I want your honest answer,   did any of you feel unusually distant from the presence?
414744
Here is how I feel..\n\nHelp for Non-Wiccans \nThat someone you love should decide one day to be a Witch may be the last thing you ever expected. What could be more alien, more controversial, more overwhelming? \n\nYour loved one is probably exploring Wicca, a modern Pagan (Neo-Pagan) movement. Throw out all the stereotypes and the Hollywood hype you've seen or heard about Witchcraft. Wicca (like other modern Pagan religions) is actually a gentle, life-affirming, positive path. It is a religion and a way of life that connects on a very deep level with Nature and the Earth's cycles. Wicca is very individualized. Its followers do not answer to any all-powerful leader; nor are they cut off from family or friends. Wicca is not a proselytizing religion. For some, it just happens to be the religion that makes the most sense. \n\nHow should you respond to someone interested in Wicca? Try to understand that there are many positive spiritual paths from which to choose. Mainstream religion is not for everyone; give your loved one the freedom to choose for him/herself. If your under-age child takes an interest in Wicca, you have the right to insist that he/she stay away from it. But if Wicca is forbidden territory, your child may seek the information subversively; wouldn't it be better to permit overt exploration so that your child may seek information with your guidance? \n\nOccasionally you may hear the terms "white witch", "black witch", implying that there are good or bad versions of the path. This is actually a fallacy. Wiccans follow what's known as The Wiccan Rede, which states, "If it harm none, do what you will." This means one may live life as one sees fit so long as one does no intentional harm. (This includes casting negative spells and doing magic to manipulate others.) Wiccans by definition do not practice any form of negative magic. Those who do are not deserving of the title, "Witch". \n\nNo one can speak for others who claim to be Wiccan, and it is possible that there are some alleged Wiccans who are unethical. Keep in mind that in all walks of life, from every cultural, philosophical and religious background there are those who do not live up to the high standards of their community. The best thing to do is to encourage new Wiccans to be discriminatory, to use good judgement and common sense in their spiritual pursuits. \n\nFor more basic information about this path please see the other sections of this page including, "What is Wicca?" \n\nQuestions? If you have a question about Wicca or Neo-Paganism, write to Fly-by-Night psyche@flybynightbookstore.com. Your question and our answer will be posted on our web site (with only your first name for those who wish to maintain their anonymity). We may not be able to answer all questions due to volume but will attempt to respond to as many as possible.
1978
I haven't actually encountered a ghost, but I have encountered waking up, and not being able to move, like my whole body is paralyzed, and not being able to open my eyes.  All I can do is squint.  I have then felt someone touch me, another time I felt a kiss on my forehead, and one time I did see a shadow of someone. (maybe a ghost)  Meanwhile, I couldn't move thru all of this.
425974
mmm nope not all of us.  I feel a huge loss but I am not ashamed of their actions.  They made it not me.  I am who I am and I was not ment to be raised by my biological parents or I would have been.  The all mighty had other things in mind for me.  If anything I feel sorry for them,  because in the back of their mind will always be the guilt of knowing what they did.  \nI wish I could know more about them.  Especially if I have siblings who may like your girlfriend need a family connection.  I am blessed to be strong in myself.  But there will always be questions.  Like why in the world my kids are lighter than me, when their father is darker than me.  I know my mom was real light and my dad was dark from non-ident info.  There will always be a greaving for that sense of belonging but I don't feel any guilt.
270618
i do if i am alone...i don't know why, but i am glad you asked...i never really thought too deeply about it till now..maybe i'll get over it now...thanks
865079
some people are giving really scary answers to this question!\n\nyup feeling detached is a totally normal symptom of depression. although you shouldnt have to suffer like this - perhaps you could talk to your GP. they could maybe change your medication, in the hope that would help, or maybe refer you to a counsellor or something? just a thought.\n\nanyway, its totally normal - i experienced the same thing myself - so dont worry about it.
369735
Yes. I feel God,s presence all around me. he speaks to me. He said, My sheep hear my voice.Sometimes i dont understand something in the Bible, he revels it to me.  In rough times i can feel his presence. he lets me know everything is ok.  I pray and Trust Him. He will guide my life.
