My name is Ema, I was born and raised in Europe, Romania most of my life, however since 8 years ago I moved to USA, I took the liberty to specify the country that I actually live in right now, I am new here, this is my first post. I've been reading the stories on this website from a while now and I've decided is time for me to talk about mine, in advance I apologize for any bad words since I am not a good writer and sometimes I mess up spelling in writing). Sorry for the big intro but I had to clear this things from the beginning, so here we go...
It all happened a few years ago when I went back to Romania to visit my relatives, back then I was somewhere @ 22-years old, and I was a skeptic, well I have been a skeptic all my life even when I saw furniture moving in front of me when I was 12 years old, but that story is for a different post.
Now I am going to tell you about what happened 4 years ago when I went visit my country, I was living at my aunts and decided that I should go buy some snacks and sweets, so I got up and I went to the supermarket that was just 500 meters away, the sky was clear and the sun was shining as it was a nice spring day.
I went in the supermarket and I took what I needed, then I went to the cashier and waited in a row to pay for the goods, in front of me were at least 2 people and the last of them was an old lady with with a hat on her head, dressed in one of those old looking jackets, I didn't pay attention to anything else at that point because I have attention deficit disorder, and at times that makes me a bit dreamy.
I was just waiting for my turn to pay for the snacks when out of nowhere I hear this voice, it was a low toned woman voice, because I am a curious being I tried to listen to the voice, and see where its coming from and what language it was speaking, well it was clear as I advanced that the voice was of the old woman in front of me, I thought that it was a bit awkward as I was trying to clear my mind and understand what she was saying, because the cashier wasn't answering, so I guessed that the old woman was just thinking out loud, as I did my best to understand the words.
All of the sudden I got goosebumps, I could feel a intense fear in my chest and I was still trying my best to understand what was going on. Nothing had any sense, as I realized the women in front of me wasn't talking in any language and her words seem to be pronounced backwards, the words were melting into each other and the sound of it was so disturbing. She wasn't loud or anything, that's why others couldn't have heard her, but the cashier must have, because she was right in front of the odd lady. The lady got her groceries and slowly walked towards the exit door, I hurried up to pay for my snacks so I could fallow her and hear it again, outside where it was quiet. I guess somewhere in my mind I thought I must have imagined it all and that couldn't be real.
Once outside I saw her stop and put her bag down, she bent over the bag to do something, and I got closer to her to see if I can hear it anymore, (I never saw her face) but as I got closer pulled my hair behind the ear and listened, I heard it again; mumbling something in (I don't know what language) but it didn't sound like anything I ever heard, in a instance I felt as if her attention was projected on me, but it was awkward. I felt that I was not watched but as if I was haunted by some wild animal, as if I did one more step I was about to regret it. It scared me so bad (I guess my brain was telling me with all his power to get the F out of there) and I left.
I blamed this on myself, thinking I was hallucinating or something, I couldn't believe that such thing existed (I've heard stories from my grandma about people talking in tongues in churches and demon possessions but I never believed in those) even after witnessing it myself I refused to believe in it and I blamed myself for having overactive imagination.
The time had passed by and I forgot about the event, then after a week when I was at the same supermarket, I thought to myself (I guess it would be cool if I could see it again and heard it again, it would be proof that it wasn't my imagination). I walk in the market and filling my grocery basket not thinking about it anymore and then again went to pay them, guess who was in front of me again at the cashier row? The same lady the same clothes speaking again in tongues that do not exist on this earth, I again fallowed her thinking that this time I am going to talk to her and see what is wrong, thinking that she might be in fact sick with something and I am being judgmental. I got out of the store trying to approach her again, and the exactly same thing happened, she was talking again in that awkward language, the words were melting into each other, there was no diction or accent of any kind and I again felt as if something is going to eat me alive if I make one more step towards her. I just moved back and went home as fast as I could, I tried to look up for mental illnesses that resembled what I just witnessed, anything that had as a symptom xenoglossy or tongue speaking, but I found nothing.
Until this day I don't know what that was and I am still trying sometimes to put those pieces together and make a puzzle. I do not believe in supernatural of any kind but looks like science isn't giving me any answers... And thinking about all the possibilities that I already excluded, that person wasn't drunk or drugged or intoxicated in any way, and I wasn't either since I don't drink or do any kind of drugs, so does anyone have any opinion about this?
(sorry for the long story I know is not as scary or interesting as other are but it is 100% real and I am looking further to find out more about this mystery)
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I think there is a reason you did not find the answers you were looking for when you performed a cursory search of mental health issues: Xenoglossy and Glossolalia are not the same phenomena.
Xenoglossy is the ability to make intelligent, grammatically correct statements in a language in which the speaker has had no practice or education. I present a hypothetical situation as an example: a person who speaks both English and Spanish at home has studied Renaissance Italian at a University; this person wakes up one morning able to communicate in fluent Japanese, Urdu, and Arapaho. This fictional person would be an example of someone speaking in languages that should be completely foreign to him or her (Greek: "xeno-"= "foreign/alien" + "glossa" = "language").
Glossolalia, on the other hand, is a sequence of nonsensical, random syllables which the speaker makes no pretense of understanding, yet engages in conversation as though it should communicate ideas in a normative manner, as would any shared language. The syntax and structures of such verbal productions are an effect of the processing of sound formation by the brain, which attempts to find or to impose organization upon the sounds.
Glossolalia is not a symptom indicative of a mental disorder, rather "it is a learned behaviour which can bring a sense of power and well-being. It may also lead to excesses resulting in community disruption. It is the use of glossolalia which determines whether or not it is constructive." (Kildahl, J P (1975) Psychological Observations. In: Hamilton, M P (Ed) the Charismatic Movement. Eerdsmans Publishing Company. 124-142.)
"Contrary to what may be a common perception, studies suggest that people who speak in tongues rarely suffer from mental problems. A recent study of nearly 1,000 evangelical Christians in England found that those who engaged in the practice were more emotionally stable than those who did not. Researchers have identified at least two forms of the practice, one ecstatic and frenzied, the other subdued and nearly silent." (nytimes.com/2006/11/07/health/07brain.html)
I understand that seeing such behavior in a public market would be unsettling. I, too, have seen people walking around and speaking quite loudly in syllables they had apparently selected at random from an infinite supply of gibberish. They sometimes pause for a moment or two then continue to make these peculiar noises. In every case, the person I have suspected of being unhinged or peculiar has had a blue-tooth phone jammed into one ear.
End of problem.
Biblio.