THE PHANTOM ZONE: ALTERED STATES AND PARANORMAL EXPERIENCES

I am pleased to post this guest blog from my friend and colleague Dr. Andrew Nichols. I know you will find it a fascinating article!

The Phantom Zone: Altered States and Paranormal Experiences

FAUST: “Come, I think hell's a fable.”                                                                             MEPHISTOPHELES: “Aye, think so still, till experience change thy mind.”                                                                 

Christopher Marlowe - Doctor Faustus

As a parapsychologist I am often asked if I have ever been really frightened during an investigation.  I have certainly spent many nights in dark cellars, dusty attics and deserted European castles, but I can honestly say that I have rarely experienced anything which I found particularly scary. I have personally witnessed apparitions and poltergeist activity on several occasions, and although these experiences were startling and fascinating, I never regarded them as personally threatening.  Most haunting investigations are rather tedious, and involve hours and hours of waiting for something…anything, to happen.  However, some years ago I suffered a particularly terrifying sleep-related experience following my investigation of a poltergeist disturbance. 

The case involved the phenomena typically associated with such events; unexplained movement of objects, percussive sounds emanating from the walls and ceiling of the home, and (somewhat unusual) sightings of amorphous, shadowy apparitions. The ‘epicenter’ of the phenomena appeared to be an 11 year-old girl with emotional problems. The family believed their home was haunted by a “demon.”  In view of subsequent events, I am forced to admit that the family’s simple religious explanation may be closer to the truth than my ‘scientific’ one.

I have investigated a number of such cases during my four decades of psychic research, and - like most academically-oriented parapsychologists - had always tended to attribute such disturbances to unconscious projection of paranormal energies from a human agent, described in parapsychological jargon as recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis (RSPK).  My experience with this case led me to seriously reconsider the ‘spirit hypothesis’ as a possible explanation for some haunting and poltergeist cases, and to re-evaluate certain cases of alleged ‘demonic possession’ as well.

I had gone to bed along with my wife after a day of investigation at the home of the poltergeist-infested family. Some time in the early morning I ‘awakened’ to find myself in the midst of an out-of-body experience. I found myself floating face down about four feet above my physical body. I could clearly see the details of my sleeping body below, lying on my back, and my wife sleeping on her side facing away from me. I had a couple of OBEs previously, but none as vivid as this one.  I was delighted, and wanted to maintain this wonderful sensation as long as possible. As I hovered there in mid-air, I was contemplating an attempt at ‘astral-travel’ to discover if I could project my etheric body to some distant location. At that moment, the experience turned into a terrifying struggle for my sanity, and - corny as it sounds – my soul.

Unexpectedly, the eyes of my sleeping body below me opened. The eyes (my eyes!) were completely black. No pupils, no iris, no sclera. Just pools of blackness staring up at me. I knew instantly that those eyes could see me, although I was also certain that my floating astral body would have been invisible to anyone else standing nearby.  I knew with absolute certainty that something had taken possession of my body, and that the thing – whatever it was – could see me perfectly well. My body below grinned at me. It seemed to be enjoying my terror, and I was instantly aware of two things: first, I knew I had to get back into my body very quickly, or I would be forever displaced by this entity which, I had absolutely no doubt, was evil. Somehow (telepathy?) I also knew that this thing intended to harm my wife. 

I began to struggle to re-enter my body, and the feeling was like pushing against an invisible barrier, similar to the feeling one gets when trying to force two magnets of opposing polarity together. This struggle to reincorporate myself was the last thing I remembered until I suddenly found myself back in my physical body. Except I was no longer lying supine in bed, but was crouching over my wife with my hands around her throat as she fought to break my grip, screaming at me to “wake up!”

After we both regained some degree of composure, I explained to her what I had experienced, and she described her version of the story. She was awakened by the sounds of me groaning and muttering what sounded like a foreign language which she did not recognize. She assumed I was having a nightmare, and when she tried to awaken me, I attacked her, my eyes wide open and apparently growling at her like a rabid dog. She said that the voice which emanated from my body was deep and gravelly, totally unlike my own, and the expression on my face she described as “leering and hateful.” My attack only lasted for a few seconds before I came to myself again.  Now, my wife is no shrinking violet. She has for many years suffered a husband who spends his time ‘chasing spooks’, but this was really too much! She informed me sternly that if my episode had lasted for a few more moments, she would have treated me to a broken nose. To this day I am amazed that I didn’t land in jail, find myself hauled into divorce court, or at least spend the rest of my married life sleeping on the couch. However, my long-suffering spouse seemed to take the experience in stride, although I assure you she slept with one eye open for some time afterwards. Thank God there have been no recurrences of this condition of ‘possession.’

