Interesting 'spiritual' beliefs you may hold

[Sinister Intents]

Hey, here is a thread on odd beliefs you may hold whether you're someone who is an antitheist or a devout Christian! Sorry if this thread has existed before, I haven't seen it, so it should be pretty cool to see people's responses!

I believe in ghosts and in reincarnation and I believe I have evidence to prove those to myself. Such as one evening when I was in fourth grade waking up at 6AM. I saw a white light kind of figure of a women standing by my bed with her arms crossed. At first I thought it was my mom, but then when I got up to touch the figure, it backed away and disappeared. As per the reincarnation one my parents have told me of my past life regression and I was describing a battle from WWII, I don't remember which one. I used to wake up with vivid brutal nightmares from 18 months old to about three, and it'd be the same nightmare. The last I ever had the dream was when I was about 7, and I had my tonsils taken out that evening.

I reject the belief in any god, gods, et cetera, and I reject the idea of karma, I'm not sure what else to add, but if I think of it I'll add it here :)

[Creative Destruction]

i've been becoming increasingly interested in pantheism, as far as that can go spiritually. but i also have a keen interest in reincarnation. some interesting anecdotal observations have been put forward which, while they certainly don't prove that reincarnation exists, still provides something to think about. at least, for me it does.

for a bit of time, i believed in ghosts, but as i grew older, i realized that i was given to sleep paralysis sometimes. to me, that was more than a good explanation for what i saw.

[Brutus]

I am the reincarnation of a cockroach

[Creative Destruction]

i'm pretty sure i'm the reincarnation of a dead parrot.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

I am pretty sure that this thread has gone to shit within 5 posts

[Brutus]

I am pretty sure that this thread has gone to shit within 5 posts

That's a sound, reality-based belief you hold though, not spiritual.

[Sinister Intents]

I am pretty sure that this thread has gone to shit within 5 posts

Lol.... I'd like to keep it serious...

[Sinister Intents]

I'd have to say that you can only be reincarnated as the same species, or a related species. So I doubt anyone (assuming reincarnation is real) would be reincarnated from something that isn't the same creature.

[Brutus]

I'd have to say that you can only be reincarnated as the same species, or a related species. So I doubt anyone (assuming reincarnation is real) would be reincarnated from something that isn't the same creature.

Why? Why can't I be a bear or a dolphin? Why can't I just die?

[Sinister Intents]

Why? Why can't I be a bear or a dolphin? Why can't I just die?

This is when it fucking sucks to not remember your source information :(

You can't be a bear or a dolphin because your human, and only human spirits can be human, and as humans evolve so do the spirits with that species. You could also just outright die, I do accept the fact that I could be wrong, but I like believing in ghosts and reincarnation, and that's essentially the gist of my 'irrational' beliefs.

[Comrade Jacob]

I like reading into Hinduism, Druidry & Taoism although I wouldn't regard myself as any of them, Pantheism is interesting. I guess I believe in reincarnation, a spirit perhaps. I am still not sure about many things.

I don't believe in the supernatural, just unexplained phenomena.

[Sasha]

I think there is a whole bunch of stuff that could be called "spiritual" might be real but just hasn't been scientiffically discovered and/or explained yet. Mostly on human capabilities/evolution ahead of the curve. But as I say, its not really spiritual, we just dont understand the scientific rational behind it yet.
Lots of the stuff we now (begin) to understand would in the past be called spiritual (love for example) just so I believe there are for example people so good at reading bodylanguage and subtext some would call them telephatic etc etc.

[Ele'ill]

there are a lot of unexplained things lurking in the deep, yet to awaken within us


http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100202021245/lovecraft/images/1/1b/Kraken-cthulhu.jpghttp://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120509185304/powerlisting/images/9/90/Great-cthulhu.jpg


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Cthulhu_by_Alexander_Liptak.png

[argeiphontes]

i've been becoming increasingly interested in pantheism, as far as that can go spiritually. but i also have a keen interest in reincarnation. some interesting anecdotal observations have been put forward which, while they certainly don't prove that reincarnation exists, still provides something to think about. at least, for me it does.


