I had a paranormal experience recently (or at least I think that's what it was) (OT)

It involves my deceased wife, Marilyn, who passed on about four years ago.

No, I didn't see her ghost, or anything like that. But it was one of those things that was unsettling enough to make me think "OMG, what was that?"

First some background. When Marilyn and I were students together at Florida State University back in 1971 and dating, there was this charming little lounge off campus where we were regulars. It had a great, relaxing atmosphere, a little dark inside maybe, but it had beautiful chandeliers that lit up the tables, the bar, the rows of glasses behind the bar, and everything else in a soft glowing light and in an intimate way. Very charming. We loved to go there.

One night when we were there, sitting at a table in a dark corner, holding hands across the table, I guess the two of us had had maybe a Budweiser or two too many, as I leaned across the table and started kissing her on her neck, which made her start laughing and playfully pushing me away. At that very moment the jukebox in the place starting playing "All Along the Watchtower," that great rock song by Jimi Hendrix. It was a wonderful experience and evening and I've always remembered it very fondly.

So from then on, whenever I have ever heard that song playing, I always think back to that very pleasant evening and that particularly intimate moment there in the lounge with Marilyn.

A little more background. Since Marilyn died I have made it a habit to still have regular conversations with her. I don’t see anything wrong with doing that. I find that it helps to relax me, it has a calming effect on me, and it truly does have a healing effect on me, even though I'm of course the only one doing the talking. It just makes me feel like she's there with me in a way. No, she doesn't ever answer me back, of course, but I have always felt that, in some kind of way, she really is there listening to me.

I usually have these conversations with her when I'm driving around in my car, as when I'm running errands or going to appointments and such. It's private that way and also relieves the boredom of driving, as well as helping me emotionally just to do it.

Well, just a few days ago, I was driving around here in Gainesville, having a good talk with her as I traveled from street to street, when my mind just happened to drift back to that so pleasant evening with her at the lounge. I even said out loud, smiling to myself, "Marilyn, remember that great night at the Skyline Lounge, the one we both enjoyed so much?" Then I just sat there driving the car along, thinking again back to that pleasant evening in the lounge with her, smiling again, and talking. Finally, I finished my conversation with her and said "Bye, Marilyn, till next time!"

Then, just for the heck of it, I reached over to the car radio and turned it on.

You now get one guess as to which song was suddenly now playing on my car radio.

Yes, "All Along the Watchtower" by Jimi Hendrix.

Startled, and flustered for a second or two, I actually blurted out "Marilyn, did you do that?" I then just drove along listening to the song play out, feeling strange, but of course concentrating on my driving. I just drove along at that point trying to explain to myself what had just happened.

Honest, folks, this really did happen.

Was it just coincidence? Yes, it could have well been just that. I 'll bet we've got some mathematicians and engineers right here on the forum who can now give me probabilities and laws-of-physics types of explanations that might indeed cover what this was. I have even heard of similar types of experiences happening to others, but nothing like this ever happened to me before. Maybe there is a natural explanation. Maybe this kind of experience isn't really all that unique, but it sure seems so. I don't know.

But when it actually happens to you like that completely out of the blue, believe me, it is a truly amazing experience. Like the Twilight Zone actually becoming real for a few seconds.

Can any of you relate to an experience like this?

It reminds me of that line from Hamlet, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are contained in your philosophy." What if it really was more than just a coincidence? What if it actually was Marilyn in some other realm of space and time, now actually with the power to manipulate actions in our world as if to say, "Yes, I heard you, and here is my way of telling you that I heard you."

I know, I know, starting to go off the metaphysical deep end there. But it does seem to come down to a simple dichotomy: was it in fact just a striking, but nevertheless ordinary, coincidence, or, are there truly "more things in heaven and earth" than we realize? Your guess is as good as mine.

I can offer no compelling reason why it really might have been more than just a coincidence, but I can surely, surely wonder about it, just as I continually wonder about where Marilyn is now, and how much and how often she is indeed still a part of the lives of me and our sons.

