The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

I was just wanting to know what everyones thoughts are on childrens *imaginary friends* Do you think these are just made up invisible friends of a childs imagination ..or are these their spirit guides? are children able to see into another dimension from where the guides come from?..just wanted some others ideas on this subject...

I think that Imaginary friends are necessary for children's creative development. The children create these friends to talk to, they are someone who they have created to relate to them.

Sure, they could be more than just a figment of their imagination, but still, I believe in my invisible friends, and I'm 16, call me crazy I don't really care.

I think that imaginary friends could be anything from a creative child's imagination to a scitzophrenic (sp?) person's alternate personalities to as you suggested a sprit guide.

But who really knows?

I once had notional associates.. some still do, it's the "person" you "hung out with" when your partner ask to many questions.. the one that they never met. It's kids way of creating a response to the others sharing their adventures with their friends. How easy it is to alter the testimony of others to use for their own testimony. An unsocialized child is more likely to develop imaginary friends, a child pressed to socialize, or constantly "grilled" on their socialization.. or even impulsive activity, or clumsy childeren are all likely to create imaginary friends. To insert into the kids role " Oh thats his guiding spirit." I think that that could imprint the behavior, one that would eventually pass into a lesser frequent behaviour.

I think it could be either or.

It is said that children are innocent and their minds are not as tainted by skepticism, fear and opinions so they may be more sensitive to detecting spirits. I have heard that some spirits even interact with children as playmates. As they get older, some children may lose the ability to sense any spirits.

However, some children also have over-active imaginations and can, out of boredom and loneliness create an "imaginary friend" and is considered to be relatively common. It is a good idea to keep an eye on the child to ensure he/she does not become so obsessive with the friend that it keeps or prevents him/her from interacting with other children or activities.

I have seen a young child (4 yo app) interact and play with the spirit of a young boy (8 yo app).

well, i read that guides come to children as other children..because its easier for children to accept

I total agree with that theory... children can always see th spirits easier, I have girl friend whose daughter always had her friend with her ... but I also do believe that it could be both as not all children will "see" as others do..

When my son was 4 years old we lived in the old part of our town. He would talk to someone I could not see. I just thought it was an imaginary friend. One day I ask him who he was talking to and he told me it was his friend Rachael Thomas so I said ok and left it at that. A few days later I ask him the same thing and he answered Rachael Thomas. I ask him about her, he told me her daddy was mean to her and he hurt her real bad. The more he told me the more chill bumps I got. I ask him where she was thinking he was going to point next to him, he took my hand and we went outside and he pointed at the side of our porch and said she is there. I ask him what he ment and he told me her daddy hurt her bad and put her there. At that point I had chill bumps on my chill bumps.
I went up to the library and did some research, I found that in old Leitchfield there were many Thomas familys that lived there. I found one Rachael Thomas, but she died at age 46. I could not find any birth record for any Rachael Thomas. I ask some of the older people I know if they knew anything about the family that lived in that house, but I couldn't find anyone that knew much of anyting.
I believe imaginary friends can sometimes be more than what we adults think they are.

it is a possability that Rachel was appearing to your son as a child as spirits will lie and be decietful.

Children are more sensitive to seeing spirits. As they get older its drilled in to the childs mind that it was just thier imagination and they start to believe it was not real

i think it is a good possability and even to the point of being your guide. I have heard of that before , that when we are born we have our guides already worked into our make up it just when and how long before we actually see them

One has to look at how the child applies the imaginary friend to their social interactions.

i had an experience when i was eight years old one month after the death of my grandfather someone i didnt know and still dont came to me and told me it would be ok and talked to me all the time i believe that children make up friends at times but for the most part i think that it is spirits

i had an experience when i was eight years old one month after the death of my grandfather someone i didnt know and still dont came to me and told me it would be ok and talked to me all the time i believe that children make up friends at times but for the most part i think that it is spirits

My son will be 17 next month. He remembers having a friend named Rachael Thomas, but he doesn't remember much about her or he just doesn't want to talk about it. I don't push and try to make him talk about what he remembers.

