“Don’t tell ’em about the lights,” Granny had always warned me. “Too many folks out there will blame ’em on the ol’ devil. And they’ll take ya down to the church house and have ya prayed on and think ya got hellions in ya. So just don’t tell ’em.”
I first mentioned the lights to Granny, back before the thoughts of seeing such things might just mean that I was just another strange bird like her, and she said she’d always seen them, too. Whenever trouble or sickness fell, the lights would come calling. And quite frequently, they’d come on bright and happy days, too, just to let us know they were there. Sometimes they’d hover. Sometimes they’d sail through the air like dandelion seeds on a breeze and disappear into the walls or dance upon the cracked ceiling plaster. I’ve seen them since I was a small child; the dainty orbs of bright light have always been there. I’ve called them angels. Spirits. Stardust. Faeries. But still, I do not know what they are or if they have a name. I reckon the perfect things of this world don’t require names at all.
Now it never occurred to me that not everybody saw the lights. It’s like the mountains that jut up in every direction around us; they’ve always been here, and we take their constancy for granted. We rarely, if ever, just set back and marvel at the wonder of them and how they came to be, with their faithfulness and wisdom as steadfast as time itself. It’s the same with the lights. They’ve always been here. They are as commonplace as the rising ridges.
Granny said the lights would come to her when she or one of her babies were ailing or fevered. They’d come in a rush of swirling white and hang above the bed and dance on the ceilings. And then they’d quietly disappear, leaving not so much as a trace of them having been there, and the sickness would leave with them.
One Christmas Eve while I was gazing at the twinkling lights on the tree, I mentioned the other lights to Mama. Now she didn’t think I was a strange bird or that I was taking up with hellions at all. She told me I was a lot like Granny, which I already suspected a great deal. And she asked me what the lights looked like, for she had never seen them for herself.
They can come one at a time or they can come in swirling myriads. They’ll put you in the mind of those small white bulbs on the Christmas tree, only they do not hang on a string or twinkle to get your attention. They are free and mystic and meek. They make no commotion or sound. They just hang in the air as pretty as you please, as if somebody placed them there just so. Sometimes they will vanish if you look directly at them. Or, most of the time, they will linger for a moment – just long enough to prove their presence – and then gently drift away to wherever it is they came from.
Just to be on the safe side, Mama had my eyes checked by a doctor, even though I’d sworn I could see just fine. 20/20, if not better. I didn’t have astigmatism or sugar or a rogue speck of dust in my wake. Not even the remnants of a bad dream or one of Granny’s ghost stories. No, the lights were really there, I swore to Mama. And maybe if she looked with sensitive eyes, one day she might see them, too.
Now I figure there’s a right plentiful handful of mysteries that can’t be explained away with logic or common sense, or even with the Good Book. It’s not a dictionary, after all. I reckon there are more lights out there flickering in the lengths of shadows and even in the broadest of daylights, too. And there are other strange birds like me and Granny. I know it must be so.
Others who stumble in and out of this earthly veil, who dream of things that have not yet been spoken of or came to pass. It’s the gift, Granny told me. We’re sensitive souls. The Almighty gave us somethin’ extra. That’s why we can see farther.
I asked her why just us?
“It’s not just us,” she said, her words as undaunted as the humming of the jar flies, and she went back to canning her strawberry jam, adding a pinch of sugar and a satisfied nod to the mix.
Oh yes, there are others. More than you can shake a stick at. Some of them have pretty magic rocks and cryptic cards and even crystal balls, and other things that would garner them getting prayed on for certain. But most just have sensitive eyes like Granny and me. She never had use for magic rocks and didn’t need the luck of the draw to tell her what she already knew. This ain’t no carnival, and I ain’t no fortune teller. But I know what I know.
There are others still, others that have the gift and ignore it or disregard it as mere coincidence. They know things without being told. The tiny hairs on their arms and the backs of their necks stand on end even on the sultriest of days. They get foreboding notions about a particular house without having ever stepped over its doorsill. They have mystic recollections of strange places and heirloom rooms they’ve slept in, and dismiss it all as a dream or amnesia or blame it on their spicy supper or the full strawberry moon. They’ll hear a song in their heads and know they’ve heard it before, maybe even sang it once or twice, and their ears will perk up and they’ll cock their head like a whippet, and wonder just how they remembered the lyrics to an old song they’ve never heard. They know your words before you’ve spoken them, and dismiss the oddity away as déjà vu and wonder if they’re just strange birds like me and Granny.
