Small Towns, Local Phenomenon? A Question for Masons.

Small Towns, Local Phenomenon? A Question for Masons.

( This phenomenon might not even be Masonic in nature, but I wanted to check with you guys first. )





Seven years ago I moved from the big city to a small town nestled in the Ozark Mountains.

Every so often, there are nights like tonight.

The air is crisp and clear, the stars shine brilliantly overhead and wink mischiviously, the streets are cold and silent.

The only real activity going on is at the local convienence store, from whence I just returned.

No cars passing by, no pedestrians on the way to or from.

"What's so odd about that?" you might be wondering...

______


Well, for the past six years living here - every couple of months or so - I get horrible headaches and a strong inexplicable urge to leave the house and walk down to that self-same corner store in the middle of the night.

No real reason, sometimes I even force myself to buy something - a single piece of bubblegum or other low priced item.

The night clerks and I are on friendly terms, and sometimes I get caught up in strange conversations and the like in the early hours of the morning. Nothing worth posting, but still - the air always seems charged with a certain....something I can't put my finger on.

______


What confuses me is every time I experience these headaches and this urge to go down there in the middle of the night - it feels, somehow, orchestrated.

Like I'm being prompted to "check in" with the local establishment.

Our small town is a highly Masonic town, leave no room for doubt on that.

I've met several of the local Masons over the course of my time here, and those I have encountered have been very kind - like extended family.


I know of the Order of the Eastern Star, but I'm fearful of Ladies Organizations due to my inability to bake kick ass cookies - in addition to a very tomboyish and somewhat cavalier attitude towards a lot of things - and I don't wish to take this overtly "rough around the edges" demeanor into a proper Ladies Circle.

(And, to be honest - I've pretty much got my hands full being a homemaker to devote to much outside of the home these days.)

_____


I posted tonight curious if any of the Masons here might be schooled on esoteric phenomena and be able to shed light on these early morning jaunts.

_____

I've been studying a variety of the mystery schools over the past 15 years, but in the long run, I work better independantly.

Still, I recognize I am part of a larger system - and while I don't have all the answers to Life's Great Mysteries and Meditations...I can't shake the feeling I may have inadvertantly attracted the attentions of some Local Order.

I have, over the years, been through a host of interesting experiences in this vein -both in the early hours and the waking daylight....but I'm hesitant to broach the subject with my newfound friends point blank - I have a tendancy to read to deeply into certain things and I don't wish to offend anyone.

In the city I previously inhabited everything was much more out in the open regarding these matters and I confess small town relations are not my forte.

I'm learning and doing my best, but I'm still not "local".

_____



I've also speculated whether it may be Illuminatus or possibly Wiccan in nature, seeing as how we have our sub-circles of those groups as well...but so far, everything keeps pointing me to the local Masonic Order.

I won't go into too many personal details in thread, but I will be more than happy to accept and send U2U's given the sensitive nature of the subject at hand.

If it's addressed in thread, I'll do my best to explain my experiences here.




Thanks for your time and attentions.

GE

could you put any similarities together? Is it always about the same time? Is it always clear? I am trying to go at it with a troubleshooting mind. What were you doing just before you felt the urge to leave? Is it the same every time?

BTW, you have one of the coolest screen names on ATS.

Weird - I had an urge to go outside last night as well, just to... uhm... inspect the snow Which i did at almost 3am.

Since you're on friendly terms with the clerk, why not strike up a conversation with him about it? Find out if a lot of people are making "silly" purchases on nights like that.

I would check for any fault lines and old sacred sites nearby as well, and pay attention to the local meteorological service as well.

I usually do have an urge to go outside at night. I usually ignore it, tune it out or turn it towards something productive, like cleaning my room

reply to post by network dude


It's always been around between 2am and 3am. Every time.

The skies are either overcast or clear. The customer traffic varies highly.

The headaches are about the only constant aside from the time frame.


reply to post by K-Raz


Some nights I'm tempted to just wander out to stargaze myself.

Funny thing about the conversations with the clerks - we can be talking about something seemingly mundane, but at the same time there's always a silent unspoken rule of "we're all part of this thing together, just play your part".

Last night the on-duty was in the middle of a private conversation when I got there, and I felt exceedingly intrusive and we both rushed the entire transaction.