I say both. But lean more toward some type of spirit.

I believe it can be either cases of a spirit being there, that the kid can see, and/or the normal stage of growing up.

I tried to have an imaginary friend when I was younger. haha.......I just knew there wasn't anyone there, though, and I couldn't pretend. That was my logical Virgo in me, that couldn't play dumb with it.

Now, the house was haunted and that was enough to scare the shit out of me and keep me busy.

Yeah I've thought about this before.
I think it depends on how firmly the child believes in their friend, how much time they spend with them, and especially what things their friend might tell them. I often wonder if it's not some sort of guardian angel, or a spirit that finds it easier to connect with a child instead of an adult.

It's interesting that this has been brought up, actually.
As a child I had an imaginary friend named Regina. At the time she was my only friend, and I absolutely adored her. And then one day she went away. I cried for weeks, until eventually I moved on. I never forgot the feeling of lonliness, though.

Anyway, a few years ago I met a woman who claims to be a psychic. I say whatever floats your boat. I will never say anyone is wrong, but I am also quite the sceptic, so I never ask for a reading or anything. She finally managed to get me to listen to her for a few minutes. In those few minutes she informed me that a spirit who called herself Regina Heron says that she's still there. That she always would be, and that she wishes I were able to see her like I used to.

Make of that what you will, but there you go.

i agree with dabbler he has a good point it depends on the child and how the childs mind works.

My imaginary friends as a child were just that, which I think is a good thing, children have enough to cope just growing up.

When I was young I had an imaginary friend. I think they are born of loneliness more than anything. A friend that will never betray or hurt you, everyone want’s someone like that.
My parents were I suppose supportive of my imaginary friend, but when my nephew acquired one my sister nearly freaked out completely. I suppose it can be rather frightening to hear your child have so much fun and talking with someone you just can’t see.
Though I have heard of some investigation into imaginary friends being ‘other worldly’ or spirits of those past over. I’m sure mine wasn’t lol.
I suppose it’s possible, they say that children are lest bound by pre-conceptions of reality than adults, they don’t judge or question they just accept.

My daughter is 8 and firmly believes that her imaginary friend is a real boy from Florida. I have thought of doing some research on this lil fellow because she is bound and determined for me to believe in him as well.. She has had others but not been so stern about them as this lil fellow named John John.

I've had imaginary friends, fake ones lol. Well, they do say that children can see spirits. So it's quite unsure to tell unless you have a professional to prove it, like a medium.

My imaginary friend when I was little was named patty.

Years later I learnt that my real Mother's name was Patty.

I do believe we are all born with some type of ability, but as a child grows older it is told to us we are just imagining things. Then as we become to the point of having friends it is forgotten of and as adults our mindes become cluttered with work, bills etc.

Mine was named Elizabeth... And she was an alien. That kinda of connects in a way too because years later when I was out of that phase I do believe I was abducted.

i have always been an imaginative and creative but i never had an imaginary friend.
so i've always been curious about what makes a child have one.
i believe it is more than imagination, that perhaps the more open and receptive child's mind can lead to touching the supernatural.

or perhaps it's my natural inclination to identify with animals more than humans that caused me to not have an invisible playmate. i certainly remember imagining animals for myself.

Like Dabbler said, part of the child's environment and the over active imagination a child can have...


However, the other thought is provacative and holds merit with encounters we have been told of.

Children are open to so much more than an adult, which can be good or bad as to what is wanting to interact with them.

i remember as a child of not having really imaginary friends but voices that would talk to me, now whether those voices where something i created i have no clue, but i did for a while have an imaginary friend that was very real to me

Um... arent all yall my imaginary friends?

I'm having coffee in my office right now and I dont see anybody here. I see a computer with a lot of red and black on the screen and I hear KMFDM playing from it... but no.. I checked again... Im all alone today except for Dusty my Dachshund.

