Seven Point Eight The First Chronicle

19

Personal Experiences

She didn’t want to share her experience, and Paul realised that the first major journey in the machine threatened to be the last. He needed to enter a record in the OOBE diary and put something on film for posterity, to demonstrate their progress, but he also remained aware of Tahra’s wellbeing, which doubled the frustration. In the end, he decided to push the situation.

“We can’t advance any further until you open up to me about what happened,” he began.

“I know, I’m sorry,” she said, sincere in her apology. “I can’t explain why it’s affected me so.”

He switched on the cine camera set up on a tripod, and attempted to coax the information from her. They began with a description of the world she’d visited, then Paul proceeded to discuss the more personal aspects of the experience.

“Did you feel threatened in any way? You know I don’t want any harm to come to you,” he reassured her.

“Not really, but the experience touched me in a way I can’t describe.”

“It’s good that you felt moved,” Paul countered, “isn’t that what we’re striving for?”

After a moment of silence, she was more forthcoming.

“I encountered a strange being, made of energy but it could choose form if it wanted to. There were more of them hiding in the background too, I understood they were important beings, and they knew I was important too. The being I communicated with told me I’d been chosen, and that I’d be asked to carry something out.”

Paul sat back in his chair and ran his hands through his hair. It all seemed so unexpected. Should he be taken aback because she’d interacted with a strange being, or because it’d asked a favour?

“What does it want you to do?” he pressed, opting for curiosity.

“I don’t know, but the being promised that the time will come. What if I return there and it asks something of me that’s evil, or beyond my strength and capabilities?”

Paul shrugged, almost helpless.

“Do you think this being is evil?” he asked her.

Tahra thought hard about it.

“It was difficult to tell. The being had the most penetrating eyes, I felt like its eyes were burning right through me, but I can’t be sure of its intentions.”

“Well,” Paul continued, fascinated, “what did it look like?”

“Sort of…like an…angel,” she said, aware of how incredulous it sounded. Paul raised his eyebrows. “But not how they look in your bible,” she stated, emphatically. “I know it wasn’t human, it was more like a sea of energy, glistening, dancing… I felt like I could never hide anything from it. The scary thing was that it knew who I was, well, so it said anyway.”

Paul realised the experience had been a profound one and she needed some time to come to terms with it. And why wouldn’t it?

“There are clearly far more powerful entities out there than us,” he concluded, “but do you really want to lose the opportunity to find out what comes next?”

“No,” Tahra conceded, “but I’m afraid.”

Paul had to be the decisive one.

“Well, we’ll be afraid together. We take the next trip as a team. It’s got to work for non-psychics one day, so it may as well be now.”

Tahra wasn’t sure what to think. “But who will operate the machine and watch over us?”

“I’ll programme it to run the sequence automatically for a set duration,” he explained. “I can’t expect you to do something I wouldn’t do myself.”

He said it with courage and conviction, although inside he felt as nervous as she did.

***

On June the 3rd 1966, I prepared to follow in Tahra’s footsteps and follow up my promise of that joint machine trip. Over breakfast, I reflected with amusement upon the progress made so far by the Americans and Soviets in the Space Race. It was a good outlet for Cold War rivalries, as it didn’t involve firing anything at each other, only up into orbit. Mariner 4 had completed a fly by of Mars the previous year, and I’d managed to find an article which included a selection of the pictures sent back, the images of which correlated well with what Tahra had seen.

Currently, the US was attempting orbital docking and just yesterday, Surveyor 1 had touched down in the Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon. However, astronauts were nowhere near it. The first space walks were still a novel experience. I found it amusing, the rigours astronauts were subjected to during training. Tahra never had to endure freefall in a plane known as the ‘Vomit Comet’, or been spun around to simulate g-forces. The stress on the human body in our journeys proved to be significantly less than that in the space programme. I considered it a shame that our experiments would still be regarded as subjective, and the findings wouldn’t be accepted scientifically until stringently proven.

I entered the machine with Tahra, after having programmed the system to run on automatic for twenty minutes. The EEGs and ECGs would still monitor us as normal, and I’d check the paper display later. I’d set the field for sixty-five percent, our standard by now, and after testing the automatic system, I felt satisfied it would power down when required.

Everything seemed to be in order, although there was always an element of risk involved. I’d installed an additional fail safe, triggered by maximal heart rate sustained for more than two minutes, indicating physiological and psychological distress. Therefore, I felt confident in my equipment, although a little less sure of my nerve in this experiment.

I placed electrodes on our temples and our chest, then we made ourselves comfortable and held hands, it was unclear who was reassuring who. Once the hatch had been closed, I became aware of the silence in the machine.

“Well, here we go,” I said, “we’ll soon see if non-psychics can make the journey too.”

Tahra smiled graciously, my act of support greatly appreciated. Most men would have remained an outsider I know, but my actions would ensure we could share the experience. It was the least I could do for her, although it didn’t make her any less nervous and she squeezed my hand tightly.

I became aware of the hum within the machine as the frequencies, or series of signals overlaid upon each other, ran through their sequence. My body responded by becoming more relaxed and I felt somewhat lucid, albeit slightly detached from my body. As the frequencies became inaudible, I sensed much stronger sensations coursing through my body, quite powerful vibrations. They buzzed up and down my body, creating a progressive muscular paralysis. I couldn’t move, it was like incredibly intense pins and needles. I can’t say it was a pleasant experience, but I stayed with it and soon became aware I could move again. As an act of relief, I put my hand to my forehead but discovered I couldn’t feel my head when I touched it. It occurred to me that maybe I’d just moved the electromagnetic field version of my hand, for want of a better explanation.

At that point, the machine shell began to vibrate heavily and I realised the magnetic field was powering up and rotating around our heads, pulsing at the key frequency of 7.8 hertz. In a matter of seconds, something ripped me from my body and I felt my mind hurled into nothingness, sucked through a point of light. I didn’t see the grid Tahra had spoken of, but it all happened so quickly, I probably didn’t notice.

I found myself adrift inside the machine, unable to do anything but float above my body. It was the strangest thing looking down upon oneself, still and placid like a limpid pool of water, motionless as a rabbit caught in the glare of a car’s headlights. I felt a sensation of being scooped up, as if my consciousness were being cradled like a baby. Something guided me out of the machine, and our world disappeared in a blur, to be replaced by another which came into focus like someone fine tuning a camera lens.

Colours entered the spotlight, very vivid colours which were unlike anything on Earth, it’s hard to describe their brilliance. It almost looked like a painting coming into view, with luminous watercolours depicting a forest of evergreen splendour. Pearl-like streams wove through it and in the distance, serpentine tendrils and vines extended far up into the atmosphere. Instead of terminating at a point high in the sky, they curved inward and embraced, creating a warped perspective like a fish eye lens on a camera.

Looking closely at the foliage, I soon realised that the trees merely gave the impression of a forest and, in fact, the trunks were actually shafts of energy. Tendrils, consisting of bead-like cells, glistened and slithered up and down the central shafts. Not all trees were the same. Some consisted of a single tendril or vine, whereas others were double stranded, some had triple strands and some even had seven tendrils.

The ground beneath my feet didn’t appear still. It seemed to be some kind of miniature labyrinth, full of mazes and spirals, through which tiny serpents slithered. I couldn’t stare at this dizzy spectacle for too long.

