Happy New Year!

My Side of The Paranormal from a Writers Seat

A good friend of mine and I went for a Hot Chocolate together today. We frequent a small Sweet Shop in the Harbor Town near by and often stop in for the best Hot Chocolate around. This friend of mine is a life long pal. We have known each other since the second grade. This friend knows me well and knew I was a bit stressed. We sat and talked awhile when my friend looked over her cup at me and said, “ So what’s eating at you?”

Knowing it would be fruitless to try to brush off my pal’s question I sat back and answered her with one word. “People”.

My friend laughed at me rolled her eyes and added, “So what else is new?” We chuckled and I started to explain to my friend the down side of my decisions to come out of my own writers closet of safe subjects and accepted articles and plunge head first into the world of the Paranormal. I knew it would be difficult. I knew it would frighten some and others would ridicule me. I knew I would be forced to protect people at the cost of my own peril. I knew all of this and thought I was prepared to finally come forward and tell the experiences I personally endured -along with the countless encounters others have shared with me.

I was not however prepared at the nasty reactions of those who have known me privately or the mean spirited nature pointed at my stepping out of the dark and into the light about things most just do not understand.

The holidays just ended. It was extremely busy this year and I was placed party after party with those I have not seen in awhile. I saw relatives and friends alike. It was a good time as I was able to visit with them all as well as a difficult one.

I discovered right away that my deciding to focus on being a full time Paranormal writer was something that hit some type of discord with all who knew me. I heard one off handed remark after the other, I was insulted and I was finding myself in one uncomfortable situation after the other. I had people I knew all my life say terrible things to me. I found a few hostile and extremely nasty- all due to the fact I was writing about things like UFO’s, Aliens and the unknown. I backed out of invitations after a few days and felt sad that so many were, well frankly, so ignorant.

I wonder how and when did so many become so close-minded and limited? I wondered how these people thought they were ever going to evolve if they turned hostile and ugly when ever subjects they had no knowledge or limited information about were brought up?

Is this the way we made our way out of the cave and into the condo? It was really astounding to listen and watch those I know turn on me over my choice to investigate, write about and bring to light subjects simply because they were uncomfortable with them. What is that about? What is this sheep like behavior of hating things unknown that seems to penetrate society? Are people truly this stunted and dumb?

I will admit that other issues may have been at play here. I love what I do. I plan to continue what I am doing until I can reach all I can. I refuse to run with packs

of fools who become nasty and mean spirited over things they do not understand or WANT to understand. I know I am determined and hard working and that may be a problem for those who aren’t. I also realize I make people uncomfortable suggesting their safe little known worlds may not be as safe or known as they wish them to be. I guess they feel if they kill the messenger the message will die too!

I am not sure what or why I was faced with such a unpleasant reaction to my decided path. I only know it was a real awakening and no matter what, I must continue doing what I am doing. If I am writing things that make this much impact on those who know me, I know I am hitting a nerve in society. I realize I should not, can not , stop even if I wanted to.

I told all of this to my pal. She sat and listened and when I had talked myself out she looked at me and said. “ That was good, go home and write it and let them know you know they are in the way”. “In the way?” I questioned her remark. “Come on, you know they are just frightened to death you may be onto stuff they don’t want to face and really mad you may be a success getting it out there.” I had to laugh at my friend as she never missed a sip of her Hot Chocolate or a bite of her brownie. She looked up as she took a break from chewing and said, “ Your not going to let a bunch of dumb bells stop you are you? You didn’t think they were going to make it easy or be happy for you did you?”

I just shook my head. No I was not going to let anyone stop me. I just didn’t think the fear of these subjects would create such extreme reactions from the people I knew. The funny thing is that the friends who I thought would question me the most turned out to be the ones who support me the most. I have a great deal of friends who work in science. I thought they would question me and find my choice to write full time about the paranormal something they would reject. The complete opposite has happened and they have become not only my support group but many have been those who have supplied me with experiences of their own.

The moral of this article is the realization of how deeply brainwashed we have become to dismiss, ignore, reject and attack the very things we should want to know. I do not know what has happened to mankind. I do know they seem to have slammed down the lid on thinking and replaced it with a do as they are told dull wit that has them closed minded, blind and in many cases just plain boring.

I have decided to pick up speed with my writing about the paranormal. I hope you will all increase your desire to learn about things that to date remains unknown. There is more going on here that meets the eye. What has caused this extreme reaction to all things paranormal? Why are so many so angry and dumbed down? Curious minds want to know. Keep that mind open!

♥ Copyright © 2008, 2009 Chris Holly, Endless Journey and the Knight Zone @ http://endlessjrny.blogspot.com/

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Peace, Love & Light

The Ring!

This is a very strange story. I think of it often and always fill with that fear one feels when experiencing one of those “close calls” in life.

I was 23 at the time. I was married and had a three year-old son. I was just a young woman like any other. I stayed home with my child, took care of my little apartment and worked part-time from home doing assorted little boring jobs.One night after dinner I received a call from my older sister. She wanted me to go shopping with her at the big department store in town. My husband was home looking after my son and so I decided to go. I was happy to get away for a little shopping time with my sister. I quickly combed my wild, messy hair and slipped on my shoes then waited at the door for my sister’s car horn to sound.

My sister and I shopped all over the big store. We both bought a blouse and wandered around looking at everything else the store offered. My sister wandered off to purchase her favorite perfume. I walked over to the next department which was fine jewelry. I had--and still do have--a weakness for rings. At that point in my life, I owned only a few very nice rings. My parents had given me a beautiful birthstone when I turned 18 and, of course, I had my wedding ring. My wedding ring consisted of a wide gold band with a twisted line of small diamonds across the face of it. On the inside of the ring was engraved my wedding date. It was a nice ring but not a unique or expensive ring. There were other rings around at the time similar to mine.