Being blind to the spirit world is taught by those around us who refuse to believe in the spirit world. Becoming a spiritual person and learning how to use the tools of the spirit world is more a matter of unlearning our taught behaviors in order to succeed at being a paranormal. Kids see things and are told that they don't .

they say children are more acceptable to things we refuse to see or no longer can because of our age and our lifestyles, imaginary friends help the child cope with many things in lifes structure when they are only childs or their fantasy of the mind. children seem to have this more since both parents seem to be working class, imaginary or spirit, i tend more to imiginary but some cases may prove different, Amityville comes to mind.

If magickians can create servitors and egregores, then why couldn't a child create a friend to fulfill a need for companionship? We don't know what it is children are interacting with but there is evidence that they can see spirit up to a certain age where that rational side takes over. Before that they are open to things and don't think it is really peculiar.

I agree it could be a spirit manifesting in a younger form to the child. If we are then just energy not connected to the physcal a person who was older might show themselves to a chld in a way that they could handle. Not so much to be deceitful but to be more compassionate to the child they are spending time with. There are cases of children playing with older adults though. There is a fictional story by the lady who wrote the "Secret Garden" called the "White People" that kind of goes into the perception of a child's unawareness of spirit unless being told. Granted it is a work of fiction but she did a great job showing this in her story. It was about a woman looking back on her childhood and her invisible playmate that turned out to be a ghost and all the other things she perceived growing up even into adulthood.

Quite honestly we don't know nor can prove one way or another if it is coming from the mind of the child or somewhere else and this is why we call them imaginary because we as adults can't see them.

I believe that they are just friends that there mind has made for created for them.

Depending on the kid in question and his or her situation it could be that they just needed a friend and invented one.
Or it is possible that a spirit has taken up with the kid something like a child that was never able to rest because their death was not expected.
Some spirits do seem to come to a kid that was in their age range to get closure and basically do try to be a guide.

I think there are many reasons for kids to have imaginary friends though in my experience not all are people. I've known some kids that have talking dogs and cats too. The odd thing to me is that is seems just as likely in a child with no siblings as one with several. I do think it's just the child's mind supplying it's needs.

I have trouble believing imaginary friends are just imaginary. I had one of a little blond girl when I was small. When I went through some old town papers for research on the library, I found an old clipping that said the house at the address I was living at had burned down. Most of the family perished in the fire, including the youngest daughter who had hid in the closet. There was a picture of the girl before the fire, and she looked like the girl that was my *imaginary* friend.

Apparently, findings like this aren't unusual. Many children will have imaginary friends who turn out to be people who haven't passed over yet.

But that's what I think.

I think all cases are individual.

In my country I hardly ever heard of any children having imaginary friends but imaginary friends who might have been spirits, were reported.

In certain cases children discribe the person with things that they surely didn't see in their life, or they describe the person and it gets to know that that person really lived.

Example a child describes the 'imaginary' friend with clothes of other times, and they don't have knowledge about clothes of other times , how can that be explained?

I believe it can go either way. Sometimes the child is communicating with something from the other side....and sometimes the kid is just lonely/bored and made up a friend to hang out with.

I would also mention that a repressed artistic mind can craft a persona from gleaned attractive highlights, that a social interactive child eavesdrops from kids or adults (that usually speak as if the child is not there). News stories.. TV shows, Radio.. .. then Narrative the child uses is should be considered as well. How do they refer to their friend? How do they interact to others (in relation to their friend? Has the child been coached, about their friend? Some cults actually "teach" children to act out spirit friends. How defensive is a child about their friend?

dabblwer seems hat you are talking of brain washing a child, a child is suppose to be what is so pure and maybe this friends are indeed imaginary. but if a child could see something our adult eyes could not see would they inturn not act out a friendship with the spirit. playing, running whatever, to me your statement is to watch the child for i hope this is not wrong but for brainwash ideas, what they see adults do or the way they interact with their friend, even if we as adults tell them not to play with a spirit, whos to say different imaginary friends or spirits will come tp the child. we must watch to make sure no harm comes, yet i think this friend thing has gone on several decades.

