Something really strange just happened

[InSwamTiddler]

I’ve NC for this as I’m not sure what to make of it and I’m really confused.
Back story - I was raised Catholic, but I’m atheist now. I work in a science based field and for as long as I can remember I have believed in the factual, empirically provable reality of things. I don’t believe in God or the afterlife, or ghosts / paranormal stuff.

Nearly 9 years ago my dad died. He died very suddenly and unexpectedly at a young age in my childhood family home.

Due to some circumstantial things, I’m currently living back in my family home.
My mum has mentioned a few times over the years that she’s felt my dad’s presence here and I’ve always been openly kind to her about it, but thinking “nope. Your imagination is going crazy because you’re grieving”. She’s mentioned she’s felt pressure on the bed as if someone has sat down on it next to her for example.

Anyway, this morning DP has left for work and I was still in bed. I was listening to him brushing his teeth, then popping the kettle on so I was definitely awake, but a little drowsy.

I felt him get back into bed with me and thought “what’s he doing?”... it’s not unusual for him to pop back into the bedroom and give me a hug or kiss before leaving the house.

I felt the heaviness of him pressed against my back and his arms wrapped around me. There was a heat between my shoulder blades I have never felt before but I wasn’t scared but I knew it wasn’t DP then. I heard the front door open so DP was leaving the house. Then my whole back went tingly a bit like pins and needles but not in an unpleasant way.

When it was happened I felt calm and warm but I’m freaking out now and can’t stop crying. Sounds silly but I feel like it may have been my dad.

I was 100% awake, not dreaming. I leant over and flicked the lamp on straight after.

Does anyone believe in this stuff? I never have but now I’m questioning everything.

I felt my mum hug me when I put on her wedding ring.

Lapsed Catholic here too. Wen through a period of being afraid ghosts were real. After my dad died I thought I saw him at the end of my bed and was terrified. The next night I had dream about him and it was a total delight. We went places, he told me that as I was scared to see him when I was awake so he'd come to see me in a dream to let me know that he loved me, that he was fine and that everything would be okay.

Now, I know it was "just a dream", that's logical and I accept it. However, I also felt and still feel that it really was my dad visiting me in my dream and it was comforting. Total cognitive dissonance and I don't give a fig!

Was it your father? I don't know, in fact it probably wasn't, but if it made you feel warm and comforted then that's all that matters. Cherish it, it was a lovely thing.

If you only believe in things provable scientifically, does that mean you don't believe in love? There is absolutely no quantifiable or qualifiable scientific Means of proving love. Therefore does that mean it doesn't exist? Anyone that's been in love would never buy it's a brain chemical nonsense so do you believe in love?

I think some people misunderstand the meaning of "open minded". It does not mean accepting anything anyone says without question or seeking evidence. I am completely open minded. Show me convincing evidence and I will accept anything. But in a long life, I have never been shown a scintilla of evidence for anything paranormal. And I have seen endless claims of paranormal incidents which have perfectly simple non paranormal explanations. The simplest explanation is the one to go for. Electrical fault or poltergeist turning lights on and off. Or a couple of my own experiences- ghost of Victorian gentleman or local penny farthing enthusiast.Translucent ghost of a woman sitting in my neighbour's car- or unusual pattern of frost on the window. To name but two.

I’m an atheist but due to certain things I now believe in the soul - I once woke up in the night when I was younger and sat at the top of the stairs I am unsure what woke me. I could hear the news on the TV downstairs, not unusual as my dad usually falls asleep with the TV on then wakes up later and goes to bed. It was about midnight so I thought I’d go downstairs and wake my dad up and tell him to go to bed. I could hear the TV right until I went in to the room and the TV was off but the lights were flashing showing it was plugged in. My dad wasn’t there but the light to the room was on - my parents are crazy about this kind of thing and always unplug and turn everything off before bed. I thought it was strange but i didn’t feel scared My great grandad had just passed (my great Nan had already died) he was my only real grandparent and I was sure my Great Nan and Great grandad were the ones watching TV!

