Psychic Phenomena
by Cherlyn Gardner Strong on Nov.29, 2009, under General Paranormal, Ghosts and Hauntings, Life, Psychic Phenomena
Paranormal Pets: “The Haunted”, only on Animal Planet
Animal Planet is the latest cable network to offer a weekly series focused on the paranormal. This show, which premiered last Sunday, is called The Haunted.
This 10-part series presents true stories of paranormal pet experiences. The show’s tagline: “If animals believe, should you?”
Some of the program’s segments feature pet owners who believe that their deceased pets have come back to haunt them. Other segments interview people who believe that their living pets have experienced brushes with dead people (or demons). In these segments, the pet owners serve as witnesses to this ghostly phenomena on behalf of their pets.
The show is entertaining, especially for paranormal enthusiasts who also love animals. Re-enactments involving animals supplement each segment. It presents the stories as they are told and some of the stories do get you thinking.
The basis of the contemplation stems from the fact that some animals do appear to sense certain things that people cannot. Some animals can sense when a person is about to experience a seizure. Other animals appear to sense earthquakes, weather changes or even disasters, before the events occur.
In Indonesia in 2004, before the tsunami disaster, eyewitnesses observed elephants running to higher ground. It is said that many other animals were observed exhibiting odd behavior just prior to the tsunami. Many human victims of the tsunami, on the other hand, did not grasp the visual cue of the giant wave forming (ocean water receding from shore). Mainstream science does not venture often into the paranormal, but scientists have studied the so-called sixth sense in animals.
The Haunted isn’t Ghost Hunters, for sure. Jason and Grant, and most paranormal investigators, decline cases where the family pet serves as the primary eyewitness to paranormal phenomena. I think, however, that a dog would be a fine addition to any paranormal team, due to their acute senses. I would take Fido along on a ghost investigation if given the chance. The K9’s reaction might be more sensitive than that K2 meter, as an effective ghost hunting tool. My canine would have to exhibit more bravery than Scooby Doo, though.
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Watch The Haunted on Animal Planet, every Sunday through December 20, 2009 at 10:00PM ET, check your local listings.
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by Cherlyn Gardner Strong on Nov.22, 2009, under General Paranormal, Life, Psychic Phenomena, UFOs
The meaning of 11:11: It’s just a bunch of numbers
It happens twice a day. The clock will, at some point in the day, display 11:11 am or 11:11 pm.
This time is significant to a growing population. These people will look at the clock at exactly 11:11. The glance toward the clock at that exact time happens too often to be a coincidence, they say.
“Numerologists believe that events linked to the time 11:11 appear more often than chance or coincidence. This belief is related to the concept of synchronicity. Other authors believe it is an auspicious sign, and others that it signals a spirit presence.” ~Wikipedia
These people, who call themselves “eleveners” see 11’s everywhere.
I know many twenty-somethings who make a wish when they happen to see 11:11 on a clock. I’m not talking about these people. It’s the people who look for the number 11 everywhere and try to find meaning.
They even look forward to the date 11/11/2011, or 11/11/11.
The number 11 doesn’t have to appear in a date or a time. The number could appear in an address, a phone number, or even be the total dollar amount on a receipt. The number doesn’t even have to be 11. The sum of a set of numbers can result in 11. Take the year 2009 and add the digits together (2 + 0 + 0 + 9). It is an “11″ year this year. So, wait a minute. Adding the digits together for 2011 (2 +0 +1 +1) add up to 4, then on 11/11/2011, isn’t is 11/11/04? For some reason, most eleveners ignore that fact and just refer to the “11″ in that upcoming 11/11/11 date.
What does it all mean? Heck if I know.
Google “11:11” and you will find that it means something different to different groups of people. To some, the time prompt signals the coming of UFOs. To others, it is a wake up call that the end of the world is imminent. It goes on and on. My personal favorite is that the prevalence of 11’s in one’s life coincides with the meeting of a soulmate, or twin soul.
