Thread: Ghosts in The Machine

Do you ever let what you would consider a bad omen or paranormal activity change your mind about pursuing a certain path? I'll tell you why I ask because I sometimes think that I let bad omens sway me too much. I fully admit to using all the tools at my disposal as a witch in terms of divination to help gain higher awareness about situations, especially if I feel that they are important to my life path. Originally I never thought about writing about my experiences and simply went about my monotony of existence, but then a few teachers of mine said that they thought it was important for me to do so. So I wrote my first book, "A Thief of Power" thinking at least it would be interesting to my children to read.

Now the first time I finished the book which is about Babylonian demons, sex magic, drugs, witches, etc. I was trying to print it out to send it and a really heavy book flew off my book shelf and destroyed the printer. I actually had originally written it as a screenplay. I was lucky enough to go to Hollywood to pitch it to a producer. The night before I was going to the meeting I was staying in a hotel with my girlfriend and my computer turned on in the middle of the night and played the song "Chop Suey" which is about angels and demons. My girlfriend said it was because the demon character was excited to be a movie star. The producer told me that my screenplay was so arresting that it gave her nightmares and I never heard from them again. I decided to write it out into a book instead. After I finished writing it into a book I sent out my manuscript to a large publishing house. I was packaging it in my kitchen and then mailed it out. When I came back from the post office I was surprised to find this overwhelming stench in the house and all of these flies- dozens in the recessed lighting of my house. I killed so many flies and after a few days the stench went away and I attributed it to a dead mouse or something that died in the walls. The night before I received an email rejection letter (took 4 months) I had this bizarre dream about a cult of witches the leader of which requested that I sacrifice my children so that I could have my heart's desire. I of course said no and then woke up to the rejection letter which I thought was a wild coincidence. Now a friend of mine who is an editor told me that my story is too much for the masses because all they are used to is the Hollywood Charmed BS side of magic, not the real occult practices and what not about demons and witches, and lesbian sex magick, so that I should tone it down. So I spent a few months rewriting it, swapping out about 50 pages of text, and I felt really good about the end result. I decided to do a Tarot reading about it, to make sure and I had a very favorable reading with major arcanum cards like the World, the Wheel, Justice, etc. So I was sitting on my couch just celebrating with a glass of wine when I had a curious experience.

Now ever since the flies my kitchen lights flicker so I wasn't surprised about this. And sometimes my 1970's refrigerator hums like an old sci-fi movie spaceship. But then the TV started to picsulate and I was like WTF, as with FIOS we never have any problems. My dog jumped with a start and looked over into the area where I was writing, so I naturally looked over expecting to see a mouse or something. Instead, I thought I saw like a shadow, something move across the screensaver light, as if it was moving close by my computer chair. I was like I'm going to bed, I'm overtired. I went to bed but left the nightlight on for the children. My dog, who usually sleeps downstairs, came up with me. I was in bed when all of a sudden the bathroom lights did the same flicker thing. I looked up and out and I thought I saw a shadow move by the bathroom light. The dog suddenly freaked out and jumped up onto the bed, waking up of course my gf, who was not pleased and demanded an answer to what was going on at 3am.

"I finished my book, I think the ghosts in the machine approve".

Well I thought it was funny, however, she did not share my amusement.

LOL

things that make me go hmmmm,
JB

Wow, Jayne. I can completely understand how your gf was unamused. LOL

When it comes to my art, I'm getting to the point where it doesn't wierd me out when the radio starts playing songs related to the subject of the tale I'm working on, whether it's a story or painting.

I've read accounts of the house where Walter Gibson wrote many of his manuscripts for The Shadow back in the 30's. People who take tours through the house to this day report seeing a man skulking about who matches the description of the The Shadow - slouch hat, cape and all. Apparently, he's still looking to see what evil lurks in the hearts of men.

Have I let paranormal activity and omens change my mind about a certain path? Yeah, I have. I was considering one when I started having nasty nightmares of blood, battle and darkside critters (nasty even for my sometime baseline of Lovecraftian dreams.) My cat would wake me up by giving what I can only call a "worried muurp." He'd sit on my chest or cover my throat and would not budge until morning, no matter what. There were a few other things that made me seriously consider whether I was losing my mind. I finally ended up one morning after a particularly bad and pointless dream (from my point of view anyway) yelling to the house, "All right! That's it! I don't care - Good or Bad, Black or White - you can take your war and stick it!! I'm done!"

Well, that's the cleaned up version of what I said, anyway. Needless to say, I didn't persue that path I had been considering either.

I still sometimes have dreams where I'm in an unfriendly territory and have to get myself and an innocent person out. I don't know why I have these dreams and they make me feel like there is a distinct possibility I may not make it out (as crazy as that sounds) but there you go.

I also don't know if I really answered your question. LOL

LOL Azra, I think you did answer my question. I wonder if sometimes I'm way too obtuse and don't pay attention.