I'm a big believer in this sort of thing! I've had a few unexplained experiences, our old house had a lovely feel to it and I'd find my tea towels always in the middle of the kitchen floor and my husbands guitar strings would strum randomly when just me at home, toys would go off on their own etc. We found out a lady had died in the living room before we moved in. Our house now I get similar things, my tumble dryer will beep on and then off, I sometimes feel tugs on my jumper hem or hear footsteps on our landing and I'm always seeing things out the corner of my eye. My great gran was very spiritual, I think it should give you great comfort to think your dad had come to give you a big hug!

Coincidences always feel powerful and emotional to those who experience them. It doesn't make them more than coincidences though.

In the not so distant past I had a sudden feeling of certainty that something terrible had happened to my DD. I just became momentarily sure that I would soon have to answer the door to the police telling me there had been a road accident

The door bell rang about 30 mins later...it was DD back home safe.

So what am I supposed to make of the 'otherworldly premonition' that took hold of me?

Well nothing obviously. These things are triggered in everyone's brains from time to time. Sometimes the inevitable happens and one of them actually lines up with real life events...it would be more of a big deal if that never happened than that it does occasionally happen.

Never happening would mean there really were paranormal forces at work, ensuring that nothing someone spontaneously felt was about to occur, actually occurred.... Occasionally happening and scaring the crap out of the individual it happens too is totally expected in the absence of psychic powers.

bertrand I can confirm you have always behaved in a perfectly open minded way in my experience of your many posts on MN! I totally agree. Open minded is not the same as blindly accepting anything people tell you as fact.

I was a born again Christian. I struggle as I’m predominantly a scientist. I belive in science like a faith. So I struggled in my gcse and a levels as I was always told you can’t be both. Belive in god and Darwin’s theory etc.

Then at uni the first thing I was told that if you cant disprove god then you must accept it’s a possible theory, like Darwin, it’s a theory ( it’s not a theory to me btw).

Humans are tiny insignificant specks in a beautiful universe. We don’t need to understand everything. We shouldn’t assume we are all knowing either. Not so long ago we thought the world was flat.

I have heard lots of things like tapping on a glass door, in my bedroom and breathing, when no one was there, even feeling my hair being stroked, but not actually seen anything until about 3 years ago ,i was wide awake and turned over in bed to get more comfortable and there was a lady in white, but couldnt see a face, holding her arms out to me, i was so shocked i stuck my head under the covers, i felt terrible afterwards as i got the feeling it was my mother, she had passed away some years earlier,
Also another time after that i was sat up in bed reading wehen a little girl about 4 or 5 ran across my bed and disappeared through the wall, i can still see her flowered dress and blonde hair,strangely that didnt bother me at all,
I believe it was your dad,

I believe my mum and help me all the time. I ask for help often and I get it. I was driving to my first radiotherapy appointment and I was a bit apprehensive. I asked my mum for strength and guidance. I was waiting on the light changing when I noticed my body getting warm, the most wonderful feeling of calm. I couldn’t tell you how wonderful it felt. The tingling went down my arms and I felt myself being raised off the car seat. I started to cry as I was overwhelmed with a feeling I will never be able to describe as long as I live. I knew my mum was passing her strength to me and it felt magical.
I had treatment every day mon to fri and the nurses liked to have the radio on during treatment. On my last treatment a song that my mum loved came on the radio. It’s a song hardly anyone knows and I knew it was a sign from mum that everything was ok. I wish you could all experience the feeling of a loved one who I believe is always with you and continues to love and protect you from afar

Haven't read all the thread but I believe you
They're there when you need them x

Oh great. This has made The Fail. OP you might want to ask to have it removed.

I had this happen to me. I wasn't asleep, it was the middle of the morning, I was sat at my kitchen table on my laptop. I was going through some emotional turmoil because of my divorce and I was thinking how much I wish I could talk to my late mum. A few minutes later I felt arms around my shoulders and warmth on my back, as if somebody was hugging me from behind. It was a lovely, comforting feeling and I felt sad when it stopped. I've had quite a few odd experiences over the years so this didn't come as a surprise to me. I am glad it gave you some comfort OP

I had a similarly ‘other world’ experience in Italy some years ago, in a house I didn’t know until later was reputedly haunted. My scepticism was shaken and I have a much more open mind about these issues now.
Subconscious emotions and feelings might have played a role but how fantastic to focus instead on your dad wrapping you up in his love again. Be glad and use thee experience to channel your happy memories. I think you should feel lucky even if you’re confused

Had similar experience with pressure on my bed and always the smell of my mum’s perfume Youth Dew, which has such a distinctive smell. Happen several times following the months after she died but not for a long time now

It was your Dad he came to comfort you. You will feel better about everything now.❤️

I used to get sleep paralysis a lot and what you describe is different to my experience of sleep paralysis, although am not saying what you had might not have been a form of sleep paralysis.

