Conference hydra::dejavu

I can relate a story told to me by my girlfriend. She used to be 
interested in psychic phenomonon but stopped because she felt that she 
became a "target" for something. 
 She has on several occasions made predictions that seemed to come true 
eventually. I say seemed to as the details were somewhat hazy to her at 
the time. An example was when she had been talked into doing this for a 
friend down in Florida, she said that while she was in contact with this 
person she related images that she was "seeing", but that during that 
time she was being drained of her energy. These images later began to 
come true for this friend of hers. However, she claims that a side 
effect is that she always "pays" for it. She generally experiences 
bizarre dreams, feels like something is trying to use her for something, 
poltergiest type events take place. She also begins to know things she 
doesn't want to know about people around her. The whole thing scares her. 
She also said that occasionally things will come to her, ie she'll know 
something that she couldn't know in any explainable fashion, these are free. 
The problem for her is when she seeks the knowledge she has to pay as 
its a two way street. She never does any of these things at home as the 
dwelling then becomes somewhat haunted and she has to leave to get away 
from whatever she has attracted.
 She also said that on at least one occasion she was able to descern 
that this energy or whatever it is seems to search out angry people. It 
then uses them to channel it's energy for some purpose. She believes 
that this is why some "crazy" people have been able to demonstrate 
astounding physical strenght etc.

I have experienced some "haunted" house type of things at my parents old 
home in Fairfax Virginia. I had never lived in this house as they bought 
it when I joined the service. During two seperate visits, while alone in 
the house, I heard the front door open and slam closed, and footsteps 
start up the stairs. Coming down the stairs I met no one and no one was 
in the house. I asked my mom about it and she said that it happened 
several times a week after my sister and brother went to school and dad 
was at work. My sister and brother also had experienced this. My father 
is the exception, he never heard it and laughs at the rest of us.

Comments or explanations?

dave

rle .1:

Usually, the "astounding physical strength" of lunatics is caused by a
mechanism called l"hysterical strengthy."  Normally, when we use our
muscles, only a small percentage of all the muscle cells are active at
each contraction (particularly for striated muscle tissue); the rest are
sort of "resting" for the next contraction.  In the "hysterical strength"
phenomenon, _all_ the muscle cells are used; hence, "A madman has the
strength of ten."  And it doesn't take lunacy to manifest the hysterical
strength: occasionally, you can read reports in the newspapers of women
lifting refrigerators or the front ends of cars in order to save their
babies.  Hysterical strength: they aren't aware of having done anything
extraordinary until after the event.

I will comment in another note about psychic vampirism.

Steve Kallis, Jr.

I once had a relative who was sitting on his front porch when he witnessed
a car leave the highway and end up upside down in a pond in his field.
He thought that he saw a child in the car - ran to the pond - and turned
the car over onto its wheels by himself.  The pressure ruptured several
discs in his spine and as a result several of the bones had to be fused
to prevent movement.
			-b

In terms of personal experiences, I can pass along two which have concerned
me for years since they both occurred when I was in my teens.

Item 1:

I was rabbit hunting with Fred and proceeded down a steep hill ahead of him.
After reaching the bottom I turned to wait for Fred and suddenly said to
myself "Fred is going to fall and discharge his weapon directly at me". 

Well, Fred came down the hill and slipped, his shotgun pointed directly at me.
My immediate thought was "Don't fire !!!!".

After sliding to the bottom he jumped up and ran towards me screaming "Merle,
I pulled the trigger!! But, it didn't go off"

I looked at the shell and, sure enough, the cartridge had a neat little dent
in the cap. I placed the cartridge back in the weapon and pulled the trigger
-BLAM.. 

Now this is one coincidence I am thankful of. 

Item 2:

It was late at night and I was driving my girlfriend's car (with her beside
me, of course) around the back roads in PA. A curve was coming up and I
attempted to steer the car around it but could not turn the steering
wheel or step on the brakes. I just froze. We continued straight down a dirt
road where I stopped the car. 

My friend thought I was crazy !!! Needless to say she didn't want me to continue
driving her car. I tried telling her I really did want to go around the curve
and wasn't trying to end her early life. 

I turned the car around and started through the curve and came to an immediate
stop. Just around the curve was a bridge which had washed out. 

Had we gone around the curve previously, we would be at the bottom of the
river. 

Very curious !!!!!

I no longer go hunting and the girl married one of my best friends..

Boy, what a strange world.

Merle
                                            

    I have wanted to share this experience with all of you for
    some time but have hesitated to do so because it is rather
    long.  If you don't want to take the time to read this, I would
    suggest that you SINCE by it.
    