I started to look at all the beautiful jewelry and I especially noticed the rings. I had always wanted a big diamond ring and loved just looking at them and dreaming of the day I might own one. The store was pretty quiet while we were there. Very few other customers were in the store that night. The sales lady was leaning against the glass case of rings, watching me as I carefully looked at all the diamonds and bands. She walked over and asked if I wanted to see any of them. I told her I was just looking. She mentioned a 75 % off sale on two of the diamond rings and said, “Here, let me show you the two on this incredible markdown.” Not being strong enough to say no, I let her take out a velvet-covered board of rings and hand me the two discounted rings to try on.

The rings were beautiful. I slid off my wedding band, laid it down on the velvet board right in front of me and slid both rings onto my left hand. Oh, how beautiful both of the rings looked! I wanted to simply tell her to “wrap one up” and then waltz home with the big beautiful diamond ring in the department store bag. I looked at my hand longingly, then removed the rings, handed them back to the sales lady, picked up my wedding ring, and then placed my ring back on my left hand.

My sister called from the next counter. I thanked the woman who had shown me the rings and then headed toward my sister. The only other thing we did that night was stop at the local ice cream shop where my sister treated us both to a double-scoop ice cream cone.

The next morning I woke up late. I could hear my son talking to my mother in the living room. I lifted myself from the bed to find I had a violent headache. I walked into the living room to find my son had let my mother into the house. We lived in an apartment at the time built onto my parents’ home. My mom often came in and out during the day. My mother said to me on this day, “It’s 10:30. Are you all right? You look awful. Didn’t you know the baby was awake and walking around the house?” My son then added, “I was calling you, Mommy.” I had not heard my son, could not believe I had slept that late, and my head felt as if it were breaking in half--the pain was so intense. Before I could respond to my mother, I turned, ran down the hall and became sick. Sick was actually being modest. I vomited so much I thought I would turn inside out. My mother stayed with me all day. I laid in my bed unable to stand, walk, eat or drink. I just wanted this unbelievable sickness to end.


Eventually, my husband came home. His plan for dealing with the situation was to take my son to my parents’ house and send my mom back to cope with me. My mom sat with me all night. By morning I was no better. I still could not stand or even drink. My mother and father insisted that my husband take me to the hospital emergency room as my flesh was turning a sort of blue-green tone.
I spent that day in the hospital. It seemed to be a virus or maybe food poisoning. I just wanted to get better. After two more days in the hospital, I was allowed to return home. I was still very ill. I could eat a bit and walk when helped but I still needed to spend almost all of my day in bed. My family was very concerned. I needed someone with me at all times as my balance was off and I fell twice. I was extremely ill. One night my husband was feeding my son. I was lying on the couch in the living room listening to them talk while he coaxed my son into taking bites of his grilled cheese sandwich. As I laid there my hands began to throb very painfully. I twisted my wedding ring, trying to ease the discomfort, and then decided to take it off completely. My hand hurt so much even the ring was too painful to keep on. I slid the ring off my finger and placed it on the coffee table in front of me.

As I laid my head back down on the couch pillow, I became eye level with the coffee table. It gave me a different and very clear view of my ring. I just kept looking at my ring. It looked funny to me. I pushed myself up and grabbed my ring to inspect it more carefully. I felt a chill run down my spine as I held it in front of my eyes. This ring--the ring that had been on my finger since I left that department store--was not my ring at all. I held it up toward the light and looked inside the band. There I found three strange symbols engraved into the gold. It was 24k gold and thicker than my wedding ring. This ring looked very much like my own as it had a similar, almost identical twist of diamonds on its face but it was, without question, NOT MY RING!

I knew in my soul that this ring was the reason I was so ill. I called my husband and showed him the ring. He looked and asked what I did with my wedding band. I told him over and over everything that happened at the department store. I could see he was shaken and confused. I also noticed that almost immediately, after removing the ring, I started to feel better.

I called my parents and asked them to come over. I told them the entire shopping trip story and showed them this strange ring. It made me very uneasy to realize my wedding band was gone and I had been walking around wearing this strange ring.

My dad called the department store. He asked them not if they had found a wedding band, but if they were missing one. The jewelry store manager told him everything was in order and nothing was missing. My dad then asked if he could ask the saleslady, on duty the night of our shopping trip, if anything odd had occurred during her shift. My father’s face turned white as he listened on the phone to the jewelry manager’s reply. My dad hung up the phone and turned to us and said, “The manager just told me there wasn’t any sales lady on duty in the jewelry department that night. The regular lady called in ill so they posted three large signs to go to the front desk for help in that department that night.” My mother called my sister who lived only a few blocks away and asked her to come over for a few minutes. My father picked up the ring and placed it inside a plastic bag and sat it on the table next to the front door. I was now able to sit up and so my mother prepared some soup for me. My husband sat there stunned in the aftermath of this bizarre revelation.


