LightQuest: Your Guide to Seeing and Interacting with UFOs, Mystery Lights and Plasma Intelligences
by Andrew Collins. Collins is by far one of my favorite authors. This actually is similar, but different, to my blog entry from back in May about rethinking reality. Where I focus more on the role of DMT, he focuses on plasma. Where we meet is around Paul Devereux and his Earth Light work. Anyways, Andrew starts with Roswell, and moves on to Marfa and then the English Countryside. Slowly and clearly making the case against physical nuts and bolts ET's and for something very different. He does an amazing job, bringing things to light that have not be published elsewhere. I find that every time I read one of his books, I learn a good number of things I had never heard about before. This is not always the case, and for him to do such consistent work in the fields he writes about is impressive. Being about halfway through this book, I would highly recommend it.The Omega Project: Near-Death Experiences, Ufo Encounters, and Mind at Large
by Kenneth Ring, PH.D. This is a re-read. Granted the first time I read it was about 20 years ago, and it has always stuck with me as a phenomenal and groundbreaking piece of work. I decided to see if a re-read would hold up, and what I am finding is that I am even more impressed by this work than I was originally. Ken started out just working on Near Death Experiences, but has expanded here to include UFO Encounters. When I first read this, I was sold on the 'nuts and bolts' ET hypothesis of UFO's, partly because of the rather good work of Budd Hopkins. As Dr. Ring shows that there are a lot of similar factors to people who have NDE's and UFO encounters, it pushes against the purely physical idea, and the first time I read this, it really hurt my brain trying to figure these connections out. Now, they make a lot of sense, and I see from this perspective that he was way ahead of the curve. A definite must read for anyone serious about this phenomenon.Lost Star of Myth and Time
by Walter Cruttenden. Also a re-read, although from a much more recent time. I started to re-read this to prepare for the interview I did with Walter at the end of September. That interview can be found here. I didn't get through the whole thing in time for the interview, but I am greatly enjoying the re-read. In short, it deals with the cyclic nature of time, a rise from a dark age, to a golden age, and back again, the evidence for this, as well as the common belief in so many cultures of this cycle, it's connection to the precession of the equinox, and the theory that we may be in a binary star system that drives said cycle. Awesome book, and I was very happy with the interview we did.Lost Cities of Africa and Arabia (The Lost City Series)
by David Hatcher Childress. Haven't gotten too far into this one yet, but like all of David's work, this one is entertaining from the beginning. It records his travels around Africa in search of lost cities and legends. This series has a nice balance of fact with legend with travel stories. David has no problem going off on wild speculation, and in this case, it's usually entertaining. He does a good job differentiating the facts from theory and speculation. Earth in Upheaval
by Immanuel Velikovsky. After finishing Worlds in Collision
a short while ago (full review will be up eventually) I immediately starting reading this. Velikovsky will clearly be proven wrong on some points, but overall he seems to be more right than wrong. The scientific establishment doesn't like that at all. To this day, over 50 years later, they still seek to distance any new discoveries that support his theories with a buffer that makes him sound wrong, even if he wasn't. This one is more geological than Worlds, since he was criticized for referring to myths in that volume. Haven't made it very far yet, but I have high expectations. Gateway to Atlantis: The Search for the Source of a Lost Civilization
by Andrew Collins. Yup, I am reading 2 Andrew Collins books currently. Three actually, but I haven't picked up The Cygnus Mystery: Unlocking the Ancient Secret of Life's Origins in the Cosmos
in a while, so that doesn't count right now. I will get back to it eventually. This is Collins attempt to find atlantis based on information in ancient maps, legends, and, of course, Plato's writings. His end result is that it was in Cuba to some extent. A good piece of work I am about halfway through. All his evidence is well supported and fleshed out in great detail. Anyone with an interest in Atlantis, as well as lost civilizations, should find this a damned interesting read.Daimonic Reality: A Field Guide to the Otherworld
by Patrick Harpur. This is also a re-read, because as blown away by it as I was the first time through, I failed to remember it in any detail. Harpur approaches the paranormal by shifting how we view reality. It is an impressive piece of work. Comprehensive as well, and he is likely, to some degree, right about how we interact with this phenomenon. Highly recommended. The Way Toward Health: A Seth Book
by Jane Roberts. As much as I tend to be VERY skeptical of channeling, Seth has always been an exception. Detailed and specific, and when we look at what we have learned scientifically in the last few decades, and how Seth claimed things worked, he seems to have been accurate. Jane was always skeptical of her channeling, and as to whether or not Seth was really what he claimed to be or if it was just a part of her own mind somehow. I think the wealth of information, though, speaks for itself. This is not all light and love like a lot of New Age channels. This is very real and down to earth. However, this is by no means their best work. This was actually dictated while Jane was dying in the hospital. A good portion of the book is her husband Robert's notes about her condition and such, with short little spurts of dictation. The quality of material is still there despite Jane's state. If you have read most of the other work, this is interesting, if a little sad. You can really feel for what Robert is going through watching Jane deteriorate. If you are not familiar with Jane's work, go read something else, like Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul
, which is a good place to start...The Confessions of Aleister Crowley: An Autohagiography
. Yet another re-read. I first read this over 20 years ago, and found so much that I loved about Crowley. Re-reading it I find myself feeling the same level of respect all over again. This book had a HUGE effect on me, and Crowley's work and view on things has always been a inspiration to me. He was such a unique individual, and had such a huge effect on our culture, not that most people realize it. In fact, most people have no idea what Crowley was really all about, and if you are one of those people that thinks he was just some evil, black magician or Satanist, you really need to read this book and understand just how fully wrong that idea is. What is also remarkable is how relevant some of what he has to say is to today's world...Last one for now, and yes, I know, I read a LOT of stuff at the same time. I tend to bounce back and forth depending on my mood and what I feel like learning about.
Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America
by Russ Baker. The man behind the WhoWhatWhy.com website, this book is awesome. Russ started working on it after hearing Bush Sr. say that he had no idea where he was during the assassination of JFK. Russ finds out just where he was, why he doesn't want anyone to know, and builds from there to show just how much influence the Bush's have had over our history, going back to WWII and beyond. Everything is notated and you can find every bit of information he refers to. There is little speculation, just following the facts. Russ Baker is what a news reporter should be. His website and this book both attest to that. You will find here information about the JFK assassination that you have never heard about before. You will see how interconnected the Bush family has been to our government for longer than most of us have been alive. It's actually a bit disturbing...Ok, that is the mass of stuff I am working my way through right now. I have Velikovsky's book to review eventually as well as Laird Scranton's The Velikovsky Heresies: Worlds in Collision and Ancient Catastrophes Revisited
, which I can say right now, I recommend if you have read any of Velikovsky's work.
