Title: Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal
Author: Roderick Main
Format: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Princeton University Press (177 pp. with index)
Date: 1997

Book reviews are usually about new publications whereas Dr. Roderick Main’s Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal has been on the shelves for over a decade.

But considering this book’s unusual subject matter it might be appropriate that we’re looking back.

After all, Jung says that the individuation process, where one becomes healthy and whole, is a lifelong journey. And at some point in one’s spiritual formation unconventional phenomena like synchronicity and numinosity can crop up, suggesting not just linear but a holistic or, as Hermann Hesse put it in his novel Siddhartha, an upwardly spiraling universe of time and human experience.

Put differently, parapsychological truth clams usually defy our common understanding of things, invoking ideas of the future and the past, as well as heaven and hell.

Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal contains a good number of selections from Jung’s work. Considering the book’s relatively concise format, it admirably captures the scope of Jung’s thought with regard to parapsychology.

Perhaps because I’ve already studied and written on Jung’s Collected Works, I found Main’s Introduction (39 pp. with 5 extra pages of notes and references) most interesting. Not to say that I’m bored of Jung but it was nice to see some fresh new thoughts.

Of note are Main’s reflections on:

• Causality and acausality
• Jung’s understanding of the term “meaning”
• Jung’s alleged leaps of reasoning
• Jung’s view of time and eternity
• Jung’s small-p political acumen

Also useful are selections from Jung’s work about telepathy and life after death.

Jung on Synchronicity might not satisfy those looking for the “everything’s okay”  perspective, so often found in the New Age circuit. Nor is the book a mere repackaging of Jung’s work or another tract of Jungian dogma. On the contrary, Jung on Synchronicity is an intelligent, forward-thinking book that further develops several paranormal ideas investigated by Jung.

As Jung himself writes:

The hypothetical possibility that the psyche touches on a form of existence outside space and time presents a scientific question-mark that merits serious consideration for a long time to come.†

Main has responded well to this challenge. Indeed, scholars and intelligent laypersons should gain much from this penetrating study.

—

† C. G. Jung, “The Soul and Death” (1934), cited in Main, p. 144.

–MC

Title: Journey Through the World of Spirit / God, Gaia and Guardian Angels
Author: David L. Oakford
Media: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Reality Press
Date: 2007

This review originally appeared at Earthpages.org as a voice-over video on December 28, 2007. When recording I had no notes other than the memory of what I’d just read. As such, there’s a certain live quality to this review that I hoped to preserve in this transcript.

The soundtrack was spontaneously composed and recorded just before I made the review. The book was inspiring and plain text just wasn’t enough.

In editing the transcript some extraneous material (e.g. “ahh” “sort of”) was removed.

So here’s the original voice-over review and its much overdue and slightly edited transcript.

Original Introduction

I had a choice… spend hours trying to get something representative down in writing or have some fun doing a video review. I chose to do a video review.

This is my first video review and it’s been a while since I was a DJ but I think it gets the message across: “This is a great book…”

Transcript

This is a great book! I really enjoyed this book. I read it during the hustle and bustle of the pre-Christmas shopping period. And I just found it was a wonderful way to be reminded of things I already believed in. But I think I needed a little refresher course–and this book was it.

It starts off with David’s very honest and frank account of teenage angst and disillusionment. He’s planning on ditching out on his parents at about age 19 to go find himself. He’s going to, I think, live in a tent and travel around and live on the cheap and find a deeper meaning that he couldn’t find in his teenage years.

But before he plans to leave he wants to say farewell to all his friends. So he goes to a party, a farewell party, and one of his buddies comes up to him and gives him some pretty dangerous drugs. The buddy warns David not to take the drugs until he’s instructed on how to use them but David doesn’t listen and proceeds to slip into a coma. At that point he starts to have some pretty interesting experiences.

He starts off by seeing his friends – if I remember right, they’re in a car – but his friends can’t see him. Then he’s back in the house, looking at his motionless body; and he’s still fully awake and alive, moving about the house, sort of hovering like a spirit.

He notes that he can’t move objects. His hand goes through the faucet. And Jim Morrison and the Doors are playing and the music is very irritating to David, which I found interesting because I’ve always liked the Doors — as it deals with otherworldly themes — but it all just sounded like noise when he was in this refined consciousness.

He then proceeds to bigger and better things. A spirit guide comes to help him, one of several otherworldly beings whom David claims to meet in this account. And the spirit guide, whom David calls “Bob” – [laughs] it’s just so much like this book; it’s so unpretentious and straightforward and incredibly well-written, to boot. Anyhow, the spirit guide shows David a scene of the pyramids in Egypt, how they stand today and how they stood around the time of their construction.

One thing I found very interesting about this is that David claims the past and the present interact in some kind of mysterious way, like interacting, overlapping fields.

I think that’s fascinating. To read that in a book… that kind of thing is quite rare. You find it a bit in the Jane Roberts books, the Seth Books, and you find it I believe in Emmanuel’s Books if I remember right (I haven’t looked at those for a few years).

But it’s a fascinating idea that time is interactive, and I found that present in this book. I also found the idea that the heavens are interactive with our Earthly reality. David saw, as a matter of fact (after the Egyptian experience)… his guide took him up to a spiritual city. And this spiritual city apparently interacts with our Earth, and life on Earth, in ways we don’t fully understand.

The bottom line is the spiritual beings (and David outlines quite a few of them)… their basic message is that we should love one another. And I really can’t find any fault with that message whatsoever.

On page 74 David writes:

The unvarnished truth is that I went to heaven, or at least one of them, that is connected to Earth and brought back the simple message to love one another.

You know, I find there’s no conflict here with my Catholic faith. Some of you may know that I, myself, converted to Catholicism in 2001 and some Catholics might not like this book. There are a few swipes at organized religion and I understand that perspective. I used to be like that when I was a kid, actually.

I never went to Church or anything like that. If I didn’t have spiritual experiences within the Catholic Church I wouldn’t go. The whole reason I converted is because I do have spiritual experiences. But for those who don’t have spiritual experiences in the Church I understand how they can just see it as seemingly wooden and formulaic—it’s not, it’s not just that.

And I think this is one point I would disagree on but other than that, I mean… hey, Earthpages is about dialogue so I try to look for the interesting and the good and if I disagree with something I just say so.

I would highly recommend this book. I think it’s incredibly well-written, honest and there’s such a complexity to the account that it really makes one feel that it’s not just a hallucination. Some materialist psychiatrists will say that all near death experiences are just the brain’s way of trying to make you feel good before you die but, I don’t know, I just think that this book… the complexity, detail and duration of the near death experience really tends to make one think there’s something to it.

–MC

The Viking Serpent takes the viewer into the heart of Norway, where Harald S. Boehlke, son of a Norwegian diplomat, presents his case for a radical reinterpretation of the traditional Biblical symbols for evil.

Longstanding tensions between orthodox and Gnostic Christianity are highlighted with Boehlke favoring the Gnostic position.

Boehlke’s unusual and unique pro-Gnostic argument is backed up with on-site evidence, cartographic analysis and historical data.

At the very least, this DVD is thought-provoking and should serve as a launch pad for those interested in following up on Boehlke’s extraordinary and far-reaching claims.

The DVD also contains some truly beautiful footage, with director and host Philip Gardiner facilitating as a kind of guide to Boehlke’s challenging exposition.

The Viking Serpent is recommended for those wanting to learn more about Gnosticism and the Celtic Church while enjoying some breathtaking scenes of the natural and architectural marvels of Norway, surely one of the most aesthetically pleasing countries in the world today.

–MC

Reality Films

Title: Science of Soul: The End-Time Solar Cycle of Chaos in 2012 A.D.
Author: John Jay Harper
Director: Philip Gardiner
Media: DVD
Producer: Reality Films
Total time: 62:25

Will humanity experience a quantum leap of consciousness around 2012 or will this be the year of our collective undoing?

Closely following his book Tranceformers: Shamans of the 21^st Century, Dr. John Jay Harper’s Science of Soul: The End-Time Solar Cycle of Chaos in 2012 A.D. asks this and other compelling questions.

