So, everyone must know a myth or legend that they perhaps have read about somewhere. Or what about ghosts, demons, or other paranormal entities?

This thread is for discussion on what you think. What you believe. Is it possible? Impossible? Logical or not? Does it make sense? Why or why not? Do you think the paranormal roam the earth? Ghosts in the house? Unexplained happenings?

So, to help out with different discussion ideas here are a few of the creatures of myth and legends, some information, a picture, and my opinions on them.

Sasquatch (aka: Big Foot)
Wiki link: Here
The picture below is simply an idea of what he looks like.
An ape-like creature that stands up right like a human, large, hairy, tall, and strong.


Do I think he exists? Yes. Well, for starters I love believing in these sort of things. Sasquatch appears very similar to a Gigantopithecus, the largest ape ever to have existed. The fossils of such a creature have been discovered and researched.


So, what if the Gigantopithecus hasn't gone extinct yet? Early settlers and Native Americans have their own legends on a creatures and the Indians called an ape like creature depicted in their art and stories as "Sasquatch". They could have easily seen a Gigantopithecus and just didn't give it the same name.
I have other reasons, but I can explain later if challenged. ;)


The Loch Ness Monster
Wiki Link: Here
A lake monster with a long neck, thick body, and flippers. Supposedly spotted in Scotland.


Do I believe? Yes. This creature fascinates me, actually. This question is ALWAYS asked when people learn I believe in it - If such a large creature exists in a lake, how come it hasn't been captured or spotted more? Simple. The Loch Ness lake used to connect to the ocean and the lake contains a small amount of salt. The Loch Ness could easily be an ocean dweller that wandered into the Loch Ness Lake and then left. Simple as that. But wait, what? Here we go: I do not think the Loch Ness is a monster. Nor do I believe it is a species of its own. Same as Sasquatch. The Loch Ness' description is very similar to a Plesiosauria. This creature may still exist somewhere in the ocean.

Doubts? Ask me. ;) I enjoy friendly debates.

There are many, many more myths/legends. I will add more in time.

Now on to the paranormal.

Do I believe in ghosts? Definitely. I definitely think they exist. I don't even question it one bit. The experiences I have had with them confirm my beliefs. It may be strange to those that don't believe, but this thread is simply opinionated either way. IF you are curious, feel free to ask me about why I believe. ;)
Have you ever had an experience with the paranormal? Do you believe in paranormal entities?

A famous paranormal site:

Waverly Hills
Link: HERE
I love Waverly Hills. I live in Kentucky and roughly an hour away from there. I have been on the property before and it is.. creepy. Now, for those that don't know, Louisville is a large city in Kentucky and is where this hospital is still standing.

That photo above was taken in 1910. Taken before Louisville was even developed.
Don't know the history behind it? Waverly Hills was an old hospital used to treat (or shall I say attempt to treat) patients with TB. But there was no known cure for it then.


MANY people died. And often patients were "experimented" on to try and discover a cure. Patients would have balloon planted inside their ribs to try and expand them to help the patient breathe. This was considered a painful operation. Also, many patients were left outside on the balconies and yard during the cold weather. The doctors and nurses hoped the cold air and the snow would help the patient. Of course, it didn't.
The Tunnel is probably the most famous part of the hospital. It was where bodies were sent before they were departed.



I would love to tour Waverly, but I don't think it would be exciting with a group of people.. I might try it one day though, before it is turned into a Bed and Breakfast.. which is what is planned for this historical place. Really unfortunate.


So tell me, what do you believe?

I believe in a lot of things. I don't necessarily think it means there's 'magic' and stuff but it certainly can't be explained with what we currently know. I've had a few personally and I've heard of many.

1) My mother can predict the future. She has no control of it and dreams the experience of the person within that situation a few days before it happens. She tells us about it a few days before an event and lo' behold, it's on the news just as she described it. For example, 2 days before 9/11 she told us about standing up high on a building and seeing another building opposite her, then a plane crashing a few stories below her.
They can be large disasters or events within the family and it always occurs within 1 week. She is either 100% accurate on the details when they do happen and about 95% of her predictions do happen.