Pertaining to the local geology:

There is a massive amount of quartz underlying this entire area - but that's the only thing I can really think of that might be relevant at the moment.


reply to post by RuneSpider


Cleanliness is next to Godliness.

this is super fascinating to me. Your headaches, then urge to go out, the quartz underlying the area, all of it. You said you get the feeling that you are "checking in" or something like that. It would make sense actually, if some group or force or whatever is trying to keep track of everyone. In the city, you go to the stores and businesses and are generally out and about. In the sparsely populated areas if you keep to yourself you are not so easy to keep track of. I don't know, my thoughts here aren't fully formed I guess. Something about your post struck me though, and others have talked about the wierd urge to go outside for some odd reason. I have felt that too throughout my life and when i was younger, I acted on it. Now, I fear being outside in the dark by myself. I fear people in my community more than something supernatural or alien. Also, this may or may not be related, but I periodically get the feeling that something/someone is "out there" either watching me or beckoning me. Sometimes it unnerves me and other times it excites me. It comes suddenly and leaves just as quickly. I don't have a need to dwell on it. I live in a smaller city by the way. I don't know much about Freemasons though, so I can't address that part of your post. I wonder if it is something natural, like quartz I think is supposed to magnify energy, isn't it? Makes me want to look into that avenue more, personally.

reply to post by GENERAL EYES


For me it usually just means making a pig sty into just a bit messy. ^^;

Originally posted by Lexxica
It would make sense actually, if some group or force or whatever is trying to keep track of everyone. In the city, you go to the stores and businesses and are generally out and about. In the sparsely populated areas if you keep to yourself you are not so easy to keep track of.

That actually does makes sense.

In the city I was out and about from 8am to 2am, almost every day.

Here there isn't much to do on a limited budget, so I've been staying at home a lot more often.

Interesting you bring that up, it hadn't really crossed my mind.

I wonder if it is something natural, like quartz I think is supposed to magnify energy, isn't it?

That's what I've heard, but for the life of me I don't understand the exact science of it yet.

______________


(please forgive my quick responses - family is coming over soon and I have to put a few final things in order....I'll check back in and add thoughts as soon as I'm able.)

Thanks for your replies so far!

GE

Originally posted by GENERAL EYES
Small Towns, Local Phenomenon? A Question for Masons.
Well, for the past six years living here - every couple of months or so - I get horrible headaches and a strong inexplicable urge to leave the house and walk down to that self-same corner store in the middle of the night.
...
What confuses me is every time I experience these headaches and this urge to go down there in the middle of the night - it feels, somehow, orchestrated.
...
I posted tonight curious if any of the Masons here might be schooled on esoteric phenomena and be able to shed light on these early morning jaunts.
...
I've also speculated whether it may be Illuminatus or possibly Wiccan in nature, seeing as how we have our sub-circles of those groups as well...but so far, everything keeps pointing me to the local Masonic Order.

I wonder if there's a causality that's being overlooked? To me, the urge to go outside seems like your body's way of dealing with the headache. You haven't mentioned yet, does the headache get better after and/or during the walk? I don't think that its so much that you are being driven to go out on the town, so much as your subconscious is telling you, "hey, brain hurts. You know what works for that? Getting some fresh air!" And being in a small town with only one thing open at that hour, the shop is where you naturally gravitate so that you feel like you are walking with a purpose.

Then it becomes a matter of identifying why you're getting the headaches. I can tell you from personal experience that its highly unlikely that anything Masonically organized would be happening that late at night. 8:30 or 9 is a late night for many of our older members. Also the periodicity of it doesn't match with Masonic practice. Masons generally meet monthly, so if the experience is every 2 or 3 months (it would be good to know if there's a more concrete pattern you could nail down) then it's even more unlikely.

Similarly, from the Wiccan standpoint I'm not aware of any particular ritual or ceremony that would require that time or that period of repetition, and I have quite a few friends in varying practices of magickal arts, so it seems like something I would have at least heard of.

Now, if there were a lunar element, and it were somehow coinciding with ley lines and the quartz you've mentioned, it's possible the whole thing is natural. What you've described to us so far makes me skeptical of any human intent (though I'm not dismissing your experiences nor their results). I just think that from the people side of things, orchestrated ritual every 2 or 3 months at 2 or 3 in the morning doesn't match any patterns that I'm aware of from either Masonic nor magickal schools of practice.

Again, I'd look to the headaches, and perhaps keep a journal so that you can pinpoint any pattern to their regularity.

Hope that helps.