Let’s focus on the twin soul. According to some “eleveners”, we each have another half (a cosmic twin) who will make us “whole” spiritual beings. The twins have a feeling that they have known each other their entire lives (or in a past life). Their backgrounds and experiences are eerily similar. The twins face difficulties that prevent them from being together. A large age gap (usually 11 years) prevents them from having a romantic relationship. One twin is often married to someone else. Other criteria exists for a “twin soul union”, but you get the point. I once had a friend who met this criteria to the letter.
My “twin soul” wasn’t a mystical cosmic being, though. He was just an average guy with whom I had many things in common. For a while.
Our daily conversations eventually slowed to weekly, then monthly. Then, they stopped. We found other interests. It happens every day to many people.
Some would argue that we found each other back then so we could evolve into the beings we are today. Perhaps. I’ve experienced deep bonds with others when “11″ wasn’t prevelant in my life. It means that I shared a bond with someone, no matter how brief the attachment was. There’s no real label that can be bestowed on a friendship. Who wants to place a label on a bond with someone anyway?
I concluded that it doesn’t take a number to form a bond. I’d like to think we can experience deep bonds with others, whether we see a particular number, hear a particular song, or experience any other sort of synchronicity during our daily encounters.
Just a couple weeks ago, 11/11/2009, or 11/11/11 came to pass without incident for most people. So, I am not really convinced anything will happen on 11/11/2011. We’ll see.
What does the number 11 mean to me? After serious thought, I have concluded that it’s just a number we are bound to see hundreds of times each day.
It’s nothing special.
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For a differing viewpoint on the 11:11 phenomena, the subject is likely to arise during Coast to Coast AM’s show on Thursday night (11/26/09). “The numbers lady”, numerologist Glynis McCants, is scheduled to talk to George Noory. Check the website for times and radio affiliate information.
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by Cherlyn Gardner Strong on Nov.11, 2009, under General Paranormal, Ghosts and Hauntings, Life, Psychic Phenomena
Woman in the Paranormal Interview: Readers invited to ask more questions! (Part 5 of 5)
Alexandra Holzer: Woman in the Paranormal
This is part 5 and the conclusion of my interview with Alexandra Holzer, daughter of Hans Holzer who was known as “Father of the Paranormal” and “Father of Ghost Hunting.”
Find out how you can chat with Alexandra LIVE during a ghost investation at The Shanley Hotel. Details following the conclusion of this interview.
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Alexandra, I am attending the TusCon 36 Sci-Fi, Horror and Fantasy Literary Convention, November 13th through the 15th here in Tucson. Do you have any advice for aspiring Tucson writers in this genre?
Just write and write some more. Get it out and then go back to it with edits and don’t over work your work. If you find yourself doing too many rewrites you are doomed and will go mad.
Seriously, trust yourself, first and foremost, and trustthat your desire to write comes from within. The rest will happen. Writing is a slow, torturous process and you need to be strong to keep at it.
Your mind writes quicker than thy fingers to the keyboard. I remember watching my father type away on his Smith-Corona and using white-out and cursing a bit off and on as he smacked the carriage return lever to get to the next line. Ding. If you have distractions like children, chores, etc. in life, it takes longer but you’ll get there.
On publishing there are two routes you can go. Back in the day all there was, was the traditional route in which the publisher did all the work from editing to promoting. They paid an advanced fee if what they felt the book would sell in a certain amount of time. The author would embark on speaking engagements and book signings at reputable stores.
Today, traditional still exists, but unless [the author is] well-known or up there in ranks, advances don’t exist and the author has to work very hard to tell the world about your new title.
The second route is self-publishing like a Lulu.com or Amazon.com in which you pay to have your own work published, distributed and sold. It all depends on what you can afford and what option suits you best in. I have done both and I prefer traditional.