It is as much a behavioral issue as it is spiritual.

ok understand now

I personally believe that it can be both. My youngest son mentions playing with a little girl that is in a Native American clothing. He can not say her name. I did do some checking and found out that one point and time on my land was a river bed and there was a tribe of Indians on this land. Either Cheokee or Catawba. All of them had died because of a drought that dried the river up.

Either way you go a childs mind is that of innocence and uncorrupted. I this because my oldest does not believe that he even has an imagination at all. Doesn't believe in nothing unless its written on paper. I don't down him for that but that is the way that my ex raised him.

What is the hurry to attach beliefs to Imagination? Whyt can't a kid just be creative in entertaining themselves, without being alluded to as some spirit magnet?

they are spirit guides

What is your support for such a statement?

I think imaginary friends are part of life. I also think they are made up within a child's mind. If someone wants to have an imaginary friend then let them. I dont think they're spirit guides. cause wouldnt everyone that believes in their friends have spirit guides too?

I dont know about everyone else but my imaginary friend was just that no spirit or anything like that

ok the way I see it is if the child start speaking of these notions at age 6 and below and live a sheltered life I'm asuming so they really wouldn't pick this up from the outside or television they probably spend most of their time being quiet to themselves and play w/ the nearest toys and talk to themselves eventually they will make up another person that they can talk too b/c no one else will take the time to listen to them. I would trust that this is a disorder in a way b/c of the lack of attention being in to psychology and such I would say that it would be something like child schitsofrania.

but it is also possible that the child could be tlaking to a spirit that hasn't moved on a child spirit an elderly person children have been knoen to see things that adults could not. something to do with the innocents factor and loss of innocents that sort of thing.

imaginary friends are some time just that. yet some could have spirit guides.

I think some are just made up. However children have such a better perception on life than we do and are more accepting of things due to their innocence and active imaginations.

I do believe that many "imaginary friends" are the children's spirit guides, ancestors or spirits that are drawn to them.

My son had an imaginary friend that only lived at his grandmothers house. One day he came up to me while we were visiting and asked when poppy was going to come play cricket with him. I explained to him his poppy died years ago before he was even born, but he pointed to the picture on the wall and said but he told me he will come play cricket with me today.

A few minutes later we could hear him laughing outside and he was talking to someone. To which we assume was his grandfather.

its something made up to suit the gap in the child's life when they are needed.

children of course are inocent and i believe that helps them to see things that adults normally would not see,i believe that these spirits could be family members who have passed,guardian angels,or just a spirit passing by or who is attached to the child for some reason or another.

i think that it is just in thier imagination

I am not sure I every had one

imigination is the realm for all dreams and creative intune to write and draw, yet it seems children have been known to have these more than adult, asence of their own adaption to problems and societies hustle and bustle, yet do not leave out their adaption to see what we cannot.

some are imagineary other imaginary frineds are spirits who have unfinished business or friendly or evil

I personally never had an imaginary friend, but had imaginary worlds I spent all my time in. I believe a lot of children have active imaginations, and simply feel the need to escape into their fantasies, a trait which isn't exactly lost among adults. The idea of it being a spirit instead is interesting, but I think it does depend on the child. I was the opposite to most when I was younger, and could never understand the concept of any kind of spirit until I grew older.

I met my guide when I was just 8 years old. He still acts as my protector, of sorts.

I think it could be either one. Children use there imagination to create a friend . This helps to develop social skills when they are along alot. Most of the time they will outgrow it once they start school or make friends they can play with. Some of them are spirit guides and it may be hard to distinguish. The child can see things that adults can not.

Many children have active imaginations and just plain and normal imaginary friends... as well as taking a beloved doll or stuffed animal and having it be more of a companion and a friend but something to touch than just merely an imaginary one.

However, I do believe that some friends to a child could be a ghost, spirit, something from another realm that certain children can glimpse and interact....when they grow older, lose that ability.. perhaps.

I think that it could be both...

Since children are still young, their minds would still be open and innocent and they might be able to see spirits and play with them.

