The OA and The Flipside

Just watched the first four episodes of the new series on Netflix "The OA."

Spoiler alerts ahead!  So if you haven't watched up to episode 4, then g'wan and do so.  Y'all come back ya hear?

Okay.  Team. Gather up.  Let's get in a huddle so we can talk about this show in whispered tones.

"I think Brit Marling is an alien."  What? Who said that? No she's not. She's from Chicago. "But look at her movies, "the East," "Another Earth" - I mean, c'mon, she's obviously not from this planet.  She writes and stars in films that are about "off planet experiences."  And none more impressive than her latest offering, done with some guy name Batman." And it's produced by Brad Pitt! 

 

No, that's Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij.

Batman and his Robin: Brit Marling. (Cub fan? Hope so)

All right now, team. Let's get this straight. Her show is called "The OA." They may reveal what that means soon - but I'm getting "the Original Angel" as in "the original gangster..."  It may also just be omnopoetic - OA sounds like "Away" which is what happens to you when you are from "Away."  (And for those who've been up to Maine, everyone who isn't from Maine is from away. Whether it's Vermont or Mars, everyone not born in Maine for at least five generations is considered to be "from Away."  Or from "OA."  Which is OK (and not Oklahoma).

What's "The OA" about?  

It's about near death experiences who come back and may or may not act like "angels."  The argument, as put forth in the show is that people who've had an NDE have "Chosen to return to Earth" despite knowing what their adventure might entail, and so therefore can be classified as angels.

Well, team, let's clarify something off the bat.  "I'd agree with you but then we'd both be wrong" as my old professor Julian used to say.  Which means "That's not in the research."  What is in the research is that WE ALL CHOOSE to be here.  

So if you follow that argument, WE ARE ALL ANGELS.  Which may or may not be the case.  It's possible if you consider the Earth a stage that we choose to perform on - and that nothing that happens to us on stage can ever be considered "negative" - it's just an experience with another actor who we agreed to be on stage with, it's just an experience we might have agreed to explore, it's just an experience - because once we're off stage or "back home" (as people call it) then we are no longer bound by the rules of the stage.

Let me clarify.

This series is loosely based on the books by Dr. Ray Moody. (As reported in the interview with Mr. Batman in the Hollywood Reporter.)  Now I haven't seen his name mentioned in the credits, so I sincerely hope they've made some agreement with regard to his stories, which were gleaned from numerous cases over a lifetime career of dealing with Near Death studies.  

But aside from that obvious question - the question becomes "are they actually recreating real stories or are they just lifting pieces of them to fit their storyline?"

Well the answer is both.

For example, Brit's character has a "spirit guide" who speaks Arabic to her when she's on the Flipside - either via a near death experience, or in her dreams.  The guide (Kaithun - which means "origin" in Arabic) speaks to her in her native tongue, Arabic, and Brit's character speaks to her in Russian as a young girl, and later in English.

I found that to be accurate.  We all have a spirit guide (according to the research, which includes Michael Newton's and mine), sometimes more than one, and when we greet them in the afterlife they present themselves as the way they want to be presented.  They speak whatever language they speak in their mind - so we wouldn't be hearing "Russian" or "Arabic" but "mind speak" - but by having her speak in Arabic and having Brit's character understand is a cool way of presenting this fact.

Same goes for the scene where Brit's character confronts the school teacher who is adamant about expelling the bully - but Brit's character offers "You've been doing these lifetimes as a teacher for a long time now, and don't you think its about time you started to teach the person who needs the teaching the most; ie. the bully?"

This is something a spirit guide might say in an afterlife council meeting.  When examining a person's life, or helping them examine it, council members frequently make cogent and profound statements like this that offer a different perspective.

These reports can be found in the work of Dr. Bruce Greyson, my pal who invented the near death experience scale, and whose talk on consciousness "Is Consciousness Produced by the Brain" is epic.

Check it out.

It's as long as four episodes - but MORE MIND BLOWING.  And it's science to boot.  Yay.

But let's examine some of the concepts in the show.  Like "what it's like on the flipside."  Is it a green screen room where stars are all around you? (Nice effect gang).  Well it depends on the person.

Like the other day, when having lunch with Jennifer Shaffer and someone came through (a famous film director who died, but whom I had met years ago) and as I was asking him about his experience on the flipside, he said, "No one ever comes over here (to the flipside) wishing they "held back more" during their lifetime."

That's the kind of profound (new information) sentence that I could never create - and that Jennifer doesn't share, or didn't until she said it aloud.  It's not the kind of perspective we could have over here - after all, our whole lives we've been told to "restrain" and "don't do that because it's too much" or "hold back and be quiet" - when the very reason for us agreeing to come to the planet is to "go beyond the pale" "do whatever it is that we're supposed to do" "take a leap off a mountain."  After all, what's the point of being here if we don't explore it to its fullest?

Brit Marling (Getty Images)

Which brings me to the failing of the show.  I can't call it anything but that - because they just didn't do enough research to understand the architecture of the flipside - (that's a link to the audible version of my book "Hacking the Afterlife") and that's not a fault, but it is a failing.  The key story line in this season anyway, it's a scientist (inventor, who lives beyond his means, but we're told he's sold patents in the past) who has been torturing individuals who've had a near death experience, by making them go through it again and again.

It works as a metaphor - for what people assume is going on during their lifetimes on Earth - that we're in some kind of grand experiment, and since we don't die, we can't die, no one dies, it's not that big of a deal that the "scientist in the sky" is putting us through this.  As a metaphor - I get it.  But it's sooooo wrong.

