The event

I was driving from Wiener Neustadt to the IAEA’s lab in Seibersdorf, where I worked as a clerical assistant. I was driving along the Babenberger-Ring. Just in the moment when I was passing the fire station, I heard a strong, driving wind. It was very loud and lasted a number of seconds. I realized immediately that it wasn’t a physical wind, but rather a spiritual wind. Nonetheless, I looked at the trees along the street to see if they were moving, but, as I expected, they weren’t.

Nothing further happened.

I had no idea what it meant.

Thoughts and theories

In Acts of the Apostles, Verse 2 lines 1 through 3, it says, “When the day of Pentecost came, it found them [the apostles] gathered in one place. Suddenly from up in the sky, there came a noise like a strong, driving wind which was heard all through the house, where they were seated. Tongues as of fire appeared, which parted and came to rest on each of them.”

My theory is that I heard the same wind. Was it around the time of Pentecost? I don’t know, as I didn’t write down the date. There was no tongue of fire, at least none that I saw, but in the moment of hearing the wind I was driving past the fire station.

Reading the next lines in Acts, I learn that everyone around heard the wind, not just the apostles. My theory, however, is that on this occasion I was the only person to hear the spiritual wind. This can only be a theory, of course — there’s no way I can know if others heard it or not.

Der Beitrag Hearing the strong, driving wind erschien zuerst auf spiritual-encounters.

Time:  During the night
Date:  Summer of 1999
Place:  My flat at Lange Gasse 24/1, Wiener Neustadt

I was 43 years old. I slept through the night. When I woke up in the morning I could remember that I had been visited during the night by a woman whom I did not know. The woman appeared before me and said, “There will be romance in your life.” I answered diffidently, “Surely I’m too old for that now.” She replied wisely, “Who knows?” That was the end of the visit.

I understood that the woman was a “wise woman”, a gifted medium.

The takeaway

During an astral visit we feel no surprise, no wonderment that it’s happening. Even on this occasion when I didn’t know the visitor, I felt no surprise, no need to ask her who she was or why she was visiting me. For her part, she knew how to find me.

Background

There is a background and I’m aware of it, but I prefer not to share it.

Thoughts and theories

I was very pleased that this visit had happened.

Afterword

There was indeed romance in my life some little time later. But the man whom I was smitten with was married, so unattainable. For a long time I felt upset that the wise woman hadn’t told me that the man was married. Why didn’t she mention such an important fact? I mean, it changes everything. I realised only years later that she herself had not known it. She couldn’t have told me. I stopped feeling upset with her.

Der Beitrag The astral visit of the “wise woman” erschien zuerst auf spiritual-encounters.

Time:  Early in the morning
Date:  May 1998
Place:  My flat on the Wiener Straße 19/6, Wiener Neustadt

I was 41 years old. It was early morning, and I was sleeping lightly. Although I hadn’t quite woken up, I saw the arrival of an old acquaintance at the foot of my bed. I saw that he was in a sexually aroused state. In the next moment, he started to have sex with me. My astral spirit was lying next to my physical body. I woke up fully in surprise and returned to my physical body. My old acquaintance left immediately.

You might think he was a hot-blooded Latin lover, but no, he was an Englishman.

The takeaways

It’s possible to do every physical thing with our astral bodies, and everything is easy and unencumbered. There are no laws of physics that have to be followed.

If we know the person who visits us, we recognize them immediately.

People know how to find us, even if they don’t know where we live.

Background

Shortly before, I had published an article in our organization’s staff journal. My old acquaintance (a former co-worker) had read it, I guess. It brought me into his mind.

Thoughts and theories

This event is too personal to share, yet I have to share it. People should know that this kind of thing can happen. My discomfort at revealing this personal thing is a small matter, compared with the importance of sharing information.

On the astral plane, people can find us immediately. They only need to think about us and they come to where we are. My old acquaintance didn’t know where I was living, but he found me. He didn’t need a map. Did he know where he was himself? I guess not. Even though he was with me, he wouldn’t know which building, or which street, or perhaps even which town he was in.

Taking this further — can anyone visit us? Does this mean we have to accept a visitor whom we don’t want? No, it doesn’t mean that. If we don’t want a visitor, we can repel them. And don’t forget the other side: If someone doesn’t want to receive our visit, and they repel us, then we skedaddle.

Afterword

There isn’t one. We never met again after that.

Der Beitrag The astral visit of an old acquaintance erschien zuerst auf spiritual-encounters.

Time:  During the day
Date:   May or June 1982
Place:  My flat at Praterstraße 47/3/3/12, Vienna

I was almost 26 years old. I was feeling very down. Events had happened. I was sitting in my bed-sitter. I got a “spiritual command” to go and lie down. So, without questioning it, I went to the couch-bed and lay down. As soon as I did that, I felt arms around me. I was receiving spiritual comfort from an entity that did not show himself or reveal his nature.

