It takes all kinds to make a world and many experiences to make a lifetime.
Each presentation I give on close encounters and alien abduction seems to recieve a different reaction. In some cases, after my presentation people seem to line up waiting to talk with me - frequently about their own experiences. At other times - even when I get enthusiastic applause and lots of discussion during the presentation - few people have their own experiences to describe.
The population of experiencers (having answered "yes" to all of the check questions on the Roper Poll of unexplained experiences) in the general population appears to be slightly less than one percent. Generally, the percentage I observe is higher. In each talk, I have found that about two to five people out of twenty have raised their hands when I have asked if anyone has had personal experiences with the unexplained. Indeed, among people attending a talk on UFOs and close encounters we would certainly expect to have a MUCH higher percentage, and in the end, I find relatively consistent numbers - about 10% to 25% of those attending are aware and acknowledged experiencers.
There are many ways in which researchers hear from experiencers. In addition to conversation following a talk, contact is often via phone or e-mail, and the rate of these has been about two to ten per week. And the biggest thing I have noticed - the rate of people contacting me has steadily climbed over the last year.
In each case, I marvel at how consistent their accounts are. Most fall into the classic Hopkins/Jacobs model, with frequent variations on a theme. But the most common component of a person's awareness is fear - how does one experience something which pulls the rug out from under one's personal reality, then return to everyday life. Added to this is the knowledge that such an experience can happen again at any time, without warning. In many cases, the exepriencer has no memory of the event, yet is left with a legacy of fear directed toward - what?
Where there is darkness, there is also light, and it appears that the realm of the phenomenon is no exception. Like every other passage in life, each stage of the phenomenon seems to have a finite duration. For most experiencers, the stage of fear-generating abduction encounters seems to last through the early adult years, at most. For many, they are even briefer. Furthermore, I have found that, with awareness, the experiencer can manage - and even take power over - their interactions with the phenomenon. Some appear to have even shut the phenomenon out of their lives completely. I have written on this in the past, and discuss it extensively in The Cosmic Bridge. In the future, I plan to hold a lot more discussion on how people have accomplished this. I am always interested to hear from anyone, just how they have managed their own interactions with the phenomenon - how it has changed over time. But for now, let us just presume that it is possible to take charge of your own life, even when it is beset with intruders from elsewhere.
I have often made the verbal observation that humans are scarier to me than aliens, and in the last several weeks, a number of people-oriented events have borne out this view. While the Visitors may be a source of fear and mystery, they do not seem to be overtly motivated by money or power - unfortunately, this seems to be the very core of the human motivation. A quick glance at the news will show this as a fundamental driver of current events - wars, corporate scandals, political quibbles over how to restructure our health-care system; all trace their roots back to this basic drive, money and power. I suspect that the Visitors are very well aware of this aspect of human nature, and thus we would probably not be considered to be qualified participants in the cosmic community.
On a personal note, I have noted several instances of the duality between human nature - in this case monetary/economic - and spiritual growth. This has seemed to limit what would otherwise be a great spiritual teaching. Again, to me this seems to be the Universe teaching transcendence of this type of polarity. I won't go into details, save to say that in some cases, proprietary and monetary considerations often appear to reduce what would otherwise be a powerful spiritual and healing tool, for both healer and client. I'm sure each of us has our own example(s) of this. 'Nuff sed...:-)
To me, this is another instance of the need to rise above such issues, to maintain perspective. Any particualar school or teaching must be seen in the context of the many. As with lifelong experiences with the encounter phenomenon, one lesson appears to be how to live life in multiple worlds - physical and metaphysical, earthly and extraordinary, spiritual and economic. In oh-so-many ways, we spend much of our lives in multiple points in the journey over The Cosmic Bridge.
Each phase of life leaves us with lessons, gifts of spiritual and practical growth. Whether the characteristics of any given phase of experience is positive or otherwise, each leaves us with something that enriches us. In my own life, Christianity, Transcendental and Himalayan Meditation, various hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis methodologies, all have left their gifts with my own soul, and hopefully these have passed in their own way to others around me. Like the experiences of many, these passages in life are part of the tapestry of our experience, in their own way, always remaining in our lives.
In recent months, I have found work again shifting from general healing back toward close encounter work. I'm not sure if this shift is long term, or if it is a short-term turn in the road. However, it feels like a fundamental shift in phase. Like experiencers, teachers and students, the world of hypnosis work changes continually. And each twist provides brings with it a lesson in the phases of life - changes in the world of humans and visitors - another step across The Cosmic Bridge.
