Religious Delusions and Hallucinations

[Electrum]

Does anyone else here have religious delusions and hallucinations? Or what you'd consider an extremely significant spiritual experience that makes you question your sanity?

I still don't know if mine are or are not real yet. It drives me nuts. Freaky things like.. I see shadow people. And there's this one I see and he wears a fedora hat. Silly, I know, but he does. Ok, so I finally get up enough courage to google shadow people and apparently there are tons of sightings of these things.

Most people see them out of the corner of there eyes. I do not. I can see them. Sometimes feel them there starring at me. This can be when I'm fully conscious (most not right before or after I sleep, because there is a scientific explanation for those hallucinations I forget what it's called).

Ok the freakiest 'effing thing I found. Some people have seen a shadow person with a FEDORA hat. I'm not the only person who has seen this damn thing!?!?!? I'm not sure if we're allowed to list links here, but if you're curious google shadow people and with a little digging you'll find sightings of the man in the fedora hat.

I always had a feeling, or a knowledge, that the man in the fedora was evil. Some sort of leader of the shadow people. Granted, most people would think a shadow person is evil I'm sure, but the fact that others get the same extremely mallicious feel of the fedora man just creeps me out.

I don't know. It's so hard to be this way. The last time I saw a shadow person I was in the mental hospital. I had no roomate and I was laying in bed just kinda starring at the other bed when like a misty pool of black substance started to wafte around and eventually formed into a shadow person. Ok, scary yes, but I have gotten a bit used to them so I just turned around to face my wall and eventually fell asleep.

The next morning I don't feel right AT ALL. Note that I had not started on any new medications yet. Everything seemed dreamy and I could see like... I geuss it's almost like seeing the particles that make up matter. Anyway, I told the nurse about what I saw and the particles (which I still see all the time) and trance and she started to do some normal checkups. I had a fever of 101! Sure, I felt hot, but not sick. She took my pulse and my pulse was really high. She got worried and they sent me over to a doctor but they confirmed I was not dehydrated or diabetic or even sick.

That night they prescribed me risperdal (anti-psychotic). That's the last time I saw a shadow person. The physical symptomes just kinda freak me out. The risperdal put me in a fog for the rest of my stay.

I've had tons of other experiences but that is my most recent one. I'd like to hear others if any other people experience these things, real or not or maybe :confused:

[Guest GingerSnap]

Interesting topic. I had never actually heard of shadow people - spirits and ghosts, yes. Actually, from what I have read and heard, the more open you are to such things, the more likely you are to experience them. Everything I say will probably seem like nonsense but I believe the "distance" between us and the spirit world has thinned. We have lived in a couple houses, one where the creaks were more than the old building and the other was very interesting in that I saw the shadow of a small woman (I am guessing probably one of the first people to live in the house built in the 1890s) several times gliding through the dining room and one day I finally said to my husband "we have a ghost" and he said "in the dining room? I have seen it." So, basically, I wonder how many people do see things like this and for fear of being considered, well, you know, they just don't say anything. I'm going to google it and see what comes up. The world has to be more complicated than just the ones of us hanging on the surface of earth for our lifetime.

[Aaron.X.C]

What exactly do you mean by shadow people? I may have seen them.

[spiritual_emergency]

Electrum: Does anyone else here have religious delusions and hallucinations? Or what you'd consider an extremely significant spiritual experience that makes you question your sanity?

Hello Electrum,

There were some very strong spiritual/religious aspects to my own experience despite the fact that I'm not a religious person. I'm not comfortable with the idea of labelling those experiences as delusions or hallucinations as I feel they were all very meaningful and relevant. I don't mind talking about some of those things if you'd like to return to the subject but for now, I thought I'd talk about a different aspect of your post...

I see shadow people. And there's this one I see and he wears a fedora hat. Silly, I know, but he does. Ok, so I finally get up enough courage to google shadow people and apparently there are tons of sightings of these things.

I have heard the same from many people and often, with the same descriptors: seen from the corner of the eye, flitting, fleeting shadows. I'm not sure what to make of such things sometimes. People who have undergone this kind of experience do seem to be highly sensitive to their environments. I've attributed this to the breakdown in ego boundaries.