Question 7: I married a skeptic. Is your husband a believer in the paranormal?
He became more [of a believer] when I had my awakening over six-years ago. His uncle came through and I started rambling off to him about this gold cross that was from his confirmation and his uncle was yelling at me to him where he lost it and how reckless he was. Youth. What can you do? Many others for him and his friends started crowding my living room and it became a great big spirit party.
You know he has such great respect for my late father and those two were history buffs. So every year my father would get excited in gifting these huge coffee table books on the Civil War, Presidents, Nostradamus, Dracula and Castles. It was a love affair for literature and history. The spirit side came from me once I awoke back to my roots and all my childhood experiences having to deal with all that I didn’t want to when young. The main reason of that awakening was to get me back into my first love, writing. It was a spirit push and today I look back and am amazed how it works over there. I am lucky because some people never awaken and finish out their life path missing out on so much life. That’s how I see it anyway.
Thank you, Alexandra for chatting with me. I had so many more questions. Fortunately, there’s an opportunity for fans to ask more questions this weekend!
Chat with Alexandra during a LIVE broadcast this weekend during a live online ghost investigation at The Shanley Hotel!
WHEN? Friday, November 13th at 8:00 pm ET (Friday the 13th!) & Saturday November 14th at 10:00 pm ET. WHERE? Online on GTV. Facebook users can also become a fan of GTV’s Facebook Page to receive reminders of the event.
After the LIVE event, stay up to date with Alexandra anytime, five different ways:
Facebook group for women in the paranormal field to interact with each other (and with Alexandra): Woman In The Paranormal
Facebook Fan Page for Alexandra Holzer
Facebook Group: In Memory of Dr. Hans Holzer
MySpace: Haunting Holzer
Or keep up with Alexandra Holzer, via her website.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
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by Cherlyn Gardner Strong on Nov.03, 2009, under General Paranormal, Life, Psychic Phenomena, UFOs
UFOs, Orgasms and the Occult: The Tucson Connection
More than half a century before the “Balloon Boy” family hoax in Colorado, another eccentric family was involved with weather experimentation. This family resided for a while in Tucson. Last month, we were temporarily tricked into believing that a runaway weather balloon that bore a strange resemblance to a UFO, contained a trapped little Colarado boy. In the 1950s, Tucson was home base for a series of weather experiments conducted by a family. These experiments were not conducted for publicity. They were conducted in the name of science, though the science behind them was anything but mainstream.
According to the man who headed these experiments, his research culminated into a battle with UFOs in Tucson. This is a fairly long post that brings to light some pretty strange history in Southern Arizona.
Primarily, it focuses on a couple of well-known residents who had a connection with each other in a fairly odd way. These men left a lasting legacy in the world, even though their views were far from mainstream. This post does not advocate sexual or occult practices. It simply touches briefly on their lives and their connection to eachother, as well as their connection to Arizona.
It’s a slight deviation from the “normal” paranormal topics normally contained in these pages.
A battle with UFOs in Tucson
In 1954, Tucson was experiencing growing pains. World War II directly influenced a surge in population with troop deployments to Davis Monthan Air Force Base in the 1940’s. The population kept growing after that. Tucson’s boundaries were expanding. Tucson was in the midst of a severe drought. However, in 1954, a world famous scientist relocated to Tucson to battle the drought. This man not only took credit for bringing that rain during his five month residency, but he also claimed he was engaged in a battle with UFOs during his stay.
This man’s name was Wilhelm Reich.
Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who trained under Sigmund Freud in Vienna. He was known for forging ahead with work for which the world wasn’t quite ready. He was labeled as a “quack” by the FDA and deemed mentally ill. However, Wilhelm Reich was once connected to the Old Pueblo and this connection is an interesting one. It might be a bit bizarre.
Reich experimented with a biological energy he called “orgone energy.” Reich claimed to have found a way to harness this energy. The energy was to be used for a variety of purposes from cancer treatment to weather experimentation. The weather experimentation brought him to Tucson all the way from Portland, Maine.