448668
It's a feeling I'm all to familiar with.  I'm an oddball.  I don't like to run with the pack.  The pack I run with today might decide we're lemmings tomorrow.  I've had a great deal of success at being myself, and as much as it pisses off the world, I'm not ****ing changing.  I find that as much as I've heard that Christians are strangers and aliens in this land, just as much I'm finding it's the truth.  I feel alone much of the time, and it's a rare thing for me to find someone who thinks and feels the way I do.  Hope this helps, as I don't really know where you're coming from.  From a psychological point of view, perhaps you simply need to find your center and connect with people who have more similar interests.  Or perhaps you should do what I find myself doing much of the time...hanging out with my dog.
139301
That's a really good question, and on the surface not as easy to answer as one might think. I had never really thought about it. \n\nI am known for being a loner in the sense that I don't go  out and do things with other people very much.  Actually, its pretty rare.  I am pretty much a person who likes to stay home, and I live alone, so one could probably say, I am a loner.\n\nBut it's like I told my dad once, "I may be alone, but I am not lonely." I  believe the answer to the quetion  depends on how one feels when they are alone.  \n\nA person who chooses to be alone may still feel lonely. And if he/she feels lonely, they probably are not loners.\n\nMake any sense?
179583
Oh Mr. Baldwin, I am feeling just that.\n\nIt's been a difficult journey, and I am doing my absolute best, but I do feel just as though I'm not getting anywhere.\n\nJust over a week ago, I thought I had reached my destination, then disappointment hit me head on again!  My sadness, unfortunately, was displayed in a question just this past week.  \n\nWell, I'll be there soon enough.  Thank you for asking.
943687
It happens- I wondered away from God for 20 years, but God patiently waited for me to come back and I feel a closeness I never thought possible. To feel closer to God, try to incorporate your spirituality into your daily life- if you hold the elevator for someone, silently think to yourself I do this for you Lord, If you help a stranger or do any act of kindness, do the same thing. It will bring your focus back to God. Be Blessed, God loves you and will never abandon you. God will patiently wait for you. I know from experience.
64192
Oh yes. I have always felt different from everyone around me. There has never been anyone who truly "gets" me. I have friends, I have family, but still even when I am with them I feel alone.\nAnd yes left out of things. I've been in situations where it seems I was forgotten. Hearing friends talk about the great time they had doing this or that, and wondering why I wasn't invited.\nI don't know what you wish to know but remember the truly great have always stood alone from the crowd.\nDon't change to fit in, be yourself. Someone will "get" you.
253292
i'm inside me, and it's the only way i know.  \n\nwhat's normal for me might feel totally 'abnormal' to you.  \n\nif you'd like to 'trade' for awhile and see... :)
799407
Wonderful.So you floated but what were your thoughts?Were you frightened'scared or happy.Recollect all your thoughts and concentration into that occasion.Try to replicate that time
975198
I was electrocuted at work a while back.  I was passed out when they pulled me down from the wires.  But I never lost my train of thought, I feel that I experienced the whole thing in real time.\n\nWhen the current grabbed me I felt the life quickly drain from my body, it occoured to me that this is how I am to die, and then I was moving at high speed down a river of florescent light, inside a canyon with tall dark walls.  My body kept feeling like when you go over the falls on a roller coaster.  After a time the walls of the canyons started to have faces, and the faces turned into my fellow workers staring down at me in horror, thinking I was dead.   But I was pretty much OK except for some deep burns.\n\nCould have been just the dieing process.  But I feel that it was my choice to live or die during that time.  \n\nI would say my time since then is pure bonus time.  But really our entire lives are bonus time.   I don't understand anything more about death, but I did learn to appreciate each moment of life, each life giving breath.
511728
no but wan i feel like
455569
When I have felt God's presence it was usually with a lot of other believers during a time of prayer and meditation.  When I have been meditating by myself, or when I have been mentally going about some depressing fact and She steps in to bring me back to reality.\n- Oh yeah stopping to take a breath and look at Her beauty in the world also has made me feel God's Precence\n\nSo I think the key here is being open to feel God's presence.  Meditation helps, but I think most of it is being spiritual and open, having faith and taking the time to listen to what God may be saying.
246947
Interesting.  I remember sitting outside late at night with a girlfriend.  It was going to storm, and there were already flashes of lightning in the clouds.  We were on the frontal boundary, so the winds were rocking us back and forth while the flashes in the sky lit up our surroundings.  I knew that the raw forces of nature were so much more powerful than I was, yet I somehow felt strangely magnified within them.  For a moment I was in tune with nature.  I loved that time and place with everything I had.  Then, it was gone with the rain.  \nSo, yes, I have felt that feeling.  I relive it sometimes in my memory of a night long gone.