Phenomena

 

Have you ever experienced something that could not be explained?  Something that was strange, out of the ordinary, or even, as some might describe, supernatural?  I would use the term spiritual rather than supernatural.  Well, I have had some of these types of experiences throughout my life.  I know I have written about a few of them in past posts on this blog, but there are more.  I might get a little "Archie's Weird Mysteries" on you...............Yes, I used to watch that cartoon, and I loved it!  I'm reminded of this through my recent entertainment endeavors into the Netflix show Riverdale and re-watching Smallville.  Smallville seems to be more along the lines of Archie's Weird Mysteries than Riverdale does.  Riverdale is actually based on the Archie comics, and I found some disappointment at finding more of a teenage soap opera drama that circulates around sex, suicide, north vs. south gangs, murder mystery, and mental illness.  Well, there are aspects of the show I do like, but much is left to be desired on the "weird mystery" front.  The sex, suicide, scandals are not really my cup of tea, but I do love a good mystery. 

Recently I've also gotten reacquainted with my love for crime..........no, I'm not a criminal!  I probably had you there for a second!  I actually love true crime, the mystery, the intrigue, and the psychology of the criminal mind.  I can't seem to get enough of it sometimes.  Okay, so, maybe I'm a bit odd..........my stomach can't always handle watching, say a surgery, but I can listen to details of some murderous crimes with no problem.  It's a dark world........the one of killers.  What is interesting to me is the why?  Why do some people kill?  What are the driving factors?  I promise this is not going to be a dark post.........I just want to mention one very interesting detail of this dark world before I go into a world of light and love, so stick with me.  

I've been watching a show called Evil Lives Here: The Killer Speaks. I know it sounds like a real downer.  I never watch anything really scary because I do think those things can be a portal to this darkness.  So, you have to be careful.  This show sounds like something I shouldn't watch........I did anyway.  I couldn't help my curiosity for the mind.  I almost did not watch it just based on the title, but it's been really interesting to get an idea into the minds of these people.  This is a series that talks with the families of the killers, and then directly talks with the killer in prison.  So, we get the story, the tragedy, and both sides of it.  One thing the family members mention in every case is about the eyes of the killer.  They all say, "there's nothing there behind the eyes", or "their eyes went blank or black", and even "the eyes are the window to the soul, and the soul was dark or not there."  In some of these cases the killers mention reasons for doing it such as "I don't know, I can't explain it", "I didn't feel anything........I'm not capable of love", "I'm not insane, but wanted to look insane so I could get help", and even "I'm just an evil person.".  Some of them talk about having very dark thoughts in the years before anything ever happened.  They mention demons, and some other very dark things I won't get into.  Some of them had a clear intention to kill and knew exactly what they were doing, but others it seemed like something else took over them.  In both of these situations, mental illnesses, or personality disorders could explain much of it, but even then, there seems to be an element of ambiguity.

THE AUTISTICS

A podcast I've been listening to directed me to The Telepathy Tapes podcast.  I wasn't sure I wanted to
dive down that rabbit hole, but I'm glad I did!  I thought, "why not?  It can't be any crazier than anything else I listen to on a daily basis, haha!"  So, I dove headfirst!  It has been a most fascinating journey!  The Telepathy Tapes takes us into the world of non-verbal and limited verbal autistic people.  I'm not a psychologist, a special needs teacher, or provider for anyone in this group.  I don't really know all that much about this topic.  I know plenty of people who have autistic children or are autistic themselves, but I haven't really done much research on the topic.  Most would probably dismiss this podcast as a hoax, no credibility, or just flat out false.  As advised, I listened to all 10 episodes before passing judgement.  I kept an open mind and came to find a world I have somewhat been familiar with.  

Before I get into telling about my familiarity with this world, I will first briefly mention some of the stories of the unexplained.  When many of these non-verbal autistics learn to communicate through letter boards, essentially typing, they reveal quite a lot of very interesting things.  Now, there is a lot of controversy surrounding the letter board typing and why it shouldn't be taught or used, but I'm not going to focus on that.  In The Telepathy Tapes they call it spelling.  I'm going to strictly focus on listening to their communications and what their parents say.  You can dive into that later if you want.  The Telepathy Tapes does touch on this controversy and talks with parents about it as well.

