Does this also apply in some form to people who are suffering from temporary brain damage, i.e. a cerebral hemorrhage, tumor removal, or would that be different phenomena? I have seen this with two people now. Each of them had phases of hallucinations, both sound and vision, and it was sheer impossible to convince both people that they were experiencing something irreal [None of them could remember these phases after recovery].

D

I think you misunderstand. In his article and post Carl is trying to describe what is, not what should be. You got to listen to the music…

Being a musical genius (who alas has yet to profit from the experience, even in terms of fame), every so often when I’m really super-duper tired, I lie down in bed and allow the music to flow.

The kind of brilliant music that I hear is literally undescribable. It’s beautiful enough to break your heart. There must be at least a hundred pieces to the orchestra and the sound that they produce through the blending of their individual crystalline talents is absolutely extraordinary.

Have I ever thought that it came from without my head? Come on -

Does it just “show up”? Nope. Only “shows up” a few times a year if I’m lucky and I have to have not slept for a good 48 hours or so.

Do I consider it an “imbalance” that needs to be “diagnosed” and “treated”? What the fuck’s wrong with you guys? You have some blasé view of how human beings should be and anything beyond that is abnormal?

Holding the gift is music is something I’m grateful to god for (it’s an expression, purists) and I’ll defend it against the view that holds that we all oughtta move to some boring cardboard-cutout caricature of what real human beings are like.

That said, I love your blog and have read your Evolution book with profit.

Between the ages of about 7 and 12 years, I had what is now called out of body experiences. They occurred infrequently, and usually in a room when other people were present. I could watch others and myself from a high corner in the room. Most fascinating aspect was that I could not smell anything, even if cooking was occurring nearby. Never told anybody, I feared the worst from my parents for being strange — they wanted only a normal high achieving child.

These hallucinations suddenly stopped. After reading Anthony’s article, I hope that whatever was wrong somehow corrected itself. I doubt the likelihood of this kind of healing, but then I am not going to worry about it either.

The first night there, after midnight, I looked out into the yard and saw huge spiders coming across the field. Intellectually, I knew these were really random blackberry vines draped with long grass, but visually I saw spiders. Sitting up to ‘enjoy’ this free hallucination was interesting but a little scary.

I could have gone out with a flashlight to check, but- what if they really were spiders? Better to put my faith in the fact that such a thing had never happened before, so it probably wouldn’t happen that night either.

It was definitely different from imagining music or getting a tune stuck in your head - I could clearly “hear” it, although it was somehow not the same kind of hearing as real music . . .