Let's go back to the Angel concept.  "They choose to come here so they have a noble cause by coming back from their death experience."  Well, yeah, that's true. But WE ALL CHOOSE TO COME HERE. Not just the near death folks.  They're often given a choice - "You can stay here, back home, or you can go back to your life and finish what it was you were going to do."  People who have these experiences (Dr. Eben Alexander "Proof of Heaven" or Trumpo (prescient name, isn't it?) in "Heaven is for Real" or Dr. Rajiv Parti, or David Bennett, (Voyage of Purpose) or Anita Moorjani... to name a few) - all of them chose to come back here.  But my point is that they also chose to live this lifetime. To examine these realities. And to experience being outside of it.

That's just in the research. 

Eventually, Brit and Batman-glij will get to the Flipside books where they can read transcripts of people saying precisely the above.  And see the cites and quotations, and interviews with scientists who explain and explore why this is the case.  And it will likely become part of their universe.

At least I hope so.

(If so, give me a call. I'm in the DGA/WGA)

But the reason I use the word "failing," (being a former music critic at Variety, I was excoriated for never having a "bad word" to say about musicians) is because these characters (SPOILER ALERT!) spend 7 years being tortured by this crazed NDE "scientist" when all he needed to do WAS ONE SESSION WITH A MICHAEL NEWTON TRAINED THERAPIST to examine what these people were seeing.  (In LA, I recommend Scott De Tamble, but outside of LA, check the Newton Institute searchable website for someone you click with.)

I've done that - I've filmed these sessions - people who've had a near death experience, RE-LIVING - OR GOING THROUGH THE NDE AGAIN - while under hypnosis. They're able to revisit EVERYTHING they experienced during the NDE (without the pain) and are able to examine, explore, and understand - as well as meet spirit guides who help them explore and understand these profound concepts.

One 6-8 hour session, and the crazed scientist would have had ALL THE EVIDENCE he needed.  Because these session are replicable and they're consistent. Which is what science requires for experience to become data.  Consistent and Replicable: Dr. Helen Wambach reported on thousands of cases, I've filmed 35, Michael Newton wrote about his career of over 7000, there are over 200 hypnotherapists Newton trained that are currently working across the globe, and they've had thousands of cases as well.  And everyone says basically the same thing about the journey of souls.

Relatively - meaning, no matter who asks the question, no matter what the background of the subject, they experience the same hallmarks others do who've never heard of the research.

Doesn't matter what age, what religion, what background - basically, those who can take that adventure into the between lives arena, report the SAME HALLMARKS.

This is not my opinion, belief, or some form of philosophy. I'm just reporting these research. It is what it is.

On the other side of the coin, we have a film like Collateral Beauty. I haven't seen it yet - but have seen the trailer and read the reviews.  Sorry to hear that it's not well regarded.

I hear there's a copy of Michael Newton's "Journey of Souls" on a desk in the film about grieving and "the dead."  I'm sorry that the box office numbers have been bad for this film, like I say, I've yet to see it, but it's the kind of thing that those in the industry will say "It's too much of a downer, this death thing."

I agree.

It is a downer. Unless you realize no one dies.  There's no point in consoling Will Smith if he's going to spend the rest of his days believing that his daughter is gone, or "lost" or some other version of "resting in peace." Never to be seen again.  Or floating on a cloud.

That's not in the data. That's not in the reports.  What is in the reports, talking to people who used to be on the planet and no longer are, is that they're on to another adventure. Just like this one.  They're not "gone." They're just not here.  I'm sorry if that's upsetting, or beyond logic.  It is consistent in the data.  It is what it is.

Doesn't mean the topic will ever be "commercial," or that it will be for everyone. (ie "The ABC Afterlife Spectacular," brought to you by Heavenly Acres.") After all, we all agreed to be on stage here together, who wants to have a show where some nut is always turning on the lights and shouting "Hey! It's only a show! This is only a stage! Stop worrying so much about how the play ends! They all end! They all have a new beginning. Stop worrying about how you or your loved ones are going to get off stage!  Just enjoy the show!  And turn off the damned lights!!!!"

So, this Brit and Batman-glee-Jay (sorry, it's easier to remember) - some would argue that they must have had off-world experiences in order to be able to create this kind of prescient and sentient material.  

Pete Smith, President of the Newton Institute told me (In "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" that up to 30% of their clients claim they've had "off world" experiences, either in a past life, or by being visited by people who aren't from "around here."

Are these two filmmakers people who've had "off world experience" and are bringing their higher conscious selves to the screen?  Could be. 

The only way to know would be to put them under deep hypnosis and find out... and if you're interested, let me know. I've filmed 35 sessions so far - and a session with you both would be FANTASTIC.

Brad, you can come along as well. Get a handle on why you chose this lifetime. Ask Angie, she knows me from "Salt."  I drove her out of Korea.

Stay tuned.

Past Indian Lives, Epigenetics and the light at the end of the tunnel.

I was conversing with someone on Facebook about their native American heritage.  When we think about "past lives" and reincarnation, we often connect it to what we know about DNA and genetics.  "Hey, I'm Irish and Italian, is it possible that my genetic code remembers the lifetimes of my ancestors?"

My favorite pic of Sitting Bull. Sitting at the same table
I sit at every time I go to Rome and sit in Caffe Greco.
He's with Bill Cody, from the Wild West Show. You can't see me because
I'm in this photo 100 years later.

Epigenetics is a new branch of science that claims this to be true. Well, actually it's a new branch of psychology meets biology, and people are trying to prove or disprove the theory. The idea being "imagine if I could take a pill and I would no longer be connected to the diaspora my relatives suffered through!" (Note: Scientific research is driven, in the most part, by capitalism.  If someone wants to be able to sell or profit from science, they sponsor a study.  This isn't news - it's just the nature of the beast.) 

