The Entity Hovering Around Me

Okay - well, since I've written on some paranormal topics that will either make people cringe, laugh or consider me one of those "nutters," I might as well tell of a personal and recurring experience in my life that is a little unusual.

I truly have NO APPROPRIATE or SATISFACTORY explanation for it...

...but before I start explaining this recurring "thing" - not sure whether to call it an event or a thing because it happens over and over but involves a thing I cannot name...

Yes - before I begin, I have to say that "paranormal" topics are not my forte. I TRULY ENJOY SCARY STORIES - along the lines of urban legend, myths, etc., - because stories fit into places, categories, situations that I CAN EXPLAIN or that often make a great deal of sense.

NOT SO WITH PARANORMAL TOPICS...although 'paranormal events' often turn out to be related to or stemming directly from urban legends, mythology, tales, etc. (BTW - I like it when my research leads in this direction...safe, explained, classified - "whew*).

Necessarily, in my research of and out of my love for urban legends, I was naturally going to end up immersed in paranormal topics, you see? A whole ton of urban legends reach into the realm of 'ghost story,' "UFO encounters," "Conspiracies," "demons and angels" and other things not yet explained in our world.

I'm mentioning all this because I'm sure that some who read my hubs will be more experienced in paranormal matters and have more knowledge than I have gained thus far in paranormal topics. I guess I'm just admitting that I'm not an expert in the paranormal or about mysterious entities - however, I do understand how human beings create some of the entities that do turn out NOT TO BE ghosts, etc. Also - there's something more COMPLEX and COMPLICATED at work in some stories and even in accounts of paranormal experiences - and these are the actual EFFECTS that these stories and accounts have on people and on society...

EVEN WHEN a myth is debunked - when an urban legend or paranormal experience is fully studied and found to have logical, earthly and scientific meaning - the EXPERIENCES and FEELINGS (the mental, emotional and spiritual effects) surrounding a person are important to pay attention to... ie: for someone who has experienced a 'ghost' but finds out that 'ghost' was just something insignificant, logical and unrelated to the spiritual or ghostly world at all - the brain does not automatically "DISCOUNT" or eliminate the EXPERIENCE the person already lived through - involving emotions, mental facilities, body reactions (perhaps the 'fight or flight' response). The 'old belief system about that event' while it was occurring - may continue to affect someone for a long duration. People can still be TRAUMATIZED by events, long after finding out that a ghost at the window was really the neighbor's laundry hanging out on the line a few hundred feet away...

Because I understand about how urban legends and other tales PERSIST even after due research shows them to be 'untrue,' I treat all stories and accounts as a 'truth' or sorts. Mostly, I treat the possible emotions and mental states of people as a source containing the 'truth' of human experience...then I look at the fabric of a story/event or account that I am examining. For me, only the fabric of the story-event can be judged with any degree of accuracy. Many who have lived through terrifying experiences or who have believed in something frightening (or unusual, or even beneficial - hint - religion), still do not feel differently about their experiences IF a certain explanation arises to tell a person what they experienced has a logical, scientific explanation.

I suppose I'm just planting this information as best I can for you - because what I will relate further down the hub is definitely KOOKY in nature...I'm hoping the above text will put you in mind to receive the text below with some empathy as well as healthy skepticism because I really DO NOT KNOW what to call or how to classify my recurring experiences...

For the past few years, I keep experiencing something like a benevolent presence near me - so often, and so non-threatening that it has actually become 'familiar' to me and I think nothing of reacting - physically - as if it 'belongs' near me.

I do NOT KNOW what this 'thing' is - and I never realized until a few months ago that I totally react as if 'things are normal' when a certain 'incident' occurs.

I have definitely minimized the 'event' into something that is 'normal' around me but I'm not positive that what is happening is 'paranormal' or just my brain's neurons doing something 'funny.'

When I am just hanging out at home - with my trusty feline companion, Riverius The Terrible (or Riverius The Meek or Riverius The Genius - whatever he likes to be called on any certain day lol), I feel something brush against my leg...and it feels JUST LIKE A PET. Only this happens when I am looking at Riverius The Fabulous Log-Impersonator while he's napping on the chair, across the room! I only have one (visible) pet in my home. Additionally - Riverius The Territorial Rescue Cat, so far, will not have things any other way.

Now, for the next sentence, go ahead and laugh...it looks funny, and sounds hilarious - get ready to laugh:

I think I have a ghost-pet around me.

I have certain medical conditions which, I believe, might explain this physical sensation and feeling that something is around me at certain times....

However...

Paranormal enthusiasts I chat with and friends I know in real life who believe in psychic and paranormal phenomena believe I do have a ghost spirit that is a pet and that it is around me, attached to me.

The medical/logical explanation: this still involves a bit of 'mystery' of the human brain but I feel comfortable saying that the medical/logical explanation might be the answer to what's going on.

I suffer with severe atypical migraines. During a really bad migraine episode, I lose my speech, feelings at the tips of my hands and feet, feel like my feet and legs are NOT attached to my body and I have to physically look down to see what my feet are doing! I lose peripheral vision and my face goes numb. Basically, the symptoms of my migraine appear like stroke symptoms and also - if an atypical migraine is very severe for me, it takes me a few days to 'recover' from the migraine experience. I often require hospitalization for these episodes - rehydration and treatment administered by I.V. methods - in short - they're serious and they totally affect whether or not I can function for a time span of several hours to a couple of days.

With all this in mind - I think that the physical sensation I feel very often is wrapped up in the fact of 'neurons' in my brain messing around, re-connecting, mis-firing after severe atypical migraine experiences.