Yeah, I think that the evidence from children is compelling, though definitely not conclusive. Still, I'm holding out hope that being a half-wit monkey-man on a medium-sized planet on the outskirts of the Milky Way isn't the only thing that's in store for me...


I think there is a whole bunch of stuff that could be called "spiritual" might be real but just hasn't been scientiffically discovered and/or explained yet. Mostly on human capabilities/evolution ahead of the curve. But as I say, its not really spiritual, we just dont understand the scientific rational behind it yet.
Lots of the stuff we now (begin) to understand would in the past be called spiritual (love for example) just so I believe there are for example people so good at reading bodylanguage and subtext some would call them telephatic etc etc.

I agree, in a way. I don't think there's anything like the "paranormal." I think the universe is simply one "coherence" that hasn't been fully described yet, and never will be. Supporting a reductionist materialist viewpoint hasn't been possible for a while. We've always been "bugged" by the uncanny relationship between mathematics and physics, for one thing, but IMO this is just the transcendental unity of human intellect and physical reality.

The universe has been getting stranger and stranger since Einstein, and I expect that in the future things like presentiment, telepathy, mind-matter effects, and maybe even Sheldrake's theory of formative causation will have to be incorporated into the general understanding of life and the universe. This will happen in the next iteration of the general scientific understanding of the world, not necessarily this one, a la Kuhn, but I predict it will be commonplace and some people who are marginalized today will be considered pioneers in the future.

Oh, I guess none of those beliefs are 'religious'. I'm a soft polytheist. Religion will never end because it's not possible to figure out what the universe is, or where it is, or how it got here. ("Why is there something and not nothing.") Too bad, science.

[Blake's Baby]

This is when it fucking sucks to not remember your source information :(

You can't be a bear or a dolphin because your human, and only human spirits can be human, and as humans evolve so do the spirits with that species. You could also just outright die, I do accept the fact that I could be wrong, but I like believing in ghosts and reincarnation, and that's essentially the gist of my 'irrational' beliefs.

Why?

If you believe in a non-physical component that lives on after your death/pre-exists your body, some kind of cosmic life-force that sends out bits to inhabit meat-shells, how on earth can you say that it doesn't also exist for bears or dolphins or emus or squid? That's pretty preposterous if you ask me.

At what point did 'human spirits' evolve? Have there always been 7 billion of them, and some spirits just sat around for hundreds or thousands of years not being reincarnated? Or is the same amount of 'spirit' that originally possessed the first couple of dozen humans now spread out among 7 billion of us? Do some people not have souls?

Some idea of the mathematics of the increase of human populations over 200,000 years or so, with a cross-reference to the fixed number of souls, would be good, as would some speculation as to whether Neanderthals, homo erectus, australopithicenes, etc had them.

[argeiphontes]

Why?

If you believe in a non-physical component that lives on after your death/pre-exists your body, some kind of cosmic life-force that sends out bits to inhabit meat-shells, how on earth can you say that it doesn't also exist for bears or dolphins or emus or squid? That's pretty preposterous if you ask me.

All you need is a pseudo-Platonism that understands local consciousness as an epiphenomenon of a universal consciousness to which we all return. In us, life exists in individual identity, but just as buddhists or others might believe, in death we return to the universal primordial collective consciousness. An infinite number of individual sentient beings are possible then. A brain receives consciousness and memory from the void like a radio receives a station.

Or something like that. :)

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

I am pretty sure that this thread has gone to shit within 5 posts

This thread was shit from post one.

All the common nonsensical and idiotic anecdotal rubbish based on some silly personal experiences are coming to the fore in this thread.

[The Feral Underclass]

At first I thought it was my mom, but then when I got up to touch the figure, it backed away and disappeared. As per the reincarnation one my parents have told me of my past life regression and I was describing a battle from WWII, I don't remember which one. I used to wake up with vivid brutal nightmares from 18 months old to about three, and it'd be the same nightmare. The last I ever had the dream was when I was about 7, and I had my tonsils taken out that evening.

And the only explanation for these things is ghosts and reincarnation?