Science of Soul’s innovative graphics and hip soundtrack set the mood for an exploration into the mythic symbol of the axis mundi (world axis) and possible links among human DNA, psi and global transformation.

This DVD should sit well with those embracing the philosophy of natural pantheism, where the universe is taken to be God and therefore conscious.

By way of contrast, believers in theism (where God and creation are seen as ‘wholly other’) might find it challenging.

Regardless of one’s core beliefs, Science of Soul carries an ethical message that few would dispute: To love and live peacefully among ourselves.

It’s probably just a matter of time before Science of Soul’s integral approach is embraced by the equally opinionated gatekeepers of both science and religion.

But a comprehensive gelling of Big Science and Big Religion might take a little longer than most of us would like, given the deeply entrenched historical biases that continue to inform our 21^st century worldview.

We shouldn’t be discouraged, however.

As a catalyst for this much-needed dialogue, Science of Soul is a definite step in the right direction.

–MC

Photo: Ryan Coleman | photography.ryancoleman.ca

By Steve Hammons

The new fact-based fiction movie The Men Who Stare at Goats deals with more than meets the eye. Or at least, we see some subjects touched on in quick and sometimes subtle ways that might trigger more thought.

In other scenes, certain topics are dealt with at length or even hit viewers between the eyes with a cinematic sledgehammer.

Incredibly funny parts of the movie are juxtaposed with the troubling, tragic and frightening.

Besides looking at the concepts of the First Earth Battalion and its real-life outside-the-box leader Army Lt. Col. Jim Channon (played by Jeff Bridges), we also get a glimpse at the Vietnam War years and post-Vietnam U.S. Army. These were dark and difficult times in the military and in America.

Yet, the 1960s and ´70s also brought forth the “human potential movement” which included a variety of touchy-feely human encounter activities, experimentation with mind-altering substances, a renewed interest in planet Earth and the natural environment, as well as the value of peace and human love.

From the troubled years after the Vietnam War to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, moviegoers are asked to consider some basic questions about human beings, the U.S. government and military, and even the forces of good versus “the dark side.”

THE HUMAN MIND

The movie, and the book upon which it is based, bring together various subjects in ways that give us the opportunity to reflect further about the larger, deeper and more complex aspects of the real-life material.

For example, the research and operational activities of Project STARGATE, probably the most widely-known U.S. remote viewing program, was not part of Channon’s First Earth Battalion.

However, as indicated by the scene when George Clooney identifies the contents of a small closed box as “a man sitting in a chair,” remote viewing did turn out to be a real and valid human skill.

Generally speaking, it is a sub-type of ESP, but conducted according to specific and scientific research and operational protocols.

Remote viewing-type skills are related to what we call intuition, gut feelings, instincts and the sixth sense. We probably all have these abilities and can practice and develop them further.

Some of the Project STARGATE personnel reportedly had quite excellent results at times.

On a separate topic, in the movie an entire Army outpost in Iraq is slipped a mind-altering substance, LSD, via the food and water. In fact, during Army and CIA research of LSD a couple of decades ago, unwitting troops, intelligence officers and civilians were reportedly given this substance to test its effects.

The dangers of this and other mind-altering substances is clearly demonstrated in one troubling and shocking scene. This danger is real and was an unfortunate result for many people in the ’60s, ’70s and beyond. In fact, certain mind-altering drugs continue to cause severe health, social and legal problems today.

The often valuable research into human consciousness, from the ’60s to the present, has been marred in many cases by excess, ignorance, misuse and dangerous behavior.

Defining, understanding and separating worthwhile and constructive approaches from stupid and destructive behavior continue to be a challenge now.

VICTORY WITHIN REACH

In the movie, we also get glimpses of the positive potential of human beings, our military and our society.

When the Jeff Bridges character has a near-death experience in Vietnam after being shot, we might wonder about the many reports of similar encounters that have been thoroughly researched and documented. And we might wonder what conclusions can be drawn from them.

The reverence for the Earth through various rituals by some of the characters can also be interpreted as a valid perspective that connects humans with Nature – and helps keep our feet on the ground as well as offering benefits to mental and spiritual health.

