Personal Experiences in Childhood
Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 10:20 am
Although this forum is not very active, I will post about my experiences with the hope that perhaps there will be others who will post about their own.
I recall a few instances from my childhood when I had visual or auditory hallucinations. I was not then, nor ever, psychotic.
When very young, I once "saw" a ghost. It was 2D, solid white, and moved like an amoeba. It was about six feet long and floated horizontally about 6 feet above the ground, outdoors.
Occasionally, I had auditory hallucinations. This happened often enough that I assumed that the experience was common to everyone.
The most notable occasion happened thus:
I was in the 2nd grade and was on the playground during recess at school. There was a younger child who wore braces on her legs. I saw her fall. Then I heard the Holy Spirit tell me to "Pick her up." One does not ignore God, and so even though I was very shy and also fearful of the child's older sister who was a bully, I dutifully went and lifted the child to her feet. The effect of the voice was almost physical. It came to me in kind of a whoosh.
As I recall, that was the only time that I heard "God." Other times, I merely heard a bodiless voice call my name, or say something like "There she is." I was an unusually religious child. I took the Sunday School lessons very seriously, although the other children appeared to be unaffected. That may have had something to do with hearing God. We did not have television. This was back in the late 50's/early 60's, and not everyone did have TV back then. So, my development was largely unaffected by that.
I was well cared for, but my childhood was somewhat stressful, because my mother was (I now understand) bipolar. Her mania manifested as periods of intense energy, anxiety, and temper tantrums. Very elderly now, she has visual and auditory hallucinations. I have a cousin who is schizophrenic. Alcoholism runs in the family (self medication?).
When I read "The Origin of Consciousness..." about 30 years ago, it made perfect sense to me and I consider it to be one of the most important books I have ever read.
I recall a few instances from my childhood when I had visual or auditory hallucinations. I was not then, nor ever, psychotic.
When very young, I once "saw" a ghost. It was 2D, solid white, and moved like an amoeba. It was about six feet long and floated horizontally about 6 feet above the ground, outdoors.
Occasionally, I had auditory hallucinations. This happened often enough that I assumed that the experience was common to everyone.
The most notable occasion happened thus:
I was in the 2nd grade and was on the playground during recess at school. There was a younger child who wore braces on her legs. I saw her fall. Then I heard the Holy Spirit tell me to "Pick her up." One does not ignore God, and so even though I was very shy and also fearful of the child's older sister who was a bully, I dutifully went and lifted the child to her feet. The effect of the voice was almost physical. It came to me in kind of a whoosh.
As I recall, that was the only time that I heard "God." Other times, I merely heard a bodiless voice call my name, or say something like "There she is." I was an unusually religious child. I took the Sunday School lessons very seriously, although the other children appeared to be unaffected. That may have had something to do with hearing God. We did not have television. This was back in the late 50's/early 60's, and not everyone did have TV back then. So, my development was largely unaffected by that.
I was well cared for, but my childhood was somewhat stressful, because my mother was (I now understand) bipolar. Her mania manifested as periods of intense energy, anxiety, and temper tantrums. Very elderly now, she has visual and auditory hallucinations. I have a cousin who is schizophrenic. Alcoholism runs in the family (self medication?).
When I read "The Origin of Consciousness..." about 30 years ago, it made perfect sense to me and I consider it to be one of the most important books I have ever read.