I have worked about this concept in my mind for quite some time, looking to ancient customs and cultures for Spirits, Fairies, Elves, Aliens, and Angels. Recently, interestingly, it is ok to go on Oprah and say, "I was in a car accident, and an angel materialized and pulled my children and I from the wreckage. It was my Guardian Angel." And people clap, and cheer and smile and either share similar stories, or hope for their own Kind Helper to come along one day.

Maybe differing realms of consciousness house different types of beings. OR it is the same Being presenting as different through the lens of the individual, and the era in which the experiencer is experiencing the Visit.

Medieval times: Fairies and dragons etc. Now as we have grown technologically, it is middle of the night alien abduction.

Well..... what is it?

Perhaps it is an altered state of consciousness that occurs quite spontaneously (but perhaps at key moments in time as things may "happen for a reason") but "out of the blue" one moment you crawl into bed tired after a long day at work. Then suddenly you wake up and VIVIDLY recall that you were pulled from your bed by Alien Looking visitors who showed you things about Humanity, and led you on a journey through the cosmos etc. Your mind went on the trip, perhaps, your body stayed in bed physically, but the experience is nonetheless real for the experiencer.

Maybe we each have assigned Angels/Aliens/an entity.

Why is it socially acceptable to say Guardian Angel, but not Alien? Because of the religious connotation? Interesting, because our society is allegedly so accepting of the scientific and tech, moreso now than ever...right? Thoughts?

The Buildup

I have a lot to say about this subject, so I am putting together my manifesto. My manifesto will cover everything I think that ties together my theories and will benefit readers of this Sub. It will be multipart and I will update when I can as I am a busy person, but feel very strongly about this topic as it has changed my life and the life of those closest to me. All of this is buildup for a fateful day that I put together a theory that still shakes me to the core and changes everything.

A little information about myself, I am a 27 year old male native to San Diego, but lived in Seattle for the better part of a decade. I am a (self-proclaimed) artistic engineer, I am ambidextrous and according to tests I used both halves of my brain equally. I was in the US Navy for 6 years as a Nuclear and Electrical engineer. Outside of the Navy I have done lots of various jobs from building pilot houses for ships, fixing computers, game stop, and a bunch of other various contractor positions. Currently I am a student and a freelance writer/programmer.

Let’s talk about back when I was discharged from the Navy. It was an Honorable discharge, but the separation was involuntary. I had developed a medical condition that lost me my "Fit for Duty" stamp. So that was that, I had planned on making a career out of my time in the service, especially since at that time the recession was just kicking into gear.

My first day out of the service I felt terrified, but I also felt wonderful. After six years of having a detailed procedure to tell me how to do everything in my life (I mean EVERYTHING) I found myself staring at the ceiling scratching my stubble that I now no longer have to shave off every day. I had to find a job, but I wasn't worried about it, I was free to do whatever I wanted, and it felt great to not be under pressure.

The next few months consisted of finding a job, growing a great beard, and smoking marijuana. I have smoked every day since I have been out of the service (3 years and 2 months) and it has had a profound effect on my life. I see the world in a light that I never before thought could possibly exist. Everything and everyone is co-dependent on each other as much as we are co-dependent with the Earth. Prior to my being in the service, my experience with MJ and drugs in general was pretty low, I would get high and drink a little, but I had more love for my computer than anything else. In the Navy I did what seems natural for sailors to do. I drank, and I drank hard. After the service I fell back into my old routine of smoking and drinking, but it was always for the purpose of becoming intoxicated. After a year of smoking everyday (it helped with the medical condition along with being really fun to do) I started to realize that it was affecting me in different ways. I don't drink anymore. I’ll have a beer with dinner or sip some whiskey every now and then, but I no longer drink to get drunk. I haven't really gotten sick aside from a 24 hour cold every 6 months or so. The biggest affect I saw was my new view on the world. I am a firm advocate of the legalization of marijuana, if requested I will give a more comprehensive post on my experiences and the benefits (perceived or not) of daily marijuana usage.

