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Time Travel -- the State of the Art: Arnold J. Toynbee -- Time Traveler Mind Loosed from its Tether -- The Channelled H.G. Wells Bringing the Body Along -- Physical Time Travel Old Pages (The Change) Resources: Authors & Personalities Additional Resources |
Welcome to RealityTest's continually growing Resources page. RealityTest will draw on a great many sources of information as it explores its chosen areas of focus, sources chosen from Science, History, Philosophy, Religion, and other more difficult to define areas. This section will contain a gradually growing collection of book titles, authors, links to relevant websites, and so on, both to acknowledge those sources from which it draws and to also provide readers with additional resources. As time permits, RealityTest will add commentary. Creating plausible and succinct explanations for its chosen subject areas requires RealityTest to explore numerous regions of knowledge; we would not expect readers to simply accept our conclusions without first laying out a clear path through these regions. This is no simple task, however, and it is barely begun. Elaborating such a clear path, no matter how well this is accomplished, will not suffice alone. No one, for example, will agree to the apparent nature of linear time (including the apparent continuity of memory) without actually glimpsing a very different view of time, directly. RealityTest's use of channelling -- the acquisition of information, accomplished in a trance condition, from nonmaterial realms of consciousness -- presents similar challenges; many view such activities as suspect, being unfamiliar with them and lacking any awareness of those techniques which might enable a change of belief, or, at a minimum, an open mind regarding such activities. Written resources and websites by themselves are insufficient for resolving this conundrum, as they tend to reinforce an egoic perspective of the nature of reality, and that tends to be far too restrictive for exploring those larger realms of identity and consciousness from which a very different understanding may arise. Our task, then, is seemingly impossible; in addition to wielding impressive resources and charting a course through them, RealityTest must find ways to illuminate pathways to these larger realms. Such pathways have always existed, but tend to be peculiar to the time and place in which they were created. Fortunately, any number of suitable techniques exist and these, too, comprise some of RealityTest's resources. Aside from the Seth books and books on meditation (see below), RealityTest's slowly growing Doorways section offers specific techniques and exercises while pointing to additional Internet resources. Then, too, the Internet itself -- an exteriorization of inner processes peculiar to our own present probable mass reality -- offers more or less unexploited potential for entering larger regions of self and consciousness when used as an aid to group focusing. RealityTest will, in time, offer a guide to such activities, and the closely related area of psychic gestalten. |
The Changing Nature of the Publishing Industry and the Distribution of Written Expression
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In our time we have access to thousands of history books, the content of which is being continually updated in the light of changing thought currents and new discoveries. Seen from another perspective, however, all of these histories are probable variations created with all else -- including our memories of the "past" -- in the moment. From that perspective, myth takes on a new significance, and Joseph Campbell remains a master of myth. "Throughout the inhabited world, in all times and under every circumstance, the myths of man have flourished; and they have been the living inspiration of whatever else may have appeared out of the activities of the human body and mind. It would not be too much to say that myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human cultural manifestation. Religions, philosophies, arts, the social forms of primitive and historic man, prime discoveries in science and technology, the very dreams that blister sleep, boil up from the basic, magic ring of myth." The above is from The Hero with a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell,
Copyright © 1949 by Bollingen Foundation Inc.