Once the autistic person can spell out sentences and can control their body enough to type, OH BOY, the stories they are telling................Many of their first sentences are things like "I'm in here", and "God is a great gift giver".  They also reveal that they can read the minds of their parents and others around them.  These amazing individuals are showing that they know way more and are way smarter than anyone gives them credit for.  Some have been able to type in other languages, multiple languages, and even ancient types of languages.  Their writings sound biblical or Shakespearean.   Some have shown the ability to understand multiple languages even hieroglyphics.  Some have other abilities such as being Savant, Claire Voyant, and Telepathic.  

One boy was able to type out word for word, with one mistake the entire Declaration of Independence.  His mother verified that she had never shown him that document, read it to him, and claimed he had never even had a history class.  Some of these kids and young adults have incredible talent for music or math despite never having a music or math class.  The music savants have demonstrated perfect pitch and the ability to write some amazing music without ever having any prior training. Some of these special people can see future events making accurate predictions about people they've never met and even tragic events prior to them happening.

There is one boy that really was interesting to me.  He had never learned the letter board or spelling but was communicating only telepathically with his mother.  What's so interesting about this particular case was that the communication took place mostly through lucid dreams.  A lucid dream is when you wake up in the dream and have awareness in the dream, and you are able to somewhat control or influence the dream.  He would appear in her dreams and do something strange like hand her a pink umbrella, or a cup of water, and he would tell her to wake up.  The strange action was her cue to wake up to have a deeper experience with him.  When she switched to a lucid state they would talk, and he would tell her what he needed.  The next day he would do something similar to the cue he gave her in the dream to let her know that it was him and it was real.  

As this lucid dream communication continued, he started giving her songs to write for him.  She describes this like a mental download in her mind at night.  When she woke up, she'd write everything nonstop.  She would have her son look at it and she would ask if it was right or if it needed change.  He would confirm with a nod or shake his head.  They would write an entire album in one day.  He could sing songs and play instruments.  His mom mentioned that often he communicates through song during the day.  For instance, if he was hungry, he would sing a song that had to do with food.  I've been blown away by this particular story because I've played the piano and sang for years.  It's taken me so many hours of practice to get to the point of accompanying myself as I sing.  I'm surprised that he doesn't talk because he can sing quite clearly, has perfect pitch, and is able to sit down at the piano and just play and sing songs like Sealed with a Kiss, and All I Have to do Is Dream.  How incredibly appropriate!

Members of this community talk often of God, Angels, heaven, and a place called the Hill where they all go to be with each other.  They also spell about learning in another realm, being taught by God, Ghandi, Rabbis, and great minds in history.  One boy explained angels taking him to a classroom at night where the tables were triangular shaped.  He explained putting on different hats and hearing the most wonderful stories he had ever heard.   The hats were labeled Twain, Steinbeck, and other great creators of the most amazing literary works.  He mentions that there were many hats that were of fantasy stories as well.  His favorite was Fitzgerald, quoting "Love hates it when we choose money".  He also said his favorite characters were Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.  This boy's mother swears she has never read those books to her kids.  This story touched me because I love classic literature myself.

Something these individuals share is that they all seem to have some disconnect from their body.  This may vary in different degrees between individuals.  One boy from India described to his mom that he did not know he had a body; he was not aware of it.  Another boy described always feeling like he was falling out of the bottom of his body.  He mentioned having to shake his hands a lot to know where they were and remember that he had them.  It can't really be explained why they have this disconnection, but this disconnect could be the reason they see things we don't see; perhaps moving between realms or consciousnesses.  I think the body disconnect is what allows them to be more spiritually connected.  They could also have this deep connection to consciousness because they can't speak.  Perhaps it's like a sixth sense that is strengthened because there's an absence of other senses.  Another example would be blind people having a heightened sense of hearing.

