The Ghost In the Machine!

So, the second part of the double-header as promised, detailing my experience with the supernatural, although as with my UFO sightings, I never actually saw a ghost, although I do believe it made its presence very clear to me, as I shall recount to you now.

Around the year 2000, I think it was, I was working in a very large sawmill, operating some gargantuan machine which spewed out boards at an alarming rate. As, everything was automated, there were just myself and an older guy working in that area of the mill. That part of the mill had been built just the year previous, maybe 2 years earlier, and during construction, a Swedish guy, who had been overseeing the operation was inadvertently killed by a rather large vehicle. The details of which are rather grisly and slightly dubious, so I won't divulge them here.

Anyhow, I was working away there one day, it was a nice sunny day, I was fairly relaxed I guess, I think it was a Friday, so the week was almost over. Next thing, I sensed someone running up behind me, and I thought they were going to grab the back of my neck. I suspected it was the fork-lift driver who worked at the end of our line, as he often came in with new orders or to realy some problem with the conveyor, and that was the sort of thing he'd do. Because, the machinery was elevated, about 7 feet off the ground we were working on this wooden flooring, and so I felt the vibrations as though someone was running up behind me, and at the same time, I had looked down and saw a shadow coming up from behind me.

So, given all of those indications that I was about to be grabbed from behind (I even felt as though I was grabbed, afterwards), you can imagine the surprise I got when I turned around and there was nobody there. I got a real scare. I went to see "Anon" who worked with me, but was at the far end of the machine, and at that time out of sight. I said to him, quite seriously, "I think this place is haunted!" He was a fairly sober guy, so I thought he would chide me and tell me not to be ridiculous, but au contraire. He replied "Yes, but he's a friendly ghost, he likes to knock things over for a laugh, he doesn't mean any harm!"

I've never forgotten that encounter and frequently wonder if the Swedish guy was trying to get my attention, as it seemed that he was "allegedly" held partially responsible for his own death, when rumours to the contrary suggested that, he was probably entirely blameless. No further comment!

Close Encounters of My Kind!

Alright, this is the first part of a double-header about UFOs and Ghosts, or more precisely my limited experience with both of those! Firstly, I've had perhaps 3 experiences in my life which you might consider encounters with UFOs, although no single encounter could be strictly defined as a UFO encounter, because on each occasion all I saw was a light. Well, this is Scotland and usually it's dark, so even lights can possess strange properties.

The first encounter was, when myself and a few mates went for a wander in the countryside in late October aged 18-19, pitch dark, and probably with a drink in. We were heading into the hills (walking) near Arradoul, when we saw a light (seemingly) in a nearby field. Initally it looked as though it was a bicycle light, but then the light stopped and started shining up into some nearby trees. Very odd we thought, and as we discussed it, the light suddenly turend and shone towards us. The next thing this light, and whatever object it was attached to, took off, up towards the hills, and at a fair speed too, ceratinly faster than a bike could go. Our puzzlement only increased when we moved closer to where we had first seen the light, and realised it was a newly ploughed field, all the fields there had been ploughed, and there was no road, yet the light had moved across the field with no wobbling motion, which indicated to us, that whatever the object with the light had been, it couldn't have been on the ground, or it would have been alll over the place.

That first encounter as odd as it was, in no way prepared me for the other 2 encounters I had, almost exactly a year apart from each other. In my early 20's ,say around 1995, I was working at a sawmill in the Woods near Fochabers, and each morning I had to get off the bus and walk about a mile through the woods and a farmyard to get there (in the very dark, with big cats wandering around (but, that's for another time)). So, on this morning, I get to the farmyard and strangely (more exciting than scary), there was what appeared to be a massive spotlight shining down from above this row of trees, near the stream (like those ones you see in war films, that bright). The light was shing here and there and then it shone on me, so I just stood looking at it for a while, it was very close, and there was absolute silence. Then, just like that it disappeared, without a sound.

Then, perhaps a year to the day later ( I surmise), almost the same thing again, except this time I arrived at the sawmill, to see a light (identical to the first) panning around by the stream, about 50 yards from the mill. I wanted to go closer, but I couldn't do it, because I realised that whatever it was I was looking at, it was definitely unnatural. As before, the light disappeared in an instant. I later thought, as cows are abducted by aliens (apparently), that both lights had been over the stream, in spots where deer would cross, or come out of the woods to drink, perhaps they had been after deer. I offer no explanation for what I saw, alien or not, I recount what I saw faithfully, and leave the cause open to interpretation. Tomorrow, my most singular ghostly encounter laid bare!

The Mysterious Comte De St.Germain!

Who was the msyterious gentleman pictured above, who styled himself the Comte De St.Germain? and besides his love for ostentatious jewellery and his command of several languages, what secret did he possesss that made him apparently ageless? For the Comte was not only an extremely knowledgable man with wisdom seemingly beyond the grasp of a mere mortal, but he also moved freely among the aristocracy of Europe for at least two centuries, while always maintaining the appearance of a man in his late forties. His first documented appearance was in 1700, and his last in 1896, which would have made him around 245.

