sn4gu.myfastforum.org

tina4545 · OUTTA PRACTICE Joined: 06 Apr 2008 Posts: 2

Do you believe in them? If so please tell us your scariest!

Sarah · Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 2:21 pm Post subject:

First of all, Tina, I think you're new. So welcome to SN4GU! We're happy to have you here! Smile

Okay. So. This is such a hard topic for me to truly express my feelings about. I'm an atheist and a rationalist. I'm very much like Dean in that it's extremely difficult for me to believe things that I do not have proof of -- whether that proof is seeing/touching/hearing/feeling it myself, more or less widespread agreement from the scientific community (ie. how the water cycle works or the way blood circulates through the body), or whatever else.

When I was young, I really struggled with the concept of ghosts. From a very early age (about 8 ) I started questioning and doubting the existence of a God or an afterlife. To this day, I believe that when the body dies, everything simply stops and that person knows nothing else. I've been told this is a very depressing outlook, but I find it more comforting than an eternity in either heaven or hell, actually. If everything ceases to BE for a person upon death, then everything also ceases to MATTER because they will not be capable of feeling anything at all. Sounds peaceful to me!

But anyway. The true reason I struggled was that even though I didn't believe in an afterlife, I often have fits of deja vu, and I've got a sort of weird ability to feel things that are in a room with me. It's like a spatial awareness. So if I was sitting alone in the dark, I could feel where my bed, desk, etc was. And if someone came in, I'd be able to feel where they were (approximately). It's just a different form of concentration and a way to use my senses to pick up on extremely minute details. So it sometimes set me on edge when I would hear strange noises or feel random cold spots or register the close proximity of some solid object, because when you're little, you're surrounded in scary movies and ghost stories and Goosebumps books, etc and strange noises and cold spots were ALWAYS signs that a ghost was around. Probably didn't help that I was a horror-genre junky.

That said, I don't believe in ghosts today. My rational mind has realised over time that the cold spots indicated a place in the wall of my summer cottage where there was a crack letting the wind in. And the fits of deja vu? Usually have something to do with sense memories from when I was a very small child, or dreams I've had about people very close to me. When someone says something and you know what they're going to say? I find, generally speaking, that I just know them really well and can determine that anyway.

So no. No ghosts. But I LOVE fantasy literature and film. Supernatural is so fun for me in that way because it always me to suspend my disbelief and explore an imaginary world of magic and mystery. It's the same reason I love Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and Narnia and a million other fantasy novels. It removes you from your life, which can often be stressful, and lets you imagine an altogether different world.

That's just my...two dollars worth. *cough*

ExtraCookie · NO CHICKFLICK MOMENTS Joined: 04 Apr 2007 Posts: 269

Uh oh. This is a definite ramble-button-pushing topic for me! But I'll try to be decently (for me) brief.

Yep, agnostic here. I couldn't call myself an atheist just because there is no absolute, beyond-a-shadow-of-a-doubt-everyone-can-see-this proof that there are NOT deities. But the circumstantial evidence makes me believe there are, indeed not. And what you said, Sarah, about ending sounding better than going on after death? Yep, same here. (I mean, actually, if some place that was MY idea of heaven existed and I could go there, then, sure that'd be great. But the whole idea of judgment/punishment/reward, etc. sounds awful and irrational/illogical).

But here's the thing: I've had my own ghostly experiences. And not just one, fleeting experience, either. My former home was "haunted" for about 2 straight years. I had plenty of time to observe, ponder, etc. (My sister also had a few experiences with it.) So, I do believe. BUT I think "ghosts" (for lack of a better word) are purely biological/natural. Not supernatural/mystical. Not "souls." I think if the right experts with the right equipment and right amount of money spent the right amount of time, they'd probably eventually be able to explain exactly what they are. But, really, I'd rather our sharp professional minds work on terminal disease cures and world peace and what-not.

No, I'm not stupid or insane. (No, really! I'm just nutty & weird; there's a difference!) No, I don't (and never did) do drugs. I've actually never even been drunk before. (Gosh, I'm a good girl! Wink

) But what happened happened. Over and over again, for about 2 years. Was it something exciting and interesting that people would want to make a movie about? *SNICKER* Uh, no. In fact, based on my own experiences and the accounts of (genuine, smart/respectable-seeming) others (which give me a chill every time I read them) that were very similar to mine, most "genuine" encounters are pretty mundane. They're interesting to the person who experiences them, of course, but they certainly don't translate to much of interest to others when spoken/written about.

I actually originally made a very long (even for me!) post including my theories, etc. and then, at the last second, thought, "I can't do this to these poor people!" And chopped most of it off! If anyone requested more specifics, I'd share. Unless/until that happens, you are all blessedly spared!

Oh, and Tina, you wanted actual stories?! Maybe someday! Man, I gotta get to bed! But welcome to the board! Post lots!

OK, stop laughin'! Razz

_________________
"Decapitations aren't my idea of a good time, I guess." --Sammy, "Bloodlust"

hotblooded4dean · Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:00 pm Post subject:

Um I don't REALLY believe in them, yet they continue to be able to scare the bejesus out of me. Like, I don't watch Ghost Hunters or Celebrity Ghost Hunters or whatever those shows are called because ... idk ... I think some things are scarier in the imagination.

And my imagination can make things VERY scary. For example, yesterday I was reading this insane short story for my American Lit exam called "The Yellow Wall-paper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. This woman was suffering from a mental breakdown so her husband takes her to the countryside for some tough love and he won't cater to her fancies, like when she asks to switch rooms because she doesn't like the yellow wallpaper. Anyway, so she increasingly gets freaked out throughout the story because she starts to see a pattern behind the pattern.

It turns out that she realises that there's a trapped woman behind the wallpaper who is creeping around and rips it down and then realises the trapped creeper was her. And she started creeping around the room.

I couldn't sleep for hours after reading it. I kept picturing this woman creeping around my room, even though it's a cage and I can barely walk around my room, let alone creep.

I've never been in a situation where I've been forced to deal with ghosts or cold spots or anything paranormal, but they live on in my impressionable imagination.
_________________
i got a fever of 103.

Sarah · Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:04 pm Post subject:

#1 - You are so totally posting so you'll be promoted to the next status level, aren't you? *giggle*

#2 - OMG want to READ that now. That sounds so creepy!

#3 - You room really IS a cage. I'm happy that you'll be living elsewhere next year. I think I would've died by now. Either from claustrophobia-induced spontaneous combustion, or possibly from falling out of your deathtrap of a bed. Wink

#4 - Yes. The brain is a much scarier place than the real world. I used to have nightmares about waking up and seeing someone standing next to my bed. I don't know why. It just freaks me out. You're the most vulnerable while asleep in the dark. That's why I've never made fun of little kids for being afraid of the dark. The fear of the unknown is powerful.

hotblooded4dean · Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:23 pm Post subject:

Sarah · Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:46 pm Post subject: