Jeff is a religion scholar who specializes in modern myth. He is open-minded about the UFO lore, but like me, thinks of it in a much broader way than the usual aliens are here/not here argument. Personally, as the years have passed and I have become more and more deeply involved both in the culture of the the UFO community and in the actual experience of contact, I have become more and more sure that a whole lot of us are simply missing the point. What we have before us is a mystery that is as much inner as it is outer. Searching the skies, waiting for something to happen, anticipating disclosure–these are all passive approaches. They’re what the great majority of people do: they wait their lives away. For some years, also, a few people have been waiting in another way. They’ve been going out and trying to ‘call in’ UFOs using things like flashlights pointed at the sky and various forms of meditation which are not energetic meditation at all, but attempts to communicate via telepathy.
On the larger stage, the debate about UFOs is precisely the same debate that the ancient Greeks were engaged in about the supernatural: either these strange manifestations are imaginary or they are real.
There is another, better way of approaching the whole field of the unknown, and that is what Super Natural is about.
Since the beginning of history and no doubt before, human beings have been influenced in some way by light. A whole culture arose out of Moses vision of the burning bush. That culture was radically altered when Paul was startled by a flash of light on the road to Damascus. Mohammed was guided by a being of light in his cave. And nowadays, these plasmas or whatever they are seem to be everywhere, and just as there were angels, gods and demons associated with them in the past, there are apparent aliens to go with them now. I saw aliens during my contact experiences. Had it been a thousand years ago, I suppose that I would have seen angels and demons. Two thousand years ago, they would have been gods.
So what is all of this about and, above all, why is this enormously important player in human affairs not studied? It certainly can be. It’s a demonstrably real phenomenon, and there’s no point in pretending that it isn’t. Hundreds of thousands or even millions of people have had contact experiences over the years, and continue to have them to this day. So even if the phenomenon that generates the experiences can’t be studied directly, the witnesses can.
So why aren’t they? We have evolved useful techniques both in the academy and the sciences that will work for such study, and it is time to end the ancient debate and acknowledge the actual question: what is this presence that has had such an enormous influence on human history?
These are some of the questions explored in Super Natural. Tarcher/Penguin will be calling in the most important book on the supernatural since Charles Fort published the Book of the Damned in 1919. I hope that it is seen as that and its suggestion that we re-envision the supernatural and the paranormal is embraced. If we do that, it will lead to a fundamental change in the way we view and understand our world and along with it a much-needed expansion of our vision of ourselves and the universe in which we live.
32 Responses
I have the greatest respect
I have the greatest respect for both Whitley and Jeff, and I am deeply excited to read this book.
In the text above, Whitley wisely said: “What we have before us is a mystery that is as much inner as it is outer…”
Cheers,
Mike C
I have the greatest respect
I have the greatest respect for both Whitley and Jeff, and I am deeply excited to read this book.
In the text above, Whitley wisely said: “What we have before us is a mystery that is as much inner as it is outer…”
Cheers,
Mike C
I look forward to reading
I look forward to reading this ground breaking book. Whitley is an inspiration to us all.
However, I still maintain, as did the long forgotten J.B.S. Haldane “my own suspicion is the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose but queerer than we can suppose.” I can’t vouch for the veracity of that quote but the essence is clear.
Perhaps we are not able nor meant to perceive the true nature of “reality” and never will be.
Que le vaya bien!
BB
I look forward to reading
I look forward to reading this ground breaking book. Whitley is an inspiration to us all.
However, I still maintain, as did the long forgotten J.B.S. Haldane “my own suspicion is the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose but queerer than we can suppose.” I can’t vouch for the veracity of that quote but the essence is clear.
Perhaps we are not able nor meant to perceive the true nature of “reality” and never will be.
Que le vaya bien!
BB
I agree with you completely,
I agree with you completely, Bob. When you see the book. you’ll know that he was even more right than any of us could have imagined!
I agree with you completely,
I agree with you completely, Bob. When you see the book. you’ll know that he was even more right than any of us could have imagined!
I will pre-order it as soon
I will pre-order it as soon as it is available!
I will pre-order it as soon
I will pre-order it as soon as it is available!
There was a comment by the
There was a comment by the MOTK where he said ” when you see UFOs, you see prison guards”. You’ve said it before Whitley, we don’t know the truth about ourselves. I think you have spent your life getting us a lot closer to that ‘truth’. Thank you Whitley.
I can’t wait to read it!
There was a comment by the
There was a comment by the MOTK where he said ” when you see UFOs, you see prison guards”. You’ve said it before Whitley, we don’t know the truth about ourselves. I think you have spent your life getting us a lot closer to that ‘truth’. Thank you Whitley.
I can’t wait to read it!
‘Super Natural’ as opposed to
‘Super Natural’ as opposed to the supernatural is apropos and I look forward to reading this book next year. Whitley, you wrote the foreword for Jacques Vallee’s ‘Dimensions’. Maybe he could return the favor on ‘Super Natural’?
UFOs as prison guards? Only if you believe that ALL is connected and that the only beings preventing us from leaving this planet is US.
‘Super Natural’ as opposed to
‘Super Natural’ as opposed to the supernatural is apropos and I look forward to reading this book next year. Whitley, you wrote the foreword for Jacques Vallee’s ‘Dimensions’. Maybe he could return the favor on ‘Super Natural’?
UFOs as prison guards? Only if you believe that ALL is connected and that the only beings preventing us from leaving this planet is US.
Empiricism, any way possible.
Empiricism, any way possible. This includes the radical idea of using yourself as an experimental device. Mr. Vaeni’s show is aptly entitled, “The Experience”. Recently, Whitley talked about the Mark and being “psychologically naked”. If a person is having experiences that you are not having, what does that make you as an investigator? Fundamentally, you are naked psychologically. It does not matter your reasoning behind the rejection of a person’s experience, you simply have a void in your life filled with an empty question, while the other person has life experience. All debunkers are psychologically naked, because when you peel away the layers that shroud their rationalizations, you simply have: absence. Skeptics are skeptics of lack. They are not going to create innovation by pursuing their lack as a philosophy.
Empiricism, any way possible.
Empiricism, any way possible. This includes the radical idea of using yourself as an experimental device. Mr. Vaeni’s show is aptly entitled, “The Experience”. Recently, Whitley talked about the Mark and being “psychologically naked”. If a person is having experiences that you are not having, what does that make you as an investigator? Fundamentally, you are naked psychologically. It does not matter your reasoning behind the rejection of a person’s experience, you simply have a void in your life filled with an empty question, while the other person has life experience. All debunkers are psychologically naked, because when you peel away the layers that shroud their rationalizations, you simply have: absence. Skeptics are skeptics of lack. They are not going to create innovation by pursuing their lack as a philosophy.
Congratulations Whitley. I am
Congratulations Whitley. I am in awe of how much you get done. It is an inspiration.
Congratulations Whitley. I am
Congratulations Whitley. I am in awe of how much you get done. It is an inspiration.
“What we have before us is a
“What we have before us is a mystery that is as much inner as it is outer.” Totally agree. Looking forward to the publication of this book.
“What we have before us is a
“What we have before us is a mystery that is as much inner as it is outer.” Totally agree. Looking forward to the publication of this book.
“What we have before us is a
“What we have before us is a mystery that is as much inner as it is outer.”
Read the original source: https://unknowncountry.com/journal/super-natural-new-vision-unexplained#ixzz3YNUqMWEg
Yes !!! !!! !!!
“Traditional understandings of religion often focus on events, figures, and ideas that are more or less amenable to orthodox framings of what constitutes religious truth and practice. But what if we do not privilege these public “winning” voices, but look also at those heterodox or esoteric currents of the history of religions that have been actively repressed, censored, or simply forgotten by their respective cultures? What if, moreover, we privilege the psychology and phenomenology of religious experience over the authorial framing of these events by the faith traditions, even as we explore and analyze the profound ways the faith traditions shape these same “individual” experiences?”
http://kripal.rice.edu/gem.html
The past quote is from the website of Whitley’s collaborator on the book, Jeff Kripal.
I think it’s fantastic that this is being taught at a university. The path of ascension in the west has been so hidden and chastised as evil for so long. Crowley, Martinism, Rosicrucianism, Hermetic Kabbalah, Dion Fortune, Paul F. Case, Esoteric Freemasonry, and many other of the modern varieties, they all have the same goal. The experiential and unfettered knowledge of ourselves and the world in which we live. Jesus said “the kingdom of heaven is within you (us)”. The Gnostic, Mystic, Esoteric paths of the west give one the ability to know this with a capital “K”.
It is vital to our overcoming the sad situation that Mace described in the comment above.
We all have a right, in the extreme, to know our own world as intimately as we can stand it. At the same time, the practices that trigger the experiences also render blind belief moot. Faith should be the map for what is attainable, not what builds walls between us.
@Cosmic L
And again with the MOTK “All are responsible for All”.