My sister came over with her husband and we repeated the entire story to them. She walked over, looked at the ring, and said, “This isn’t your ring.” And she added, “There were no signs in the jewelry department--just that old woman standing there who insisted on showing you the rings”. We all just looked at one another. As I sat eating my soup, my father said to my husband and my sister’s husband, “Go get a shovel. We’re going for a ride.” My dad, my husband and my brother-in-law all jumped into my dad’s truck, with the ring in the plastic bag, and took off down the road. They were gone for about two hours. When they returned, my husband told me they had driven far away to a deserted wooded area and then buried the ring with a wooden cross my dad made from wood in the truck. They even stopped at our pastor’s house and had the wooden cross blessed on the way to bury the ring. Once far enough into the woods, they dug a deep hole and then placed the ring, still inside the bag, into the hole with the cross on top of it. They then buried all of it together.


I woke up the next day and felt almost completely well. I was very frightened by this experience. That fear would last for years. I had no idea how I ended up with that ring. I had no idea why anyone would want my cheaper ring. Most of all, I was terrified by the realization that somebody’s “imposter” ring seemed to make me so deathly ill.

We talked often about this strange event. It was an odd happening that did not seem to belong in my simple, ordinary life. It could have been a coincidence--the ring and my illness. None of us could explain why someone had exchanged my cheap ring for the more expensive one. Who would do this? Why would anyone want to do this--and how did they pull it off without my knowledge? To this day these questions remain unanswered. I do know I became a more careful observer of both people and places from that point forward. I also refused to go back to that department store ever again.

Beware of what is around you. It is a strange world filled with many unexplained events. ♥
Copyright © 2008 Chris Holly .
http://endlessjrny@blogspot.com/

Poll on Beamship: Who's the Coolest?

Richelle has a poll on her blog Beamships Equal Love, asking: who's the coolest, Bowie, Waitts, or Cohen? VERY tough to answer, they're all extremely cool. But, after much thought, and I used the quality of lyrics over other criteria, Leonard Cohen made it. Still, very tough to choose. So go vote, 3 days left.

Pamela Stonebrook, Reptilians and Radio Misterioso

Pamela Stonebrook is a contactee who says she's encountered Reptilian aliens; on a very intimate level. Greg Bishop interviewed her some time ago and the podcast is now available on-line here. (there are many interviews to listen to over there, including the one I did with Greg last Jan.)

I first heard about Pamela's story when I was doing a project on UFOs when I was studying folklore; about ten years ago or so. I didn't know what to think, and I still don't. I do know a few people personally that have had sightings of Reptilians, and, well, what do you do with that? Jim Sparks, one of many abductees, has had encounters with reptilians.)

But no matter, it's an interesting topic!

BVM, Bigfoot, Playboy, Darklore, Trickster's Realm

On UFO-Mary I have several new posts, including one on the Mexican edition of Playboy magazine, with it's Virgin Mary like model on the cover. Just in time for the pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

I've been experiencing a few synchroniciites related to the image of Mary, as well as Goddess energy in general. It's not surprising to find that when ones attention is really directed at something; UFOs, what have you, the synchronicities appear!

Snarly Skepticism; also the unofficial JREF Watch, I just decided, has an entry on the dangers of Bigfoot research. Yes, dangers. The harm Bigfoot research, and just a "belief" in Bigfoot, must be told! Beware!

Usually my Trickster's Realm column for Binnall of America goes up on Monday, but recently things have been changed around a bit. So my column won't be up until Thursday. I write about the Darklore, Volume II that just came out. Speaking of, it'll make a great gift! You can find out about ordering information at Amazon.com or the Daily Grail site.

It's been snowy here, which I don't like. It's wet, it's cold, what's the point? Fortunately I don't have to go anywhere these days; I"m off for winter break for three weeks. So I'm cozy in my house, trying to work on various writing projects.

And speaking of writing projects, visit my Lulu.com storefront. I plan to have a few more things available -- some for free -- in a few days.

I was going to be on the X-Zone radio show but still sick with some cold/throat thing. I'm much better but my throat still hurts and I sound like a frog. I'm sure in a few days I'll be fine, and will post the date when I know more.

PERFECT FOR THE HOLIDAYS - THE STORY OF ONE MANS ANGEL!

The Cop- The Ghost and The Strange Encounters

A New York City Policeman told me a strange story recently. We know each other for many years and I will tell you this man is a skeptic on most things paranormal. His view is simple, if it didn’t happen to him he doesn’t believe it!

A few years ago this policeman pal of mine went on a camping trip out West in the wilderness of Montana. He and his buddies were going to spend a week bonding with nature away from the big city.

The group consisted of five other cops from New York City and a local man from the area where they were going to spend the week in the wilderness. They hiked for a day into a remote area of Montana and set up camp. All was well as the men were enjoying a break from city life.

One afternoon they decided to hike to a near by deserted mine area to have a look around. The local man knew the area well and took them there along an abandoned road. The men were all walking along the road when they noticed a figure walking towards them from the direction of the old mine area.

As the men walked they could see that the person coming towards them was an older man carrying a sack like bag over his shoulder. As he grew closer they could see this man was dressed in old style overalls, a worn out old hat with a long unkempt gray beard. He looked as if he just stepped out of a hundred year old photo album.

The group of cops stopped and stood silently as this old man walked past them on the opposite side of the road. They were rather shocked to see this old gent out here alone with only an old sack of items throw over his shoulder. They stood and looked at him as he walked by. The old man simply tipped his dirty old hat to the groups and muttered “Good day to you boys” and kept on walking.

The local guide stood perfectly still watching the group of New York City Cops watch this old man walk by.

Quickly the old man made his way past the group of men and around a bend in the road. They watched as he walked out of their sight still surprised to find him up here alone.

My friend turned toward the local man and asked “So, does that old timer live out here alone?” The local guide started to smile and threw his nap sack down on the ground. He looked at the men and told them to do the same. “This looks like a good resting point men, lets take a break.”