The basis of the research comes from a study where rats were killed while the smell of roses was prevalent. Then their offspring were exposed to the smell and they showed panic and fear.  "Oh no, the creep who murdered my dad for an experiment is back."  As William James, father of modern psychology (and some credit with marrying quantum theory with psychology) points out - "Just because we can observe something in the brain does not mean  that it necessarily springs from the brain."

Meaning, there are many reasons why the rats fear humans who smell like roses.  It could be that they're remembering the fear from their progenitor (I assume their parents were murdered first, and then extracted to make new mice to prove this diabolical point.) or it could be that their loved ones on the flipside are screaming "Look out! This guy who smells like Minnie is coming to kill you!" 

The reason I sound disbelieving is because based on this afterlife research I've become aware that all animals are sentient.  Full stop.  Their sentience is related to their journey on the planet, just like ours.  And the fact that we continue to experiment on animals so that we can benefit humans is... well... kind of old fashioned, let's say.  

Cruel?  Perhaps.  Insane? Okay, I'll accept that.

I'm not arguing vegetarianism here, although my billion or so pals in India have embraced it. (Older dataset and all).  I mean plant based diet may be the healthiest diet around, but why force people to do what's good for them? How would they learn?

But it's possible the "spirit" of these rats has returned to warn their offspring.  I mean it's not a likely scenario, but is also a possibility.  When we look at the rodent in Africa who when bit by a poisonous snake knows what plant to rub against to cure themselves of the snake bite - what's happening there?  Is it that their code has that information? Is it one of their parents whispering in their ear? And when did the code begin to pass itself along genetically?

Or ants that move their colony after 5 years due to overcrowding.  At what point did they determine that five years was enough? And how is the message sent? (ant mail?) And who sends it?  And why?

I had a professor in college who said "You don't have to know the answer to your question in order to ask it.  In fact it's better if you don't know the answer, because asking the question gets the reader to think."  Smart guy that Julian Baird.

So today I was thinking about the journey.  Here were are on the planet, with a limited amount of time to pass along information.  We do our best to learn as much as we can, and then pass it along. Either we speak it, film it, tell our family, friends, or write it into books.  Now we have facebook and email to pass along information.  And what percentage of that information gets to the rest of the species to keep it moving along?

Hello? Any sentient beings left?

Well not much apparently.  

Here we are arguing about things that people have been arguing about for decades, and perhaps longer - and yet, its as if we're starting the arguments over from scratch.  That might be part of the journey on the stage of life - that we get onto stage with only so much information and try to enact it.  After all, how do we get notes from all the other actors that have played this same part?  Wouldn't it be lovely if just prior to going out to do Hamlet, we could converse with everyone else who has played the part?

Perhaps.

So today a woman wrote me about her son who is part native American and is just beginning to access and process that information.  And is hopeful it will take him out of his depression he's had since the election - as everything from his perspective is looking dark, is looking pointless, is looking like there's no light at the end of the tunnel. 

I sent her this video.  It's Scott De Tamble doing a spontaneous "past life regression" with a woman who was at one of my book talks.  I was talking about my own past life memory of being a native American and witnessing the massacre of my wife, son and tribe. And how I thought it so extremely odd that if I was making this information up, why I'd allow myself to feel that kind of tragedy.  And I did feel it when I saw it, experienced it. 

Woman listening to my talk burst into tears.  Scott asked her if there was something I had said that caused that reaction.  She said there was, and he asked "would you like to explore it?"

So she did.  In front of an audience.  I know this woman pretty well, we've been friends for a long time, we had never talked about this work or research.  She worked at a University, and told me she was interested in the topic of "between life hypnotherapy" which "Flipside: A Tourist's Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife" is about.

Here it is: 



As noted in the text, she remembers some details that aren't easily accessible. That she came from a Sioux tribe in Virginia sounded implausible as she said it - until I found her tribe living in Virginia prior to the "Trail of Tears."  She mentions having to burn all the clothing of her tribe so that they could "rest in peace" in the afterlife is not an easy detail to access - I found a reference to it in a book about western native American traditions written in the 1800's. I also found it mentioned in Apache death rituals mentioned here:

So - is she like the mouse remembering an event that happened to someone in her blood line?  She is not part of this blood line, so that's not physically possible.  

Is she remembering a lifetime of someone else, who just happened to experience these events? (The Jungian unconscious theory) Also not likely, since the memories seem to be related to her journey through all of her lives - the lessons she signs up to learn.  

I've shown in Flipside that two people have had identical memories of previous lives - they were married to each other in the 1840's - but I used two different therapists to ask the question on two different continents - and neither the subjects or the therapists knew of their shared background (but I had heard it from one person, and suggested we do a blind test with the person he saw in his past life memory.)  I arranged for the session with this woman who didn't know anything of my friend's session, nor did the therapist asking the questions.

So remembering a previous lifetime is not someone picking up on the "leftover" energy of someone else's lifetime.  

Could it be hypoxia or cryptomnesia? (Hypoxia - hallucinations from lack of oxygen, cryptomnesia remembering something you read or heard somewhere else)

What she says is "new information."  It's not anything that she could have known (most people will automatically argue that the Sioux are from western US and not know their history without the forensic search) - the information she recounts is specific and detailed - unlike the accounts that are written that are available through forensic research and the information is not anything that could come from a hallucination - as it's accurate.  

Could it be synthesthesia? (The wiring of the brain somehow picking up the wrong message). 

Well, that wouldn't account for the details she's remembering that are not part of the public record... burning clothes to release spirits, or building model huts and burning them to release spirits... it's not a common practice among any tribes.  

It's just light in the Vatican. Its only light in the Vatican.

And it's not part of her lifetime of memory or experience.

So why is this experience light at the end of the tunnel?