@More Light, the Lakota say
@More Light, the Lakota say it beautifully: Mitakuye oyasin. All are Related.
Pair that with the Golden Rule and wow-zowee! Two very simple truths that are the dickens for each and every one of us to embrace every day of our lives. They must not only be said but felt and experienced deep inside each one of us, and that’s where the real work comes in!
“What we have before us is a
“What we have before us is a mystery that is as much inner as it is outer.”
Read the original source: https://unknowncountry.com/journal/super-natural-new-vision-unexplained#ixzz3YNUqMWEg
Yes !!! !!! !!!
“Traditional understandings of religion often focus on events, figures, and ideas that are more or less amenable to orthodox framings of what constitutes religious truth and practice. But what if we do not privilege these public “winning” voices, but look also at those heterodox or esoteric currents of the history of religions that have been actively repressed, censored, or simply forgotten by their respective cultures? What if, moreover, we privilege the psychology and phenomenology of religious experience over the authorial framing of these events by the faith traditions, even as we explore and analyze the profound ways the faith traditions shape these same “individual” experiences?”
http://kripal.rice.edu/gem.html
The past quote is from the website of Whitley’s collaborator on the book, Jeff Kripal.
I think it’s fantastic that this is being taught at a university. The path of ascension in the west has been so hidden and chastised as evil for so long. Crowley, Martinism, Rosicrucianism, Hermetic Kabbalah, Dion Fortune, Paul F. Case, Esoteric Freemasonry, and many other of the modern varieties, they all have the same goal. The experiential and unfettered knowledge of ourselves and the world in which we live. Jesus said “the kingdom of heaven is within you (us)”. The Gnostic, Mystic, Esoteric paths of the west give one the ability to know this with a capital “K”.
It is vital to our overcoming the sad situation that Mace described in the comment above.
We all have a right, in the extreme, to know our own world as intimately as we can stand it. At the same time, the practices that trigger the experiences also render blind belief moot. Faith should be the map for what is attainable, not what builds walls between us.
@Cosmic L
And again with the MOTK “All are responsible for All”.
@More Light, the Lakota say
@More Light, the Lakota say it beautifully: Mitakuye oyasin. All are Related.
Pair that with the Golden Rule and wow-zowee! Two very simple truths that are the dickens for each and every one of us to embrace every day of our lives. They must not only be said but felt and experienced deep inside each one of us, and that’s where the real work comes in!
Cosmic Librarian, Agreed in
Cosmic Librarian, Agreed in spades!
I always enjoy your posts.
Much love to you and all the friends in Light who participate in this Great Work.
We will succeed.
Cosmic Librarian, Agreed in
Cosmic Librarian, Agreed in spades!
I always enjoy your posts.
Much love to you and all the friends in Light who participate in this Great Work.
We will succeed.
More Light…Ditto!:-)
More Light…Ditto!:-)
More Light…Ditto!:-)
More Light…Ditto!:-)
In Sufism (mystical Islam),
In Sufism (mystical Islam), it is said that Allah has 100 names. One name Allah has kept secret. “Ya Nur” is one of the revealed 99 Names. It is translated as: The Light, The Illuminator, The One who Reveals.
In Sufism (mystical Islam),
In Sufism (mystical Islam), it is said that Allah has 100 names. One name Allah has kept secret. “Ya Nur” is one of the revealed 99 Names. It is translated as: The Light, The Illuminator, The One who Reveals.
Mars astronauts could develop
Mars astronauts could develop dementia on journey to Red Planet
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/11576788/Mars-astronauts-could-develop-dementia-on-journey-to-Red-Planet.html
It’s not like they would live very long even if they were able to land successfully.
Maybe it is better to concentrate on the membranes between universes unless they can come up with a massive vehicle that protects them during travel. Once they get there I don’t know what they will do to “thrive”.
Mars astronauts could develop
Mars astronauts could develop dementia on journey to Red Planet
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/11576788/Mars-astronauts-could-develop-dementia-on-journey-to-Red-Planet.html
It’s not like they would live very long even if they were able to land successfully.
Maybe it is better to concentrate on the membranes between universes unless they can come up with a massive vehicle that protects them during travel. Once they get there I don’t know what they will do to “thrive”.
I cannot WAIT for the
I cannot WAIT for the publication of this book!! I own, or have read almost every single one of Whitley’s books. I agree with Whitley, this experience is an incredible mystery
I cannot WAIT for the
I cannot WAIT for the publication of this book!! I own, or have read almost every single one of Whitley’s books. I agree with Whitley, this experience is an incredible mystery