    To set the stage a little bit I have to start with some
    background.  My present marriage is a second one for both my
    wife and I and she had two sons from her first marriage who
    were living with us at the time.  The older one had just finished
    his freshman high school year.  They had lived a number of
    years in Florida before we were married and this older son
    had developed a skin fungus on his shoulders and upper back
    from swimming in the ocean.  This problem was very evident
    as patches of white skin (much like reversed freckles) when
    he tanned from sunshine.  My wife had tried several drugstore
    medicines on the fungus, none of which helped, and had finally
    taken him to a dermatologist who had prescribed several things
    to cure the fungus. Some of them helped slightly but none
    completely removed it.  When we were married the family moved
    immediately to Bedford, Mass. where we again took the boy to
    a dermatologist at the Emerson hospital in Concord, Mass. 
    The doctor prescribed three different things for the fungus
    - none of which helped.  After a year we went back to Florida
    for a visit.
    
    While in Florida we were staying with a long-time friend of
    my wife's who is a very sensitive "medium" who uses the OUIJA
    board for her contacts.  I have mentioned her in another response,
    I think to the OUIJA note.
    
    One night we talked her into a session with the board, and
    after several insignificant contacts, she contacted an entity
    who seemed to be very glad to be talking to us.  She gave us
    her name (something like Mira - but I don't remember for sure)
    and her story was that she was Danish, had been captured by
    Vikings and taken to the northern end of the British Isles
    where she was sold as a slave to a tribe chieftain in the year
    712.  The chief married her and she had his child.  When the
    child turned out to be a daughter rather than a son the chief
    was so mad that he had her beheaded!  Before she was actually
    killed she placed a curse on her husband and "all of his first born
    male of the first born male descendants" forever.  She told us
    that because of having placed this curse that she could not
    advance from the sphere where she was until she could remove
    the curse - and the only way she could do that was to get someone
    in our sphere to take the necessary actions to get it removed.
    
    She then told us that she was very glad to have contacted us
    because the fungus that was bothering our boy was a direct
    result of that curse, and that if we went to our "good
    neighborhood witch" and explained the situation, a counter
    spell could be invoked that would remove the curse and she
    would then be free.  We tried to tell her that there were no
    "neighborhood witches" in this day and age.  She insisted that
    there was and all we had to do was ask around.  As the discussion
    went on she seemed to get more and more agitated until the
    contact was finally broken.  In discussing the incident later
    it came out that our boy was the first child of his father
    who was the first born of twins who were first children of
    HIS father, but we had no way to trace the "first born" line
    any further back except that we thought the grandfather was
    the oldest of all of his brothers and sisters that we knew
    about.
    
    We returned home from the trip and the "Mira" incident was
    all but forgotten until about six months later when my wife
    happened to tune into the noontime talk show on WBZ hosted
    by Sonja Hamlin.  Her guest that day was a gentleman who was
    known as "The Warlock of Westboro [Mass.]" who had been authorized
    by his covern to speak publicly about witchcraft.  My wife's
    ears immediately perked up and she wrote down his name and
    address.  When I got home from work she told me that she had
    found our "good neighborhood witch" who had said he only worked
    with "white" magic and never "black".  We decided that it wouldn't
    do any harm to try to contact him, so I wrote him a letter
    telling him pretty much what I have just said here and asking
    if he thought he could help.
    
    Several weeks went by with no response, and then one evening
    the phone rang and it was the "Warlock".  He apologized for
    not getting it touch with us sooner and explained that he had
    been on an extended speaking tour of Europe, had just gotten
    back and he had several mailbags of mail which he had been
    scanning through when he ran across my letter.  He said he
    decided to contact us immediately because it seemed to be a
    medical problem and one that he might be able to help with.
    He asked me if I could send him something that belonged to
    the boy or something that he had used or handled a lot.  Bill
    had a bad habit of biting on wooden pencils when he was thinking,
    so I found a short pencil full of his teeth marks, dropped
    it in an envelope, and mailed it to the warlock.
    
    About a month later Bill showed us his back and the fungus
    had almost totally faded away.  And within another two or three
    weeks it was completely gone.  I think that to this point this
    is rather an amazing story but there is a postscript.
    
    Before I married I had spent two years on the island of Antigua,
    BWI where I met a girl from Canada who was somewhat receptive
    with the OUIJA board, but not spectacularly so.  About six
    months after the fungus disappeared, this girl was in New England,
    found where we were and came by for a visit.  We told her the
    story and she suggested we get our board out and see what we
    could do.  We did.  We got an immediate active contact.  It
    was "Mira" who told us that she had been trying to contact
    us for a long time to thank us for breaking the curse and freeing
    her.  She was very happy about it but would not be contacting
    us again because she would be moving to a higher sphere.
    
    And a post postscript:  When Bill completed high school he
    went back to Florida to college and to much swimming in the
    ocean, and as to be expected the fungus returned.  But whenever
    it did a simple non-prescription drug store remedy easily cleared
    it up...
    
