I really hope this is the right forum for the topic-- forgive me if it's not. I have little sense of these things here as yet. But I had a very odd experience today, and would like to ask for opinions on what might have been going on.

I have been stretched, of late, pretty much to the limit. I'd rather not get into it, but things have been bad, most especially financially. Right now I'm living on a grocery bag of past-date food a week and the charity of friends, and damned glad to have both. So I'm not in top form either mentally or physically at the moment. But I wasn't feeling particularly bad today. I went out to look for a small anniversary gift for my boyfriend and went into a new local pagan shop. All was well, I was perfectly happy, chatting with the proprietor, and quite fine. Then I walked across the room, and for some reason felt a sudden wave of dizziness and nausea and almost blacked out. I moved away from the area and got better, and I went back (I'm too experimental for my own good), and it got worse. Eventually I had to leave and walk home, and I felt a bit better on the way, but still expected to fall over. When I got back, I sort of cleansed myself and took a five-minute nap, and Lo! all is well. So... WHY? As I said, the proprietor seemed a nice woman, invited me to their grand opening, and all was perfectly normal. I couldn't identify any objects in the area that might have hated me particularly. And yes, I had eaten earlier that day, so it wasn't low blood sugar. I truly expected on the way back that it was a physiological thing-- I'd gotten food poisoning or something and it had chosen that moment to manifest-- but apart from feeling slightly drained, I really do seem better now. Don't quite know what to make of this. My boyfriend has suspected in the past that I am susceptible to Outside Interference, if you will. But... was it that? What WAS it?

Thanks for any ideas, in advance...

Well, seeing that many such shops also sell such things as incense and fragrant oils, I would most likely suspect that you had some form of reaction to something in the air. From experinece, I personally am strongly "allergic" (for lact of a better term) to spearmint - even mild exposure to the scent will instantaniously give me terrible headaches, except they don't go away when the spearmint does - boy do they last. But I would bet on something environmental...

Regards,
Seeker

That's actually a very interesting theory, as I was in front of the essential oil section when it happened. I've never noticed such a thing before, but perhaps one of the particular brand of oils she stocks is a problem for me. Odd, but a really logical explanation, actually. Thanks!

hmmm, I have kinda a different take on it.. tho it could be allergy to one , of the oils..that makes sense, too..

Its just before, I even read that, I just got this sense of.. evil, I don't know how else to explain it..or something wasn't right, or happened in that spot..or someone was trying to drain you.. or others, in that spot.. thats just my own take on it..

I'd be a bit careful, in that shop.. just me.. imo.. there are some powerful witches out there, who are not what they appear to be!..

just my first reaction.. shrug.. good you cleansed yourself off, when you got home..

blessings Whispered

Oh come on.

What kind of witch would want to do this to somebody totally random? There are far more direct and targeted ways of sending a hex, if that's what they were trying to do.

I think it's far more likely to be a physical symptom of the stress Ondia is obviously under; we've all felt nauseous when we've been under extreme stress. The allergy theory sounds good too.

As well as the allergy theory, it could also be due to the lighting in the shop, maybe there were crystals etc hanging up and the shop light reflecting off them could cause a reaction like this. I say this beacuse light has caused this to happen to me on the odd rare ocassion. I'd agree with Crow, the explanation is far more likely to be physical than anything more mysterious.

Could very well be the essential oils.Obvoiusly you are healthy do you suffer from epilepsy at all?Did you notice if the lighting in the shop was fluro as that can trigger similar effects.I have recently been having similar problems when i go into certain shops,unsure what it is really....

It actually sounds like a stress induced migraine to me. Very much so in fact, spot on Crow.

It might well happen again Ondia, but at least you'll be prepared for how to deal with it next time. Take care.

ok crow, lol, you're probably right, but still that was my first reaction, for some reason..

I'm pretty sensitive to smells too, so that probably makes more sense..

but still.. i can't help but wonder...

Given that you are under stress and you were looking for a gift for you boyfriend, probably can't afford to buy him anything at all, my suggestion would be panic attack. I've had them come on without warning and they are really scary. You get over them quickly but if the association is there - ooh I felt bad in that spot there, going back can start it off again.

Hope things pick up for you really soon.

