OCCULT VIEW

I am considering an experiment this summer: attemping contact with extraterrestrial aliens.  This sounds like an impossible task.  How could any human possibly arrange contact with UFOs and their occupants?  From all reports it appears extraterrestrials (if they exist) contact us; we don’t contact them.  There seems to be no rhyme or reason for sightings or alien abductions. 

The alien contact phenomena are a reality; this has touched thousands.  The real question is what exactly is going on?  What is the nature of these phenomena?  Is this contact an objective reality with physical extraterrestrial visitors, or is it a subjective psychological event?  Or perhaps something in between?

Here are a couple of examples of prominent alien abductions:

Russian Governor Tells Tale of Alien Abduction, President asked to Investigate

Japan’s new First Lady Miyuki Hatoyama: ‘I went to Venus in a UFO’
 
If we wished to initiate contact with actual interstellar visitors, then it would seem a pretty hopeless task.  What to do outside of flashing a laser penlight into the sky using Morse Code spelling out “visit me”.

Alien abduction in popular culture

However, I suspect aliens are something else.  These may not be physical aliens, or always only illusions of the mind.  There is the possibility of non-physical, non-human entities that occasionally appear to us in forms that match our expectations, and communicate with us, telling us what we want to hear.  History is full of these encounters, which reflected their times.

Folklore suggests contact with aliens/entities was done on their terms and depended on being at the right place at the right time.  However, there does seem to be a common thread with this contact.  It seems the contactees have, to some extent, an innate second sight.  This extra-sensory perception may be unrecognized and undeveloped, but on rare occasions an individual may enter an altered state of consciousness and make contact with the Invisible World.

If so, this would be the approach to make contact.  Since we all have some degree of extra-sensory perception, it might be possible to attempt contact.  The method to encourage contact would be the method used throughout history and cultures…ritual.  The exact ritual does not seem to matter, but it appears the process of ritual somehow attracts the attention of these invisible entities. 

Summoning aliens/entities

According to folklore, contact with the invisible world can be perilous.  Defensive measure should be included when attempting such rituals.  A common defense against invisible entities was something simple, cold iron.  It was said to repel the fairies.  Ceremonial magicians had their magic circles and magic weapons including their sword.  How could iron or steel fend off something non-physical?  Was it the belief in the weapon?  According to some views there is a subtle form of invisible matter/energy called aether.  This aether seems able to subtly interact with electromagnetism, which is responsible for any physical manifestations.  Running water or iron seems to short-circuit the connection of aether with physicality, or so is the theory.

I don’t know if attempting contact with aliens/entities will produce results.  Yet, I think it would be worth a try.  When it comes to such things, the only way to know is through personal experience.

FLYING ROD UFO?

If I happen to have my camera with me and I see an interesting sky, I will take pictures of dramatic clouds, stormy weather, or a nice sunset.  Going through my photos, I noticed a pair of such photos with something odd, a streak.  If it were one photo I might not have noticed, but the pair of photos caught my attention.

The pictures reminded me of a paranormal fad a number of years ago.  Back then there were pictures of what appeared to be rods flying through the sky.  This led to speculation about the nature of these photos’ “flying rods”.   I recall some of the speculation…flying rods as a strange unknown form of life that flew so fast they were invisible to the naked eye, or extra-dimensional entities, or something possibly related to UFOs. 

Eventually it was discovered these flying rods were simply flying insects that appeared as streaks when photographed.  Since then flying rods became discredited.  But today there are still stories and photos of cigar shaped UFOs flying around.  The cigar UFO is a classic shape for an unidentified flying object.

The simplest explanation is the best explanation, so these photos should be the streak of a bug.  Yet, these two pictures were taken a few seconds apart.  It could not have been moving very fast.  A UFO?  If only I were so lucky.

