The Reality of Spirits (Paranthropology)

The paper goes into it...Seems to get complex so not sure there is an easy definition but from what I am gathering it is about taking paranormal phenomena as a whole and seeking to understand UFOs in that context...

"Here he (Esbjörn-Hargens) explains that non-human intelligence can be thought of as natural to the earth (faeries and elementals), from outer space (i.e., ETs), or from celestial realms (angels and devas). His “integral” approach involves taking into consideration the huge spectrum of possibilities as evidenced in the academic, esoteric, and UFOlogical literature. He maintains that no single approach is sufficient to capture the complexity of the phenomena."

I think this integrative approach is not the best one to make any sense of the UFO phenomena. The most likely case is that the separate types of phenomena originate from ontologically different sources or intelligent agents, that may or may not be fully aware of each other, and need to be investigated separately. I would add that extra-dimensional beings, time-travelers, and entities from spiritual realms of existence could be added to the list above as other possible ontologically separate types of intelligent entities involved with the overall UFO phenomenon.

In particular, the many cases of visual/photographic observation and EM radio, radar and ELINT interaction with clearly structured alien aerial vehicles controlled by some form of intelligence constitute strong evidence that at least one distinct category of the UFO phenomenon probably consists of actual nuts and bolts manufactured vehicles piloted by ETIs probably from some other part of this physical universe. I think this category may be very different and distinct from the other types of UFO-related (paranomal) phenomena, and need to be investigated as a separate level of existence - nuts and bolts physical. These are probably physical ETIs using a very highly advanced physical technology and may not really be much related at all to whatever beings are responsible for other types of interactions.

I think Jacques Vallee makes a similar error regarding study of the UFO phenomenon, insisting that the entire array of disparate phenomena be investigated at once to try to make sense of it, which poses a vastly greater burden on the researchers and makes it vastly less likely to come up with some sort of understanding in a reasonable amount of time.

I think this integrative approach is not the best one to make any sense of the UFO phenomena. The most likely case is that the separate types of phenomena originate from ontologically different sources or intelligent agents, that may or may not be fully aware of each other, and need to be investigated separately. I would add that extra-dimensional beings, time-travelers, and entities from spiritual realms of existence could be added to the list above as other possible ontologically separate types of intelligent entities involved with the overall UFO phenomenon.

That's what the paper is about?

I ploughed through about half of the paper, and my conclusion is that the most impressive thing about it is the author's name: Sean Esbjörn-Hargens.

He seems to have taken the process of classifying the various phenomena to an absurd extreme while constantly admitting that many of these phenomena could be equally well classified in various ways.

Waffle!

I ploughed through about half of the paper, and my conclusion is that the most impressive thing about it is the author's name: Sean Esbjörn-Hargens.

He seems to have taken the process of classifying the various phenomena to an absurd extreme while constantly admitting that many of these phenomena could be equally well classified in various ways.

Waffle!

Yeah it's all a bit arbitrary and I think some of this classification was unnecessary...OTOH I think part of his goal is to just lay some foundations down.

But I do think this is sort of the way academia goes, putting things into a language that is acceptable to that in-group. Not exactly the same, but akin to the work Kastrup did starting with writing in New Dawn to getting articles published in Scientific American.

Entity encounters and the therapeutic effect of the psychedelic mystical experience

Anna Lutkajtis

Research suggests that the clinical and therapeutic effects of psychedelics are related to their ability to induce a mystical-type experience. One particularly interesting feature of the psychedelic mystical experience is the entity encounter - people who take psychedelics sometimes describe meetings with seemingly autonomous entities which appear to possess intelligence and agency. While there has been little empirical research into psychedelic entity phenomena, qualitative studies and anecdotal reports suggest that entity encounters can have profound and lasting positive after-effects. Based on the existing data, this article argues that there is value in exploring the therapeutic potential of psychedelic entity encounters. Specifically, it proposes three possible ways that entity encounters might mediate the therapeutic effect of the psychedelic mystical experience.

Information provided by entities may also be of a transpersonal nature. For example, Luke (2017, p. 95) writes that DMT entities may “impart insightful information about themselves and the universe in which they were inhabited.” Similarly, a phenomenological study by Cott and Rock (2008, p. 366) found that participants who took DMT regularly gained insight into both themselves and the “nature of reality,” and that these insights were retained and assimilated into users' lives after the DMT experience. One participant in their study gave an account of gaining metaphysical insights and knowledge pertaining to the structure of the universe: “All I remember is I was shown how our physical three dimentional [sic] reality fits into the reality of the bigger universe that lies behind our three dimentional [sic] universe” (Cott & Rock, 2008, p. 366). A similar experience was described by an informant in Heuser's (2006, p. 56) study who related: “I then was given the understanding that all life, all we know, all I am, is energy, this energy is timeless and will continue on. I knew now the reality of this time and space is just something my energy has chosen to reside in for now.” Heuser's data suggests that when entities are associated with transpersonal noetic states they tend to appear in the role of a guide (who aids the transition to sources of special knowledge) or a guardian (who blocks the way, seemingly as a test). While questions obviously remain regarding the accuracy or reliability of such information, it appears that transpersonal messages often provide a sense of comfort or reassurance for the receiver.

