Have you ever been at a seance?

[WitchAndShaman]

Ahhh! See, you can control that list a bit of telepathy, premonitions, etc. It's within your power to shut them off if you wish or ignore them. HOWEVER, other living beings are beyond your control and can do what they wish. Took me awhile to get used to it at first myself. One of the reasons I mentioned I'm not good with the idea of channeling. I do not like the idea of "something else" in charge of me. Nope!

I'm sure there may be other fear factors involved for you, but for me, the idea of someone/thing doing as they will and I have zero control of it is unnerving.

Responding Debi with quote cross-posted from another thread but kind of relevant here. Your response is still really interesting to me and I continue to re-re-read it because I see some discovery of possible new truths in it.

Relevant to this seance thread though, and your point from the other thread about energies of the living versus spirits, I live just 2 1/2 miles from the Cassadaga spiritual camp. I’ve driven through it many dozens of times in past 14 years because it is one way for me to get home. I’ve only ever stopped and gotten out of my car there twice. Both times it seemed like either my occipital or parietal lobes were extra active. Not like the feeling of electricity on my skin nor the hairs standing up on the back of my neck. It was more like some of my senses were being over stimulated yet I wasn’t seeing nor hearing anything different than usual. Instead it felt more like a warm fuzzy blanket over, or a warm bath washing over, the back of my head. It made me feel like I could not focus my attention fully - like I couldn’t attend to any one specific visual input. (Almost the way certain antihistamines make me feel though I don’t recall taking any OTC stuff on those occasions because I choose not to drive when I feel that way.)

A friend has invited me and my SO to dinner in a few weeks at the hotel in Cassadaga. I know that two data points aren’t much to work with but I think I have to assume I might have a similar reaction the next time I’m there. So in preparation I’ll bring up my energy shield before I leave home and ensure I don’t OTC medicate so I might be sharp.

 

[Debi]

It was more like some of my senses were being over stimulated yet I wasn’t seeing nor hearing anything different than usual. Instead it felt more like a warm fuzzy blanket over, or a warm bath washing over, the back of my head. It made me feel like I could not focus my attention fully - like I couldn’t attend to any one specific visual input. (Almost the way certain antihistamines make me feel though I don’t recall taking any OTC stuff on those occasions because I choose not to drive when I feel that way.)

You described that feeling dead on, Wands. Especially the focus part. I've spent a lot of time in Sedona, which has a similar feel as Cassadaga. It's like being caught in a vortex of overwhelming energy. Although the two energies are different in source, the feeling of "overload" is much the same. Try shields up and grounding before you go there, although you will still feel it you may be able to focus better.

The one thing I noticed about the energy in Sedona is this: When I first visited the area, it was very small and not many lived there. The energy, although very strong, was clear and much calmer. It didn't have the "fog" feel. More energetic, which is what I feel was earth energy there. Each visit was about 4 years apart, and each time there was a new layer of energy there. The population and the town grew each time, and a lot of wild psychics had moved to the area over each 4 year year gap. By the time of my last visit, the town had grown so much I almost didn't recognize it! AND the power of the place was so out of whack I couldn't stay there more than 2 days. I left last time a crying, shaking, overwhelmed mess. Took me three days to cleanse that off and balance again.

My theory is the more human psychic energy in one area, the more "fog" you may run into. Now, Sedona's went off balance. My last trip through Cassadaga left me in that fog you describe, but it didn't have the chaos feel I experienced the last trip to Sedona. Energy can be spiritual, balanced and overwhelming with shields, or it can be chaotic when too many people have no spiritual base to it. The fact Cassadaga is a spiritual camp, where there can also be found spirits that are called in, give it a unique energy "signature". I'll be interested in hearing what you encounter. I haven't been there in over 20 years myself.

 

[WitchAndShaman]

You described that feeling dead on, Wands. Especially the focus part. I've spent a lot of time in Sedona, which has a similar feel as Cassadaga. It's like being caught in a vortex of overwhelming energy. Although the two energies are different in source, the feeling of "overload" is much the same. Try shields up and grounding before you go there, although you will still feel it you may be able to focus better.

The one thing I noticed about the energy in Sedona is this: When I first visited the area, it was very small and not many lived there. The energy, although very strong, was clear and much calmer. It didn't have the "fog" feel. More energetic, which is what I feel was earth energy there. Each visit was about 4 years apart, and each time there was a new layer of energy there. The population and the town grew each time, and a lot of wild psychics had moved to the area over each 4 year year gap. By the time of my last visit, the town had grown so much I almost didn't recognize it! AND the power of the place was so out of whack I couldn't stay there more than 2 days. I left last time a crying, shaking, overwhelmed mess. Took me three days to cleanse that off and balance again.

