OldTimeRadio:
you have once more become active on these boards
Thank you OldTimeRadio. I was browsing the forums a week or more ago, perusing topics of particular interest and came across a thread entitled: 'House Demons' (I think it's in IHTM) in which Stanforda had posted a link to an experience I posted a few years ago (here in Fortean) under my original ID. Zipped back to find it a second ago and it's:
http://tinyurl.com/mslm2
It qualifies I think for inclusion in this things that go bump in the night/hiding beneath the covers thread.
It involves what are generally referred to as
little people and strange as it sounds, was the most terrifying experience I've had, in its immediate effects. Others have left me far more troubled, long term and some were terrifying (yes!) at the time, but nothing has left me as immediately hysterical. At other times I've been frightened to the point I've momentarily left my body, but I've nevertheless been able to control my reactions/pull myself together to safeguard my children and/or remove them from the house. The little people experience occurred when the children were absent, fortunately. Perhaps they chose that opportunity to hit me with the full blast? Maybe they didn't realise I'd react so hysterically? Maybe my subconscious/higher mind left me to my fate, seeing I didn't have the children to consider at that time? Maybe the
children's higher minds provided me control during experiences when the children
were present ? Impossible to say.
I remain fascinated by these
little people. Don't know if they actually did manifest physically in the form in which I perceived them. Don't know if they were paranormal/interdimensional entities or if, as sometimes claimed, they are elementals or an actual secret race that's existed alongside man throughout. Don't know why they subjected me to the experience, nor do I know what I
actually experienced. Don't understand why people who were dressed in basically European-type, old-fashioned, home-made, heavy-cloth, peasant attire wore such clothing in the hot, humid climate of modern-day Australia. What they wanted, what they did, etc. remains largely within my sub/super-consciousness, I suspect. I haven't completely ruled out seeking clarification via hypnosis, although it would require a competent, unbiased hypnotist, or there would be no way of discerning if resultant information were factual or tainted to varying degrees by fantasy, imagination, speculation, stuff read afterwards, etc. I'd like to access the actual event and learn the whole story, but don't know if that's possible after all this time.
All parents, surely, harbour painful remorse regarding events from which they failed to protect their children. I feel thus about many things, one of which is the
little people. I learned many years after my own
little people experience that my daughter had been aware of them (prior to my experience) and had feared them, throughout several years of her early childhood. She and her twin brother were aware (I later learned) of the focus of activity in that house. They didn't tell me but I should have worked it out. Instead, I was under the belief I was concealing from them my own awareness and experiences as well as protecting them from same.
In recent years I contacted (as advised) the ELFEN Project, run out of Canada I think. Received a lengthy response from a Professor Butler, recently returned from
little people research in Patagonia, if memory serves (lost the lot in a hard drive mishap although I may have hard copy buried somewhere). Butler advised me that ELFEN were currently in regular contact with over 60 families throughout the world (many in US and Canada) who are learning/have learned to live amicably with the
little people entities who share their home. ELFEN apparently provides mediation between the two factions.
Butler advised that
little people, unlike hauntings, attach themselves primarily to locations, rather than individuals. Departure from a
little people occupied premises usually gaurantees an end to the
little people contact ... at least for the departing individuals. We have had no repeat of the
little people experiences since departing the house in which they occurred (that was a strange house).
Butler informed me that my own experience falls within the extreme range of 10% of the reported
little people experiences, but it was not unknown for
little people to sometimes pinch, pull hair or throw things. More often, physical contact was restricted to stroking hair.
Most often, the
little people were seen by members of a household, but did not directly interact with them.
The ELFEN Project website is not particularly scholarly in appearance, nor is its content. I guess it was designed to conform with the generally held view of
little people as being sweet little nature spirits and so forth, which I personally believe is entirely misleading/untrue. Whatever the creatures were, they were not sweet and I doubt their intentions were benign.
I had no opinions or thoughts re: the creatures during the experience but I was left with a very clear memory. I may be wrong, but I believe they possess the ability to switch-off their victims' critical faculties to a large degree (and possibly insert false memories?). In my case (possibly all cases?) I nevertheless had the equivalent of a video camera rolling for much of the time, which I was afterwards able to access (to some degree at least). This revealed the
little people to be dour creatures with non of the supposed human-loving sweetness. It's my feeling they are drones/workers and also that they are in some fear of their controllers or heirarchy. They did not look particularly intelligent, apart from the leader who was physically larger (but nonetheless typical in appearance; face, body-type, clothing, etc). The others appeared very much as yokels, yet cunning, hard ... and a bit pathetic; downtrodden, joyless.
At one point, the leader's face was very much in-my-face; my vision consisted entirely of his face. At another point, his eyes formed the totality of my vision and it was intense but I haven't much other memory of that particular moment.
I speculated (in my communication with Butler) that the
little people may have been UFO-type aliens (not that I have any experience of them at all) which my mind had chosen to portray as gnomish-type creatures. I'm of Northern European (English) origin. I wondered if gnome-type creatures were a component of my inherited-memory (if such exists) and as such, had been decided upon by my sub/super-consciousness (or by UFO-aliens themselves) as being more readily acceptable/less alarming to me?
Butler however informed me that elements of my experience placed it definitely within
little-people realm; not that of UFO-aliens or other.
It appeared to be Butler's opinion that little people are physical entities.
I remain undecided.
I've read that the Northern American tribes were/are familiar with
little people; that they fear them and train their young not to interact with them or they will face dire consequences. The tribes-people reportedly have always left offerings for the little people in order the little people will leave their crops, etc. unmolested. The tribes do not regard the little people as benign, sweet, human-loving creatures, apparently; the reverse is reported.