The men all dropped their gear and sat down to rest. The local man then looked at each of them and said, “Well boys, you just got your first look at ole Joe the ghost of the mine road.” They all laughed and continued to do so until they realized he was serious. One by one they stopped laughing. “Seriously guys -that was ole Joe”.

The local guide then went about telling the group that the old miner has been walking that road for about one hundred years greeting all he passes with the same tip of the hat. No one knows why Joe walks the road and why he makes himself so clearly visible, but he does and they just saw him with their own eyes.

The next day the group once again was on the old mining road heading back to their base camp. Again the men were walking along the road when they saw the image of a man walking towards them. This time they all stopped in their tracks and waited.

There he was in all his glory, old hat, old bag and worn out overalls –walking on the opposite side of the road. This time the men tried to talk to him. They yelled out a “Hello there, and how are you doing buddy”. The old man did exactly as he did the day before, he tipped his hat and said “Good day to you boys.” The old man walked a bit off the road this time into a wooded area and seemed to simply disappear.

The men went across the road and looked into the forest area but could find no sign of old Joe. The guide simply shrugged his shoulders and said. “ Guess he likes you boys for you to get a double visit like that, “ He also told the men he felt it was wise for them to pick up their pace in order to make it back to base camp before nightfall.

The trip ended and the Cops returned home to their normal New York life and routines. They talked about the ghost of old Joe for many years after. It was an experience they could not forget.

My friend told me the story more than once over the years. He never admitted that old Joe was a ghost. He just said he did not know who the old man was or where he had come from or gone to out on that deserted road. He also told me the old man had the oddest bright green eyes he had ever seen.

Skip ahead about ten years finding us at the start of October of this year. Just a few weeks ago I ran into my policeman friend shopping in town. We decided to grab a coffee together and sit on the bench in front of the local coffee shop and catch up. We talked about our families and friends while we drank our coffee and then both went on our way.

A few days after our sharing that cup of coffee my friend called me on the phone. “Chris you have to hear me out, I had a experience at work yesterday. I think something really strange happened to me”. My friend then told me an incredible story. My once skeptic pal seemed shaken and perplexed.

“I was at work last night. I was bored and was wandering around an old site on the upper west side known for problems. We had a routine call and I was standing near an ally between two buildings and decided to walk down it and take a look around. It is a bad area and I should have known better to wander off without telling my partner but thought I would only be gone a few minutes. I was walking along the ally when all of a sudden out of nowhere this guy rushed me. I knew he wanted my weapon and cash and also knew he was going to try to stab me. I pushed him off and he came at me again. All of a sudden out of absolutely thin air appears this old homeless guy pushing a shopping cart. He was right there- instantly there!

He pushed the cart between us mumbling something as he walked along. It shocked my attacker as much as it did me. This old man simply pushed his cart between us distancing my attacker and breaking apart our shuffle. By the time the old man passed between us I was able to right myself enough to subdue the guy and cuff him. I looked at the old man as he passed between us and once as he walked off. He looked right at me, not more than two feet away from my face. Chris, I am telling you, I swear this is true that old man was the same old man I saw years ago on that mining road. I swear it was old Joe. I know this sounds crazy but I will never forget that old mans face, or his bright green eyes. That homeless guy who pushed that man off me was the same man I saw on that road years ago. I am absolutely positive of it. “

My friend told me that after he was able to subdue the man he found a knife and knew he came close to being stabbed in his fight with this man. It clearly was the old man and his cart that gave him the advantage to take control of what could have ended in a deadly confrontation.

My friend looked that night and many nights to follow around that area for that old man. He told me that the night this took place he searched for hours the streets and alleys around the area but could not find the old man or his cart. He told me that there was no one else in that alley that day besides him and his attacker until the old man was there out of thin air. He told me the old guy seemed to disappear exactly as he appeared, miraculously!

My friend had no explanation for what occurred in that alley. He is positive it was the same old man he witnessed on that road years before on the camping trip along that deserted road. He also knows that there was no reason for that man and his cart to be there that day in that alley. Certainly there was no reason for an old homeless man to walk into a dangerous fight.

My friend has no idea who that old man was, is, or why he turned up on that deserted road years ago and again that day in the alley. He does know something extraordinary did happen.

I listened to the story of old Joe and how he helped my friend that day in the alley. It appears to me that this man looks over my friend. I have no idea who he is or why he was there for him, I am just happy he was, and hope from now on he walks with him down all his alleys!

One never knows what the answers are in the paranormal; I guess it has to be enough sometimes simply to accept these experiences as the unknown. I hope we all have an old Joe walking with us along all our paths!

Copyright © 2008 Chris Holly, Endless Journey @ http://endlessjrny.blogspot.com/

New WOE Contributor: Chris Holly

I'm very pleased to announce our most recent contributor: Chris Holly. Welcome Chris to Women Of Esoterica.

Chris Holly has her own website, and writes for several on-line publications, inlcuding UFO Digest.

You can read Chris Holly's articles on UFO Digest and on her blog Endless Journey.

"Virgin News"

I have an entry at my blog UFO-Mary on some comments, including The "Amazing" Randi's usual vitrolic self, about a letter written to the JREF on a news item about Our Lady of Guadalupe. You can read it here.

Wicked Moon Website

A very lovely site: Wicked Moon. You'll find e-cards, which are free and beautiful, like the one shown here, a forum, and more. (thanks Kithra for the lovely card!)

Fabulous vintage esoterica images

There are some great historical and lovely esoteric photographs at The Commons at flickr for your perusal, fair usage, and input.