Transformations of Myth Through Time (Thirteen lectures from a
televised series), Copyright © 1990 by Mythology Limited. Other titles will eventually be added. See also the website for the
Joseph Campbell Foundation. |
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Gibbon's masterwork, The Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire, published in seven volumes between 1776 and 1788, is worth reading simply for experiencing Gibbon's superb prose, but also serves as an excellent resource for time travelers contemplating trips to probable variations of the Roman Empire. An experience in Rome in 1764 -- not so unlike some of Toynbee's "Time Pocket" experiences -- inspired Gibbon. See also Gibbon's Memoirs of My Life, Penguin Books edition, introduction and editorial material copyright © Betty Radice, 1984. |
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Schliemann is a grand example of the romantic visionary, ignoring scoffing sceptics while questing for knowledge. Persisting in his belief that ancient tales and myths contain more than simply psychological truth, Schliemann discovered the location of Troy. Finding the Walls of Troy: Frank Calvert and Heinrich Schliemann at Hisarlik Copyright © 1999 by the Regents of the University of California. Author: Susan Heuck Allen. One Passion, Two Loves: The Story of Heinrich and Sophia Schliemann, Discoverers of Troy Copyright © 1966 by Lynn D. and Gray J. Poole. |
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The Seth material, a body of information encompassing over thirty published books and additional unpublished material archived at Yale University, was channelled by Jane Roberts and is one of RealityTest's primary sources. Seth's optimistic and expansive teachings have inspired many over the years; the material is also embedded with exercises (see RealityTest's Doorways section for one example and a link to many more). Seth describes himself as an "energy personality essence no longer focused in physical form." Jane Roberts describes the beginning of her Seth odyssey in the introduction
to Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul:
Because of that experience, I began doing research into psychic activity, and planned a book on the project. In line with this, my husband, Rob, and I experimented with a Ouija board late in 1963. After the first few sessions, the pointer spelled out messages that claimed to come from a personality called Seth. Neither Rob or I had any psychic background, and when I began to anticipate the board's replies, I took it for granted that they were coming from my subconscious. Not long after, however, I felt impelled to say the words aloud, and within a month I was speaking for Seth while in a trance state. The messages seemed to begin where Idea Construction left off, and later Seth said that my expansion of consciousness experience had represented his first attempt at contact." The Physical Universe as Idea Construction also marks the the first appearance of one of Seth's core concepts, reality creation, which runs like a river through the material. Reality creation is also a key component of RealityTest's view of physical time travel and will be explored at length in Bringing the Body Along -- Physical Time Travel. A partial listing of books by both Seth and Jane Roberts (Robert F. Butts is Jane's husband) includes:
How to Develop Your ESP Power Copyright © 1966 by Jane Roberts. Related Resources Bridging Science and Spirit (Common Elements in David Bohm's
Physics, the Perennial Philosophy and Seth) Copyright © 1990, 1994 by Norman Friedman. The Early Sessions and The Personal Sessions,
presented by New Awareness Network Inc. and available at the Seth and Jane Roberts
Bookstore and Audio Collection. These are previously unpublished Seth sessions including the first 510 sessions
(The Early Sessions) and personal and deleted sessions (The Personal Sessions) in which Seth
dictated information through Jane Roberts as her husband, Rob, recorded it. A Seth Reader (The Essence of the Wisdom of Seth Selected in
Chronological Order from the Seth Works of Jane Roberts) edited by Richard Roberts. |
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(See RealityTest's Arnold J. Toynbee -- Time Traveler section.) A Study of History by Arnold J. Toynbee. Published in ten
volumes between 1934 and 1954 by Oxford University Press. Arnold J. Toynbee -- A Life Copyright © 1989 by William H. McNeill. |
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(See RealityTest's Mind Loosed from its Tether -- the Channelled H.G. Wells section, which in time will include a number of channelled essays. Clearly, a distinction must be made between the writings of the living Wells and this much more recent channelled material, one RealityTest illuminates. A small but growing list of Wells' books and other writings, demonstrating the breadth of his interests, follows. This will gradually be supplemented with commentary.)
The Time Machine (1895) Biographies: Links: The H.G. Wells SocietyThis site includes links to numerous Wells sites on the web.Wikipedia's Wells article
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Colin Wilson emerged as a provocative author with the publication of The Outsider in 1956, and has since written over eighty (over one hundred?) books. A very incomplete listing follows:
The Outsider Copyright © 1956 by Colin Wilson. Wilson is justifiably impressed with the life and thought of "rascal master" George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff (1866? to 1949), definitely one of the more colorful and fascinating personalities of modern times, and incorporates some of Gurdjieff's teachings into his "Faculty X" concept, presented in a number of his books. (See The Occult.) RealityTest may tackle the subject of Gurdjieff; whether this happens or not, it recommends Gurdjieff: A Biography -- The Anatomy of a Myth, Copyright © James Moore 1971, and In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching, by P.D. Ouspensky (published in 1949) as introductions to the complex and controversial "G". (While lauding Gurdjieff's questing spirit and amazing gifts as teacher and advanced tale spinner possessing powerful and unusual knowledge, RealityTest finds his bleaker views unnecessarily pessimistic.) Beyond the Occult Copyright © 1988 by Colin Wilson. RealityTest is indebted to Wilson for his inclusion of Arnold J. Toynbee's "time travelling" experiences in Beyond the Occult.From Atlantis to the Sphinx: Recovering the Lost Wisdom of the Ancient World Copyright © 1996 by Colin Wilson. Alien Dawn: An Investigation into the Contact Experience Copyright © Colin Wilson 1998. The Atlantis Blueprint: Unlocking the Ancient Mysteries of a Long-Lost Civilization Copyright © 2000 by Rand Flem-Ath and Colin Wilson. Wilson and Flem-Ath seem to be involved in a friendly contest with Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval, Adrian Gilbert, and others on the topic of predecessor civilizations, which includes Charles H. Hapgood's careful but generally ignored work on the Piri Re'is map and related areas (see the Controversial Histories section below). RealityTest has something to add to this discussion (not surprising considering its Time Travel section and focus on authors of universal histories such as Toynbee and Wells) and will do so as time permits. Very short version: The past only appears to be static and unchanging; further, there is no single past. Building a solid case for multiple dynamic pasts will tax the imagination; nevertheless, RealityTest intends to do exactly that. Needless to say, the question of predecessor civilizations gains great fluidity when viewed from such a perspective. In the meantime, please take a look at the so called Pyramids of Montevecchia (Italian site; click here for Czech site) discovered in Italy in 2003. According to obscure websites, these three hills were considered entirely natural until satellite and aerial photographs revealed distinct pyramidal shapes. Sceptics have questioned the alignment of the Giza pyramids as discussed by Bauval, Hancock, and others, who suggest it mirrors the belt of the constellation Orion. Here, supposedly, is the same pattern, and in northern Italy, not Egypt! RealityTest, in conjunction with The Great Coordination Point Expedition (an informal organization it sponsors), located and inspected the site during two fall 2004 expeditions. If these hills should prove to be nothing more than ancient terraced gardens, as some commentators have suggested, no matter; northern Italy is certainly a fine place to visit. Whatever they are, someone went to a lot of trouble to shape them, long ago; RealityTest suggests they are associated with an unknown and quite possibly prehistoric Mediterranean culture.
Dreaming to Some Purpose: An Autobiography Copyright © 2004 by Colin Wilson. Links: Colin Wilson World
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Center for Consciousness Studies "Promoting open, rigorous discussion of all phenomena related to conscious experience." Located at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. The Institute of Noetic Sciences Journal of Consciousness Studies "Controversies in science and the humanities." Karl Jaspers Forum "An Electronic Journal for
Target Articles."
The Non-Local Universe: The New Physics and Matters of the Mind by Robert Nadeau and Menas Kafatos, Copyright © 1999 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) -- Scientific Study of Consciousness-Related Physical Phenomena From the PEAR website, 2007: "At the end of February, PEAR will be concluding its experimental operations at Princeton University. After more than a quarter century of systematic empirical study of consciousness-related physical phenomena, it is our sense that many of the salient correlates of these intriguing anomalies have now been identified. There are many important questions still to be addressed, but these will require an even broader interdisciplinary approach to the topic. Therefore, we will be shifting our base of operations to the International Consciousness Research Laboratories, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization." (See also this February, 2007, New York Times article on PEAR's plan to close its doors.) Psyleron -- "the company that allows you to measure and directly observe the impact that your mind has on physical reality". Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness Copyright © 2006 by Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner. RealityShifters.com "Changing the physical universe with our thoughts and feelings" -- Cynthia Sue Larson's website. The RetroPsychoKinesis Project Science & Consciousness Review
The TASTE Journal and online Project: The Archives of Scientists' Transcendent Experiences (TASTE) is the creation of Dr. Charles T. Tart, author and prominent consciousness researcher. |
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Many grow up thinking of history as cut and dried, dead and as if set in concrete. It should be obvious to those who have digested the concepts of this site that this is far from the case -- simply because a particular time is viewed as the "past" from a future moment doesn't mean those participating in that past are as automatons, mechanically acting out what, to those in that future moment, has already happened. In this sense, history is quite alive. From their perspectives in their respective living moments, all happening "live" in what Seth calls the "spacious present," Sir Walter Ralegh (see The History of the World published around 1615), H.G. Wells, and Arnold J. Toynbee are even now hard at work conceiving and writing their universal histories, employing the best resources available to them. Without even touching on probable or alternate histories, equally valid from a greater perspective, it's plain, too, that beliefs and assumptions about the past are in continuous flux. Official and all too frequently quite smug scholarly opinion regarding the course of events for any given previous era exists in great abundance. New evidence -- say a freshly unearthed artifact