It was a weird, almost unbelievable experience. Butler was very much of the opinion, however, that I was fortunate to have had it.
I do not feel fortunate and won't pretend to. I would have preferred not to have the experience and would vastly prefer my daughter had been spared her own (hopefully much milder) experiences of the little people.
Whatever the little people actually were -- physical, interdimensional, alien or even subconscious entities -- why not a reassuring smile or pat or whisper, as in: '
Don't be afraid; we're just here to adjust your thermostats; won't take a moment; you won't remember this so just sit back and relax ' if their intentions were benign or even neutral? Why terrify vulnerable small children? Why the stealth? Why seize control of the victim?
No, sorry, these creatures are not the nice-guys their press suggests.
They went to considerable trouble and effort with me. Yet where are the benefits? None.
In fact, the only positives to be derived from the experience (postive-negatives in fact) are that I discovered (some 18 to 20 years later) that
others have experienced/witnessed the little people too ! It was a relief to learn that.
A woman in the State of Victoria, Australia and her adult daughter phoned someone I know to say that
little people (which looked 'sort of' like gnome things) had been darting from room to room all afternoon. The mother was apparently hysterical as she reported this. Afterwards, she refused to participate in a follow up call or to discuss the matter.
I read on internet a few years ago that two women in Central America were walking along a bush track they used to get to work when a
little person (gnomish) appeared suddenly on the track ahead of them. One of the women collapsed. When the ambulance arrived they treated her for shock and took her to hospital.
ELFEN's Professor Butler told me that contemporary
little people reports emanated from all corners of the globe; he mentioned Australia, quite a lot from New Zealand and other Pacific islands, many from Hawaii (???) and from Northern and Southern America, Central America, Canada, England, Scandinavia, etc. Quite often there are several simultaneous witnesses.
But the most thought-provoking (for me at least) information surfaced when I learned about Charles Bonnet syndrome as its called. This refers to those who see -- while awake -- little people, who are very often gnomish/elvish, complete with stereotypical little elf-clothing and often topped by a hat. You'll discover copious references on the web so I won't belabour it, apart from adding that the common element with Charles Bonnet syndrome, is sight-impairment. Many such are elderly, naturally, which suggests possible dementia. However, research conducted (there hasn't been a lot; that's published at least) by a UK hospital (Manchester from memory) discovered that whilst many Charles Bonnet syndrome 'sufferers'
are elderly, they are nevertheless demonstrably sane, sound of mind and free from dementia symptoms. The study noted (in the version I read) that many had deliberately withheld their
little people experiences from family, friends and doctors, for fear they would be judged 'potty' and placed in a nursing home. (better to read a selection of articles re: Charles Bonnet syndrome in the interests of balance; some are quite dismissive, others lean in opposite direction).
Many elderly and/or sight-impaired folk would have little use for internet and thus would be unaware that many
other sane, sight-impaired people of all ages are seeing the
same little people as
themselves. Thus, we might assume that many who see little people
continue to conceal their experiences from everyone else, for fear they're going insane or will be judged so.
So what are we to make of all this?
Why is sight-impairment such a dominant feature within
little people sightings ... within Western society? How does this correspond with
little people sightings amongst indigenous people (native American Indians for example) ... and children, whose eye-sight would usually be excellent ? (there are numerous reported little people sightings within Fortean forums, many of them occurring in childhood)
My own eyesight at the time of the
little people experience was quite good; I didn't require even mild reading-glasses at the time, according to the optometrist. The only sight problem I had noticed was the fact that when I entered a completely dark room, only one eye seemed to work. The other took ages to adjust and even then was inferior to the good eye. It didn't pose a problem then, nor now; the other eye is adequate. And in any case, the lights were already on in the room where I had the little people experience.
Poor night vision in one eye does not explain the other phenomena associated with my
little people experience; does not explain the sudden onset of overwhelming sleepiness which compelled me to stagger backwards and flop on the bed after opening the wardrobe, followed by loss of normal consciousness. It does not explain the times I regained partial consciousness
during the experience, nor does it explain the little people's voices which I heard, etc. (that's supposing of course that my usual physical faculties and not other-consciousness was involved)
The native American Indian tribes who incorporate little people within their lives don't stipulate that a requirement of the experience is darkness, nor one which requires a shaman. From my reading, it seems ordinary tribes-people of both sexes and all ages encounter the little people in the course of ordinary life. The little people may be interdimensional of course, but perceived as physically real by the tribes-people, whose version of reality may be far different to that of Westerners/city folk.
Anyway OldTimeRadio, it's another one for your files if you deem it fit. We're used to reading accounts of frightening experiences involving human sized or larger entities which project an aura of dread, but not much is reported about the pint sized variety dressed in typical gnome-like attire. How could a small gnome-thing possibly be frightening? I would have said the same, before the experience. To be remembered though is the fact I was not frightened
during the experience. In fact I was annoyed by the little people and was confident I could deal with them easily, as soon as I could be bothered.
It was only
after they'd departed that I came apart. Very odd. Almost as if they tore a super-adhesive bandage off my brain to allow the full import of the experience to impact. And it did, almost bypassing my analytical sections of my brain in the process in order to hit some primeval shock-horror out-of-control buttons. I was a basket-case and the worst thing was, I still couldn't think clearly and the panic continued escalating. Pure horror with -- on the face of it -- little real cause.
As an after-thought: those who report seeing
little people (those with Charles Bonnet syndrome) do not, as far as I'm aware, report feelings of alarm.