Meantime, I did encounter a "shadow" aspect in my own experience but that experience does not fall within the scope of that description. Rather, there were "characters" (perhaps akin to your "man in the Fedora hat"?) and some of those "characters" were a bit more frightening than others. I found answers for myself within the Jungian model of the psyche, particularly the aspect of the psyche that is named, aptly enough, The Shadow. I thought I'd talk about that and you can decide if it would be a helpful way of approaching your own experience.

It might be helpful to first understand how the shadow is formed. It happens like this...

As a child you did the things children do. Some of those things probably brought praise and delight but other things, you might have been scolded or chastised for. This was how you came to understand that some things are considered "good" and some things are considered "bad". You also would have had life experiences you would have determined were good or bad, i.e.:

- ice cream on a hot day -- good!

- falling off your bicycle -- bad!

It's worth emphasizing that all of those experiences, whether they were good or bad, can be part of your total life experience but we don't like the unpleasant or painful stuff so we try not to think about it, or we distance ourselves from it, or we pretend it's not there. Those experiences and their accompanying emotions get stuffed into the Shadow side of our psyche. Meantime, everything that's "good"? That's often what we strive for and try to present about ourselves. This aspect of our psyche is referred to as the Persona because it's like a mask that is intended to both present our best side but also cover up the not-so-attractive side. Sometimes, even good things can be stuffed into the Shadow. For example, maybe you're someone who loves art and poetry but you come from a generation of four scientists and your family expects you to follow suit. A person might shove their artistic side into the Shadow because that part of them wasn't welcomed or accepted.

The Shadow can creep into a collective psyche as well. For example, imagine the following groups as one collective body and then, consider the Shadow aspects in the psyche of that collective body...

- Germany in the aftermath of the Holocaust

- America in the aftermath of 9/11

- The Inquisition

- The Priesthood

- The historic treatment of the "mentally ill"

- Corporatism

- Parenthood...

Once we become aware of it, we can "see" the Shadow everywhere.

To return to your personal experience of this shadowy figure in a Fedora hat... perhaps you could think about whether or not this figure represents some aspect of your own personal Shadow or perhaps, some aspect of a collective Shadow. Remember that the Shadow is not all "bad" and it often has some very valuable lessons to teach us when we're ready to hear them. The Shadow can also be frightening however so it may be most compassionate to explore it within the safety of a therapeutic container -- with a trusted friend or therapist. There is never any obligation to explore beyond the bounds you're personally comfortable with.

Anyway, that was my experience and understanding of "Shadow" figures. If there's something there that is of value to you, feel free to pick it up and walk with it for a while. If there wasn't, that's fine too.

~ Namaste

See also:

- The Shadow

- Movie Trailer: The Shadow Effect

[Mjolnir07]

Once we become aware of it, we can "see" the Shadow everywhere.

To return to your personal experience of this shadowy figure in a Fedora hat... perhaps you could think about whether or not this figure represents some aspect of your own personal Shadow or perhaps, some aspect of a collective Shadow.

Aye. Did the shadow-man ever speak to, or gesture at you Electrum? Or was he just present?

This might be the Shadow man in you, lad, and perhaps deep down you feel like you are being trailed by the negative aspects of yourself, or that you know you need to learn something important from them. Or maybe you just have a weight on your shoulders you're not ready to acknowledge?

I understand religious delusions. Much of my faith is founded upon the fact that I have (rarely) seen and (constantly) spoken to my gods. I have had to accept that whether my gods are real and are communicating with me or not that does not mean that I need to abandon the positive aspects of my faith just because it may be a hallucination. I personally find it easier to accept that these are delusions when I have a negative experience with my gods. So, these times are when I consider my religion a delusion. This way I benefit from the faith and simultaneously am not influenced in the wrong direction by it.

When is it ever a bad idea to enjoy the hope that there is someone with greater understanding and a higher presence than yourself who is watching over you and has your well-being in mind?

With shadow-people, I am curious to know what about these people feels religious to you. Is it just that they seem evil? What do you feel like their purpose is, if you could guess? Do you think they have a motive?

I don't know if you're particularly into reading, but Stephen King wrong a novel that very much deals with a world that is unseen to most but awake in the eyes of a select few. It's called Insomnia. It was very entertaining and raises a number of interesting philosophical points.