Because the veil is lifting. I'm talking about events and experiences that are becoming more and more common on a daily basis.  And once a person has had these kinds of experiences,they start to end seeing the planet as some kind of polarized, walled off experience.  It's like the overview effect that astronauts report after circling the earth; they no long see borders. They no longer see races. They no longer see gender. They no longer see clothing or status or wealth.

All they see are humans.

Diamonds in the Rough and Quantum Butterflies.

Was chatting this morning with a friend who works in the health care industry. She's had an unusual path - born in Africa, eventually found her way to the US and helps heal people.   We were joking about success, how relative it is, and the elusive money that always seems outside of our reach.  It's a familiar refrain, she jokingly wants to "make millions" or "make enough money to get whatever she wants."

Hanging with my Homies in Leh, Ladakh

She recounted how in college, she had a philosophy class where the teacher asked "How many people in this class are happy?"  A few raised their hands. "How many people think they'll be happy in the future?"  Everyone raised their hands.  "How many want to become millionaires?"  Everyone's hand went up.  The teacher said "Well, let me get real with you..." and then rattled off the statistics that showed how many people were likely to get the success that they aimed for, and how difficult it would become - to be rich or happy - in the future.

It's those pesky statistics that stop us in our tracks. 

How many times have we heard or thought "Well, if I had only taken this path, or opened that door, I would have had more success?"  Or "I was this close to winning that deal, that contract, that project, and it was snatched away from me." We never stop to think that it was better for us that the deal did not happen. We only think of the lost opportunities. Or lost income.

So I asked her "Has anyone ever complemented you on your work?"  She said someone had recently said to her "I feel so privileged to know you.  You make me feel great whenever I'm with you."  I asked her to put a price on how much that compliment was worth.  A dollar? A million dollars?  

She thought about it - "More than a dollar.  Okay, I'll say it was a million dollar compliment."  I said "Okay, now you're a millionaire.  Look at that.  One compliment and you've discovered that you are actually what you've always been wanting and looking to become!"  

She said "What are you saying? That I'm looking the wrong way for fulfillment?"  

I reached out my hand.  I said "Everyone is reaching for something. Success, money, fame. Reaching for that victory, that money, that reward.  Perhaps all they have to do is turn their hand over and look inside their hand. It's already there.  You've already "won." You get to be here on the planet. Living life, breathing air, experiencing love and all that comes with it.  And you've altered the path of, changed or helped people in your life.  What more could you possible want than that kind of million dollar compliment "You've changed my life. Thank you"?

I said "Think of each compliment as a diamond.  And then go through your life and think about everyone who ever complimented you in such a way.  Each one of those compliments is a jewel in your necklace, a flower in your garland. Then look at how many jewels you have.  You'll see that the thing you were reaching for is actually in your hand when you turn it over.  Just turn your hand over..."

This discussion reminded me of a dream I once had. (as recounted at the end of "Flipside: A Tourist's Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife.") 

While working on the film "Salt" I was working 18-20 hour days, 6 and 7 days a week, trying to help this film into the world. (I'm also in it - I drive Angelina out of Korea)  I was working for my friend Phillip Noyce, an amazingly hard working director, who requires a bit of energy just to keep up with him. I was thinking "My family is back in LA, I'm stuck in the winter of NY with this crazy film. This isn't furthering my career in any way. What the heck am I doing here?"

That night I had a dream.  I was in a large room.  The children looked Asian. They were eating soup out of wooden bowls, using wooden spoons. I looked around.  "Where am I?" I realized I was in an orphanage in Cambodia. Looking at these children being fed.  Then I remembered, Angeline Jolie, the star of the film, owned an orphanage in Cambodia - or rather donates 7 million of her salary each year to support these orphans.  And I realized I was being shown the connection between my long hours of work and her donation.

To which I thought "Oh come on. Really? She's making 20 million or something on this movie, and you're telling me that my overtime in some way contributes to these kids in Cambodia?" I scoffed at my own dream, as if it come from some mistaken place.

The next night I had another dream; another "vision" that was more than a dream. This time I saw myself standing on a street in Mumbai.  It was a street that seemed familiar to me, as I've been to Bombay a few times, and in this vision I was hovering at the end of a street near an alley. 

I could see two people having a transaction. One was an older man, and the other was a man in his 20's. The older man handed the younger one about 400 rupees ($10) for a copy of a bootleg copy of the film "Salt."

I knew it was a bootleg, because 1. it had a composite picture of Angelina on the cover, and 2. the film had not even been finished yet, so it could not exist anywhere other than my head.  

But this older gent was buying this bootleg copy from the younger fellow.  The younger man took his 400 rupees, turned and handed it to his wife - who was living in a large cardboard box with their four children.  This is a common site in various parts of Bombay - people living in boxes, literally on street corners.

But it was in that moment I saw what this vision meant. The energy of the wheel of life.  How our work influences people millions of miles away, people we'll never meet nor realize we've helped. 

It was a bootleg copy, to demonstrate that no one on the film, no one producing it, or starring in it were profiting from the transaction.  It was part of this gigantic "Energy wheel of life" - where turning the bottom of the wheel from where I was, changed something at the top of the wheel on another side - something I would never consciously be aware of.

All the labor of everyone, my contribution minuscule - in a tiny, insignificant way - was turning that giant wheel so that the energy of creativity could help this poor family in a slum in Mumbai.

We can't see the good that we do. Or our effect on others.

But we can appreciate that if we put our heart and soul into something, someone somewhere will benefit from it.  That's how the energy works. 

You do a small simple good deed for one person - and like the quantum butterfly effect - it affects someone on the other side of the planet. 

From a definition of "the quantum butterfly effect" 

From Nature.com

"In the paper, Lorenz claimed the large effects of tiny atmospheric events pose both a practical problem, by limiting long-term weather forecasts, and a philosophical one, by preventing us from isolating specific causes of later conditions. The "innumerable" interconnections of nature, Lorenz noted, mean a butterfly's flap could cause a tornado - or, for all we know, could prevent one. Similarly, should we make even a tiny alteration to nature, "we shall never know what would have happened if we had not disturbed it," since subsequent changes are too complex and entangled to restore a previous state.

