[Hierophant]

Thanks for this very informative thread.

I was raised Catholic, and promptly rejected all the church's teachings after my confirmation ceremony. I rebelled for years, and in college, decided that God was an invention which was a response to the fear of death, and as a way to keep people in line in society. I reasoned that if you needed a God, you should try worshipping every particle in the universe. A confirmed (and somewhat confrontational and smug) atheist, I went on my way.

Once, I overdosed on cold medicine, and going to sleep, heard a LOUD clamorous cacophany of voices in my head: people who were still alive, some deceased, many strangers, seemingly hundreds piled on top of each other, here and there an intelligible word rising and falling out of the din. I was freaked. I told that story as a drug trip, not a spiritual experience.

Seven years later, in 2000, I was studying chi gung. It was a weekend, and I lived in the Blue Ridge mountains of western North Carolina. For fun, I trail-ran a mountain pathway to a large rocky cliff. The vista was amazing, and 100% natural - no cars, no roads, no houses, no other hikers, nothing. As I relaxed and wandered the large cliffs, I decided to practice my chi gung. Something strange happened. I began to see bands of white energy radiating off the distant mountain ridges. (In class, I had seen energy in the room, and around people, but as soon as I became mindful of it, it would vanish.) This persisted. I was in a beautiful place out in the country, in state of concentration, relaxation, presence in the moment, and had no cares in the world. Suddenly, I heard a voice that wasn't coming from air moving my tympanic membrane.

"Say thank you."

I was surprised. I was dismissive. Then I was worried. It repeated itself, steadily, calmly, with focus and intent. Finally, I opened my mouth, and said Thank you.

"Say thank you, God."

I did. At this point, I had tears coming down my cheeks and my whole body was filled with radiant energy. The landscape itself was singing to me, and the vibrant, verdant colors of the mountains were more intense than they had been.

Then, the voice asked me to thank someone whose name I will not repeat. It wasn't evil, but it did then - and does now - go against my personal code of beliefs. It was dogmatic. I think in retrospect, and especially reading this forum, this third statement was possibly uttered by a different voice, maybe a trickster, just trying to take advantage of my "awakening." Or, it could have just been a spirit who had their own highly dogmatic beliefs in life, and carried those to the other side. Or, it was some vestigial circuit from my ancestors. Whatever it was, I couldn't handle it. I tried to go back to the previous voice without allowing the strange dissonance which had crept in, but the experience had ended. It lasted about a minute, but time was not sensed. As I relaxed, I realized I could no longer deny the existence of God. At the same time, I would advise anyone to be an "atheist without barriers to What Is Possible," so that they may approach spirituality with a clean slate. People should really only trust their own experiences with spirituality until they grow into an understanding and a sophistication that lets them share with others. Anything else is dogma, teachings, and thus, without experience, lies.

Since then, I have learned a great deal about physical energetics, eastern energetic models and principals, and have met "seers" who I am certain had high sense perception and know others' thoughts.

I look forward to learning to meditate and possibly accessing this realm of the unconscious where our spirits mix with others - of course, fully protected, as others suggested.

Thanks to all here.