So, I present this tale to you for what's it’s worth, as it did happen. Maybe not a "Class A" paranormal experience, if it was such a thing at all, but most definitely an experience that quite got my attention.

Whether it really happened or not, it was a cool story. Who knows maybe she was there. Thanks for sharing.

Its called sychronicity. the word was coined by C.G. Jung, who was very much interested in the more esoteric parts of life as well as being one of the "founding fathers" of modern physchology. I cant remember when I first experienced it. It was at least 40 years ago. I would tell folks about it, get the the normal eye roll and go about my business.{confidently} Once you start experiencing it , it happens more and more. Now I just chuckle to myself{smugly, of course} when it happens.{which is daily} That was a sweet story,81 gy. whats the meaning of life?…give life meaning! You did just that! Don't let anyones" logic" ever take that away from you….Evah!! The more your mind is off yourself, the more one sees stuff that has always been there. There is so much going on… eyes open…ears open….most importantly…mind open. not to let things in, but to release to others, that which has been there since the womb… so good…so good, I mean amazingly so..

Real is "your" perception of reality.

Cheers, Doug

I don't know what it was, but I know I really like this story. Thank you for sharing.

All that matters, is whether you believed it was her, and what that meant to you. At least it was a pleasant experience, based on good memories you two shared together. Hope it won't be the last.

Couldn't imagine life going on for me, without my wife of almost 4 years (about 2 weeks from now). Rather not think about that part.

My best to you, I would consider it a special blessing, in your situation.

David

81GyGuy, I can absolutely relate 100% to what you are expressing. Though I tend to be a physics type, made my living in the medical field, and was until my late 30s a complete cynic about the things I was taught as a child and teenager in matters of faith, I have now had so many things happen at least somewhat like you describe that I just accept them now. To me, the mathematical odds against something like you describe are so vast as to rule out coincidence. It would be one thing if the radio was already on, and maybe the song was on but you just didn't realize it until you turned up the volume. But you say "Then, just for the heck of it, I reached over to the car radio and turned it on.". If that is actually how it happened, then the odds against that are vast. But I certainly believe you as I have had too many similar things happen in my life time. Strangely, coincidence never works out for me when it comes to something like winning a lottery, unless you count the G9 PC lottery! LOL!

clocknut said...
What a great experience that must have been. And what a wonderful relationship you and your wife enjoyed.

I can cite half a dozen premonitions or dreams that I've had. In college, I woke up in a cold sweat from a dream I had. I was so shaken by it that I woke my roommate to tell him. In the dream, I was standing behind a guy, looking out of an upper story window. People were passing below on the street and sidewalk. Without warning, the guy at the window in front of me took out a rifle, aimed at someone below, fired, and a man's head exploded in blood down below. After I calmed down, I went about my business until early that afternoon when the DJ interrupted the songs on WLS in Chicago, and the network news announced that shots had been fired into the Kennedy motorcade. Coincidence? I think not............

I could also give a long list of happenings. But similar to what you mention about the rifle, mine has to do with avalanches. During the mid 80s, I became quite the snow skiing fanatic. This influenced me to accept a job in Utah, where I would be living within 30 minutes to 1 hour drive from about 11 different ski resorts, many world renowned. So one day- as on many other days as I worked 24 hour shifts at the hospital and thus would often have several days a week off in the middle of the week ( no crowds), my plan was to drive up to Alta Ski resort to hopefully make new tracks in the new powder that had fallen overnight. But this time, I had bad dreams all night. I kept dreaming that while I was skiing off of my favorite lift at Alta, I was caught in an avalanche, which would be an extremely rare event on the groomed controlled slopes. I kept dreaming I was suffocating under the snow. As I had a very poor night's sleep, I slept in extra late, and then dragged around all morning. I finally got my stuff together, and in early afternoon headed to the resort. about half way there, maybe about 1 or 1:30PM, I came to my senses saying "self, this is BS, you are going to drive an hour to get there, pay that money and then maybe have an hour or two to ski before closing. Turn around dumb ass and try again tomorrow morning".