or one found covered with dust after sitting in some university basement for decades -- comes to light all the time. Frequently, if such a discovery conflicts with the prevailing wisdom, it may be years (if ever) before theories change to incorporate it. Once this is accomplished, however, the whole puzzle of the past must be rearranged to accomodate it. In this way official history and its assumptions and beliefs, perpetually recreated in the present, change. This will all be readily apparent to those who experiment with mental time travel techniques, but the equivalent of basic maps for such time travelers remain the official histories. Often akin to the wildly imaginative maps of the "New World" before it was actually encountered and thoroughly explored (particulary when dealing with remote times), these remain excellent starting points, serving as required resources for budding time travelers, no matter that they are often so indicative of the beliefs and biases of their creators and _their_ times as to serve more as another kind of history, a history of beliefs. These are available everywhere in great quantity and profusion (including many excellent websites easily discovered by an Internet search) so there is no point in listing them here. RealityTest believes, however, that more controversial histories -- usually, but not always, written by non-specialists -- can serve to open the minds of time travelers to quite valid possibilities, possibilities which might not otherwise be considered. As such, RealityTest is compiling a growing list of these alternative resources below, adding commentary as time permits. Any number of ideas contained in these books will have been dismissed by official historians as not being worthy of even the slightest consideration. Some of these ideas will in fact become the new "truth" in various future worlds after long struggles to gain acceptance, while others will pass away as fanciful speculation, and rightly so -- such books make for stimulating reading but a reader is advised to winnow any wheat they may find -- there is endless chaff. For the mental time traveler these resources can serve as very useful supplements to the official histories, in some cases providing insight into experiences which might otherwise make no sense at all. (See also some of Colin Wilson's most recent books, listed above.) America B.C.: Ancient Settlers in the New World Copyright © 1976 by Barry Fell. Black Spark White Fire: Did African Explorers Civilize Ancient Europe? Copyright © 1997, 1999 by Richard Poe. The title and subtitle of this book, written after the "Black Athena" controversy (which Poe covers) had died down somewhat, may mislead some. While romping through the Bronze Age and dipping into the Stone and Iron Ages and later times here and there, Poe, a journalist, covers both sides of a number of fascinating controversies, building a good case for alternative views of the past. The key to the title and subtitle are the questions: "Who is black?" "Who is white?" and "What does that mean?" while focusing on Nubia and Egypt and their influence in and beyond Africa -- in particular the early Mediterranean world of Crete, Phoenicia, and Greece -- while considering Europe. Poe answers these questions quite well, showing how very different beliefs have led to very different answers over the millennia, biasing the interpretation of artifacts and the writing of history. The Book of Hiram: Freemasonry, Venus, and the Secret Key to the Life of
Jesus Copyright © 2003 by Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas. This book follows three earlier books by the
same authors (see also The Web of Hiram, a related resource):
The Daily Grail. This site features daily news summaries often including links to controversial history sites, among its other resources, without shying from presenting sceptical perspectives. The editorial tone is light and informal, a welcome relief for weary webcruisers. The Fall: The Evidence for a Golden Age, 6,000 years of insanity, and the dawning of a new era by Steve Taylor. Copyright © 2005 O Books. Fingerprints of the Gods: The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization Copyright © 1995 by Graham Hancock. Forbidden Archeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race by Michael A. Cremo and Richard L. Thompson. Copyright © 1993 by Govardhan Hill Inc. (Noted: Book is thick and hefty -- 914 pages.) Heaven's Mirror: Quest for the Lost Civilization by Graham Hancock and Santha Faiia. Copyright © 1998 by Graham Hancock. Photographs Copyright © 1998 by Santha Faiia. Lost Star of Myth and Time Copyright © 2006 by Walter Cruttenden. Manitou: The Sacred Landscape of New England's Native Civilization Copyright © 1989 by James W. Mavor, Jr. and Byron E. Dix. Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings: Evidence of Advanced Civilization in the Ice Age Copyright © 1966, 1979 by Charles H. Hapgood. The Message of the Sphinx: A Quest for the Hidden Legacy of Mankind Copyright © 1996 by Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval. The New View Over Atlantis Copyright © 1969, 1972, 1983 by John Michell. The Orion Mystery: A Revolutionary New Interpretation of the Ancient Enigma Copyright © 1994 by Robert Bauval and Adrian Gilbert. Pyramid Quest: Secrets of the Great Pyramid and the Dawn of Civilization Copyright © 2005 by Robert M. Schoch, PhD., and Robert Aquinas McNally. See also Dr. Schoch's official website. The Secret Vaults of Time: Psychic Archaeology and the Quest for Man's
Beginnings Copyright © 1978 by Stephan A. Schwartz.
Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind by
Graham Hancock. Copyright © 2006 Graham Hancock (This book is definitely up RealityTest's alley -- a commentary
will appear here just as soon as the editor finishes reading it! See Hancock's website below for more information.)
Talisman: Sacred Cities, Secret Faith ©
Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval 2004.
Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization Copyright ©
2002 by Graham Hancock.
