Folklore & Thunderstorms

Maybe folklore isn't the right word I'm searching for, but I can't quite put my finger on the word I'm searching for. I love thunderstorms. Here in Alberta, we get some pretty wild ones and I love watching Mother Nature in all her glory. Last night's storm was no disappointment. It knocked out power in several parts of the city, flooded several basements, streets, freeways - and killed some gardens. We had hail the size of golf balls much like the tornado back in 87.

Usually I get excited during storms, like, hyper active. I'm empathic, and pick up a lot on energies around me which is why storms make me hyper. Last night was quite different though. I had stood on my balcony watching the lightning for quite some time. All my doors and windows had been opened all night trying to cool my place down - we've had some extreme heat lately.

Anyway, I crawled into bed finally around 2:30. Something changed. I wasn't excited anymore. It suddenly felt like something dark was brewing. Something that the storm had brought with it. Or maybe it brought the storm. I don't know. Kind of vague in my description I know - but I honestly don't know what I felt. All I know is that I felt like I was being stalked or hunted like prey by some kind of dark primal animal that had something to do with the storm. Or maybe I read too many paranormal threads on here...and it overworked my imagination. Needless to say, the storm kept me up most of the night. I couldn't keep my eyes off my window. I actually got up at one point and locked everything shut for the night despite how hot my condo already was.

My question is - has anyone here ever experienced paranormal or spiritual activity during thunder or heavy rain storms? What are your beliefs associated with thunderstorms? I have researched a few on the web and the Japanese have a few theories. Looking forward to hearing yours about legends and folklore surrounding thunderstorms!

I can't speak out of personal experience, but I remember years back when I was younger I used to watch the show Ghost Hunters (I can't believe I'm actually saying this, lol), and they would often mention a correlation between thunderstorms and "paranormal" activity. Don't quote me on this, but I remember their "explanation" was that entities could pull energy from the electrically charged surroundings to make it easier to manifest itself.

Now come to think of it, my first "episode" of sleep paralysis occurred during a pretty intense thunderstorm. The air all around the house was, for a lack of a better term, very stagnant and heavy. A very unnerving feeling, as if the air were electrically charged. To make a long story short, I had a very intense feeling of being watched before going to sleep, then next thing I knew was that I couldn't move, talk, etc, and I honestly did not know if I was asleep or awake.

If you're interested, I'm almost positive I created a thread regarding that night and a few other incidents that I had been recently encountering, and I could try and find it for ya.

Well according to hollywood movies, when there is a thunderstorm there is a killer outside

Please do share! I'm interested in hearing everyone's stories, experiences - or even if they don't believe I'm open to hearing scientific explanations. I too have had sleep paralysis twice in my life but not associated with storms before. This is the first time I ever felt a darker energy. Maybe from the intensity of the storm who knows.

To everyone else - please share whatever you believe in about storms whether it be scientific or paranormal.

reply to post by BacknTime


Funny.

Love a good storm, even as a child. We had one good one in April and that was the end this year, unfortunately. Crazy weather this year.

As far as bad feelings...I don't think I ever have. All of my experiences have been when it is cold and dark but no storms.

I love the idea though, and I look forward to more stories. You should share more about the myths you found.

reply to post by tport17


It's hard to vouch for the authenticity of some of these websites - but this is one reference I found to Greek Mythology.

Quoted from www.theoi.com...

reply to post by tport17


Yes me too. Have loved storms since the big tornado in 87, kind of got hooked on them after we had four tornadoes that summer. It's the energy that makes me hyper for sure. First time I've had negative feelings during a storm though! We've also had power outages, city wide blackouts, and a fire explosion big enough yesterday to knock out internet, phones and tv in 2 major cities. Pretty wild activity lately.

I often like eating some gourmet mushrooms before the thunderstorms roll in. And have wondered myself about whether the intense forces of thunderstorms could open portals to the supernatural.

reply to post by Charmeine


Here's the thread I mentioned if interested.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I don't mention it in the post, but I very clearly remember it storming and the weather being particularly nasty during each of these episodes. You know what's even stranger? After I posted that thread awhile back, everything began to settle down. But just last night, and I mean just last night, the "stagnant" air feeling returned and I've felt really sick all day today.

I really thought nothing of it, at all, I figured my room was hot because it's been absolutely scorching here in Illinois (we just caught a break of upper-80 degree weather compared to the low to mid 100's we were hitting), but I always have my fan on and the AC keeps the house pretty dang cool.

As you said, it produces a very negative vibe. Luckily, I haven't had any more episodes of sleep paralysis since the few I encountered that I detail in my thread, or at least I don't believe I have.

Thunderstorms where I have lived are as common as the summer heat. I do feel like I sometimes get an energy boost when a thunderstorm approaches. At least a couple of times I started to get increased electrical discharges inside buildings between my hands and any metal objects when storms were outside.

While I feel like I get an energy boost, I haven't noticed any increased paranormal activity due to storms.

When I really enjoyed thunderstorms, there was one in my location almost every single day all summer long. The meteorologist even commented on the news one night that there was no rain in the entire state of NC except the small town where I lived at.