So a principal lesson of the butterfly effect is the opposite of Redford's line: It is extremely hard to calculate such things with certainty. There are many butterflies out there. A tornado in Texas could be caused by a butterfly in Brazil, Bali, or Budapest. Realistically, we can't know. "It's impossible for humans to measure everything infinitely accurately," says Robert Devaney, a mathematics professor at Boston University. "And if you're off at all, the behavior of the solution could be completely off." When small imprecisions matter greatly, the world is radically unpredictable."

Or, radically complex. My two cents.

PS. "The sum of human misery keeps creeping up and haunting me."  I found this sentence in a notebook from high school.  I remember writing it, but have no idea where it came from.  I guess it came from somewhere on the flipside.

Geometric Shapes and the Flipside

As of late, I’ve been hearing from some folks across the planet talking about experiences that are outside the normal purview of research, but are similar to events in the “Flipside” books.

For example, this is from a reader who contacted me on facebook about the “geometric shapes” reported in a number of between life sessions.  So far, I’ve heard that they contain “information” about previous lifetimes, in a chapter in “It’s aWonderful Afterlife” someone “opens one of them up” to explore the “fractals” and information contained within.  

We’re talking identifiable “flying objects” that appear in people’s peripheral vision.  Some folks claim these objects can be seen as “orbs” in various photographs.  I’ve heard some people describe these orbs as “bits of dust on the lens” to “my uncle Pete showing up from the other side.” 

I don’t claim to know what they are, or why they are.  But I do report what I hear when it’s consistent.  In this case, I’ve had at least half a dozen sessions where people describe some version of these “etheric hard drives” that retain information about our past lives, that travel with us through our lives, and function as “ball bearings” to help us during our lifetime.

I’m sharing this email exchange so as to put the issue onto the planet.

Lynne: Have read your books.  Interesting to read about "packets" of information - I had the experience of seeing a hexagon shape, looked like white sugar icing on it, with symbols/numbers and a red orb - was wide awake at the time!  Just thought you'd like to know that this happened whilst I was not hypnotised!  Odd :-)

RM: I was just talking about these yesterday with a biophysicist... it was like talking to a someone in a foreign language...  I was telling him that people see various different objects... some see fractals, some see geometric shapes - some see lights... and when I ask what they are, they give various answers like "they contain really old information" or "they're like traveling hard drives that retain all the information of previous lifetimes" or "they're tiny, and look like a geometric shape..."

Since you saw one while fully conscious, let me ask you some questions while you're fully conscious... (are we ever fully conscious? Just kidding).  Do me a favor, copy and paste these questions into a document - so you can really meditate on them, or just allow the first thought that comes into your mind...

• 1. can you draw the hexagon shape? or do your best. 
• 2. draw the numbers or symbols as best you can.  don't have to be accurate, just whatever comes to mind. 
• 3. what comes to mind when I ask you "what do the symbols or numbers mean?"  try to examine each one - individually.. (like I saw a symbol on a chalkboard and said "oh, that is the symbol for time and pressure - that this object (a crystal) requires time and a certain amount of pressure to be created, and the symbol represents that).  Don't be concerned if you don't know exactly what the symbols or numbers mean, but try to discern what they generally mean.  number refers to... or that's a symbol that means something like..." as best you can. 
• 4. What does the color or vibration of energy that looks red signify?  Is this a medium for holding onto it? 
• 5. Why are they generally not visible? is it because they're moving at a different frequency? (I suspect that many "orbs" people talk about are actually objects that we just can't see with the naked eye - almost like being a hummingbird and trying to make out something moving at a different rate altogether).
• 6. What's the function of the "sugar icing" on this object? Is that related to you or the object itself? 
• 7. Is there any way that we can measure, examine or identify these objects using tools available to us?  What tools could we use? 
• 8. Is there something related to the knowledge of these objects that might be useful to the planet, or useful to pass along?  If we studied them could we help other people, or is it an individual thing meant just for the person seeing or identifying them? 
• 9.  What specifically is your geometric shape? What does it contain? And how do you access it consciously? (i.e., is it for emergencies, or a tool we use all the time) and
• 10. Why is it in the shape of a hexagon - if you look at it really closely, how does this object retain information?

I know that's a lot of questions - and I know we're not in a hurry to find this stuff out (or maybe we should be? I don't know.)  But try not to judge it in any way - meaning you can avoid the pitfall of "this odd thing happened to me and I must share it with the world - and oh,that's funny all my friends stopped taking my calls.."  There may be a subtle reason this happened - or it may signal something more...

Lynne: Will do- I've been researching this for the last 7 years - will tell you the history and also I've been looking into other stuff - be pleased to share 😀

PS - I've also seen mosaic shapes 🤔

Lynne’s reply to my questions:

"Just a little bit about me - I’m a retired teacher, was Head of Computing in a High School and also taught teachers.  I am married, with 2 grown up daughters, also married, have 5 grandchildren, 3 living in Australia, and 2 in South Wales, UK, where I live. 

You could say I have my head screwed on the right way!  At least until I retired and started exploring psychic phenomena J 

I took early retirement 7 years ago, and our passion is exploration and travel, worldwide and in Europe.

I am a qualified Reiki practitioner, but only use Reiki on family and friends, love animals and music.

When I retired I decided to start researching things I was interested, including mediumship, (Channelling) , UFOs, astronomy , religions, history, Quantum theories, and anything out of the ordinary.  I was sceptical about so much, and I wanted to prove to myself whether or not there was truth in spirit communication and other phenomena and if it was scientifically provable.