The scene actually reminded me of my experiences with LSD several years ago, in respect of the vibrant colours that faced me. However, this wasn’t a mere hallucination, the images weren’t planted into my brain or field of vision, I’d been transplanted into the vision.

What is this place? I thought. Where are we? What’s more, where’s Tahra?

Initially, I saw no signs of life. I began to wonder if Tahra had accompanied me, or if she’d been kidnapped so I searched for her. Once I adjusted myself to functioning in this new realm, I recognised her presence and spotted a ball of light nearby. It wasn’t necessary to speak, as the communication became instant and natural.

“If you focus on a thought form of your image, you can materialise in human form,” she told me, in her ball of light state.

Tahra appeared beside me, demonstrating how to achieve this and when I pictured myself as I saw my body in the mirror, I materialised beside her.

“Did you feel me carry you here?” she asked, although her lips didn’t move.

“Oh,” I replied, a little surprised, “did you do that? I didn’t realise.”

“I can tow the consciousness of another person,” she revealed.

“That’s a useful talent.”

Tahra looked around at the place we found ourselves in.

“This isn’t the place I visited before.”

We began to move through the undergrowth, although not as you would with your corporeal body. As we had no legs to move, we needed to focus our attention on the intended destination and let our minds draw us there, quite a strange sensation but fairly easy to master. Luckily, I had Tahra to teach me the technique of navigating without a body. We found ourselves by a stream, populated by silvery fish shaped like the letters X and Y, swimming in perfect rhythm and harmony, as if in time with a beat or pulse that flowed through the water itself.

“Do you think there’s intelligent life elsewhere on this planet?” I asked her.

“I sense the presence of sentient life, in fact, I believe we’re being watched.”

We both stood still and looked around carefully, unsure what we were searching for. Tahra spotted something in the trees, so I turned to where her ‘finger’ was pointing and found a host of serpents coiled around the trunks. I saw long and short ones, two headed ones, winged serpents, and some with very short legs. All of them were brilliant in colour: scarlet red, turquoise, jade green, yellow as the noon sun, or orange as the sun set. It occurred to me that these were the serpent beings I’d encountered in my lucid dream, the one in which they discussed the machine and The First Time with me. We moved over to their position and observed their movements. They were aware of our existence on their planet.

“You came here by virtue of the machine,” one or more of them said, it was difficult to pick out an individual voice.

“Yes,” I stated, “I built a machine to help consciousness reach the stars. Are you the ones who helped me do this?”

They flowed around the tree trunks like energy.

“The serpents who helped you reside in this realm,” they said.

“Can I find them here?” I asked, keen to tap them for any knowledge they possessed that could help me in my quest.

“If you so wish,” they said.

“I seek knowledge, the wisdom of the Gods.”

“Like many before you. Now you have the machine you can visit many realms,” they responded.

“That’s what I hope. Are there many other worlds?”

“Yes, but they are all very, very different. The frequencies are the key,” they told me.

I pondered what they’d imparted. How could the frequencies be the key to visiting many realms, as they put it? Then the answer became clear. Before I had time to respond to their hint, I felt myself being pulled back into my body, a sensation like releasing the tension on an elastic band. In less than a moment, I sat back in the machine, opening my physical eyes as the field powered down. I wished I’d set the machine to run another five minutes.

Tahra looked over at me, relieved the experience had been a positive one and we climbed out of the machine, moving over to the corner, where camera stood. I switched it on to record our thoughts on the experience.

“I’m on a high,” I stated, looking directly into the lens of the camera. “All I can think about is the next trip. We achieved something so…profound today.”

“The most important thing achieved today was the machine’s ability to project Paul’s consciousness,” Tahra added. She turned to me and asked, “Do you realise what this means for OOBE?”

I’d almost overlooked the obvious, the ramifications were enormous.

“It means anyone can do this,” I stated, heart pounding. “7.8 hertz unties the binding of consciousness to the brain matter, to the physical form.”

Tahra sighed.

“I feel obsolete,” she said.

“We wouldn’t have got OOBE off the ground if it weren’t for you,” I said, forgetting we were on camera. “Plus, the machine extracted my consciousness from my body, I couldn’t travel anywhere without you.”

She shrugged.

“I guess so.”

“This also means we’re looking at non-psychic recruitment much earlier than I’d anticipated,” I said, on turning back to face the camera. “If I can do it, there’s no reason why a group of people off the street couldn’t do this. Of course, they wouldn’t be ordinary people off the street, they’d need to be psychologically strong and grounded, and undergo rigorous testing.”

“I can help,” Tahra stated, “I can be their guide.”

I squeezed her hand.

“We’re in this together,” I reassured her. “You need to tow them, like you did with me. Without you, they’d be bouncing around inside the machine.”

Despite the new impetus in the project, all I could think about was our next journey in the machine and on meeting the serpents, I realised how to direct the outcome of the journey in terms of the destination. With so much exploration to do, I realised how difficult it would be for me to stand aside and watch Tahra be the sole voyager. However, as project manager, I needed to remain objective despite the fact we could now share the project in every way. What would I learn from these extra-terrestrial beings? Where would Project OOBE take us?

***

Although I craved another journey with Tahra, I allowed a forty eight hour break in which to get us both assessed medically. Everything checked out fine and if anything, I felt invigorated, cleansed, and inspired. I thought of the next trip; do we pay the serpent world another visit, or do we seek to create a travel guide for the worlds that we could reach with the machine? Tahra opted for the latter and I was inclined to agree, as I wanted to experiment with the combination of frequencies and their amplitude, to propel consciousness further and further afield. I knew that, if I so desired, I could visit the serpent realm again and Tahra would be the necessary tow, if I asked nicely.

First, I made just a small adjustment to the frequencies, that is, I replaced one of the harmonics to see what result this would produce. Setting the system up on autopilot again, I attached us to the monitoring devices and we both sat inside the machine, hearing the vibrations as the field powered up. I wasn’t nervous anymore, why be afraid? The paralysis of my physical body didn’t alarm me anymore, and I separated from my body within moments. The power of 7.8 threw me towards another land, as our world faded out to be replaced by another.

We found ourselves in a very different land to the serpent realm, as it seemed quite arid. I saw a great expanse of semi-desert, and a series of outcrops of rock reminiscent of Death Valley, in which there appeared to be a number of grand looking caves. These caves looked worth exploring at some point. The colours of this world were quite neutral: ochre and gold sand, and rock with dark contrasts formed by the hardy plants that populated the landscape. The taupe sky looked quite insipid, cloudless yet with a pallid subdued light, source unknown.

I focused my consciousness at a point in the distance and drifted towards it, while Tahra moved to a point a little further away, beside a huge, gnarled tree that looked as it were petrified wood. I found myself within a circle of dry shrubs, the branches of which were spindly, curving around and twisting in on themselves. They were formed by an ebony shade of what looked like petrified wood, covered by some kind of shimmering substance. On closer inspection, I found the shimmering substance to be a swarm of silvery ants, oozing out of a small hole in the base of the shrubs.

I moved over to Tahra, who seemed transfixed by a strange looking creature. At first, I thought it was a capuchin monkey, although it looked slightly smaller and appeared to have the tail of a rat and the fur of a yellow tinted polar bear. However, what made this creature appear so strange was its face. It had a human visage on the body of a simian, with startling blue eyes, a thin nose and lips, plus ears high on its head. Even though we didn’t present a physical body, it sensed our presence and screeched loudly, jumping off the tree then scuttling away into the distance. We watched it scurry across the floor of the desert.

