Do you believe in past lives/psychic phenomenon?

[Jalapeñomel]

No, I don't.

[pinotgrig]

I don't believe in it. But scary movies about this stuff still scare the ever loving bejeebus out of me.

[anna7602]

My daughter totally predicts stuff and I now listen to her a lot more than I used to. One example is when we were traveling in Argentina together and I left her in our AirBnB apartment with my niece so I could run out to the ATM. DD was just shy of 3 at the time and didn't want me to go, saying "mommy, don't let them take your card!" 

I went to the machine and through some non-user error, it swallowed my ATM card. I ended up having to spend two hours at the stupid bank to get it all sorted out, all without a cell phone and no ability to tell my niece what had happened. 

There have been other instances like this, but this is the one that most stands out in my mind. DD had a very bizarre conversation with my much-older sister once last year about my paternal grandmother who died when my sister was about 10, but before I was born. My sister and DD seemed to both be talking about a person they had both known in a way that freaked me the heck out. I've also had really vivid dreams about my maternal grandmother (whom I did know, but who passed away long before DD was born) and DD talking and being together that make me feel like DD has some weird connection to her ancestors. 

[momin2013]

Yes, I do. I have no cool anecdotes to share, but I do believe it's possible.

[bowies]

I'm open to all possibilities.

I get deja vu a lot. Like, I know I've been somewhere before but I know there's no possible way I could have. Or I can predict something occurring, though it's usually small in nature, like receiving a phone call or knowing if there's a speed trap on the highway.

ETA: I do get messages from a deceased childhood friend. When something meaningful happens in my life, she sends me a rainbow or I can feel her energy. I could also feel the energy of my deceased dog for a few weeks after she passed.

[hainesherway]

I think it can and does happen. Probably the weirdest thing that ever happened to me was the night before the tsunami in Thailand in 2004 I had a dream about it.

[Deleted]

Sort of.

My oldest has had 4 instances:

1. The day I found out I was pregnant with our second she told me she was gonna have a baby brother named Alexander. I found out i was pregnant a few hours later. It turned out it was a sister and we named her Alexandra.

2. The day before the second was born, she gave my tummy a kiss and said "we will meet you tomorrow baby sister." I thought this was so hilarious when I went into labor the following morning.

3. One night DH was giving her a bath and he had a fleeting thought that he should call his friend because he had just come back from a trip. He didn't say anything. She looked at him and said, "daddy who's whatever the friend's name was?"

4. When my SIL was pregnant and around her due date my oldest said "the moon tells me aunt Sarah is going to go to the hospital tonight, but she's not going to have a baby tonight, she's going to get sent home." Sure enough she went to the hospital 2 or 3 times that night and was sent home each time and didn't have a baby that night. I'd never been sent home from my birth location so it was especially weird for her to come up with that.

My youngest has had 1 instance:

1. DHs unit got a new guy and DH was driving DS somewhere and thinking about this new guy with a really uncommon name and wondering how he was liking the new unit. DS asked him who the uncommon name was.

I just recently had an instance as well. I had this feeling deep down that DH was going to get deployed. There was absolutely no reason to think this. He hadn't said anything and in fact wasn't even in town at the time. Deployments have slowed down and he hasn't been deployed in 8 years. I couldn't ignore it so I asked him off handedly if he was being deployed. Turns out he had just gotten the news that his unit was deploying a day or two earlier. He's not in he list to go right now so there was no reason to tell me. It was bizarre that I "guessed" it.

[7costanza]

I do. I had a very vivid dream about my grandma a few weeks after she passed and am positive it was her spirit visiting me. When I woke up I felt her spirit in the room with me. I also get feelings/premonitions about stuff, most often about pregnancies of friends and co-workers. I don't have any past life anecdotes, but I believe in reincarnation.

[momin2013]

I guess I do have one story: I was lying in bed late one night and all of a sudden I was positive I saw my Grandma's face floating way high up in the corrner near the ceiling (she was in the hospital at the time, and not doing well). I didn't feel creeped out or anything, I remember feeling peaceful and just...calm. The phone rang about 15 minutes later, and it was the hospital calling to say she had passed. When my mom came in my room to tell me, I felt like I already knew.

[krystee]

I believe in or am at least open to the idea of some things, but not past lives.

[Deleted]

No.

[sent]

Yes. I have not experienced it and will be super creeped out if it happens with DD but I believe it happens. You can fall down the internet rabbit hole of researchers who have documented this kind of stuff in children. ETA - I see someone reference the department at UVA I was referring to.