From their page: The key goals of The Commons on Flickr are to firstly show you hidden treasures in the world's public photography archives, and secondly to show how your input and knowledge can help make these collections even richer.

There are lots of great finds to be discovered.For example, these two Victorian era spirit photographs from the Spirit Photographs of William Hope set from National Media Museum's photostream:

and this fetching one from George Eastman House photostream:

winter remedies that really work...

Our household is thankfully just coming out of a round of winter ills; I thought I'd share some easy home remedies that I've used and written about elsewhere.

Sore throat pain eliminator:
Stick out your tongue as far as possible, trying to touch the tip of it to your chin. This is an extreme stretch; when you feel you have reached full stretch capacity, stretch it further, and then even further. You should give this all you've got. You should stretch your tongue toward your chin until you nearly gag. That's it! Usually, sore throat pain will be minimized (if not removed!) immediately. Repeat this technique every half hour until signifigant improvement is gained.
full article here

more remedies:
Staying warm with ginger
All purpose winter ills tonic

Darklore Volume II

I'm shamelessly promoting Darklore Volume II, seeing as how I'm in it. If you're not familar with Darklore, it's a journal of collected articles on the paranormal and esoteric, published and edited by Greg Taylor, who runs the excellent The Daily Grail site. Taylor is also a contributor.

The first volume was fantastic, the second promises to be as well. I just got mine today, and am devouring it; articles by Nick Redfern, Paul Devereux, Mac Tonnies, Jon Downes, Theo Paijmansm Michael Prescott, The Emperor, Philip Coppens, Blair MacKenzie Blake, Michael E. Tymn, Stephen E. Braude Ph.D -- I'm very happy, but astounded, I'm in such fantastic company!

It's a great issue, and no, I'm not just saying that. You can order Darklore Volume II via amazon.com, or the order page at The Daily Grail site.

Trickster-Mary-Devil in the Mysterious Valley?

I'm reading one of UFO and fortean researcher Chris O'Brien's books: Secrets of the Mysterious Valley, and found a slight but interesting bit about a BVM sighting (sort of) in the mid-1800s. You can read it on my blog UFO-Mary: Trickster-Mary-Devil in the Mysterious Valley?

Time Wasting Blog Quiz Thing

Your Spiritual Number is Seven

You bring knowledge and wisdom into people's lives. You are an expert in many fields, and you give excellent advice. Right now, your life is about perfecting your skill set. You are almost a virtuoso at the thing you love best. With some practice, you'll get there. You are highly intelligent and intellectual. You have profound analytical skills. But you also have the soul of an artist. You long to create.

What's Your Spiritual Number?

A Psychic's Tale

My latest post is a long one but it entails the humble beginnings of how I stumbled upon my life as a psychic medium. So if you're interested the weird world of the psychic, this one is for you. :D

A Psychic's Tale

Look UP, Damnit!

Look UP, damnit! Why is there so much apathy and fear? Why do people refuse to look up, even then they see someone near them looking up and watching . . .something up there? Why do they, if they do look up, refuse to acknowledge what they've just seen? Chris Holly writes about this strange behavior that she's experienced many times, as have I. So I ask, what the hell is it people are afraid of?

I posted a little review of Chris Holly’s article on UFO Digest: What’s Going On? - The Sky is filled with Chemtrails and No One Looks Up! In that article, Holly mentions an earlier article she wrote for UFO Digest about seeing a UFO at a friends house during a party.Something is Wrong - That was a UFO
and NO One Noticed!In both articles, Holly mentions the bizarre apathy of the majority of potential witnesses to things right above their heads, be they UFOs or chemtrails. As strange as both those events are, it’s certainly as strange to know that people do not -- and will not, when asked to -- look up. Often, when they do, after seeing a UFO, or the strange patterns made by those umarked white planes, they simply shrug and move on. Holly writes about the UFO she, and a few others, witnessed at the party, and their reaction:

I stood there flabbergasted at what we just observed. I could not believe I was so lucky to have had a deck full of friends to share this incredible sighting with. I turned towards the three who had been watching this display with me and said “ My god, did you just see that?” They looked at me and sort of shrugged.

Frustrated and confused by the lack of interest and excitement of her friends at seeing the UFO with its defintly un-plane like characteristics, Holly writes that she asked her friends about what they’d all just seen:

Wait a minute guys, did you just see what went on out there with those lights?’ They looked at me as if I was crazy. “It was just some lights Chris, probably a couple of planes.” I turned towards the three who witnessed the strange maneuvers of the lights with me and asked.” Have any of you ever seen a plane do what those lights just did?” To my complete amazement they just sort of looked at me blankly.

This response “It was just some lights, Chris, probably a couple of planes” is astounding. Of course, I wasn’t there, and didn’t see what Holly saw. But I have experienced the exact same thing, many times over, that Holly describes in both her articles.

From Holly’s description it doesn’t seem that what was seen were merely planes. IF they were simply planes, that’s still pretty weird. What kind of planes do those kinds of things? Aren’t people interested in that? Human made, military, or ET from space, it still is weird enough to be curious, at least. Instead, apathy rules, acknowledgement drools.

At least Holly had one friend who acknowledged that what they saw wasn’t simply a plane, that it was, indeed, very odd. While supportive and confirming, Holly is also confused by her friends’s reluctance to talk about it openly to the group; instead, he talks to her privately,and encourages her to let it go, because he worries that she will be treated badly and considered a nut. Even though they all saw the same thing!

