… to think sometimes you just know things (psychically?)

[eeek88]

I’m not into woo, don’t believe in ghosts or the healing properties of crystals etc… But a few times in my life I’ve just ‘known’ a friend is in crisis and that I should make contact, or managed to reach them telepathically. Just wondering if anyone else is the same.

I have two friends that I am very close to. They had v troubled childhoods and don’t have much in the way of a support network- just me and one or two other friends. Both live far away and due to the chaotic nature of their lives I don’t see or hear from them very often.

Friend 1 went totally off radar for about 5 years (complex mental health and trauma). Every 6 months or so I’d ring or email, and never get any response. The only way we knew he wasn’t dead was because his YouTube account was still active... But one day he did pick up the phone, sounding a bit freaked out and crazy, and said ‘can I ring you back tomorrow?’ Which he did, to tell me he’d been standing on a bridge about to jump when I rang.
A few years later we were in rather more regular contact, with weekly phone calls. Then he went awol again. I just knew he wasn’t ok. I was worried enough to call the police and within 2o mins was talking to him in a secure psychiatric ward.

Friend 2 I hadn’t spoken to for over a year. Tried calling, nothing. I just knew he was in prison, and he was (first time as well so not as if it was a pattern).
A few years later I was very worried about him and couldn’t get hold of him. I went to the top of a big hill we always used to climb up, and spoke to him telepathically, telling him to contact me if he could hear me. Got home and there was a message from him. This happened a second time as well. We are normally in very sporadic contact.

It’s weird. These people are not in my regular life. Months or years can elapse between conversations. We’re very different people with very little in common on the face of it (different social backgrounds, educational attainment, financially, geographically…). But they are very special to me. I’ve been with them at pivotal points in my/their lives and I believe there is a connection there.

I'm not sure there's a need for any of these mean replies.

To the people who dismiss 'woo' - are you also the ones who say 'listen to your gut'?

Just wondering

I’m not into woo...

...I went to the top of a big hill we always used to climb up, and spoke to him telepathically, telling him to contact me if he could hear me...

I think you're quite into woo no?

Ah, but FauxPsychic, I am definitely not woo (not religious, not spiritual, don't believe in ghosts, karma, etc), but OP, I do understand what you're saying. I don't believe in psychics in the usual sense of the world (agree with Mumsnet consensus that they are generally charlatans), but I do sometimes think there are other connections between us that we can't explain yet. My gran was like this, and we particularly remember one incident when she called out of the blue and said, "I'm worried about DAunt - is she ok?" She'd just had an epileptic fit and was in hospital. My gran didn't usually make calls like this, so it was strange.

There has been a bit of elementary research into telepathy and I do think there might be some scientific discoveries to uncover there. Fascinating.

I had something similar with my sister. I'm adopted so we were in the same class at school. I was off sick one day (nothing particularly unusual, I'd been off sick before). I started to get a terrible anxious, sick feeling around the time school was finished. I kept clock watching. I just felt so uneasy as I just knew something bad was going to happen. Shortly after my aunt ran in calling out for my dad, my sister had been knocked down by a car.
Maybe it's just coincidence but I've never experienced anything like it since.
Although somethings do seem to be coincidence. I have a friend that I speak to periodically, it seems like every time I think of her and think I should get in touch she messages the same day!

I'm fairly sceptical in general, but I don't feel it's possible to be 100% sure that there aren't occasions when things happen that are hard to explain.

I had a recurring nightmare that started when I was really small (in a cot) until I was around 10. I described it to my sister in detail. It was always the same, and about the same person. About 12 years later I saw that person's picture on the front cover of a newspaper and the fear was right there in the pit of my stomach again. They had been caught for doing the things I'd dreamt about, and the specific details I remembered, and which my sister remembered me describing, were the same.

I've never been able to think of a rational explanation for that one!

Have you told your 2 friends you think you're telepathic and "know" when they're in trouble? If they have chaotic lives, very little support and mental health issues, although it may be a comfort, it may also confuse them in times of mental crises.

You sound like a caring friend but perhaps you feel you've come to their rescue and this has given you elevated ideas about your psychic powers and your role as "rescuer"?

Sorry, I'm very sceptical and think woo beliefs can sometimes do more harm than good. You sound like a decent person though, just a bit carried away with your imagination

@fourminutestosavetheworld More times than I can remember, but I don't really see why thats relevant.