As to your familiar, your cat waking you up, there is a reason for that. Pets, especially familiars, can sense a human aura very well. In fact a familiar is connected to your energetic field at the emotional level or aspect. So when your emotional component of your aura goes haywire they can sense this and they respond in similar fashion. When you dream your subconscious is highly connected to the emotional shield. This is why in most dreams you react at an emotional level. While in the mundane world, the conscious world, you react first with the intellectual and then weigh in the emotional. Animals react, they are emotional beings, they have also intellect but are more reactive based, which scientists attribute to "instinct". If you want proof watch a show like the Dog Whisperer, as he is a shaman practictioner who practices this and tries to teach it to the owners of the misbehaving pets. Your aura is composed of your bioelectric signature, your energetic sum total of your emotional, intellectual, spiritual and physical aspects of what makes up your being. Animals can pick up auras, that is why they react to people who are bad guys with barking, they sense the chaotic aura. So that is why when my pet is not reacting to my aura but to something else to the point where he is frightened or alarmed I know that there is a presence, an entity, of some kind, if I am simply not doing anything. (Of course he is also a fluffy, white and silver mall town husky and so he is a big chicken as well. Hahahaha.) Animals will also react to when you shift shamanically; for example when you are engaging in astral, divination, or using psychic powers. My dog howls and barks at me when I shamanically shift, and he will not come near me, especially when I am involved in ceremony. My gf who is psychically talented can SEE and she says it is because when I shift I use my serpent energy which is quite visible and he can see this as well but doesn't understand what he is seeing. So don't be surprised if you start learning for example Serpent Fire Breath, and other raising kundalini techniques that your cat may react.

namaste,
JB

Originally Posted by JayneBond

LOL Azra, I think you did answer my question. I wonder if sometimes I'm way too obtuse and don't pay attention.

LOL - I am all too familiar with beng obtuse, Jayne. In fact, at one point, I heard that word so much it was nearly part of my name.

As to your familiar, your cat waking you up, there is a reason for that. Pets, especially familiars, can sense a human aura very well. In fact a familiar is connected to your energetic field at the emotional level or aspect. So when your emotional component of your aura goes haywire they can sense this and they respond in similar fashion. When you dream your subconscious is highly connected to the emotional shield. This is why in most dreams you react at an emotional level. While in the mundane world, the conscious world, you react first with the intellectual and then weigh in the emotional. Animals react, they are emotional beings, they have also intellect but are more reactive based, which scientists attribute to "instinct". If you want proof watch a show like the Dog Whisperer, as he is a shaman practictioner who practices this and tries to teach it to the owners of the misbehaving pets. Your aura is composed of your bioelectric signature, your energetic sum total of your emotional, intellectual, spiritual and physical aspects of what makes up your being. Animals can pick up auras, that is why they react to people who are bad guys with barking, they sense the chaotic aura. So that is why when my pet is not reacting to my aura but to something else to the point where he is frightened or alarmed I know that there is a presence, an entity, of some kind, if I am simply not doing anything. (Of course he is also a fluffy, white and silver mall town husky and so he is a big chicken as well. Hahahaha.) Animals will also react to when you shift shamanically; for example when you are engaging in astral, divination, or using psychic powers. My dog howls and barks at me when I shamanically shift, and he will not come near me, especially when I am involved in ceremony. My gf who is psychically talented can SEE and she says it is because when I shift I use my serpent energy which is quite visible and he can see this as well but doesn't understand what he is seeing. So don't be surprised if you start learning for example Serpent Fire Breath, and other raising kundalini techniques that your cat may react.

namaste,
JB

Yep, that sounds exactly like that cat. He didn't like it when I did *anything* magical; astral travelled or when certain people visited, in life or astral...He was an overprotective guy. lol He went into overdrive when I began talking to the woman I was considering studying under. So did I after those dreams started and she would say, "Oh yeah, so and so said you needed help last night..." eee....

Bleck Azra!

You know what, in my old age, I have simply had it with the petty tyrant "high priestesses" who seem to come a dime a dozen, spanking everyone about one thing or another and how powerful they are. In my travels I have met so many of these types who are all caught up in their egos and about some bogus title of high priestess they have bestowed usually (upon themselves LOL). My advice is to treat your studies like you would any other type of class, don't get too wrapped up in complicated interpersonal arrangements, learn what you can and then get out before they go kooky on you.

On a funnier note we have had a lot of snow and ice these past few weeks in NJ. My roof was blanketed with the stuff and we (my gf and I) were all settled in for a long winter's nap watching TV when I noticed the time for some reason. It was 12:13 on the new moon that just passed and suddenly a huge loud thump, clatter and then all hell broke loose as a huge slide of ice went crashing off the house and smashed into my truck setting off the car alarm in the driveway. We were like what the frig? I went to go turn off the alarm and I came upstairs and my gf had all the lights on and was gripping the bedcovers. I'm like it was only some ice falling off. She was all, "noooo I definitely heard like someone walking around the roof and if I didn't know any better I would say it was a flying reindeer." Of course I started laughing, but she said she could definitely hear like hoofs on the ceiling (since our bedroom is closest to the attic). So I guess the Jersey Devil got a little lost on his flight plan during the snowstorm and landed on my roof hahahahaha.

peace,
JB