It led our gaze towards the horizon, where we spotted a most amazing sight. I focused my consciousness on a point nearer to them, to gain a better view, and saw a large herd of mammoth-like creatures. Like our erstwhile simian friend, they were hybrids of animals from our world. While not quite as hairy, their fur was darker and shorter, but they bore tusks and a trunk much like our mammoths had done. Their body shape resembled a triceratops, they carried an extra horn at the front, and dragged a long tail behind like that of a stegosaurus, with a clump of spikes at the end. They weren’t interested in us and ambled on by, minding their own business.

From our viewpoint, we surveyed a huge plain, stretching out to what seemed like infinity. There were no mountains or valleys to break it up, as it was flat like the East of England with the climate of Southern Spain. In the distance, we saw creatures that looked like golden gorillas crossed with the genes of a sloth and a sabre toothed tiger. They walked on their knuckles but had slimmer limbs than a gorilla, and they had long, protruding fangs. Momentarily, they stopped to listen to something, then pounded heavily on the ground before continuing on their way.

I began to wonder if there were any sentient beings here with which we could communicate. At that point, something walked over to us, as if it had heard my thoughts. Tahra had already seen it, another bizarre hybrid comprising the head of an ibis and the body of a man. He was tall, standing over six feet at least, holding a long staff in his hands and he wore some kind of minimal padded armour. Tahra held his attention.

“Welcome traveller,” he spoke, “it is good to greet human beings again.”

“You know us?” Tahra said.

“There has been a long standing friendship between therianthropes and humans,” he explained, “but there has also been a long absence. Welcome back.”

“Where is the therianthrope’s planet?” I asked, hoping for some direct answers in this realm. “What galaxy are we in?”

Our therianthrope friend looked thoughtful then answered.

“You have not travelled any distance in the physical sense,” he corrected. “You have shifted your perspective, your reality. You are in the same locality, yet at a deeper level of creation. Both of you are beginning to perceive reality, to peel away the layers of the structure of the Monad.”

His explanation dumbfounded me. I wasn’t sure whether to feel disappointed as we hadn’t travelled anywhere, or curious about what exactly we were exploring.

“What’s the Monad?” Tahra asked, figuring it was significant.

He showed respect for her question.

“It cannot be explained, it must be experienced to be comprehended. This understanding is the true quest of every sentient being. In time, we will share all our knowledge with humanity. For now, simply be and let us watch the light rise on the dawn of a new day.”

He crouched on the arid ground, staking his staff in the sand-like substance and used it to support himself. We sat next to him, cross-legged, and looked to the sky but quickly realised we were looking in the wrong place. An explosion of golden light projected from the ground. Separate rays reached towards the pallid sky, extending finger like beams that illuminated the heavens, turning everything a vibrant shade of yellow. It looked intensely beautiful, as if the land were communicating with the sky. I didn’t want to leave this place.

The therianthrope world faded as the field automatically powered down, and the interior of the machine came into focus again. It took a few moments for our brains to recalibrate, and eventually I moved over to the camera to record some comments for the visual diary.

“Well, I think that world deserves another visit. These journeys are addictive,” I said.

“I’m so glad that I can share them with you,” Tahra added.

I proceeded to give a description of the world we’d just visited and added a final comment.

“I’ve just realised something though,” I concluded. “He spoke of a shift in perception, in reality. We haven’t travelled through space, we’ve discovered other dimensions of reality. We’re not astronauts, we’re…shamans.”

***

Tahra returned to The Institute the next day, still feeling euphoric after the previous day’s journey. She wondered how she’d be able to concentrate during the mundane tests and contracts she had to fulfil there. Paul said he’d follow, as he wanted to discuss the next stage of the project with Max and the residents. The trip to the therianthrope world had left him surging with positive energy, it gave the world around him a subtle glow.

Luckily, he found Max in the office at The Institute and Paul caught him reading a newspaper, with a cup of coffee at his side. He looked up as Paul tapped on the door and entered, pleasantly surprised to see him.

“To what do I owe the honour of your visit?” Max queried.

“An update and a request,” Paul answered.

Tahra appeared from behind Paul, and he noted a wistful expression flicker across Max’s face. She stopped herself from putting an arm around Paul, holding Max’s gaze while attempting to keep her own expression neutral. It created an odd tension in the air, and Tahra popped the thick membrane stifling the atmosphere.

“We’ve made fantastic progress with the machine,” she declared. “Already, we’ve discovered two new worlds.”

Max folded his newspaper neatly and placed it on the desk.

“Have you documented these journeys for the record?” he asked.

“We’re in the process of doing so,” Paul interjected, “with a cine camera and a written journal.”

“Do you want to know what worlds we discovered?” Tahra enquired.

Max found her enthusiasm infective.

“Yes, please tell me.”

“In our first trip, we discovered the serpent realm, which is beautiful and vibrant, a world of forest and streams. Following this, we visited the therianthrope world, where the sun shines from the ground and illuminates the sky. It was full of hybrid creatures, and we met a bird headed man.”

On hearing this, Max looked thoughtful, as if her words had triggered a memory. However, he said nothing about it and finally asked a question.

“We?” he questioned. “You said, ‘we met…’. What do you mean by that?”

Tahra hadn’t realised she’d used the personal plural, was she giving too much away?

“I went there too,” Paul interjected. “She towed my consciousness and took me along for the ride.”

“Towed you?” Max repeated.

“Tahra is a guide, she can take you with her provided your consciousness can detach from your body.”

Max looked thoughtful but worried about something too, like he had a burning question to ask, but suppressed it.

“You do realise what this means, don’t you?” Paul continued, unable to read his reaction. Receiving no response, he filled in the blanks. “It means non-remote viewers can use the machine successfully with the aid of a guide. This is what you wanted, to show viability of the project.”

Max remained quiet and Paul began to feel a little irritated.

“And there’s something else,” Paul added. “Entities in both worlds have mentioned the acquisition of knowledge through making visits to these realms.”

Max raised his eyebrows now, snapping out of his silence.

“What kind of knowledge?”

“Medicine, technology…secrets of the universe, anything we need to know I guess.”

Max appeared to mentally chew what Paul had just said. Medicine, technology…all to the highest bidder….

“What do you want from me?” he asked, more and more intrigued by the OOBE project, which now proved to be a real dark horse.

Paul prepared to lay his cards on the table.

“I want to incorporate the residents of The Institute into the programme, and I want an additional six non-psychic recruits, making a total of twelve travellers, excluding Tahra who will be their guide. The non-psychics need to be psychologically stable, with an open mind and a strong constitution.”

Max smiled, admiring his directness and vision.

“I can find you ordinary members of the public. I’ll send you twenty people and you can select the six best candidates from them. I can also arrange suitable remuneration for the successful candidates.”

“And the residents of The Institute?”

Max sustained the suspense just a little longer.

“I’ll call them down and you can address them. It’s up to you to enthuse and recruit them.”