A girl in Arizona could predict future events.  One instance she told her dad to be careful not to slip on the ice because he was going to hurt his head. This was out of place because Arizona does not typically get a lot of ice in the Pheonix area.  When her dad went on a business trip to another state he did indeed slip on some ice and had to go to the hospital.   This girl was also able to predict a school shooting before it happened. 

THE HILL

What is "The Hill"?  The hill is a place where all of these non-verbal autistics go to be together.  This is accomplished telepathically.  It has been described like a radio channel you tune into with your mind and when everyone is on the same channel you see all others like you there. They mention people from other countries being there as well.  You talk to each other, make friends, encourage and uplift one another.  Many of these kids tell of friends they have made at the hill.  One girl told her mom about her best friend Fiona.  Her mom knew that her daughter was having a hard time not being accepted and that she wanted friends, so she went to find Fiona.  She looked all over town and all over the school and there was no Fiona.  Later, she found out that Fiona was a friend from the hill.  A boy on the East coast of the United States typed of his best friend in Utah.  His mother was so confused but later found the boy's mom in Utah and called her.  She told the Utah woman that her son was best friends with her son.  This friendship of course, took place on the hill.  Their families had never met before, and yes both boys were non-verbal autistic.  

In The Telepathy Tapes there are several stories of kids from various places.  So many of these people have mentioned the Hill.  They write about it often.  How is it that all of these individuals know of each other but have never physically met in person.  If this was some hoax or elaborate conspiracy, I would have to believe that thousands, of people across the globe made up this place called the hill and have been in communication, not telepathically because that does not exist, to keep this story straight.  That's kind of crazy.  Why would they make something like this up?  It is incredibly hard to live with and care for one of these autistic individuals.  Parents are always fighting the medical community, insurance, pharmacy, schools, and even the government just to give their kids the best they can, and to help them maintain some kind of autonomy.  The idea of this being a fabrication is just insane to me.  I believe the parents.  Being a parent myself, I can say good, loving parents know their kids and do whatever they can to help them.  The only reason they have for putting this out there is so that their kids can be seen as they really are, and so they can fight for and maintain their rights to just get their needs met.  It's clear that they don't just want to be on medications and treated as if they are still toddlers.  They want access to education, and they want to be provided what they need to accomplish their dreams.  

In episode 9 of The Telepathy Tapes, they tell the end of John Paul's story.  He is a beloved non-verbal autistic.  He had a girlfriend, and he loved having autonomy any time he could.  He was incredibly smart, loved water, loved his family, and wanted to be a voice for others like him.  He often spelled out to others about the hill.  Sadly, he left this mortal life too soon.  He had a seizure while he was enjoying some time in the hot tub at his house.  Before he passed, his mom, girlfriend Lily, and Lily's mom described having the best day.   When they got home from their outing John Paul's mom complained of being so tired that she had to go take a nap.  Lily's mother did the same while Lily took a shower.  Before going for a nap John Paul lovingly touched his mom and said goodbye.  The sleep overtook her, and she said it was very weird because she never took naps.  When she woke up, she had a strange feeling, and then found her son face down in the hot tub below her window.  She and the rest of the family went out, and with great effort drug this gentle giant out of the hot tub.   Surprisingly, he was still alive.  John Paul's mother thinks he had a choice because they got him out in time, and she performed CPR; he threw up and started regaining color in his face.  She said that by the time the Ambulance got there he was just gone.  Before the word got out to anyone that he had passed, all of his friends knew.  His close friends interestingly enough had also been overtaken by sleep during the incident.  Other friends from the hill knew about it as well.  Lily knew exactly when he was gone, describing that she felt he was still with her; she felt his energy.  Lily also tells the story that John Paul had told everyone at the hill that he was going; he said his goodbyes.  One of John Paul's friends spelled out to his mother that John Paul was now free before they had received the news of his passing. There is more to this beautiful story; you just have to listen to the podcast!