It’s good to know that there are others out there, like Chris Holly, who have experienced these same kinds of things. I’ve written before in various places on-line about this phenomena of people not looking up, simply refusing to, or, when they do, simply shrug and pretend it didn’t happen.

Thankfully, we have people like Chris Holly who isn’t afraid to write about these experiences and is willing to call people on their reactions, or, lack of them.

X-ZONE Podcast Appearance

This Wednesday night, November 26, I'll be on Rob McConnell's X-Zone podcast. You can find out more here.

A Haunting Questionnaire

Do you suspect a haunting is occurring in your home? Take my Haunting Questionnaire to find out if you are and what it could be that is causing dread in your basement.

When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead...

For anyone who hasn't seen this very bizarre and compelling instance of paredolic posturing, you really must take a look at the photo I've written about in my latest Medusa's Ladder column. It was originally sent to my husband for inclusion on his site, but I thought I'd help share it a little--it's really extraordinary.
Click here to read the article and see the photo.

'Hysteria' gets a stamp of approval

I've been wanting to write about the feminist/medical history/academic writer/critic Elaine Showalter here for a while. This story reminded me of that, and it seems like a fairly big story that isn't really making the rounds, so I thought I'd post it--I'm going to have to provide some ideas about it and Ms. Showalter (I love her) a bit later.

New TR on Binnall of America: Psychic Factor and UFOs

My new Trickster's Realm column is now up at Binnall of America: The Pyschic Factor and The UFO Experience.

The Wisdom of Amaryss

Spirit Guide - an entity which provides spiritual guidance through channeling or a medium

I feel so priviledged to have such a wonderful relationship with such a beautiful being. Here's a little story I wrote about the day I met her. The Wisdom of Amaryss

A Little Experiment: Pendulums, Telepathy and Aliens

I have an article up at UFO Digest on my personal experience with UFOs and aliens: A Little Experiment: Pendulums, Telepathy and Aliens

Three different times I’ve had the eerie experience of knowing that “they” were in the room with us. Who “they” are, I’m not sure, but a few things I just know to be true are: “they” are related to UFOs, “they” are not human, and yet have a connection to us, and “they” are very much aware of us; far more than we are of them

.



You might be wondering what Popyeye and Jeep have to do with anything; well, read it and you'll find out!

Egypt says has found pyramid built for ancient queen

Egypt says has found pyramid built for ancient queen

SAQQARA, Egypt (Reuters) – Egyptian archaeologists have discovered a pyramid buried in the desert and thought to belong to the mother of a pharaoh who ruled more than 4,000 years ago, Egypt's antiquities chief said on Tuesday.

The pyramid, found about two months ago in the sand south of Cairo, probably housed the remains of Queen Sesheshet, the mother of King Teti, who ruled from 2323 to 2291 BC and founded Egypt's Sixth Dynasty, Zahi Hawass told reporters.

Yma Sumac

Peruvian singer Yma Sumac died November 7, at age 86. I have great memories of listening to her when I was a kid; I still have some albums of hers. I think this video, with Yma in the woods -- it seems very witchy and nature goddess like -- is fitting for Women Of Esoterica.

President Obama

I know this is "off topic" but I've just published a post about the election of Barack Obama over on my blog.

It's a personal view that I wrote as soon as I heard that he had won. I just needed to get my thoughts written up. Along with the rest of the world I'm very pleased that he will be the next US President, but on my blog I do sound one word of warning. However, I wish him well.

Feliz dias de los meurtos

from miss mictecacihuatl, the lady of death.

VOTE!

Get out and vote!!!! Know what your voting rights are, know where to go or what to do to vote, and do it! VOTE!

Dr. Clifford Pickover: The Girl Who Gave Birth to Rabbits

Medical oddity, and sounds like, no doubt, a medical tragedy, from the 1800s: The Girl Who Gave Birth to Rabbits, the story of Mary Toft, as told by Cliff Pickover.
(Image is of artist Albrecht Durer's "rabbit" painting)

October 2008 updates from Farah Yurdozu

After a busy and intense summer full of conferences and travels to Roswell New Mexico, San Jose California MUFON Symposium in October we had the second Culture of Contact Conference here in New Jersey at home. Culture of Contact art show is still going on where we are exhibiting our paintings inpired by UFO /ET contact.

Also my fifth book has published in Turkey "UFO Forbidden Zone" ( UFO Yasak Bölge ) in Turkish. In this new book my Turkish readers will find a lot of information about the recent UFO cases from the world and US. Also the history of ET / Alien contact for thousands of years is another important topic that I included to my book. Now I must get back to work...

New Gray Matters Up at BOA

A very neat ghost/trickster story by Lesley for her Gray Matters column on BOA.

Of Long Lost Cousins and Fire Eaters

I really do come from Circus Folk!

This has nothing to do with UFOs or the paranormal, but it does fit into esoterica in a way, after all, there does seem to be a Fortean, high strangeness air about circuses, clowns, and carnivals and they are often settings for supernatural or paranormal stories, both real and fiction. (Remember the HBO series Carnival? Excellent series, one of my favorites.)

Anyway, a very wonderful thing happened to me recently. I was contacted by, as it turns out, my second cousin, who found me via her searching on-line about her mother’s side of the family. She’s managed to find all kinds of things that she is sharing with me. Two bits of synchronicity in all this: one, I’ve been thinking very strongly about her all day yesterday, wondering why I hadn’t heard from her, when, to my delight and surprise, I found several emails from her in my e-mail today. (Her family had had something very serious to deal with; that's why I hadn't heard from her.) And, today, while following a link that had nothing to do with this, but some other topic, I saw, at the top of the page, this quote of Ernest Hemingway’s:

“The circus is the only fun you can buy that’s good for you.”

