Baddogma's Meta Cafe- Polite Discussions About Scientific Mysticism and General Weirdness

a reply to: beansidhe

How is possible to accidentally visit an Ottoman hotel in Turkey? Were you planning to go to Turkey, or was it one of those trips to Europe that goes horribly wrong? You aim for Romania, someone has a "good idea" and before you know it you're in a haunted hotel in Istanbul.

Well we were driving from Ephesus up the coast to Istanbul and we stopped in a gorgeous old fishing town (so I happened to drive the car onto a concrete block we couldn't get it off without the help of the villagers laughing at us..but I digress)
Anyway Old town, ancient fishing village, small monks house turned into a ottoman family "mansion" turned into a hotel for stupid girls that drove a car onto the concrete road divider. Rooftop drenched in climbing blooming Bougainvilleas where we ate meals on cushions over looking the sea sigh~ ok I digress again.... Anyway cut a long story short the place had a spirit of a priest/monk that made full bodied apparitions clear as my hand in front of me at sunset and dawn

The hotel owner said she thought it was God when she first moved there, and now they are use to him. The monks supposedly took a vow of silence which is why he kept putting his hand over his mouth as if to say "I can't speak" but he was incredible, never seen one as clear before or ever since.
The atheist non believers buddies were quickly converted after staring at him for a full 5 -10 seconds before disappearing in almost a sparkle (no not vampire sparkles just light sparkles)
Thats my best Turkish ghosty sponsored by 20 quid on Easy Jet story for you Beanie.

a reply to: zazzafrazz

Cool story! And so not fair (picture me pouting resentfully )

- I've been to so many places that are supposed to be haunted or have 'high strangeness' going on (somewhere in this thread I listed them), and I've never seen anything!!!

If it weren't for ATS and the people I've come to know well enough to feel they are credible, I would probably have become a hard-core sceptic by now!

a reply to: lostgirl

Well I'm the first to giggle at the crazy. My time on ATS has made me more of a sceptic than I ever was, however one thing I know is ghosts are real. The rest is murky.

a reply to: zazzafrazz

That's a brilliant story! Old Mr ghosty must have thought his prayers were finally answered when a car load of hot and bothered girlies turned up!
And in the morning...there was no concrete road strip to be found......

It's an odd phenomena though. Let's imagine that all the non-believers in the world saw a ghost - we would still be no further forwards, because even if everyone saw one, what then? We still wouldn't know how to communicate or how to summon them, or what they wanted (if anything). Would we collectively write them off as figments of imagination or would some seriously-funded research begin, I wonder?

a reply to: zazzafrazz

Fascinating, and (aside from thanks for the video, heh) the first thought to pop in was, unfortunately, "Where are the photos?"

As a 'clock-work ghost' is too good a phenomena to pass up... if someone had the means to go there and manage a photo, well, it would recoup any travel costs, I would think, though the usual questions as to authenticity would be there, it is still something all "ghost hunters" dream about.

I would add UFOs, occasional PK and telepathy to ghosts as the only "real" phenom, myself... along with Bigfoot on my generous days, despite years of Anthropology dabbling.

Cool beans.

What's going on?
Mr.PrettyBear is busy writing a book, I hope, and where is everyone else?

a reply to: Peeple

Been busy redecorating the kitchen the last few days and planting loads of seeds

Sweet pea's are only thing up in the greenhouse so far, hanging baskets planted, and radish are starting to come up in garden.

The bees definitely getting busier and had a lovely rusty coloured toad watching me clean out the middle border.

Nothing 'woo' to report or much in the way of thinking.

a reply to: Peeple

Still mooching about, just been pretty busy at work. I'm away up to Perthshire next week, so I'll have lots more time to ponder mystic things.
How's things with you?

a reply to: johnb

The bees are massive this year, they're back with a vengeance (I hope).

a reply to: johnb

That's nice. Growing ones own vegetables. I miss my garden.

a reply to: beansidhe

I'm sitting on my packed stuff, waiting for the keys to my new apartment. Which is pretty annoying. But I'm just impatient, because it is so lovely, with a big park right behind it and I have to sit here in this messy stinky shared house.

But also nothing weird.

a reply to: Peeple

Happy house-warming when it comes! Let us know when you're in the new place and good luck.
Hope it's not a haunted house (secretly hoping it's a haunted house for some more ghost stories.... )

a reply to: beansidhe

Don't know if it's haunted but it almost killed me, the very first time I tried to go into the cellar. But maybe it just were those damned flip flops? Both ankles hurt like hell.
For you I'll say it was a ghost...

Well this thread has had a long enough holiday/vacation time. Need that shaman that is not a shaman to get us talking again?

Redid the front drive over the w/end with chippings - that was fun for my back

I had a quick read of that demonic possession thread and it makes me wonder whether there is an upsurge in 'crazy' but I suspect it's just we hear about more of these things (media and especially now with the internet)

However if there is an increase in human violence, is it 'feedback' from a 'control loop' or just the natural conclusion of the direction we are taking (money/power/me) rather than (people/environment/all)

Peeple - you settled in now?

Beansidhe - how's that owl doing ? Got a couple out the back of us somewhere that I like listening too.

Zazza/lost - I have heard ghostly things but not seen any (that i remember/aware of)

baddogma - I'd like to believe yeti/bigfoot but i think there would have to be more to it - if they are purely physical and live in our time/dimension/plane then surely we would have definite evidence by now - makes me wonder whether they are part of the UFO/space critter phenomena.

