long time, only to realize you still aren’t certain of anything. I have some good and bad news on this: it’s normal. If you find yourself in this position, there are lots of others trying to learn in the same position. Of course, that means it’s also going to be difficult to get past that point, and you’ll likely have to find your own way. I’m still working on that part myself. However, now I want to get on with the experiences. Hopefully, reading about these and the way I view them might help you out in some way.
1) Call the Card
The Experience: I was chilling with some friends in the basement of their house, when one of them just looked over at me, showed me a deck of cards, and said “top card, what is it?”
I immediately responded “ace of spades” and flipped the card over with a confident flourish… and they started flipping out saying how awesome that was. Confused, I looked at the card to see that it was indeed the ace of spades, and I had called it. Of course, then they wanted a repeat performance, so I tried again a few times. The very next card, I got the right number, wrong suit, and after that, I had nothing.
Was It Paranormal: I doubt it was anything other than blind luck. You guess enough cards, you’re bound to get one right eventually. I just happened to get it right on the first try, which made it seem awesome. If I had managed a couple more hits in a reasonable amount of time, I’d have been convinced, but as it happened, I’d say I just hit my 1 in 52 chance. Let’s face it, those odds are better than the odds of me winning $20 off Powerball, and I’ve managed that before too.
2) See a Level of an Unreleased Video Game
The Experience: I had a dream one night, and in this dream I was playing a Sonic the Hedgehog game I’d never played before. I played through one zone of this game, full of crystals, and a stand for the chaos emeralds. Later on in life, I got my hands on the game Sonic and Knuckles, and when I reached the Hidden Palace Zone, I felt an intense feeling of deja vu. Probably because I’d played through the zone before… in the dream I just talked about.
Was It Paranormal: I think so, but I do still question this one sometimes. After all, I never wrote the dream down beforehand, so the feeling of deja vu could have been from something else, and then I could have constructed the dream memory to explain the feeling. I really don’t think that’s how it went down, but human memory is tricky, and with no written record, I would be remiss in not mentioning the possibility. Other than that though, I’m pretty confident in this one.
3) Pinging a Friend… a Little Too Strongly
The Experience: I’m not sure how commonly the term ping is used in psychic communities, as it’s a term I’ve really only seen at Psipog, so in case you aren’t sure of what I’m talking about, a ping is supposed to be a kind of brief telepathic greeting, like a mental handshake of sorts. I was attempting to use a psi ball to do so, but I had also been experimenting with some elemental magic ideas at the time. So, I used a symbol of elemental fire to add some oomph to the psi ball, and consequently, the ping. Then I sent it flying at his head telling it to get his attention. It did. Apparently it also gave him a splitting headache, because he asked me what I did, so I told him. He told me not to try that again, because it really hurt. So I haven’t tried it since then.
It should be noted that we had an agreement it was ok to do this before, because we wanted to see if we could really get each others attention in this way. We found our answer, and decided that was enough of that experiment.
Was it Paranormal: In a word, yes. That is, I can’t think of any other explanation. Sure, it could be a coincidence, but the timing was very good if it was. Too good, so I find it unlikely. It wasn’t psychosomatic, because I did this with no motion, and was behind him when I sent the ping, so he couldn’t have seen me. Given that he reacted right when I sent the psi ball to him, I find it hard to believe it was anything but success. I am open to other explanations, but so far, I haven’t found one.
Not sure if I could replicate this one now or not. For the obvious reason of not wanting to cause others pain, I haven’t really tried.
4) Unblocking My Stuffy Nose
The Experience: I had been dealing with a stuffy nose for a rather long time one winter, so I decided I was going to try and do something about it. Now, I could have just used some nasal spray, but that stuff is really uncomfortable, so I tried something else first: energy healing. I just sent energy at the blockage with the intent to clear it up and be able to breathe easy again. Sure enough, within five minutes, my nasal passages were clearing up. I now had quite the runny nose, and went through many tissues in dealing with it. It wasn’t stuffy anymore though, and that was the goal. I just forgot that everything still needed a way out.
Was It Paranormal: Maybe. The timing was pretty good, but it wasn’t perfect. In addition, I haven’t been able to replicate this often, but I do occasionally get results. I also haven’t had success on helping anyone other than myself. This leads me to think that a placebo effect is also a very good option to consider in regard to what happened. Coincidence also can’t be ruled out here, since the timing isn’t directly in line with treatment, and since it doesn’t always work. Naturally, not working all the time could also mean I just need more practice. Still, I think the jury’s out on this one, and it’s tough to make a good call here.
5) It Needs to Snow… NOW!
The Experience: I was walking to class with a friend, and there had been a significant lack of snow days that particular year. Not uncommon, as I always found days off in college to be a nice stress reliever, and a lack of them to be irritating. On this particular day, I really did not want to be in class, and I came out and said “it needs to snow now!” And no sooner had I said it, then it started snowing. Just flurries mind you, so not nearly enough to get me that snow day. But there was no snow in the forecast, so that was kind of cool.
Was It Paranormal: Well, the timing was spot on, so points for that. However, as anyone in New England knows, the weather here is notoriously unpredictable, and subject to change at a moment’s notice. So even though it wasn’t in the weather report, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t happen on its own. Could have also been coincidence due to this. And as many psychologists like to point out, we remember the big coincidences and forget the ones that don’t seem to work out. Then again, the timing was right on. And it’d be really cool if it was me. But I’m really just not sure.
So that’s it for now. While I certainly have other paranormal experiences, these are the ones that stick out in my mind. As you can see, there’s only one experience in here I’m sure was a real paranormal experience, while most of the others fall into some kind of nebulous area of possibly paranormal and possibly coincidence. From what others I talk to about this have to say, this is pretty normal, so I’m not too worried, especially since I have the one experience that would be difficult to explain in a way not involving the paranormal. In short, while it’s good to be discerning in what you believe is real, it’s also good to have some faith in yourself. You might not be sure of what’s happening, but believing in your ability makes it easier to continue practicing, and may help bring you to one experience that would be difficult to explain any other way.
Related Posts:
- How Does the Paranormal Work… If It’s not Real
- The Paranormal, Belief, and Skepticism
- Lucid Dreaming and Other Dream Experiences
- Job Market Dishonesty
- Don’t Rely on The Paranormal to Pull You Out Of Your Mess