2) I woke up one night hearing whispers in my ears. This went on for about an hour. This then escalated into screaming and I saw lots of dark figures walking around in my room. Then I fainted from terror (was frozen at the time). Normally I'd think this was some sort of nightmare but that same morning my 3 year old sister asked me if there were people in my room last night and even woke up to ask my stepfather to check up on me that night (which he didn't).

This was in the same house that I caught this weird shadow behind me in a single frame of a video (deleted it because I was freaked out) and my mother complaining about someone using their fingers to rub the dust on our TV table into one pile every morning (that table never got dusted because of it). @_@ We stayed there for a year and was out quickly.

I believe in a lot of things as well. My family and I have been through weird experiences that I shiver by thinking about.
I thing some legends and myths are definitely true and spirits are definitely real to be honest. The sheer fact I believe is because you never know what is out there, be it aliens or nessie you never know.

When I was 3 I was helped by a shadow that I talked to from age 3 to roughly age 7. I don't remember much but my family told me everything.

Pa-Chinko- Thank goodness you got out of there. That doesn't sound very healthy and I have a feeling something either went wrong in there or those were demonic spirits...

I have had a few encounters with those as well and lets say... I do not want to think on those times.

Anyways, yes. I believe in the paranormal and all of that stuff. I don't think everything I hear is real though haha so don't think of me as a gullible person... I just hear people out and base my opinions on proof and or plausibility of the creature, story, or item.

I am a firm believer in the odd an unusual.

I believe the reason no one can find Nessie, is well, think about how big Loch Ness is, then think about how deep it is. It's impossible to scan the entire loch at the same time, so how do you know Nessie isn't just in a different area? Also Loch Ness is full of underwater caves.


For as long as I can remember, my house has been like a Grand Central Station for spirits. Passing through, causing trouble/ helping out, and moving on.
My sister, mother and I are incredibly sensitive to things like spirits, and the three of us even do tarot readings. I have been giving readings for 6 years now, and I have only ever given 1 reading that didn't have any connection to the person I was reading for. That was also my first time. Sure sometimes something doesn't sit right, but 100% accuracy is difficult *laughs*

In this great big world, anything is possible.

@Pa-Chinko

Wow, that is some pretty amazing "talents". I don't really know if I would we able to handle seeing things that are going to happen like that. It would take a really strong person to be able to control and then translate the meanings of such dreams so well.

And then what you said in number two really creeps me out. I would panic in a situation like that. As much as I love the paranormal, I have to admit seeing anything like that while I am alone would be enough to make me scream and pass out from being so scared.

And I don't blame you guys for leaving that house so soon. I wouldn't like having a paranormal visitor in my apartment.. Even if it was friendly. It would still freak me out, but I guess you'd get used to it eventually.

@Daisy

That's how I feel about it as well. This world is so big that there is no telling what human technology misses. It is exciting and frightening at the same time.

@Codette My goodness, sounds like you have had your fair share of experiences. o__o And interesting take on the Loch ness Monster. That provides more possibilities. :3

I very much believe in ghosts and things of that nature. As far as mythical creatures like Big Foot and Nessy... well, I guess there's a possibility, but I don't really believe in it.

I've had a lot experiences with the paranormal, way to many to list here unless you all want to read a novel!! XD Some of the most prominent or fun stories though, I will share!!!

One time I was with a couple friends, we were the only ones in the house, we were playing video games and decided to make cookies (cause hell yeah cookies). Well in his kitchen they have one of those huge trash cans with the big heavy plastic lids that snap down on top. We put the cookies in, and went back to sit in the living room, before we could even sit down we heard a loud crash, and after pushing and shoving to not have to go in there first, lol, we noticed that trash can lid was on the other side of the room. Then later we could hear foot steps upstairs, we basically all sat there like little girls with all the lights on! XDD

This one is a little creepier, it has a little history as well.. but I'll keep it short. Basically, there's been a spirit that's "followed" me I guess you could say, ever since I was a little kid. He basically looks like a rotting corpse.. and smells like one too. But this occasion in particular was the worst encounter I'd had with him, btw, I believe his name is James. Me and my (ex)girlfriend were laying in bed one night talking, when we saw what looked like a person leaning around the wall that lead into the kitchen. After seeing this, we closed the door, and tried to ignore it, but after I mentioned I thought it was him.. the table that was next to my bed, and right next to my head at the time, flipped and ended up in the middle of the room all the stuff on it strewn everywhere. Gah, we slept with flashlights on all night and wouldn't get out of bed!! lol

Most of my experiences have been with James. And I don't like him... when I was little and first started seeing him, it was always in my doorway, since I was young I'd sleep with nightlights on and whatnot, but he'd always turn them off or make them flash like crazy. I woke up one night and he was leaning over my bed just staring at me, so I hid under the blankets and tried to get back to sleep.