I made an important discovery as I was building the pilot house for a tug boat in Portland OR. Everything goes in cycles. I can and probably will go into this in more detail, but the short version is this: Everything goes in cycles. That's it. Give me anything and I will tell you how it involves a cycle or is involved in a greater cycle. Like Journey once said “The big wheel in the sky keeps on turning!" Night and day, hot and cold, life and death, awake and asleep, electricity, energy and matter. Once you understand this, you can move forward. I will go more into cycles in a later post.

I noticed synchronicities more and more often. Now, I had no idea that the word synchronicity meant when they started making themselves more and more apparent. After I started talking about it, my SO mentioned the high volume she was experiencing as well. Our best friend is the one who introduced the word synchronicity and now we all make sure to point out when it is happening. I will go more into synchronicities in a later post.

Since I was 13 I have been having "prophetic dreams". That sounds way crazier than it really is. What happens is I have a dream, and the dream contains a very specific chain of events, and utilize all five senses. 3 months to 2 years down the line I have clearly forgotten about the dream, then one day BAM hit hard with Deja Vu. I put together the puzzle pieces and realize that I have seen this before, in my dreams. I will go more into dreams in a later post.

Other important buildup items are some things that I have picked up from modern entertainment. From my favorite literature series A Song of Ice and Fire comes the saying "Only Death can pay for life". From my favorite TV series Avatar (the last Airbender and Legend of Korra) is the theme that there must be balance for there to be peace. Even from Star Wars Anakin was meant to bring balance to the force, and therefore bring peace.

I put these things together with my thoughts on cycles, the only true way to find peace, and that peace itself is a cycle. Yin and Yang, darkness and light, life and death. There can be no light without darkness. There can be no life without death. In times of pure darkness, a light will grow. In times of pure light, darkness will grow. You cannot shine a light without casting a shadow.

Now apply this to Life and Death and God, and you have some framework.

In order to understand my theory you need to understand cycles, and you need to understand simple physics.

An object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by and outside force. Energy cannot be created nor destroyed only altered in form. There is a finite amount of matter on Earth.

What is life if not the purest form of energy?

My Theory:

We (all living things) are composed of same matter that has been on the Earth since the Earth was created.

In order to live there must be energy, life itself is the gathering and expending of energy and passing energy on to other vessels. Because we as people, animals, plants, microorganisms etc. all are alive and full of energy.

When we die our energy returns to God. I do not like to call it God, since God has certain implications in our languages and feelings. The best thing I can describe it as is Gaia/Mana.

When the energy returns to Gaia, the elements that composed our mortal coil returns to the earth. The energy is then returned to the earth to create new life, everything from mold to elephants to Stephen Hawking.

Essentially we are all of the same elements and energy. The elements are broken down into the basic four Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. Energy (spirit) can be seen as light and dark. The elements and energies are in a constant cycle of high and low, light and dark, hot and cold, so on and so forth. Since we are all of the same energy and elements we are able to communicate in more ways than what we can perceive with our 5 senses. Gaia is everything, but in order to have everything you must have nothing. I feel like we are transitioning, in a grand cycle, out of nothingness and darkness into Gaia and light. We few who can see the change, we few who can zoom out enough from our current perspective can see that the cycle is marching along its course, and a new age of enlightenment is on the horizon.

I realize some of you may not think this post goes here. But, I like our little community here and I feel comfortable sharing things here that I wouldn't elsewhere bc even if not directly connected to our experiences, this sub IS about Connecting, right? :)

There are a few shows that while watching them and for a bit after help to calm my uptight feeling in my chest that I'm not good enough, I'm not doing enough, I'm not ok. Weeds is the main one, and it isnt like my favorite show, I'm not obsessed with pot or anything. Maybe bc I'm a struggling single mom to a boy. Maybe it is the absurdity of a lot of it. The levity mixed with darkness.

Dead Like Me did the same thing.

Anyone else have any shows that help quiet their thoughts or lift their mood when feeling restless?

And he knew he could do more. Turned down promotions (wished Id asked him so many things).... He was amazing. I cant believe he kept the job as long as he did. I left my govt job after 10, he did 35, it just seems an amazing feat. He was special, is special. Im proud of him.

I'm raising my son, and his son at the same time.

I wanted a piece of graffiti to write in a bathroom made for graffiti when I was sixteen. This phrase poured into my head and it's become more and more meaningful over the years, even after it had been painted over.

The Alan Watts lecture collection

what else have you got, any particular line of reasoning I should take a gander at?