The event lasted a few seconds. I got up and realised that I had received a comfort that doesn’t go away and doesn’t need repeating.

I didn’t know why it was necessary to lie down.

In the days that followed I wondered about who it had been. It seemed to be male. I wondered if it could be my father, who had died when I was young. But then I realised that a human soul can’t give comfort that doesn’t need repeating.

The takeaway

Spiritual comfort isn’t the same thing as spiritual support. They’re two different things. I know, because I’ve experienced both at first hand: comfort on this occasion, and support on the occasion of the angel’s visit.

Thoughts and theories

Years later I read on the Internet about this kind of thing. People have experienced this kind of comforting. It’s been described. The comforter is believed to be Christ.

Der Beitrag Receiving spiritual comfort erschien zuerst auf spiritual-encounters.

Time:  During the day
Date:   3 October 2020
Place:  My room on the 2^nd floor, Hotel Zentral, Wiener Neustadt

A thunderstorm started. I went over to my east-facing window to watch the lightning. In the next moment, several forks of lightning drew the perfect picture of a woman — her left profile, complete with long, flowing robes and with a long, flowing headscarf and possibly her long hair, too. The robes were flowing out behind her as if she was moving. It seemed to be several forks of lightning because the picture was quite detailed, but it was perhaps only one fork that broke out into several different branches. The lightning lasted one second. It moved from right to left. Despite the brevity, I could see that the picture was perfect.

Background

This happened nine days after I had visited the “house of the Virgin Mary” on Mt. Koressos, above Ephesus.

Thoughts and theories

In the minutes following the fork lightning, I tried to explain it “down” by thinking, “It was a woman; it could be any woman; it could be referring to Mum, for instance, or even me.” I didn’t want to jump to a grand conclusion. But after a few days, I accepted that it was most likely a reference to Mary.¹

I saw Mary’s left profile, and she (or the lightning) was moving from right to left. In spiritual matters, left suggests the future.

Why would Mary appear to me like this? Was it a greeting? Unlikely, because Mary doesn’t appear to people simply in order to greet them. Her appearances always have a more serious reason. Was this event to give me comfort or support? No, I don’t think so. I derived neither “eternal comfort” nor “angelic support” from the event. Nonetheless, I count it as being the third such occasion — following those in 1982 and 1984.

Lightning does have a spiritual meaning, apparently. If you google “lightning spiritual meaning”, you can read some interesting theories.

1. “Meanwhile, the Pontificia Accademia Mariana Internationalis (PAMI) … has created a special observatory devoted to the study and interpretation of Madonna-related apparitions and mystic phenomena throughout the world — of which there are thought to be thousands — pending an official pronouncement by the Church concerning their authenticity.” This is an excerpt from:
   https://www.ansa.it/english/news/general_news/2023/04/13/probe-may-find-nothing-supernatural-about-weeping-mary_e1054cb8-36f6-41b0-8fa2-a1c7c204cacc.html ↩︎

Der Beitrag Fork lightning drawing the picture of a woman erschien zuerst auf spiritual-encounters.

Time:  During the day
Date:   A clear day in January 2020
Place:  The field road on the hill above Sieggraben, Burgenland

I was walking on the field road that goes over the hill. There’s a lot of open sky up there. I paused and looked up. I became aware of something spiritual descending from the clear sky in front of me. It was descending onto me. I was receiving a blessing. I stood there. I did nothing more.

The takeaway

“Blessings from above” can simply refer to rain, an everyday saying. But a blessing can also be spiritually bestowed from above.

Thoughts and theories

One month later I bought a new car. I thought, “This is a wonderful thing, a new car” — but I knew the blessing I’d received didn’t refer to that!

At that time, no blessing in my day-to-day life was apparent.

Later in the year, on 24 September 2020, I visited the “house of the Virgin Mary” on Mt. Koressos. Nine days after that, on 3 October, I had a fork lightning experience (see next topic). I theorize that the fork lightning experience was the blessing, which was heralded nine months earlier when I was walking over the hill.

I theorize that these three events — receiving a blessing from above, visiting the Virgin Mary House and the fork lightning — are all connected.

Der Beitrag Receiving a “blessing from above” erschien zuerst auf spiritual-encounters.

Time:  In the evening
Date:   February or March 2017
Place:  Crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a cruise

I’ve seen a light orb. It was on my Caribbean cruise as the ship was crossing the Atlantic. A round ball of light flew past my cabin window, moving horizontally and fast, just in that moment when I happened to be looking out. I didn’t know what it was. My first thought was that it was a spiritual matter. I mulled over it for three days. It then occurred to me that it might be ball lightning.

Thoughts and theories

I’ve returned to my original thought — that it was a spiritual matter.

Some years later I learned about light orbs. Especially in hospitals where people are dying, light orbs have been seen.