[Sinister Intents]

This thread was shit from post one.

All the common nonsensical and idiotic anecdotal rubbish based on some silly personal experiences are coming to the fore in this thread.

Indeed, I was hoping it'd have turned out better, but fuck it.


And the only explanation for these things is ghosts and reincarnation?

Those are the only two 'irrational' things I believe in, I like Sasha's post on this.

Also I didn't start this thread to debate whether these things are real or not. I started it so that people can state things that they believe.

[The Feral Underclass]

Those are the only two 'irrational' things I believe in

But why? Of all the explanations that exist, why did you just decide these two explanations were the right ones?


Also I didn't start this thread to debate whether these things are real or not.

I'm not questioning whether they are real or not (I am certain they are not), I'm asking you to explain to me why you think they are.

[Sinister Intents]

But why? Of all the explanations that exist, why did you just decide these two explanations were the right ones?



I'm not questioning whether they are real or not (I am certain they are not), I'm asking you to explain to me why you think they are.

I honestly think these are real because of situations that have happened in my youth that have lead me to believe in them. I remember when I was little and I would see figures out of the corner of my eye, like a dark void, and they'd be gone quickly. My mother who is a spiritualist also influenced me to believe in these, but some of the things she says I take as bullshit, she's a Catholic spiritualist. I also believe in them because it's fun to me :) I also believe that people can contact them, which I have before using a meditation method I was taught.

[The Feral Underclass]

I honestly think these are real because of situations that have happened in my youth that have lead me to believe in them. I remember when I was little and I would see figures out of the corner of my eye, like a dark void, and they'd be gone quickly.

Yeah, but why do you believe this is supernatural or 'spiritual' and not your vivid imagination as a child, or some trick of the light or something?

I have a very vivid memory of being about three or four years old and getting into my mother's bed in the might and seeing a skeleton in her mirror. Does that mean an actual skeleton was in my mother's mirror?


My mother who is a spiritualist also influenced me to believe in these, but some of the things she says I take as bullshit, she's a Catholic spiritualist. I also believe in them because it's fun to me :) I also believe that people can contact them, which I have before using a meditation method I was taught.

This is what I am trying to understand: What is the reasoning behind you deciding that all of this is real? What makes you certain that what you are saying is true?

[Sinister Intents]

Yeah, but why do you believe this is supernatural or 'spiritual' and not your vivid imagination as a child, or some trick of the light or something?

I have a very vivid memory of being about three or four years old and getting into my mother's bed in the might and seeing a skeleton in her mirror. Does that mean an actual skeleton was in my mother's mirror?

No it does not lol, I do understand that some things are just optical illusions, or as an Amish man put it "optical solutions" or you're seeing something briefly and your brain is interpretting it as something that it's not.


This is what I am trying to understand: What is the reasoning behind you deciding that all of this is real? What makes you certain that what you are saying is true?

My reasoning is the fact that I've had many unexplainable things happen to me, and I've seen unexplainable things, and this has lead me to the conclusion that Ghosts are real. I've seen them and I couldn't explain it away, and I've tried. I still see figures once in a while, but to a lesser degree. Last month I saw a dark image of a cat that wasn't really there, and when I approached it, it ran and hid and I tried to touch it, but there was no cat. We have three cat's but this wasn't one of our own. I've seen this cat a few times before :) I also believe that reincarnation is real because of past life regression that I had at a very young age. They were very vivid nightmares of WWII, I don't remember the dreams anymore other than there was a lot of blood and death in them. This was the same dream over and over, through a period of two or three years. I've also spoken to departed relatives by contacting them using a specific method :)

No, I don't believe in god/gods/deities/et cetera

[The Feral Underclass]

My reasoning is the fact that I've had many unexplainable things happen to me, and I've seen unexplainable things, and this has lead me to the conclusion that Ghosts are real.

Dude, you're not understanding me. I know you think these things because they are unexplained, but why does that mean that they are supernatural or spiritual just because they are unexplainable to you? Based on what reasoning have you concluded that these unexplained things are 'spiritual' or supernatural?