Paul made a little celebratory fist and nodded thanks to Max. He and Tahra temporarily took command of the sitting room, arranging the chairs in a semi circle. Ten minutes later, Emilie, Sakie, Oscar, George, Peter, and Beth appeared. They looked a little older, several years on, but not ravaged by time at all. Emilie, the telepath, looked more confident and her fair hair had been cut into a sleek bob in the style of Twiggy. She had abandoned below the knee dresses in favour of wide leg jeans and a tunic, which accentuated her slim figure.

Sakie, the electromagnetic extraordinaire, no longer looked like a teenager, presenting a flattering bobbed hairstyle in the style of Mary Quant, and sporting a mini dress with a block pattern in primary colours. Oscar had gained a little weight, making him appear quite jolly and his afro hair had grown outwards.

George, the other remote viewer, still looked like the classic English gentleman and neither had his dress sense changed either. One of the mediums, Peter, looked more athletic, as if he were training for the Olympics, while Beth had slimmed down somewhat, looking quite svelte with a sleek beehive, full skirt, and jacket with a mandarin collar, Nehru style.

Everyone exchanged greetings and hugs, delighted to reunite then the six of them took a seat, looking at Paul and Tahra with expectant eyes. Max slipped in the doorway and stood by to watch over the proceedings. All Paul had to do now was pitch his idea.

He cleared his throat and began.

“It’s great to see you all again, feels like old times, eh?”

There were a few chuckles from his audience, which helped him relax more and feel less nervous.

“Well, the reason I’ve brought you all together is to reveal exactly what I’ve – sorry, we’ve been working on,” he looked over at Tahra, “to attempt to persuade you to join the programme.”

He appeared to have grabbed their attention, so proceeded.

“You’re probably aware that Tahra has been drafted onto an experiment I simply call Project OOBE, which stands for Out of Body Experiment. My first intention was to use remote viewing as a form of space travel, to transcend the need for a physical body, which is vulnerable to the extreme environment of space itself.”

Word had spread about the basic objectives of the project, but he needed to lead in effectively.

“We concentrated on homing Tahra’s remote viewing for detail skills, then we worked our way through all the planets of the solar system. I transcribed Tahra’s description of what she saw, and an artist used this to create some impressions of the planets. Photos from a recent NASA flyby of Mars correlate with our findings. Before long, we reached the edge of the solar system and at that point, I realised we needed to take it further, even though our previous research had not been extensively validated.”

Paul tried to gauge the level of interest in his audience, and observed a few murmurs in response to his disclosure.

“Our first experiments beyond the solar system weren’t successful and Tahra asked if I could develop technology to give her a psychic boost, so to speak. I took some measurements of Tahra’s brain wave activity during remote viewing, and discovered there’s a specific frequency at which consciousness detaches from the body. That frequency is 7.8 hertz, or cycles per second. One night, I had a vision of a machine, a giant oscillator coupled with a powerful electromagnetic field to boost the human electromagnetic field.”

His audience really began to take notice now.

“We overlaid harmonics onto the base frequency of 7.8 hertz and achieved victory. The machine successfully detaches consciousness from the body, and with the aid of a powerful and experienced remote viewer, Tahra, it’s possible to visit different worlds. By adjusting the frequencies, harmonics and amplitude, a variety of worlds can be accessed.”

“So far, we’ve visited two realms, one of which is populated by serpent-like creatures who reside in a technicolour forest, and the other which is quite arid, inhabited by hybrid creatures, fusions of species like on our own planet. The really exciting bit is that you don’t need to be a remote viewer to do this, although it is necessary for Tahra to act as a guide. What’s more, we believe these worlds are not planets elsewhere in our galaxy, they’re other dimensions, other realities which vibrate at different frequencies to our world. Think of it like a radio, there are many stations and when you move the dial, you can pick up another station.”

“The reason I’m telling you this is that I want you to join the programme. I yearn to prove this project is viable for a range of people, psychics and non-psychics. I need to compare experiences to establish validity and reliability. I want know if you’re in or not.”

Pitch over, Paul now waited for the response.

“Hell, I’m in,” Oscar piped up.

“Me too,” said George, the other remote viewer, “I need a vacation.”

Well, he’d secured two psychics for a start.

“I will do it,” Sakie spoke up, her English clearer and less accented.

“I’m intrigued,” said Beth, “count me in.”

“That means I’ll have to come too,” Peter added.

Emilie shrugged her shoulders and said, “Me too.”

They were all on board. Hallelujah! Next step: the non-psychic recruitment.

As the residents of The Institute dispersed, Max touched Paul on the arm and took him to one side. Tahra made herself scarce, disappearing up to her bedroom. She had testing for the next few days so had to stay at The Institute, not her favourite place to be as it lacked the cosiness of the farmhouse. When the room fell quiet again, Max initiated the conversation.

“Remember when I came to see you at the cottage a while ago now, with a new project?” he began.

“Ummmm, yes,” Paul said, realising what would come next.

“Well, the project I asked you to look at, what progress have you made with it?”

‘None’ was the truthful answer but Paul didn’t think Max would be too pleased to hear that.

“Good progress, it should be ready sometime soon,” Paul responded.

“Excellent. If you could have the results on my desk in twenty eight days that would be appreciated,” Max said, delighted.

“Er…yes, that’ll be no problem,” Paul confirmed.

Max smiled and returned to his office, feeling satisfied with the potential of a new product or service to offer his clients. A remote viewing blocking device would fetch a good price with organisations that had something to hide.

However, Paul felt like kicking himself. How could he come up with the goods within twenty eight days? He didn’t have a clue how to build a remote viewing blocking device, what kind of technology would do that job? And how could he pull that in alongside the demands of Project OOBE? Then he realised the answer lay within his grasp. The serpents and therianthropes had implied mankind used to communicate with them to obtain knowledge. Maybe one of them could help. In the next few days, he’d have to go back in the machine.

Back at the farmhouse, he had some time alone so used the opportunity to conduct a little theoretical research into shamanism, and begin to look for evidence of prior human contact with other dimensions of reality. Avoiding the general literature such as encyclopaedias, he favoured more specific and slightly offbeat narratives instead, finding a surprising amount of cultural and historical data on a hypothetical otherworld. Paul realised that what they were doing with the machine reflected what had gone before. The more he read, the more he realised the significance of the project and its far reaching implications. He closed the text book, assimilating what he’d just learned. It was so awe inspiring that he’d have to explain it to Tahra when she returned.

***

Her delayed return frustrated Paul, due to a backlog of work at The Institute and he found that her absence seemed abnormal. Max wasn’t a hindrance, as he wanted OOBE to succeed as much as Paul but he also needed to keep his clients happy. She arrived at the farmhouse, and he told her about the deadline set by Max regarding the remote viewing blocker device, so they postponed finding a new world until they could solve this problem. Although full of excitement about the texts documenting the culture and history of shamanism, Paul conceded it would have to wait.

Within the hour, he set the autopilot for thirty minutes. This trip would also demonstrate any reliability in their experiments, could the same results be produced under identical conditions?

Paul felt the same sensations as before, accustomed to the buzzing and tingling which indicated consciousness prepared to separate from his body. A random thought crossed his mind, ‘Wow, these are good vibrations’. However, before he could dwell on the feeling, the resonance ripped his consciousness from his body and he felt the comforting tow of Tahra’s presence. They emerged in the same arid desert again to Paul’s relief, so it seemed that the serpents were right, entrance to certain realms did hinge upon the combination, resonance, and amplitude of the frequencies overlaid onto the base frequency of 7.8 hertz.

