Ian Parkin is the author of this post.

Psychic And Spiritual Experiences Change Our View On The Paranormal

Paranormal psychic and spiritual experiences, while often interconnected, are distinct in several key ways.

• Paranormal experiences encompass phenomena that are typically outside of normal experience or scientific explanation. These might include encounters with ghosts, strange coincidences, or observations of physical anomalies. Paranormal phenomena can often happen to people unexpectedly.
  
  
• Psychic experiences, on the other hand, are more about personal abilities than external events. They relate to experiences utilizing additional senses or capabilities often not acknowledged in mainstream understanding. Examples include telepathy (mind-reading), clairvoyance (seeing events or information about a person or location from a distance), precognition (knowing about an event before it happens), mediumship (communicating with spirits), and telekinesis (moving objects with the mind).
  
  
• Spiritual experiences are deeply personal and relate to a connection to something larger than ourselves. These can encompass feelings of unity with the universe, a deep sense of peace or joy, a transcendent sense of love, or encounters with the divine. Spiritual experiences will often lead to a shift in our understanding about the world and our place in it.

Each of these types of experiences can happen independently but they also can and do overlap. For example, you might have a paranormal experience that feels deeply spiritual, or you might find that your spiritual practices open up psychic abilities.

These experiences, which may seem eerie or unsettling at the time, often have a way of reminding us of the astonishingly vast and intricate universe in which we reside. They provoke us to question, to investigate, and to revitalize our sense of wonder. These happenings can provide reassurance that there is more to life than what we visibly perceive, leading us on a journey of exploration and giving a fresh perspective on life.

Some of the most common real life paranormal experiences include: 

Ghost Sightings: Individuals have reported seeing apparitions or figures that suddenly appear and disappear, often associated with a known or unknown spirit.

Poltergeist Activity: Poltergeist refers to ghostly manifestations that can include strange noises, objects moving on their own, lights flickering, or even physical interaction, such as feeling a touch from an unseen source.

Unexplained Sounds or Voices: Auditory phenomena have often been reported, where people hear whispers, footsteps, laughter or crying, with no identifiable source.

Night Terrors or Sleep Paralysis: Experiencers claim to wake up but remain unable to move, feeling a very dark and often menacing presence in the room with them.

Haunted Locations: Numerous locations around the world reportedly harbor spirit activity, such as old hospitals, prisons, and houses. People who visit these places report different experiences ranging from cold spots to full apparitions.

Near-Death Experiences (NDEs): People who have come very close to death often report experiences of moving through a tunnel towards a light, encountering deceased loved ones, or having a profound sense of peace.

Unexplained Animal Behavior: Animals, especially dogs and cats, behaving strangely for no apparent reason, is sometimes attributed to paranormal activity. This can include staring at a particular spot, growling or whimpering at something unseen, or refusing to enter a room.

Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs): People claim to have experiences where they feel as though their consciousness or "spirit" has left their body and can observe the world from a different perspective.

UFO Sightings: Accounts of strange, unidentified objects or lights in the sky, not easily explained by known human technology or natural phenomena. Some people also claim to have experienced close encounters or abductions.

Phantom Smells: Sudden, unexplainable smells that often have personal significance, such as the perfume of a deceased loved one, is another paranormal phenomenon often reported.

In the Journal of Parapsychology (Kennedy et al., 1994) a study shows that those who reported having a transcendent psychic or spiritual experience had a greater sense of meaning in life. Evidence shows that expressing artistic creativity as well as observing spiritual beliefs were positively related to having these anomalous experiences. Read the science.

In his study of nonlocality and exceptional experiences Stephan A. Schwartz suggests that more attention should be paid to the autobiographies of geniuses, saints, and psychics. His experimental research points towards consciousness not being limited by space and time and that meditation offers a powerful avenue for producing these experiences. Read more on Amazon

Many of us share defining moments in which psychic and spiritual experiences have changed our views on paranormal phenomena and improved our mental health. You can read some here and post comments or share your own story below.

Paranormal Psychic And Spiritual Experiences Told By The Readers Of This Blog

The page below includes content from multiple authors. I have verified and approved these submissions. – Ian Parkin

A Message From God - A guest post by Judy (Whitestone, NY) 

I was in Atlantic City years ago with a guy I was totally in love with. I didn't feel he loved me, and I was very sad and depressed.

I went to the coffee shop and bought a cup of coffee and sat down. Next to me, a woman sat. She told me that she was a nun and that her name was Sister Anne. She said that she was a teacher from Pennsylvania and was in Atlantic City with a group of nuns and that they were there to gamble!? She was wearing a brown outfit, and she explained to me that this was a modern habit. We conversed for a few minutes.

She told me that she had a message for me from God. She said that she knew that I was not religious, but that it didn't matter. She said, " God wants to know, since he loves you, why you don't love yourself? He wants you to know that until you do love yourself, no one else will love you. He wants to know why His opinion is not good enough for you."

I stared at her. She said, "Well, I must go now." She got up and I followed. As I was throwing my paper cup in the garbage, she turned and said, "Let me bless you," and she placed her hand on my head. She said, "Look! You're glowing!" I said, "Thank you, God Bless you too!" and with that she backed away and disappeared - I mean into thin air. And then I noticed everybody looking at me - because they hadn't seen her, and it appeared that I was talking to myself!

Have you ever seen a busload of nuns in Atlantic City? Neither have I. Not even in modern habits. That is not the only message I have ever gotten from God and it's not the only psychic experience I have had. 