This concept of Orgone was derived from Freud’s concept of libido, while Carl Jung identified the libido as psychic energy. Wilhelm Reich expanded on these concepts with his theories about orgasmic energy. We will return to this idea of Orgone and delve deeper into it later. However, you get the idea. This was biological energy that Reich claimed to have harnessed for the greater good of mankind.
At about the same time in 1954, the world was fascinated with UFOs, and so was William Reich. In fact, much of what was wrong with the world, according to Wilhelm Reich, was due to repressed sexuality and UFO invaders. The term UFO was relatively new at the time. In 1947, a pilot by the name of Kenneth Arnold reported seeing an object that was shaped like a saucer while he flew over Mountain Rainier, Washington. His report gave rise to the terms “flying saucer” or “flying disc” to describe these alien crafts. That same year, 1947, was the Roswell incident. By the early 1950’s the United States Air Force coined the term UFO, or Unidentifiable Flying Object. Popular movies from the 50’s closet of UFO fears include War of the Worlds, Devil Girl from Mars, It Came from Outer Space and The Day the Earth Stood Still. These films thrilled the general population and caused many to look toward the sky. Wilhelm Reich’s eyes tended to be already fixed on the sky.
When Reich relocated his family to Tucson in 1954, he drove through Roswell, NM, on his way to Arizona, feeding his fascination with UFOs. Though Reich called the otherworldly life forms EAs (”E” for Energy and “A” for Alpha). EAs impacted the weather, according to Reich. Reich enrolled his son, Peter, in Wetmore Elementary School, located on Wetmore Road just west of Oracle. The family took up residence near the school. Peter would later pen a memoir about his father in a book published in 1973, called “A Book of Dreams”, where he recounted his memories of living in Tucson with his father. In that book, Peter recalled receiving queries from classmates about his dad’s scientific equipment – specifically about a large contraption that his dad called the Cloudbuster. The Cloudbuster functioned as a rainmaker. According to Peter, the contraption could also disable EAs. In Peter’s memoir, he recalls a UFO/EA battle that took place in Tucson on May 12, 1954 where the Reich family managed to make the EAs disappear from the sky. Peter Reich recalled this incident as fondly as the time he went to Jacome’s Department store downtown to buy a “real Stetson hat for $12.”
During Wilhelm Reich’s stay in Tucson, he deduced that a mountain range prevented rain from reaching Tucson. So for the next several months, Reich would travel further west with his cloudbuster until it rained in March 1955. Reich packed up and returned to Maine. In August of that very year, Tucson experienced the wettest month on record. No one can really say that Reich was responsible for clearing the way for the record rainfall. It rained in August 1955 like it hasn’t rained since, as documented on the National Weather Service website.
Post-Tucson Years
The next two years were not happy ones for the Reich family. The federal government was not keen about these weather experiments and other strange research conducted by a man considered too radical in his thoughts and actions. The Food and Drug Administration filed a complaint against Reich, in which they declared that orgone energy did not exist. In June of 1956, Reich’s works were burned at his Maine estate by the federal government. Reich was arrested. He was examined and deemed paranoid with delusions of grandiosity.
Wilhelm Reich died of a heart attack in prison on November 3, 1957. He was 60 years old.
Almost three years after this death, in March of 1960, the FDA incinerated several tons of Reich’s books, journals and papers in New York. Whether or not Reich brought rain to Tucson, his surviving works are still referenced by those outside mainstream science. This post only touches on a small part of a man, whose life was complicated, controversial and disturbing. To read more about him and his other research and experiments, visit Wikipedia or the Wilhelm Reich Museum websites.