I’ve been reading about conspiracy “theories”  books by David Icke (which sparked off a whole new train of thought)  John Lamb Lash (mythology and truth)  David Wilcock , Colin Wilson,  Alan Watts, Terence McKenna, Rick Strassman MD (DMT and drugs) Jaques Vallee (UFOs) Michael Talbot  (Quantum Theory) Stephen Hawkin, Richard Dawkins, Jung and so many others.

A wide range of “theories, speculations, ideas “as you can imagine.

Seven years ago I learned Reiki, and have used it quite often, on request.  And I still wonder if this attunement changed me in some way.

I’ve had some strange experiences over the years, from a very clear “I am with you” voice when I was in my 20s and despairing, from swimming back to a boat, in rough seas and out of breath – I put my foot down and there was a pinnacle of rock there, giving me time to recover, and reach the boat safely (there were no rocks supposed to be there!)

I think I have has a life that, looking back, I feel was protected.  I was a sickly kid, nearly died a few times, had some miraculous near misses in cars, so I felt it was time to give something back to the universe, and if the universe didn’t want it, to my long suffering family!  My motivation was to investigate and report back to my daughters, so I’ve kept written notes of what has been happening to me since I started this journey.

7 years ago, I went to my local library, searching for books on any of those subjects, and. Being a small local library, a small section on psychic phenomena etc. but nothing I really wanted.  I walked  over to the huge travel section and lo and behold, a book caught my eye – It was “the Scole Experiment – Scientific Evidence for LIFE AFTER DEATH.

Put it this way, if I hadn’t had too much experience of synchronicity in my life until that point, this was a slap in the face.  It screamed READ ME.

 

I did, and it started my off on a path that has taken me to see mediums,  have “readings” , go to my local Spiritual Church,  and read and read and read.

An amazing account of psychic phenomena, and recorded for posterity. It made it big in the Sunday Times and other newspapers, and then, like everything else to do with these matters, disappeared from mainstream news, hardly causing a ripple.

I was amazed.  How could anyone who read this book, not have their eyes opened to other possibilities, other dimensions, human and non-human life existing in the universe  and elsewhere?

It included documented evidence, and the experiments were even investigated by the SPR in

London, who sent three sane and sensible men there, who confirmed the phenomena – Montague Keen, Dr Rupert Sheldrake and Dr David Fontana( who coincidentally turned out to have taught my neighbour at Cardiff University and she is also very interested in psychic phenomena) SO.....

To cut a very long story short, my husband and I went on holidays to France, staying in our motor home and it rained. (This was before I’d read so intensively so no influences there)

The van was an old one, and it leaked.  In fact my pillow was wet, so I told my husband not to worry, and we’d sort it out in the morning.  So I topped and tailed, and slept with my feet where the pillow should have bee.  I couldn’t sleep, turned on my back, and saw a hexagon shape hovering at my feet.

It was brown in colour, looked solid, but was covered with numbers and symbols, that were “raised” like icing sugar in white.  I was astonished, and even more so when this red orb started to rise and passed my over my right shoulder.  I tried to catch it but it accelerated and disappeared.  

Did some research and I found this on the internet.

https://taniamarieartist.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/hexagons-and-healings-universal-symbolismto-ponder/  

Hexagon and red orb – Someone else had a similar experience!

Odd

(No drugs or even some nice French wine involved by the way)

Until I read your books, I have never come across anyone describing this type of phenomena before, the difference being I was not hypnotised, but fully awake.

After this there seemed to be a “shift” in my consciousness - I had a few incidences of clairvoyance which were even odder after this event.

I do meditate, and I’ve also seen “mosaic” type patterns whilst doing so (In fact I thought one was a clairvoyance episode as I saw the design in an Italian church) 

I do not consider myself at all psychic, but that incident, nearly 7 years ago, has ensured I’m hot on the trail for more information and as I say, your mentions of packets of information struck a bell.

 I actually have done a past life regression, a year ago, with a Dolores Cannon trained hypnotist, which was also interesting, as I was apparently a child in Celtic times and was sacrificed – I saw a +

shape in a cave, and until I looked it up, didn’t realise it was a Celtic symbol, not a Christian one.  

I also (remember) a past life as a child, in Holland, in the 1600s, I have my name a Jocantha – when I looked it up afterwards, it turned out to be an old Dutch name (I’d never heard of it before!) and went to the Dutch East Indies where I died of a fever. I also “knew” about the Dutch slave trade. (In reality, or at least this one, I knew nothing about Holland’s history – zilch!)

Just one very interesting recent psychic event – I went to see the psychic David Thompson, and had my mind blown, which is the right word I think.  He is a physical medium, based in Australia, but comes back often to the UK.  All I can say is look at his web page and the phenomena in the séance room leaves now little doubt in my mind of survival of spirit.

Yes, my friends probably think I’m bonkers, but also when I speak to others about this, it seems people often tell me about something that has happened to them.  (I tend though to be careful with whom I share!)  I hope this is of some interest,  Regards, Lynne 

RM: Thank you Lynne!  Clearly this was a personal experience, and not everyone will have one like it - but it's consistent with the other reports about these shapes and I offer it here for further review.  So perhaps whoever is supposed to read this information will find it. Rich

Arrival, Westworld and the Flipside

Watching the film "Arrival" this past weekend, I felt oddly like I was watching a chapter out of "Flipside: A Tourist's Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife."

Mind you, I'm not a UFO-ologist, nor have I focused any of my research into this field (but at the same time am aware of it, and did read John Mack PhD's study at Harvard to get my mind around the phenomenon.)

When I first came upon Michael Newton's work, I was startled to find that 10% of the people coming to see him claimed under deep hypnosis that they had "off world" experience.  He coined a phrase for these folks "hybrid" which doesn't really explain the phenomenon, as it implies some "neither here nor there" experience.  