Damn, Now I Can't Be A Skeptic Anymore! - A guest post by Paul Buchholz (New Jersey - USA)

I was riding in the front passenger seat of my friend Dave's 1940 Ford with his girlfriend Linda between us. We were just cruising randomly enjoying a drive through suburban/rural NJ. Suddenly I felt very strange. I closed my eyes, and it was as though I'd stepped into a movie. The colors were deeper and brighter than real life. I saw us (still in the car) on the wrong side of the road. There were flashing red lights ahead of us and something going on up a hill on our left.

This was totally unexpected and very vivid. I was startled. I opened my eyes and said something appropriate like HOLY SH*T!

They asked me what that was about, and I told them what happened to me. They asked me if I was high or something and I truthfully said no. They reassured me that it was probably nothing to worry about and Dave kept driving. We just cruised along for about another half hour or so going through quiet semi-rural neighborhoods.

Then we came up on the exact scene I'd seen... there were police on the road directing us to drive on the wrong side to get us past some emergency vehicles that were there because a house was on fire up on the hill to our left. Dave and Linda looked at me with a mix of fear and astonishment, which was pretty much how I felt too. For about a week they were afraid of me, and of course I was pretty confused. Then I decided I must be psychic, something I'd never believed in. I went to the library and took out books on this phenomenon. Some of them had exercises to increase psychic abilities and I tried the exercises.

I was going to clean up at the racetrack and stock market once I got this mastered! Well, the truth is I could never get anything at all to happen. Nothing! I couldn't even get a hunch that panned out. My conclusion is that I'm not psychic at all. Something that is usually apart from me somehow caused this metaphysical experience and it was totally random. I'm convinced that I have no psychic abilities whatsoever. I'm also convinced that on very rare occasions something like this happens to some people for no apparent reason. I would be extremely skeptical of this whole subject if this significant experience hadn't happened to me.

My Most Powerful Psychic And Spiritual Experiences - A guest post by By Elaine G. Swenson. (Northern California USA)

I have had spiritual experiences all my life. But it was only after a horrid emotional event that led me to seek help from psychics and then learn to raise my vibrational level for tapping into the psychic realms that I became so paranormally adept.

My sister, mother, and grandmother has also had mystical experiences. The gift seems to favor my family line, but religion does not.

The most powerful experience I often recall occurred during a trip to Italy. I toured a number of sacred sites. I practiced psychometry by touching the walls of sacred spots. While in Assisi I touched the cathedral wall and suddenly found my consciousness outside my body lying on the floor. I was lying on the ground dressed in a friar's robe. My body was thin, and I was male. I then heard a booming male voice say, "I will call you Elaina! I am the One you know of as Francis (OF ASSISI)". Then as I looked to the upper right of my visual field, I saw a vortex of clouds slowly rotating clockwise against a midnight blue sky. My lungs felt like I was drowning. I heard my spirit guide tell me, "let go now!" I quickly disconnected my mind from St. Francis death scene. I felt honored to have experienced this perception. But when I got to my hotel and looked into the mirror, the front of my hair had turned stark white. 

On this same trip, I touched the walls in another church and saw St. Clare with a group her companions walking in front of me. They were dressed in a woolen grey-blue habit. I continued visiting the church and going downstairs came face to face with a glass display box with a garment exactly like the one I had seen in my vision earlier. The caption read, "This is the habit (clothing) wore by St. Clare." 

I feel blessed to have had such loving psychic and spiritual experiences. When I go to Mass, I feel electric currents moving up and down my body. I try and use the currents to send loving prayers into the world.

In my belief system I feel that if we all join in positive thoughts and loving prayers, we can literally change the nature of this earth realm into a dimension full of love. We must think of others. We must love one another. Jesus was a Master Metaphysician. His life is a guide to making the most of the energy we all possess. Other loving teachers such as Buddha, Mohammed, Moses, etc. all communicate the same message . . . be of love and light. We are all One Soul that perceives itself to be individuated into different bodies. This is the illusion of Maya. It is time to awaken from the dream and return to the loving heart and soul of GOD. 

Another Of My True Psychic And Spiritual Experiences

While working as a public health nurse educator working in Northern California I was making home visits with a Spanish-speaking interpreter. 

The young interpreter with me got a telephone call. Suddenly her eyes filled with tears. After finishing our visit, I asked the young woman, "What happened? Is something wrong?". She sobbed, "I just got a call from Mexico. My cousin was just murdered!" 

I hugged her and said. "I'm so sorry. Let's hurry and finish with our other patients so you can get to your family." I got into my truck, and she got into her car. I started my truck and then said a quick prayer to the ANGELS OF HEALING, asking them to assist my interpreter, her family, and the soul who was murdered.

Within about 2-3 minutes of this prayer, I hear a woman's voice frantically screaming. "My name is Anna! This is Anna! Please tell my family that I am OK. This is Anna! Please tell my Mommita that I am OK. This is Anna!"

When we drove up to our next patient's home, I stopped and asked my interpreter, "Was your cousin's name, Anna?" She stared at me and asked, "How do you know that?" I told her the message I received, and she said, "Mommita is the special name my cousin used to call my aunt” (her mother).

I was happy to relay this loving message. These messages come freely to me now that I am no longer afraid of the occurrences. Spirit seems to look for telephones (sensitives who are close by) when they need to relay information to loved ones.

People are beginning to reevaluate their own experiences and put two and two together. Quantum theory's Field is the greatest truth being revealed. We are all connected. Each individual with psychic ability is able to bridge the field easily. But any person can open to the process. Try asking friends, including family about unusual psychic and spiritual experiences they have had in life and watch what happens.

If you would like to ask questions, add answers, or comment on this page please use my contact form. Start the conversation with the heading [My Paranormal Psychic And Spiritual Experiences].

Or if you're inspired to write a psychic and spiritual experiences guest post you can submit it here.