So I did. As I was watching the evening news, I saw that an unprecedented avalanche had occurred that afternoon at Alta at about 3 PM, 2/19/86. It happened where I did most of my Skiing at Alta, and where I was headed to about 1 or 2PM, at Sugarloaf lift/Devil's Elbow. The term they kept using to describe this slide was "extraordinary". The groomed, maintained slopes did not slide. This slide came from outside the open resort area, but was so huge that it swept into the resort and under the lift I most often used, and across a lake that always before had stopped any slides, crashing down on a 16 year old from Massachusetts, as his father watched him skiing down ahead of him. People on the lift yelled down to him that there was an avalanche, he got in a tuck for high speed trying to go diagonal to escape the slope, but it caught him. They finally found his body after a few hours of searching, under 10 feet of snow, about 6 PM.

Obviously that got my attention as I watched the news that evening, as I remembered how I was tired that day due to poor sleep due to dreams of being caught in an avalanche, and how I turned around from heading to that exact slope/run, one of many at that exact resort(itself one of many to choose from), and how if I had not done that I would have been there at about the exact right(wrong actually) time. I don't remember ever dreaming that before or since.

It has really made me wonder, for all of these years. But as time passes, many other rather amazing coincidences have happened that seem beyond any odds, but none quite that dramatic. Equally amazing is that it never happens that I am hiking, fall(uninjured) into a shallow hole and find several million dollars. If I am going to shatter odds, I wouldn't mind doing that. Then again, being too tired to get to my scheduled avalanche is not bad either, I guess!

Bill in MS

Post Edited (BillyBob@388) : 3/19/2015 2:13:56 PM (GMT-6)

81GyGuy, I believe you.

Oh, my, what a wonderful response to and discussion of my experience! And isn't it so very interesting that a number of you have contributed accounts of your own personal experiences of a similar nature!

Logoslidat – Thanks for bringing up Jung's work on synchronicity, what it is, and his theories about it. While synchronicity does not have any basis in hard science yet, Jung's initial work here is the current model for it. More on this below.

Worried Guy – "Ring of Fire": the words of a song stuck in your head, and then the same printed words on the magazine cover? A cover which you see on the same day that I start this thread? Wow, what is this, a synchronicity within a synchronicity?

Clocknut – the pages of history are filled with accounts of individuals who have had the gift of having "portent" dreams such as you mention. There are many such accounts in the Old Testament, and ancient kings had such persons as members of their courts.

Purgatory – I do indeed consider this a "special blessing in my situation" whatever the scientific merit of it. Whatever it was, it was indeed a way of emotionally connecting with Marilyn again, if even only in this unusual way.

BillyBob – Your dream experience about the avalanche, saving your life, is far more impressive than my account of hearing a coincidental song. (More on this below).

After thinking intently about this experience for a few days now since it happened (an experience which, once again, I do certify as having actually happened), I am actually daring to think that I may have come up with a possible explanation for what it might have been. It's a little wild, but it does have the merit of having the structure or basis of a model.

It's a model that would also serve to explain both BillyBob's life-saving dream experience and at the same time my coincidental song experience. It's nothing original with me, BTW, but is simply an extension of Jung's synchronicity theory. It goes as follows.

There is a psychological theory that dreaming, and in particular why we dream, is an evolutionary tool for survival. That is, we came to dream because the mind needed to run through and practice survival strategies for use in the jungle the next day during the down time of sleeping. BillyBob's dream about the avalanche would be a perfect example of the validity of this theory, but with a twist. Somehow, some way, BillyBob's subconscious mind had become aware, it "knew" somehow, of the impending avalanche danger, and, to perform its evolutionary function of protecting him, gave him the warning dream.