Cloudbusting
Wilhelm Reich lives on in music and literature. Bob Dylan, Kate Bush, Patti Smith, and other songwriters have written and recorded songs about Wilhelm Reich. Jack Kerouac referenced Reich’s work in his book On the Road, as did William Burroughs through his own works. The idea of orgasmic energy didn’t die either. In fact, the idea of orgasmic energy was studied before and after Wilhelm Reich. Before Wilhelm Reich, there was Aleister Crowley, and there were others before him. There are many after him, as well. In fact, much of Reich’s unpublished papers were stored at Harvard Medical School. A stipulation in Reich’s last will and testament ordered that his works remain unopened until 50 years after his death. The anniversary of his death was in November of 2007, as anticipated back then via an AP news article.
Wilhelm Reich believed that pent up orgasmic energy manifested bad energy. He believed that the process of building up and releasing this energy was so strong that it could cure cancer. It could even manipulate the atmosphere to bring rain. Reich asserted that the ability to love was dependent on a person’s ability to make love with “orgastic potency.” This hypothetical form of energy was dubbed “orgone energy” by Wilhelm Reich. Orgone energy, if harnessed, could change the world according to Reich.
Suppressed sexual energies at “the root of all evil”
Before Wilhelm Reich, an occultist from England named Aleister Crowley also dabbled in the powers of orgasmic energy. Crowley called it “Sex Magick.”
Both Wilhelm Reich and Aleister Crowley believed that suppression of sex was at the root of all evil and violence in the world.
“Each individual has an absolute right to satisfy his sexual instinct as is physiologically proper for him. The one injunction is to treat all such acts as sacraments. One should not eat as the brutes, but in order to enable one to do one’s will. The same applies to sex. We must use every faculty to further the one object of our existence.” – Aleister Crowley in “The Book of the Law”
Crowley believed that the energies built up and released during the sex act was capable of being used for magic. Crowley emphasized sex as a supreme magical power. There was more than this belief in the application of sexual energies that bound these men together. Their link came in the form of a man named Israel Regardie.
Regardie took an interest in Aleister Crowley’s published works in the late 1920’s. After corresponding with Crowley, Regardie received an invitation to become Crowley’s secretary in the United Kingdom. Regardie served Crowley for four years before relocating to the United States to become a chiropractor. He studied psychoanalysis at the same time, and he would eventually teach Freudian, Jungian and Reichian psychiatry. Regardie took an interest in Wilhelm Reich’s orgone energy theory. However, after studying both Crowley’s and Reich’s theories of the powers of orgasmic energy, Regardie adopted alternate views. Among them, Regardie believed that these energies were indeed powerful. Those energies could manifest greatly by applying them toward one’s own spiritual and creative endeavors. Regardie’s writings and viewpoints provide much of the foundation for modern Western occultism. He wrote volumes of books before retiring to Sedona, Arizona.
Donald Michael Kraig of the Llewellyn Journal states that four of Regardie’s books put together provide a comprehensive course in magick. There is much more to tell about the lives of Regardie and Reich, but the resulting documentation would produce volumes. The idea was to touch on their connection to each other, as well as their connection to southern Arizona.
Wilhelm Reich and Israel Regardie came to Arizona for vastly different reasons. Wilhelm Reich left Arizona after his work was completed. Israel Regardie retired to Arizona in 1981 after many of his lifelong works were published. Regardie would live the remainder of his life in the desert southwest.
Regardie died of a heart attack in a Sedona restaurant while dining with friends on March 10, 1985. He was 77 years old.
by Cherlyn Gardner Strong on Oct.19, 2009, under General Paranormal, Ghosts and Hauntings, Life, Monsters, Psychic Phenomena, UFOs
Tuning in to ghostly topics on Coast to Coast AM
Coast to Coast transforms into Ghost to Ghost
When my husband and I go to sleep at night, chances are that our bedside radio is tuned in to Coast to Coast AM with George Noory. Coast to Coast AM is a nationally syndicated radio talk show that broadcasts nightly in the United States and Canada. The show covers a variety of topics, usually examining paranormal or conspiracy theories, wih special guests joining Noory in the discussions. When ghosts and hauntings are offered as a topic, I make a point to stay awake as long as possible – even on a work night.