(I don’t agree with that, I hate circuses, at least traditional ones that use animals. And I can't stand clowns.)

My grandmother, Louise Gladstone McClocklin (Lee) and one of Louise’s sisters (my cousin’s grandmother) were known as “The Gladstone Sisters” an acrobatic, vaudeville act. Here are a few little items my cousin (I’ll call her Libby) shared with me. I've kept the original wording and spelling.

BISMARCK DAILY TRIBUNE, 29 JAN 1909, PG 2
TITLE: AT THE GEM

The Gem theatre has an exceptional bill in vaudeville for this end of the week, and at both performances last night the two acts were generously applauded.

The Gladstone Sisters, Louise & Hazel, the juvenile sunbeams,are stars,rarely equalled, and they are certainly big winners. Their harmony singing and acrobatic dancing, are new features in vaudeville acts....

RENO EVENING GAZETTE, RENO, NEVADA, 3 SEP 1910, pg 5
MECHANICAL DOLL TO BE EXPOSED AT WIGWAM TONIGHT

Tonight the mysterious mechanical doll will be taken up from the audience in full view of all, and the trick that has been so mystifying during the past week exposed.

This will be the last night you will have to hear that clever msical team, Stanley & Scanlon, alos that dainty little soubrette Minnie Baldwin.

Commencing tomorrow afternoon the GLADSTONE SISTERS, the child acrobatic wonders, the GREATEST child act ever seen in this city, will open a week's engagement at the Wigdom. This act is considered a GREAT FEATURE.

THE NEWARK ADVOCATE, 29 NOV 1906, pg8
NEWARK, OHIO

THE ORPHIUM
Theatre Beautiful.
Fouth St., Between Main and Church.
MAKE NO MISTAKES. FOLLOW THE CROWD
For ladies, gentlemen, children.
____________________________________
Week
Commencing NOV.26
_____________________________________
"CREO"
European Novelty
____________________________________
GLADSTONE CHILDREN
SINGERS AND ACROBATIC DANCERS
_____________________________________
TOMMY HAYES
Refined Musical Artist.
____________________________________
FRANKLIN A. BROOKS,
Song Illustrator
_____________________________________

THE MARION DAILY STAR, 30 OCT 1907, pg.9
MARION, OHIO
MARION FAMILY THEATER
___________________________
WEEK OF OCTOBER 28,
THE BARRINGTON CO.
High Class Spectacular & Musical Comedy,
TIPPLE AND CLIMENT
Comedy Musical Artista
THE GLADSTONE SISTERS Singers, and Acrobatic Dancers,
THE GREAT GAYLOR
A Contortionist,
EP ROWE
Illustrated Song,
POWERS MOVING PICTURES
Wonderful Flames

Matinees Monday, Wednesday and Sunday. 10 cents
Children's Sat. Matinee under 12 5cents

MANSFIELD NEWS, 5 NOV 1907, pg 7
MANSFIELD OHIO

EXCERPT
TITLE PLAY AND PLAY PEOPLE
... The juveniles get a good showing on the Orphium bill this week, the Gladstone Sisters and three of the five Benningtons coming under this classification and the bill of the week is one that will undoubtedly prove a winner, particularly with the ladies and the children.

The Gladstone Sisters, two clever little ladies, come on with a song and dance after which they give an excellent exhibition of
acrobatics, their good humor during the act being contagious.

Later, my grandmother and grandfather, and my uncle and father, joined up with the Tom Mix Circus. I’m hoping Libby will send me the scans of the actual articles from the original papers. I know there’s either a LOOK or LIFE cover of The Gladstone Sisters on it; my grandmother showed it to me when I was a teenager.

And Libby shared with me that another cousin “ran off” when she was a teen-ager, returning home a few years later, married to a fire-eater! How cool is that?

The circus seems to run in the blood. Which explains a lot, don’t ya think?

Dream in Black and White? Besides Being Old, You Had a B/W TV

A new study (Black and white TV generation have monochrome dreams) says that people 55 and over dream in black and white, while those under 25 dream in color, and the reason for this is television. People 55 and over grew up watching black and white TV, even if they switched to color sets the b/w imprinting had already been done on the brain. So, those 55 or older dream in black and white.

I don’t know if the study considered people in between, along with other factors, like personalities characteristics. I’m thinking creativity, or views and perceptions on spirituality, etc.

My husband Jim, is an artist. He’ll be 60 in a week or so. He always dreams in color, always has. He had a black and white set as a kid, before getting the big color TV. I’m a few months shy of 55, and I grew up with a black and white TV. I remember when we got the color set; a big day! Big old thing inside a cabinet. I was about ten years old.

I always dream in color as well. We’re both artists, writers and creative people, so I don’t know if that has anything to do with how we dream or not. I also have an unusually high rate of lucid dreams, hypnogognic and out of body experiences, all kinds of weird sleep-dream things.

And both of us have dreamed in color all our lives; I remember dreams when I was three, four and five years old, some as vivid as if I had them last night.

This last paragraph is interesting:

Miss Murzyn concedes it's still impossible to verify whether the dreams are actually in black-and-white, or whether media exposure somehow alters the way the mind reconstructs the dreams once we wake.

Brings up all kinds of questions. . .how can we ever know? Or, can we? Reminds me tangentially of what someone told me once, scoffing at my dreaming in color: "You don’t dream in color, you just think you do."

The Sign of the Green Alien, or Beware the Reptilians!

