u/PokieSnoots

When I was around six years old, my parents took me and my younger sister with them to visit my grandmother at the retirement residence she lived at. I still remember those visits vividly and how fascinated I was by her whole apartment. She had this incredible old Hollywood style and love for everything film & music from that era. Her bedroom was filled with vintage movie posters, antique perfume bottles, jewelry, and all kinds of vintage stuff.

I was a pretty hyperactive kid as I have (and still do) a fairly severe case of ADHD, so I would always be moving around and was curious about everything. I always used to run in and out of her room whenever we visited, playing with whatever I could and on that visit, I did exactly that. I remember running into her bedroom from the dining room entrance and immediately stopping dead in my tracks. Sitting in the rocking chair beside her bed was an older woman staring directly at me. To this day, I can still see her clearly. She had short white/grey hair, vintage cat eye glasses, and was wearing a blue and grey nightgown. We made direct eye contact, and even after all these years, that image has never faded from my memory.

What stood out is that she looked nothing like the classic appearance of a “ghost”, and that she looked completely real. Real as in a human being, alive and well, here in the physical. I think that’s important to mention because when people talk about spirit, they often describe seeing them appear as transparent or like something you’d see in a movie. At least in my experience, that’s never been the case. They look like regular people. The difference is the feeling. Even at six years old, I instantly knew something was off. The best way to describe it is that I knew she wasn’t supposed to be there, yet somehow she was. It’s hard to explain because it wasn’t a thought I consciously had at that time, it was just an overwhelming feeling. There was an energy around her that felt completely different from other people. If you’ve ever experienced strong intuition or clairvoyance, you may understand what I mean. You don’t figure it out logically. You feel it. You just know.

As a child, it was absolutely terrifying. Probably even for grown adults too when experiencing it for the first time. I remember I just froze, then ran back to the living room and sat by my parent’s feet for the rest of the visit. I don’t believe I even spoke much or moved without one of my parents being by my side. I never went anywhere in her apartment alone after that and my parents actually recall me throwing fits or putting up fights when it came to visiting her apartment. The strange part is that I never told anyone for the longest time, either. As a child, I was convinced that if I talked about her or even thought about her too much, she would somehow show up at my house. I couldn’t even say it out loud without becoming scared so I kept it to myself for years. Even though I never talked about it, the memory never left me. Throughout my life, I’d occasionally have vivid dreams about the same woman I saw and find myself thinking back to that moment.

Just a few years ago in the summertime, I was sitting on my parent’s back deck having a few drinks when the conversation somehow shifted to my grandmother. That’s when one of my parents casually mentioned that my grandmother believed her apartment was haunted. They told me she would often see or feel the presence of an older woman in her bedroom. Sometimes she would see her sitting in the rocking chair beside her bed, and other times she would feel her sitting on the edge of the bed. Apparently, she became so comfortable with the presence that she would even say goodnight to her every night before going to sleep. I was completely speechless. When I tell you my heart dropped into my ass, I mean it! I had never told my parents what I saw as a child. Not once.

When I finally told them my story and described exactly where the woman was sitting and what she looked like, they were shocked. They said everything I described matched what my grandmother had told them over the years. They admitted they had never been completely sure what to make of her stories, but hearing my experience decades later changed that for them. I got full body chills.

What makes this experience so significant to me is that I didn’t grow up in a religious or particularly spiritual household. My parents believe there’s an other side because of experiences they’ve had themselves, but spirituality, religion, psychic abilities, and topics like that were never really discussed in our home. If it weren’t for this experience, I honestly don’t think I would be the spiritual person I am today. That moment completely transformed my perspective on life. It was the first thing that made me question whether there’s more to reality than what we can physically see. It led me to trust my intuition, explore spirituality, and better understand the clairvoyant experiences and intuitive gifts I’ve developed over the years.

Looking back now, I still don’t know whether that experience was the introduction to the gifts I have today or whether it was simply the first time I became aware that those gifts were already there. What I do know is that years later, now at 30 years old, I still think about it. People can believe whatever they want, and I’m not here to convince any one of anything. But for me, that experience alone was enough. It showed me that there is more to this reality than what we can physically see. It made me believe there is something greater beyond the physical world, and that some things simply can’t be explained. That experience didn’t just scare me, it shaped me. In many ways, it helped make me the person I am today.

Has anyone else had a childhood experience that stayed with them and changed the way they view spirituality, intuition, or the possibility of an afterlife/the other side?

Those with Saturn in Pisces in the 8th house, or Saturn in the 8th house in general, can you tell me a bit about your experiences with this placement?

Personally, themes like grief, isolation, trust, fear, abuse, betrayal and survival mode have led to emotional or spiritual transformations that have been pretty consistent throughout my entire life. When I talk about my personal experiences to some, they can’t even fathom enduring certain things, but for me it’s been a recurring pattern since childhood.

It often feels like every time things fall apart, I’m forced to rebuild myself again from the ground up. But at the same time, every difficult experience seems to evolve me into a stronger, wiser, more self-aware version of myself. I feel like I can handle A LOT emotionally now, but that resilience came through lived experience and constant transformation.

Those with an 8th house Saturn in Pisces, can you tell me a bit about your experiences with this placement?

Personally, themes like grief, isolation, trust, fear, abuse, betrayal and survival mode have led to emotional or spiritual transformations that have been pretty consistent throughout my entire life. When I talk about my personal experiences to some, they can’t even fathom enduring certain things, but for me it’s been a recurring pattern since childhood.

It often feels like every time things fall apart, I’m forced to rebuild myself again from the ground up. But at the same time, every difficult experience seems to evolve me into a stronger, wiser, more self-aware version of myself. I feel like I can handle A LOT emotionally now, but that resilience came through lived experience and constant transformation.