Tornadoes are a different story. I was once at the heart of a super cell cluster of F5 tornadoes and the lightning was so intense and nonstop you wouldn't believe it. Someone could have parked a monster size spaceship over my house and turned on an immensely bright non flashing blindingly bright strobe light for twenty minutes and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Looking out the window was a mistake. I was blinded temporarily.

I remember one storm dumped about 3 or 4 inches of rain in only 15 minutes. That was amazing. It was like watching a waterfall. A meteorologist stated that was about the maximum possible rainfall possible in that timespan.

I think we have another storm brewing in tonight. The sky has been weird all day. Started off as a smokey or hazy sky which last for most of the day, and then turned into some of the most fantastic colouring at sunset that I've seen in awhile. The temperature has dropped significantly and the winds are picking up. I might actually get some sleep tonight. There is definitely a change in the air when storms come on. Everything is just different during a storm especially when the smell of ozone kicks in.

I'm not searching for anymore links tonight as I found a few that had viruses in them, luckily my security software blocked them out. I'll try and do some more research on the weekend for you kind folks.

reply to post by Charmeine


Hmm, interesting! I have never heard of this figure before. I will have to look into this a little more.

At the risk of sounding like a loon, I found this thread interesting as hell because over the past two or three months, I've noticed that thunderstorms seem *different* to me. The bad thing is that I don't really know how to describe it.
Some of it is the sound. The thunder lately sounds "different". Sharper, more violent, and there seems to be a constant rumbling, rather than an occasional clap. And the storm itself often seems more violent, with rain harder than any I've ever seen or winds that whip up out of nowhere.
It's almost like they are at a different frequency now. That's the only way I can think of to describe it.
I've always loved thunderstorms, too. Maybe that's why I noticed the change.
I don't like these new storms.

I'm not sure if my experience relates in any way to the aspect of thunderstorms you are trying to discuss, but here is my weird experience during one www.abovetopsecret.com... It's just a couple of posts on that page 4 of that thread.

As for thunderstorms sounding or seeming different now, I agree, I've seen last year a type of ball lightning I'd never seen in my forty-five years on this planet. I was driving home and off in the distance I saw the fastest moving lightning ever, and it was like little ball bursts. Kind of like what the photon torpedoes in Star Trek look like, if you are familiar with that show. I thought to myself those lightning bursts were so fast and came from such non threatening looking clouds that anyone caught out beneath them would have had no warning and stood no chance of getting to cover in time.

You know how you see people doing yard work and they kind of count on having an extra minute or two as they watch the clouds before deciding to seek cover? Well that would not have worked with what I saw. The clouds did not look bad at all and there was no warning flashes. It was weird. I saw another storm like that a month or so after. This was all about last May and June.

reply to post by SheeplFlavoredAgain


Agreed....I always liked the saying, "the gods are angry" whenever the skies lit up with lightning and thunder. That's what storms feel like these days. Like the earth is angry. The storms are becoming way more frequent and way more intense....could be just the earth going through changes - but the feel of storms are very different than when I was a kid (quite some time ago!).

No rain last night. Turns out all that smoke was actually smoke from a northern forest fire. It's actually disgusting outside - what looks like clouds is just smoke. Hope the rain comes to wash it away soon.

reply to post by SheeplFlavoredAgain


Yes the storm we had the other night, there was no warning. The warnings came in after the flooding started. My friend on facebook posted that her dog started acting crazy an hour before the storm hit her place. Animals are probably a good thing to have around for that reason alone! Dogs have a keen sense of when a storm is brewing.

I love thunderstorms ! Always have.

When I was really little, my father used to tell my sister and me that the thunder was from giant rabbits in the sky pushing enormous wheelbarrows full of carrots and sometimes the wheelbarrows would fall over and crash. So silly- but I remember it well.

There's a lot of folklore connected to thunderstorms- some true, some not. There's an old saying that red haired people are more likely to be struck by lightning. No scientific reason for it of course, but I went to school with a kid who actually was struck by lightning on two separate occasions and he did have red hair !

Count the seconds between the time you see the lightning and when you hear the thunder. Then divide by five. That will tell you approximately how far away in miles the storm is.

Well crap. I'm red-headed...haha....I wonder if it works for faux red-heads though?

reply to post by Charmeine


I have been thinking about something here for a couple years now. And I think this will be the best place to put my thoughts.
Thunderstorms, I love them too! They have such a GREAT power about them. That in some really good storms, even with my modern mindset, I am still in AWE at some of the bigger storms we have.

Now lets say, I know nothing about the science to these storms, and all I know is what I see and hear.
More than likely I am going to come to some thought process that there are beings up there fighting, and or have chariots rolling across the skies.

How would someone back then, draw a sound? Well to me that is where they got all those folklore paintings of beings in the sky, shooting laser like beams, and wars going on in the sky.

That bothered me about the ancient alien show. They claimed those people where painting what they really saw. But I disagree with that. To Draw or paint sound, you must go from what you know makes sounds like that. So I do not think they saw aliens in the sky back then.. But they where wittness to some very cool storms, that put them in the same AWE I go into.
Yet we today, have the nuts and bolts aspect. Back then, common folk did not have access to that kind of information.

Those who read this post.. Do you follow what I am saying? Or should I explain myself better?