THE OTHERS

There is another group of people that may understand this autistic community better than any other.  People who have had near death or death experiences.  Studies have shown that people who die and come back or have a near death experience display unexplained abilities afterward.  The ability to see people who have previously passed on, angels, and even God.  People who get a glimpse of the other side and have come back say that the realm remains open for them, leaving them with precognitive and psychic abilities.  Some people who suffer brain injury or trauma come back after recovery as savants, bearing the ability of seeing mathematics and geometric patterns in everything.  Sometimes after survival they might suddenly be an expert in a subject they've never studied before. 

THE ANIMALS

Animals are another group that is worth mentioning here.  I have always been aware of animal bonds and connections!  I've always had a special love and admiration for animals.  I enjoyed my time studying them while earning a zoology degree in college. Animals, I believe, have the ability to sense emotion and energy on a deep level and can predict things like earthquakes.  Animals tend to exhibit wild or strange behavior right before an earthquake.  I remember seeing this in my cats when I was a kid right before we had a moderate earthquake.  I remember my cats running up and down the stairs almost uncontrollably.  They ran through the house nonstop for what seemed like an hour, at least.  It was very strange.  There were reports of pets' strange behavior in Germany right before the US bombed Nazi sites.  How are they sensing catastrophic events such as these?  Before Germany was bombed, the planes would have been hundreds of miles away, but the animals were exhibiting wild behaviors.  My cats were acting crazy the night before the earthquake.  The earthquake happened at about 5am in the morning.  What exactly are they feeling?  We don't fully know; it might just be unexplained!  

There's a story of a woman and her pet parrot.  Every time she left town for work, the parrot would pull his feathers out.  After this happened several times, she took the bird to the vet and the vet told her to show the parrot a calendar and tell him that she was going to come home while showing him the day she would be home.   Every time she did this, the parrot did not pull his feathers out.  There was one time when she unexpectedly was delayed and came home a day late, and you guessed it, he pulled his feathers out.  What is going on here? The parrot probably does not understand the calendar concept, but maybe.  However, what he does understand is her intent.  Rupert Sheldrake, parapsychology researcher and author believes that animals can know our intent and can sense it over long distances.  Certain animals can know and anticipate when their owner is coming home, not based on routine.  Studies done in this field suggest that when the owner thinks or states they are going home, their pet has a reaction to it.  He believes that telepathy is involved.  

Lawrence Anthony from the Thula Thula conservation in Africa saved a rogue herd of elephants from certain death. This herd of elephants had been mistreated by humans and had a clear mistrust for them. They were trampling crops, properties, and wreaking havoc on the village. The locals were ready to have them put down when Lawrence heard about it. He made every effort to get them to his reserve. Once he brought them there they trampled the fences and ran away. The government gave him one last chance to save the herd. They did not run away a second time, but instead ended up forming a very strong bond with him. He would go out at night and sleep with them, he fed them, and made sure no other people came around them. Lawrence had many offers from zoos around the world that said they would take the elephants. He could have made a lot of money, but he chose to keep them and ensure a good life for them. The elephants really took him in as one of their own thinking of him as an equal. When Lawrence unexpectedly passed away the herd of elephants traveled 12 hours to his house on the reserve and stood outside for 2 days mourning his loss. How did they know he had died? It is well known that elephants are very smart and can form very deep bonds with their family, herd, and even people. They have very specific ways of mourning a loss. They have their own funeral to honor the dead. Since Lawrence's death they show up at his house on the anniversary day of his death and honor him every year. How do they know the day? It's such a touching story! Add this one to the pile of unexplained!

We know that cats and dogs especially form deep bonds with their owners and can sense their emotions. Horses, sheep, and birds have exhibited this ability as well. If the owner is depressed, sick, or injured the pet can come to their aid with great comfort. Cats may even possess the ability to stimulate bone growth and healing through purring.  It's not scientifically proven, but I made a post about this on Facebook a while ago and was met with stories of cats sitting very near the owner's broken bones constantly for days and weeks while purring.  The purring of a cat has the same frequency of bone growth or bone healing, and it's believed that it can play a role in healing broken bones.  One of my friends described her cats as if being on a mission.  As if they knew they had a job to do and only they could do it.  They both sat right beside her broken bone for weeks as often as possible, purring.  It's also believed that this is why cats don't suffer from bone diseases and deformities as often as dogs do.  Their purring is actually a mechanism by which they keep themselves healthy and whole.  