The shows are available as podcasts through the website for a few dollars a month. I prefer to listen to the show live, and late at night. When ghosts and hauntings are the focus, I lie in bed, in the darkness, absorbing every word. Life is good, until my husband falls asleep. Then, I realize that I am alone. Sometimes I get scared and I gently nudge my husband out of his slumber. Occasionally, I do become extremely chicken, and I simply turn off the radio, because I am too scared to listen anymore. This usually happens during shows that focus on EVP phenomena (ghostly voices caught on tape).
Many people tune in while working graveyard shifts. People from every walk of life, from nurses to truck drivers. Truck drivers on the road, often call the show to comment on a topic or share their own experiences. Weeknight host, George Noory, has often sympathized with the truckers who happen to be listening, alone, while driving down some dark and desolate road. I don’t feel so bad about being a chicken when a trucker calls in and admits to being scared on the air. On more than one occasion, I’ve driven across town late at night, listening to the show on my car radio. It’s particularly scary to glance up into that rear view mirror, hoping that the only eyes I see are my own!
Once a year, on Halloween, Coast to Coast AM transforms into Ghost to Ghost AM. This special Halloween treat of a show invites callers to share their personal ghostly tales. Thankfully, Halloween falls on a Friday this year. I can stay up and not have to worry about getting up for work. I can also make sure my husband stays awake along with me.
Sometimes the show doesn’t schedule a specific topic, and simply offers “Open Lines” where callers can phone in about anything. The stories aren’t always scary. Some can have amusing punch lines. In 2006, a caller from Tucson who called himself Mr. Bill, claimed an experience reminiscent of Stephen King’s Pet Cemetery. The perished pet cat he buried a couple weeks before showed up at this doorstep, seemingly alive and well. Mr. Bill exhumed the feline’s grave and found that this was not a miraculous resurrection. It wasn’t even a zombie cat corpse. Mr. Bill realized that the cat he buried just looked like his cat.
George Noory is the show’s weekday host. The show is hosted by Ian Punnett on Saturdays. George Knapp hosts two Sundays a month. The show’s creator, Art Bell, often fills in as host. The show’s website offers links to international paranormal stories. Listeners contribute interesting photos to the site, mostly of ghosts, UFOs, unidentified creatures, and other paranormal related images.
Locally, Tucsonans listen in on 790 AM from 10:00 pm to 2:00 am. A list of affiliate stations is available on the show’s website for listeners outside of the Tucson area. The website showcases upcoming nightly topics.
While the convenience of subscribing to the podcasts is tempting, listening live is the best way to experince the show. Especially in he dark. I have not yet phoned in to speak with George or his guests, but I think that I will someday.
by Cherlyn Gardner Strong on Oct.12, 2009, under General Paranormal, Life, Psychic Phenomena
An Evening Under The Stars With Edgar Cayce
The Sleeping Prophet
Tucsonans have lost the DeAnza Drive-in, but Southern Arizonans still have alternatives available that will allow us to watch films under the stars. We can watch outdoor movies May through October, downtown at La Placita. Sometimes, though, we will have to travel a little for that opportunity to watch a movie, outside, in a group setting. This Friday, down in Tubac, one of these special opportunities will present itself in the form of a documentary about “The Sleeping Prophet”, titled: Edgar Cayce: The Beautiful Dreamer.
This 2004 documentary about Edgar Cayce (1877-1945) isn’t the newest film release, but it has proven to be popular among some Arizonans. Screenings for this film sold out more than a dozen times in Sedona. A sold out August screening in Tubac is the reason for this second showing on Friday. Directed by Darrah Meeley, the film earned rave reviews from Oscar winning directors Robert Wise (The Sound of Music) and Arthur Hiller (Love Story). The film won the “Most Thought Provoking Award” at the 2005 Sedona Film Festival. The film also won praise from Edgar Cayce’s son, Edgar Evans Cayce, who stated: “It is the best film ever made on my father.”