    
    I'm sorry to have been so long winded with this but I really
    don't know how I could have condensed it much more.
    
    I have several other incidences that occurred with our friend
    in Florida who started all this that I could relate here if
    anyone is interested.
    
    I don't know how most of you feel, but personally I'm convinced
    that there "is something out there" and that its not just parlor
    tricks!!!
    
    					Bill
    

	     [RE .5]:  I'm interested.  Tell us more!
			<_Jym_>

    re:36.5
    
    I enjoyed your story -- tell us another one.
    
    A girlfriend of mine and I were talking to the Ouija Board after
    seeing Poltergeist, and told them to go to the light (the spirits).
    We didn't really get any juicy gossip from beyond, just a lot of
    names and a feeling that they all just wanted to get on with it.
    

    I had a strange experience last evening.  We were visiting some
    friends for dinner and a little World Series action.  We got our
    daughter, Vera (1yr 9mo), ready for bed right before the game.  We
    didn't put her to bed since were planning on leaving at 9:00.  We got a
    small blanket and pillow so that she could rest on the couch next
    to us until we left.  Well, she got extremely restless, squirming,
    kicking, and poking at us.  We knew she was tired so we kept trying
    to calm her down so maybe she would go to sleep.  At one point she
    started shaking her head from side to side and then put her hands
    over her ears as if she was trying not to hear something.  Just
    as I noticed this, I had a strange sensation.  It was as if one of my
    ears popped and my equilibrium was thrown off.   This feeling got
    increasingly intense and Vera got much more restless. She really
    started to struggle and kick.  I felt kind of a wave go down my
    body and my face flushed.  The pressure in my ears was almost
    overwhelming and my heart was pounding wildly.  I looked around
    the room and everyone else was intent on the ball game.  I left
    the room because I felt like something was going to explode. I went
    into the bathroom and took some deep breaths and imagined myself
    surrounded with white light.  After a few minutes I felt better
    and went back out to the living room.  Vera was still on the couch
    and I sat down next to her.  She still seemed to be bothered by
    something.  I continued to visualize white light surrounding myself
    and Vera.  She never really got calm, but she did mellow a little.
    There was one more time of that wave feeling accompanied by Vera
    getting worked up.
    
    We left at 9:00 and she fell asleep immediately in the car.  I would
    have thought that she was just tired and cranky except for the amazing
    feeling that I was having.  I don't think I did a very good job
    of describing the experience, but it's the best I could do.  I still
    don't know what was happening.
    
    		Dave

    It sounds to me like a weather front (low to high, or high to
    low pressure) was passing.
    							Ann B.

    re: .9
    
    That's interesting because there did seem to be a great deal of
    pressure in the room.  I would describe it as the air being "thick".
    I just hope I don't freak out every time the weather changes. (-:
    
    		Dave

    I would like to relate a few strange dreams I had.  Maybe someone
    can explain to me what they were all about.  I have to say that
    all three are associated with death or dead persons.
    
    the first happened when I was about 14.  My grandfather who had
    lived with us for several years had died about 5 years previously.
    In the dream, I was sitting on the very large porch of a ski resort.
    I was there alone with a fealing of peace and incredible beauty
    surrounding me (the brilliant white snow of the slopes, the sun
    shining and radiating warmth....).  As I looked at the far end of
    the balcony I saw this incredible white ligth and it was coming
    towards me.  As it got closer I saw in the middle, my grandfather.
    My joy was incredible he sat on a bench facing me and talke for
    a long time.  Then he stood up and said "I have to go now".  I pleaded
    with him not to go yet, to please stay a while longer but he was
    walking backward, weaving with his hand, repeating "I have to go
    now".  - I then woke up crying but with such feelings of joy that
    I never forgot the dream.
    
    The second dream:  I opened a door and enter this very long hallway.
    As I looked at the end of the hallway I saw this incredible white
    light coming towards me.  As it got close I saw it was my uncle.
    He looked so handsome and beautiful.  We talked for a while and
    as in the first dream he said goodbye and walked away backwards,
    never turning his back to me.  I woke up that day and thought he
    must be dead.  I called my mother who then told me she had bad news
    that this particular uncle had died a few days prior to my dream.
    He was in British Columbia, I in Massachusetts and had not heard
    from him in at least 12 years.
    
    the third dream: the dream goes on with a lot of detail and then
    at one point I find myself fighting to get in the front row of a
    thight group of people.  When I finally made my way through I saw
    a man lying on the ground and I said to the people surrounding him
    to get help quickly.  But he was already dead.  2 days later my
    best friend called me from Canada to tell me her father had died.
    He died at the same time it happened in my dream.  I woke up just
    after telling people to get help and when I did I looked at the
    clock, it was 5 A.M.  She said it was the time of his death.
    
