Spiritual Experiences: How I Know I'm Not Alone and I've Been Here Before

Spirituality is something that everyone has, most just don't realize they have it. The problem is that staunch religion and science can sometimes get in the way of truly finding one's spirituality and depth in this world. That's not to say that religion and science can't aid in fueling the spiritual fires, but these two facets of life can also act as a barrier.

I say these things out of pure experience. I do not claim to know everything about why we are here on this planet or even how we got here. But I do know two things...that I'm not alone and that I've been here before. Here are some of my most spiritual and personal experiences with the energy...the force that drives us and lives in and through each and every one of us.

So different people have different experiences with spirituality or what they would refer to as "God"...and my experiences I'm sure are going to be different from the next spiritual person. Nonetheless, they have been really intense experiences for me...in which I'll never forget. My spirituality has stemmed a lot from my dreams. I'm not talking about daydreams or fantasies here, I'm talking about my actual dreams that I have during my sleep cycles (be it at night or during the rare occasion that I get to take a nap).

Unfortunately, I haven't met that many people in my lifetime who have had such strong spiritual experiences through their dreams...except for one particular person. She was my roommate for quite some time and someone who introduced me to the idea of "lucid dreaming". Honestly, before she mentioned the words "lucid dreaming" to me, I'd been having lucid dreams my entire life...I just never knew that there was a word for them or that other people were experiencing them in the same aspects as I was. If you do not know what lucid dreams are, we can put it as simply as this - they are dreams in which you are awake...dreams in which you realize that you are indeed dreaming. This experience is not only exhilarating...it can also be beyond spiritually enlightening.

Some of the most precious spiritual experiences I've had have consisted of dreams in which I've connected with the spiritual world or with a "higher" being, if you will. Now, I don't claim to be a super religious person, but if I had to pick a term of religion to title myself I usually go with Pagan (for different reasons that I won't go into depth about in this hub). Nevertheless, you can call this being or energy what you want, but to me it's all the same thing and I don't feel that it matters what name you give it. But...I digress. Back to my dream experiences.

About six months ago, I had a dream which left me absolutely confident about my spirituality...and which left me with no worries about the afterlife. Let me explain...

In this dream, I literally died. Now most people say that if you dream that you are dying that you actually die in reality...which is untrue. I'm proof that it's not true. So I died in this dream and I felt my spirit getting sucked out of my physical body here on earth. I then shot up (literally) into space...towards the stars and saw earth below me (as a side note most people refer to this as "astral projection"). It's not so much the act of flying out of my body and into the sky that made me feel so enlightened, but more or less the feeling I possessed in that moment in my dream. My soul felt light and warm...and my thoughts were as such, "I remember this...I've done this before". The action of flying into space and seeing the earth below me was familiar and comfortable. I was also beyond excited and enthralled that I was going somewhere that I had been before...call it Heaven or Summerland or what you will, but after this dream, I was absolutely certain that this other realm does in fact exist.

My dream continued with me being in this different realm and peering down upon earth. I was talking to a friend or other soul and was deciding who I wanted to be in my next life and where I was going to live. There was purpose...there was meaning to life...and living different lives. There was no doubt that I had been in that place before...this dream was almost like I was re-living an experience that I had had dozens of times before, and most likely will have again.

So am I saying that I believe in a higher power and a spiritual afterlife? Yes, of course! I don't only believe in this...I know in my heart of hearts and within my undying energy that there is something after this physical life. NO one could tell me otherwise. And the most beautiful aspect about this is that in that other place, it doesn't matter what you call each other...there are really no names or time that I could tell...and if there was, I don't think it would matter to anyone or anything there. The whole purpose is to live and learn...at least that's the feeling that I acquired from this special dream. And that feeling of enlightenment...of knowing who I was and who I had been and where I'm going again, that feeling lasted for days afterward. It was like living in a dream after that dream...and I'll never forget that dream for as long as I live.

In addition to this spiritual dream, I've had many many more. I've had dreams in which I was floating on my back, high above the trees and soaking up the energy of the stars in the night sky. And the god and the goddess (or the all-encompassing energy, whatever you want to call it) was with me and almost rocking me in my sleep...

I hope to continue to have spiritually enlightening and awakening dreams throughout the rest of this life. But keep in mind that everyone experiences spirituality differently...so just because I connect to my spiritual self through dreams doesn't mean that you can or will...you'll need to find your own path.

So I've shared with you some of my most spiritual dreams...but is that all that I've experienced through my life in the lines of spirituality? Absolutely not! There have been so many signs and symbols given to me throughout my life to reassure me that I'm not alone and that I've done this before, I couldn't even begin to tell you all of the signs and symbols.

One particular sign or message from the gods that I can remember came at a time when I really needed a boost of joy. I was out of high school and had just gotten my heart broken for the first time...and everyone knows how tragic that first heartbreak truly is. I was down on myself and in life in general and was praying within myself for the goddess to comfort me...and she did. At the time I was working at a thrift store and part of my job description was to sift through donations...find the good stuff and trash the bad. Well, the first bag I opened that day (a black trash bag, mind you) contained a book by my favorite artist, Brian Froud. I'd never seen the book before in my life but I knew that it was sent to me at that moment to give me that little reassurance that I wasn't alone and that someone was indeed looking out for me. As simple as that may seem, it impacted my day and my life in a way that I won't forget.

Other signs and symbols sent to me have included an experience with seeing a coyote, when the night prior I had been researching and writing about Native American gods and goddesses.

I see faces and symbols in clouds all of the time...I've also recently been able to read the flight patterns of birds in ways that give messages to my life.

The thing with signs and symbols from the otherworldly energy is that they are around us all of the time...it's just that most of the time we are too busy to notice or even care. Many people don't believe in things like this, but I know that they are there and are just waiting to be recognized and utilized by humanity.

The moral to my story is that no one can take away my spirituality or even truly define it...nor do I was anyone to define it. I don't think true spirituality can be defined or have barriers placed around it. And if anyone tries to define spirituality or call certain ways of spirituality "right" or "wrong", then they are sadly mistaken...but they'll remember that once they go back to that other place...that place that we've all been to before and will go again.

Call me crazy if you'd like...but no one can take away my knowledge of eternity.