If you don’t know who Edgar Cayce was, he was an American clairvoyant and psychic. Dubbed “The Sleeping Prophet”, Cayce would lie down and enter into a sleep, or trance state to provide readings. The subjects for his readings were usually not present. Cayce generally provided readings in response to written requests. Most letters he received initially asked for health advice. However, readings soon evolved into advice about many things, including past lives, dream interpretation, and business advice. He also expanded into giving dietary advice. Among Cayce’s dietary recommendations: avoidance of red meat, no alcohol – except for red wine, and two or three almonds a day to keep cancer away. This description of Cayce only touches the surface of who he was. He was the most documented psychic of the 20th century.
Cayce’s predictions weren’t always right. In fact, he stated that his advice should be tested, rather than accepted as faith. With thousands of predictions made by Cayce – some made well into our future – we have yet to see if some will come true. Whether or not you believe in psychic phenomena, this documentary presents the life of a very interesting man whose life still fascinates many people today. The film begins at 7:30 pm at Tubac’s Cinema Under The Stars, on Friday. The cost is $5, with proceeds benefiting teen and young adult rehabilition programs.
Tubac’s weather forecast is clear for Friday evening, but weather predictions aren’t always right, are they? Still we will accept the forecast on faith. The folks at Tubac’s Cinema Under The Stars have secured an alternate location, indoors, just in case.
For more information call (520) 398-2542 or visit Global Change Multimedia. Cinema Under The Stars is located at the Tubac Plaza Main Stage next to the Out Of The Way Galleria at 29 Tubac Plaza in Tubac, Arizona. The film runs approximately 90 minutes and is appropriate for all ages.
by Cherlyn Gardner Strong on Sep.21, 2009, under Life, Psychic Phenomena
A Paranormal Encounter With A Dragonfly
Dragonfly
I left my house tonight, very excited to have the chance to attend a presentation given by Professor William Everist at the Columbus library. The topic was: “The Paranormal is the Normal Unexplored.” Yes, it’s not your every day “normal” event attended by most of us. There were 60 people expected at the event, which is such a small portion of Tucson’s ever growing population. I almost didn’t make it to the event myself. I forgot to complete my online RSVP and was placed on a waiting list. Less than 2 hours prior to the event, I received an email letting me know that a spot had opened up. I don’t know whose spot I was given and why. I am sure that it was an unusual event which prevented the person whose place I took from attending. Even the manner in which I learned about tonight’s event is unusual in itself.
I wrote a post a couple weeks ago about a tragic event in Toronto. An intoxicated woman was with her boyfriend on a “ghost hunting adventure” on the top of a university building. She fell to her death. Due to her death, I went on a rant in that post, about the motivations of thrill seekers versus the small percentage of the population who are actually interested in the science behind paranormal phenomena. I listed a few of the names of those paranormal research professionals who work right here in Tucson. When I referenced Professor Everist in that post on September 11th, I initially gave him the title of “Doctor‘” because I wasn’t sure if he had completed his doctorate. I looked it up on the trusty Google search engine and found very quickly that not only is he working on his PhD, but Professor Everist was to be speaking tonight. So, when I arrived at Columbus library tonight to hear him speak, I thought about how sad it was that I learned he was speaking, due to the news of the death of a woman who I didn’t even know. Then, I wondered about the various reasons behind the RSVP cancellation of someone else that allowed me to attend. This isn’t the first encounter I have had with Professor Everist, though.