Well, we got used to those lights. They didn’t come ’round every day, but often enough to let us know they were watching. I was beside Granny’s bed the day she up and decided to leave this world, and in the moments before she became memory and legend, those faithful lights came, and the room grew crowded with them. As always, they made no commotion or sound. They whorled upwardly away and out of sight, beyond that earthly veil, and took Granny with them. And that time, Mama said she saw them, too.
I still figure there’s a right plentiful handful of mysteries that can’t be explained away with logic or common sense, or even the Good Book. And I still heed Granny’s advice and don’t tell most folks about the lights. A plentiful righteous handful of them would surely blame them on that ol’ devil, just as they do any curious thing that can’t be named or explained away. But still, I reckon the perfect things of this world don’t require names at all.
And the way my sensitive eyes see it, that ol’ devil gets far too much credit already.
My brother saw the lights. None of us knew what they were about. This is the first time I’ve known others see them. We are from East Tennessee.
Love this….my grandfather stopped bleeding with Bible verses….
“They know your words before you’ve spoken them, and dismiss the oddity away as déjà vu…” I have had this happen numerous time throughout my life and it is jarring every time. In an instant, right before someone speaks to me, all at once I hear exactly what they are about to say, right before they speak it out: word for word, including pitch of voice. Hasn’t happened in a good long while now. Northern Appalachia here, Pennsylvania, Welsh and Scotch-Irish stock. Love your blog to pieces. Don’t stop.
I see the lights too ….they are beautiful and sparkling and iv seen them in other colors too (white, gold, blue,violet, rose red) they are the most vivid hues iv ever seen much brighter than any man-made colored lights
I will share my worst dream. Granny said pay close attention to them. I will only share this here. From 1990, I began dreaming of a plane crashing and people climbing including myself to help people. I do this in honor of those that died on 9/11. After the tragedy happened I never had the dream again. I was very pregnant when it happened and became physically sick. I no longer have that dream. Focus on your dreams!
I have vivid dreams of a large brick house with a winding staircase. In the dream it is my house but in waking life I don’t live in a brick house. There are always extra rooms I discover and some of them make me afraid to go inside. I wish I could figure out where the house is and in what life was it my house.
I have “dreams” of my mother and other dead family members. They usually are just there but don’t speak in the dream but somehow I know why they’re there and what the message is.
Mom was like you and people called her a witch with power. She thought I had some peer too but I feeel it’s not as strong as hers. I try to see the lights but rarely see them. My brother sees them but people just think he’s crazy.
I love your writing style and would love to read more of your stories. I’d love also to meet you and others who have grown up in this type of “environment”.
Thank you for sharing your messages.
Kindest regards,
Belle
Maysville, KY
Belle,
I too often have dreams of a house that is my home with extra rooms to discover, sometimes even extra levels and wings to the house. I have no idea where the house may be or even if it exists but it also makes me wonder.
I once had a dream of my Mamaw’s childhood home (which I never visited) and found myself on the outside looking into a brightly lit house with her brothers, sisters and Mom and Daddy inside having a party. Between me and the front door my Mamaw stood, wanting to go inside. I remember crying begging her not to enter the house. I woke up from the dream in tears! Three months later after telling my Mamaw of the dream, she went home to heaven and to her family.
I often dream of relatives that have passed and talk with them also. Sometimes the conversations are remembered but the feelings are vivid and that is always remembered!
It sounds like we have a lot in common. Like you, I have no idea what it is called other than a calling. It’s nice to know someone is out there with the experiences!
God Bless,
Stacie
Could the “brick house” be your mind, & the “unknown rooms” perhaps untapped areas of knowledge that you are not yet comfortable or strong enough to literally OPEN THE DOOR to and then personally experience & learn about or from?
Just a thought…
Could the “brick house” be your mind, & the “unknown rooms” perhaps untapped areas of knowledge that you are not yet comfortable or strong enough to literally OPEN THE DOOR to and then personally experience & learn about or from?
Just a thought…
This is for Belle.
I see one light every night before I go to bed. I always think it is checking on me to make sure everything is ok and telling me goodnight. I also have the 6th sense and have a lot of seeing the future. We use to camp in a campground not to far from the house and I never liked it because there were no people to make sure everything was good. I saw people being hurt in a campground and a few days later it came out that two college students were killed in a National forest in VA. I had my palm read once by a friend I knew had the veil and she told me I was a witch and not to do anything bad to people because it would come back three fold. I also see people’s faces morph into dead people and see people I know are dead. I consider it a gift andam not afraid of it.
Glad you’re not afraid and share here in this safe space! More of us need to make ourselves known as this (I believe) was once the way of most women.