According to the Haunted Rooms website, a light orb is a spiritual manifestation, often representing a deceased loved one who’s visiting us. This makes sense. My Mum, when she was alive, told me she would join me in spirit when I’m on a cruise.

The light orb didn’t appear inside the cabin. That would have frightened me. So Mum, if it was she, chose to move past my large window on the outside. She knew the exact moment that I would be looking out the window. I wasn’t frightened at all.

Der Beitrag Seeing a light orb erschien zuerst auf spiritual-encounters.

Time:  7.20 in the evening
Date:   6 September 2011
Place:  My flat at Lange Gasse 24/1, Wiener Neustadt

My mother passed away at 3.20 in the morning of 17 August 2011, in Brisbane. Here in Austria that time would have been 7.20 in the evening of 16 August. Exactly three weeks later, at 7.20 p.m. on 6 September, I was walking across my spacious bedroom. In that moment, a spiritual band that was attached to my spiritual belly snapped and moved away.

I saw the band with my spiritual eye. It was like a flat ribbon. It had a pale colour, like silver or old gold. I heard the snap with my spiritual ear. The band moved away from me at a steady pace. No longer connected to me, it didn’t fall to the ground; there’s no gravity in the spirit world.

I didn’t see my mother. I saw only the band.

I understood what had just happened. I noted the time on the clock.

The takeaway

We remain connected to our mothers spiritually, until our mothers die.

Thoughts and theories

This was exactly three weeks after Mum died, but the passing of time is in the physical world. We read, and we suppose it to be true, that there’s no passing of time in the spirit world — past, present and future are all the same. But the “physical timing” if I can call it that — the three weeks — is significant.

The existence of the spiritual band is well known. We use this idea when we throw streamers from ships. The streamers connect us to the people on the wharf. As the ship pulls away, the streamers snap. The streamers are brightly coloured, all different colours. The band is not.

If we die before our mothers, I suppose the band snaps in exactly the same way.

I suggest that three weeks is the right amount of time to remain here after death. After three weeks, we leave. We can opt to stay longer of course, but if we don’t opt for that, then we leave. (It seems we can also opt to come back as a visitor whenever we want to.)

Are we connected to other family members with a similar band?

Der Beitrag The snapping of the connecting band erschien zuerst auf spiritual-encounters.

Time:  During the day
Date:   Three occasions in 2006
Place:  My flat at Lange Gasse 24/1, Wiener Neustadt

I was 49-50 years old. I had three encounters with a totem animal, an eagle.

In her book, Celtic Wise Woman, Dilys Gater describes an exercise to prompt you to meet your totem animal.

First time: I did the exercise and while doing that, I looked around in spirit and saw a spiritual eagle circling, quite high and far away.

Second time: I did the exercise again. I was expecting the eagle. Sure enough, I saw it, and this time it was much closer.

Third time: I wasn’t doing the exercise. The eagle suddenly appeared on my left side and eyeballed me in the left eye. This lasted for half a second. The left side represents the future. The future to which the eagle referred became clear to me later.

Background

The background for these encounters is the exercise described by Dilys in the section, Finding your Totem Animal. Dilys explains that the type of totem animal isn’t necessarily permanent for us — we can have a different animal at different times of life.

Thoughts and theories

Nothing to record.

Afterword

I did the exercise a few more times but didn’t see the eagle again or any other animal.

Der Beitrag Meeting my totem animal erschien zuerst auf spiritual-encounters.

Time:  During the day
Date:   February 2005
Place:  At work, 22nd floor of the A-Tower in the VIC, IAEA, Vienna

I was 48 years old. I was having an appraisal meeting with my boss. He said something of a personal nature. I had a moment of distress and began to breathe deeply and evenly, saying to myself, “Be calm! Be calm!” This took all my focus.

In the next moment, I experienced “Nirvana”, if that’s the right word. I transcended the physical, so to speak, and was in a heavenly state. It was over after about five seconds.

My boss didn’t seem to share this transcendental moment with me. It’s the fourth spiritual event, or moment, that I had because of the presence of another person, but the only one where the moment wasn’t shared.

Background

Six months earlier, I had done that same deep breathing exercise, repeatedly telling myself to be calm, while on a great adventure — quad-biking in Mauritius, which we were doing thanks to my sister. So that prepared me for this challenging moment that came up in February 2005.

Thoughts and theories

I’m not sure that I’m using the right word, “Nirvana”, but you’ll know what I mean. There are some interesting texts on Quora about it.

Afterword

A few months later I did the Art-of-Living (AOL) course, which teaches the Sudarshan Kriya method of breathing. Our course instructor shared with us that he had had a moment of Nirvana (I believe he used that word), as a result of doing these breathing exercises.

Der Beitrag Experiencing a momentary “Nirvana” erschien zuerst auf spiritual-encounters.