THE FREQUENCY

Frequency technology is really interesting.  It is known that everything has a frequency at which it vibrates.  One autistic child sought tuning forks to help him connect with his body.  When typing an explanation, he said that he was trying to get his soul and his body in tune.  As if the soul was one tone/vibration and the body was another.  What a beautiful and simple way of describing it.  Not only that, but this seems to be a very physical truth.  Tones and music do affect us, our mood, our health even.  Why would what he says not be believable? It makes sense. Dr. Raymond Rife created a frequency machine kind of like a radio.  He claimed that if we found the frequency of every bacterium, and cancer cell, we could effectively kill it with the right frequency.  Yes, this is real, and his research is being rediscovered today.  These machines can be bought, and people do use them to stay well; some have even claimed they did get rid of cancer with it.  There is a claim that Beethoven's 5th can kill cancer cells.  Jury is still out on that one, but I do think that could turn out to be true.  Another autistic child sought stones to help him feel more positive.  He claimed that they had a positive energy and surrounded himself with stones. 

Speaking of frequency, there is a funny story about Lucille Ball after she had some dental work done.  She was driving around town one day and suddenly heard a song, but the song wasn't coming from the radio, it was coming from her mouth!  She was completely stunned at hearing and feeling the vibrations of the song in her mouth.  She went to a doctor, and he said, "did you drive passed the radio station?" Lucille replied, "yes".  He then asked, "did you just get a filling?" She said, "yes".  Okay, so the doctor said her fillings were picking up the radio frequency.  Of course, Lucille tells it hilariously!  This was not an isolated incident.  Many other people claimed this happened to them too.  Could frequency signals be a way to explain telepathy?  Maybe.  Some scientists try to explain the mind as having its own field like a gravitational field or magnetic field, and that we can reach thoughts within that field even from other people.

THE SPIRITUAL

So back to one of my first statements.........why is this familiar to me?  This is familiar to me because I am a deeply religious person and I have had some questionable experiences; some unexplained phenomena in my life.  I believe in God, my faith is a Christian one, and my church teaches of a pre-existent life, that earth life in our body is temporary, and an afterlife where families can be together forever.  I also have a set of personal beliefs that are an extension of my religious ones based on my own experiences.  When the autistic, religious or not, communicate about God, angels, other realms, how time is happening all at once, essentially not existing how we know it, that love is everything, and that God is Love, I just can't help but relate to all of that with my own beliefs.  There are countless stories among the members of my church about spiritual experiences with those who have passed on, dying and seeing heaven, having premonitions, feeling evil forces, seeing angels, and having feelings to do something specific or not do something specific, otherwise known as promptings.  

When one of the kids on the Telepathy Tapes described how something played out on a reel in front of him, sort of like a vision, but for them it could be learning something, a premonition, or an event in the future, this was familiar.  My experience was with reading the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Christ.  When I read this book in its entirety in one month's time, this is what happened.  I felt it as if I was there, but I saw it like a reel in my mind as I read.  I saw it like I would see a movie.  This experience was very spiritual for me.  