9/11 Part I. Opposed Beliefs Controversial History is not restricted to the distant past;
consider the highly politically and emotionally charged events of September 11, 2001. These happened after the rise of the Internet, which allows television broadcasts and video to be viewed and analyzed
endlessly by anyone with a computer and Internet access, while also enabling collaboration and information sharing on a
large scale. Our present world is quite different from that of, say, 1963. (If you've been sleeping since 2001, an Internet
search on 9/11 will serve to awaken you to these realities.) The U.S. government offered immediate explanations for what it described as a terrorist conspiracy and, shocked by
these events, many accepted these explanations without question and still do. Others noticed peculiarities and inconsistencies in the government explanations, however, and began to imagine different
scenarios, an activity eventually energized by downloadable films available free-of-charge on the Internet. The same government then discredited itself in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, offering lies and half-truths in
justification, afterwards disgracing itself in the invasion of a country offering no immediate threat to the U.S., creating
a situation offering death, injury, and suffering to untold thousands of innocent people, all in the name of bringing
democracy to them. A tyrant (at one time supported by an American administration) was usurped and captured but the U.S.
government failed to fully consider the consequences of its actions, a poor showing indeed for a country that arrogantly
thought of itself as the world's most powerful and righteous nation. This led additional people to view the events of 9/11 and the official explanations with new eyes -- the perception of
government credibility had changed and many began to consider ugly possibilities for the first time, including two basic
variations: 1. Those assigned blame by the government weren’t responsible; an unknown group within the U.S. government was. 2. Those assigned blame weren’t solely responsible; they acted in collusion with unknown agents within the U.S.
government or were influenced by such agents, "set up" in some way. The emotionally charged dividing line between such speculation and the official explanations deals of course with the
murder of American civilians. Would unknown members of an American government even consider such a possibility? Many
Americans don't believe so, yet the murder of so many civilians in both Afghanistan and Iraq suggests a government
having little or no genuine regard for human life. (How could anyone profess such a regard while at the same time being
instrumental in the killing so many?) Whether this disregard extends to American civilian lives is one key question. Further, the murky world of "false flag" and "pseudo" operations (See this Wikipedia entry for
Operation Gladio) is becoming increasingly exposed on the
Internet. Cold War personalities who held to the tenets of an ideology -- in which the murder of innocents is
justified -- had regained political power by 2001. This all turns on the second key question, that of motive: Did the U.S. government respond to the events of 9/11 or were
those events influenced, allowed to happen, or deliberately created by a component of that government in order to manipulate
the feelings of American citizens such that they would support policies of both aggressive militarism and greatly
heightened security? In other words, were the actions of terrorists on 9/11 timely and fortuitous, seized upon as though
perfectly conceived and executed to advance the aims of a hideous ideology, or were these actions less coincidental than
they appeared to be?
Anyone who has never pondered such possibilities could think back to how quickly the U.S. government blamed
Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda and invaded Afghanistan in pursuit of them, killing many civilians. They might then read this
MSNBC May 16, 2002 article. See also the following curious paragraph
found in Wikipedia's Osama bin Laden article [Editor's note:
Owing to Wikipedia's interactive nature, articles and references -- particularly those dealing with controversial
subjects -- are likely to change, sometimes frequently] They might also view Adam Curtis’ BBC documentary The Power of Nightmares, found on
Google Video. The film provides brief histories of both the militant Islamicist and
neoconservative movements. A concerned viewer might now turn to endlessly proliferating websites exploring alternate 9/11 explanations, but he or
she will have quite a mixture to sift through, including a great quantity of questionable material. Two additional problems
soon present themselves: 1. The U.S. government has been extremely secretive when it comes to evidence. For example, a private video of the
Pentagon crash taken from an Arlington, Virginia, hotel was immediately confiscated by the FBI but eventually released,
after a lawsuit. The released video shows no airplane, however; it only shows the explosion generated by a crash, adding
to speculation based on photos of the damage to the Pentagon building, not reducing it. (Why confiscate the video in the
first place? This "classified in the interests of national security" aspect of this situation, a traditional kind of
information suppression, is contrary to the freewheeling nature of the Internet. Does Raison d'État have any place
in a world of over 70,000,000 bloggers and billions of web pages?) 2. Major media organizations have, for the most part, completely ignored the many problems, peculiarities, and
coincidences associated with the official conspiracy explanations, often deriding anyone seriously considering alternate
explanations. This forces those interested to have to slog through endless Internet rumors, myth, exaggeration, and misinformation, all
while having to deal with the disdain and derision of those who believe the official explanations to be entirely truthful.