Thank you. I, too, am a “strange bird”. I don’t see the lights but I do SEE. When I was just a wee girl, I told my Mamaw what I had seen. My Mamaw was considered a “wise woman” (Tennessee hills). Her response to me was “Never close your inner mind to what you see.” I’m lucky enough to consider myself one of the gifted one.
Thank you for sharing this. I have not heard any stories about the lights, except my own. Nobody has ever understood what it is that I see. Till now. Thank you.
My mother also had this. I don’t know if she saw lights but she had feelings, she called them, of things that would happen. She knew when my grandfather died before anyone else. She had a feeling that morning and went to check on him. He had gone out to feed come in laid down on his bed and that’s where she found him already gone. My eldest son has also inherited this 6 the sense. When he says he’s got that bad feeling, I listen. It isn’t talked about much because everyone doesn’t understand. But I do. Many times I’ve heard my momma say “I know what I know”. Thank you for your post.
My mom saw the lights whenever someone would die or her favorite dog, she grew up in the deep coal mountains of VA near KY
Is it possible to follow your writings ? My ancestors were of Celtic and Cherokee blood and drifted down to the Cumberland Gap to settle. I was not raised by them, yet I know and have always known about so much that you talk about. The grandma that raised me would tell me to keep my ‘ knowing ‘ to myself as it scared people. I have seen ghosts, spirits and a banshee. Thank you so much; now I know wheremy ‘ strangeness ‘ comes from.
Keep it to yourself is a good thing. I’ve had my 6th Sense tell me things. I am highly intuitive, don’t know why but it’s not easy to understand either. I may feel something then later I see how it relateles to specific situation. No magic, just sensitivity to people, environment.etc… Intuiive.
I don’t see lights though. I believe others do. Not me.
Once I got up at 2 or 3 in the morning and stepped out on my porch. It was so still — one of those times when it is totally quiet out in the country. I looked to my left and over a tree that had just fallen a few days before (and oh, I was so sad over that tree!) hovered a golden light about the size of my two fists together. It just hung in the air and ever so slowly would move up and down over the base of the tree. I watched it for some time and didn’t feel the need to walk out and look at it closer — it just never occurred to me to do that. I’ve always held it to my heart as a special happening.
I love your story Gena! Anna sure touched a lot of people with this particular post! Thanks to everybody for sharing your experiences!
Wonderful recollection…and it posted on my Grandmother’s birthday.♡
I too know the lights! Thank you for bringing this to “light”. My roots are traced to the mountains of SE Kentucky and so much of what you write about is the truth! Thank you for letting me know I am not alone! God Bless!
Hi my name is Jami. I too see them. I have many experiences with death and I now see so much more. I asked to have the memories of some things taken and open me more to whar ever was there that I couldn’t quite reach. Well, I had to go to hospital after my neck was closing up and had to be severally overdosed on steroids . I couldn’t remember nothing ,like I asked for, and I was seeing things ,shadows, orbs , and pain out evil black fog. I can go on and on. I too am from Eastern KY , in london and it caught my eye to see u r from here too. I know I have wrote alot but more and more is happening and I feel like nobody is there for me to talk to. My daughter is lIke us but she is a healer and my son won’t really tell me all that he can do but he said he already knows some1 b4 he meets them..thanks for your time. 6068781137. I WOULD LIKE TO TALK TO YOU. JAMI MORGAN
Lovely! I come from a long line of Kentucky hill folk with the eyes to see, or the ears to hear, or the heart to ‘just know’. I rarely share those things even though Mama said it was ‘from the Lord’. Most people just think you’re plumb crazy. Thank you for sharing!
Very cool. I don’t see lights but I do read people. I pick up on stuff that isn’t exactly visual but otherwise might as well be auras. It’s a kind of lack of a filter as I see it.
I love your writing.
You always make me cry, in the best possible way.
In our Irish Catholic family I was warned as a child by my Great Aunt Lucy not to mention the lights or the shapes or the ‘knowing of things’. “Keep it to yourself” she warned with a grim look on her face. Though she never explained why. To me that meant it must be bad, so it became part of the things to be feared. So in elementary school when the feeling would come that the world was not real and I was watching it through a distance, when the silent wind picked up in my ears and I felt like I was part of the flow of the universe and Time – and nothing in front of me was actually real . . . I kept quiet and grabbed hard at the table top or my chair to keep from being lost and not being able to get back. I felt as if I was being swept away and there was no one to tell or ask about it. I often wonder what would have been if I had been taught to use those moments instead of fear them. As far as the ‘knowing of things’ as Aunt Lucy called it . . . I have come to view it as a curse. I get the signal too late to stop the event from happening – or I dismiss it as just being a worry-wort. So when the event comes to pass, I blame myself for not being able to stop it. I also know the lights – but for me they only ever appeared in one house over a 5 year period. They also only occurred in just one location of the house, so clearly those particular spirits were tied to the place and not to me.
