Have you ever wondered....

[Amethyst Rose]

....if people are just faking it?

I hear people tell of amazing things, like OBE and communicating with spirits, and just totally cool things that I've never experienced and doubt that I ever will, and part of me really wonders if they're just making things up.
Sometimes I think that I'm a bad pagan because I've never experienced half of the things that some people can do (or claim to)... all I can do is read tarot cards. That's it. I can't talk to sprits, I've never communed with or been contacted by a god or goddess, I've never had past life experiences or memories, I've never seen fairies or ghosts, never had an OBE....
Am I just unmagickal??

[st0rm]

hehe.. good question.. some ppl may be faking it, but idont think anyone is "unmagickal" ...

[Haedis]

I agree...nobody is "unmagickal". Maybe you just havent found the right techniques for you or perhaps those things dont come naturally for you and you just need to work at it more often. Its like artists, some are great from the start but most need to work at it to get that good. Neither is more talented than the other if both produce great art in the end.

I think quite a few people lie or exaggerate, but the majority I've come across dont even claim to have done much (if any) astral travel, past life regression or communicating with ghosts. You certainly arent alone in that.

[Pan]

I understand how that feels. I know that some people are faking as I've called them on it. They were so red.

It's not right for them to fake it... if they are. But I can understand what you're going through. I used to think that I was unmagickal.. until I really started opening myself up to it. I was closed up even though I really wanted to receive some of the stuff that was happening to others. I guess I was just trying too hard.

Even now I'm a little closed up to some things because I try so hard to get them. I just have to learn to slow down and take it as it comes.

[Skye]

Originally posted by Amethyst Rose
....if people are just faking it?

all I can do is read tarot cards. That's it. I can't talk to sprits, I've never communed with or been contacted by a god or goddess, Am I just unmagickal??

you are already doing something magical, not everyone can read the tarot. I consider that to be a wonderful gift.

[gunner]

i'm another that doesn't use magik but then my beliefs don't require it, i've seen people who do believe they can do magik and others that are charlatans, into it for money, power or egoboo. for those who believe magik works whether you think of it as "intent" or resembling christian prayer or as actual energy transfers, lighting a candle, or whatever something frequently seems to happen, often fairly close to what we wish/hope for. as long as we are not wishing someone harm whatever we call it it doesn't hurt and whether we call it "prayer", "spellcasting", "sending positive energy" it may help the person we intend it to and will at the least tell that person that someone does care about them and that is no small thing itself

[Raevyn]

Mm I think of it as mundane type skills - for example I have no idea how my TV works but then I can design a site - we all have our own skills and strengths. Some people lie about mundane things too. I know how you feel too though, sometimes I wonder if people are making things up or if they aren't and I'm just missing out. Maybe it's a bit of both sometimes.

[HallsOfAvalon]

I've heard of allot of people that "fake" it.... and, I've seen allot of things that I couldn't really explain. I think they come when you really need them to.

Most of the things happen in dreams, so you might have had things happen and not believed they were real. Some people have a gift, of sorts, that lets them know when it isn't just a dream. Most people need to work on it. It helps to keep a dream journal. You have to keep it close to your bed, because you have to record as many details as possible. You'll start to notice differences in some.

For example.... My dreams are very strange. There is no pattern to what I dream. I could be having a nice little dream about childhood friends, and all of a sudden I'm telling somebody off in a department store. But, I don't travel to this store. It's like my dreams are made up of several smaller dreams.... that don't really begin or end.

When it is something more important..... They all make sense. I tend to remember these in a different way. Where my dreams, I will remember bits....... the other ones I remember all.

Just look for some kind of pattern.

I think it's like anything else the more you practise the better you become at these kind of things.

[Saphra]

I never really though of it before, but I mean, you know that the psychic friends hotline people are faking it, so why couldn't other people???

My aunts ghost visited me last night tho, he thought I was cold so he nicely made my back (I was sleeping on my stomach) feel like someone had a fire that I was standing with my back to..... you know, when you feel like your back is on fire but it really isn't???? So that is my weird experience for the month......

[Mythrel]

yea, I've asked myself that question many times...are they faking this? do they really believe that happens? etc.

I've come to the conclusion some people are faking and some are the real deal...the tough part is picking out the real from the fake...

[Armitage]

Hm. Once I stopped expecting anyhting, I started getting something. Your expectations might be clouding things.