>From Mr. Lawrence,
... > > What I think is more important is the experience itself - what kind of > > an emotional/intellectual impact it is having on the experiencer, > > regardless of what costume the players are currently decked out in. > > Trying to prove scientifically that these experiences are "real" > > misses the point. They are real to the experiencer. In the end that's > > all that really matters. > > That's all that matters to *whom*? > > That's all that matters to the experiencer's shrink; that's a reasonable > statement. > > However, for the rest of us, the possible connection with an objective > reality is extremely interesting, and claiming otherwise is kind of > silly. Based on what you previously stated above, I suspect your last sentence, as worded, might not have been exactly what you had intended to express. ;-) IMO, any encountered experience of such a controversial nature is worthy of study, including to the rest of us common folk, particularly when large numbers of individuals appear to "experience" the same experience (or drama). The experience has been played out on what appears to be the same stage with what appears to be the same costumed characters countless times. That should be blatantly obvious to anyone who has read the many experiential accounts compiled, as honorably as possible, by researchers such as Hopkins and Jacobs. The fact that Hatoyama's "abduction" experience differs from the "norm", particularly those compiled by Hopkins and Jacobs, the fact that Hatoyama's own experience obviously reveals a lack of scientific sophistication concerning what we currently understand about how the universe operates suggests (to me) that we are dealing with a gestalt form of communication capable of adjusting the stage and characters - according to the intellectual, emotional paradigms of the experiencer. In a sense, the "communication" is constructed out of the experiencer's own personal dictionary of mythic symbols. It's a symbolic language rich in mythic proportions. How else would the message make any sense or have any kind of lasting impact on the experiencer? Some might conclude that I'm simply splitting hairs, that what this all boils down to is the fact that these "experiencers" are just making it all up out of their own heads, unconsciously. In a sense, yes, that might very well be an accurate conclusion... but only to a certain point. Such a conclusion doesn't explain why so many appear to experience the exact same feature film, a drama containing the same characters and props performing the same acts over and over. There appear to be remarkable similarities amongst individuals who have never met each other and could not have collaborated. These are individuals who had no prior interest in UFOs or aliens. They could have cared less about such subjects - but they "encountered" the experiences anyway. Such facts alone should cause the curious to want to ponder the matter a bit longer before dumping it all in the trash bin labeled: useless pop-psychology. To elaborate a bit more on something I touched on in my previous post, something that I believe Chris Zell brought back to my attention, I've finally managed to read some of the works of the famous psychologist, Carl Jung. Turns out Jung was very much aware of the abduction phenomenon. From what I can tell the late John Mack's own abduction/experiencer research also appears to share many "synchronicities" with Jung's. Of course, that's not what the abduction phenomenon was called back in Jung's time. Most of these individuals were called "Contactees". What Jung read fascinated him. Jung endeavored to collect every account he could get his hands on, and there were quite a few. The stories appeared to fit in with Jung's growing understanding of what he described as the "Collective Unconscious." What makes Jung's analysis so intriguing to me was that, as best as I can tell, he suspected our "Collective Unconscious" was at times capable of physically manifesting its "communications" - i.e., UFOs and other types of physical evidence, including in the form of photos and radar signatures. The phenomenon also appeared to be linked to his understanding of synchronicity. In any case, it may go a long way in explaining some kinds of UFO phenomenon & related abduction experiences. The point being: The "Collective Unconscious" appears to have been communicating with us throughout the history of mankind, communicating to us via through a sophisticated database of symbols, a set of mythic symbols that are continuously being revised to better fit in with the most popular paradigms of the day. Rest assured, in another 30 to 50 years, there will likely be significant "revisions" to this database of mythic symbols. Perhaps that's the only way the Collective Unconscious can most effectively communicate with our conscious, singular, rational "selves." IMO, it wouldn't hurt the "conscious" components of our "selves" to occasionally to acknowledge (or review) some of the latest revisions, as well as to review prior versions. Actually, and IMO, we have no choice in the matter. We are as much an integral part the so-called Collective Unconscious as we are our so-called conscious selves. The Collective Unconscious has always influenced us, our societies, our civilizations, our religious perspectives, regardless of whether we chose to acknowledge such influences in our lives or not. Regards Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