I get very, very mixed responses when I talk about truthspeaking. (I'm a regular on Highexistence.com and used to be active on psychonaut.com) so I've talked a lot about it.

I think it is one of the most important, yet over looked, aspects to human communication.

Truthspeaking is what you say to others, regardless of their reaction, because you are speaking to them, directly what you need to say.

One example I heard a long time ago, and which got me into the idea of it, was when you speak to your dog and he is annoying you or being a pest, you half-assedly say "Stop it" or "No" and turn around or don't even look at them. They will keep pestering you or bothering you.

However, when you stop, and you take the time to realize that they should understand what you're saying exactly, (and that they CAN understand you) and you look at them, and you say "Stop." with meaningful intent they will stop.

I am an odd person and am alone for the Christmas season. I acquired MDMA through an online market place, and thought I would give it a try first before sharing it with others.

I took around 100mg, so this is a basic dose, but it was my first time.

I started dancing, it was fun. I could have danced for 8 hours for sure. But I wanted to talk. So I called two people on skype and we chatted for a while. The stress of hiding your intentions, assuming what others are thinking, and the fear of being 'genuine' was completely gone. I was saying /exactly/ what I would like to say, and I was hearing what others were saying in the /exact/ way they wanted to be heard (at least this is how it felt).

Later I called my girlfriend, who has traveled for Christmas back home, and we spoke. I said things to her I haven't been able to say in our 4 years together. It was so smooth, like, my internal conflicts suddenly were unwoven, and became silken threads which, one by one, neatly left me and were spoken to her. All the 'you' and 'I' and 'me' became 'us' and 'we'.

I felt that the connection people have while on MDMA (and other psychedelics) is because we lose this veil that we've grown ourselves, and has been built upon by others. This image of what we TRY to be isn't always the same as who we WANT to be, and this isn't the same as who we ACTUALLY are.

Taking MDMA allowed me to bring up very distressing issues, such as my girlfriend moving 2000 miles away from me, my future here alone for another 4+ years, and the fear of rejection from her parents (after 4 years of dating - still!).

Here I was, spilling my internal dialogue for her to openly hear. No longer was it going through this filter of political correctness, this visage of who I try to be, or how I think she views me. I just was. I just said.

Truthspeak itself is an amazing thing. I've unfortunately not met a lot of other people personally who have truthspeaked to me, except a Shaman in Peru. We don't have it in American culture. We try to be funny. We try to be people on TV. We try to be this THING that other people WANT, and we think what other people WANT is these famous actors, these gorgeous models, or these intelligent folk.

We pick this conglomerate of people, and say to ourselves a thousand times a day "OK what would I say in this situation?" Its like we have to fact check ourselves THAT WE'RE BEING OURSELVES.

This disappearing? This is illegal.

I'd like to give my account of an experience. It's going to be a longer read, because brevity would necessitate the exclusion of important details and ideas.

About two years ago I had a very interesting experience under the influence of psilocybe mushrooms (the cubenesis variety). I was told the sort was called "Golden Teacher" and afterwards found the name quite fitting.

We went to a very nice, secluded area of a park with some friends. There were about ten of us and we brought differing psychoactives (to each their own). A few of us, me included, brought mushrooms. After settling down, some small talk and a wide array of meditations, chants, prayers and rituals (again - to each their own) we say "Cheers!" and take our drugs.

Well, as always, the waiting game began. I was expecting the high and not doing much else. We tried small talk, but it didn't work that well, since we were all preoccupied with anticipation. Some time passed and not much was happening yet, but I did have very mild visuals and a sort of body high. I knew it was starting.
Now, I do have some experience with psychoactives. I've had my fair share of abuse, so to say. I know what to expect.

First lesson - Ha! No, I don't! It is unlike anything else! If it makes sense to you - it floated in from the sides, while I was trying to see it in the middle. I certainly didn't miss anything, since it was as evident as fanfare in a quiet room. Then I wondered if I had always been so stupid to look for things in places when I can't really know where they're going to come from.
Well, it was a funny thought and that is that. I grab my guitar and play some tunes, enjoying the vibrations and the flowing creativity, but I feel somewhat uneasy. Can you imagine the feeling of having someone or something very important on the other side of a door that you just can't open? It's the same. I asked myself very "transcedental" and difficult questions and even though the high was great, I felt a bit off, because I wasn't getting answers. I felt like I was supposed to get the answer and I sort of knew I was to blame for not getting it.