 I read an article that since reincarnation is not really a part of the belief systems (mainly religious) of the majority of Americans, it's brushed aside and not taken seriously here. I come from a religion that believes in reincarnation but we've never talked about it or anything when I was growing up. I started thinking about this a lot more when I saw a foreign film called "The Golden Fortress" in high school and was really spooked by the concept. As I got older and Google got invented, I was really intrigued by the stories I've read and I can't just brush them off.

[halfpint]

I believe there is energy out there that we can't explain. I can't get all the way to reincarnation, or even a hard definition of ghosts or spirits or psychic abilities, but I think there's enough that seems to happen to people - maybe some are just more tuned in to the energy around them.

[anna7602]

sxia, your story about the house is interesting. I've had these strong feelings of recognition/belonging about the last few places we have ended up living in when I saw them for the first time. Strong enough to fork over down payments and do ten tons of paperwork to seal the commitment, so not silly feelings by any stretch of the imagination.

I also had a "love at first sight" kind of feeling about DH and about one of my close friends (I knew as soon as I saw her that we would click, I can't explain why).

[scribellesam]

Probably not? I love the idea and reading stories like these, though.

[gerberdaisy]

I very much believe that there is energy out there that some people can pick up on, especially children. No real stories to share, but my mom and I have both had some instances where it clearly seemed like a deceased loved one was looking out for us or just sharing their presence.

I love reading stories about people's experiences, well, I like the positive ones.

[mlt]

No

[matildasun]

I believe in reincarnation, but more of a recycling of energy, than of an exchange of souls.

I don't believe in god, but I do believe that there is some sort of energy that connects everthing, and that the energy is released back into the universe to become something/someone else in the moment of death.

[SallySparrow]

Yes. I have dreams or premonitions that come true sometimes. Nothing super exciting, and I have no control over it, but I will know a specific thing is going to happen and it does.

I have really strong deja vu at times.

My mom says when I was little I would tell her stories about my "other mommy". Like, really in depth stories, beyond what a normal little kid might imagine. I don't remember that.

I do remember I used to have dreams in elementary/middle school that I had a different family. And they were the same people in every dream. And the dreams were kind of boring every day life stuff. Too much Little House on the Prairie might explain that one. I don't have them anymore.

There are a few other things that would probably make me sound crazy, and I swear I'm not, so I'll keep those to myself. lol

[mrsfarmer]

Yes. FIL has continually sent us messages regarding the girls. There is a repeating 2 theme and there is a certain song that plays on a certain radio station whenever we were about to get good news regarding DD2's custody battle/and now when something good is going to happen. It's a song about good things coming, so I don't believe it's a coincidence.

One morning, I needed to drive in a very congested area of a freeway and I hate getting caught in bumper to bumper traffic. Before I left the house, I went into my bathroom and there was a gush of wind past our exhaust fan that sounded like my dad's deep breathing; I had smoothe sailing the whole way down in rush hour traffic.

[satsuma]

I don't believe in anything really, even though I have my share of weird stories. Like my sister telling me she thought a relative died and then we got the news the next morning.

[yellowbrkrd]

Nope.

[zarapipe]

No

I like hearing the stories though and I have deja vu a lot which freaks me out.

[raangoli]

I do - I can't quite explain why, but I definitely do believe. I've had quite a few deja vu-esque moments where I've stopped and wondered.

Then, for me, there is always the religious aspect of reincarnation.

[Marmee]

No but I enjoy theorizing & talking about it. My DH does too & has read several books on it. He went to UVA so maybe that is where he first heard/got interested in it. The book "Life Before Life" sounded intriguing.

[Deleted]

Yes. I totally believe in spirts and intuition and a connectedness between us and things larger than us.

I am also not one to actively seek out that connection but I do feel the presence of the people I loved that have passed on very very often and I just acknowledge them and move on. It feels healthier that way.

[magpie]

Not really. I'm not totally closed to the idea, but I've yet to have compelling evidence. DD was telling me something about a car crash this morning. I hope she isn't right.

[momin2013]

See, I feel no creepiness at all at the thought of my loved ones' spirits being around. The way I see it, if it does work that way, one day I'll be one of those spirits, and I certainly won't be creepy or anything to be afraid of.

[Queen Mamadala]

These are concepts I entertain quite a bit, and I think many of them would be cool, but I don't believe in them. I'm rather agnostic concerning most metaphysical concepts/ideas.

[Deleted]

No not really but I do get spooked easily.