Have you had any odd experiences with spirits or ghosts?  Or maybe just events that can’t be explained in rational terms?

“Haha actually I have one odd event from when I was younger where I saw a spirit or ghost.  So I was lying in bed one morning and I was in a deep sleep, and it was like 6am and I fell out of my bed and woke up on the ground.  When I woke up, I saw what looked like a spirit in front of me with their hand outstretched in front of my face.  I was so surprised I couldn’t move or make a sound, I was just staring at this figure in front of me in complete shock.  I was around 9 at the time, and it is just vividly burned into my memory.  The spirit was almost like a white glow of human, like a glowing cloud in the shape of a human.  In the midst of this cloud was a very prominent human hand, just directly in front of my face.  I couldn’t make out the spirits face or the rest of the body, just the hand in front of me.  But ya that is what I vividly remember.  I feel like this spirit was trying to save me from something that could have happened when I fell off the bed, so I refer to it as my “guardian angel”.  It was just too coincidental for me to have fallen from my bed, which was pretty high up, at such a young age for something to have not happened to me.  I mean, I remember expecting to see a cut or maybe have my head hurting, but the spirit must have taken care of whatever I injured.  I could have also just hit my head really hard and imagined the whole thing, but my belief that it happened is too strong and I already have a strong belief in spirits and ghosts… also my head is already too hard for something like falling out of bed to hurt me hahaha.  It was something that lasted only a few seconds, but I am positive that I saw a ghost or spirit.

How do you interpret what happened in the story?

“I already have really strong beliefs that ghosts or spirits exists, so I definitely think it was an encounter with some spirit form.  I have always had weird things happen to me or just odd experiences that I can’t explain in any other way except that I had an encounter with a ghost.  My family is also super into connecting with our ancestors who have passed on and believe they connect with us again in some ways… I guess like having the clock stop on a certain hour or feeling a breeze when all the windows or doors in the house are shut.  I don’t know if it was like a familial ghost that was trying to help me or if it was just some random spirit, but my honest interpretation of what happened is exactly what the story is.  I fell out of bed and was visited by a ghost or spirit, end of story.  No one can tell me any different or cause me to believe something different.  I was the person who experienced this, so no one can change that. “

Context:

My teammate is the one who had the above experience with a guardian spirit or ghost.  She was 9 years old at the time and the encounter occurred inside her bedroom in Orange County, CA.  She was in a deep sleep when she fell off the side of her bed, which was located maybe 4 feet off the ground.  Upon waking up from the fall, she noticed a glowing, cloudy figure standing in front of her with a hand directly in front of her face.  This encounter lasted maybe a few seconds, and then the spirit vanished from her view.  She felt a sense of alarm and shock, however was also oddly calm with the situation, almost as if the spirit was meant to be there for her.  This occurred at around 6am in the morning, which is not considered a liminal time frame where ghosts are normally seen.  After laying on the floor for a few minutes, she went running to her parents to tell them she saw a spirit, and being believers in the divine they didn’t rebut her claims.  Their family has strong beliefs in familial ghosts guarding over them, so the fact that she fell off her bed at a young age and came away from it with zero scratches or pain could explain that it was a guardian spirit protecting or healing her.  For years that spirit has been engrained in her memory and to this day she still considers it an encounter with a ghost or protective spirit.

My interpretation of the story:

I agree with my teammate that she was visited by a ghost or spirit whose obligation was to protect her from harm.  There is no definitive description of what a ghost should or shouldn’t look like or when is appropriate to see them.  Although they are most present during liminal time periods, 6am in the morning isn’t liminal.  However, she did fall out of her bed and at a young age she could have come away with some injury or head pain, but she felt completely normal afterwards.  I believe that the ghosts hand she saw directly in front of her face was in that moment healing or preventing an injury, which would explain why she woke up on the ground without any pain or soreness.  Also, I found it interesting that she referred to the ghost as a “guardian angel” and that her family has a large belief in connecting with their ancestors.  Since they have the belief that those who have passed on are always with them, it is plausible that she had an ancestral ghosts watching over her in that very moment she fell out of her bed, knowing that she may end up injured and was there to protect her.  I am also a believer of those in your family who have passed on being spiritual guardians, so I agree with my teammates reasoning.  People could state that since she fell and hit her head she may have been seeing things, but since she was so adamant that it was a ghost and due to her beliefs, it was easy to accept and agree.