Following on from Rose's thread, http://www.queenzone.com/forums/1355144/im-becoming-obsessed-with-freddie-help.aspx, as well as some interest from noorie and Brenski, I have finally given in and decided to share some of my own spooky Freddie experiences.
At the risk of sounding completely and utterly nuts, here goes:
firstly, let me begin with a little bit of my (non) religious background, and how I came into the world of Queen "fandom".
As far as religion goes, I am agnostic bordering on full atheism. I have tried to "understand" religion, and have gone to a number of churches, chapels, synagogues and even Jehovah's Witness scripture meetings - I just don't get a feel for it at all, and my negative questions far outweigh the "positive" answers that Christianity and the like give me.
However, going back to 1995 now (I was 15), and I finally found something that really excited me. Something that inspired me. Something that gave me solace, hope, serenity and enjoyment. It was a copy of Made In Heaven an old friend made for me, and I was instantly captured. Awestruck. Pole-axed. I had never, ever heard anything as magical as that before, and was my first "real" experience of Queen. Freddie's voice totally captivated me - I just had to hear it over and over again, and I found myself digging deeper and deeper into the vast catalogue of his, and Queen's music. To say that I was transported into a totally new world is an understatement - Queen, Freddie and everything about them totally took over my world. I had to find out all I could, hear all I could, see all I could. It was an obsession. Almost like a religion. In fact, it was MY religion. My whole world was Queen - I ate, slept and drank Queen and never shut up about them. When times were tough for me - with school, friends or family, I instantly took to my room, put the earphones in and played some Queen or Freddie. His voice calmed me down, and I took a lot of heart from the words he spoke. I saw everything as personal, with some sort of message directed at what do do with my own situations. It helped a lot.
A few months later brought the summer of 1996, and my first real girlfriend. I had known her since I was only 8, at primary school, and we had always been friends. I had never known that she had felt the way she did about me, and I jumped at the chance to finally take her out. What made things really magical was....her love for Queen, too. We used to compete to see who could finish their collection of albums first, and we often just lay together listening to our Queen stuff. Happy times!
I was with her for over three years. I loved her so, so much, and we did everything together. However, an event in our lives, and not totally within our control, caused us to split. It was a difficult time for both of us, and we didn't want to split, but things were just so difficult that it seemed the best option. I really wanted to end my life, but friends and family kept me going and I ended up going to University to do my media degree, as had always been planned, at the tail end of 1999. I put on a brave face for those friends and family, but I still hurt, and I hurt real bad. So I just listened, and listened more to Queen stuff, and threw myself deeper and deeper into that world. Trades, bootlegs, and moving onto collecting seemed to keep me going - I was like a junkie who had to get one more fix. It seemed to do the trick.
But the messages in the songs were beginning to take new meaning. Freddie REALLY was becoming a religion, and I started liking his life to those stories I had heard in scriptures. Maybe he WAS god? Maybe he WAS my saviour? I started telling these things to those close to me, but it was just passed off as an obsession. But, to me, Freddie seemed spiritual - magical and powerful, and ever-present. I often found myself almost "praying" to him for things....and these things often came true. I then began having experiences similar to that of Rose, as explained in her thread above - I'd put the telly on and Freddie would be on it, I put the radio on and Freddie would be on it. Hell, I even borrowed a book from the library once, and a picture of Freddie fell out of it, having been used as a bookmark. He was around me, and I knew it. But was I nuts???
Well, let's forward about a year. My sister was at a party at her friend's house, and they decided that they would do a ouija board. Not really my cup of tea, tbh, but my sister was always into that sort of thing. I wasn't there, but apparently some really weird things started happening at the friend's house - s much so, that a lot of the kids started leaving, or going to different rooms. Eventually, there were two left - my sister and the host.
The board, or "whatever" was controlling it, asked directly for my sister. Getting freaked, she asked what it was about, and the answer that she got was that it was about ME. When my sister asked why, she was told that my guardian needed to pass on a message.
At this point, my sister began thinking that her friend was pulling her leg, so decided to ask the "spirit" to tell her something personal as "verification". She nearly passed out when she was told the reason for my split with my then girlfriend. There was no way it could have been a prank now, as the host did not know about my past experience. My sister did, so was now sure that what was happening was real. So she asked who, exactly, it was speaking to her. It just replied that it was my guardian, and passed on a message that things would be OK. But my sister still wanted to know who the guardian was. She asked "are you male?", to which she was told no. "You must be female, then?", to which the board told her "NO!".
Totally intrigued, my sister's friend asked "are you a god??". The board circled "YES!!".
My sister knew I wasn't religious, and didn't believe in God, as it were. But I did have, in my eyes, another "God". Thinking "NO WAY", she asked "are you Freddie Mercury?". It instantly said "NO!".
Bamboozled as to what the hell was now going on, she asked "are you Farrokh Bulsara??"......the board went haywire, circling round yes and no frantically, before dropping at "yes" and disappearing. I couldn't believe it when I heard it.
Just a few months later, just before I moved house, I was sitting alone in the living room, watching TV. My mum and dad had gone to bed, and my sister was out. I heard movement slightly behind the seat I was sitting on. I turned around, and was startled to see - just for a few brief seconds - Freddie.
He was clearly there, and appeared as he did in the TATDOOL video, except he looked healthy. Thin still on top, but healthy - vibrant in colour, wearing his cat styled waistcoat and smiling, directly at me, like "everything will be fine".
And you know what? It has been! Just a few weeks later, my old girlfriend wrote to me, telling me that she missed me and still loved me. almost three years had passed since we split, and I hadn't heard from her in that time. But she still loved me! I felt great, and wanted to meet up with her.
Present day = We have an eleven year old son and, finally, after some more tough times with regards to money, losing family members (and a few jobs in-between), we are planning our wedding after finally getting engaged on Xmas morning last year.
Thank you, Freddie. You've helped me through some real shit, and I'll keep on listening!!
Thistle