[edit on 12/26/2009 by JoshNorton]

reply to post by JoshNorton


I think you're right on it. Same thing happened to me, headache, followed by conscious (or not) decision to get some fresh air. Turned out that I used wood stove to heat house...too much Co2, not enuf oxygen and...Bam-headache. Now I sleep with the window cracked a little when fire is going...no more headaches.
As far as locals go, I grew up in small town and moved to a really small community...after eight years, I am still the "new guy." I dought anything sinister at 2-3am going on, in fact, most of the folks around you will be getting up soon to start the farm day or commute to work 50 miles away. My suggestion would be to start baking and get involved with the locals...bake sales, fire dept...if there's any secrets you will surely find out then. LOL

There were some reports a while back about several people in Missouri getting headaches and near-psychosis from living too close to a wind turbine.

I know it sounds silly but the constant low-frequency hum and 24 hour a day background noise from the turbine was causing loss of sleep, irritability and headaches.

There might be something to the geo-magnetic aspect of the Ozark area too.

reply to post by JoshNorton


Normally, I would agree with you - common sense usually is the best way to go about situations of this sort....unfortunately, I exhausted mine years ago.

The headaches don't always get better after the walk - as one might think - in fact, sometimes they get worse and devolve into psychotic breaks if appropriate measures aren't taken.

My delay in responding has been due to those measures.

Thanks for helping to alleviate the suspicions regarding any "formal" organized rituals - that was my main concern.



reply to post by AlreadyGone


I'll be learning how to make homemade breads this upcoming year, and when my situation improves, I intend to get back in to volunteer chairity work.

I'm not really looking for secrets though - just a better understanding of my interesting and slightly quirky new community.


reply to post by emsed1


There were strange pulsing hums in my the first neighborhood I lived in upon relocating here - I used to wander around in the early hours trying to find the source of it.

I relocated a few years later due to a wealth of problems in that neighborhood - and the hums more or less subsided. Every so often there is a similar hum around the new neighborhood, but it rarely conicides with the headaches.

_______



Thanks for the insights everyone - they're truely invaluable!

I'll see if I can dig up more info on the geo aspect as time allows.

My family and I are staying in Branson overnight on the way to TX to see my family. This place always creeps me out. I'm not sure how far you are from here but it has a weird energy.

A few years back my wife and I stayed at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs and it was *unbelievably* haunted. The springs in that area seem to carry a weird energy too.

Here's an interesting link about "wind turbine syndrome":

wts

reply to post by GENERAL EYES


Well, not being a Mason, I am a Boy Scout leader however, and I get sleeplessness.

While not necessarily what you're going through, I find it is a time when I go online, go for a drive, or a walk, depending upon my mood, however, I have no headaches.

I get energized late at night, I am a night owl, so I use this time creatively.

Clean the apartment, go grocery shopping, or read a few books.

I cannot speak to your experience other than to say it might be your inner ear, and E.L.F. waves, or Extremely Low Frequency.

However, I'm at a friend's house (U2U me) and I read your thread post and she suggested it might be your Spirit Guide(s) speaking to you, and that they are telling you to meditate, that it involves your spiritual, not the physical.

In other words, not necessarily going outside, but focus on the inside, spiritually.

That you're draining yourself throughout your daily routines and you need to recharge.

As for the rest, I've known you were a tomboy, since we first began speaking.

It's one of the many reason I'm attracted to you as a friend.

And for your lack of Betty Crocker abilities, it takes practice, practice, practice.

Here's a few recipes, just remember to check for altitude differences, it affects baking.

* Banana Bread Recipe

* Snickerdoodle Recipe

* Spaghetti Pie Recipe

And, hey lady, no need for dainty ladyfinger recipes.

Well, it has been a while since this thread was started but I will put in my two cents on what it is.

I think it is ole Jed firing up the still up in them there hills every so often when he gets an order for some 'shine.

The chemicals may be wiffing down to where you live and waking you up.Smell anything funny when you are out for your stroll?

I think i may have an idea of what is going on here. You get head aches and then you feel like you have to go to the store and that helps the headache. Let me ask you, if you do not go to the store do your headaches get worse?

a reply to: GENERAL EYES

It sounds like you might have a vitamin deficiency or something. Have you asked a doctor?

Otherwise, if the walks help your headache, then it makes sense that you feel an urge to walk.

Best wishes

a reply to: GENERAL EYES

Hey you mentioned psychotic breaks—you need to talk to a professional because self diagnosis in this case is really harmful. Please take care of yourself