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg slammed those who have an open mind about the reality of UFOs.  In his column’s “opening shot” he wrote about those who deny global warming as being plain stupid.  I agree.  He ridicules those who see a snowstorm as proof that global warming is a fantasy.  I’ve heard the same thing from global warming deniers.  “Look at all that snow” the deniers say, ”Where is global warming?”  Obviously the deniers don’t understand or ignore that the ice caps are melting, the true evidence of global warming.  His article:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/steinberg/2038672,CST-NWS-stein10.article

However, as an analogy, Mr. Steinberg compares those who ponder the reality of UFOs as having the same mentality as the global warming deniers.  He dismissively pooh-poohs UFOs with this quote:

 “But those other people. Jeez! The basics of physical reality elude them, and they form world views based on their patchwork misunderstandings.  Every flash in the sky is a friendly UFO blinking out “Howdy” and the arguments against it being so — the vast tracts of space to be crossed, the enormous spans of time required — mean nothing to them. “

Well now!  I don’t think Mr. Steinberg understands anything about the topic of UFOs.  While there is inconclusive proof of UFOs, they remain a possibility.  Outside of the mentally ill does ANYBODY look at EVERY flash in the sky as a UFO?  That is setting up a straw man.  The concept of extraterrestrials may or may not be reality, but the possibility exists.  Outside of visitors from other worlds, there is also the possibility UFOs could represent spiritual entities, beings that have coexisted with mankind since we‘ve evolved.  Mr. Steinberg’s dismissive view of Ufology is not much different then the attitude of the global warming deniers he criticizes…an opinion based on ignorance of the topic.

A better analogy would’ve been to compare the global warming deniers to those who believe in the literal reality of Noah’s Ark   Perhaps half the American population accept this story as literal truth.  If so, how did the kangaroo get to Noah’s Ark?  It had to swim across an ocean.  Then once on the continent it had to survive a trek across a landscape filled with hungry dinosaurs, since fundamentalists believe the dinosaurs lived before the flood.  And why bother to return to Australia?  Why not just settle down around Mount Ararat? 

I like this conspiracy theory.  Perhaps the true reason behind global warming denial is the intention to warm up the planet so the snow and ice on Mount Ararat will melt, revealing the location of the ark!  The lack of logic fits, I suppose.

Accepting that the paranormal might have a basis in reality is not a sign of ignorance.  There is a difference between denying science, and understanding that science does not have all the answers yet.

Update:  Mr. Steinberg had an excellent article about  religious tolerance.  I agree with him 100% .  Maybe he is not so terrible, regardless of his sour view of UFOs.     Tolerance a virtue in my worldview

Santa Claus UFO Connection

What is the connection between Santa Claus and UFOs’ aliens?  Certainly Santa is a holiday fabrication, and most people would consider UFOs to be equally fictional.  Yet I see a connection!

First, are UFOs and aliens a reality?  With so many sightings and encounters it suggests something is “out there”.   For anyone curious about sightings, check out the National UFO Reporting Center.  http://www.nuforc.org/   Most sightings have a natural explanation.  Yet enough reports hint at something else going on up in the skies…something unnatural.

The behavior of UFOs and what occurs in cases of alien abduction seems almost supernatural.   Yet almost everyday real people are having these encounters. 

Here is an example:  http://occultview.com/2009/05/25/an-alien-abduction-story-extraterrestrials-spirit-abduction-or-sleep-paralysis/

Are these beings extraterrestrial visitors, extra-dimensional beings or something else?  These aliens are so mysterious and elusive I think the only way to accurately describe them is by calling them entities.  “Entity” can cover a lot of concepts, which is useful when we don’t know what we are dealing with.

What does any of this have to do with Santa Claus? 

The Wild Hunt

Encounters with entities has taken place throughout human history and prehistory.  Religion likely started as shaman contacting entities through attaining altered states of consciousness, often with the help of shrooms.  This contact may have been in the imagination, but may have also included genuine contact too.

Nordic shamanism and the pagan god named named Odin, Woden and Woten are connected with Santa.  Odin inspired the concept of Father Christmas, who in turn inspired the concept of Santa Claus. 

And what is up with Santa’s elves?  Elves are pagan spirits mentioned in Germanic folklore like the Elder Edda.  Odin had a mythic Wild Hunt where he was accompanied by his fairies.  Santa, as a watered down version of Odin, has his retinue of toy-making elves.   There is not much concerning Christianity involved with Santa. 

