Last week, on holiday, I'd expieirenced more spirits then ever, but when I came home, it was amazing.

The first was out the corner of my eye. I saw a person-shaped, oil-black figure pull itself into view along the wall, looking at me. It was 2d, yet 3d at the same time. I jumped and looked, and then it was gone.

But the best was "The Smoking Fisherman."
I saw him out the corner of my eye to, sitting in the wicker/metal chair in the living room. He was wearing dark brown boots, tan trousers, a tan body warmer, and a white top, and a fishing hat, and smoking from a glossed black pipe. He was eyeing me with a kind smirk, and when I looked, he was gone, and no one was in the living room.

Fascinating and chilling experiences, OMJ. I find the shadow person experience quite intriguing, and I really liked the smoking fisherman sighting you had! That would have to be a ghost then, wouldn't it? To be so specifically dressed as you have described (and good description BTW, very vivid)!

And if he looked at you knowingly... ...freaky.

I know from our private discussions that your visions and experiences are getting quite strong. Hope you'll share more of them on the forum as I'm sure others will also find them quite fascinating! I do.

I also have been seeing much more lately. Most of what I see are shapes that remind me of insects that fly by past my peripheral vision. On occasion they are as large as a baseball. But the other night a figure the size of a human flew by my peripheral vision and startled me quite a bit. It happened so fast I can't say what it was, but it was dark in shade. Sometimes my vision is "on" and I just know I am going to see things if I pay attention. Other times I can perceive myself as not being in the zone.

My most fascinating vision occurred while I was fully awake and chatting with my husband about a movie we just watched. We laid down for bed and turned out the light. As I looked toward the ceiling I saw swirls of twinkly yellow lights that looked like star dust (for lack of technical terms). Various strands created by the sparkles swooped and swirled and then began swooping down toward me just inches above my face. I was utterly fascinated. I had felt all evening that my spirit vision was on and I was in a wonderful mood. I think it was the right chemistry for me to have this experience. But I could barely hear what my husband was saying because I was totally distracted by these swooping lights. I was not afraid, per se, but I was not exactly confident either. It was so REAL. And it was swooping me intentionally.

Finally I said, "Umm, honey, sorry to interrupt, but there are these sparkly lights flying all around and they are swooping at me. It's really amazing, but it is kinda freaking me out."

He said, "Well, close your eyes."

I just love this response and I still get a chuckle about it to this day. I mean, what else was he supposed to say!

And then I was torn. I was about at my threshold of tolerance for this new full-on experience, and yet, it was so amazing and I wondered if it was something I would experience ever again (which I have not ). But...I finally had to take his advice and close my eyes.

Ooh, this reminds me of the little boy I saw when my eldest daughter was about 5 or 6 weeks old.

I was doing the breast feeding thing and was so dang tired, I took my daughter to my own bed and lay her beside me to feed her while I kipped.

At some point, well after her feed, she was fast asleep beside me and I had awoken. There was about 3" between her and the edge of the bed and right beside the bed (literally right up against it) and in front of my bedside table was a little boy.

He was about 3 years old, perhaps 4. He had short, fair hair and was all white light but with no glow. He was wearing clothing, but I took no notice of what he had on. What fascinated me was that he stood there, staring at my daughter while she slept.

What also fascinated me was that he didn't vanish. He was there for a good 10 seconds. After I had realised in my sleep induced stupor that I had someone standing beside my bed, I counted off the seconds and blinked as a person usually would - the little boy remained.

He did vanish around the 10 second mark. But I had been staring at him for too long (and become totally awake) to think that he was a figment of my imagination.

Truly an amazing lucid experience! And fun to read!

I think also when you are super tired, as is often the case for mothers with new babies, you are more likely to experience altered states of consciousness while still in waking conscious mode. Most of my interactions with the spirit realm occur when I am in this type of state. One of the perks of being overly tired IMO.

There is a "hub" during the sleep period... Usually it is around the time that the person is beginning to drift off to sleep and the mind is nice and fuzzy and beginning to wander.

It's when this hub is reached that things can begin to occur, or be seen - experienced.

But many people experience things at all other times as well. I've walked down the street in broad daylight and suddenly thought to myself "OMG, there's been a car crash!" only to find a friend has indeed been involved in a car accident that wasn't far from where I was at the time.

Do you see it in your mind as if a visual, or is it just a sudden knowing?

No, I don't see it... I just KNOW it.

I think it depends on my connection to whom is involved.

With the friend who was involved in the car accident, I just knew there was a fender bender... I didn't know who was in the car... But I knew it was a taxi.

I'd had a previous experience (in the same week) at this particular friend's house - but it involved yet another friend of mine.

I was snoozing on the lounge and it was about 2.30am in the morning on a Saturday. That night (the Saturday night) I was meant to be going out with another friend and my mind was wandering - thinking about night clubs and drinks etc.

I bolted upright and yelled "Something's wrong!!" out of the blue... Scored myself some weird looks from my friends too. LOL

I couldn't shake the fact that something had happened and something was dreadfully wrong. I didn't know what it was, but I was overcome with angst. Half my frustration was not being able to pinpoint what the problem was and I was trying to find it within myself and failing miserably.

I went home at later that morning and had to ring my other friend about our outing that night. I rang his mobile number and got yet another friend which was strange.