The car, since you ask, was a 1970s British Leyland Mini Clubman. The one that passed me was the same non-standard metallic blue colour as he'd resprayed his, so no, not particularly hard to believe as there weren't many of them knocking about at the time when he had his (1990s), nor were there many 11 years ago. Checking online (on how many left . co . uk), there were just 25 of them showing as not sorned with DVLA in September 2010. Feel free to check for yourself, you can also see how many were registered back to 1994.

[quote torquewench]@fourminutestosavetheworld More times than I can remember, but I don't really see why thats relevant.

The car, since you ask, was a 1970s British Leyland Mini Clubman. The one that passed me was the same non-standard metallic blue colour as he'd resprayed his, so no, not particularly hard to believe as there weren't many of them knocking about at the time when he had his (1990s), nor were there many 11 years ago. Checking online (on how many left . co . uk), there were just 25 of them showing as not sorned with DVLA in September 2010. Feel free to check for yourself, you can also see how many were registered back to 1994.[/quote]
Touchy. Guess you're psychic then, congratulations.

@spotcheck

I'm not sure there's a need for any of these mean replies.

To the people who dismiss 'woo' - are you also the ones who say 'listen to your gut'?

Just wondering

It’s not ‘mean’ to point out that there are ‘non-woo’ explanations for both incidents recounted in the OP, and that if she climbed a hill and tried to communicate telepathically with a friend, she’s not really acting like someone not into ‘woo’.

I get what you mean, I have a connection with dd she will often say stuff I'm thinking and vice versa, when pregnant I knew she was a girl but no proof of this.
The other night she went off into town and I got the feeling she was upset, no reason but got a call a few minutes later asking me to pick her up.
I also wake a few minutes before she gets home but again no reason, there's no noise to say she's home like voices and cars are always coming or going(communal car park) plus it's always a random time!
I think it's part picking up on things subconsciously, part coincidence and maybe a bit of woo!

Nope. The human mind is an amazing machine, but it isn't quite that amazing. What is quite incredible is the power of our subconscious brain. Humans often seek to place greater value, importance and meaning on events than they truly warrant, as a means of self comfort, or explaining something they don't have the knowledge to explain.

The person who mentioned listening to your gut- that's a completely different thing altogether. It was thought at one point that a form of brain was located within the stomach. Animals are preprogrammed to respond to various scenarios, so we look for danger constantly, it's an instinctive state of being. We then rationalise those warnings our brain sends us.

What was his message? Was it ‘hey got your hill mind reach out, I’m fine.’

😂 this really made me laugh.

It’s called co-incidence. It’s supposed to be surprising - it’s a co-incidence!

Nope, not touchy at all. Merely happy to answer your question and, as a bonus, correct your mistaken assumption.

I'm cynical and have never had any psychic moments myself but believe that there are things we do not yet know about.
My ex and his sister both knew things they had no way of knowing about including death of a family member and serious illness in a child.

A few years ago my SIL was due to get married. I had this really weird feeling that something was going to happen to her (perfectly healthy) toddler and the wedding wouldn't go ahead. Obviously I didn't share this with DP cos, well it's just a weird thing to say isn't it? my brain was that adamant that this wedding wasn't going to happen I didn't even buy outfits for the big day, just forgot about it entirely.

A week before her wedding her eldest was knocked over by a car and was seriously injured. He was put on life support and wasn't expected to survive (he did, thankfully) The wedding was cancelled.

Freaked me out a bit (different child to what I thought though)

However when my brother took his own life I had no clue at all until the police turned up despite, in hindsight, there being very clear signs - so I do think it's just coincidental rather than woo. My brain often shots out random 'something bad is going to happen' thoughts, and for the most part it doesn't.

@torquewench

Nope, not touchy at all. Merely happy to answer your question and, as a bonus, correct your mistaken assumption.

What assumptions?

You really shouldn't be surprised, especially on a thread like this, if people ask questions when you suggest that a perfectly normal everyday event is indicative of higher powers.

I’m happy to believe they’re all just memorable coincidences, it’s just that they are VERY memorable and quite odd. Glad I’m not the only one.

