When Goosebumps Aren’t Ghosts: The Science + Spirit Behind ‘That Feeling’

'That Feeling'

You know that moment in a movie when the tension builds and suddenly your hairs stand on end, that electric, prickly feeling that runs down your spine or lifts the tiny hairs on your arms?

For most people, it’s a fear trigger.

For those of us who walk the bridge between science and woo, it’s something far more fascinating: a biological reaction and an energetic signal.

The Body’s Built-In Antenna System

From a biological perspective, that tingling sensation is your autonomic nervous system in action. It’s the same system that gives you goosebumps when a song moves you or when you sense danger before you can explain why.

Tiny muscles at the base of each hair, called arrector pili, contract and raise the hairs like small sensors.

Historically, this reflex helped animals appear larger when threatened and kept them warmer in the cold. In humans, it’s a leftover evolutionary response linked to strong emotion, alertness, or fear. Scientifically, it’s the body’s way of priming itself to respond to a potential stimulus; physical or energetic.

In SciWoo terms, this is your energy field expanding and preparing to connect. Each hair becomes like a micro-antenna, sensing subtle environmental shifts such as temperature, vibration, or electromagnetic change.

It doesn’t always mean a spirit is present. Sometimes, it’s simply your body’s energetic readiness, tuning the frequency in case something tries to communicate.

Over time, as you learn to consciously connect with energy, spirit, or the telepathic realm, your body doesn’t need to send such strong physical alerts. Once the energetic dialogue becomes intentional, the body relaxes. It recognises the connection as familiar, not foreign.

The Fear Filter vs. The Connection Signal

Many of us have had unsettling or negative experiences with energy. As an adult who’s learned to connect with these realms, I can say that it’s usually not the spirit that scares you; it’s the fear of the unknown.

As a child, I was terrified of the dark. We lived in an old home that creaked at night, and I’d fall asleep fearful of every sound. I wasn’t afraid of something specific; I was afraid of not knowing what it was.

Now, I know that my imagination scared me far more than the truth ever did.

As an adult, I can confidently say the living are much scarier than the dead.

What we often assume to be a frightening spiritual encounter might just be a miscommunication; our body’s awareness of energy before our mind catches up.

A Kinder Truth About Spirit Energy

Over the years, I’ve come to realise that many of us are regularly visited by our passed pets and loved ones. They don’t bring fear or malice. They’re simply the best versions of themselves; calm, loving, and free of pain.

They check in, guide us, and sometimes appear in dreams, feelings, or flashes of light.

Before the witch trials, people spoke openly with their dead. It was considered natural; a continuation of love beyond life, as ordinary as saying grace or praying to God. The fear around such communication is cultural conditioning, not spiritual truth.

Mediumship, Protection, and Purgatory

If you’ve been exploring mediumship like I have, you may have noticed that some spirits try to communicate through you. Those in lighter states of being, tend to connect through thought, emotion, and intuition.

Spirits in purgatory, however, often observe from a distance. They’re still learning to detach from the physical plane.

My personal practice includes using a Reiki symbol as a kind of energetic tool. When drawn in the air with focus and intention, it seems to open a portal, one that allows stuck souls to cross over and sends away any energy that doesn’t belong.

If you ever feel that negativity has entered your space, simple cleansing methods work wonders. Use sage or other cleansing herbs, combined with clear intention, to release and reset the energy.

Spirits have explained to me that, because they exist in minute energetic form, they can flow through materials like gyprock and wood, but not through concrete or steel. It’s fascinating to consider how matter density interacts with frequency.

The SciWoo Theory in Action

SciWoo sees energy and biology as partners, not opposites.

What feels “spiritual” often follows a neurological pathway, and what seems purely “scientific” may simply be the measurable end of an energetic event.

The goosebumps are the biological side.

The sense of presence is the energetic side.

Together, they form a bridge, where your nervous system becomes the translator between your body and unseen energy.

It’s not about proving or disproving ghosts.

It’s about understanding the language of energy and recognising that awareness dissolves fear.

Closing Thought

Next time you feel that prickle at the back of your neck, pause.

Instead of thinking “Something’s here!” or “Something’s wrong!”, ask, “What is my body trying to tune into?”

Whether it’s emotional tension, energy presence, or simply heightened sensitivity, your body is doing what it’s designed to do; listen.

When you meet that feeling with curiosity instead of fear, you turn confusion into communication.

That’s the art and science of connection.

That’s pure SciWoo. Enjoy- Ang x