I've seen them and I couldn't explain it away, and I've tried. I still see figures once in a while, but to a lesser degree.

But just because you see something that you are unable to explain doesn't mean it's unexplainable or that it's 'spiritual' or supernatural. There are dozens of reasons why you might have visual hallucinations. It being some spiritual or supernatural force is the least likely of explanations...

I mean, are you an expert in any kind of medical or scientific field?


Last month I saw a dark image of a cat that wasn't really there, and when I approached it, it ran and hid and I tried to touch it, but there was no cat.

This sounds more like a lie than anything else.


I don't remember the dreams any more other than there was a lot of blood and death in them. This was the same dream over and over, through a period of two or three years. I've also spoken to departed relatives by contacting them using a specific method :)

Yeah, reoccurring dreams are completely normal. I have reoccurring dreams often and usually involve zombies. Does that mean I was a zombie hunter in a past life?

[Sinister Intents]

Dude, you're not understanding me. I know you think these things because they are unexplained, but why does that mean that they are supernatural or spiritual just because they are unexplainable to you? Based on what reasoning have you concluded that these unexplained things are 'spiritual' or supernatural?

I do believe that some of the occurences are 'spiritual' or 'supernatural' All of them? No, of course not. However, there are still things that have occured for me, my family, and others that have lead me to believe that there is a potential for a scientific explanation of 'supernatural' phenomenon. My reasoning being that I've seen ghosts with my parents, and we couldn't explain it away, yet trying.


But just because you see something that you are unable to explain doesn't mean it's unexplainable or that it's 'spiritual' or supernatural. There are dozens of reasons why you might have visual hallucinations. It being some spiritual or supernatural force is the least likely of explanations...

I fully agree, but I have already stated that I've had unexplainable personal experiences that lead me to believe that these things are real. I don't have audio or visual hallucinations, In my youth when they were diagnosing me with shit, they tried diagnosing me as schizophrenic, but I don't fit the criteria for a schizophrenic at all.


I mean, are you an expert in any kind of medical or scientific field?

No, I don't think this really matters here tbh. We're talking about my personal beliefs.


This sounds more like a lie than anything else.

Of course you'd assume that :glare: It's not though. I can't prove it to you because you weren't there.


Yeah, reoccurring dreams are completely normal. I have reoccurring dreams often and usually involve zombies. Does that mean I was a zombie hunter in a past life?

No, you could ask my parents about the dreams from when I have 2 years old on though.

[The Feral Underclass]

I do believe that some of the occurences are 'spiritual' or 'supernatural' All of them? No, of course not. However, there are still things that have occured for me, my family, and others that have lead me to believe that there is a potential for a scientific explanation of 'supernatural' phenomenon. My reasoning being that I've seen ghosts with my parents, and we couldn't explain it away, yet trying.

They are unexplained, yes. You have said that. I understand that you think they are unexplained. I understand that, because they were unexplained, you think they are supernatural. Okay? I understand that.

My question to you is: why have you decided that these things are supernatural simply because you cannot explain them?


I fully agree, but I have already stated that I've had unexplainable personal experiences that lead me to believe that these things are real.

But what difference does your inability to explain these occurrences have on what is true?


I don't have audio or visual hallucinations

Well, you're talking about seeing phantom cats, so that is pretty much the definition of a visual hallucination.


No, I don't think this really matters here tbh. We're talking about my personal beliefs.

So you don't think the fact that you don't have any expert knowledge in any medical or scientific field could have something to do with the fact you're unable to explain these alleged occurrences?

Instead of unexplained things being supernatural, could it not be that you just don't have any expert knowledge in which to explain them? That has never crossed your mind?


Of course you'd assume that :glare: It's not though. I can't prove it to you because you weren't there.

It's not really an assumption, you're just saying things that don't sound very true.


No, you could ask my parents about the dreams from when I have 2 years old on though.

Yes, human beings have reoccurring dreams. That is a normal thing called being a human.