    What do these dreams mean?  Are these people simple saying goodbye
    to me?  And why just them?  My father (he left when I was very young)
    died about 16 years ago and although I never lived with him, I adored
    him and nothing happened when he died.  Can anyone offer any
    explanation?
    
    L.
    

RE: .11
    
    I'm sure other people will answer you from the viewpoint of their
    belief systems.  I can only answer from the viewpoint of mine.
    
    Experiences such as yours are very common and are called by
    parapsychologists "crisis apparitions".
    
    They are frequently associated with a death, and are generally
    experienced either roughly at the moment of death or within a few
    minutes.  Occasionally it occurs slightly before the death or within
    a period of hours afterwards.
    
    Generally experiences such as with your Grandfather -- occurring
    after knowledge of the death has reached the experient through
    "normal" means -- as purely psychological -- a way for your
    subconscious to help you come to terms with the fact of physical
    death of a loved one.  But who can say?
    
    In a significant minority of the cases -- otherwise very similar
    -- no death occurs but only a "near thing".  This is why they are
    called "crisis" apparitions rather than something like
    "death-transition appartitions".
    
    The stories that are heard most often are when the apparition is
    of someone very near to the experient, a child, parent, sibling
    or spouse.  When reports are collected by simply asking large numbers
    of people whether anything like that had ever occured to them, however,
    it is found that this is actually pretty rare.  Almost all cases
    are of people a bit less intimate;  acquaintances or intimates of
    intimates.
    
    As to its purpose, who can say for sure?  It is notable, however,
    that these experiences frequently bring comfort -- then or later
    -- to the living.
    
    					Topher

    In the words of Paul Harvey, "Here's a strange ...."
    
    It happened this morning.  I came to work quite early.  After logging
    in, and waiting for sdome updates, I took the coffeepot to the Men's
    Room to wash it out prior to making the morning brew (the first
    one in generally kicks things off).  The light in the Men's Room
    was out; as I turned it on, I noticed that the waste receptacle that
    takes paper towels was "active"; that is, the cover was swinging.
    Now I timed the swing; from the amplitude, it would have to be set
    in motion not 20 seconds before I entered the Men's Room.  Nobody
    had left the bathroom in that time; nor was there anybody _in_ the
    bathroom (and if there had been, why would he [or she] be standing
    arouynd in the dark?).  I tried flipping the cover several times
    with the same results.
    
    I looked around the area surrounding the Men's Room; nobody present.
    
    I suppose it's _possible_ that someone had finished, gave the cover
    a maximum-displacement push, and sped out of there in such a manner
    I couldn't see him, but it's unlikely.
    
    Nothing that concerned me, but I thought it a little odd.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    	Maybe ghosts have to use the men's room, too?
    
    	:^)
    

    RE: .14
    
    >  Maybe ghosts have to use the men's room, too? <
    
    
    Perhaps they should mark the doors "His" and "Herse."
    
    John M.

    re: last few
     
       ..at least they're thoughtful enough to wash their hands.
    
    Frederick
    

What kind of air pressure was generated by opening the door?

    Re .18 (Meredith):
    
    That was one of the first things I thought of.  I replicated the
    event, both from inside and outside the door, without causing a
    quiver of motion from the lid (it was a one-piece pendulum -suspended
    kind of thing, like an inverted V, so it shouldn't have moved anyway).
    Just to make sure, I tried it several times.  (I also tried it again
    this morning, and the thing stayed rock-steady.)   No, whatever
    it was, it wasn't an atmospheric-pressure difference.
    
    If whatever it was dived into the basket (I didn't think of looking),
    unlikely as that would be, it'd have to see very well in the dark:
    with the lights out, the only thing you can see is a faint glow
    from the emergency-lighting power pack.
    
    Throughout my life, whenever I experience a seeming paranormal event,
    I try to check out all mundane possibilities first (e.g., that's why a
    seeming pair of UFOs I saw in St. Petersberg, Florida, in 1944,
    turned out to be reflections fron an A6 trainer that [when I first
    spotted "them"] was distant enough that it was hard to see in the
    late-morning haze.  I kept it in visual contact until I made out
    the faint outline of the aircraft.  I can recall the image to this
    day, which is why I know it was a trainer; I saw pictures of it
    years later).  This one has still got me guessing.
    
    Steve Kallis, jr.

    
    RE:  .15  John M.
    

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
    
    That was a real knee slapper!
    
    Marion

    "Excuse me for jumping in."
    
    Steve, is it possible that the top was stuck in the open position
    and when you opened the door there was enough current/vibration(??)
    to cause it to fall?  :^}
    
    Sue
    
    

    Maybe the lid was rocked by a premature tremor of the L.A. quake...
    not reported in the media so we wouldn't panic.