Then they can just create a friend to play with if they feel lonely.

i think its more then just imagination. Kids can see things that as you get older you cant see anymore. The third eyes closes

way way back in the day i had a imaginary friend that i made up just for fun and also so my mom would give me extra cookies .. lol I was a sneaky child..

My niece and nephew have an imaginary friend that they play with at my mother's house...incidently it is the very same imaginary friend that I had as a child. I never told either of them her name but they both call her by the same name that I did as child...Marylou...so my deduction is that she is not imaginary at all but a lost spirit of a little girl that continues to befriend and play with the children that come in and out of my parent's home.

The are made up figures that show a child's creative side.

If a child that grew up on the lap of a wise elder.. a wise elder (say grandma, and lets say grandma was the neighbor moderator.)

Then the child gains imprinted wisdom, brainwash is after the brain is developed imprinting is as the conscious develops. These echoes return to the child as triggers are set.

Now we have a second child, one that grew up on the lap of a gossip family member.. or a fad religious family member.

If a child is around mention of such things as spirit guides and such they are likely to make mention to other children.. so yes children pick up things, they have an unscreened open mind.. they are learning from ambient, as well as directed stimulation.. the processing of this stimulation is set on the foundation of the childs developmen

They are made up. People(adults and children) talk to themselves whether they admit it or not. At young and old ages, it may become more difficult to keep your talks to yourself when around others. Schizophrenia also plays a role in this.

The interactions, and/or address of the "friend" is key as well, is the child referring to, or interacting with. Their "friend", what context is the "friend" used? The narrative? Is there a cue/ trigger that when mentioned, the child responds with reference to their "friend", is the child watching the adult reactions?

If you an adult, go out with your friends your partner would not approve of, you mention other "friends" ones that you met through work. So how to go about addressing the childs "friend"?

I have an imaginary "dog" he follows me wherever I go.
he is my buddy. I don't really know what eles to put

Most of the time its just fun. Made up to fill the void. Some may see a spirit, but usually it is short periods of time.

How to confront a child about imaginary friends is one question that comes to mind. This would depend on what context the imaginary friend "influences" the child.. pressing a child subtly for details (in a candid manner) without triggering defensive responses.

I use the example of the clumsy, or hyper impulsive child, in a room away from the care taker, something smashes to the ground..

in comes the care taker.. "what happened?"

"It just flew across the room."

In my house the two ghost where "Not Me", and I Don't Know. my mom busted those two ghost.

My 5 year old has had an imaginary friend since he was 3. If you ask him he will tell you that she is a little girl and he can tell you all about her.. I belive that she is a spirit guide sent to him. Probably someone that was a realtive that died young. He calls her sissy and it has always been what she is called. There have been a few times where i have seen her myself and he will just say o it's just sissy.. Funny thing is i have a 2 year old and he interacts with spirits also but not the little girl she is waiting i think to show herself to him.. Like something that is just for Jarek and her to share.. I just happen to have gotten lucky is my best guess.

Well honestly I think it is a way kids are different and how it really shows.

I do believe in imaginary friends cos I as a child had them. 3 of them and a couple of dogs. Embrassed now to admit it but when my large family get to together and what to tease me the remind of it. I wouldn't let them sit somewhere and things like that to me appartly they were'nt imaginary they where real.

This is wierd...I don't believe in imaginary friends, but I used to pretend to have one to irritate my sisters. Sometimes I would be 'possessed' by him. He had a British accent. My sisters wanted to strangle me.

when I was younger, i aquired many imaginary friends and even though I don't want to own up to it, I still do. They were an important part of me growing up, they were my friends when no one would speak to me. Some things never change and greatly they wer eone of those things.

I believe that they are spirits as children are more in tune with them, they are more susceptible to seeing them as they are young and have a higher level of sensing them.

very true, believe is the key

children are more open to the ability to see things others would just over look. I am not sure that children don't just have over active imagination but I wouldn't dismiss the other possibilities. My niece talks to my dead mother like she is still here. She is only 3 and she knows my mother passed away. She will sometimes say things like are those grandma's she can see them. My mother used to collect houses and porcelain dolls that are dotted around the house. I would like to believe that she feels connected to her. It was hard on her to watch my mother suffer with cancer.

