It is the Day of the Dead, and many people will be celebrating the lives of those who have departed. This celebration is done to encourage visits by the departed souls. Many people dress up and paint their faces to resemble skeletons. Gravesides are visited and the faces of the dead are looked for during the visits. Many also have what’s known as a “dumb supper.” This is where a plate is set at the dinner table for all those in the family who have died. This is their plate and the idea is that the departed souls consume the “essence” of the food and not the food itself.
But I never needed a Day of the Dead to see other beings, be
they dearly departed ones or (most often) fairies and other magical
creatures. Everywhere I go in the woods,
I see faces. It doesn’t happen in
cities; only in the woods. Modern
psychology has a word for it:
Pareidolia. That’s when a vague
image or sound is perceived as significant.
They say it’s not real, of course, merely only perceived as real by
some. Oh, and they also have lots of
great scientific explanations to go along with this word. We are told that human beings are hardwired
to identify human faces as a survival technique. Supposedly this gives an evolutionary
advantage of being able to discern friend from foe.
In a magnetoencephalography study done in 2009, objects that
were “incidentally” perceived as faces activated the central fusiform
cortex. Wow. That sounds pretty important to me. Other common objects didn’t evoke this
activation. Supposedly we are alerted to
the emotional state and identity of the subject even before our brains
consciously process or receive the information.
Supposedly this occurred over eons of natural selection so we could
identify the mental state of threatening people. Wow again.
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| Just a tree stump in the woods. |
But I see the faces.
I see them everywhere. Well, not
in my toast, but always in the woods.
Above is just one picture of several faces. I’ve posted just the picture first so you can
look at it and see if you can make out any faces. Some faces are very vague and so-so, and some
are very clear. Below I’ve posted some
markings on the same photo to show where I see faces and sometimes even part of
a body.
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| Is it just imagination? |
Bear with me here.
This is the beginning of being able to see with the “other” sight. No, it does not mean you are crazy or
fanciful or “out there.” It means that
you can train your eyes to see things differently. This is just the beginning. You don’t have to accept the faces as being
real or unreal, “good” or “bad.” They
simply are. Soon you will see them
easier in solid things such as trees or rocks, and then later you will see them
in the play of light and shadow against the sky or treetops or water. Someday, hopefully, your other senses will
follow suit.
In any event try it today and over the next day or two when
it will be easier than any other time of the year. The veils between the worlds are thin right
now, and anything is possible.