Did we not discuss this earlier in the thread? ufo/crypto/religious/fae experiences are all essentially the same filtered by our cultural upbringing and our personal beliefs/experiences - so we each manifest what we expect to see.

A scientist may see a UFO
Religious type may see angels/gods/demons
Others may see crypto or fae if neither of the above? (would this would then be the default as not being 'guided' by religion or science but just seeing/interpreting what is there?)

Kev was saying they are ALL? space imps and we interpret them as above (I think)and these occurrences have been happening since we started recording things.

Sound and tones seem to be a key of sorts but I think it is more about the vibrational level - wish Tesla was still around to discuss this with (although I suspect he would lose me after a few mins/secs)

Catch you all later

a reply to: johnb

I haven't heard that owl for a while, funnily enough. It may have taken the hint at long last (good). Hope your back recovers soon.

I have strange feelings about yetis and the like. There are tons of sightings, often. They're quite a well spotted group, well spotted enough to be a real animal. I occasionally see young deer around, but never stags...but I know stags exist! Obviously that's quite a crap example, there are lots of stags being shot and loads of evidence for them but you know what I mean.

This is my favourite yeti/dogman/whatever photo, that I like to periodically spam ATS with. It looks like an animal to me?

a reply to: beansidhe

Yeah me too although digging over the garden today wasn't a good idea

I remember watching a programme about Butan and their yeti's - i seem to remember the king's chief yeti hunter (yes it's an official position) leading a group deep into the jungle/mountains to a supposed lair. They found hair samples that didn't match any known mammal - although I have a slight feeling it has since been debunked but would have to go looking as was years ago.

I would love them to be real but it is difficult to believe one has never fallen into a river and been washed up downstream for all to see. So if they are real I lean to a more 'woo' answer

So is everyone working furiously in their gardens like me, every spare second they get?
Now thats where magic happens

a reply to: zazzafrazz

If I turn my attention towards plants, they shrivel and die in days... if I leave them to fate, they thrive.

But I'm still on good terms with the nicely behaved non-growing-into-the-house tree out front and it has budded with new life, so all is well and the great cycles continue w/out any virgins getting sacrificed (that I know of, anyway) ...

for now.

Just to contribute to the 'green' talk (and since we're being "polite" in our "discussion" in "general", I guess we could consider ourselves 'on topic'?)...

Anyone interested in knowing how long it takes to grow an acorn into an 8 foot tall tree?

Well, I can attest from personal experience (and have the evidence, which is named 'baby tree' in my backyard) -

- that from the time an acorn 'accidentally' sprouts in a planter, thru the point that you've procrastinated pulling the sprout long enough that you decide to plant it in the bare spot in the backyard, to the day that you need a ladder to trim dead leaves from the top branches -

- is approximately 7 years...
And I will add that spending 7 (or so) years 'tending' a baby tree has indeed been somewhat 'magical'...

originally posted by: lostgirl
- is approximately 7 years...

And I will add that spending 7 (or so) years 'tending' a baby tree has indeed been somewhat 'magical'...

It is...it is *sigh*

It's very, very difficult to not get garden-envy this time of year.

I was going to suggest you get a pig, but on checking, it'll be at least another 13 years before it even starts producing acorns. Pigs though are as good for the general health of the oak, as the acorns are good for the flavour of the ham, so worthy of future consideration.

I hope you all have an abundant season whatever you're growing.

a reply to: Anaana

Found this quote today which is more 'on topic'

"I abandoned the extraterrestrial hypothesis in 1967 when my own field investigations disclosed an astonishing overlap between psychic phenomena and UFOs... The objects and apparitions do not necessarily originate on another planet and may not even exist as permanent constructions of matter. It is more likely that we see what we want to see and interpret such visions according to our contemporary beliefs." -John Keel

Well, I guess I'll report that after weeks of nothing strange, yesterday, while staring out my open front door I heard three distinct knocks on it... so distinct I even heard two knuckles hitting the door with a slight space between the strikes.

I was sure a neighbor was out of sight off the porch, reaching over my railing to knock to say "hi" (and probably ask to borrow money, sigh) and took the one step out to greet them, and nobody was there that I could see... anywhere.

Now, either I'm in the midst of a true psychotic episode, I'm simply very wrong or something weird happened. No drugs were involved, no thoughts of the unknown where my mind might've reached out with a psi effect... none of the usual suspects.

It was breezy and that causes sounds.. .like objects bumping the house, etc., but in this case I was so close and facing the door where the sounds came from... it startled me... more so than even some of the other weird things that have occurred for some reason.

Trying to reproduce the sound made me think the "maybe knuckles" were smaller than my own... dunno... one more odd thing.

Oh and hi y'all... and Johnb, that Keel quote is an oldie and goodie... until my 'secret spaceman' considerations I was on board supposing all UFOs were less machine than system and/or spirit... now I think both are "reasonable" guesses... and could be occurring concurrently... with the only link being unknown thingamajigs in the sky.

eta: and as far as BF. Yeti and other humanoid cryptids ... I have had some Anthro profs who swore they were "real" enough and showed me the "secret" drawer at the UofAz with scat, hair and detailed footprint casts replete with dermal ridges back in the late 80's ... they also said they had observed a "tribe" in the US NW woodlands and certain folks knew all about them and had a "hands off" approach due to reasons they wouldn't elaborate on... that said, how nothing solid/provable has been secured i the public realm makes me think some "woo" aspect to them isn't out of the question... ever read Tony 'Doc' Shiel's work on monsters in the 70's? He, too, thought it was all magical/trickster oriented.