[Sinister Intents]

Lol, there is no way that I can provide evidence to any of this, so I really can't back my claims up with facts. The facts are non existent, not physical, and therefore you can neither prove, nor disprove. Also atheist and antitheist arguments trump all, so any argument I raise you'll destroy like an ant under a shoe.

edit: I'll reply to your above post

[The Feral Underclass]

Lol, there is no way that I can provide evidence to any of this, so I really can't back my claims up with facts.

I'm not asking you to prove anything, though. All I'm asking is for you to explain why you think unexplained phenomenon is supernatural.


The facts are non existent, not physical, and therefore you can neither prove, nor disprove.

Which, if nothing else, is very convenient.

[Sinister Intents]

They are unexplained, yes. You have said that. I understand that you think they are unexplained. I understand that, because they were unexplained, you think they are supernatural. Okay? I understand that.

Gotcha TAT ;)


My question to you is: why have you decided that these things are supernatural simply because you cannot explain them?

I lump them into the category of supernatural because that's where people usually lump ghosts and reincarnation. If they can be scientifically proven, then they can no longer be labeled as supernatural or spiritual, but that's unlikely, for nonphysical things cannot be proven to exist because they have no material basis. You can prove atoms and electrons and frogs and popcans exist, and this is because there is physical proof of them.


But what difference does your inability to explain these occurrences have on what is true?

It leaves me saying it's still unexplained :) I may be able to explain them later and prove them to be what I claim or not.


Well, you're talking about seeing phantom cats, so that is pretty much the definition of a visual hallucination.

Don't judge me :crying: I do see phantom cats, and phantom people. I've seen departed pets, and departed relatives. When my aunt died 3 or 4 years ago I smelled Newport cigarettes very strongly all of a sudden. A few hours later I learned she had died in a hotel room of a heart attack.


So you don't think the fact that you don't have any expert knowledge in any medical or scientific field could have something to do with the fact you're unable to explain these alleged occurrences?

I do agree that if I had more knowledge in these fields I'd probably be able to explain things better, but until then I guess I'll continue to believe in ghosts and reincarnation.


Instead of unexplained things being supernatural, could it not be that you just don't have any expert knowledge in which to explain them? That has never crossed your mind?

Yes, this thought has crossed my mind before, but some of these things I don't think can be explained using the means at which we have now. As these fields and technology progresses we'll further find out, right?


It's not really an assumption, you're just saying things that don't sound very true.

It's not a lie though :/ Let's ignore this, for we can't prove it, nor disprove it.


Yes, human beings have reoccurring dreams. That is a normal thing called being a human.

I understand this comrade

[Loony Le Fist]

...
I believe in ghosts and in reincarnation and I believe I have evidence to prove those to myself. Such as one evening when I was in fourth grade waking up at 6AM. I saw a white light kind of figure of a women standing by my bed with her arms crossed. At first I thought it was my mom, but then when I got up to touch the figure, it backed away and disappeared.


Let's consider that for a moment and look at the possibilities:


A lucid dream
An encounter with aliens
An actual ghost


There could be more possibilities, but those are the one's that came to mind. To me the best explanation would be a lucid dream. That's not to say that the other possibilities are not possible. That is to say that the best explanation is going to be the one that requires the least amount of assumptions. Explanations like ghosts come with a host of other assumptions that must be explained as well. The best explanation is the one that covers all the bases without requiring additional assumptions.

As an example, I have had very powerful experiences on hallucinogenic mushrooms. During one experience, I had an incredible conversation with a being. It seemed like powerful extraterrestrial to me, and the dark room was filled with a green glowing mist that hovered above the bed I was laying down on. It went on for what seemed like hours. It was truly awesome. My explanation? I was having a conversation with myself--enhanced by drug.

Could mushrooms provide a link to alien beings? Look at all the South American cultures that experimented with them. It could be possible, but it seems unlikely. To me the more likely explanation is that they were under the influence of an incredibly powerful, yet awesome, substance.



As per the reincarnation one my parents have told me of my past life regression and I was describing a battle from WWII, I don't remember which one. I used to wake up with vivid brutal nightmares from 18 months old to about three, and it'd be the same nightmare. The last I ever had the dream was when I was about 7, and I had my tonsils taken out that evening.


