Never more!
I'm a confirmed mentalist and when this started happening was resolutely off the medication so feel free to lend whatever amount of creedence you will to my little tale of little consequence. But it goes on bothering me.

I'd gone into my second term at uni a mental wreck. One aspect was believing myself psychically connected to a girl I'd met over the summer. I was obsessing over her in a rather unhealthy way so no surprise when she severed all contact with me soon after I left the town in France where she lived. I began to get into Edgar Allen Poe and his poems of romantic/intellectual loss like The Raven and Ellenore. One autumn night I was sat up late reading The Raven when I heard a "tap tap tap" at the wall. I was rather freaked out, but in my addled state sort of tolerated it with a shruf of the shoulders and rather blithely ascribed it as a general indicator of the unavoidably dark turn my life had taken. It probably wasn't a raven, more like pigeons roosting in the old blocked-up chimney, but at the time I was prepared to believe anything.

It should be noted that although I was in the midst of full-blown paranoid schizophrenia, I never hallucinated visuals or heard voices - just became very deluded resulting from making connections between everyday things that could have been coincidence or perhaps weren't (now promise never to tell my psychiatrist I give the latter view the time of day..).

Come Christmas I'd had enough and decided to run away to France to meet (read: "probably scare shitless") this girl again. On the road to the station a car passed with some chavvy youths leaning out of the window, and as it passed the youths seemed to make a very loud croaking sound, exactly like a raven. This was disturbing.

OK, so maybe I did hallucinate that time.. but fast forward over the years, over 8 years of being on medication that renders me "normal" in the eyes of everyone I meet and all-but-completely removes the delusions, then every now and again a car will pass, usually a small knackered-looking car filled with chavs, and one of the windows will be down and from the car something will croak extremely loudly like a raven, making me jump out of my skin every time. I never get "oi hippy" or "gay" or any of the usual to expected from my appearance - just the fucking loud croak.

Nothing else like this happens to me. Perhaps somewhere at the back of my subconcious Edgar Allen Poe and the memory of my lost love have lodged permanently resulting in this semi-regular - about once-yearly - hallucination. Then again perhaps I was right to be paranoid - perhaps I'm being watched by giant crows controlling the fate of the earth. Either way an explanation would be nice..
(lost, Fri 4 Jul 2008, 15:36, 10 replies)

Is the raven tapping to get in.. or out ?
Are you looking for shelter, and feeling like the only person in the world.. or are you feeling caged and want to be set free to fly ?

Maybe a little of both.

Ravens "caw", Frogs "Croak".

So perhaps the croak was not meant for you Raven.
(TheRiddler Hmmmmm... I concur., Fri 4 Jul 2008, 15:47, closed)

@Riddler
Eh?


@lost: Personally, I welcome our raven overlords.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 4 Jul 2008, 15:49, closed)

@lost
some kind of flashback triggered by the chavs in a car scenario? I haven't had any flashbacks after my psychotic hallucinations but I bet, given the right circumstances, I'd recall them in vivid detail even despite the medication.
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Fri 4 Jul 2008, 15:54, closed)

@enzyme
I believe Lost perceived himself as the Raven, and the poem states that the raven is tap tap tapping. Is this because he needed to come in and feel the warmth of shelter (inc. the fixation/obsession)..or is it something else.
(TheRiddler Hmmmmm... I concur., Fri 4 Jul 2008, 16:03, closed)

@Riddler
Why does it have to signify anything at all?
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 4 Jul 2008, 16:13, closed)

God
I do love faux-philosophy.
( Kroney, Fri 4 Jul 2008, 16:15, closed)

Because his personality is like a rubiks cube
and gut instinct.

Its only IMO.
(TheRiddler Hmmmmm... I concur., Fri 4 Jul 2008, 16:16, closed)

His personality is like a Rubik's cube?
Eh?

Have I missed something, or are you talking dippy crap?
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 4 Jul 2008, 16:17, closed)

With respect TheRiddler..
..I haven't the foggiest what you are on about either. It's definitely nothing to do with frogs; as far as I'm concearned ravens croak; and I don't identify with ravens and I'm not sure how I'd go about doing that. As for the tapping - it was just disturbing tapping - not sure if I ascribed a particular purpose to it.
(lost, Fri 4 Jul 2008, 18:54, closed)

Ravens
"Kronk", crows "Caw".
Once you hear a Raven call, or see one sitting on a rooftop watching you, you will never confuse it with a Carrion Crow again. Truly an "Omen" experience.
(Rsoles, Mon 7 Jul 2008, 23:41, closed)