Aliens are entities who may have been responsible for the fairy folklore in the past, because of encounters like we still have today.   The Santa Claus character, a  jolly old elf, is an entity used for children’s stories.  Essentially, they are both symbolic representations of the same thing under a different guise.

For anyone who wonders about paranormal experiences, all they have to do is ask around.  Many people have their own personal experiences.  Within our circle of family, friends and acquaintances, we’d be surprised by the first-hand stories we hear.  I am not a fan of unverified second-hand stories.  But when people tell me their own actual experiences, it gets my attention.

I heard such a story this past weekend.

A young lady told me the following experience she had three years ago.  She lived in a second floor apartment with her husband.  Early one night while she was lying in bed with her husband sleeping next to her, she had not yet gone to sleep, when she noticed something outside the bedroom window.  A large disk of light, nearly filling the window, rose up like a giant version of the moon.  It became stationary, and she heard a buzzing sound. She became completely paralyzed.  Her paralysis was so complete she could not wiggle a finger.  She tried to awaken her sleeping husband but she was utterly unable to move.  She was terrified.  She felt an intense pressure, describing it as if something was inside her head trying to remove a part of her skull.  This lasted for a couple of minutes when the disk of light moved away from the window and her paralysis ceased.  She was frightened and could not sleep all night.

She then recounted an event that happened the previous day before her nighttime encounter.  On occasion her job required her to drive to the bank.  Usually it took half an hour.  That prior day, after taking care of the banking business, while driving back to the office, she noticed something very strange.  The clock in her car was over two hours past the time she left the office.  Nearly two hours were missing.  She hadn’t gone anywhere else, and had no idea where the time went.  When she returned to the office late she didn’t give it much thought afterwards.

After her scary paralysis experience, she investigated what happened to her.  Only after reading about other people’s similar experiences did she make the connection between her own missing time and the events that transpired the night afterwards.  She was convinced aliens visited her.   Missing time, paralysis, the disk of light, the feeling of having something implanted or removed are all common elements of the phenomena.

What should we think of her experience?  Sleep paralysis combined with a waking hallucination would be a natural explanation.  Sleep paralysis is said to replicate some of the alien abduction sensations.  During REM sleep (rapid eye movement), the body is in paralysis.  Otherwise the body would fling around during REM sleep repeating the behavior in the dream.  When someone awakes from REM sleep, the body might continue this paralysis for a short time while conscious, which would be very disconcerting.   Vivid hallucinations often accompany waking from REM sleep.

However, she said she hadn’t gone to sleep yet and was wide-awake.  Plus we have the baffling missing time.  IF it was not sleep paralysis, was it a paranormal event?  Actual aliens?  We don’t know.  I can see why extraterrestrial intervention seems like the logical explanation for these phenomena.  We assume aliens would have almost magical abilities with their technology.   Perhaps a bit too magical.

Extraterrestrials seem to be invisible at will.  They can enter houses with closed windows and touch an individual while their spouse sleeps undisturbed in the same bed.  Can aliens move in and out of time and space? Sounds more like the behavior of spirits to me.  Some say that alien abductions are really out-of-body spirit/faeire abductions.   A clue is the buzzing sound and paralysis, which are the beginning stages of astral travel.   Out-of-body episodes would explain the missing time as well.   Was the disk of light a portal to where astral entities dwell?

She was lucky to have this experience.  She had a chance, however frightening, to experience something otherworldly.  If it was only (still rare) sleep paralysis, such an experience could be a learning experience in the origins of a lot of mythology.  If it was a real encounter with aliens or spirits, better yet.  THAT would really be a learning experience!

Is it possible to initiate contact with aliens? It would seem to be impossible. How could anyone possibly make contact with beings from other worlds? It would seem that aliens contact us; we don’t contact them. They pick the place and time, and if someone is at the right place at the right time…. contact! So is it a fool’s errand to even attempt contact? Maybe so, but it would be interesting to try. By looking at cases of alien abduction, we can get a few clues about how to go about making contact ourselves.