The story about the lucid dreaming communication was familiar to me because I think I've experienced lucid dreams.  It's usually about this blog.  When I'm thinking of something to write about sometimes it comes to me in dreams, or my dreams remind me of experiences I should write about.  Sometimes I wake up in the morning full of words and sentences that I can't seem to get written down fast enough.  I pray that I remember it long enough because I can't always write first thing in the morning.  Somehow the words stay with me.  Many times I've had this feeling that they are not even my words.  Sometimes I'm prompted to use certain words that I'm not even sure of their meaning.  I have to look it up just to make sure it is the right word for what is meant, and to make sure that I'm using it appropriately.  I've learned a lot of new words to say the least!  The only way I can describe this experience is that it's as if the words just move through me.  They are in my mind and I type them out, but sometimes I'm not even thinking about what I'm writing in the moment.  There are other times during the day when I just get words and phrases for a blog post, then those lead to more and more!  Sometimes I'll even wake up at night feeling like I was just dreaming about the story I'm supposed to tell and the dream is just words, and I feel like I've influenced it as if I was half awake.  Phenomenon? Yes! Phenomenal? Yes!  To me it's a miracle!

When the autistics type of the hill it reminds me of my experience with hypnobirthing.  Self-hypnosis for pain management is almost like an out of body experience as you are instructed to go to a safe place, or to create one, yet you still have awareness and control of your body.  It's putting you in a state of mind where mind is completely in control of the body, but at the same time you disconnect.  I felt a bit of disconnect with my body during labor with my son.  I felt no pressure waves, no pain, but I've never felt God's love more strongly during this time.  This experience was interesting, I swear I was watching myself from above my husband and I in the room.  I saw myself clearly in that moment down below; I was watching myself.  I felt as if God were teaching me something very important about His creation of the human body.  I was in awe and wonder of the majesty of it and what it could do.  I just felt the pure love of God in that moment.  I did not see God, nor did I go to a different place mentally.  Mentally and physically I was still in the room, but there was this part of my consciousness that was receiving something elsewhere, or maybe in the same place, I don't know.  I just remember feeling so much love.  Maybe I don't have the words to really give justice to what it was exactly.  It was a spiritual experience, and unexplained. 

From a very young age my religion also teaches that we can all have a personal relationship with God, and that we can all receive personal revelation from Him.  The Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit can prompt us, warn us, and help us know truth.   A couple of years ago, a sister in my ward spoke in church.  She had the courage to speak about her recent divorce.  I don't remember paying particularly close attention to it, but I remember feeling like I related to her given my parents went through something similar.  She referenced Disney's Finding Dori by quoting her mantra "just keep swimming".  She had said that this was the mantra the spirit guided her to, to give her strength.  Later that week, this sister's name kept coming to my mind, and I then kept thinking of her talk and her words.  In about 3 days I had this urgent feeling that I needed to write her a letter.  I had no idea what to write at the time. At the same time I thought of this epoxy jar my son and I made months earlier.  The jar had Dori on it with the little sea turtle, and Nemo.  I had this prompting that I needed to give it to her.  When I had obtained the card I was going to write my note in, I was taking my daughter to her karate class.  As I sat in the class everything went silent and words just came to me.  I wrote, "I have a feeling Heavenly Father wanted you to have this jar and necklace that I made months ago."  I continued to write without stopping about how much God loved her even though we make mistakes or when unexpected things happen.  I told her about my experience and how I could understand some of what she was going through.  As I was writing it was as if I was all alone with just the Holy Ghost relaying to me exactly what she needed to hear.  As soon as my daughter's class was over I took my gift to her.  She did not answer her door, so I left it on her doorknob in a bag.  About an hour later she was texting me her profound gratitude.  She said that I'll never know how much it meant to her.  I don't know this woman that well, but I felt prompted to tell her I loved her and that God loved her.  That was a spiritual experience, but not entirely unexplained.  Things like this are somewhat commonplace in my life and in the lives of people who have similar beliefs.  It can't be explained by science............yet. 

Can these things happen in the other direction?  As I mentioned in the beginning........the darkness is also real.  Someone I know had an experience in his teenage years with darkness.  He was in his bedroom alone when he just felt this heavy darkness come over him.  He couldn't talk or move for a few moments.  He felt, what he described as an evil spirit.  Moments later, his cat bolted through the house and up the stairs to where he was.  As soon as the cat entered the room, the darkness immediately disappeared.  I think whether you have the ability to feel dark spirits or light spirits, you always have a choice who you follow.  Maybe the criminals I spoke about were heavily influenced by darkness, but they chose to be around it and in it.  They probably could have turned away from it.  This sheds more light on what exactly animals can sense.  The cat seemed to know that she needed to be in that room, and her behavior was a little out of the ordinary.  Anciently, cats were used to guard Egyptian tombs to keep away bad spirits.  Maybe they knew more than we do about that.  