Mention in the movie of U.S. military humanitarian operations, peace operations, conflict resolution and similar activities might seem whimsical. However, these activities are now considered important parts of American foreign policy and important missions of the U.S. armed forces.

How fitting that the movie portrays some recent activities in Iraq and Afghanistan as being part of “the dark side.”

The Men Who Stare at Goats is a funny, thought-provoking and very entertaining movie. It moves along quickly, but not like the rapid-fire pacing of a thriller. It is more like a gentle roller-coaster of humor and tragedy, action and more contemplative moments, with representations of good and evil, light and darkness.

Perhaps most importantly, the movie gives us insight into human nature at its best and worst.

The lessons that can be learned from the film, and the stories upon which it is apparently loosely based, are probably more valuable than we might think.

Human consciousness is now changing and evolving in ways that might result in developments so positive that the goals of people like Col. Channon may finally be within reach.

Steve Hammons writes on many topics. For more information, visit these websites: Joint Recon Study Group, Transcendent TV & Media and American Chronicle.

This film tells of the intriguing life of Jules Verne (1828-1905), from his early days of being beaten by his father to rejecting his family’s approach to religion and entering into a world of magic and secret societies.

Philip Gardiner observes that Verne’s novels are in large part allegorical. With the help of the influential French publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel, Verne’s literary output not only predicts some of the realities of 20th and 21st century life but, perhaps more importantly, depicts the inner journey of the archetypal hero.

The idea of the hero’s symbolic death and resurrection is familiar today. The hero motif has been influential in literature and literary criticism and roundly discussed by the likes of Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, Otto Rank and Lord Raglan (4th Baron), among many others.

However, Gardiner maintains that the complex social and religious backdrop to Verne’s era necessitated secrecy and symbolism when Verne was alluding to the heroic and essentially alchemical quest for immortality.

And when you think about it, Verne’s novels fit perfectly within a Jungian or Campbellian framework. From Journey to the Centre of the Earth to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, it’s not too difficult to see these fictional works as portraying an underworld journey into the unusual forces that alternately endanger or enhance awareness of the essential self.

This well-researched DVD doesn’t require familiarity with Verne’s novels. And those interested in 19th-century European history and the confluence of wisdom, literature and science should find it extremely worthwhile.

–MC

Reality Films

Title: The Cross of Thoth
Interviewer and Director: Philip Gardiner
Media: DVD
Producer: Reality Films

The Cross of Thoth makes esoteric connections among astrology, navigation, archaeology, linguistics, ancient Pagan and early Christian history.

So much material is covered in this DVD that the intelligent layperson might have a hard time assessing each and every one of its assertions.

The host, Crichton E. M. Miller, seems to be a contemporary Gnostic. And Gnostics are a bit different from orthodox Christians.

Not unlike the word orthodoxy, the term Gnosticism is somewhat ambiguous because there have been several different Gnosticisms throughout history.

In the general sense, however, Gnostics are those who apparently learn about spiritual truth through direct, inward experience. Unlike orthodox believers, Gnostics say they don’t believe at all. They know.

While orthodoxy tends to embrace a linear view of history, where Christ is seen as the perfect fulfillment of the Old Testament prophets, contemporary Gnostics tend to emphasize a circular or upwardly spiraling view of time.

Gnostics also say (or imply) that orthodox churches place too much emphasis on externally imposed rules and blind obedience. For Gnostics, orthodox doctrines and well-worn structures apparently squelch out genuine spirituality.

Meanwhile, orthodox churches tend to say (or imply) that Gnostics are fuzzy-minded mavericks, possibly deceived by ungodly spiritual powers–i.e. Satan.

Perhaps alluding to this orthodox idea, Toronto Catholic Archbishop Michael Collins said to a Sikh spiritual leader (in an interfaith dialogue on TVO’s The Agenda) that true spirituality isn’t a mere “glow” but an ongoing commitment to serve God.