They didn’t see the mammoth hybrids this time or the human headed capuchin monkeys, although they watched a flock of the strangest birds, with lion heads and the wings of eagles. They swooped low, fascinated by the visitors and screeched a melodic cry as they flew gracefully around them. This seemed to attract the attention of the more sentient beings in this world, for a tribe of ibis headed men appeared beside them.

“Greetings,” one of them said, possibly the same entity they’d spoken to last time. “Do you seek knowledge, my brave traveller?”

“Yes, how did you know?” Paul replied.

“It is the purpose of all visits to the other realms,” the entity responded.

“Well,” he began, “I wondered if you could help me with a little problem. I’ve been asked to produce a device, which will block the ability of a person’s consciousness to travel freely and view whatever they desire.”

The entity answered with a question.

“Why do you wish to prevent this from happening? The purpose is to find knowledge and merge with the Monad, why would you want to hinder this?”

There was that name again…the Monad, although he had more pressing concerns.

“In my world, it’s not used to gain enlightenment, it’s used to spy upon the enemy and to know his next move. We wish to defend ourselves from this intrusion.”

The entity considered his request.

“It is not our choice how knowledge is used. Human free will dictates how it will be applied but if it is used in a negative way, then humanity must deal with the consequences. That is the way of karma, and it has always been this way.”

“So, you’ll help me?” Paul pressed, without really considering the therianthrope’s wisdom.

“Yes, we can answer your question. It is simply a case of changing the frequency and its amplitude. An electromagnetic field pulsed at 7.8 kilohertz will successfully halt the consciousness, and prevent this spying that you speak of.”

Paul nodded.

“Seventy eight thousand hertz, that’s in the upper range of human hearing. I should be able to create such a device. Many thanks for your assistance.”

“You are most welcome, it is an honour to help and share our knowledge. We have been teachers of humanity since the dawn of man and have witnessed the rise and fall of many civilisations. There has been wise use, and misuse of knowledge. Use this information as you will, and use it wisely.”

Paul prepared to part company with the entity, but Tahra felt the need to question him further.

“Since the dawn of man?”

“The very first contact was made by a few individuals who ingested a sacred plant. We taught them how to make fire and grow crops, how to write. However, contact was practised on a wider scale by humanity approximately twelve thousand years ago, leading to a Golden Age lasting around four thousand years. We refer to this as the First Time, when the other realms were understood and incorporated into spiritual practice. Mankind as a whole understood the Monad.”

“I told the serpents that I intend to initiate the Second Time,” Paul pointed out. “I want to revive that understanding we had, and rediscover that lost knowledge.”

“The very first seed of the Second Time has already been sown, in the time period you refer to as the 1940s. However, you are the first teachers of the new cycle.”

“Can we find teachers in the other realms too? I believe there are many more,” Tahra said.

“Yes,” the entity replied, “but they are not all benefactors of humanity. You need to be very careful of toxic energies. Evil does exist, for there is no good without its antithesis, how could you quantify either without its opposite? You will need to know how to tell the difference between entities who want to help, and those who wish to do harm, or further their own agenda.”

“Do you ever cross over to our world?” she queried.

“The concept of ‘crossing over’ is a misnomer. It is a question of shifting perspective, like I discussed before. Consciousness must vibrate at the primeval number of 7.8 to see us.”

“Are all the worlds interlaced and superimposed upon each other?” Paul asked, remembering something that had been referred to on their previous visit.

“You are correct in many ways, as they exist as one, having no physical location. Visible matter in the universe accounts for a small ratio, the rest is invisible to you at the moment, but you must ask, what lies in the spaces between the visible matter? Is it not the apparent emptiness that is more fascinating and worthy of exploration? Here you will find many other realms, if only your eyes could see. The enlightened mind can see the truth of this and understand. Sit quietly, in tune with the primeval number every day, and it will come.”

At that point, the field began to power down and the world of the therianthropes faded from view. Visits to this realm were invaluable, mankind could learn from them, the original teachers of humanity. The machine came into view and they climbed out, Paul immediately hunted for a notebook and pen to scribble down the information imparted to him. It looked like he’d be meeting the deadline after all.

However, he needed to set new objectives, explore more dimensions. Where could he and Tahra venture next?

***

Paul and I made another journey in the machine, to scout out another world. The machine was as addictive as a drug, but minus the side effects. He teased me by declaring he had some really important information to impart. I begged him to divulge it, but he put it off until we had a long evening free, when he’d completed Max’s project. He also wanted to press forward exploring with the machine, so it would have to wait.

Paul kept the harmonics at the lower end of the range, noting the combination of frequencies and amplitude beforehand. The travel guide was building up nicely and we began giving the worlds points out of ten for friendliness, aesthetic value, and potential for acquiring knowledge. So far, the therianthrope world scored high but we needed to expand the guide. Paul also introduced a new addition to the machine, a set of speakers wired to a record player on the outside. He decided we should listen to some music as our consciousnesses left our bodies, to add a little drama to the experience. Setting the record to play, he hooked us up to the EEG and ECG.

The field powered up to the sound of ‘New World Symphony’ by Dvorak, and our bodies tingled and buzzed to the music. I wondered where the machine would throw us, and what kind of entities we’d encounter. So far, we’d met some wise beings, who wanted to help humanity, however, would this be the case in subsequent realms?

Our consciousnesses appeared in a world that looked very similar to our own this time. We found ourselves in a grand city with a very American skyline full of tall buildings, which were connected by thin walkways along which some kind of tram rode. No one bothered much with ground level. Looking up at the sky, I saw dirty white clouds scattered on a backdrop of lilac, illuminated by a triple star system. In fact, even though it was daylight, galaxies and nebulae glowed brightly, giving this place a really otherworld feel.

This is beautiful in an urban kind of way, I thought, in total juxtaposition to the previous two worlds.

Lifts ran up the sides of the buildings and across the walkways too, so whoever lived here could zip across the city quite easily. However, I didn’t spot any signs of life.

Hello? Anyone here?

We needed to focus our consciousnesses on one of the walkways, in an attempt to make contact with the entities of this world. I snapped there in an instant, and looked over to find Paul materialising next to me. We gazed at each other, our physical resemblances appearing unconnected to the surreal urban backdrop. Our non-corporeal bodies stood on the walkway, with the lifts and trams whizzing past us.

I spotted a stop nearby, and we watched as people got off just outside one of the tall buildings. Surprisingly, they looked very human but when I peered at them more closely, I realised their skin was quite translucent, making their internal organs visible. Their brains had the appearance of iridescent watery milk, and their eyes were misty, as if they all had cataracts. To add greater surrealism to the scene, each person had a faint neon-like outline, as if someone had drawn around them with a brightly coloured pen.

Studying them in more detail, I also realised they each had some kind of clip attached to their temples, which had a blinking light on it. They moved about their daily business not really noticing each other, more focused on what was going on inside their own heads. I wondered whether the little clip was wired into their brain and this was how they communicated with each other, through some kind of mechanical telepathy.

Turning to Paul, I commented, “They haven’t noticed us at all, have they? Are we invisible to them?”

He studied them too, watching their fluid yet aloof movements.

