Monday, August 30, 2010

Chinatown and Gold Coast

I wound up in Chinatown one afternoon. Something was calling me there and I wanted to browse a bit. I went to the shop I had in mind and was poking around here and there, trying to find what I had in mind. As my eyes adjusted to the dimness, I saw the owner hunched over the counter, counting inventory and someone browsing in the back of the store. I headed first for the giant Buddha statue then to the beads, making my way towards the back. I adjusted my bag so I wouldn't knock anything over and saw some figurines that caught my eye. As I perused them, I started looking down the aisle at the other items. I realized that there was no one else in the shop besides me and the owner. I glanced from side to side and there was simply no one. I can't describe the person very well but I would challenge anyone to describe someone they saw turn the aisle in the grocery store. It was like that. I picked up the figurine that caught my eye and left.
I later wandered around the Gold Coast and stumbled upon a slough off of Lake Michigan where the city just melted away. It was an oasis of tranquility amid the hectic hubbub. I spent a few minutes (or longer?) there and soaked up some awesomeness. When I got up to leave I noticed a very large black shape like a cloak or skate leap from a nearby building and disappear behind another building. I kept my eyes open but never saw it again.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

It's Creepy in the Dark

I decided I needed a relaxing day at the spa. Which, for me, equates to going to the gym and spending the entire session in the wet area (sauna, steam, pool, jacuzzi). There were remarkably few people there to contend with and I was able to 'be alone'. Getting lost in the moment, I was looking forward to just relaxing and letting my mind and body rejuvenate.
I was startled by how many ghostly images were lurking there. I realize that ghosts are everywhere and it should come as no shock to have them so close by. But when trying to 'be alone', to gather my thoughts and wits, it was nonetheless unsettling to perceive a ghostly shape stand up next to you when you're 'alone' in the sauna, for example.
I grumble when someone opens the steam room door wide enough for two people to enter at once, then holds the door open longer than necessary. The nature of the steam is to escape to cooler temperatures. But more recently I shake my head not because of their ignorance of thermodynamics but because of their ignorance of the spirits around them. How do people not notice these things? I see them holding the door open longer than necessary; do they not realize that they're holding the door for a ghost?
And showering with spirits? Not as much fun as it sounds.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Eye Spy Two

There are trees lining the street outside my house. I walk to the transit, I walk to the grocery store, I walk just about everywhere. I'm always grateful for the trees outside; they provide ample shade and protection from the elements. I sometimes talk to them and touch them.
I turn and check the street for oncoming traffic as I cross; it's one-way so I always give one last check just to be sure someone hasn't pulled out suddenly. It's really nothing more than a glance, letting movement catch my eye more than detail.
1) I see a figure in the boughs of a tree to my left, hanging, visible from the waist down. There are shady figures turning and walking away from the scene, away from me. I stop to get a better view and the shadowy figures fade away. Lastly, the legs/waist just absorb into the tree. The whole encounter lasts about 5 seconds, which is much longer than you might think.
2) I see a figure leaning against a tree to my right, watching me. He's dressed in slacks and a casual shirt, more modern than archaic. His arms are crossed and he's just watching as I cross diagonally, watching him watch me. He has dark hair and eyes, olive/brown skin, and an athletic build. I turn away but something makes me want to get a second look? I turn back and he's gone. There's no one on the sidewalk, no one running away, no one within 50 yards of the tree.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Beads Me

I was holding a mala I had ordered online. While I gently rubbed the worked beads between my fingers, I idly wondered where the beads had come from and who had worked on them? My mind wandered and I envisioned a group of elderly men and some younger boys sitting around talking and laughing. One boy in particular is soon going to join his father as an adult. It's not fully automated and it's not fully hand-made, somewhere between the two.
A few moments later I wake from my vision, uncertain if I've seen the way things were when my mala was made or if it was something older still. Or, heck, if I've even had a vision worth mentioning?
That little voice that warns us when we're about to do something stupid is getting louder and I'm listening more than ever. It's saved me several times in the past few weeks. If this keeps up, I might just have a conscience worth listening too!