As for whether or not I believe in woo, I love vaccinations, hate tarot, think crystals and yoga cannot fix you, trust science, but think there are some things that are hard to explain.

Undeterred by some responders’ suggestions that I’m nuts, I’ve got one more for you. A few years ago there was one of those named storms and the sky turned dark yellow (Saharan dust I believe). I’d stepped outside during my break and was so affected by the weather that I came back in and told my colleagues that I felt like the world was ending and was very freaked out by it. Responses ranged from ‘you’re not usually like this’ to ‘well it is’, but there was no eye-rolling or ‘here she goes again’. A few hours later my mother, standing on the sea wall, was swept away by a wave in Cornwall (didn’t even know she was there). No idea how she survived but it spat her out a little way down the beach and she escaped intact. She said she thought she was definitely a gonner.

@phishy

I just knew he was in prison, and he was (first time as well so not as if it was a pattern).

Sorry, but I just don’t believe this happened.

A few years later I was very worried about him and couldn’t get hold of him. I went to the top of a big hill we always used to climb up, and spoke to him telepathically, telling him to contact me if he could hear me

And this made me giggle 😂

You don’t have to believe me but I remember it very clearly. I was driving up the M4 approaching Swindon. I overtook a lorry and suddenly had this extremely clear knowledge that he was in prison. I hadn’t spoken to him or tried to for many months (10 I think).

@Kanaloa

And as you were very worried about him and had been trying to contact him, I think it’s more likely that he saw your attempts at contact and replied while you were up the hill than that you telepathically contacted him.

What was his message? Was it ‘hey got your hill mind reach out, I’m fine.’ Or was it more ‘hi know you’ve been trying to reach me, just getting back to you.’

Good question. He’d been upset/angry with me (bit of a misunderstanding) and I had apologised for upsetting him and explained the situation in full. He sent me a message that said he is no longer upset, he understands, and we’re all good.

So that was quite bloody weird.

I hadn’t explained the upsetting situation through any other means. Obviously if I had also emailed / messaged the same content I wouldn’t be assuming that the conversation I had with the sky was the one that had reached him.

@hotmeatymilk

You’re a good friend but no, you have not managed to reach them telepathically. Had you just managed to reach the wine telepathically when you wrote this?

No and nor had I attempted to. Might WhatsApp one of them though :)

Yes, I have this all the time.

I'll often be thinking about something and DH will start talking about it.

I also get very strong hunches about people. When I get a bad feeling about someone I always give them a very wide berth. I'm usually right!

I never ever tell anyone this stuff in real life as I am sure most people would assume I am cuckoo (going on the responses on MN anyway).

Possibly. Occasionally I will think of someone and then have an unexpected text or perhaps bump into them.

@SmileyClare

Have you told your 2 friends you think you're telepathic and "know" when they're in trouble? If they have chaotic lives, very little support and mental health issues, although it may be a comfort, it may also confuse them in times of mental crises.

You sound like a caring friend but perhaps you feel you've come to their rescue and this has given you elevated ideas about your psychic powers and your role as "rescuer"?

Sorry, I'm very sceptical and think woo beliefs can sometimes do more harm than good. You sound like a decent person though, just a bit carried away with your imagination

No, because I don’t believe I am, I just think there are some things about these friendships that are hard to explain.

Friend 1 is extremely prone to ‘and then I realised I was jesus’ lines of thinking when he’s unstable. Coincidences of any kind freak him out and it’s best not to discuss them in case he goes off the deep end and thinks he’s in the matrix or whatever (and goes through the plot of the entire franchise in minute detail that I do not have enough lifetimes to listen to). He finds it weird enough that I’m his friend at all because he believes himself to be a total loser, but he had my back when nobody else did (I was assaulted in front of 8 then-friends and he was the only one who did anything about it while the others, none of them more than 8 feet away, ‘didn’t realise’) and I’ll always remember that.

Friend 2 is the complete opposite. Has never mistaken himself for Jesus , had a psychotic episode or believed that a piece of nineteenth century poetry was written exclusively for him. We come from totally different worlds and have nothing in common on the face of it but we just click. I think we needed to meet each other. We’ve gained and learned a lot from our friendship. We often go years without seeing each other or having any contact at all but we remain important to one another. He’s very rational so we can chat about coincidences and laugh it off without him having a breakdown.