The popular author Elaine Pagels attempts to sum up the main differences between Gnosticism and aspects of Western orthodoxy:

When the Jewish theologian Martin Buber sought to explore the sources of religious experience, he characterized the Jewish devotee’s relationship to God as “I and Thou”; but no orthodox Jew, any more than an orthodox Christian, could say, with the Hindu devotee, “I am Thou.” But Gnostic interpreters share with the Hindu…that very conviction (Adam, Eve and the Serpent. New York: Vintage Books, 1989: 65).

This brings to mind a Catholic homily I once heard where a priest said that God doesn’t want “Lone Rangers” but, rather, obedience to the Pope.

Whether or not this is an accurate depiction of what most Catholics actually believe seems debatable. But to my mind Miller would probably be viewed by traditional Catholics as both a Gnostic and a Lone Ranger.

This kind of polarized ‘in-group/out-group’ approach, so common today, probably doesn’t help to lessen the split between orthodox Christians and Gnostics.

But these two groups haven’t always been at loggerheads. Elaine Pagels notes that some early Christians admired their Gnostic counterparts, if not in every respect.

Could contemporary Gnostics and orthodox believers benefit from well-intentioned dialogue?

It seems they could, providing each side checked their biases at the door and looked to the other as fellow human beings instead of mere objects for conversion. Dialogue isn’t really dialogue is one or more parties are utterly convinced they’re right.

Along these lines, some orthodox believers might angrily react to several of Miller’s ideas in this DVD. But sincere seekers of all persuasions should recognize that overblown, emotional reactions often point to something lurking in the unconscious just begging to be brought to light and integrated within consciousness.

Agree or disagree with Miller’s complex observations and far-reaching conclusions, The Cross of Thoth is highly recommended for those wishing to dig a little deeper into the mysteries of the human soul.

–MC

With minor revisions from 2008/06/01

Reality Films

Written, directed and produced by Tim Walter, The Spirit of the Serpent opens with a beautiful sky shot near the megaliths known as the Merry Maidens, a Neolithic stone circle in Cornwall, UK.

Host Rupert Soskin says a team of experts previously investigated the Maidens with the intent of making a TV documentary.

We’re then introduced to the experts.

The first expert, Hamish Miller, gives an utterly credible account of a near death experience (NDE) that he says changed his life for the better.

Miller also forwards theories about the relationship between ritual and energy at sacred sites, Feng Shui, ley lines and differences in ancient vs. contemporary perspectives.

Jim Lyons, the second expert, is an academic specializing in the sciences with an interest in quantum physics. Lyons is primarily concerned with potential correlations between (a) Earth energy and (b) hormonal and neurological changes. He provides an interesting discussion on hypothesized links between consciousness and biophysics within the non-local paradigm that has arisen from the world of subatomic physics.

Julle Soskin, the third expert, is a psychic who prefers to be known as a ‘sensitive’ due to the negative connotations and practical repercussions often associated with the term ‘psychic.’ Soskin gives a candid and, I think, valuable first-hand account of some of the pros and cons that the gifted saint, seer, mystic or psychic may encounter along the course of his or her psychosocial development. In fact, she’s a good reminder that even unusually gifted people are still just people.

The fourth expert, Ba Russell, is a former physiotherapist turned spiritual healer who discusses the need to release the selfish, fearful, controlling and biased aspects of the ego and yet respect boundaries when working with sacred power. Russell claims that everyone has healing abilities (such as the laying on of hands) but adds that some individuals feel especially drawn to developing them.

The final expert and host, Rupert Soskin, is a researcher, outdoorsman and guide interested in diverse forms of energy that he, drawing from the work of Aristotle, defines as “the capacity for movement and change.” Soskin touches on the notion of subtle energy, an idea tacitly assigned to the fringes of Western culture but often embraced and even carefully classified in the spiritual traditions of other, so-called underdeveloped societies.

Next, the DVD turns to the experts’ work at the Merry Maidens site. This portion of the video is presented by Clare Grogan (pictured above with Rupert Soskin) whose lighthearted approach helps to keep things moving at a good, fast pace.

At this point it should be noted that, until watching this DVD, I have been somewhat indifferent to idea of Earth energies and, for that matter, the entire phenomenon of dowsing. Rightly or wrongly, I’ve tended to see dowsing as a curious folkloric practice stemming from a somewhat limited cosmology that excludes the upper reaches of the spirit.