(One Internet rumor proved to be no rumor at all -- see this YouTube CNN
broadcast of an E-4B "Flying Pentagon" seen flying in restricted airspace over the White House on the morning of 9/11.
Note how this happened even as smoke rose from the Pentagon explosion -- this plane was able to reach the vicinity at
that time even though no interceptor fighter planes were able to. Bureaucratic bungling may have been a major factor that
day, but it's very difficult for members of the public to ascertain to what degree this was so, under the circumstances.)
The 9/11 Commission was created in 2002, but as author and
activist Peter Tatchell wrote on the guardian.co.uk's Comment
is Free page:
For those who accept the official explanations, the conspirators behind the events of 9/11 were Islamic extremists --
agents of Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. Those who believe in the possibility of alternate explanations might consider the conspirators to have been
neoconservatives, re-energized Cold War covert operations personnel, foreign intelligence operatives, hidden military cells,
or some combination of these, including Islamic extremists as unwitting but willing participants. Accomplices or
accessories might also include members of the U.S. financial community, certain software company personnel, and those
involved in providing security for the World Trade Center, among many other possibilities mentioned on websites. This speculation tends to ignore another group, however -- certain fundamentalist Christians in the U.S. military.
RealityTest chooses to call them neocrusaders -- throwbacks to a more brutal age. Like the original
crusaders, they believe in a black and white world of good and evil as presented in the Old Testament, one in which the
killing of Islamic people may be necessary, this in the name of their god (regardless of the spirit of the New Testament
they claim to hold as dear as the Old Testament). Such militant fundamentalists include those who hold to some of the more
peculiar interpretations of the Book of Revelation such as The Rapture, and other apocalyptic beliefs in
which Israel, the Middle East, and Islam are prominent. RealityTest hadn’t truly focused on this group until recently, after coming across a blog on
The Nation’s website (found here). This was followed by an Internet search on fundamentalism +"U.S. military", which brought up over 410,000 pages.
Unless they are a member of some odd fundamentalist sect, anyone choosing to investigate these pages will find some of them
very disturbing. As a result of this discovery, RealityTest expects neocrusaders to be added to the list of possible suspects for
alternate explanations of the events of 9/11. In an alternate scenario, their crusade -- their jihad -- could begin with
the U.S. population behind them, jingoistically stirred up by the events of 9/11, enabling the fulfillment of what they
believed ancient prophesies predicted. No matter which religious beliefs or ideology drives an extremist, it is a willingness to kill innocents that classifies
them as such, in complete contradiction to the actual tenets of their religion and the laws of any civilized nation. Needless to say, such beliefs have no place whatsoever in modern democracies, where the rule of law prevails and murder
is dealt with accordingly. The U.S. constitution also specifically forbids the combination of church and state. Regardless of which conspiracy theory is accurate, no matter who was behind the events of 9/11 and which ideology and/or
extremist beliefs motivated them, only madmen could use those events to initiate a course of "pre-emptive" warfare, invading
nations and visiting death, destruction, and misery on so many having nothing to do with those events. Whatever 9/11 was,
it was definitely not another Pearl Harbor; innocent citizens of Afghanistan or Iraq are not the pilots of the fighter
planes and bombers launched from aircraft carriers -- or the generals and admirals giving them orders -- of a sovereign
nation that had declared war on the U.S. During the first half of the twentieth century Germany was perpetually lambasted for the evil of aggressive militarism,
and rightfully so. Kaiser Wilhelm is long dead, but his proclivities live on. The Washington Post
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CBS News
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The Australian
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Military Times Officially described as an "isolated mistake," a careful researcher will soon realize this was not likely; the storage
and movement of nuclear weapons entails extremely rigorous procedures (how could this not be so?) while specific orders --
from the highest levels of authority -- must be issued. The explanations of bungles, failure to follow procedure,
out-of-date identification schedules, and so on provided to the press are highly implausible (although frightening if true).