First, are alien abductions real? People have genuinely experienced these phenomena. The real question should be, what exactly was experienced? Could aliens from another world be visiting us and interacting with us? It’s not impossible. However, I have a problem with literal physical aliens doing the tasks reputed to them. I tend to think a supremely advanced extraterrestrial civilization would be…subtler. Add to this the amount of effort required to abduct people…just imagine the physics involved in a typical abduction.

Nevertheless, contactees believe in their experience and this can’t be dismissed. I suggest this is all about a non-physical phenomenon that occurs inside our perceptions. Suddenly these remarkable stories become more plausible. Non-physical entities can at times interact with us. Then altering reality is not required, only altering our consciousness.

Most interesting are the outdoor alien abductions where someone is driving a car in a remote rural area. They see a light hovering on the empty road ahead. Intrigued or curious, they leave their car to investigate. Or their car stalls and they stare out at the amazing spectacle before them. They might see small humanoid figures emerge from the glowing light, approaching them…then they black out, without memory of what occurred afterwards. They experienced missing time. Here we have rural entities kidnapping and manipulating the minds of men. According to folklore this has been happening throughout man’s history.

Here is a typical abduction story online, with their almost universal elements, from the 100MileFreePress.net.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_cariboo/100milefreepress/lifestyles/36863439.html

It sounds like a frightening experience. Yet, what price would we pay to have such an experience! That is the ultimate thrill of contact with the Unseen World. It would be the same as seeing a ghost…terrifying but at the same time proving the existence of life after death. Or having an out of body experience and then never fearing death again. To know that there is something more to life then just what we see around us. Which leads to this thought…

The Unseen World can NEVER force itself on us. The skeptic is impervious to any attempt at contact. Sensible people who’s heads are on straight, who know reality from nonsense, cannot be abducted. Just like an atheist can never see a ghost. The unseen world can be contacted only when it is invited in. We must initiate the process, consciously or unconsciously. As far as I’ve seen this has been true. The irony is that a skeptic will never be disproved his skepticism. Maybe it has something to do with the concept of free will, but the spiritual/supernatural cannot impose itself on anyone. This is both the perfect defense against abduction…and the greatest barrier to contact.

Are Faeries real? Unlike ghosts which many people have had personal experience with, faerie encounters are almost nonexistent. It would seem that faeries are only folklore. Then again, maybe not! A theory that I have heard which is credible is that faerie encounters are actually fairly common but misunderstood. This theory is that the UFO phenomena are actually faerie phenomena.

John Keel, author of books on UFOs such as The Mothman Prophecies, came to the conclusion that the UFO phenomena is not about extraterrestrials, but is about earthbound non-human intelligences that have existed on earth and interacted with mankind throughout history. This non-human intelligence seems to take various forms and lacks solid substance. What are these “terrestrials”?

They seem to be faeries to me. Worldwide, folklore is filled with stories of faeries that seem to conform to a region’s culture yet still share many similarities. In the modern world, it seems the faerie have once again conformed to our modern culture and have taken the appearance of “aliens”. The similarities between UFOs, alien contact and faerie are remarkable. Abduction, time distortion, sexual intervention, entering different realms is among the phenomena that fit both alien and faerie contact.

If Faeries and UFOs are the same thing, what does this say about attempting contact with either? In folklore there were ways to summon faerie. Today, this would equate with trying to summon contact with “aliens”. How do we go about doing this? I think the important thing is to have a realistic viewpoint of what we are attempting. We are not summoning sugarplum pixies with gossamer wings. We are attempting to summon entities whose nature is indeed alien-like, aloof and potentially dangerous.

Trying to summon something that we don’t truly believe in won’t ever work. It is pretty hard to genuinely believe in pixies, sprites and such beings, and even the smallest amount of skepticism will doom any attempt at contact. However, to believe in the UFO concept is an easier leap of faith. So the first step in summoning contact is to define the target correctly. We are going to attempt contact a UFO, and strange lights in the sky will be the first sign of success.