So, was I actually ‘possessed’ by some dark spirit? I am a long way from being convinced, although I confess I can’t dismiss the possibility either. I can’t state with scientific certainty that this experience was anything other than a particularly vivid and horrific nightmare. I have no witnesses other than my wife, and no evidence that this was anything other than subjective.  Certainly my psychologist colleagues would dismiss the incident as a dream – a variation of the ‘night-terror’ syndrome, possibly induced by anxiety associated with my involvement with the poltergeist case. Psychoanalysts would probably also speculate that repressed hostility toward my wife was at the root of the experience. I cannot offer any evidence to contradict these explanations, but the experience was so terrifying, so real, that I can’t help wondering if the Spiritualists’ interpretation of possession is closer to the truth. Their conclusions are drawn from centuries of practical experience, unlike the armchair savants of academia and other self-appointed arbiters of reality.

My purpose in relating this personal anecdote is to illustrate several important points about the nature of paranormal experiences. First, such experiences are inherently transformative. In my case, my tendency to ascribe most such experience to purely psychological factors has significantly decreased. Although I still believe that many paranormal experiences have conventional explanations, I am far more prepared to accept seemingly spiritistic phenomena at face value, even if the bulk of the evidence is subjective eyewitness testimony. I have never been particularly religious, and I can’t say that this experience has converted me to a regular church attendee. However, I am far less skeptical than I once was, and I believe my ability to assist my clients who are experiencing paranormal occurrences has been enhanced by my ordeal.  Whether my case constitutes actual spirit possession is questionable. But I have no doubt that my experience was identical to that of possession as reported throughout history.

The second important point illustrated by my experience is the crucial role played by altered states of consciousness in paranormal-type experiences. I was asleep prior to the onset of my experience, which naturally would lead the skeptics to attribute this event to dream-imagery. Western science – grounded in philosophical materialism - regards dreaming as a type of hallucinatory experience (i.e. false sensory perceptions); a type of drama orchestrated by the subconscious mind during sleep. However, mystical and occult traditions have always asserted that dreaming is a gateway to alternate realities, and a means by which discarnate spirits communicate with humans. To most scientists this stance is regarded as superstitious nonsense, but there is persuasive evidence from parapsychology to support the claim that dreams and related states are more than just the product of brain physiology.

For decades, the best evidence for psi (ESP) from the laboratories of experimental parapsychologists has been obtained through the use of a mild sensory-deprivation technique known as Ganzfeld. This method induces a state of consciousness similar to hypnagogic states experienced at the onset of sleep, or hypnopompic states experienced while awakening, a type of ‘waking dream.’ This suggests that such altered states may be conducive to actual paranormal experiences – by allowing our minds to tap into alternate realities, perhaps even the ‘astral plane’ of occult tradition. 

Another line of evidence comes from case studies of reported paranormal experiences. It is evident that the bulk of paranormal experiences occur during nocturnal dreaming or similar states such as the twilight zone of hypnagogia described above. Even psychic phenomena which occur with the percipient wide awake often seem to be associated with a state of reverie (daydreaming), when the conscious mind is occupied with some habitual and repetitive task, such as washing dishes or folding clothes. All of us experience such altered states fairly regularly, including the type of dissociation known as ‘highway hypnosis’ experienced while driving an automobile.

These facts emphasize the importance of carefully considering the role of altered states of consciousness in paranormal experiences of all kinds. Some paranormal investigators feel that this undermines the case for such experiences being ‘real’ rather than imaginary. This is not the case. It is quite possible for paranormal experiences to be subjective and genuinely anomalous. My approach to psychic phenomena these days is from the perspective of ‘humanistic parapsychology’, which acknowledges the meaning and value of subjective experiences, and is less reliant on scientific standards of evidence demanded by mainstream scientific method and laboratory-based experimental parapsychologists. Unlike laboratory experiments, the human psyche is not subject to mathematical laws.