The man is all the more remarkable for the information he imparted to certain individuals, for instance it is told that he had descibed locomotives, steamships and space travel. He was supected to be none other than Christian Rosenkreutz himself, and was said to possess the Elixir of Life. He himself claimed to be 4000 years old owing to his discovery of the Elixir of Life, and that he had gone under many guises throughout that time, but it's true that he had access to untold wealth, and his advice and company were sought by almost every European monarch.

You can decide for yourself whether the Comte was a charlatan, or if he did indeed possess the secret of eternal life. Perhaps other cirumstances contributed to his ability to live to an impossible age at a time when the average life expectancy was only 35 years of age. Who knows? But, it's certainly a compelling tale, that's for sure!

Disastrous Drive Crash to Report!

Quick post tonight, as I've been busy most of the day trying to recover my files after my "D" Drive crashed. Believe it or not, it's my first ever drive crash. The drive was OK, just inaccesible and I had to use a file recovery program to recover most of the files. Unfortunately I had masses of stuff on there, and only this morning I was pondering backing it all up to dvd.

Well, I got most of it back, and some of what was lost I can get again, but there was stuff that was virtually irreplacable, for instance I finally had a backup copy of The Beyond album "Crawl", which I have on vinyl, but as I haven't had a record player for years, wasn't much use to me. I only recently manged to acquire an audio copy with great difficulty, I might never be able to replace that, and other stuff too.

So, I had to reformat the drive and accept the inevitable. I'll just take it as a sign to be more cautious in future, as I had assumed (reasonably enough, I thought) that if a drive was to go, it would be the "C" Drive, because it has the system files on it, and those are the ones you expect to get damaged. Well, it just goes to show you, you can never be to complacent!

All Connected By Silver Threads!

Today I'd like to expound upon an idea which has been going around in my head for many years now. It was my father who first informed me of this supposition many years ago, when he was reading some Lobsang Rampa books. Like Erich Von Daeniken, Lobsang Rampa has been branded a charlatan in many circles, but it's not really about belief in my opinion, but rather about getting new ideas out into the open.

The premise put forward by Lobsang Rampa was as follows:

We each of us are linked by a silver thread (symbolically) to a higher-self, but several others are also linked similarly, by silver threads, to that same higher-self. When the threads get crossed, that's how people become schizophrenic, their personalities have in essence merged with anothers, although they are in some way connected.

To be honest with you, I quite like this suggestion, but I've considered several other possibilites tied in with it. Suppose, that all the individuals connected to the higher-self, live in different times, and that time therefore is linear. This would acount for cases of past lives remembered by some individuals, in other words, not past lives, but lives of other individuals connected to the higher-self. Alternatively, all of the lower-selfs are the same self, but time is irrelevant. This would make for a great pub discussion, don't you think?

Fear and Loathing!

Here's a clip I found from one of my all time favourite films, Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas. I don't usually go in for films of this sort, but this film just sort of sucks you right in. Even though there is much better material in the film, this part still gives you an idea of the goodness to come. There are several sections later in the film where I was literally ROFL. If you haven't seen it, you really should!

The Inherited Ritual of Modern Freemasonry!

What is known about the rituals of the Knights Templar? Very little really, we know what they were accused of when the order was condemned by Phillip the fair and the Pope Clement (who Phillip had in his pocket), but those accusations were probably largely spurious and so tell us nothing in effect. It had been suggested that the rituals of the Knights Templar were a precursor for modern Freemasonry, and that may well be the case, as there are several factors which commend the suggestion. Alternatively we must also consider the purported Operative guild origins of Freemasonry, an idea largely prevalent in England, and which may simply be a device whereby the Grand Lodge of England can claim that Freemasonry originated in that country (which clearly it didn't!).

The Knights Templar had 3 ordinary grades within the order: Squire, Sergeant and Knight, like the three degress in Freemasonry: Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft amd Master Mason. But these can be equally equated to the traditional craft roles of: Apprentice, Journeyman and Master.

But why stop with the Knights Templar, where did their rituals originate? surely the subject matter of Masonic rituals is Old Testament anyway, so why not look further back? The Knights Templar were accused of including in their rituals, certain practices which were akin to Catharism, which in turn had inherited those ideas from earlier Gnosticism, which leads us back to Jesus. But surely Jesus wasn't a Freemason I hear you say? Hmmm, well the raising of Lazarus from the dead seems decidedly like the ritual of the 3rd Degree in modern Freemasonry, when viewed subjectively, and Jesus own resurrection was essentially the same ritual again.

Following the route back through Jesus who had connections with several fairly diverse sects, a path can be traced back to the Israelite exodus from Egypt, led by Moses who had been initiated into the secrets of the Egyptian High Priests. Safe to say, that Moses took what he had learned and adapted it into something new and unique, but surely much of the secret rituals he had learned would have been preserved by him and practised within the High Priesthood of the new Judaic religion.