What is surprising, considering the present political climate, is the fact that this event even came to the public's
attention, suggesting divisions within the U.S. military. RealityTest advises its readers to research this story for themselves and contemplate its significance, then
consider any implications applicable to alternate explanations of the events of 9/11. Conclusion We are left with a mystery. RealityTest awaits a solid verdict based on carefully corroborated participant
testimony, believing this to be ultimately attainable despite all present obstacles. Should no such evidence be acquired,
9/11 shall be a forever unresolved question complete with the perpetually opposed beliefs of proponents of the two primary
explanations -- Controversial History, in other words. Meanwhile, the amateur sleuths of the Internet are rapidly supplanting the professional investigative journalism of
formerly responsible news organizations, owing to a combination of business and technological changes outwardly symbolic
of the inner changes in consciousness RealityTest focuses upon. Although the nature of facts can be questioned from
a metaphysical perspective, in journalism C.P. Scott's "facts are sacred" still applies. Enthusiastic amateurs would do
well to heed Scott's words. RealityTest suggests the deeper side of this particular story involves a change from a very old "might makes
right" egoic consciousness prevalent since at least the time of Sargon of Akkad (no matter which particular
surface ideology is favored) to something quite new and different. |
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Certain books by bonafide specialists serve to illustrate how rapidly ideas of history can change and are, in some areas, changing. For example, those who have restricted their reading on the topic of the Dead Sea Scrolls to books and articles published before 1989 may be unaware of how official beliefs about them have changed so drastically since scholarly pressure forced their release from the hands of those who maintained them -- and their interpretation -- to the world at large.
Paleolithic cave art is explored as one of the earliest expressions of human artistic creativity not just in The Mind in the Cave but also in Graham Hancock's Supernatural, which RealityTest will review in its Controversial Histories section above. Hancock comments on both books here, in an article on his own website. RealityTest will eventually have much to say on this and related topics.The Paleolithic Indo-Europeans by Cory Panshin. Cory Panshin's web writings are included here for obvious reasons, even though she is more of an intelligent observer than a specialist.
There's nothing controversial about this book, but many will enjoy reading of Rawlinson's exploits and how the world of ancient Mesopotamia began to emerge in Victorian minds as another rediscovered lost continent.Genesis of the Pharaohs by Toby Wilkinson, Copyright © 2003 Thames & Hudson Ltd, London. Whether "pre-sand" civilizations existed in Egypt or not, people did live in what is now the Eastern Desert (it was once a savanna region) thousands of years before pharaonic civilization arose, leaving behind numerous petroglyphs. Wilkinson creates a picture of these people and their lives, linking them to Dynastic Egypt, based on these petroglyphs. Noted: Reading either Graham Hancock's Supernatural or David Lewis-Willams' The Mind in the Cave may create a changed perception of the content of Genesis of the Pharoahs; although Wilkinson doesn't apply Lewis-Williams' neurological cave and rock art theories to the petroglyphs of the Eastern Desert, there is nothing to prevent a reader from doing so.Imagining Atlantis Copyright © 1998 by Richard Ellis. Ellis (a writer and artist focused on marine subjects) takes a sceptical approach in his review of theories of Atlantis, which includes a lengthy section devoted to Minoan Crete and Santorini that incorporates recent archeological discoveries. Perhaps the very name Atlantis, associated as it is with centuries of often wild speculation, is a hindrance to those seeking remnants of predecessor civilizations, even if the myth serves as a source of inspiration for present day Schliemanns.Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City Copyright © 2001 by Gwendolyn Leick. If you read Empires of the Plain you may wish to review contemporary views of Mesopotamia; reading Leick's excellent survey of ten ancient cities, from Eridu to Babylon, is one way to accomplish this. Leick is quite aware of changing views of ancient times -- from the preface: "It is not just technology, however, but the questions being asked that have changed: cultural diversity, the relation of centre to periphery, social relations, power structures, economic systems, ecological change and gender issues are only some of the most recent concerns of historians and archaeologists. Such perspectives and goals inevitably reflect the thoughts and intellectual 'fashions' of our own time. The same texts, the same architecture, the same pots have been and will in the future be evaluated and understood in quite different ways that often say more about the society seeking such answers than about the ancient society itself."The Search for Omm Sety Copyright © 1987 by Jonathan Cott (written in collaboration with Hanny El Zeini) This is the intriguing life story of Dorothy Eady (1904-1981), inseparable from Abydos, Egypt, and Pharoah Sety I of the Nineteenth Dynasty. A unique personal version of time transcendence, informed by an ancient love, was key to Dorothy Eady's (also Omm Sety or mother of Sety, as her son's name was also Sety) life.The Vanished Library: A Wonder of the Ancient World by Luciano Canfora Copyright © 1987 (California Edition with corrected translation by Martin Ryle Copyright © 1990) This small book reminds all who read it of just how subjective even official history can be, how assembling "facts" is a creative activity of the historian, and how a combination of facts, errors, and myths are transmitted across time, each gaining momentum until called into question.
