I don't sleep alone. And before you wonder if I mean to dish, let me be clear: I don't have a human partner currently, and I don't have any pets currently. Even so, I don't sleep alone at night... any night.

Earlier this week, someone emailed me about a recent experience. They woke up hearing their bedroom door nudged open, and then felt their bed shift under the weight of a small-ish animal joining them. The animal snuggled against their lower back, and then they felt a vibration up their spine.

Thing is, there was no animal physically on the bed with them. What they felt was the energy of an animal in spirit, in a very physical, tangible way. They felt no fear, and yet the experience was certainly unsettling, new as it was to them.

I replied to their email, validating their impression there was nothing to fear. And I shared with them my every-night experience with in-spirit animals.

Surrounded

From the moment I sit on my bed at night, the movement starts. I feel an energy bound onto the bed and snuggle up against my left or right thigh. The experience is so normal at this point that I greet them and apologize for making them move so I can lie down.

Once I'm lying down, I feel another energy - a heavier and larger energy - climb onto the bed at a slower pace, circling behind me. This one usually settles against the back of my thighs while the first curls up against my lower abdomen. Generally, the smaller of the two generates comforting heat. The larger one tends to emanate a more neutral temperature.

The next arrival comes in a smaller form, and always settles on my feet. Sometimes, this energy plays with my feet before they rest. Remarkably, it doesn't tickle. It tingles, though.

These three I consider my "regulars." All three distinctly resemble animals in their energy output. The first is a small dog. The second is a large cat - probably similar to a bobcat or perhaps a mountain lion in size. The third is a housecat.

Wait. There's more.

On occasion, these three musketeers are joined by other energies; non-animal spirit energies; non-human spirit energies, too. These other energies are elementals, and they feel and behave markedly different.

One of them, which I'm told is a fairy energy, lightly climbs onto my pillow and plays with my hair, my eyebrows, my eyelashes, my nose... In sensing the size of their "hands", which I estimate to be about an inch long, I might guess they stand 12 inches tall. They blow air onto my face for no other reason than to make sure they're acknowledged, as far as I can tell. And once - just once - they spoke my name aloud into my left ear. I gasped, because it was physically audible rather than being clairaudient. I'd love to experience it again.

Another, which has no characteristics definable with animal or human, eases over my hip like a heavy, cool gel-like blanket. And still another, with a similar blanket-like approach, presents as dry and light and warm; almost air-like in quality. While familiar with these energies too, I find my awareness heightens when they're present. There's no restful quality to them. Their energy is much more purposeful.

Snap and crack and pop... and footsteps

The arrival of all these energies, and others which don't join me on the bed, is announced with sound. Whether it's a quick snap, a loud crack or a mellow pop, the sound announces another nocturnal visitor. Sometimes, those noises and the energies creating them affect structures in the room as they enter. The wood of the dresser creaks in response. The glass of the desktop "knocks." The wallboard shudders as though struck.

And most recently, I hear footsteps. Rather than being freaked out, which would have happened if not for everything else I've become used to, I listen. They aren't loud, since they're on carpet. Even so, they're distinct. I'll hear one... two... and then feel my bed shift.

All and all, it's fascinating. And, yes, sometimes it can be a bit infuriating when I'm really tired and the "natives" are restless or rambunctious or both. At times, I'll say "Stop!" or "Go!" as sternly as possible out loud into the darkness. Other times, I'll call on my spirit guides for wrangling assistance.

For the most part, I find it remarkably comforting that I don't sleep alone.

:: Have you experienced something similar?

:: Do you sleep with spirit animals or elementals?

Blessed be.