Sunday 25 September 2016

Otherworld Shenanigans: The Silence.


Living in a cottage in the countryside means that over the years there have been many strange, unexplained events. Recently one curious incident occurred along the old road where I often walk.




My roaming takes me past farms, fields and long abandoned homes, I occasionally share the road with cars, farm machinery and the post van.


Now and then I have the company of a local cat who waits on the corner.

Although the area is peaceful it is never silent.



There is always the call of crows overhead, the lowing of cattle close by or the distant rumble of a tractor. 
There are sheep, summer swallows and occasionally the cry of a hunting hawk.
Even at night there are sounds in the darkness; owls call, foxes shriek and hedgerows rustle.




This particular morning was clear, bright and breezy. It was early summer, I had spent time by the river and was walking home.



As always I entered a short tunnel of trees and was a few yards in beneath the branches when it happened.
At first I noticed how quiet it had become.
No buzz of bee nor call from crow, wood pigeon or blackbird. No rustle from the leaves. 
The wind had died away, the clouds unmoving, a strange stillness descended.




The grass in a nearby field seemed frozen, the cattle motionless, not a twitch of ear or tail. 
I stood and strained to hear but there was only an unnatural silence.

Stepping off the road I entered the trees and immediately the light around me seemed to change,



shadows deepened and colours seemed to subtly alter.


Do you see her?

I felt observed but who was watching?



I spoke aloud then, asked who was there and called ‘hello’, I waited but no answer came.
Just silence and stillness all around.

Although I have a vivid imagination I always look for logical, practical explanations but this was beyond me. 
Nothing moved at all, not even a leaf and there was utter silence.
It was then that I began to feel alarmed. Was I the only living thing here ?
If I continued walking to my home what would I find ?  

Taking deep breaths, I calmed myself and concluded I had wandered into somewhere inexplicable.
What else could this be?




Still sensing I was watched, I spoke aloud again.
“Alright, I’m here and I don’t know why. Who are you and what do you want ? ”




I waited and waited but again there was no reply.
Finally there was no option but to move on. 

So I walked from the overhanging trees, along the road and out into the daylight.



Colours brightened. Sound suddenly returned, insects, cattle and a tractor, wind rustled the leaves and birds flew above.
The change was tangible and so was my relief.


I had never felt so happy to be scrutinised by a bull before.


To this day I have no idea what really happened.
Although I felt that hours had passed, when I finally returned home my outing had taken just ninety minutes, about the usual time I spend walking and sitting by the river.
I have searched in vain for reports of similar incidents and researched local folklore without success. 

Amongst the tales of FAIRY PATHS and FAIRY WIVES, BANSHEES and BURIED TREASURE there is no mention of the Otherworldly Silence.



14 comments:

  1. I wrote this some time ago, a similar experience?

    The Limoniad.

    It was as I neared the point where the abature divided when the Limoniad appeared from the shadows beneath the forest of abele with great legerty.
    She was dressed in a sabelline cloak, yet wore only simple sabots upon her feet.

    I stood still, overcome by akinesia to see before me such an aisling. A sudden coenaethesis flooded my soul. Was this Limoniad actually chthonian?
    Here we were abditive, and I now almost overcome with acatalepsy.

    In a circumbenibus way she spoke, her eyes saccadic as each word spilled from her lips.
    I am, I must confess a man who is wholly agapet. So as her words tumbled forth from sweet red lips, I could not resist the salacious thoughts that lent themselves to my immediate consciousness.

    Oh how they became gremial at the pure sight of this nimble limoniad, with whom I should greatly love to extend all palzogony.

    Ending her words slowly, and with some lachymorse she turned and walked silently back into the undergrowth of dank vegetation and was gone.

    ReplyDelete
  2. A Mystical moment in the now, ever present and everlasting, when time seems endless and still but no time has passed in the mundane world.
    I believe you passed beyond the veil into that astral timeless reality between us and spirit.
    When scrying, I have been lost in timelessness and even lost consciousness as I leave the earthly realms to visit fairie or spirit beyond the veil. Maybe there is a message or you are moving beyond old boundries?.
    Much love and friendship

    ReplyDelete
  3. Phenomena is a word that we are familiar with and can only use for that which we cannot understand. You have described your experience and photographed an image
    which we all recognise and how both came about is best described as phenomenon.

    Perhaps you stepped through a time/space portal. Yet again, we have to question and reason 'How and why, what is this all about'

    The physicists may have an answer.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jane, I'm reading a novel called "Dreamer's Pool" by an author I enjoy - Juliet Marillier. In it, she features a wood that is silent. So very interesting that you posted about this just as I'm reading this book!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Carol.. I LOVE Juliet Marillier!! So happy to 'meet' another fan. Just finished the Sevenwaters series. I think that finishes all of her books for me. Might just start over and read them all again.

      Delete
  5. Similar and not similar Paul! It was to my mind an extraordinary experience - an Otherworldly experience perhaps - but I didn't meet, see or hear another being.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yes Heron - all I know is that I do not know and maybe one day the physicists and scientists who study consciousness will have the answer.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you Paul M. I thought you would understand :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great timing then ;) That does sound like a good book Carol - will look out for it!

    ReplyDelete
  9. All being particular, as it is, and the flow being in everything & no thing, as it has always been, such was an objective observation of a momentary synchrony all around you. A beautiful timeless moment to be appreciated all the more if you are aware and share with it's happening. Then, enriched with the experience, you & all that is continues, as it always has :)

    Thanks for sharing the experience by the way, I apprecate that

    ReplyDelete
  10. Glad you understood and enjoyed the post Dirq.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Some of us just never tell anyone about the experiences.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The pictures are beautiful. I have had a similar experience in a lane near my home when time seemed to stand still and the silence was broken by a crow who seemed to say, "That's it, on your way now." I would love to experience it again.

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a strange and evocative experience, Jane. Your photos really capture the atmosphere of the place. I can well imagine how nicely normal that bull must have seemed!

    ReplyDelete

If you have enjoyed reading this blog please leave your thoughts in a comment and I will respond. I moderate this blog so Anonymous comments & Spam will be deleted.