    Re .21 (Sue):
    
    Possible, but highly unlikely.  Again, I investigated the thing
    as thoroughly as I could.  The top is composed of plastic, and the
    air dynamics are such that it would be difficult to generate enough
    of an impulse to do much good.  The bathroom and surrounding are
    _solid_ (concrete floor with brick tile cover) and since the facility
    was virtually deserted, nothing within the place to shake a stuck
    lid loose.  (The plastic swings very freely, btw.)
    
    Re .22:
    
    That's the spirit! :-)
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.     

    Best thing to do now is if you see Mr. Kallis enter the Men's room,
    sneak up on him & yell "BOOO!".
    
    And step back....
    
    						Don
    

    Re .24 (Don):
    
    Good idea.  Any volunteers? :-)
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    RE: .24,.25
    
    I can think of no better place to scare the s**t out of someone.
    
    
    John M.

    Steve, Is it possible the lid got stuck in the inverted position
    and had just fallen back to the normal?
    
    -j
    

    Now i'm really curious.  Maybe we need a volunteer to stake out
    the mens room to get to the bottom of this!

    If you *really* want to get to the bottom, maybe someone should
    scope out the women's room, too.  (We must be fair about these things,
    after all.)
    
    Frederick
    

    Re .27 (j):
    
    I can't think of a condition that would cause the lid to be stuck
    _naturally_ in the inverted position.  If someone did it as a joke, 
    they'd either have to be very patient, or of topflight juggler
    class to balance so slippery a thing perfectly.  Then he or she
    would have to get out of the washroom without triggering it _and_
    turn off the lights.
    
    An anomaly, but not a scary one; just very curious.
    
    Charles Fort would have loved it.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    I've got it, it must be John Mitchel playing with his crystals again.
    Watch where you point that thing, John.
    
    Elizabeth

A little more than a year ago my brother died.  I went home to be with my 
parents about two weeks before he died (while he was in a coma).  During these
few weeks there were some unexplained events surrounding this time that I'd 
like to share and solicit any comment on.

1.  During the period that he was in a coma (3 weeks), my parents drain system
    kept backing up into the house.  The city would come and clean it out
    (not finding anything particularly wrong) only to have to return a few
    days later.  This continued until Mike died.  Since then there has not
    been a problem.

2.  A few nights before he died, I was up with my wife watching TV after every-
    one else went to bed.  I thought I heard rain and got up to close the
    patio doors.  It wasn't raining, but rather, the sound was coming from
    the bathroom.  I went in to find that the seal between the toilet tank
    and bowl had given way and water was *pouring* into the bathroom.  I
    turned off the water and left a note for the others.  In the morning my
    dad ignored the note and turned the water back on.  Not a drop came from
    the seal and hasn't since.  A small leak could plug itself, but not a
    gusher like this.
   
3.  Early one morning at 3:00am the hospital called to let us know he had 
    died.  After getting up, I got myself a glass of tap water using a
    glass from the cubboard.  While walking down the hall, the bottom of the 
    glass fell off.  Not broken off, but clean off as it it were cut with a 
    glass cutter.  There was no evidence of the glass being cracked before 
    hand.

4.  Sometime before his death, my dad gave me my brothers watch.  It wasn't
    working and he told me that the jeweler recommended that the insides be
    replaced.  I played with it a bit, but couldn't get it to work.  On the
    morning of his funeral, I decided to wear it even though it didn't work.
    As I glanced at it, it was working and had the correct date and time.
    It continued to work for about six months.

I think about these events often but can't seem to come up with an 
explanation, particularily dealing with the fact that three of the events 
concerned water in some way (gushing, spilling, etc.).

Any suggestions or comments?

Terry

    Re .32 (Terry):
    
    In many symbologies, water equates with emotion and love.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    Something happened the other night that I just can't excuse as
    coincidents. I toy every so often with a guitar just for my personal
    enjoyment (no one else enjoys it). I haven't touched the thing in
    about two months. Tuesday night after super I was passing by where
    I keep the guitar on a stand and got an urge to play. Usually I
    tune it in first then strum some easy cords ect. but this night
    I just started to play. I started to pick notes from a song I know
    I've heard before but can't remember when. I do know I've never
    tried playing it before. Some thing went on in the other room so
    I left for a minute and when I returned, my intrest in playing had
    gone. I put the guitar away and left the room. Later that night
    I was watching the end of the movie La- Bamba and sure enough, the
    song I was trying to play was part of the movie (no, La- Bamba was
    not it) I got chills all over when I heard that song. Why, one night
    do I decide to play my guitar, and try a song I probably have'nt
    heard in years? Alot of this type of thing happens to me. Is there
    some place you can go to learn to develope you phsycic? Some time
    when I have more time I'll enter the other happenings.
                                                              Jim

re: .34

	Isn't that weird.  I play too occasionally, and last night, after
	not having picked it up in months, I decided to fool around with
	it.  The songs I picked (from who knows where), 
        La Bamba and Donna.....