Sheesh, well like I said this could go on, but I'm done! haha. Also, lots of fun reading all the other stories here! I don't know too many people who believe in this stuff, so it's pretty awesome!! XD

I find myths and legends interesting. While they may not always be completely true, they are still a reflection of the culture's sensibilities. By taking a closer look at local folklore and stuff, you can learn a lot about your country's history. XD I have been personally doing some light readings on local folklore, myths and legends for a story I am writing and the stuff I have discovered are far more than I bargained for.

I am more likely to believe the more human like creatures of stories than the cryptids though, but they all fascinate me all the same. You just have to separate the tall tale factors of your tales and voila, you have your real life versions. What really gets to me is that a witch or vampire of sort could very well be in your surroundings, blending in with modern life and you would not even know it.

Cryptids... Not so sure of how real they are but no considering we have "living fossils" in the for of the coelecanth still live and swishing in the waters, why not? One of the primary traits of the cryptids are they are reminiscent of earlier life forms predating our generation of livin creatures. There are also some bits of the earth that remain unexplored after all. Who knows right? Though personally, I find myself already contented when I am presented with explanations for em like misidentified animals or inanimate objects. Or maybe some yet to be categorized species that has yet to named. To an extent, cryptids fill me with a sense of delight and fascination for how diverse and exciting the world really is. XD

Supernatural? Definitely believe in that. There is definitely a realm beyond that of the flesh, a separate one yet overlaps and exists with the material one we dwell in. For a time, it fascinated and scared me enough to try and understand it. I used to "study" it with some folks who were highly sensitive to these beings/could astral project and we would often compare notes of what we discovered/figured out in our travels/visits, however we had to stop because we found it too dangerous in the long run. It was draining us of our energy and we would have more unexpected visitors than usual since we attracted attention, no matter how we tried to do otherwise. We were crazy youngsters, worse we didn't even have an older, more knowledgeable person to guide us. Wait, if we had, we prolly would not have been able to leave for such expeditions in the first place. XD

And here on the home front, we get em ghosts and creatures from those realms. Either they're visiting or got lost and have yet to find their way back.

My Brother strongly believes in the paranormal while I try to figure out if it's possible or not, I am strongly interested in myths, legends and the paranormal but my mind always want logical reasoning so most of the time I end up trying to figure out how they exist, example: I don't see how the Loch Ness monster could live over possibly 1000's of years. Big foot sightings are very short and not very clear so that is why I believe that people see something in the corner of their eye and their mind isn't clear what it saw so it pieces together something which it think you saw.

I don't find myself completely open to the cryptozoology side of things, but I'm very into paranormal/afterlife types. There's been a few times I've been saved from near-death-experiences by hearing someone call my name.

The first time it happened, I was walking across the street (with my headphones on full volume) and I'm not an idiot, I checked way down the road on both sides for a vehicle. But I heard someone yell my name a few steps from the curb, so I looked up, and there was a white mail truck about ten inches from my face. I was one more step away from walking right into the side of a truck that was going at least 50 in a 30 mph speed zone and there was no one in sight that could have called my name, and it would have been impossible for me to hear it unless you had been standing right next to me with how loud my headphones are.

The second time it occurred, I was with a friend and her family walking the glen in Watkins Glen, New York. I was walking quite a few feet ahead of them when I thought I had heard my friend, Rachel, call my name. So I stopped, took a step backwards and turned around just as a huge piece of shale dislodged from the side of the glen and crashed down right where my head would have been. That may not have been near-death being that shale is very brittle and thin, but this piece was fairly thick and fell from a decent height above me, so it definitely would have caused some damage. Rachel rushed to ask me if I was okay, and I said I was fine and thanked her for calling for me when she did, which she told me she hadn't called for me at all.