Are there spiritual connections to the earth, plants, and even rocks?  I think so!  Take for example the practice of water witching or water dowsing.  This is a method people have used for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years to find water.  People still use it today with great success.  It does seem to be a gift of sorts, though it can be taught to a certain extent.   Why can't all people do it?  Someone who can do this holds two branches of a tree, say a peach tree, and they steadily walk holding the branches out in front of them.  They claim to feel a pull that could be weak or strong.  They follow where it pulls them and once, they are over the spot where there is water the branches pull directly down.  This pull may become stronger as they get closer to the water source.  Many people can do this, but some people feel a stronger pull than others. Some claim that certain types of trees work better than others.  AI says that this is not any more successful than random picking, however I think many would disagree.  I'm not one who has taken on any new age beliefs about stones, but I can believe that they do carry an energy of sorts like water, dirt, salt, and other compounds in and on the earth can.   I think they can have a positive effect on mood or wellness.  

One day I was playing my piano and my kids were out playing with some neighborhood kids.  I don't want to be a helicopter parent, and I'd like to think that my kids could have a similar experience to that of my childhood running around with other kids and having fun.  My son came home early by himself, and my daughter had the watch that I could call her on.  I seemed relaxed and not worried at all when suddenly a thought entered my mind: call her home now!  I kind of dismissed it at first thinking, "no, it's fine, I'll call her in a little while."  It was getting late in the evening.  The thought came again: call her home now!  As I called her, I was thinking that she would probably fight me on it because she always did.  I simply said it was time to come home, and she did immediately.  She did not say a word and there was no push back.  That was odd for her.  About an hour later I got a text from one of my neighbors notifying me that there had been an incident.  One of the kids had molested her son in his backyard.  My daughter had been with them minutes before this happened.  I have no idea what would have happened had she stayed there.  

I've just started to delve into Rupert Sheldrake's research.  Dr. Sheldrake has an interesting story as well.  He tells of his journey growing up as a Christian, then becoming Atheist as he accepted the materialistic scientific world view, then coming back to Christianity while in India.  He went to visit a Hindu Ashram for advice.  The Ashram told Rupert that if he came from a Christian background, it would make sense for him to go back to it.  He said, "All paths lead to God."  So, Rupert went back to Christianity.  He suggests that consciousness is the foundation of science, giving rise to all else.  Consciousness is fundamental to everything else and it's out of consciousness that we get physics, chemistry, and biology.  Right now, consciousness is at the top of the scientific pyramid, suggesting that physics and so on give rise to consciousness. Sheldrake wonders if telepathy can be explained by quantum mechanics and entanglement, but we just haven't quite figured it out.  Like him, I do believe that science and spiritual can coexist and that they were always meant to.  Science just hasn't caught up to the spiritual.

I don't believe in coincidence, and I do believe that the abilities this autistic community possesses are in fact spiritual gifts.  My religion also teaches that spiritual gifts can come with us at birth, they can be developed just like talents, or they can be granted or given.  Gifts can be desired and asked for in prayer as well.  Could it be that these spiritual gifts are more normal than we think?  It could be.  It gives new meaning to the phrase, "we are spiritual beings having a human experience."  Can telepathy be developed?  It seems that it can be since some of the teachers and therapists of these individuals were able to receive telepathic communications from them at some point.  Maybe we all have this ability we have just been separated from the spiritual side of things, or we are not in tune with our consciousness as much as we think.