I'm not epileptic, no, but fluorescent lights do have a very bad effect on me. However, it's a different very bad effect, where I get distracted and my mind just drifts off. Not something where I feel like passing out. I didn't notice what the lights in the shop were like, but certainly fluorescents could have assisted in the problem, even if they couldn't have caused all of it. And I don't think it was a migraine, as such, but perhaps a similar sort of collapse-- thankfully briefer than the migraines I used to have.

I'm leaning toward the oil-allergy theory, but I wouldn't totally discount the possibility of the other. I don't know how you guys are here on the notion of people who feel that they need to consume the energy of other humans (and yes, they sometimes call themselves 'vampires', but I try to refrain from doing so, for reasons of taste), but I know a few, and they have been known to pull energy from random people at times. Not often, I guess, but it's apparently not too hard for them. It's quite true that sucking away enough of someone's energy that they notice it is kind of... difficult? unheard-of? something like that, anyway. I do not think that that is what happened. But I did want to bring up that there are some people who do exactly this sort of thing to random people, at times. And I think that's more what Whispered was referring to than a hex as such.

Hmmmm. Hope this doesn't make me sound too much like a crackpot. But after my long refusal to admit to myself that I believed in anything at all that I couldn't see, it was talking with one of these energy-consuming friends that enabled me to stop considering myself a total loon and get back to thinking about this. Of course, I well may be a total loon, but at least said friend has gone a way toward showing me that that's irrelevant, so long as I'm a happy and harmless loon. You know.

And thanks so much, everyone, for helping me out on this one. I never would have thought of an allergy to the oils, since I've never had that before. Then, I've never seen that brand before, either. I do intend to test that soon.

It's always a good idea to look to the mundane stuff first before trying to explain things like that away by some psychic force. In all likelyhood, your reaction was due to the oils or other scent, like incense.

I understand your reasoning on people who have the capability of draining others of their energy, but in most cases that is on a psychological level. Unless you felt a 'cold' spot, then I doubt if there was any energy sucking entity there

If you had a good 'feel' about the owner, then I doubt it would be her as generally something like that can be felt almost right away.

Totally agree with Gypsymoon - mundane first - could be an idea to have an allergy test ( similar to the ones done on people with hay fever).

Do find it hard to believe that an emotional vampire would pick on a complete stranger in a shop - in my experience these people pick on others they know well as the emotional buzz is easier and more intense - example "great girlfriend" who tells you that your bloke is seeing someone else, or could be, because they will be there to pick up on every nuance of anguish.

Oh yes, I know, and I'm pretty sure it probably was an allergy to one of the oils or some such. Just wanted to note that it is possible for someone to decide to do that sort of thing to a complete stranger. I'm entirely certain that wasn't the case here, as the only other person in the place was the owner, who seemed very nice and not at all sinister-- and I have good intuition. But no, my comments above weren't related to this situation specifically-- I was just trying to indicate that that sort of thing COULD happen. I have this thing, you see, for making sure everyone is aware of all possibilities. All the time. Even if they're incredibly unlikely. Drives my boyfriend bats.

Never fear, as soon as it was mentioned it seemed extremely likely to me that it was the oils. After all, the first thing I thought of was food poisoning, and I only decided to ask at all after that proved incorrect. I get enough Weird without going out looking for it, I do!

Don't worry about it lovie - I went absolutely mental when out on a trip with my moon son, got all paranoid, shivery, visions of blood etc and he led me away, which is when we saw the canon that was hidden by tourists and I found that I was picking up very nasty vibrations from it. He went back after and found out its history - not nice. Being sensitive means never having to say you're loonie.

Or is that just never having to admit it, Ma?

Oh no lovie - I always admitted to being loonie, just like to know the difference.

Ask anyone around here

Agree's with Ma, nothing at all wrong with being loonie. I come from a long line of loonies.

vampires? I swear the mother in law is an energy vampire - I feel exhausted just thinking about the woman.

I agree with Seeker.

Also, certain scents can bring to our subconscious mind some very unpleasant memories. In other words, a smell could bring about a sickening thought. But smells can also bring about pleasent thoughts so maybe next time you'll be fortunate enough to be in the shop when the oil or incense being burned are triggers for your pleasant memories.

Blessings
trwanderer