Thanks very much for sharing this, and the linked blog post. I'm replying here because it seemed more on-topic with this comment than with the post over there.
I don't get this very often, but my wife does. I've learned/decided to trust her completely on it. I used to be in the Army and I have read a lot of stuff on combat, awareness, self-defense, and so forth. All of it, even the most ardently hard-nosed, rational grunt-focused stuff, ALL of it, says "never, ever ignore that feeling. It's likely right, and if it's not, you have nothing to lose." If you'd like a fairly lengthy, but secular, meditation on this kind of intuitive sense, Gavin de Becker's The Gift of Fear is pretty good (I don't 100% agree with everything in it, but who does with anything?).
As for what to do about it, if your beliefs allow it, you might consider looking for a spiritual practice in addition to prayer that is meant to train such perceptions. I know there are lots of different flavors of esoteric Christians over at Ecosophia for Magic Mondays, maybe some of them could point you in the right direction. I do the Sphere of Protection daily, and for me, it has had the effect of making me aware of what little of such things I do feel, but it has done so in a very gentle way, and has helped me to feel more centered and "clean" when I've noticed myself off balance or spending too much time with my or other's grubbier thoughts and feelings. Again, don't know if such a ritual is in keeping with your beliefs, but there are versions where you invoke archangels or different names of God that might work for you. If not, I've also heard that certain prayer practices can serve similar functions, such as daily Rosaries or Jesus Prayers, or prayers to St. Michael for protection.
Lastly, not on the subject of practice, but of theory/concepts, so far, I have found the clearest explanation of a theory of the "planes" (as in material, etheric, astral, etc) to be JMG's in his Occult Philosophy Workbook, which I understand to be a synthesis of various traditions he's worked with, but is based primarily on the Rosicrucians, most of whom are some flavor of Christian, so that part of the book, at the very least, wouldn't necessarily be inconsistent with Christian theology and metaphysics, though that might depend on how much you're willing to stretch orthodoxy ("pun" intended, here, but no offense meant, of course).
Anyhow, as a closing thought, it turns out the world is a weirder place than many folks think, and I'm starting to realize that a lot more folks have weird experiences they keep quiet about because they think it's only them. MM and the like have shown me how valuable it can be to share "whoah, this crazy stuff happened to me!" and get a response like "yeah, welcome to the party, that's actually pretty normal."
Whatever ends up working for you, I hope you'll keep us posted.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2023-10-25 09:13 pm (UTC)I don't get this very often, but my wife does. I've learned/decided to trust her completely on it. I used to be in the Army and I have read a lot of stuff on combat, awareness, self-defense, and so forth. All of it, even the most ardently hard-nosed, rational grunt-focused stuff, ALL of it, says "never, ever ignore that feeling. It's likely right, and if it's not, you have nothing to lose." If you'd like a fairly lengthy, but secular, meditation on this kind of intuitive sense, Gavin de Becker's The Gift of Fear is pretty good (I don't 100% agree with everything in it, but who does with anything?).
As for what to do about it, if your beliefs allow it, you might consider looking for a spiritual practice in addition to prayer that is meant to train such perceptions. I know there are lots of different flavors of esoteric Christians over at Ecosophia for Magic Mondays, maybe some of them could point you in the right direction. I do the Sphere of Protection daily, and for me, it has had the effect of making me aware of what little of such things I do feel, but it has done so in a very gentle way, and has helped me to feel more centered and "clean" when I've noticed myself off balance or spending too much time with my or other's grubbier thoughts and feelings. Again, don't know if such a ritual is in keeping with your beliefs, but there are versions where you invoke archangels or different names of God that might work for you. If not, I've also heard that certain prayer practices can serve similar functions, such as daily Rosaries or Jesus Prayers, or prayers to St. Michael for protection.
Lastly, not on the subject of practice, but of theory/concepts, so far, I have found the clearest explanation of a theory of the "planes" (as in material, etheric, astral, etc) to be JMG's in his Occult Philosophy Workbook, which I understand to be a synthesis of various traditions he's worked with, but is based primarily on the Rosicrucians, most of whom are some flavor of Christian, so that part of the book, at the very least, wouldn't necessarily be inconsistent with Christian theology and metaphysics, though that might depend on how much you're willing to stretch orthodoxy ("pun" intended, here, but no offense meant, of course).
Anyhow, as a closing thought, it turns out the world is a weirder place than many folks think, and I'm starting to realize that a lot more folks have weird experiences they keep quiet about because they think it's only them. MM and the like have shown me how valuable it can be to share "whoah, this crazy stuff happened to me!" and get a response like "yeah, welcome to the party, that's actually pretty normal."
Whatever ends up working for you, I hope you'll keep us posted.
Cheers,
Jeff