I would like to hear more details about your WWII regression. The medication used for the anesthesia is known to cause regressions like this.

[Tenka]

This thread is apparently for the posting of "spiritual beliefs", so the interesting exchange preceding this post, though interesting, is kind of off-topic. However, I like the turn of discussion.

Many "paranormal"-seeming experiences happen in bed, and are attributable to being in a hypnagogic state (half-wakefulness) wherein hallucinations and the phenomenon of sleep paralysis are known to be common.

Incidentally, SI, you have said:

My reasoning being that I've seen ghosts with my parents, and we couldn't explain it away, yet trying.

Which reminded me of an experience I had one time, late at night, where my mother noticed something in the hall and I looked and saw something too: what seemed to be an amorphous dark shadow with nothing to cast it flickering and changing and growing. My mother thought it was the spirit of a horse she had played with when she was small, but she is a spiritualist, to put it politely. Though our interpretations were apparently vastly different, we both saw something. I cannot explain it. I suspect it may be related to some little-studied geological phenomenon or other, but I'm not going to pretend certainty.

If my mother had been more adamant about my being brought up with her beliefs when I was younger, I might have been "certain" it was whatever she thought it was.

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

Which reminded me of an experience I had one time, late at night, where my mother noticed something in the hall and I looked and saw something too: what seemed to be an amorphous dark shadow with nothing to cast it flickering and changing and growing. My mother thought it was the spirit of a horse she had played with when she was small, but she is a spiritualist, to put it politely. Though our interpretations were apparently vastly different, we both saw something. I cannot explain it. I suspect it may be related to some little-studied geological phenomenon or other, but I'm not going to pretend certainty.

Isn't it more interesting that way, too? I'm probably the least spiritual person alive, but I do like a mystery every now and then. But positing a supernatural explanation sort of kills the mystery - there's nothing left to explain, it's a ghost of a horse or maybe the lord Cthulhu taking a midnight dump or whatever, you can just make things up without being constrained by the evidence.

[Yet_Another_Boring_Marxist]

I believe that supporting for Syriza will be productive for the rebirth of the left.

[Tenka]

Isn't it more interesting that way, too? I'm probably the least spiritual person alive, but I do like a mystery every now and then. But positing a supernatural explanation sort of kills the mystery - there's nothing left to explain, it's a ghost of a horse or maybe the lord Cthulhu taking a midnight dump or whatever, you can just make things up without being constrained by the evidence.

I would like to know what it was. It was probably very mundane. At any rate, I am certain Cthulhu's dumps are much more... substantial.

[Sinister Intents]

Let's consider that for a moment and look at the possibilities:


A lucid dream
An encounter with aliens
An actual ghost

There could be more possibilities, but those are the one's that came to mind. To me the best explanation would be a lucid dream. That's not to say that the other possibilities are not possible. That is to say that the best explanation is going to be the one that requires the least amount of assumptions. Explanations like ghosts come with a host of other assumptions that must be explained as well. The best explanation is the one that covers all the bases without requiring additional assumptions.

As an example, I have had very powerful experiences on hallucinogenic mushrooms. During one experience, I had an incredible conversation with a being. It seemed like powerful extraterrestrial to me, and the dark room was filled with a green glowing mist that hovered above the bed I was laying down on. It went on for what seemed like hours. It was truly awesome. My explanation? I was having a conversation with myself--enhanced by drug.

Could mushrooms provide a link to alien beings? Look at all the South American cultures that experimented with them. It could be possible, but it seems unlikely. To me the more likely explanation is that they were under the influence of an incredibly powerful, yet awesome, substance.



I would like to hear more details about your WWII regression. The medication used for the anesthesia is known to cause regressions like this.

Lucid dreaming would make sense tbh, I do think it was an actual ghost though :) If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, so oh well either way

Well, my parents interpretted it as me describing the invasion of Normandy? The one with the boats that landed ashore and it was a blood bath, They did research and contacted a medium with the info I provided. I'll edit the post later with details from my mom after class tonight



This thread is apparently for the posting of "spiritual beliefs", so the interesting exchange preceding this post, though interesting, is kind of off-topic. However, I like the turn of discussion.