But either ten percent of his clients were coming to him because he was vibrating some frequency that was calling them (ala "Close Encounters") or it was just random sampling that ten percent of his 7000 clients over 30 years claimed that they "normally" incarnated on another planet.

Michael Newton and Morrin Bass (hypnotherapist from NYC)

It's a bit of a brain freeze for anyone.  "Wait... what?"  

But if one approaches this research with a non-judgmental position, it allows the information to be examined from a non-judgmental pov.  "Either these people are making these stories up, or they are not.  If they are, then it's not worth bothering to examine them. If they aren't, then what are they saying, and is it "consistent"?

When writing "Flipside" Scott De Tamble mentioned a case that he'd run across where a fellow claimed that he "normally incarnated" on another planet.  I printed that chapter in the book under the heading "Over the Rainbow."  I took the person out to lunch, to see if I could "poke holes" in his experience.  

By that I mean, I'm a skeptic in the true sense of the word - I don't believe in any prevailing school of thought, but am open to the data.  In this case, after hearing this really wild story, I was surprised to find a mild mannered fellow from the Bay Area, who was making his living as a gardener.  Later, I followed up with him, and now he works in hospice care.

Heptapods by a blogger

But what to make of his story?  He claimed the planet he came from was in a star cluster which I was able to find in the classification he claimed he was from. He said that the physical world he was from was "gaseous and cloudy" and that the physical body was more like the heptapods described in the film "Arrival."  He drew me a picture of what came to mind - it was a bit like shorter version of the creatures depicted in the film, but the same kind of gaseous atmosphere.  He said his planet was way more advanced than this one - but that he "and about 200 explorers" were "already here." He said that he and his co-workers are here to help "elevate the consciousness of the planet."

He said that there already is a "ship" that is in orbit around the earth, but that it isn't visible. He said that he and his co-workers convene up there on the ship to share the work.  He said that many people are working in media - in film, tv and music fields to help "usher in this new era." 

(Note: That's not to say that all of these "visitors" here on the planet are only from one particular planet.  If one examines the various reports in Newton's published works, it's rare to find two folks with the same "off world" tale.  This fellow in "Flipside" said he had about 200 of his pals from his planet here - the math tells us that there must be many others who've had experience in a variety of places.) 

 When asked "why are so many off-worlders coming here?" the answer is often a variation "to help the planet with its shift in consciousness." Despite the common terms in new age/UFO circles of Pleiadians and Lemurians (and greys, blues, etc) these folks are generally not in my research of hypnosis sessions. (Only one has mentioned Pleiades so far...) That doesn't mean they aren't "from there" - it just means I've yet to be able to get a consistent report that is replicable.)

Internet drawing similar to the description
in "Flipside"

Again - I'm not claiming this to be accurate or a prediction of anything - but he did say "an ET like event will occur in the next 5-7 years."  That was back in 2011.  Do the math.

Now - was he talking about a film about such an event?  Perhaps.  Was he offering wishful thinking? Perhaps. 

But as I watched the film Arrival unfold, I had the feeling this was pretty similar to how such an event might take place.  From studying his session and interviewing him, the best I could discern was that their arrival would allow us to "communicate without words" and to "use the natural ability we already have to communicate with thought." It would also help usher in a "advancement in awareness."

Finally (on this topic) the other day I met a fan of my books who said "his guide told him he'd meet me this very day."  What can I say to that but "Oh, cool!"? (Hi John, yes, I'm talking about you.)

Fellows keeping an eye on us.

We had coffee and I asked him why he thought he was drawn to this research.  He told me about a UFO event that happened when he was 25 years old.  He and a friend were walking out to their car, when he saw "an object in the distance that I thought was a bird."  The bird came closer until he realized it was a space craft.  It hovered over him and both he and his friend "lost sense of time."

Based on my premise that there is no such thing as "lost time" - time exists, your mind records everything that happens to you, whether you're in a coma, asleep, or on an operating table, and your consciousness is able to access all of it - it's just your conscious mind may have a partition keeping that information from your mind - I believe all of our memory is accessible, if you look for it.

So I asked him a series of questions.  First I asked him to "freeze a frame of time" just prior to the ship's arrival.  What did it look like?  

He described the outside of the ship, first from his point of view on the ground, then closer, as I asked him to take the leap in his mind up to the outer skin of the ship.  He described pretty much exactly what the outer skin on the ship in the film "Arrival."  (He's in his 50's now, so this event happened decades ago.)  

It was dark, almost the color of charcoal, and not a smooth surface, but similar to that in the film.  (I haven't asked him if he's seen the film yet, but will.)

Then I asked how many people were in the ship.  He said "I don't know."  I said "Well, just shift your focus into the ship - is it a crowd of people, alot of people?" 

He said "It's only three."  I asked "Are they male, female or something else?"  He said "I sense female."  I said "Okay, try to focus on the lead person on the ship - ask them "What are you doing here? Are you here to deliver something, like a message, or were you just passing by?"  He said "They're here to find me."

I said "Well that makes sense.  People see ships all the time, and it seems random, but why would someone travel across the universe for a random sight seeing excursion?"  He said it seemed there was some form of portal, or time travel element involved.  I asked "Specifically what are they here to do with you. Pass along a message?"  He said "Activation."  I said "Like a machine, like turning on a machine?"  He said "Yes."

I think at this point he closed his eyes and I said "Don't close your eyes. We're just having coffee here in a shop.  Don't try to focus too hard on it.  Just whatever comes to your mind."  He nodded.

I said "So what kind of work do you do when you're activated?"  He said "It has to do with alignment of energy. Something to do with the energy of the earth." (I'm paraphrasing, I wasn't filming this, so it's the best I can recall.)