A few years ago, I attended the premier party for Ghost! Magazine at the Z Mansion downtown. I heard about that event through my friend Debe Branning of the MVD Ghostchasers. Debe was asked to attend to promote her book Sleeping With Ghosts!: A Ghost Hunter’s Guide To Arizona’s Haunted Hotels And Inns
Well, now I have to back up a little bit about why my own RSVP to Professor Everist’s presentation tonight wasn’t submitted on time, and why I was put on that waiting list. There were still a few spots available when I last checked, but things kept coming up. Most notably, yesterday. I went with my dad and my sister to Sonoita on a last minute day trip. I figured that there would still be time to RSVP when I arrived home. While in Sonoita, we stopped by “Bog Hole”, a waterfowl preserve in the San Rafael Valley. There, we didn’t encounter any waterfowl. My dad said it was the first time he had never seen ducks in that bog hole. Instead, we saw plenty of frogs, who quickly hopped for their lives and jumped into the water. A dragonfly flew around us. It wasn’t afraid of us and stayed close by. It was very unusual looking, and I was mesmerized by it. I made my dad take a picture of the dragonfly even, so I have proof that it was there. Stay with me, there’s a point to all of this…
Back to tonight and to Professor Everist. Professor Everist spoke about various topics tonight, focusing mostly on psychic phenomena, ESP and remote viewing. He presented us with an exercise for fun. This exercise consisted of 60 pieces of paper, each folded into quarters, and taped shut. A bowl was passed around that contained these 60 pieces of folded paper. Each paper had a unique image printed inside. Everyone was to select one of those papers, but not open it. Instead, we were to concentrate on our selected paper, and guess the random image that was hidden inside. I kept thinking of a floppy eared dog. It was a rather cute image in my mind. In the next part of the exercise, we had to tell the person next to us what we thought the image was on the paper we selected. So, I told my neighbor that it was a floppy eared dog. After we each shared what we thought was on the paper, it was time to unfold them. Mine was a dragonfly. The man sitting directly in front of me got that floppy eared dog I was picturing in my head. The people around me said that I was probably focusing on the energies of the man in front of me, but not on my own. That’s a possibility, I suppose, that it was a really good guess “by proximity.” The man in front of me let me have the picture of the floppy eared dog. I was a bit disappointed that the dog I was thinking about looked nothing like that image of the dragonfly that I held in my hand.
Then, my thoughts wandered in another direction. I couldn’t help thinking about my image of the dragonfly, coupled with my encounter with the one from yesterday. I brought up my experience to the group, and though I chalked it up to ad hoc reasoning, I did feel that it was worth mentioning. I mean, perhaps the encounter with one yesterday was “a sign” of the experiences to come today. Some members of the group became very excited about my dragonfly revelation, stating that the dragonfly represents transformation. He is the essence of change and the power of light. Dragonflies foreshadow wonderful things to come in one’s life. It is apparently quite the synchronicity that my encounter with the dragonfly yesterday coincided with that image of one on the piece of paper I selected today. Did the dragonfly represent a precognitive episode which actually foreshadowed the dragonfly image I received tonight? Did my encounter with the dragonfly yesterday lead me to purposely select that very image from the bowl? Did it all of it happen just by chance? I don’t know. Professor Everist, despite his wealth of scientific knowledge, does not know. All I know is that this small event makes me wonder. It is one of those things that happens that makes you wish that professionals like Professor Everist are able find answers to seemingly meaningless questions like that; which some of us would very much like to have answered. However, tonight, all I can say in response to those questions is: I don’t know.
One thing is for sure though. I attended tonight’s presentation so I could write about it. However, the image I had in my mind of the article I wanted to write, versus the one I have written, are very different. Instead of relaying an introductory lesson of paranormal phenomena that Professor Everist presented tonight, the article has very much transformed from what I intended it to be. I am relaying to you my experience involving dragonflies, which may or may not be worth mentioning – which could really be nothing more than a coincidence.
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Thank you to Tucson Metaphysics for hosting this fun and interesting event – and much appreciation to Professor William Everist who keeps on looking for those answers!
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