I asked to speak to the chap I'd rung and was told that he was in the hospital. I'm like OMG! WTF?!!

He shouldn't have been in hospital - he was meant to be going out with me that night.

I asked what happened and my other friend told me the chap had been up on Mt Tamborine with one of his mates and gone over a cliff.

Then the warning bells went off...

I asked him what time it happened and he said that my friend had been found at about 7am that morning on the side of the road and taken straight to hospital.

So I bolt to the hospital worried out of my skin. Mt Tamborine has treacherous roads and my friend had been hurt.

I found my friend at the hospital and I asked him about what had happened. He said they'd gone out shooting that night and his mate had fallen asleep at the wheel and the car had gone over the cliff. He then said that it took him hours to climb up to the road with his injuries.

I asked him what time the accident occurred...

He told me it was at about 2.30am.

Well, I must have gone 10 different shades of pale!!

I told him I knew... I told him I knew exactly when it happened... I also told him that X and Y were witness to me knowing as well.

Powerfully validating! And glad he lived.

How often do you have these type of experiences where you know (big events or small)?

Not all that often any more.

Thinking about it, I've not experienced anything similar in at least 8 years... But in the majority of that time I have also had other things which have been occupying my mind and my thoughts.

Oh hang on, no... I'm mistaken.

2002 would have been the last year I had a similar experience - except it was many different things and all centred around my husband before he migrated to Australia.

He was from the UK and working over there while we awaited visa approval... I always knew when there was "something up" or "not quite right" in his day to day activities while in the UK... But I never knew exactly what they were until I'd discuss them with him.

Funny thing though... I never "knew" about his fatal car accident. Maybe that was because I was up at the time... Or maybe it was such a huge thing that knowing/sensing it would have caused me to crack.

Now that is quite interesting--that you knew all those little things but not the big thing - car accident. I like your guess as to why -- would cause you to crack. Makes sense.

Yes, that is the only explanation I could come up with and I sure did think about it.

I think that not sensing the car accident was me being "protected" so to speak.

The accident was fatal, so aside from sensing the OMG of a car accident, I'd have likely picked up on a tidal wave of other things... Shock, physical pain, you name it.

Mind you, on the other hand, given that I had a connection with my husband on a higher level, it's possible that there may be other reasons.

(This may get a bit ewww...)

The injuries my husband sustained were all internal. One of his injuries was a broken neck and another was a huge impact to his skull.

He did continue to survive for about 2 minutes or so after impact but was unconscious and deteriorating... But it's possible, even probable, given the injuries to his neck and head, that

A... His spine was damaged - so no sense of feeling.

B... His brain was compromised - so no conscious thought or sense of self.

So even if I had sensed the impact - I would likely have not picked up on him because his consciousness was hampered and he was feeling nothing/thinking nothing to project to me.

So you feel that empathically you get the signals from the physical body (I guess since that is where emotions, which are chemical, come from). And true when out-of-body or disconnected from body as is suggested here, he would not be in contact with his emotions.

I recall a less horrific but applicable example (and have posted somewhere on this forum) when I was hit by a pickup truck whilst riding my bike. I was thrown into the middle of the road many feet away and I felt nothing at all. I am pretty sure that my consciousness expanded or rather, I went out of body. I was very calm and viewed the scene with mild amusement.

Dead set?

That's really interesting.

I think, in the physical, our body can dose us up with endorphins to numb pain. Sure, many people have expressed their pain (screaming, crying etc) but many others have felt no pain and been able to carry out tasks to help their situation regardless of injuries.

Maybe, your left your body to remove you from any possible pain... You're weirdy! LOL

But it's possible... Maybe your endorphin button is broken. LOL

It's all very interesting though.

Well, a few years ago I became interested in out-of-body experiences and read as many books as I could find on the topic. Once I started studying the concepts of altered consciousness, I felt it was applicable to my bike accident experience. Back then when it happened and I was a teenager I thought I must have just gone numb or into shock. I wondered why I didn't worry a tick that I might be paralysed even though I could only see and move my eyes, but not my body. But I didn't care about anything at all, just found it all interesting, and I had no worries whatsoever until I was fully back in my body and moving.

I still think that's interesting.

And for anyone interested, Robert Monroe's three books are (well here's my little blurb from my book reviews:

Journeys Out of the Body
by Robert Monroe

I have read all three of Robert Monroe’s “Journey” books and found them all very exciting and validating. Monroe is a pioneer in the study of sound wave influences on human behaviour, founding an institute for mind research. He also learned to master the out-of-body state and gained an in-depth understanding of it. He approaches the subject very scientifically, yet his writing and adventures are amazingly colourful. I enjoyed reading his books, especially this first one in the series, which kept my attention from beginning to end describing many of his fascinating out-of-body experiences, and also including instructions on how to induce an out-of-body state.

Sound wave... How interesting.

My 2 eldest kids have bedrooms that share a window... Many times one of them will be dreaming and vocal about it and the other will take on their dream and add to it. LOL

Do you all have dreams and remember them frequently? I know some people claim to not dream or remember them. Including my husband with the exception of once in a great while.

Even though they claim that we dream every night during our REM sleep phase, I am not aware of dreaming every night.

I am rarely aware of my dreams. I might have a dream perhaps once a month, if that... But I usually have 2 dreams (one will morph into another or I will awaken and have a different dream upon returning to sleep).

I don't always remember my dreams.