Plus sometimes my dreams will come true (which is pretty common, I think a majority of people experience deja vu) and I'm a pretty sensitive empath. I generally feel everybody's emotions, and the few that I form attachments to I can feel no matter physical proximity. But 'psychic' things like that I think anybody can do if they remained open to it and embraced it. :)

Hm. You guys all have awfully intriguing stories. Much more so than my own, anyways. I do remember talking to an "imaginary friend" as a child. His name was Tom, and he usually followed me around the house wherever I went. He didn't seem to be able to go outside, and would always stare at me from the window whenever I left for school or whatever I had to do. I've often wondered if he was a ghost or maybe some type of spirit, but I grew up too fast and he disappeared around my 6th or 7th birthday, I don't really remember which one. He was pretty nice, and usually just talked to me. My parents would always laugh at me, because they thought it was "cute" that I had an imaginary friend. And that's pretty much it, he never harmed me in any way or made me scared.

As for the "monsters" that you mentioned, I agree with you. They're probably just animals that we're not aware of, and people have twisted them into tales of beasts and named them monsters. After all, people believed that the giant squid was just a myth--or the kraken, before a genuine giant squid was found.

The paranormal, myths, legends, and the unnatural could or could not exist. The evidence towards such existences are (based on my own knowledge) based more on personal experiences, tales, and strange occurrences than scientific study. What one may consider paranormal another may consider a fascinating phenomenon that warrants investigation, and much of the time a rational explanation reveals itself.

Of course there's many things we don't have explanation for but that does not mean there aren't answers out there. The scientific scholars of our time have made numerous mistakes and have subsequently made many corrections over the years. Yet the methodology that they use to explain phenomenon I believe is far more reliable than explanations that involve a unnatural, paranormal, or otherwise mystical explanation. Again, much of the time a rational explanation reveals itself upon investigation.

Furthermore I like finding explainable and tangible answers. Answers that tell you why it happened and how it relates to other occurrences. Answers that can be written on chalkboards, documented, and written into publications. When something is explained as paranormal or mystical to me that's like sucking all of the fun out of it. Maybe it's just me but once you try to explain something as unnatural (or whatever) there's no reason to walk up to each unexplained thing and ask why, why, why. Then maybe make some charts, because those are cool. I'm also one of those people who dislikes not having tangible answers. If I can't explain something with charts, graphs, calculators, and whatnot it really just drives me batty. My mind just doesn't want to wrap itself around something that doesn't have a logical explanation. I'm a misanthrope, a skeptic, and have very little faith.

At the same time I love to imagine as if those things were real and calculate how different the world would be if alchemy, magic, and dragons existed. I'm not saying that those who believe in the paranormal also believe in dragons or whatever, my point is I like to think about those things, and other things, and think about them on massive scale. I love to imagine. I mean what would the Napoleonic war be like if the French had dragons? Could steampunk become reality? Etc, etc, etc. I enjoy daydreaming, playing games, and reading books that delve into the unnatural. I play D&D and DM xD. I guess my point is I think they're cool, I just don't believe they exists. Hopefully that sort of explains that.

Who knows the unnatural, the paranormal, and the legends may be true. There's so much we've explained yet so much more we haven't. From the evidence we have I just don't think they do. While it may be a fallacy in informal logic I always liked the quote, "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." In a debate that quote means absolutely nothing but I quite like it. In a way it's a reminder not to put my foot down until the evidence is all on the table.

I don't have anything against those who believe in the paranormal, the unnatural, the mystic, the legends, myths, conspiracy theories, or ______. If you believe in them I can respect that. After all, they could. I believe in self-ownership and I think that having our own different beliefs and ideas can be very important and positve (with a few exceptions.) I believe each of us should be able to explore our own beliefs and act on them as long as those beliefs and actions do not impede others from following their own beliefs and acting upon them. My only stipulation is that laws be based on the empirical evidence and not tarot card readers and I don't mean that in a disrespectful way or as a rude poke.

In conclusion I do not believe in myths, legends, or the paranormal and yet I like to think about what it would be like if it did.

Short answer then: no.