I'm posting this here because the following dream (I know, snore) has a bit of something to do with my previous post here about my OOBE. (My Utterly Completely Wondrous New Age OOBE)

That first dream/OOBE was wonderful, fantastic, amazing, and positive. This one, while almost silly sounding, was creepy and scary.

I'm reading Gray Barker's The Silver Bridge. It's been reissued by Andrew Colvin, author of Mothman's Photographer, so we all have him to thank for this. (I urge anyone interested in Mothman, or anyone just interested in Fortean stuff to read both Colvin's and Barker's books.) Copies of The Silver Bridge have been rare, and, if lucky enough to find a copy, you'd have to pay upwards of $400! Now you can get it for about $10.00. I'm enjoying the book very much. I have a fascination with Mothman that I can't explain; I've never been back east (except for one brief visit to North Carolina once) let alone West Virginia, so I don't know what's that all about. (My grandfather, part native American, was from Virginia, ... but that's a very thin connection, if any )

So I'm reading the book before going to sleep, and as I'm turning out the light, I had this weird thought pop into my head: that I better do some protection around me, because I don't want to encounter any negative entities or energies. Then I thought, "well, I wasn't planning to, and I'm tired." I turn off the light, and go to sleep. I don't know why I had that thought: I was enjoying the Silver Bridge, and not at all feeling creeped out or "scared," and certainly not thinking anything about Reptilians. As far as Mothman goes, I don't know what Mothman is/was, but I've never felt it to be Reptilian, not sure it's alien as in from outer space, or even convinced it's a negative energy.

I have a dream. It's almost funny at first. I'm very happy, very excited about something good that's happened, and I'm running down the street in joy. I run past a glass apartment building kind of thing, and I notice that there are little toy aliens everywhere, mostly green. Little rubber and plastic alien faces, and toys, and my first thought is: "That's so cute! How neat they have a sense of humor!" But then I quickly see that the building is empty, and I the thought occurs to me that it isn't funny, not one damn bit. We don't know what's going on, who the aliens are, if they're really even aliens, as in ET, and yet we're running around making cute little cartoons out of them. We're playing with fire!

But I don't have much time to dwell on that, because I'm happy, and running down the street to a local coffee shop to share my news. I go inside, and there are a lot of people in there, and at first, I'm glad to be there. Then I realize: "Goddamn!!!!! These aren't people, they're aliens! They're not just aliens, they're Reptilians!" And I see their faces change, from human, to a subtle olive green color, and their features change a bit. Not too much however, if you weren't paying attention, you wouldn't notice. And then they quickly change back. I'm freaked! I'm scared! And then they notice that I notice . . . and they're very angry about that. I try to deny that I've noticed anything, but they're not buying it. Then I get angry my own damn self, lol, and say really intelligent things like, "Who do you Reptilians think you are, anyway?!" which of course, just pisses them off even more. Suddenly I realize how really dangerous they are.

Here the dream changes. I wake up, scared to death, and don't want to go back to sleep. But I'm an adult and have to wake up at six in the morning, so tough for me. I try to go back to sleep. I immediately begin to experience that rushing, roaring sensation, and see whirls and swirls of green scales, just that, green and scales and the knowledge lizard intelligences are afoot. They won't stop, just swirling rushes of Reptilian green, and I know that that's what it is, and "they" are trying to get me to come out and play.

I say to myself that, as much as I would love to have another out of body experience like I had here, and trip the astral plane fantastic, not like this! I literally said to myself "I'm not going there!" and with great effort, woke myself up.

One more thing: I noticed earlier in the evening, while cooking dinner, there was a large green ink smudge on my hand, like something you'd get from a marker. It could have happened anywhere, and I do work in a school, but it I hadn't seen it before, and I have nothing like that at home that I can think of. A perfectly natural explanation, but a very weird bit of synchronicity.

Healing Images?

As I was waiting for the eye doctor today, I entertained myself by looking at the walls. Typical of doctor’s offices (including chiropractors and acupuncturists) there were a few large, nicely framed and colorful posters on the walls of the usual specific body parts of that particular doctor's speciality. In this case, eyes. These posters, charts and images of the body -- or its parts -- are seen in offices everywhere. I realized for the first time however how strange they are.

Large images of diseased, broken, sick, damaged organs. Detailed time lines of the progression of diseases. Close-ups of infected appendages, or internal disasters. To the chronically curious, like myself, these images might be mildly interesting, but what purpose do they serve? I wondered why would any patient want to see these images, while they’re in a place where they’re either ill in some way, or else they wouldn't’ be there (unlike Eastern medicine, where it’s preventative, not after the fact) or, where you’re in for a check up, hoping all is well. Most of us are anxious to some degree when we go into a doctor’s office, whether it’s routine or something more involved. Being surrounded by images of illness, and being used to it as normal, sends messages to our psyches that all is not well, and all will not be well.

What we surround ourselves with says a lot about what happens to us on different levels. What we say to ourselves goes much deeper than the surface; we're sending messages to ourselves all the time, and our subconscious takes it all in. Like attracts like. It’s like telling someone not to think of a white elephant. As soon as you say that, you’re thinking of a white elephant.

Why not have images that show preventative things one can do for themselves, encouraging images, healing images?

True, there were nice, pretty, Impressionist type images here and there; it wasn’t all gory red and sick-yellow oozing eyeball close-ups surrounded in gray lettering that announced “Macular Degeneration” and “Diseases of the Eye.”

The point is, why have these things at all in places of care and healing? How different would our health, and our health care system be, if we realized the impact of our surroundings on our health?