So while watching Mr. Miller traversing the field with dowsing rod in hand, at first it seemed a bit too easy the way his rod dipped along precise points outlining flower and spiral patterns in the turf, patterns which the academic Jim Lyons noted bore some kind of relationship to mathematical formulae (a relationship that I felt might have been better explained).

But not being an ideological ‘control freak’ nor close-minded debunker, I did a bit of research and found that, historically speaking, dowsing has its fair share of supporters and detractors. Like most kinds of paranormal practice, defenders of dowsing say that skeptics and scientific researchers do not appreciate the holistic paradigm required to yield positive results. Experimental research, dowsers say, fails to exhibit significant figures because, quite simply, the vibes aren’t right.

After thinking it over, I concluded that Mr. Miller is either a very talented dowser or perhaps unconsciously engaging in a bit of wish-fulfillment. It’s really impossible to tell from the outside and I’ll have to admit uncertainty on this point.

My main concern with the Serpent, however, isn’t about the truth or falsity of dowsing but with the DVD’s apparent homologizing of the, in my opinion, distinct realities of energy and spirit.

Is energy or even subtle energy qualitatively equivalent to spirit? And what of the Holy Spirit? Might this differ from other spiritual manifestations?

Postmodern thinkers may wrongly suppose that I’m just playing word games. And some New Age enthusiasts might blithely assume, as has been the case in the past, that I’m merely an overzealous Catholic passing on the latest teachings from the Vatican.

I’m definitely not alone, however, in discerning subtle energies from other forms of spirituality that are rightly called Holy.

Having said that, I would urge some conservative Catholics and fundamentalist Christians to think again before denouncing the notion of Earth energies as a mere Satanic deception or perhaps as an instance of unsound magical thinking. Surely there must be some middle ground where adherents of these disparate cosmologies could meet and learn from one another.

How dull, insipid and perhaps oppressive life would be if we uncritically agreed with any religious or professional group pretending to have all the answers to our essentially mysterious universe.

In short, The Spirit of the Serpent is a thought-provoking, wide-ranging DVD that any serious paranormal researcher will surely want to add to their collection.

–MC

With minor stylistic revisions from original post of 2008/05/08

Philip Gardiner’s The Order of the Alchemists takes Reality Films to a new level in terms of both production values and content.

As a writer who enjoys words and analyzing different styles of writing and speaking, I was quite impressed by the narration.

On the arts side, the CGI (computer generated imagery) is a definite step up from earlier productions. And the soundtrack for this DVD is simply beautiful.

Gardiner himself seems to be something of a modern day Gnostic or, at least, an advocate for Gnosticism. But he’s certainly not lost in the clouds as some New Age enthusiasts seem to be. Instead, this film showcases his considerable abilities as a sometimes edgy but never too jagged communicator of ideas.

The DVD begins by looking at the 11^th century bigotry, as Gardiner puts it, of the Roman Catholic Crusades. Gardiner is critical of a Catholic Church that, so he implies, was chiefly concerned with the acquisition of riches and power through means of unsavory aggression.

While watching this part of the video and writing in my notepad,“he points the finger at the Roman Catholic Church” Gardiner soon after adds that Islam, historically speaking, was not exempt from succumbing to the fighting instinct.

But the Catholic power brokers, Gardiner says, started it all.

After this bold kickoff the narrative turns to the Portuguese nobleman Manuel Pinto da Fonseca (1681-1773). Here Gardiner provides a visually rich portrayal of this curious man’s quest for political power alongside his pursuit of the alchemical Elixir of Life.

Throughout his account Gardiner develops a controversial theory dealing with alleged connections between the longstanding Knights of Malta and an assortment of contemporary world powers.

But to avoid a spoiler I won’t reveal Gardiner’s unsettling conclusions.

Suffice it to say that I found The Order of the Alchemists a provocative investigation into some hidden histories that, for all we know, just might need more telling.

–MC

Updated from May 1, 2008 with minor stylistic revisions