Entities may also deliver knowledge or insight regarding death. For example, in Davis et al.'s (2020, p. 8) survey study 168 respondents (7%) reported that the message received from their entity encounter included themes about death, the afterlife, the pre-birth state or reincarnation. Comments from respondents included “There was insight that death is not the end” and “That death is just the beginning of another greater universe.” Interestingly, when considered psychometrically, the DMT ‘breakthrough experience,’ in which entities are extremely prevalent (e.g. in controlled studies, 50+% Strassman, 2001; 75% Timmermann, 2017; 95% Luke, 2019), is largely indistinguishable from the near-death experience (NDE) (Timmerman et al., 2018). The NDE also commonly features encounters with entities and is reported to have profound and long lasting beneficial after-effects, including reductions in death anxiety, increased appreciation for nature, pro-ecological behaviour, significant clinical improvements in depression, and increased self-worth (for a review, see Greyson, 2014; Timmerman et al., 2018).

While questions obviously remain regarding the accuracy or reliability of such information, it appears that transpersonal messages often provide a sense of comfort or reassurance for the receiver.

I'm guessing that such reassurance may come from being reminded of things that we already know, but have temporarily forgotten.

Mama Irene

This is a film about Mama Irene, a remarkable 84-year-old woman Shaman (healer) from Peru, drawing upon indigenous knowledge and traditions in danger of being lost forever. Yet her craft is based primarily on her own intuition:

“Spirits have told me in my dreams how to proceed.”

In 2014 I was living in New York City, suffering from debilitating exhaustion. None of the medical specialists I had consulted were able to help. My friend Carl Hyatt, a photographer who has been traveling to Peru for decades, had an idea. He consulted a healer he knew in Cusco, Puma Singona Quispe. Puma in turn consulted his coca leaves:

“Elisabeth has to visit Cusco immediately and work with Mama Irene in ceremony. Otherwise, she will end up in a bad way. "

And so I traveled to Peru. The experience was transformative. I returned to New York City energized and strong. Thus began my journey with Mama Irene.

In 2016, Mama Irene invited me to be her first "Western student." I had the privilege of witnessing her selflessly healing patients with extraordinary wisdom, love and compassion. And although I have been deeply connected with nature all my life, I learned from Mama Irene an entire new dimension on how to live in harmony with Mother Earth and the mountain spirits.
I began to realize that Mama Irene was teaching me secrets she had never shared with anyone, let alone a Westerner. With her blessing, I decided to make this documentary, to share the story of this remarkable woman and her knowledge and wisdom.
— ELISABETH MÖHLMANN, CO-DIRECTOR

Mama Irene

I'm guessing that such reassurance may come from being reminded of things that we already know, but have temporarily forgotten.

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendours.”
  - C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory.

Can Science See Spirits?

Jack Hunter

One of the first studies to use EEG to investigate traditional spirit possession performances in the field was conducted by a team of Japanese researchers, using a newly developed portable EEG device to measure the electrical activity of the brain in an individual performing a ritual possession drama in Bali. The team found that the possessed individual exhibited enhanced power in the theta and alpha frequency bands, again suggestive that the possession trance represents a psychophysiological state distinct from pathological states such as epilepsy, dissociative identity disorder (DID), and schizophrenia.

The implication here is that during the trance states of the experienced automatic writers, activity is reduced in the areas of the brain usually associated with reasoning, planning, language, movement and problem solving, suggesting that the medium’s dissociative experience during trance is far from delusional or fraudulent. Furthermore, the researchers conducted an analysis of the complexity of the writing and found that, contrary to what would normally be expected, the complexity increased as the activity in the areas of the brain usually associated with such complex behaviours was reduced. This raises the question of how, if the brain’s functioning was reduced, such complex writing was possible. The spiritist interpretation suggests that it was spirits doing the writing while the medium’s consciousness was absent, and the data could indeed be read in this way. More cautiously, however, Andrew Newberg has suggested that this research ‘reveals some exciting data to improve our understanding of the mind and its relationship with the brain’ and calls for further research in this area.

But we still donʼt know what is actually going on...

At the very least, the neuroimaging work that has been conducted on mediumship appears to
support the idea that there is more to mediumship than simply fraud and delusion - something,
whatever that something might be, is definitely going on here. But the data are by no means
conclusive of anything more than that. The research does seem to indicate a predominance of
alpha, beta and theta waves in trance channeling and possession states, and gamma
frequencies in mental mediumship. It is unclear, however, how these EEG readings relate to
the findings of other studies that suggest a decrease in brain function during mediumistic
trances. There is also a considerable discrepancy between studies that suggest similarities
with pathological conditions such as DID and temporal lobe epilepsy, and those that seem to
indicate that mediumship is a distinctive psychophysiological state.