The following may sound poetic and childlike and that's because it is.
All of this time I was just thinking and playing the guitar and for some reason I looked up...
...One of the girls is looking at me, smiling the most pure, brilliant, innocent and blissful smile ever.

I suddenly realize the absurd amount of beauty in every single detail of her lips, teeth, eyes, hair, their colours, their contours, the way the sunlight makes her glow. It hits me that I wasn't looking for this awesome (and I do mean awesome) sight and that is the exact reason I was able to see it.
First lesson for a second time - See, if I had been looking for a smile, I would be expecting it, which means my mind would be a few steps ahead, already conjuring up the concept of a smile, which contains a visual representation and some information, and in the best case scenario I would mentally measure and acknowledge the aesthetics of the expected smile.
What happened was that my mind was preoccupied with somehow solving the universe not unlike a koan, so I wasn't expecting her smile, but unlike other unexpected things, it was so immeasurably beautiful and captivating that I didn't bother with measuring and conceptualizing it and took it as is.

I won't lie to you. I cried and laughed at the same time. I probably had an immeasurable smile of my own. Afterwards - I laughed again when I remembered how "it floated in from the sides".

When I looked away - everything was as amazing and interesting. My friends had just brought leaves for some psychedelic reason and the leaves looked like I'd never seen them before and indeed - I hadn't. No leaf was exactly like the other and even one of them could continue to astound me indefinitely as it changes with each passing point in time its shape (bends), angle and position.
Throughout all of these past years I had been looking at leaves, receiving the visual information and transcribing it into words and concepts - a process which turns this into this.

There were a few more revelations, but the truth is - I can write a book on this experience without repeating myself (like I did above, for the sake of clarity) and while being laconic.

In the past year, I've started feeling alone and... well like I was born in the wrong century, but also seeking hermitry. To help myself, I searched for parallels in both philosophical and religious texts and found relevance in some of Exupery's work, Theravada Buddhism and mostly in the Tao Te Ching. Those offered me lots of accounts and experience, but lacked a down-to-earth, human approach. I do like art and spirituality, but I also like... Um... Keeping it real.

So I want to ask you my questions.

Seeing how positively this affected my life - why do we not somehow have a way hardwired in our brains to feel like this? I understand that in this state it will be hard to go so far with mathematics, mechanics, electronics and every other study involving complex concepts, but what if we can "switch it on and off"?
What is the nature of this experience? What exactly is the brain doing?
And... Well... Do you know of a way to achieve this without the involvement of drugs? Observing my breath and walking meditation haven't taken me very far, but I could have been doing it wrong all this time.

I also urge you to share your similar experiences. Together we are able to paint a full and sensible picture of this phenomenon.

While traveling, a friend told me a story about how a bat flew in his girlfriend's window and hit her in the face. He thought it was funny and poignant because bats are supposed to represent transformation and she was being told by the universe to change. I hadn't heard that but thought it was a good story.

I recently moved home after living abroad for 8 years. I'm going back to school to study a new field. On my first morning as a student in a decade, I woke to a bat flying around my bedroom. I hadn't left any windows open and it's still a mystery how it got in (though not impossible).

A month later I had a profound psychedelic experience. I took mdma and mushrooms in a space that was safe and designed to promote creativity and positivity. We were outside in one of the most beautiful natural landscapes I've ever seen. The insights were flying. My mind was firing on higher levels than it ever had before. I felt that I was tapping something deeper.

Late in the evening, I smoked DMT for the first time. It's very hard to describe what happened but I'll try to the best of my ability: I felt that every "me" from every parallel universe that had a decision tree in which "I" smoked DMT started communicating with each other. The communication started in words as we realized that we were the same person, then it moved to epiphanies as we realized that we were more than just one person. We were all things. The answer to every question was "Yes". Yes was more than energy or love. It was existence and everything. Tragically I can't remember everything that specifically was said but truths were imparted upon me that made me realize "Oh shit. This is real." It got more and more real until I lost my ego, and merged with YES.