Monday, February 15, 2010

Now With Wings

After a difficult break-up, I settled into a new apartment behind the police station. Over the two years that I was there, I was startled to discover first hand just how many pests lived in the city, both the crawling kind and the human kind.
One thing that I could never explain was the white moth. There was only one and I watched it fly into my closet. Since I had a wool coat and a tuxedo in that closet and assumed it would go for those clothes first, I was concerned that the moth was going to ruin some expensive clothes. I dashed across the room and began a frantic search for the moth but never found it. My clothes suffered no damage.
My next apartment was a few blocks away and more cramped than I realized when I had looked at the place. I had problems arranging things there and began the process of purging, though I never got very far. I also was without A/C for the first time in my life during one of the hottest summers in the city. Sweating profusely with window fans and screen doors open for any fresh air or breeze that might happen by, I saw a white moth flutter around the room and disappear towards the closet. Again. I went in search but never found it and nothing appeared to be worse for the experience.
After that, I moved in with a friend in a completely different area of town. One afternoon, I was carrying my lunch from the kitchen towards the front room to watch TV when I saw a white moth fly into my bedroom headed for my closet. I set my lunch down and went to investigate but already suspected that I would find nothing. When I did not, I went back to lunch. I was learning not to be overly concerned about this creature.
Now, I have moved in with two of my former roommate's friends (he moved to another city). I have seen a white moth three times now, twice after moving in and once today.
I did not bother to see where it flew off to.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Travellers

I was restless, trying to sleep. There were so many things going on at one time and I was trying to let each train of thought come to a rest so that I could rest.
I was struck with a profound sense of danger. Instantly I was awake; but, I was pretending to be asleep. My heart was pounding, I was beginning to sweat, and I was plotting an escape.
I had heard two voices approaching rapidly, as if being carried on a fast stream. They were distant at first but they quickly arrived at their destination: my bedroom. And something about them radiated danger.
I recall one of them asking the other when I was going to wake up.
"Oh, he's awake. He's been listening this whole time."
I was busted, which did little to avert my growing sense of dread. I was certain that they were here for me, but to what end?
"If he's awake, then we should go. He's probably heard too much already."
"Can't I give some advice or reassurance?"
"No, you know that!! I think you've said too much as it is. He's bound to figure out who you, at least, are!"
"Hey, you in the bed, remember to... just... don't give up."
"Ok, that's it. We're leaving."
"What?! I don't think I revealed any great mysteries?"
Their voices were already fading away. My pulse slowed and I hopped out of bed and looked for some sign of the intruders but there was none.
Sleep was now impossible as my mind raced with the potential of what those men intended and what they cryptic message they had said could mean. I did, eventually, drift off to sleep. But it was restless and nearly dreamless.

Monday, January 18, 2010

In This Space

I was walking down the street, hunting and gathering (shopping for groceries), contemplating what it meant to be in the space: why am I here? The eternal question dogs man from generation to generation and the answers vary from person to person. It was something I needed to answer for myself.
I was in a few accidents as a child, one of which knocked me unconscious. I awoke to find paramedics, my parents, and a few neighbors hovering over me. I tried to sit up but hurt all over. The paramedics held me down so I didn't further injure myself but, honestly, they needn't have. I couldn't have even sat all the way up on my own. While recuperating in the local hospital, I had the thought, even at that age, that I had died and another me had entered the body to finish living out the life I should have. I noticed a change in my luck, a change in the way I was treated, and a change in the way I approached things. It would be glib to say the changes stemmed from my own fears after the accident. I can actually accept that, to a degree. We all change based on our experiences. I can only assert that there was a core change in me that appears to happen in life-or-death circumstances, the effects of which changed me beyond just the physical realm.
At that young age and into adulthood, I wondered I had experienced a realm-shift. That there was a Me who avoided the accident and lived a healthy and lucky life that I should have had. Instead, the accident shifted me to a less-lucky and less-healthy life. My Own Hell.
So, walking down the street, contemplating My Own Hell, I had the thought: everything here is mine. It's my Hell, after all? The words sprung to my lips without bidding: I am Thee and Thou art Me. Everyone here is me.
I had to stop my walk and look at the world again. Everything seemed to fluctuate between two-and three-dimensions. Something grounded my heart chakra in that moment, and the world seemed like its old self once again. But I had glimpsed, briefly, the veil between worlds.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

The Cat Who Walked Through Walls

I went with a group of people to an event a while back. Actually, I went early to help set up. We were renting space from another group that had a large room with several smaller rooms to the side. I was one of the first persons in the building and noticed a house cat sitting in the hallway. It was smokey gray and was watching the door as we came in. When it saw us, it stood up and walked towards the smaller rooms then turned and headed down the hallway away from us; I got the impression that we were not what it expected to see. As it got to the last door, I realized that I could see through the cat just as it turned and trotted through the door. This happened just as I was about to alert my group that there was a cat inside the locked and otherwise empty building.
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In the past week I've noticed a lot of activity close to ground level in my apartment. About the right size, shape, and speed of a house cat. There is no cat in the apartment building.