So, it's possible to conclude that elements of sacred ritual have been preserved since ancient times and permeated down through the ages till the present day. The modern rituals have probably lost all of the substance and intent which was implied originally, having been distilled down to a fraction of the original and adapted to suit many differnt agendas, but a clear lineage is a possibility!

Egypt at the Dawn of Civilization!

Some odd things were happening at the "apparent" dawn of civilization, things which academics have never been able to explain. Mainly, because they have chosen to ignore them, but anyone familiar with the works of Graham Hancock will be aware that, at the very dawn of Egyptian civilization, that civilization rapidly achieved a technological and architectual pinnacle. From then on there was only a slow gradual decline in their ability to achieve anything near what they had previously.

The granite sarchophagus in the King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid, shows clear signs of machine-tooling. The fact is, that the Egyptians don't appear to have possessed tools of the type, and the amount of pressure (1 ton) that would be required to be applied to a diamond-tipped drill, revolving at thousands of revolutions per minute, it's just not conceivable. So, did the Egyptians possess technologies which we are not aware of? Did they inherit technological skills from their predecessors, which have since been long lost?

Diorite vessels from pre-dynastic, that's 4000 BC, show even more remarkable craftsmanship. Considering, that this stone is harder than Iron, how were those early Egyptians able to bore out slender necks into the vessels, and literally, around corners to hollow out the inside of these circular vessels? The answers to these questions may never be known, but they are important questions, if we are to ever understand the origins of Egyptian civilization and the technological capabilities they had acquired at a very early period.

They Were Giants In Those Days!

What are we to make of the legends, myths and historical accounts of Giants walking upon the Earth? The Bible tells us that the race of the Nephilim, were Giants descended from the heavens who had interbred with human women. Norse, Hindi, Greek, Germanic and Celtic legends all speak of Giants who generally terrorised anyone who crossed their paths.

But, is it possible that they really existed? In a physical sense, science tells us that the mass to height ratio would not allow a being say 12 to 15 feet tall to be able to support itself, with the gravitational pull exerted on it. Theoretically, a Giant would have much slower body movements than us, and would be unable to throw a spear or hunt effectively.

Well, that's what the science says, but then haven't the skeletons of giants been unearthed all over the planet? Yes, they have, in Polynesia, New Zealand and North America, with many hushed up discoveries occuring in other countries. As with the New Zealand discoveries, as I've mentioned before, the Maori Chieftains were first to become aware that Giant red-haired skeletons had been discovered at Waipoua Forest in the 70's-80's. As has occured in many locations globally, the Maoris didn't want any evidence presented publicly which would indicate that other civilizations had persisted in New Zealand prior to the Maoris. The New Zealand Government bent over backwards to hide the evidence, even creating a new law allowing archaeological information to be withheld from the public for 75 years. The excavations at Waipoua Forest were swiftly terminated and the site made completely secure.

So, on the one hand, science tells us that Giants could not have existed, but skeletal finds suggest that they did indeed. Is it possible therefore that the gravitational forces acting upon us, were once far less than they are now? It would certainly explain a lot, and it would account for any Giant peoples having died out. They simply would have been unable to survive with an increased gravitational pull. I'm surprised there hasn't been more research on the DNA of the finds so far, but then again perhaps certain people would prefer those conclusions kept under wraps for now, and probably forever!

The Search For A Lost Continent!

I just don't get the efforts being made to place the lost continent of Atlantis in the Mediterranean, specifically Santorini. Sure, Santorini blew up in a very destructive manner, but it was a volcano, that's what they do. Atlantis apparently sunk completely beneath the waves in a day and a night, and Santorini is still there in a large part. So, that doesn't really match up with Plato's account, especially the part which places Atlantis to the West of the Pillars of Hercules (Straits of Gibraltar), in the great Western ocean. That and the fact that the natives of South America also retained similar tales about Aztlan, a lost continent in the Atlantic. Too much of a coincidence if you ask me.

Taken at face value, as Heinrich Schliemann did with Troy, and Arthur Evans did with Knossos, there is no real reason why we should disbelieve the tales that have been handed down to us from ancient times. Once again, I'm talking about things that we find hard to believe can be true, and so are generally assumed to be myths and legend. How many myths must be proved to be true before academics begin to realise that our ancient forebears weren't liars and storytellers like modern-day archaeolgists, anthropologists, geologists, etc perpetuating their own myths of pre-histroy to suit an ulterior agenda.

The fact is ruins have been found in the mid-atlantic (near the Azores), and at great depths, signifying that they were not merely submerged by rising sea-levels, but due to some geological cataclysm which must have sent them plunging into the depths. Hang on, isn't that what Plato reported that the Egyptians had told his Gt Grandfather Solon?

There have been many discoveries of ancient ruins, off the coasts of countries facing on to the Atlantic sea-board, on both sides of the Atlantic, but I suspect that these were simply the victims of rising sea-levels at the end of the last Ice-Age. The ruins lying on the sea-bed near the Azores testify to the possibility that Atlantis was where we have been told it was all along, and in light of the discoveries of Troy and Knossos, why should we believe otherwise?