Believers - A reinterpretation of mystical and religious phenomena

Brian J. Allan brings the basis, the psychological challenges, (if not psychological warfare), and the reasons for acceptance or rejection of what people have experienced or witnessed... As Skully and Mulder said, "I Want to Believe", the Believers sheds light on why they could not believe, yet others did believe. Are you a believer? or do you reject that which you personally experienced or witnessed?

From the Back Cover

In this, Brian Allan's fifth book, we see the next step in a logical progression of research and inquiry: are the "spiritual" and "religious" matters that humanity espouses or embraces intimately connected to, or part of, the paranormal and anomalous realm? And if so, is this part of a greater reality which is not only quantum in the micro- and macro-level, but also a source of manipulative intelligences, some of which are greater than our own?

Some people seem destined to be used by these manipulative forces for destructive ends; others seem doomed to be dupes. Brian examines all of this with his characteristically crisp insight and rapier wit, and as always, his research is factually impeccable.This is a very important book, and one that should reside on the shelves of every student of comparative religion, mythology, Forteanism, Ufology, and the paranormal.

-Wm. Michael Mott
Author of Caverns, Cauldrons, and Concealed Creatures

Excerpt

The subject of mystical and by association religious phenomena, completely blurs the line between subjective and objective reality, it also demonstrates just how powerful a tool that absolute, indiscriminate and unthinking faith can be.

This paradigm of course by no means guarantees the validity of the focus of that faith, irrespective of whether it is attributed to an omnipotent, omniscient god or anything else. Unfortunately, unquestioning belief also introduces obvious similarities with brainwashing in anyone who subscribes to any given system of belief, particularly in those who have chosen to detach from mainstream society and become members of a cult or sect. The relationship between brainwashing and religion may at first seem bizarre, but both have the same rationale at their core. Leaving any political considerations and articles of dogma aside, both require that the person involved wholeheartedly embrace, or can be made to embrace, the premise that something is true, based on little more than the fact that they are told that it is.

A non-religious but extreme example of this is the cult of personality that currently exists in the rabidly communist North Korea, where the population is continually exhorted, intimidated and coerced into idolising and elevating their 'dear leader', Kim Jong Il, to the point of deification. Perhaps this entire situation is best summed up by the American author and wit, Mark Twain, who said, 'Faith is believing in something you know is not true'.

As we shall soon discover, in general terms it is virtually impossible to broach the subject of mystical phenomena without introducing religious overtones, because in the human psyche, over millennia, strands from each have become inextricably interwoven. It is here at this interface we discover that magic and mysticism are but opposite sides of the same coin and only separated by context, opinions, and occasionally the politics of those in power. In times past that power, propaganda and influence resided solely within one central body or group, especially the religious authorities, because they were seamlessly integrated into the social structure where the church and state were one and education was the exclusive privilege of those who lived within this social hierarchy.

The lower ranked orders on the periphery of this elitist type of society were condemned to a life of ignorance, servitude and penury, with the promise of better times in the afterlife shamelessly exploited by their 'betters' to justify the appalling conditions in which they lived. Although it is likely that many of those in positions of power, including the clergy, actually believed in a creator God, it is also a fact that this 'pie in the sky' cant was the source of their grip on power. This is a clear link to the mindset of cults and their leaders/founders, which is discussed in the opening chapters of this book In the later chapters we begin to establish links with certain facets of the genuine source belief that might be reinterpreted as non-spiritual and connected to long forgotten technologies, because in essence magic and technology are expressions of the same thing.

Also considered is the premise that apparently inanimate objects somehow take on qualities associated with their owners, including the power to heal. We will also examine the possibility that some religions stemmed from poorly remembered contact with extraterrestrial entities that became the archetypes for their godheads. There is no dichotomy here; once again we find that context, as in most things, is the key factor in all this, whether an objective is attained by the use of mechanical forces or by a conjuration of will both have employed technology to manipulate the real world in real time; it all depends what one terms as 'technology'.

There is instinctive technology as displayed in the animal kingdom by, for example, birds as they build their nests, bees their hives or otters their lodges and dams; instinctive it may be, but it is technology nonetheless. The difference between humanity and the animals is that our technology evolved and grew as we adapted the world to our needs, and in some instances adapted ourselves to suit the environment; it is why we have not yet died out as a species. What it has not done for us, sadly, is to teach us that our survival strategy extends to caring for the planet as a well as ourselves.

The problem with magical technology is that it is exquisitely subtle and ephemeral, so much so that unless the technician/magician directing the operation of a ritual is extremely accomplished, a lone dissenting voice can destroy the project. Is it reasonable to argue that the use of religious belief is also an example of technology at work, especially if the worshipper is praying for a favour from their deity and if the outcome is favourable then the worshipper assumes that the deity has answered the prayer by an act of will alone without making the connection that reality has been altered by some as yet unknown mechanism?

I suggest that it is. The will of one single worshipper may have limited success, but is this is multiplied by orders of magnitude and focussed through a priest, minister, rabbi or mullah, then the possibility of success may increase accordingly. However, while that is still to come we should perhaps start with a look at the beliefs and practises of some of the groups and individuals who function both within the folds of conventional religion and also in the darker areas, hidden safely behind the moral certainties of their own scriptural interpretations.