The Experiences Page
This site has been developed by a skeptic and cynic.
Just because I have witnessed something that I cannot explain, does not mean that I now have the ability to believe that Elvis is not dead, that aliens built the pyramids and come back to abduct people regularly, that we are controlled, nurtured and/or guided by some omniscient caring god or even that Economic Rationalism is a good idea.
That said, I have experienced something that is difficult to adequately explain within the boundaries of accepted science. This experience has led me to ask a number of questions that I normally would have thought were interesting but inherently pointless.
The first and foremost of these questions is "How does the glass move in a séance?"
From this question leads other questions:
How did our society change so much that now most people find it uncomfortable to even discuss the issue of the paranormal? - I feel this taboo settle on me even as I type. 'No,' I tell myself, 'if I write that then they'll think that I believe in ghosts and witches and pixies, perhaps even that I'm religious!'
When did we stop believing in miracles and why? - I'm not saying that miracles do occur, I just wonder what it was that caused us to stop believing in them.
When did science take over from religion? - More specifically, how did we, as a society, manage to suddenly believe that séances don't work when I can attest that they do? (For a very good discussion on the development of Western philosophy, including a section on the transition from medieval to "modern" and "post-modern" thought, I recommend the book The Passion of the Western Mind. Just be wary of the epilogue which I found a little disappointing.)
How can I reconcile the fact that a glass moved of its own volition across a table in my sight with the fact that nothing supernatural is required to explain the remaining 99.99999% of my life?
What does it mean to be human? and does this question really make any sense? - After all, does a cat sit and wonder 'What is it that makes me a cat?' I suppose what I am really asking is, is there something more to life than the material?
Anyway, I have rarely had the pleasure of meeting other people who have experienced something much like myself but retain a healthy level of skepticism. Most people who have had such experiences seem to either not think about it all or become fervent converts to something.
For the most part, those who I have spoken to so far about this fall into one of three broad categories:
Firstly, fanatical mystics who believed all along. They want to rant about their nightly sessions with Aunt Beryl who became far more popular with her relatives after she died, who believe in the healing powers of crystals and who are only here on earth until they can build up their mystical frequent flyer points (I only need 1000 more before I can move up to the next plane!).
Secondly, religious types who advise sagely that their god warns against such antics or smugly tell me that I'm going to burn in hell.
Finally, there is the usual type who runs screaming, smiles while thinking about how to get away from this loony or is merely downright dismissive.
I used to fall in the last category myself.
So, this site is a call for those people out there who have had an experience of something odd, something truly inexplicable, and who are searching for answers to questions raised by that experience. I can honestly tell you that I don't have them. However, I am interested in having some like-minded company with me in the search.
If you'd like others to hear your story, put something in the guest book.
Many have people asked me how to conduct a séance so I put something together in the Séance Page. Please note that I am not an expert at this (and I'm a little wary of those who say they are) so I have just described how I conducted my first moving glass séance in more detail than appears in my story. An even more simple ouija is described in my third story. The closest I have to ghost story was my second experience.
There is also a discussion list for discussing the Moving Glass Séance/Ouija phenomenon. The list has about three hundred members and there are, on average, less than ten emails a day. Add your name below to join.
Sites of related material.
More than
a hundred links to Ghost, Paranormal and Skeptics' Pages!