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Dr. Andrew Nichols is Director of the American Institute of Parapsychology, and has been a professor of psychology for many years. He holds a doctorate degree in clinical psychology and is the author, co-author or editor of more than fifty research papers, popular articles and books on paranormal topics, including Ghost Detective: Adventures of a Parapsychologist (2004, Cosmic Pantheon Press, Harper’s Ferry, WV), Haunted Houses (2006, Capstone Press, Mankato, MN), and Ghosts, Spirits, & Hauntings (2011, New Page Books, Pompton Plains, NJ). Andrew has investigated more than 600 cases of reported haunted houses and poltergeists, and in 1999 was co-recipient of the only academic grant ever awarded to study hauntings, awarded by the Psychological Institute of the University of Freiburg, Germany. Andrew currently lives in Gainesville Florida, where he maintains a private practice in parapsychology, providing counseling for individuals experiencing psychic or paranormal occurrences.

Email: anichols@instituteofparapsychology.org

Web Site: www.parapsychologylab.com

NOTE: There is an entire chapter devoted to Dr. Nichols and his work in John Kachuba’s book, Ghosthunters: On the Trail of Mediums, Dowsers, Spirit Seekers and Other Investigators of America’s Paranormal World.

          

               

 

          

               

 

BONE CHAPELS

In many parts of the world, the bones of the deceased are displayed in chapels called ossuaries, seemingly for the edification of the living, a reminder of mortality. One of the most macabre is the Capuchin crypt of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini on the Via Veneto near Piazza Barberini in Rome, Italy. I was lucky enough to have visited the crypt, which contains the skeletal remains of 4,000 bodies believed to be Capuchin friars.

When the monks arrived at the church in 1631, they brought 300 cartloads of deceased friars with them and placed them in the crypt below the church. By order of Pope Urban VIII soil was brought from Jerusalem for the crypt. Fr. Michael of Bergamo supervised the placement of the bones in the crypt in intricate patterns. Large numbers of bones are nailed to the walls, many are piled high, and some hang from the ceiling as light fixtures.

As monks died during the lifetime of the crypt, the longest-buried monk was exhumed to make room for the newly-deceased who was buried without a coffin, and the newly-reclaimed bones were added to the decorative motifs. Bodies typically spent thirty years decomposing in the soil, before being exhumed. There are six rooms in the crypt, five featuring a unique display of human bones believed to have been taken from the bodies of friars who had died between 1528 and 1870.

The day I visited the crypt a dour old Capuchin friar collected a modest admittance fee from me and silently pointed the way down to the crypt. I thought he was pretty spooky but the crypt was spookier. In the still and silent rooms, leg and arm bones, ribs and pelvises, grinning skulls completely surrounded me. They were arranged on the ceiling in floral wreaths and displayed along the walls in amazing patterns.

In at least one room, complete skeletons clad in brown monk’s robes stood against the wall, torsos drooping forward, the dusty, eyeless skulls peeking out from beneath their hoods. Some skeletons reclined in grizzly sleep upon platforms made entirely from bones. In one room a skeleton held a scythe in its right hand, the symbol of Death which cuts all down like grass, and in its left hand, a set of scales symbolizing the good and evil deeds weighed by God when he judges the human soul. A placard in five languages declared: "What you are now we used to be; what we are now you will be..." It is no wonder that the Marquis de Sade thought his 1775 visit to the crypt was worth the effort.

As I stood in the crypt, the dark, dusty bones surrounding me, the skulls staring at me sightlessly, I could feel my skin prickling, the hairs at the back of my neck rising. I had the wild sensation that if I suddenly turned around I would find one of those dead monks standing right behind me. It seemed entirely plausible to me that the spirits of those dead friars were accessible to those who would listen . . . and listen I did. When I thought my senses could not take any more I hastened back up stairs and out into the noisy and bustling traffic of Rome. In the brilliant daylight, I gulped in the polluted air of Rome as though it was the breath of life.