I have seen them twice in my life. When I was a teen and taking care of my little brother as our mother was dying of breast cancer. I’ve never knon anyone else who had seen them until now! Thank you!!
My mother described the lights when she was near death with lung cancer. She said that there were many of them and she was not afraid they were just so beautiful.
You have such a beautiful voice in your writing- although I don’t truly see the lights, they were quite beautiful in your story. Peace be with you as well.
God Bless You dear woman!! My sister Cat led me to your brilliance!! Can’t help myself, must comment…I once had a dream where I was one of those “lights” flying along with a gazillion more (sort of like souped up fire flies with our whole bodies illuminated that moved at times like a school of fish and then NOT, I was a straggler with a couple others at times) BUT best feeling EVER, the love and security was beyond wonderful and we were all connected, happy and ENOUGH! I could hear them ALL if I wanted to, chattering away and INCLUDING me in every thought (don’t even know how I could follow that when at that time I had two toddlers and could hardly keep my crazy head on straight.) As we flew along and I “looked” behind me I realized that we were CREATING these beautiful landscapes and then suddenly an entire desert and finally a pyramid. We dove deep down into the sand beside it and broke ground straight up inside the middle where a huge clear crystal was attached to the top! I’m telling you we all flew right into that stone at a million miles a second!! The light that burst out and beamed straight up along with the deafening sound of a billion high pitched trumpets blaring was so intense that it woke me right up……..Sun was BRIGHT in my eyes, one toddler had awoke from her nap and was crying, (I’d fallen asleep, plumb tuckered out from exhaustion in the middle of the day) back to reality BUT I’ll NEVER forget that dream and ESPECIALLY during hard times, it saves me and I’m grateful……guess maybe I just need to look in the mirror to see those “lights”?? 😊 Peace be with you!
Anna….thank much you. Bless be.
Anna…thank much you. Bless be.
Anna Thank you . I love your story’s I always share with my granddaughter from one strange bird to another.
Oh how I envy you strange birds. I wish I was so like you. Thanks for sharing your stories.
I have seen them since I was a small child. I also feel a presence near me. Sometimes a thought or answer to a question or problem I am engrossed in will come to me as if someone else has said it. There are no words and I do not hear voices. It is just a feeling and a knowing that it was not my thought. I have had more instances of this in the last several years since my Mothers death. The other day I was canning some onion & squash and I saw a light out of the corner of my eye and felt and sensed my Mother (at the chair where she always sat when we had coffee and talked) and sensed that she was telling me, you forgot the salt, and I had. I instinctively said “I know mom I will add it” before I realized I had even said it. I added salt while giggling about our encounter. Had anyone seen me they would have surely thought I had lost my mind.
Thank you for sharing this story….I have only seen the lights twice in my life and both times just days before the deaths of my mom and then my husband. The second time was just before my husband’s unexpected death…my grandson’s both saw them then too. I’m trying not to be fearful of seeing them again…praying that they represent something other than death.
Such a lovely and familiar story… thank for sharing this. It is a wonderful feeling to be embraced by our families and other “strange birds”.
Thank you so much for s wonderful story. I enjoyed it do much. Brin’s back memories of Mother and the relationship she and I shared. Which has been passed on to my oldest granddaughter, now age 32. The feelings of knowing things before they happen and other mystical intuitions. My granddaughter and I have even had the same dreams on different nights and are not even in the same house. We love stories like this Treva
Anna, I understand your story so much. My son was gifted in this way all his life. He passed away on March 1st of cancer. When he was eighteen years old he had Hodgkins’s disease and had radiation for treatment at that time. From the radiations years ago, he developed lung cancer at forty three. His gift was that he would see, or know if anything was going to happen in the family, good or bad…He got this, handed down, from my mother, she was the same way.. He also saw you lights and spirits as well. He always said they were his guardian angels that watched over him. He never told anyone of these things.. because he said they would not understand .At one time. in his earlier illness, he was close to death,we never did know if this had anything to do with his gift. On the day before his passed, he told his Dad he was seeing the lights again… We miss him so much…so I think some people are just chosen special for this special gift..
My apologies on the loss of your son. Chosen, indeed. Much love and light to you.
Omg. This!
Dear Anna, Thank you so much for this post! I so rarely meet anyone who sees the lights or any of the other mysteries that show themselves! So glad your Granny nurtured your open heart to the wonders life gives us! It does my heart good to know there are kindreds out there!
Thank you, strange bird. 🙂