My theory is the more human psychic energy in one area, the more "fog" you may run into. Now, Sedona's went off balance. My last trip through Cassadaga left me in that fog you describe, but it didn't have the chaos feel I experienced the last trip to Sedona. Energy can be spiritual, balanced and overwhelming with shields, or it can be chaotic when too many people have no spiritual base to it. The fact Cassadaga is a spiritual camp, where there can also be found spirits that are called in, give it a unique energy "signature". I'll be interested in hearing what you encounter. I haven't been there in over 20 years myself.

Thanks for sharing your own experiences there Debi. There seems to be some correlation between our feelings. I don't have an exact dinner date yet - hungry as heck right now in fact - but I promise an update to the forum afterwards. This could be a different event knowing that I'm going in with shields up this time.

 

[Lynne]

My seance expierence was negative. I was about 16 and was interested in the paranormal. A guy from a local Catholic Church was teaching lessons on contacting the “spirit world”. (Now this was 50 years ago and this topic was not popular anywhere.). I thought it would be fun and rebellious so I went. We had a few seances that had channeling results. Shocking for a small town country girl. I didn’t think of it in terms of being against god and had no idea what I was getting into. I was never the host of spirit but I witnessed it. We also used the Quija with shocking results. This became threatening after a while. I now believe this man was into occult and seeking power. He was a well known participant in that church too. He was trusted and at one point was caught trying on the priests robes !! I started to have poltergeist activity in my bedroom. The tables would shake and odd noises. I got out of that group and went to confession. I prayed and prayed for relief and luckily I was not harmed. Young and dumb is the excuse I will use. Since that time I am careful not to get too close to the occult.

 

[Seahunter]

Lynne, you even know this movie?! You're right up there with Bob on your vast movie knowledge!

 

[Lynne]

Lynne, you even know this movie?! You're right up there with Bob on your vast movie knowledge!

I seem to remember a low budget gang type 70 s movie. Is that right ?

 

[Seahunter]

My seance expierence was negative. I was about 16 and was interested in the paranormal. A guy from a local Catholic Church was teaching lessons on contacting the “spirit world”. (Now this was 50 years ago and this topic was not popular anywhere.). I thought it would be fun and rebellious so I went. We had a few seances that had channeling results. Shocking for a small town country girl. I didn’t think of it in terms of being against god and had no idea what I was getting into. I was never the host of spirit but I witnessed it. We also used the Quija with shocking results. This became threatening after a while. I now believe this man was into occult and seeking power. He was a well known participant in that church too. He was trusted and at one point was caught trying on the priests robes !! I started to have poltergeist activity in my bedroom. The tables would shake and odd noises. I got out of that group and went to confession. I prayed and prayed for relief and luckily I was not harmed. Young and dumb is the excuse I will use. Since that time I am careful not to get too close to the occult.

Wow, Lynne - how scary! Thanks for sharing such a personal account of what you experienced! I think subjects such as seances and the Ouija Board are very dangerous with any amount of knowledge, but as the saying goes, just enough knowledge to get you into trouble. I'm just saying that in general, not singling you out, Lynne!

 

[Seahunter]

I seem to remember a low budget gang type 70 s movie. Is that right ?

It was 1979. Supposedly there were lots of fights attributed to the movie when real gang members showed up to see the film and ran into rival gangs. It has a 7.7 at IMDB.com. I'm not sure about the low budget part. It seemed to be a fairly polished movie, and the fight scenes were extremely well done, even by today's standards.

 

[Debi]

Stearing this back to the seance thread and not movies now.....

My seance expierence was negative. I was about 16 and was interested in the paranormal. A guy from a local Catholic Church was teaching lessons on contacting the “spirit world”. (Now this was 50 years ago and this topic was not popular anywhere.). I thought it would be fun and rebellious so I went. We had a few seances that had channeling results. Shocking for a small town country girl. I didn’t think of it in terms of being against god and had no idea what I was getting into. I was never the host of spirit but I witnessed it. We also used the Quija with shocking results. This became threatening after a while. I now believe this man was into occult and seeking power. He was a well known participant in that church too. He was trusted and at one point was caught trying on the priests robes !! I started to have poltergeist activity in my bedroom. The tables would shake and odd noises. I got out of that group and went to confession. I prayed and prayed for relief and luckily I was not harmed. Young and dumb is the excuse I will use. Since that time I am careful not to get too close to the occult.

Lynne, you were so right to walk away. Yes, when we are young and stupid, sometimes we need to learn by doing. With the activity that started in your home it shows you made the right choice to walk away from it for sure!

 

[WitchAndShaman]

Since that time I am careful not to get too close to the occult.

I don't know if being a hugely active participant in the PNF.net is exactly synonymous with "...not...too close to the occult."