Many "paranormal"-seeming experiences happen in bed, and are attributable to being in a hypnagogic state (half-wakefulness) wherein hallucinations and the phenomenon of sleep paralysis are known to be common.

Incidentally, SI, you have said:


Which reminded me of an experience I had one time, late at night, where my mother noticed something in the hall and I looked and saw something too: what seemed to be an amorphous dark shadow with nothing to cast it flickering and changing and growing. My mother thought it was the spirit of a horse she had played with when she was small, but she is a spiritualist, to put it politely. Though our interpretations were apparently vastly different, we both saw something. I cannot explain it. I suspect it may be related to some little-studied geological phenomenon or other, but I'm not going to pretend certainty.

If my mother had been more adamant about my being brought up with her beliefs when I was younger, I might have been "certain" it was whatever she thought it was.

It could've been anything really, It does make me think of when I'd see the 'dead' actually, can you provide more detail possibly?

[Tenka]

It could've been anything really, It does make me think of when I'd see the 'dead' actually, can you provide more detail possibly?

It was not very detailed to begin with. What did I leave out? Well, it was on the wall in the hallway, and it began as completely amorphous but as I looked at it, it grew a lot and began to cover the wall in the room adjacent to the hall where mother and I were, and the shapes gave me the impression of skeletal ribs. After some minutes (don't remember how many) it shrank back to a humanoid size and remained in the hall, flickering, seeming to make jerky movements. It vanished slowly, but I was afraid to pass it and go to the bathroom until it was gone.

I still believed in "paranormal"-type things at the time, but my interpretation of what we saw was nowhere near my mother's, as I have said, and the fact sort of bolstered my young scepticism.

P.S.

...
I believe in ghosts and in reincarnation and I believe I have evidence to prove those to myself. Such as one evening when I was in fourth grade waking up at 6AM. I saw a white light kind of figure of a women standing by my bed with her arms crossed. At first I thought it was my mom, but then when I got up to touch the figure, it backed away and disappeared.

I do not agree with loonyleftist's proposals in response to this, since it seems like classic hypnagogia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia). (click the link)

P.P.S. And of course the "regression" would be seen as one of the most famous battles....
Past-life regression is total quackery by dumb or manipulative psychs, to be blunt, about as credible as those "repressed memories" of impossible Satanic Ritual Abuse they uncovered in like the 80s. And mediums are mostly scam-artists.

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

Which reminded me of an experience I had one time, late at night, where my mother noticed something in the hall and I looked and saw something too: what seemed to be an amorphous dark shadow with nothing to cast it flickering and changing and growing. My mother thought it was the spirit of a horse she had played with when she was small, but she is a spiritualist, to put it politely. Though our interpretations were apparently vastly different, we both saw something. I cannot explain it. I suspect it may be related to some little-studied geological phenomenon or other, but I'm not going to pretend certainty.

[...]

It was not very detailed to begin with. What did I leave out? Well, it was on the wall in the hallway, and it began as completely amorphous but as I looked at it, it grew a lot and began to cover the wall in the room adjacent to the hall where mother and I were, and the shapes gave me the impression of skeletal ribs. After some minutes (don't remember how many) it shrank back to a humanoid size and remained in the hall, flickering, seeming to make jerky movements. It vanished slowly, but I was afraid to pass it and go to the bathroom until it was gone.

Hm. Well, to me that sounds like the shadow of a spider, centipede or crane fly - but I suppose you would have recognised a shadow. Why do you say it might be a geological phenomenon? Some sort of vapor, or something like that?

[Tenka]

Hm. Well, to me that sounds like the shadow of a spider, centipede or crane fly - but I suppose you would have recognised a shadow. Why do you say it might be a geological phenomenon? Some sort of vapor, or something like that?

I don't know. It's just that I vaguely recall reading about geological phenomena being responsible for some shared hallucinations. However I can't find anything saying precisely this now. Seismic activity at least has been connected to some outstanding sights: http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/01/new-paper-on-earthquake-lights-show-they-are-a-reality/ But these "earthquake lights" are far more impressive than seeing some mysterious flickering shadows on the wall.