	Terry

    Seeing as how LA BAMBA has been playing on cable it's not too surprising.
    It's like whistling a tune in the AM at work and hearing 2 or 3
    co-workers whistling it in the afternoon.  (There are a couple people
    I do it too on purpose, because they can't shake it :-))
                                                     
    							Don

    re:33
    
    A good deal of the time when I have an unsolicited phychic experience,
    it happens when I am in the shower, washing my hands or doing dishes.
    I am at my calmest when I am at the ocean or on a lake and the images
    seem to flow without looking too intently. It's as if the flow of the 
    water soothes the nerve endings and lulls you into a sense of being
    one, with all that surrounds you.
    I think that statement just about put me to sleep..........
    
    Pat

    
    Has anybody ever had any experiences with lights turning on and off.
    
    My husband is polish, and before we were married, if something odd
    happened, paper not where it was left, doors opening, etc, he would
    attribute it on his "friends".  The friends are OK, they watch out for
    him, and they just do stuff.  I was more than a little skeptical.
    
    But, since then, it's gotten a little hard to attribute to coincidence. 
    Especially streetlights.  Now, for BOTH of, at random moments,
    streetlights, parking lot lights, and outside house lights will turn
    off... just as we approach, or pass by.
    
    Interestingly, it seems to wane a little when we are out of town, but
    it still happens often enough that it makes me wonder. 
    
    ANy feedback?  Sometimes it spooks me, although my husband says I just
    need to remeber *they* are friends.  
    
    =jamd

                  
    That's happened to me a lot too.  I often wondered if there was some
    sort of automatic switch that made lights turn off as I approached
    them.  (;^)  [If anybody knows of the existance of such a device,
    please let me know!]
    
    A good friend once had all the lights blink on and off in a row right
    at the exit where her sister was killed in an accident several years
    earlier.  Given her sister's sense of humor, she was fairly certain
    that it was indeed her reaching out through time and space to have a
    bit of fun.  (;^)
    
    But then again, there was a time back in college where we had a
    DECsystem-10 and the console was a lighted panel that could be
    programmed.  So a bunch of the hacker-types (and me) decided to play a
    trick on the operator who made it a habit of getting stoned before his
    shift (back in the '70's).  My good buddies programmed the lights to go
    zipping to one side of the panel, then to the other.  We had our
    terminal in a darkened room across the hall from the glassed-in
    computer room and watched the reaction of the operator while the lights
    did strange things.  It was pretty funny - we rolled on the floor for
    several minutes after that!  This was 15 years ago...and we were
    reminiscing at the wedding of one of the hackers last October...it was
    one of the stories we all remembered fondly...and got a good laugh out
    of once again!  (;^)
    
    Cindy

	This note is reposted with the author's permission.  I wasn't sure 
    just where to put it, but thought this place appropriate.
    
    fyi/DAN
    **********************************************************************
    
                <<< PEAR::DUA1:[NOTES$LIBRARY]SOAPBOX.NOTE;1 >>>
                      -< Soapbox...  What else is there? >-
================================================================================
Note 881.53                      The Afterdeath                         53 of 64
COOKIE::LENNARD                                      44 lines   3-APR-1991 17:11
                          -< I Believe.......period >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    I found the attitudes in this note upsetting and waited a couple days
    to respond.  I believe in a better life after death, in fact I believe
    that death is only a crossing over to the other side, and a better
    world.  I have experienced two deaths in the last three weeks.
    
    A 60 year old women, the wife of a friend of mine, died of cancer in
    her home on the 13th of March.  My wife and I were there with her when
    she died.  She was unconscious and she simply slipped away.  Her
    daughters and the grandchildren came within a few minutes (they are
    roughly 6-10 years old).  It was marvelous to see how they held their
    Grandma's hand, kissed her, talked to her, etc. Her husband held her
    fora long time and cried some, as did most of the other people there,
    but it wasn't really an overwhelmingly sad occasion.  We knew that she
    was free of pain and in a better place.
    
    She had a thirty-year-old daughter suffering from brain cancer in the
    hospital at the same time.  The immediate question was should this
    daughter be told of her Mother's death.  We decided to wait.  About
    11 hours later in the hospital, this women suddenly opened her eyes,
    looked at her husband and said "My mommy is coming for me".  Then she
    died also.
    
    This was 3 A.M. in the morning.  Interestingly enough my wife and I
    were lying in bed at this time discussing a vision she had just had.
    She saw black clouds which cleared and there was a beautiful field,
    flooding with an incredible light and a young woman, maybe 30, holding
    the hand of a girl, maybe 10, and as they moved away, my wife heard the 
    woman say "Patty, we're coming."  (They had another daughter who had
    died 11 months previously from cancer...I'm not making this up.)
    