My experience of sleep paralysis was as I woke I felt totally trapped unable to move with someone on top of me. It wasn’t pleasant.

I have had one experience in my life that I find hard to attribute to natural reasons.

I consider myself an agnostic, not as a cop-out but more of a statement that I just don't know. I have had some strange experiences too so I would never dismiss them. We all have dreams, etc. about those we have lost but some really stand out as different. I would also take it as a gift and I don't think anyone can prove it otherwise. Lucky you. x

That sounds just like what I experienced many years ago! I was living on my own as my hubby was away for work. I was just starting to wake up one morning but still had my eyes shut. I remember feeling a breeze on my face and thinking that the window must be open. As I felt the breeze I felt a very calming sensation and did not feel any fear whatsoever! However, when I opened my eyes I was very surprised to see that the window was shut. I then felt very scared as I was SURE that I had felt cool air on my face [almost as if someone had blown air on to my face]. As soon as I had got out of bed i felt a very strong presence in the house and rushed to go to work. I felt so frightened that I started crying at work because I genuinely believe that I had felt some sort of presence. One of my kind work collegeus offered to stay with me as I know that I would have rather been homeless that night than sleep in the house alone! I had not lost anyone to death so am not sure what I had experienced. I do believe that there is an explanation to what happened to me but not one that may make sense in our dimension. Try not to dwell on it or become frightened.

I agree with Bertrand’s definition of ‘open-minded’. It’s used far too often on these kinds of thread by people who pride themselves on not applying rudimentary common sense to a situation, and actively resist the possibility that some event they interpret as supernatural is an ordinarily explicable phenomenon.

I remember a thread where someone posted at length about a troop of silent phantom horsemen who had appeared to her at dawn in central London, and got extremely cross and defensive when someone pointed out that one of the mounted regiments exercises its horses early in the morning in Hyde Park, and could regularly be seen returning to barracks along Oxford Street.

Yes, absolutely, it is quite eerie to see forty horses and riders looming out of the half-light if you’re not expecting it, but given the choice between assuming they are ghosts and thinking there must be a link with the Household Cavalry, whose presence in the vicinity of Buckingham Palace and Life Guards isn’t exactly a little-known fact, do you really go with the ghost theory, and convince yourself, possibly entirely genuinely, that they made no noise and were wearing old-fashioned clothes?

I think I'd choose to be comforted by it.

I've have had dreams when I am awake. I wake up and I can see people in my room. Once it was a monstrous figure in a chair in my room which turned and grinned at me. Another time my boyfriend (who was away for the weekend) walked around my bed, took out his contacts, and walked out again. Another time I saw a man and women open a door (that doesn't exist) in the room, come in, the woman sat at the dressing table, did her hair and makeup and then they walked out. I know they are dreams as they are composed of things that have happened in the day. I am definitely awake though.
It is not sleep paralysis as I can move.

I have experienced what you have and felt the presence of loved ones and other souls who have passed on. It happens a lot to me as I am curious and allow it to.
I would urge anyone to have an open mind because life is not as clear as it may seem. We are living on parallel planes that can be crossed at times.
I know you say that you are not scared op and rightly so. Could I suggest that if you feel up to it that you 'ask' for the spirit to visit you again as they need permission/ you to want them to be able for this to happen.
There is no connection between somebody's chosen God religion and the afterlife/spirits - God is a concept created out of control and fear. People can choose to put their faith in themselves (as we are all as important as each other). Religion is an organised form of control for those that are scared of trusting in themselves.
Sorry for the rant but it is sad that humans have lost touch with themselves because of the abomination called 'religion'.

Does it matter? If you felt it and have your own thoughts as to what it was and your comforted by it then thats fantastic