All religions have a mythical dimension (an inevitable result of the passage of time, above and beyond the nature of any particular set of religious beliefs, which may or may not include mythical -- or purely symbolic -- components) and Christianity is no exception. RealityTest is aware of two basic approaches for probing beyond the mythical; one is experiential, the other relies on scholarship and archaeology (RealityTest asserts that a creative combination of both yields the most satisfying results). The above four books will intrigue anyone interested in the origins of Christianity. For those who prefer historical fiction, RealityTest recommends The Secret Magdalene Copyright © 2005 by Ki Longfellow, a highly entertaining and well researched tale. The Roman Empire 27 B.C. - A.D. 476: A Study in Survival by
Chester G. Starr Copyright © 1982 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization Copyright ©
Bryan Ward-Perkins 2005.
The World of Late Antiquity: AD 150-750 by Peter Brown. Copyright
© 1971 Thames & Hudson Ltd, London.
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(See also RealityTest's Doorways section.) A great variety of formal meditation techniques exist and have existed since at least the Bronze Age, including those affiliated with various mystical and religious traditions, but many remain unfamiliar with the rudiments, particularly in those societies in which monotheistic religions have prevailed over the centuries. RealityTest chooses not to promote any particular practice, believing the essence of meditation is best discovered by the meditator. RealityTest also suggests that excessively formal or rigid practices are counter-productive, although there are definite advantages to regular practice. The following titles will be gradually supplemented with additional resources. How to Meditate: A Guide to Self-Discovery Copyright © 1974 by by Lawrence LeShan. Editor's note: During the spring of 1982, I chose to teach myself how to meditate and took my copy of LeShan's book into the beautiful Mount Auburn Cemetery of Cambridge, Massachusetts, home to the mortal remains (and ornate funerary monuments) of many well-to-do 19th Century Boston Brahmins. What is Meditation? Edited by John White. Copyright © 1974 by by John White. Mind Science: Meditation Training for Practical People Copyright © 2001 by Charles T. Tart, Ph.D. (Order directly from Tart's TASTE site.) |
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(This is a new section just begun; please bear with us.) Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death Copyright © Deborah Blum. 2006. This entertaining tale brings an earlier era and some of its brilliant personalities to life, along with their detractors, the endless con artists of the paranormal, and those found to possess genuine gifts, such as Leonora Piper. The issues James and his intrepid fellow investigators faced, not so long after Darwin had sparked a serious collision of beliefs even as the Spiritualism movement was gaining strength, are still with us today. The unexplained paranormal happenstances these early investigators filtered out from far more numerous instances of fraud and hoaxsterism are still unexplained, still provoking dismissal by scientific materialists. (See Greg Taylor's Interview of Deborah Blum at The Daily Grail and also Jane Robert's The Afterdeath Journal of an American Philosopher: The World View of William James Copyright © 1978.) The Gold Leaf Lady (And Other Parapsychological Investigations) by Stephen E. Braude. Copyright © 2007 by The University of Chicago. Human Personality and Its Survival of Death by Frederic W. Myers. Two volumes; 1903. Reprint, New York: Arno Press, 1975. Immortal Remains: The Evidence for Life After Death by Stephen E. Braude. Copyright © 2003. Parapsychology and the Skeptics: A Scientific Argument for the Existence of ESP by Chris Carter (see book's website). Phantasms of the Living (Two Volumes) by Eleanor M. Sidgwick, Edmund Gurney, Frederic W. Myers, and Frank Podmore. 1886. William James on Psychical Research compiled and edited by Gardner Murphy and Robert O. Ballou. Copyright © 1960 by The Viking Press, Inc. See also The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature (the Gifford Lectures on Natural Religion Delivered at Edinburgh in 1901-1902) by William James. American Society for Psychical Research, Inc. |
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(Many additional titles will be added here with associated commentary; the range in authors' perspective will vary from mainstream scientific to the experimental and somewhat offbeat, a range RealityTest believes is appropriate for this topic.) A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes Copyright © 1988 by Stephen W. Hawking. The End of Time (The Next Revolution in Physics) Copyright © 1999 by Julian Barbour. An Experiment with Time by J. W. Dunne. First published in 1927.
Making Time: Why Time Seems to Pass at Different Speeds and How to Control It. Text Copyright © 2007 Steve Taylor. Time's Arrows Today: Recent Physical and Philosophical Work on the Direction of Time Edited by Steven F. Savitt. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Time: A Traveler's Guide by Clifford A. Pickover Copyright © 1998. Unveiling the Edge of Time: Black Holes, White Holes, Wormholes Copyright © 1992 by John and Mary Gribbon. The Yoga of Time Travel: How the Mind Can Defeat Time Copyright © 2004 by Fred Alan Wolf. |
We await excavation of this long forgotten sacred site by archaeologists, wondering whether our intimations
will be born out.