“No, we weren’t invisible in the other dimensions. Maybe it’s not so much they don’t see us, perhaps they’re simply not interested, or don’t care.”

“If two strangers dropped into your world, wouldn’t you take notice?”

It was impossible to tell if they were good or evil, they seemed indifferent. This wouldn’t be much of an adventure if they didn’t want to communicate.

We pushed our consciousnesses through the buildings, observing people quietly working. At each desk, I observed something like a very flat television and next to it, a black box with blinking lights. On the far wall, I spotted a really large screen like you’d see at the cinema, with some kind of grid displayed on it. A vertical stack of lights flickered on and off in a wave like sequence.

Still, no one spoke.

“What kind of world is this?” I asked Paul.

Looking around, he answered, “Your guess is as good as mine.”

However, something quite disturbing happened, I heard a very loud voice in my head and Paul did too because we looked at each other at the same time.

“What are you doing here?” it said loudly.

It was impossible to tell where the sound came from because no one looked up. Should we try and answer? We didn’t get chance though.

“Get out!” it shouted, so loudly that we wanted to cover our ears. “Get out!!”

Realising the hostility of this entity, we withdrew our consciousnesses back to the walkway, but apparently that wasn’t enough and we heard more than one voice.

“Get out!!!” they cried in unison.

Where could we go? We pulled back to street level, hoping the machine would power down so we could make a fast exit, but that didn’t happen. More voices joined in, and the chorus became deafening.

“Get out!!!!”

Panicking, I pulled my consciousness upwards and Paul followed, giving us a bird’s eye view, rising higher above the city. Looking down, I felt overcome with awe as I saw the panorama of this endless city for the first time. There were stacks and stacks of skyscrapers as far as the eye could see. This world comprised pure city, I saw no green land for miles. It made me wonder how they ate, did they not grow crops? Did they just make it in a factory?

“Get out!!!!!”

More voices had joined in, the chorus becoming almost painful to the ears and mind. Even though we pushed our consciousness upward, we just saw just city. Finally, this world began to fade, as did the noise and we opened our eyes to find ourselves back in the machine, hearing the field power down and the sound of the needle stuck at the end of the record.

Shaken, we made our way over to the camera, ready to record our experiences. Paul gave a description of the world we’d just visited and drew a conclusion.

“I think I can safely say we’ll blacklist that world,” Paul said, still a bit dazed.

“I second that,” I replied, “so ignorant!”

***

Paul scheduled their next trip for four days time and just as Tahra thought they’d have time to discuss his recent revelation, they had some surprise visitors. In fact, she almost got caught out that morning, as she was still wandering about the farmhouse in her dressing gown. She opened the door to find Max standing there, along with Oscar and George. Her jaw wanted to drop and he looked puzzled to find her answering the door as if it were her home. Tahra felt relieved she’d showered, as the smell of sex on her body wouldn’t please him.

“Is Paul there?” Max said, irritation clear in his voice.

Tahra felt desperate to hide how startled she felt, so scurried away to find Paul.

Quietly, under her breath she said, “Max’s here, at the door, did you know he was coming?”

Mirroring her tone of voice he murmured, “No, not at all. This is a bit…uncomfortable.”

He finished dressing, threw on a shirt and made his way to the front door. Tahra followed but hung around in the background.

“This is a surprise,” Paul said.

“Why is Tahra here and not in the designated guest rooms?” he asked, very directly.

The annoyance in Max’s voice put Paul on the spot, and he racked his brains for a suitable response.

“Well, I felt guilty about leaving her alone out there so I offered her one of the spare rooms here in the farmhouse. It’s easier to discuss the project.”

Hopefully Max bought it. Both Paul and Tahra prayed he wouldn’t ask to see the room in which she’d supposedly slept. Max grunted a begrudged acceptance.

“Are you going to leave me standing in the doorway?” he said, impatiently.

Paul apologised and Max, Oscar, and George entered the farmhouse. They all sat around the large pine table in the kitchen. Paul made tea and Tahra kept her distance, hearing them in conversation for a while. As no one welcomed her over, she relaxed in the sitting room, reading one of her heavy and somewhat dry text books from university. It became harder to stay focused on the studying but the end of the course drew nearer, and it would only infuriate Max if she didn’t graduate. It suddenly occurred to her that she hadn’t written to her family in months, in fact, she’d barely thought about them. What would her father think about her activities, sleeping with a white man outside of marriage? She dismissed these concerns, being an adult living a few thousand miles from her parents now.

Finally, Paul popped his head round the door and announced that Oscar and George had requested a journey in the machine, so they’d be staying for a while in the guest rooms. Then he added Max would oversee this test, making him a guest too. Worse still, he asked to sleep in the farmhouse, and Paul conceded they’d have to go along with it.

No sex for a little while, then, she thought.

They all dined together at the table: Paul at the head of the table and Max opposite Tahra, which created an awkward situation for her. Sometimes, he gave her a disconcerting stare and it made the atmosphere at the table weird. Paul didn’t seem to notice though, and Tahra wondered if she was just being over-sensitive.

Afterwards, Paul showed Oscar and George the machine: how it operated, giving an explanation of how it worked in layman’s terms, and he showed them the inside of the machine. They all sat inside it, Max included, to get a feel for it before the trip the next day.

Later, they took a ride out to a restaurant in the nearest town, which provided a relaxed evening’s entertainment. Tahra had to refuse alcohol as it affected her remote viewing capabilities, and she advised Oscar and George to abstain too. Paul and Max laughed together like old friends and fortunately for Tahra, this distracted him so he she didn’t have to suffer his intimidating stare.

It felt strange to Tahra sleeping in one of the spare rooms, which they hurriedly made up as if she’d been staying there on a regular basis. Max opted for the room next door to Tahra, and it took her a while to fall sleep as she half expected him to come knocking on the door, although that didn’t happen. She encountered him in the morning coming out of the bathroom, hair wet, and semi naked and Tahra lowered her eyes, embarrassed by the feelings of arousal that tingled through her body. He brushed past her, watching her with a wily smile then he disappeared into his room. In her room, she paced the floor with irritation.

Why wouldn’t he just go away?

Why couldn’t her emotions behave themselves?

Didn’t her body know she’d put her relationship with Max to bed?

He persisted on soiling her innermost thoughts, creeping into that secret place in her heart and between her legs.

His presence in the house made her want to repeatedly bathe herself.

Tahra made sure she didn’t encounter him emerging from the bathroom again. However, the social atmosphere compensated for Max’s visit and before she knew it, the day of the next trip in the machine arrived. This time she had to tow Oscar and George, which offered a challenge to her psychic abilities. Could she achieve this, and where would they travel to in the machine?

***

Oscar and George looked at me with apprehension as all three of us walked into the barn that housed the machine, ready for a mutual adventure. I had my own doubts too, concerning my ability to tow two consciousnesses, but I’d soon find out how difficult that would be.

We climbed into the machine, the hatch closed and we all held hands, as it had become custom to do so. Max watched from the outside. The sound of ‘New World Symphony’ by Dvorak’ came over the speakers and we heard the field power up. At this point, I gave their hands a squeeze. The buzzing and tingling overtook my body and after my consciousness had moved from my body, I waited inside the machine for the two orbs of light belonging to Oscar and George. It wasn’t too long before I saw them, now came the hard part.