As I started to regain my ego, the only explanation was that I had died. I looked at the person next to me and they had bats for eyes. I didn't think "Oh bats mean change". I thought, and said, "Oh no, I'm in hell." Luckily the people there helped me through that. As I came down fully I was offered the choice of which universe to go back to. I could see the different universes and picked this one.

It's been almost two months and I'm a different person. I feel more myself than ever before. I understand fear as construct of my ego and I interpret every decision as a physical manifestation of YES. I have a confidence I never thought possible and all anxiety is gone.

I see bats and "Yes" everywhere. I realize the word "yes" is not exactly uncommon and I'm well aware of confirmation bias, but I feel like there is an underlying pattern. It's like jazz. Some jazz sounds like nonsense and chaos to the untrained ear but there is a structure to it. I feel there may be a pattern that we can't comprehend. Some structure to the madness and every once in a while we catch a snippet of a phrase.

I'm not ready to live my life fully based on this assumption. I'm taking truth as it comes and keeping an open mind while getting the shit done that I need to on this plane.

Anyways, digging led me to this place and it seems all but abandoned but I figured I'll throw my story out into the night and see what emerged.

It's all Yes.

When I walk into a room, the character of that room changes. In that space are chairs, and lights, and ornaments. When I am not in a room, it is just a space in time. It is my presence that Gifts the room its character.

The introduction of iodized salt marks a milestone in human intellectual development. Iodine is a micronutrient that is critical for the operation of the thyroid and for cognitive development. It's fascinating to think that had you been a land-locked farmer in the 19th century, that you may not have lived a full intellectual life simply because you did not get enough sea salt in your diet. Although we can credit a statistically significant increase in our intellectual capacities to the introduction of iodized salt, few of us would consider that iodized salt itself gave us the knowledge that we acquired with that improved intellect. We went out and earned it the regular way, but with a slightly increased sensitivity to the world around us. With an increased capacity, perhaps, to complete our thoughts, to entertain them, and to reflect upon them.

Salt plays an important role in our cognitive lives. Sodium, along with potassium and calcium fill the primary role of neural transmission, rapidly reversing the polarity of a neuron in order to propagate an action potential. Altering levels of salt in the body relative to level of other elements, and especially water, has biological and cognitive effects. Yet we never attribute salt with spiritual or intellectual properties. Without it, our hearts don't beat, yet we never imbue salt with the quality of being a life-giver.

Imbalances in salt levels generally result in cognitive impairment. The levels of salt in your system change the rate at which neurons fire, and reset from the previous action potential firing. We know the feeling of feeling groggy, confused, disoriented. It's seldom pleasant, almost as though you're missing something. You might read and re-read a sentence, certain that it holds a meaning that you are unable to decipher. Yet we never accuse salt of hiding things from us, or -when appropriately balanced- allowing us to understand anything at all.

There is no mystical role for salt. There are no forums devoted to the worship, the study, the exaltation of the salt experience. This, despite the fact that salt, potassium and calcium form the very core of our cognitive existence. Who you are, what you know, how you turned out. You owe it all to salt. We all do.

You could, if you so chose, manipulate your body's salt levels to push your body and brain to the brink of collapse in some shamanic quest for insight. Yet few do, at least not with the intent of self-exploration.

Just about everything you can consume into your body has at least some cognitive effect, at least if you consume enough of it. The meals we eat can make us feel bright, or sluggish, intellectual or inept. Yet we seldom praise our daily bread for bringing us closer to the end of our days unmolested by the intellectual deadening brought on by starvation. Our cognitive and physiological responses to the variations of normal life are seamlessly woven into the tapestry of having a self, and knowing consciousness. We owe everything we know and are to table salt.

But these variations are normal, everyone knows how they feel. We all have our bright and our dull days, following the variability of sugars, hormones, iodine, salt, potassium, calcium and protein. We may be able to quickly solve a riddle on one day, and fail that same riddle if it were presented on another. Such insights and frustrations are so familiar that they are rendered invisible. Though incredible, they are invisible.

The patterns of the world reveal themselves and hide themselves on a daily basis. It is not the world that changes. It is you.

But as long as the degree to which these variations occur is familiar, accounted for and known to others, few questions are raised. The world is exactly as it appears to be. It is precisely how it is presented.