[Ele'ill]

The earthquake lights might be impressive but not more impressive than having a demon tear through the wall and try to kill you.

[Astarte]

"Mysteries made public become cheap and things profaned lose their grace. Therefore, cast not pearls before swine nor make a bed of roses for an ass".

[Tenka]

"Mysteries made public become cheap and things profaned lose their grace. Therefore, cast not pearls before swine nor make a bed of roses for an ass".

The universe is profane, as far as humanity is concerned, and all grace in the eye of the beholder. Better swine than a collector of pearly turds.

[Astarte]

The universe is profane, as far as humanity is concerned, and all grace in the eye of the beholder. Better swine than a collector of pearly turds.

Whoa. That was profound. Considering the majority of humanity has some kind of spiritual worldview though, I would say according to "humanity" the universe is not universally profane. As for pearly turds or pigs - well, you don't have to pick from just those two things, but if you insist I won't stop you...

[Tenka]

Whoa. That was profound. Considering the majority of humanity has some kind of spiritual worldview though, I would say according to "humanity" the universe is not universally profane. As for pearly turds or pigs - well, you don't have to pick from just those two things, but if you insist I won't stop you...

Did you think of contributing to the thread or any ongoing off-topic discussion or did you just come to try and be witty with a thinly veiled insult to all the poor, lost souls?

And I meant that as far as our place in it is concerned, the universe is profane. I'm not going to stop people believing whatever metaphysical nonsense they want to though. A fool's errand to argue with fools.

[Astarte]

Did you think of contributing to the thread or any ongoing off-topic discussion or did you just come to try and be witty with a thinly veiled insult to all the poor, lost souls?

My original comment was a completely serious and on-topic "interesting 'spiritual belief' " that I have. I find your accusatory approach to discussion unnecessary, and sadly uncomradely.

Now, I will elaborate on my initial quotation which comes from an old alchemical text entitled "The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz".

"Mysteries made public become cheap and things profaned lose their grace."

Mysteries, of the numinous (spiritual) variety become cheapened when profaned (spoken of and therefore made temporal) precisely because said numinous experience is strictly a personal affair of the psyche of the individual who experiences it and is unable to be adequately expressed in words or otherwise physically, thus it loses its value in that it is not of the same quality as when experienced by the psyche of the individual who initially produced it in their mind when it is spoken and thereby profaned i.e. made temporal by way of attempted conveyance which is counterfeit of the original. The attempted conveyance allows for the numinous experience to lose its original grace as the conveyance cannot adequately express the original experience.

"Therefore, cast not pearls before swine nor make a bed of roses for an ass".

My transgression of the first part of this quotation and your hostile and accusatory attitude to a quotation that genuinely expressed an "interesting spiritual belief" I hold displays the latter half of this quotation to be abundantly verifiable.



And I meant that as far as our place in it is concerned, the universe is profane. I'm not going to stop people believing whatever metaphysical nonsense they want to though. A fool's errand to argue with fools.

That is an interesting spiritual belief that you personally hold and as it is apparently on-topic discussion I respect it and will allow it to stand without further commentary.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

I don't like all this talk of "supernatural", or a conflation of "supernatural" with "spiritual".

(1) If there really is such a thing as spirits, ghosts, river gods and mountain deities, how do we know that they do not follow some kind of natural laws as much as we? Just because we haven't (a) observed them scientifically and (b) managed to make readings about them doesn't mean that they are beyond the natural realm. It is an act of faith not only to believe in the existence of these entities, but that they must necessarily be beyond the same kind of material nature as us.

(2) If there is such a thing as some kind of "spiritual" enlightenment, it doesn't come from having seances and finding weird mystical hotspots. It comes from some kind of self-awareness. Looking for magic is a form of false consciousness that just distracts from the task at hand, which is radical critique of our society, "common sense" views of the world, our character and our ideological assumptions. We will never transform ourselves, our society or our world if we are always just dreaming about ghosts and angels.