I visualised a net that extended from my consciousness, scooping them up like little silvery fish, then I allowed the frequencies to take over me and draw us to the intended destination.

A world came into focus, again very different to the ignorant city realm and identifiable as contrary to our own world. It had a similar appearance to the serpent realm, in that the colours were so luminous. I noted the deep indigo, violet, and blue hues in the environment and the substance, or fabric of this world seemed very fluid. It reminded me of liquid mercury with rainbow ripples, like when you drop motor oil into water. The sky of deepest indigo had the texture of suede and there appeared to be no light source, in fact, everything in this world seemed to be self illuminated.

The foliage looked like that of the serpent world. I saw huge ferns that appeared to have some kind of inner light and, like the ignorant city world, seemed to be outlined in ink. However, there were no humans here, only some strange entities that looked like the Indian Gods and Goddesses of the Mahabharata. Female beings with multiple arms danced, and people with elephant heads watched. Maybe they’d had contact with humanity at some point in history.

“It’s so beautiful,” Oscar commented, in his light orb form.

“Concentrate on forming an image of yourself,” I directed them. “You can appear however you wish in the other realities.”

Oscar materialised beside me as his usual self, but for a blue face and George chose to remain as an orb.

Looking up, we watched a train of what appeared to be bubbles in the sky and inside them sat entities, drifting silently through the deep indigo sky. As the bubbles moved, we saw they created ripples in the fluid medium in which they propelled themselves. The bubbles converged on a point in the sky and disappeared into it, although it was impossible to tell where they were going.

“I don’t know what to say, it’s… realer than real, so vivid,” Oscar said.

“Are all the worlds so beautiful?” George asked.

“Most of them, but this one is especially striking,” I replied.

We began to explore a little more and move through the foliage. I noticed blue, purple, and pink reptilian creatures moving through the undergrowth. They had fluidity to them, as if liquid mercury ran through their veins and an iridescent outline traced around them. I spotted some quite large reptiles with pink pustules on them, and when I extended a warm greeting towards them, they pulsed, or cycled, through a range of colours from pale pink to darkest blue.

“Look,” I said, “they seem to react to us. Try feeling happy when you see them.”

Oscar and George followed my cue, and all three of us focused on positive emotions. In response, we elicited a colourful display that rivalled Bonfire Night fireworks, or a host of fireflies. Laughing, I spun around and took Oscar by his non-corporeal hand.

“They love us!”

George’s orb circled us as we danced, and Oscar stood still, brightly coloured iguanas scuttling around his feet.

“Do you think we could communicate with them?” Oscar asked me.

Looking around at the explosions of light, I replied, “I think we just did. We communicated with our emotions, and they responded.”

He began to understand now, not all communication involved words. However, the harder we tried to induce further responses, the less feedback we received, and I concluded free flowing emotion brought greater dividends.

Then the field powered down and the emotion realm faded from view, to be replaced by the interior of the machine. Paul opened the hatch, hopeful of results while I noticed Max perusing the situation, keeping his thoughts to himself.

“Well, what happened?” Paul asked. “Let’s get over to the camera.”

Oscar and George looked dazed, so I gave them a squeeze of my hand and led them over to the corner of the room designated for cine camera feedback.

“I… think that experience has just changed my life,” Oscar said into the camera.

None of us would be the same ever again.

“I do believe we met Ganesh,” Oscar added. As Paul looked puzzled he added, “You know, the Indian God thing with an elephant head.”

“More references to ancient Gods,” he pondered out loud.

Max wandered over, arms still folded in some kind of display of authority.

“So, is this project viable?” he asked, as only a businessman would.

Paul looked satisfied and could barely contain his excitement.

“Send the rest of The Institute’s residents over,” he responded, emphatically.

***

Max took Oscar and George back to The Institute, leaving the farmhouse quiet once more. Paul sat at the pine table in the kitchen while Tahra took a bath upstairs. He used the opportunity to return to the literature concerning mankind’s encounters with supernatural beings, and he needed to read more essays on the subject to add to his notes. Tahra also wished to hear his revelations. A while later, she emerged with damp hair, wearing her dressing gown.

“Sit down,” he said, excited. “I’ve got a story to tell you.”

Needing little persuasion, she sat next to him on the sofa, nicely warmed by a roaring fire. As she began to finish drying her hair with a towel, he began.

“I’ve been reading up on the history and culture of shamanism, and you’ll be amazed at what I’ve discovered. The basis of shamanism states there is a hypothetical otherworld that interpenetrates our own everyday world, and it can’t be seen by any normal means because it’s invisible.”

“That’s what the therianthropes told us, in essence,” Tahra confirmed.

“While we use the machine to access the invisible worlds, tribal shamans travelled to other realms by consuming sacred plants such as iboga and ayahuasca.”

She made a valid point, after listening carefully.

“But did they access the same worlds as we did in the machine? Is there any frame of reference?”

“This is where it gets exciting,” he continued. “Typical ‘visionary experiences’ involved snakes or serpents, geometrical shapes, ladders, pulsing lights, entities with men’s bodies and crocodile heads… Sound familiar?”

She really began to pay attention now.

“What’s amazing is the remarkable consistency of these visions, not only among the shaman tribes but with our experiments.”

Tahra countered, “Although we’ve encountered worlds and entities that these visionary experiences haven’t mentioned. Is the chemical journey as valid as the ones in the machine? Psychologists tend to see psychoactive substances as short term ‘model psychoses’.”

“Maybe psychedelic substances are tools. Let me elucidate,” Paul said. “Since early history, the use of psychotropic plants has been well documented. The Eleusinian Mysteries of the Greeks were held for two thousand years, a practice that began in Eleusia in Greece but eventually it spread to Rome. Powerful personal experiences took place in the Hall of Initiation. On entry to the Hall, everyone was obliged to drink a special potion which induced visions and a feeling of oneness. Scholars believe the potion, named ‘kykeon’ was a concoction of barley and pennyroyal and it’s interesting to note that the parasitic fungus, ergot, grows on barley and that ergot was the substance from which LSD was synthesised”.

“The initiation was believed to unite the worshippers with the Gods and included promises of divine power and rewards in the afterlife. It’s likely many of the rites centred around a re-enactment of the Demeter/Persephone myth, in which Demeter’s daughter was abducted to the Underworld, where her mother had to search for her. Along the way, she teaches the secrets of agriculture. Although rescued eventually, Persephone had to return to the Underworld for a season each year, during which no plants grew.”

“Hmmm,” Tahra’s opinion on chemical tools to expand consciousness began to sway, “I can’t help but wonder if Persephone’s Underworld was another dimension of reality. Interesting how there’s reference to the sharing of knowledge and teaching, something both the serpents and therianthropes referred to. Are there any descriptions of this Underworld in the Eleusinian Mysteries?”

“No. The practices were kept strictly secret, there’s very little information what these visions involved.”

“Maybe these mysteries are part of the First Time that the therianthropes referred to,” Tahra pondered aloud.

“There’s more,” Paul continued. “Further references to psychoactive brews are found in the Vedas, many of which are devoted to a potion called ‘soma’. It’s referred to as plant, drink, and God as one entity and the writers of the Vedas believed it bestowed divine qualities in the drinker. Listen to these quotes: ‘I am huge, huge! Flying in the clouds. Have I not drunk soma?’ Here’s another one I wrote down: ‘We have drunk the soma, we are become Immortals, we have arrived at the light, we have found the Gods’.”