As for my experience with the song, Jung would have said that I am still dealing with painful subconscious issues from the death of my wife (a sentiment with which I can easily agree) and that, as BillyBob's portent dream was meant to save his life, the coincidental song experience was meant to help resolve the painful subconscious issues that I now have resulting from Marilyn's death. To accomplish this, Jung would say, my subconscious, somehow some way, "knew" when that song was going to be playing on my car radio, that my car radio was tuned to the right station, etc., and it then "timed" all of my subsequent body movements, possibly down to the very second, so that I would be turning on the radio at just the right moment, hear the song, all this for the purpose that it would serve in helping me with resolving my subconscious pain with her passing. What form would that "help" take? Well, possibly just a series of events leading to the forum discussion here if nothing else.

Yes, I know this is sounding like science fiction. In particular, how could subconscious minds "know" about remote avalanche conditions, or the timing of songs to be played on distant radio stations? That is, of course, unknown. But, as I noted, all the above has the advantage of having the structure of a model to it. That is, "why" these things happen. It would be a start, although granted a start that takes a bit of accepting.

But it wouldn't surprise me at all what the mind might be able to do. Especially if its very own survival or control of its severe emotional pain was at stake.

The mind is an amazing thing, and in my experience, it's dangerous to deny the existence of the supernatural, the paranormal, or whatever you choose to call it. The line, "I'm a spiritual being having a human experience" works for me.

This is a beautiful story, 81, thank you for sharing it with us. Love, after all, is perhaps the only truly REAL thing we ever encounter.

81GyGuy said...
........................................

Clocknut – the pages of history are filled with accounts of individuals who have had the gift of having "portent" dreams such as you mention. There are many such accounts in the Old Testament, and ancient kings had such persons as members of their courts.........................................

And then there is this. Most likely we are not allowed to discuss religion, and for good reason. Because experience shows that the various denominations, and all of the various non-Christian belief systems and the agnostic and the atheists nearly always end up, sooner or later, with some sort of hard feelings towards each other or worse. So at the very least I'm sure I can not say much without being deleted.

But, only in the most general terms, and since we are talking about dreams and premonitions and visions and supernatural- I will say this about that: Of all the things I have ever studied- which includes years of college and anesthesia training- the most mind blowing thing I ever studied are the words of these Old Testament( and even somewhat the NT) dreamers you mention. Those with visions AKA prophets. I totally rejected that book until, for some reason- I stumbled onto what these guys wrote, starting- according to them anyway- at what works out to be 3400 years ago. And according to what science says(archaeological dating of the Dead Sea Scrolls) and what we have found so far, ancient copies dating from 2100-2400 years old, hidden in caves to avoid the Roman burning in 66-70AD about 1945 years ago, and only discovered 68 years ago . So we know they are at least that old(2000-2400 years old), these copies. And I just have to say that to see what some of these guys wrote (in the OT mainly) about the far future, and then to compare to what has actually happened and is happening, has been life changing. I know of no other examples of such a thing, and I know of only one possible explanation for the accuracy of the predictions therein. So FOR ME at least, the study of that subject has proven extremely interesting, to put it mildly.
Bill

Post Edited (BillyBob@388) : 3/21/2015 8:01:53 AM (GMT-6)

Don K. said...
You nailed that one bill.

Don

Hey Thanks, Don! OT, but for some reason I looked at your profile and I see you live in Trinidad, CO. I used to live not far from there in Pueblo, worked in the ER of St. Mary Corwin (sp?) hospital. I really loved it there, but had to leave to attend anesthesia training in Erie PA. I would have never left otherwise. I have lived all over since then, including AZ and UT and finally settled in MS, but never made it back to CO(except to visit) as I had planned to do when I left.

Sorry for the hijack of the thread.

"Sorry for the hijack of the thread..."

BillyBob -

Don't be sorry at all. One of the great things about this forum is that we can have conversations like this one, even if they are off topic, and share good information of various kinds.

I often think of it as like sitting in someone's living room on a visit, and just having a good talk about lots of things as they come up.

Even if we do need a few guidelines on thread-and-posting protocol, the freedom of this forum to discuss many things is still great.