    At any rate, my wife swore this was not a dream.  She has had visions
    before.  The night before her mother died in Germany (we were in the
    U.S.), she saw her mother standing next to a casket...we got the
    telegram the next morning.  She has also had two near-death out of
    body experiences.
    
    My point is I don't fear death at all, although I prefer it to be as
    painless as possible.  I truly believe in the God of Abraham and the
    redeeming power of Jesus Christ, and I know that there is a better
    world waiting for us.  I feel very sorry for any who feels that this
    life is all there is.
    
    I wish I could articulate my feelings better, but I think the right
    kind of death can be glorious.
                                                                          

    Re: .38
    
    I have also experienced streetlights turning on or off when I drive by. 
    I have been told that they are on timers and do that all the time, but
    it happens _constantly_, sometimes several in a row will do it at high
    speed!   
    
    I've never called the utility company to ask about it.  I guess I like
    a little mystery in my life.  
    
    Perhaps I have little friends that have never revealed themselves to me
    :^).  
    
    Russ.

    re: .41
    
    Russ,
    
    I had the same thing constantly happening to me...
    
    ...then I found out one of the fog lights on my car was pointed up and
    hitting the photosensors.  :-(
    
    So much for my bio-electronic switching capabilities.
    
    Kevin "Who no longer sees a spirit in every shadow" Schneider

    In Holland they switch the traffic lights off at night. They go over to
    a flashing amber and the "give way" signs at each junction then assign
    the priority of traffic until early the next morning. 

    Each weekday as I drive to work I pass 7 sets of them and one set will
    always become active just as I approach it! It is not always the same
    set!

    Mind you the fact that I leave home between 06:20 and 06:25 every
    morning and the traffic lights are controlled by a central computer
    that switches all the traffic lights in entire city at exactly 06:30
    may have something to do with it.

    Jamie.

    
    I personally know of a couple of people who often experience this
    type of electrical shut-down with not only outside lights, etc.,
    but also things like their stereo equipment, car lights, etc.
    
    I'm not sure what it is, but I think it is fascinating.
    
    Carole

    (did I enter this already??)
    
    When I first met my husband, his parents had this TV that, unless
    watched with interest, had poor focus.  And the pictures were sharpest
    when their youngest son watched TV.
    
    My husband also had the unfortunate experience that the automatic
    tellers could never get the transaction correct for him (he'd make the
    deposit or withdrawal, the receipt would be correct, but the bank
    statement would later be incorrect - he tried several different ATMs,
    and changed banks a few times).  This stopped when we got married
    and had a joint account.
    
    Beth

    I had an unusual experience a couple of months ago.  I was driving to
    the dentist (8-{}), and passed my husbands friends house.  I got the 
    *distinct* feeling that all was not well with the friend, and his wife.
    I could REALLY feel her anger, and tears.  The funny thing is that I
    haven't seen my SO's friend in about a year, and I really do not the
    wife at all.  I went home, and told my husband what I had felt, and it 
    grabbed his interest.  He went into work the next day, and started
    asking some mutual friends how the couple were doing.  Well, it seems
    that there were some MAJOR problems, and they had spit up for a while,
    as the wife felt constrained in the marriage, and needed time to "be
    alone".  I find it quite interesting that I could "feel" her feelings, 
    and it brought up questions like:  
    
    	1) Why would I "feel" her?
    	2) Is her unhappiness staying in the area?
    	3) I have had *distinct* feelings about places I've passed before, 
           but never verified like this, are any other feelings "accurate"?
    	
    Any comments would be appreciated.
    
    Candi

    
    
     re.46
    
                  ALL feelings are accurate. Its our interpretations of 
    thoes feelings which might be "inaccurate".
    
                  Why her? Maybe you are more in tune with the feminine
    than with the masculine.
    
    
                  My experience with the house I now own was similar.
    The first time I saw it I was an hour early for my appointment with
    the real estate agent. The house had been vacant for several months.
    While I walked the grounds and looked the place over I had feelings of
    sadness, neglect, dispair. After having lived there for several years
    and hearing the history of the house from nieghbors several of thoes
    sensations were validated. 
    
                                        
                                      Later,
                                       Mark
    
    

    
    
    RE: .46
    
    At last a reply Candi!!! ;^)
    
    I agree with Mark....all feelings are valid.  Sometimes strong 
    emotional energy can hang around a place.  Perhaps you were
    particularly open that day to that particular energy - your
    psychic antenna was activated! ;^)
    
    
    Mark, how is the energy around your house today?  If it is better,
    did you do anything specific to heal it or did it just happen?
    