Tahra’s eyes began to open wider, in many ways.

“I love the references to flying,” she commented. “They remind me of my own experiences in the early stages of the OOBE project.”

“Exactly,” Paul reinforced. “But it gets better. Although there are no references to psychoactive brews being ingested, religious texts contain many visionary experiences and encounters with supernatural beings. Look at the seeds of Christianity: Moses saw a burning bush and accepted heavenly writings, St. Paul had a supernatural encounter on the road to Damascus and don’t forget that angels visited Mary, mother of Christ.”

“Now that you come to mention it,” Tahra added, “the Prophet Muhammad had encounters with the Angel Gabriel, who gave him the text of the Qur’an.”

“And the Angel Moroni presented the Book of Mormon on golden plates that vanished into thin air.”

They reflected on the examples discussed. Paul drew the inevitable conclusion.

“The basis of our religions seem to revolve around Shamanism. They have a common frame of reference, and therefore a common bond of spirituality. Even Buddhism, which has no God, revolves around a personal journey of enlightenment. It’s idiocy that religion causes wars, when its fundamental precepts come from the same place.”

Tahra nodded, seeing the irony.

“The wars are about the validity of the messenger,” she pointed out. “Each religion believes in one God, but they fight over whose God is true and whose teachings are right.”

“We can blame the invention of monotheism for that,” Paul commented. “Until Akhenaten changed everything, Egyptian religion revolved around a whole pantheon of Gods, the full spectrum of extra-dimensional entities. They believed in the Otherworld, which they referred to as the Duat. If you look at Paganism, the ancient nature based spiritual beliefs pre-dating Christianity, it too reflected deities and spirits synchronous with a creator entity. We’ve lost our awareness of these supernatural entities in favour of an all powerful God who controls the world. It’s…sacrilegious,” he said, almost in disgust.

Tahra concurred. “I agree, many of the world’s religions recognise the other dimensions in the most simplistic sense, although it’s reduced to a very monochromatic Heaven and Hell. I certainly haven’t encountered anything like Hell yet.”

“I guess it boils down to people’s ability to see these other realms,” Paul pointed out. “It’s possible that a few individuals were able to see these worlds and beings without the use of psychoactive plants. It was certainly regarded as something natural and sacred, with great emphasis placed on these individuals as being special, gifted, or holy. “

“It’s ironic that modern psychiatrists would see these same individuals as delusional or psychotic; mentally ill,” Tahra commented.

Paul shook his head, communicating exasperation.

“How many gifted people reside in mental institutions for accessing the other dimensions? It’ll make my dream of initiating the Second Time a real battle.”

“Well, there must be hope,” Tahra said. “Aren’t there more modern anecdotes concerning contact with supernatural entities, that don’t involve insanity?”

Paul nodded. “Yes, both Joan of Arc and Bernadette of Lourdes received visitations and encounters with a being referred to as ‘our lady’. However, Joan was burned at the stake, and wasn’t as lucky as Bernadette. Such visions aren’t always confined to lone experiences either”.

He flicked through his notes for the relevant information and continued.

“A mass visionary experience culminated on the 13th of September 1917. Thirty thousand people witnessed a globe of light and the formation of a white cloud where previously three Catholic children claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary. ‘Petals’ fell from the sky, although the report states that the glistening globules grew smaller as they got nearer, and melted away when people tried to touch them. It certainly sounds like some contact with the other dimensions, although there’s no evidence of drug use. I’m stumped as to how thirty thousand people could see the same vision though.”

Tahra added another revelation.

“What about the creatures of folklore such as elves, leprechauns and fairies, more anecdotes of the non-physical realms?”

“Quite possibly,” he responded, “although we haven’t encountered any.”

“Our ancestors didn’t have the machine though,” Tahra pointed out. “We have a very powerful tool here.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Paul pondered. “Before I built the machine, remember that dream I told you about?” Tahra nodded. “I believe the Egyptians used the Great Pyramid to commune with their Gods, these extra-dimensional entities. This was part of the First Time. What I don’t understand is: why did they stop using it?”

Tahra shrugged, after giving the question some thought.

“We must look to the future now though. I believe we’ll initiate the Second Time.”

Paul smiled, warmed by her faith and enthusiasm.

“Well, the therianthropes said the first seed was planted in the 1940s.”

“I remember,” she agreed. “What do you think they were referring to?”

“I’m not sure, but I found some very interesting research carried out in that decade.” Paul flicked to the relevant place in his notes to get his facts right. “In 1946, a psychoactive substance called Dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, was isolated from a South American tree by a Hungarian chemist. He attempted to create an oral based solution, but found it became inactive due to an enzyme in the intestines so eventually in 1956, he injected himself with it. After a successful but short trip, he injected thirty volunteers, who experienced visions of spirits, sunlit Gods, and a sense of flight from their body. What’s significant about DMT is that it’s endogenous, in other words, it’s a naturally occurring substance in our bodies.” He paused then continued. “But I’m not sure the therianthropes meant this, maybe there’s something…much bigger I’m missing.”

They were both silent for a long moment.

“Maybe DMT is simply a mediator,” he concluded. “I’m not sure how this is connected to the Second Time though. However, I believe my machine is the key.”

“You must keep the faith in what you’re doing,” Tahra reassured. “Our project really can change the world.”

Paul held onto that thought, as securely as he hugged her.

***

Tahra returned to The Institute a few days later, while Paul wrote in his OOBE journal to note the experiences inside the machine. He liked to record detailed reflections and include technical information regarding the progress of the project. Tahra found The Institute dull, and she still tried to avoid Max, although he regularly attended during testing now. As ever, she discovered a long waiting list for her skills and he had several sessions lined up for her. Tahra started to think she spent more time out of her body than in it.

It seemed strange not using the machine to project her consciousness, but she knew the task didn’t require technological help. It was easy, like playing with a pre-school toy. Max gave her some coordinates and a map, which she glanced over, then laid back and closed her eyes. The target looked like some kind of educational institution, and an old, Victorian-like building came into view. It appeared to be grand, probably elitist and full of stuffy old professors. However, this test felt more vivid than her usual sessions at The Institute, in fact, it felt no different than if she’d walked up to it in her physical body.

She pushed her consciousness towards the heavy, studded oak door and it felt so lucid, she clearly saw the grain. Tahra moved through the door, like flour passing through a sieve, and felt herself glide down the corridors. The experience seemed so free and liberating as she extruded effortlessly through the doors and walls. She passed by people in the building who were making their way to classrooms or to the library, and she saw their facial expressions clearly, as if she were standing right next to them. The words sounded crisp and not as garbled as they usually were when remote viewing. For all intents and purposes, she felt physically present in the building and the only reason she disbelieved that was because no one saw her.

However, Tahra didn’t want to be here, it was mundane, not profound or spiritual like the other realms. A wistful feeling passed over her, making her yearn for the magical quality of the journeys in the machine. Then, probably due to her attention being diverted elsewhere, the educational institution dissolved from her field of vision. A familiar face loomed in front of her, creating a vivid sensation. The ibis headed entity from the therianthrope world spoke.

“Well done, my brave traveller. You have made it on your own.”

Tahra opened her eyes. Was that a dream, a trick of the mind, or had she retained the effects of the machine?





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