Here are pictures of some other famous European ossuaries:

Capela dos Osos - Evora, Portugal

Capuchin cataciombs - Palermo, Sicily

 

Hallstatt Karner - Hallstatt, Austria

Paris catacombs

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COMING SOON: “The Phantom Zone: Altered States and Paranormal Experiences” by Dr. Andrew Nichols

Dr. Andrew Nichols is Director of the American Institute of Parapsychology, and has been a professor of psychology for many years. He holds a doctorate degree in clinical psychology and is the author, co-author or editor of more than 50 research papers, popular articles and books on paranormal topics, including Ghost Detective: Adventures of a Parapsychologist (2004, Cosmic Pantheon Press, Harper’s Ferry, WV), Haunted Houses (2006, Capstone Press, Mankato, MN), and Ghosts, Spirits, & Hauntings (2011, New Page Books, Pompton Plains, NJ). Andrew has investigated more than 600 cases of reported haunted houses and poltergeists, and in 1999 was co-recipient of the only academic grant ever awarded to study hauntings, awarded by the Psychological Institute of the University of Freiburg, Germany. Andrew currently lives in Gainesville Florida, where he maintains a private practice in parapsychology, providing counseling for individuals experiencing psychic or paranormal occurrences.

I’m excited to have noted parapsychologist Dr. Andrew Nichols guest blogging on my site. Stay tuned for his article.

DESTINY VS. CHOICE - A GUEST BLOG BY MARIE D. JONES

I’m pleased to have author Marie D. Jones provide this guest blog to you.

I Meant to Choose That: Destiny vs. Choice. . . or Both?

Throughout our lives, we are bombarded with contradictory claims that our lives are pre-destined, that Fate deals us the cards we will play, that whatever happens, happens for a reason—or that our lives are what we choose them to be, that what we focus on expands and manifests, that it’s all just one big crapshoot. Confused, many of us don’t know if there is indeed a blueprint for our lives laid down before we are born, or whether e are entirely on our own and left to our own defenses – making it up as we go along.

            The word “destiny” comes from the Middle English “destinee,” and simply refers to a predetermined course of events that are the result of an irresistible power or agency. But destiny has often been confused with fate, which is a little more constricting. While destiny implies that one has a bit of maneuvering room by which they can reach their destined end point, fate implies no such allowance for choice. Thus, some outside “agent” such as a God, Goddess or other entity was once thought to be the purveyor of one’s fate. This outside agent or force lay down in stone how a person’s life would unfold, and there was nothing that person could do to change the course of events to come.

            The Greek myths spoke of the Moirae, and the Roman myths, of Parcae. The Norse myths had their Norns. These were goddesses that were given the role of imparting the circumstances and events that would make up the mortal man or woman’s fate.  There are even goddesses that are responsible for giving out good fortune, such as the Greek goddess Tyche, and the Roman Fortuna, ruling out any role that choice might play in finding and keeping wealth, success and happiness. If the goddesses didn’t deem you fit, tough luck.

            In order for a life to be predestined, it had to be predetermined, and this is where science, philosophers and religious and spiritual leaders have long struggled to explain exactly who, or what, predetermined it. If we understand that all causes have a prior event, what was that first prior event? Which came first, the cause, or the event? One can easily see why the battle between destiny and free will has been an enduring one.

            While scientists might say it was just random, the result of the Big Bang and its resultant physical laws that fell into place by some kind of brilliant accident, philosophers and religious thinkers sensed that there was something that started the whole chain of cause and effect that laid down the path of each human life, maybe even the earth itself. This beginning of the chain is known as “first cause,” and without knowing first cause, we simply don’t know who or what destined us to our roles in life.           

            But we humans know we have free will. We know we have choices . . . don’t we? We feel as though we have the ability to choose our spouses, our jobs, our homes, the kind of food we will have for dinner, and whether or not we will go to the movies on Tuesday or just sit home and watch “American Idol.” It’s up to us to decide.

            The founding father of political philosophy, Thomas Hobbes, states that freedom is the ability to do what we wish without hindrance or constraint. 

Even within the confines of our social, cultural, sexual and behavioral conditioning, complexes and needs, we can do whatever we choose. Later philosophers added that perhaps freedom was not so much about being able to do anything one wanted to do, but to have the power to do anything one wanted to do. So much for semantics.

            Yet, over thousands of years, we have battled with the sense that both destiny and free will or choice play a huge role in our lives, and certainly in how the world around us came to be. Our religions are filled with stories and proverbs and quotes about having a destined role or a predetermined fate, such as Christ’s destiny to be betrayed by Judas. He knew. He said it was his destiny, and he drank of that particular cup willingly, taking his final fate in his hands. But remember, he could have chosen not to follow through with it all. He could have chosen to say no.