    Carole

    
    
    RE: .48
    
    
                The energy now-a-days is better; somewhat neutral (not pos-
    itive or negative). Some of the things that I've done have made the
    house seem more personal, more "mine". Several years ago I saved enough
    money to make some major renovations, repairs, enhancements- all to my
    specifications. It was benificial that I did not borrow the money
    because I didn't want it to be a burden financially, I didn't want the
    project scrutinized by a bank, I wanted to be able to say that,
    although I didn't do a lot of the work myself, It was "my creation".
    Another thing I did was, during a blue moon, smudge my house. I made it 
    a ritual. In essence I did not dismiss anything that went before but
    rather effected an end and instituted a begining with me in charge.
    One might say that I layed claim to the house and all that was in it.
    Shortly after that I felt compeled to set up a work space in the
    basement. ASIDE: The basement has a low celing and a dirt floor it is
    wet in the Spring and Fall and damp all year long. If needed I can heat
    it. not real inviting.
    Once I started creating things (Jewelry, household items, repairs) the 
    energy in the basement began to change. Its still damp, its still
    drafty, Istill bang my head on the rafters sometimes, but I FEEL more
    at home down there than I do in my T.V. room. 
    
    
                                Later,
                                 Mark
    

>    Has anybody ever had any experiences with lights turning on and off.
 
yes!   

>>    Especially streetlights.  Now, for BOTH of, at random moments,
>>    streetlights, parking lot lights, and outside house lights will turn
>>    off... just as we approach, or pass by.

This has been happening to me for years :^o ... No, Rilly!
seems to happen about once or twice a month, but more oftemn in bunches, like
once a week for a couple a weeks and then nothing for a while...

>    ...then I found out one of the fog lights on my car was pointed up and
>    hitting the photosensors.  :-(


Ahh, this makes sense, but I don't have fog lights and has happened
at least from owning three very different vehicles and a motorcycle -- 
still a possibility thoug..

>    So much for my bio-electronic switching capabilities.
 
Yeah, burst my bubble ;^)

Often, street lights and other night-time sources of light will go out
just before I pass them and come back on just after.  I notice this 
more often when I am walking that when I am driving so I don't think it has
anything to do with my headlights.

80)

    I have dreamed about a door bell ringing and I will awake, and hear the
    door bell ringing.  I used to go to the door, until we moved into an
    apartment that had no doorbell, and the bell would still awaken me at 
    really unusual hours.
    
    I had not heard the phantom doorbell for years, until a few weeks ago,
    we had changed the time, for daylight time, and I forgot to change all
    the way so I had am/pm swapped.  Then the next day I had to drive my
    wife to Denver to a doctor.  The doorbell woke me, and I went down
    stairs to check, not a soul in sight.  Went back up stairs and woke my
    spouse, and we departed in time to make the appointment.
    
    Dave

    	My experiences began before I can remember.  The First time I heard
    of unusual things that I could do, was from my Grandmother.  She told
    me of a time when I was only 2.  I was angry cause I couldn't have a
    cookie.  My Grandmother said the whole room filled up with electricity,
    and she got scared.  Out of that fear, she gave me a cookie, and the
    electricity left.  I always thought it strange that my Grandmother
    still never denies me anything.
    	The next more memorable time was when I was 6.  I awoke in the dead
    of night screaming like a Banshee.  Both of my parents were there in a
    matter of moments.  When they finally calmed me down enough, they asked
    what was the matter.  My Mom's exact words she said I yelled were,
    "Terri can't breath, she feels really bad, black.  Help her!"  Terri
    was my favorite babysitter.  She lived right across the street, and we
    had become like sisters.  My parents told me to go back to sleep, it
    was only a dream.
    	The next morning, at around 6:30 am, my parents received the call
    from Terri's parents.  Terri had had the Flu, and had suffocated on
    flem clogging her air passage.
    	Unfortunately, she was not the last person I saw die.  She only
    started the dreams.  I have consistantly dreamt 5 deaths, all people
    very close to me, including my brother.  I always awaken, screaming, at
    the moment of death.
    	My dreams aren't always that bad though.  I have seen 11 babies
    births, 3 mine.;  4 weddings, 1 mine;  and numerous other happy events. 
    I still can make a room fill up with electricity when I'm angry, but I
    haven't really learned to channel it yet.  I keep practicing.  I have
    to admit, I worry about what I'll dream next.  But I can't let it get
    to me, or else my life will be nothing but fear of the future.  I like
    to enjoy life too much for that.  Thanks for listening.
    
    T.A.G.

    Dear T.A.G.,
    
    Your experiences are fascinating!  Thanks for sharing them with us.
    Do you read helpful books about your experiences or meet with people
    who can offer you guidance about your special abilitlies?
    
    *Stella*

    
    Re.54
    
    You may be interested in Barbara Brennan's books on healing:  "Hands Of
    Light", and "Light Emerging".  
    
    Because of your gift, you may have some exceptional healing abilities
    that - when channeled and used to help humankind - will give you a
    positive way to express it in the world.  
    
    Cindy