Our claims to knowledge in this world have little respect for the normal degrees of variation. Nobody cares about what you think you know, they care about what you can prove to know. It is not up to you to be anything more than an echo of the truths that you lay claim to - except for those thoughts and ideas and insights. These are things which you can claim to have faith in, possible facts that are yet to be determined. Our sense of faith that they will be determined only motivates the other people long enough to entertain our ideas. It is up to us to prove them.

Within the normal variations, there is incredible room for error just as there is room for genuine insight. History elaborately details the successes of great insights, and saves only the most remarkable (and often plausible) errors for later reflection. In the whole of human history, far fewer have been right than wrong. All of them have been confidently assured. They would sacrifice flesh for Gods that did not reign. Burn incense for ancestors who had no sense of smell. Criticise or admire the many or the few regardless of the truth of their claims.

As a result of a whole history of grand claims, and painful let-downs, society has developed a process of verification. This process, and its results, are not free of the foibles of history. Like our other endeavors, it has its successes and failures. It is, however, the most honourable service to an idea, belief, or experience to subject it to the process of peer review. We must connect what we believe to what we can demonstrate. We must not Live by ideas that we cannot prove; the closest we can allow ourselves to come is to subject ourselves to the trials of verification. We must suffer the process to demonstrate our insights - and to do any less is to live dishonestly. If it cannot be proven, then it can at best be suspected. It can be held in the heart while we await more insight, or it can be kept in faith while we strive to prove it.

But we cannot subject others to our unproven certainty.

These lessons hold true in the states that exceed normal variation. Whatever their causes, variations that exceed normal are administered through the same mechanisms. Chemicals, complex processes, and patterns, and these are all physical. Just like the right combination of sugars, proteins and salts in normal variation can gift us truth and insight and the wrong combination can blind us to the obvious - variations outside of normal can as well. They can provide us insights unavailable within normal variation, but can also provide us errors and blindness unheard of within the average.

To honor any insight that you have, no matter where you found it, one must subject it to honest scrutiny. It is, however, fair to expect it to receive an honest inspection.

This poses one particular problem.

It is not always possible to scrutinize extra-normal variation from normal variation.

What allows us to know the world involves ordinary salt, and ordinary salt can be used to push us far away from normal variation. Whether truth or beauty is found there is irrelevant. There is no magic, no spirit, no ghost, no guidance inherent to it. Nor is there magic, spirit or guidance within any other practice, route, routine, technique or substance that pushes us beyond normal variation.

If you insist on believing that there is, then I insist that you show a much greater sense of reverence for salt.

No path provides truths that deserve to be free from honest, public examination.

I was wondering about this after reading juxtaposed's original post regarding the experience of becoming messianic over insights gained in intense states of consciousness. Anyone who has experienced this has bumped against the difficulty society has with people who want to convince the world of insights that challenge the consensus. Now consider what happens when many people are going into "alternative" states, and how that could have a fracturing or destabilizing affect on a society.

So my question is: Does religion serve to rein people in and protect the consensus view of a group from messianic individuals and up-start cults? Is this one of its main purposes? If not, how would people describe the relationship between organized (and organizing) religions and mystics or spiritual explorers who present a challenge to the organization?

edit: punctuation

OK so I am only 19 and barely starting my journey I suppose. I have used pot recreationally but never anything else. I feel a lot of the things juxtap0zed mentioned and its inspiring how detailed he can get with his descriptions of things I feel.

What I wanted to talk about for my first post (squee) is fractals, infinity, and god. If you aren't familiar, or even know lots but haven't seen this video by Nova (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmxJ1KDR_s0&feature=youtube_gdata_player) it really flushes put the important bits of fractals.

The reason I'm posting is I have always been awed by fractals and their ability to convey both complexity, and the concept of infinity. I am not religious whatsoever, but I cannot shake the spiritual feeling I get from discussion like juxtap0zed started.

My idea, and possible avenue for explanation is, if there is a god, and he created everything, are fractals and the basic logic of the universe evidence of his mind? Furthermore did he pull our existence out of infinity and nothing by... Essentially harnessing fractal logic to organize the infinity that is there.

Sorry if this was wordy but I hope I made my point.

Love you all, Scrawley