            But what does science have to say about destiny and choice? If we look at our own bodies, we can easily see that we have a genetic blueprint by which we became blond or brunette, green-eyed or brown-eyed, short or tall, big boned or small boned, and any other physical characteristics that were handed to us by our parents and their parents and their parents. We didn’t choose our genes. And yet, when it comes to behavior we seem to be able to make choices, both good and bad, and have some say in the course and outcome of our life path. There seems to be ample evidence for both nature vs. nurture, and both inherent and adapted characteristics that make up a human being.

            The Big Bang is often referred to as the starting point of our universe from which all the forces, laws and matter and form and energy and life came into existence. It was perhaps a blueprint of sorts, and yet many scientists will say that it did not have any kind of intelligent design behind it. It just happened the way it happened. There was nothing, then – BANG! – there was everything.

            But there are those scientists who believe that the amazing sophistication and intricacies of how life came to be simply could not have been a lucky accident of chemicals and particles and gasses and heat and matter and energy all being in the right place at the right time, and in just the right amounts. Even in the quantum world there is interplay of both destiny and choice. At the level of the quantum, we are told that particles exist in a suspended state both as particle and waveform, until they are observed and their wave function collapses, thus fixing the particle into a position or outcome. Particles have a range of possible or potential states and until an observer effect occurs, those states remain in superposition, or happening all at once so to speak. Therefore, an observer can choose the state of a particle simply by observing it.

            If this is how we are creating our reality, as even the popular law of attraction teachings tell us, with focus and intention and observing things into being, then how could anything be predetermined? Are we all just making our lives up as we go along? And yet, everyone can agree that we all are destined, once born, to die. Those who have indeed died, and return to tell about it, often tell stories of being told by higher guides or divine beings on the other side that they must return and fulfill their roles, or destinies, on the plane of the living. These are subjective and personal experiences, but the fact that so many report them is something to be considered. It is as if we must stay put until our pre-chosen destiny is fulfilled…even if we have to die and return to life again to find out.

            Millions of people visit astrologers, palm readers, tarot readers, even love and relationship coaches wanting to know their destinies. Will I meet my soul mate? Should I change jobs? What is my purpose here? Some psychic readers will tell people that their lives, according to the stars or rune stones or cards, are in some ways predestined, and yet, they have considerable choice in how they will reach that destiny. An astrologer might say that yes, the stars influence your life, but you still have room to move about within the confines of those influences. A tarot reader might tell you that you will meet with danger next week, but you can still make the choice to be hyper-vigilant and avoid a terrible car accident while leaving for work.

            Love coaches will tell you that there are many soul mates out there for you, and not just The One, and that there might be someone destined for you in a sense that they will be the best fit, but they won’t be the only best fit out of billions of people on the planet.

            Yet if we are honest with ourselves, many of us do feel called, as if we have a path, or a destiny, that we are moving towards. 

When we ignore that path, or deviate from it, we are unhappy and dissatisfied. When we feel on path and on purpose, life flows. And yet, always, we have choices. The choice to walk that path, to not walk it, to run or skip or bike it. There may be one destination we are moving towards, but we get to choose the route by which we get there.

Marie D. Jones is the author of PSIence: How New Discoveries in Quantum Physics and New Science May Explain the Existence of Paranormal Phenomena, Destiny vs. Choice: The Scientific and Spiritual Evidence Behind Fate and Free Will, 11:11 – The Time Prompt Phenomenon, and several other books. Her latest release is This Book Is From the Future: A Journey Through Portals, Relativity, Wormholes and Other Adventures in Time Travel. She has been on hundreds of radio shows and appeared on the History Channel’s “Nostradamus Effect” and “Ancient Aliens” series. She is also a co-host on the popular Dreamland Radio show.

Marie is a staff writer for Intrepid Magazine and a regular contributor to New Dawn Magazine. She has written on and lectured widely about cutting edge science, the paranormal, consciousness, Noetics, and metaphysics. Her essays and articles have appeared in dozens of books, anthologies and magazines, and she is the screenwriter of “19 Hz,” a paranormal thriller in development with Bruce Lucas Films. Her website is www.mariedjones.com.