As I was saying previously on this hub - knowing the logic of something may not change the actual experience of something. In my case - I am sure I will continue to "step over the ghost pet" in the future because - regardless of whether or not this experience is my neurons mis-firing, IT FEELS LIKE a pet is standing beside me, leaning on me - or has just brushed by me. It truly is a complete physical sensation and is a sensation I am familiar with from all the pets I've had over the years.

A paranormal explanation: a ghost-pet spirit is attached to me.

Some who believe in ghosts and spirits and other entities in paranormal realms have heard of my experiences - both online-only friends and real-life face to face friends...and they feel my 'migraine/neuron' explanation might not be a valid explanation. Especially those face-to-face personal friends who have seen me in my home and who have seen me actually STEP OVER SOMETHING THAT IS NOT THERE - have said "it's not the migraines, my dear - I think you have a GHOST PET with you."

I totally suck with organic life forms in the 'flora' classification but for 'Fauna' - animals - I have what I think is a very special relationship with them. People who observe me with animals have said I definitely have 'a way with animals,' however - I only have 'a way with' some animals.

Some who know me also say I have a psychic connection with animals - again - I say - only with certain types of animals. If 'psychic connection' means I exude some sort of 'nice to animals hormones or energy' then I can buy the psychic connection idea. I believe a TON of what people call 'psychic' in the 'mysterious, otherworldly or special powers' sense is a bunch of misunderstood BUNK...really, we exhibit tons of body language and energies that can be explained - and we can influence those around us by our body language and energies...which get mistaken for 'special powers' in those who do not understand energy and body language.

So - I can go with the psychic connection idea on one hand but not on the other - and I do agree that I have a connection with many domestic types of animals. Certainly I am fond of them and believe that pets are important beings, deserving of care, respect in our world.

I'm particularly fond of two of the most common pets - dogs and cats. I own a rescue cat that was spared a life in a shelter - possibly a very short, stressful existence. I've had Riverius The Magnificent Deity-Like Fauna Specimen for 3+ years now - but I might not be communicating telepathically with him in any special way when I feed him, care for him, play with him...it could be that my connection is about all the time I've spent learning about new ways to RESPECT a feline who suffered abandonment, starvation and abuse...and the special cues I give him throughout the day may look like 'psychic communication' to my real life friends from time to time...

We "TALK" to each other, Riverius The Sage and I - every day, all the time...and I have learned to respond to some of his feline sounds...which probably make things look like my feline communicates with me via extrasensory means. Really - I just studied the li'l guy CONSTANTLY for his cues on important matters like 'territorial tendencies,' 'signs of discomfort,' 'signs of nervousness,' 'signs of contentment,' and a ton of other indicators about how my cat might be navigating in our little world together.

So - it's no secret now that I love pets...and I have always observed my pets carefully and learned to communicate with them. I had a little trick with a pooch that was part of my life for 13 years and this trick/training made it appear like I was mentally controlling my pooch. It was simply that I taught the li'l guy hand signals...so he would roll over, sit, lay down, bark, "mew" and he responded to about 7 other commands by hand signals. If people watched only the dog, while hearing my voice do everything but 'command' a certain action from my pooch, then of course - it appeared like the dog 'knew' what I expected him to do, the action I wanted him to perform...

It takes a LOT of observation, patience, and 'connection' with a pet to communicate in this way. It takes a LOT of observation, patience and 'connection' with a pet to end up with the relationship I have with my rescued kitten-turned-Riverius-King-Cat, too.

But, alas...nothing more magical than the magic of closeness and respect going on here.

And what does this have to do, ultimately, with the "Ghost Pet" idea?

Well...based on how I THINK I know my feline pretty well, I am not sure what to think of HIS behavior on at least one matter...he responds weird in the house right after I experience the physical sensation of a 'ghost pet.'

It will take me more time and observing to figure out whether or not my cat is just messing around, playing - or whether he actually senses a 'ghost-pet,' too.

The last time a friend was over and the hour got late, he remarked on how my cat was suddenly acting 'friskier' and 'silly,' whereas most of the time before, my cat spent wandering around, napping part of the time, and mostly acted 'chilled out.' I did not bother mentioning to the friend that I had just 'felt' the sensation like happens when my real cat brushes up against me or rests against my foot and leg...and within a minute or so, Riverius The Playful, started 'doing his own thing,' running around, mewing, dashing up and down the stairs a few times...

In my opinion, I tend toward the explanation that my brain is giving me strange sensations after migraine experiences - and that my cat reacts to what I react to...

I do, indeed, 'step over something invisible' because it feels like something just leaned against me or brushed up against me - and I'm sure my cat might be capable of reacting to that in a way I do not yet understand...

This entire topic was brought out in the open most recently because a visitor in my home actually asked me "what was that - what are you doing?" not long ago during a visit. I had gone over to the sink, visible from where my friend was sitting - but when I returned to sit down, first I STEPPED OVER the ghost-pet lol then walked back to my chair to sit down. I agree - that must have appeared strange...I ended up mentioning this 'ghost-pet' sensation and since then, I've mentioned the situation to about a dozen people.

Almost nobody is partial to the explanation that I favour! The medical/logical explanation. Most people are wondering about the 'ghost-pet' idea.

Friends and acquaintances have spoken some compelling stories and theories, however, that make it possible to at least look beyond the medical condition and also at my cat's behaviors to wonder if a ghost-pet is a possibility.

What do readers think? Have any of you experienced or DO any of you experience something similar?