The Strangest Thing That Has Ever Happened to Me
I end every interview asking, “what is the strangest thing that has ever happened to you.” Since I ask it of my guests, it’s only fair that I tell my own story.
This story first appeared on my occult blog, Journey Through the Obsidian Dream. It has been edited slightly to reflect the slightly different target audience of this blog.
The strangest experience of my life took place in a cemetery. It was the late 1990s, so please forgive me if it’s just a little hazy in parts. I was there with two friends – Lyra, who was about my age, and Kat, who was a few years older than us. We were all goth and witchy, so it was not particularly surprising that the three of us would decide, late one weekday night, to go wandering among the graves.
The cemetery was hilly and a little old fashioned, with several large stone angels and little mausoleums, winding paved paths, and a few rest areas with benches. On the far side was an open field with a great tree to one side, and the property was blocked in by walls of trees that hid the realm of the dead from those yet living.
As I said, the north east corner of the cemetery was clear, and it seemed to us that we could see a huge, shimmering dome of light there under the moon. Kat, the oldest and most experienced of us, said it looked like a portal of some kind. Of course we went to investigate. Wouldn’t you?
What happened next I’ll never forget.
As we approached the dome a figure of light, some seven feet tall, stepped out. My older friend went up to greet it, while the other two of us stood and stared in awe. We could hear it talking – or, perhaps more accurately, we could feel it talking – but only Kat could understand it.
When Kat came back to us, another figure stepped out of the dome of light as the first moved back toward it. They and the dome of light vanished.
It was relayed to us that the portal had been closed because something that wasn’t supposed to come through … well, had.
I don’t know what the dome of light really was. Portal to another world is semiplausible, all things considered. I don’t know who or what the figure of light was – we never even speculated on that, honestly. We had no data. I don’t know what it actually said to my friend – not that I doubt her, per se, just … well, I couldn’t hear.
When it comes right down to it, I don’t know what happened that night. All I know is what I saw. But I saw the dome. I saw the dude-of-light. I saw dome and dude vanish. And shit like this is why I’m hesitant to dismiss anything out of hand.
Gods and demons? Sure. Your last incarnation was a cat? Okay. Talking to gods, demons, or cats? Plausible. Fairies and dragons? Well … I’ve sure seen some strange shit that might be best explained that way. Otherkin? Who am I to say who you are or aren’t; or who your parents are or aren’t? Cause, damn, don’t I get some funny looks when I try to tell this story just as it is, even when I don’t even try to provide an explanation for it.