Some of the promptings and premonitions I've had seem very similar to that of telepathy, only mine are coming from God through the Holy Ghost, not another person in my life that I know of.  It sounds very similar.  There is no doubt in my mind that these abilities are spiritual gifts.  Maybe the reason they don't have the ability to speak like the rest of us is because we are not ready to hear any of this yet.  Maybe the time is approaching when more people are open to accept a new paradigm, or maybe more are ready to hear the spiritual things that will lead them back to God.  Maybe in order for them to have these abilities they need to have a certain disconnect with their body.  If other realms are ruled by God and if God is an orderly God, I do believe there are rules or laws governing those realms.  If earthly people are allowed to enter these other realms there must be a reason for their human state being as it is.  We can't ignore that they are different, they are special but not disabled.  Maybe it's us that are disabled, or maybe just different.  Our connection to God, or a great power, has been severed; theirs doesn't seem to be.

Some of the things the autistics say remind me of some of the things my kids said as toddlers that were very profound.  My daughter's unwavering forgiveness as a toddler was very humbling.  My son once described Jesus as being like the sun explaining how its light touched everything just like Jesus' light does. So, do any of my experiences mean that I'm an ESP, savant, telepathic, or special?  No, I'm not claiming any of that.  I'm only claiming familiarity.  I think the reason that none of what's in The Telepathy Tapes is out of the realm of my beliefs is because my religion teaches us to listen to the spirit.  From a very young age we are kind of trained to listen to our spirits as well as the Holy Ghost.  We are trained and encouraged to recognize the miracles in our lives no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.  We are taught to look at the world through a spiritual lens.  

Recently, I took my kids to Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Pointe in Lehi, UT where we saw the Lehi's Dream exhibit.  Lehi is a prophet in the Book of Mormon, and he had a dream.  In his dream he sees people holding on to an iron rod that is leading them to a tree of life where God is.  The people have to hold to the rod because along the way they will encounter temptations of all kinds and go through mists of darkness where they can get lost.  As they go along, they approach a building with no foundation, floating in the air.  There are rivers of darkness surrounding it.  Inside the building are people dressed in the finest apparel drinking, eating, and having a great time.  They are also mocking the people holding the rod.  Lehi sees many fall into the rivers and mists of darkness while trying to get to this great and spacious building.  This exhibit features life-sized statues, and there are many of them.  In this dream, the tree of life is a representation of the love of God.  It is a beautiful place.  You can actually walk the path and pass the great and spacious building and come to the tree where God is.  In the dream, Lehi sees his family at the tree of life experiencing the love of God, but there are two of his sons that are not there.  As the story goes, those two sons, outside the dream, turned on their family, turned to worldliness, and rejected God.

While at this exhibit, I was with my home school group, and we had a little devotional where a few of
the teens shared their testimonies.  One boy mentioned how the tree of life representing God's love is often viewed as God's love for us.  He said how he had been pondering the idea that in addition to God's love for us, it could also represent our love for God.  He talked about how thinking about it in this way was changing how he felt about God and how he lived his life.  I've been thinking about this ever since.  How does my love of God affect me daily, or change my perceptions?  How does my love for God change me?  I had never thought of it in this way before.  The autistics express so much love for God and love for others.  In my faith we also believe that everyone has purpose in this life.  What could be their purpose?  Well, I'm not able to say exactly, but this is how I see it: I think they are here the way they are to move God's work forward, to defy odds, and to show us a new way.  For those of us with eyes to see, we can understand.  We can suspend earthly belief in order to be open to a whole other realm of possibilities! 

In conclusion, I just want to say that my familiarity to this topic does stem from my religious world view, and how I can relate to some of these instances does fall within my religious perception. Having said that, I am willing to "leave things on the table", so to speak that don't always fall within my religious view. One of the wisest things I've ever heard is "know what you don't know". I'm willing to believe that religion can have limits, be not entirely right, or just incomplete. Although I have a deep belief in my religion, I also know it is imperfect due to human nature, and incomplete, meaning there is still so much we don't know. My experience through faith is a way that I can perceive this the way that I do and make sense of it, but I am also very fascinated by science's ability or inability to explain it in a more scientific way. I do think science is on the verge of some explanation of this, which is quite exciting!