In the book The Alchemist by Paulo Cohelo, it talks about a shepard, and he listens to his heart and all this crap (its not it good) but to the point, children follow their hearts and listen to what they say its higher than the conciseness, more deeper, as we age we listen less and less, the heart is connected to the soul of the world there for where all the spirits dwell. you have to read the book to get what im on about.

it is very healthy for children to have imaginary friends when young to help them cope and grow healthy. Grant it some children actually do have spirits or angels if you will that they can see and communicate with, they are usually a gifted child.
myself my daughter had one and she even remembers her to this day and swears she was real (to her) and that as she grew older she stop coming around to play. So who is to say that it was an angel / spirit, or just the imagination. either way it helped her during my divorce and some other issues in the family. I feel as long as it is a healthy thing and good for them it is all right and natural.

Yet, if they are persistant as to that the *imaginary friend* is telling them this or that etc, things out of the ordinary then I would pay attention to my child and listen to what they are tellin me cause ya never know if it is something real and can be harmful. just an opinion.

it is healthy to have an imagionary friend indeed, but it can be unhealthy in some respecteds I.E

having that child having problems in later life.
or having the micky taken out of them at school.

these are only in extreme, i, myself believe that it is healthy as i've said, but i dont think i had one.

I stick with the residual ambients the child heard as a youth (from people perhaps expired) they still retrieve those quotes from grandpa.. If you have heard a child recite the poem Jabberwalky .. then you would get a smooth chance to see this in action.. (his grandpa told it to the child every night they baby sat. telling a child, or alluding that a child has ghost around them, is likely to create a complex, in the child, insteed of a phase, or fad behavior, are those that declare this spirits aware that they are enforcing/abating a potential complex?

I see more parents build things into Imaginary friends then children do. They are pulling your chain, if you say children have an open mind to such things, then the same children have the ability to tune in on things that entertain adults.. or things that create curious responses from others. How well socialized is a child likely to become, if the child is led to believe that they have some entity attached to them? I think the parents (fringe spiritualist) are the main force behind defining what the child acts out. Coaches. Why? for the same reason as Muncashen By Proxy.. How delightful to have a child with a "spirtit guide" (seeings how they never taught their child to socialize, and their child has to make up friends, because mom, or dad are cookoo about ghost every where, would you bring a real friend to that house? I wouldn't I would make one up, at least to see how much I can get away with blaming on a made up entity.. yea, children are that smart.

I would agree that a child might imagine a friend to talk to and as a way of learning.(Or out of loneliness) Bit I also believe that a child may not be as able to fabricate anything as well as an adult. So that leads to the "spirit" guide, or friend. I do agree that a child is closer to the spirit world as they have not been tarnished by adult thinking. Who are we to judge, and say that the imaginary friend is not a passed ancestor of restless soul? The connection may be of comfort to both the entity and the child. I'm seeing too much psychology in some of the opinions, and too little heart. I have raised 4 children, and feel I know a bit about children in general. They learn mainly from their parents or care givers when they are young and their personality if being formed. This, unfortunately, is the end of innocence for youngsters. They learn to manipulate from adults.

Bit I also believe that a child may not be as able to fabricate anything as well as an adult.

The child does not need to fabricate, there are adults that will fill in the blanks, and assume the scenario, the child only has to follow prompts.. a childs mind is open, they want to learn how to interact.. they learn the subtle things, even the voices carry, that we hear when we are young. Be they yelled (traumatic imprint), or baby chooed..( spoon feed), or plan speak (directly or indirectly, from elders laps) the child that listens back.

Obviously every child listens form the word go learning and growing, but why when they can recall the shape, figure, clothing and voice. some parents have had shocks and known that the person the child may be talking about is a past relative that the child never even met and the parent has never talk about or shown pictures to the child.

I agree. How do you explain that?

This thread has been automatically closed for length.