I told him that I'd heard that before from multiple sources.  Pete Smith (head of the Newton Institute) told me (in "Its a Wonderful Afterlife" about a client who claimed that in his sleep he was helping align the energy of the planet, and that's what he'd come here from another planet to do.)  I heard similar accounts and report them in "It's a Wonderful Afterlife."

So I asked "When do you do this kind of work?  Is it while you're conscious, are you affecting people around you on some subtle level?"  He said "No, it's when I'm asleep."

(Note: If you think about it for a moment - we spend a third of our lives asleep. About a third anyway.  And we assume that nothing is happening while we are asleep, aside from snoring and dreams perhaps.  But perhaps the etheric body is busy doing other tasks.  I don't know - all I can report is what people say.)

So "aligning the earth..."  "a shift in consciousness..."  "We call that the "quickening" over here (said via a spirit guide while someone was under deep hypnosis.)  All terms that refer to some form of a "shift" in consciousness.

All I can observe is the repetition of these reports, and their consistency.  

When I interviewed Pete Smith in Australia about the work of the Newton Institute, I asked him about the 10% figure.  As he notes in the interview, "the figure has risen to 30%."  That's thirty percent of the cases that the hypnotherapists trained by the Newton institute are reporting worldwide (they have 200 practitioners in countries around the world) that 3 out of every ten people that come in to have a "past life regression followed by a between life examination" report having had "off world" experience.  

It's not always the same place or planet. It's not just one star system. It's not even only in this realm, or this universe.  People claim they've had lifetimes on water planets, on gaseous planets, on earth like planets that aren't even in this universe.  They describe the same life/death/return to soul group journey - those who incarnate elsewhere have the same kind of guidance, councils, classrooms, etc.  

In Galen Stoller's book "My Life After Life" he talks about meeting one such person in a classroom that he's attending.  And that person "who normally incarnates on another planet" showed Galen what he looks like, even takes him on a trip to his home planet to introduce him to his family.

Here's someone with off world experience.

Again. I'm not claiming that these reports are what they say they are.  I'm just reporting them.  I'm finding their consistencies, and when there are inconsistencies, reporting them as well.  

Where I find inconsistencies, is when people report "why" these events occur - and I find those reports subjective.  "I experienced this event" and so therefore everyone must experience it... (heaven, hell, libraries, etc)  But that isn't in the reporting.  What people consistently report is arenas, areas, places that one could characterize as libraries, or soul groups, or grassy fields for that matter - but not everyone sees them the same.  Some folks hear music, see dancing, experience unconditional love.  Others experience and see other things during these near death experiences, out of body events, or between life hypnosis.  Those differing opinions don't mean that they aren't happening... they appear to mean that everyone experiences them differently.

And I might add - I've never experienced or seen a previous lifetime where I had off world experience. 

So what about Westworld?

Sorry for the long post, but the film "Arrival" and the finale of "Westworld" are just on my mind.

West Bollywood World

I included in "Flipside" the past life regression of Michael Crichton. 

 Michael later claimed that he "must have made the entire experience up" but I point out that his description of what he saw and experienced were in line with what other people have seen while under hypnosis. (Read the excerpt above in the book "Travels") But when you examine the premise behind Westworld - not just that robots might become sentient - but that each lifetime has a similar arc that the lifetimes of the robots on Westworld experience.

During his past life regression he remembered being a gladiator in the Roman era. (One of the three worlds in his original movie "Westworld" in 1973 was Roman World - along with Medieval World and Westworld... some pretty bad costumes in the Medieval portion as I remember). It's like he was making his movie from the memory of being a previous human in a previous lifetime.  Kind of follows with regard to what the research shows.

Meaning we come here, we fight, we love, we die and then we come back and do it again.  Of course that's not part of this world - only the robots do that, and "the gods" are the humans that have created the robots.  But there's another metaphor at play here - a meta metaphor if you will - that the adventures of the robots is pretty much akin to what the "journey of souls" experience.

In the Westworld paradigm (and in many religions that believe in reincarnation) there's a all powerful hand at play.  People come back to suffer based on their previous lifetimes (karma) or they come to suffer to learn how to let go of suffering, or they experience difficulties based on some unseen, unknowable force (the Gods, or God).

God? Or Ford? Or Anthony?

But that's not what's in the research (and what is in the research, oddly enough).  People choose to come here based on a variety of factors, the primary one being "free will."  They can always say "no, I don't want to incarnate at this time."  There's no one to tell them they must or they have to, other than their loved ones who may impress upon them the importance of their presence. "I can only learn this lesson if you're there to help me."  Since we exist outside of this realm in a state of camaraderie, in a state of compassion and unconditional love, there's not many people who won't agree to a loved one's request. 

 Imagine if you will, your son or daughter asking you to accompany them on a difficult journey.  Most folks will say "Okay, I know it's going to be hard, more on you than me, but I will be there to experience this with you and help you through it."

Again, not my opinion, belief or philosophy with how things work. It's just in the reports.

In like form, in Westworld, the creatures come back to life, and live out scenarios that they learn from - and because they're learning the most from the difficult or painful lives, that's what gives them consciousness.  (As if consciousness was a form of compassion.)  Well, if you examine the consistent reports, people say that "God" or "heaven" is a state of unconditional love.  They claim that we come here to experience the loss of that love, so that we can learn lessons about it.

Aren't these the same masks from Game of Thrones?

So - is "Westworld" like "Arrival" some form of higher consciousness working its way into the public dialog so we can all become higher in our own vibration?  Some form of a tool shop that tinkers with the engrams of the brain so that we're less closed off from each other, or from the earth, so that we can elevate or graduate our conscious selves?  Worth thinking about.

"Stay tuned."