Out Of The Nightmare
Art by Norman E. Masters

In my work around and about all things metaphysical, I have a consistent attitude: I am one of those people that lives in the here and now; and all the information I choose to retain is classed as hard-headed, pragmatic, and useful in that same here and now!

Please bear this in mind as you read this.

Over several years, I have made contact with what can only be called spirits. This text is both to relate what I have received from them, but also to dispel the notion that any contact with them smacks of "Messages from God".

To offer further clarification -- and they don't seem to be "Messages from the Devil"!

I take them for just what I believe them to be -- contact by those that are not of this world. This mental contact can be done by anyone; it does not take special skill; and many do so but refuse to admit they do.

In spite of what others may say, you don't need to be religious.

I would add that to venture into this world requires courage. You never know what you will encounter. It can range from an old friend that has died, to a negative entity that endeavors to overwhelm you with feelings of dread, for agendas of their own.

My experience is that while you may have the crap scared out of you, as I have many times, there is very little chance of them "taking over"!

Their "taking over" requires that you agree to that takeover!

If you relinquish your own human free will, step back from the authority of your own mind, THEN they can "take over," but not until you allow then to do so by running in abject cowardice from a situation you can and should easily control.

In any journeys you may make to that other side: The worst thing you could meet is yourself!

This comes about as the result of the vague fears that lurk in the dark recesses of our own minds, brought about by some sort of preconceived idea that we are guilty of something that is kind of ill-defined. It is a "guilt trip" laid on us by others, or, as is the case in many episodes, some kind of diatribe of guilt put in place by your religious beliefs.

The bulk of these contacts are when I am asleep, or in that middle ground between sleeping and waking. This conforms to the classifica- tion of an "altered state of consciousness".

This is not some high-flown ability possessed by few; it's as simple as thinking of someplace other than you are right now.

Take a moment and think of someplace you have been that you liked very much, and as the thoughts of that special place diminish, you are returning from an altered state. It's no big deal!

It is that simple, anytime you are "wool-gathering" "lost in thought", or thinking about something that is not directly in front of you, when you are concerned with a problem at first hand, you are in an altered state. Humans go into this state many times a day.

I would add that contact with "them" nearly mandates an altered state; it is not given to many to be able to make this form of contact in any sort of daily life setting.

Speculation offers that: Perhaps the mind cannot sustain this type of activity while strictly in the "here and now". One might offer that the expanded stimuli could overload the mind, causing trouble in trying to sort out what was "here", and what was "over there".

I should state that from a "common sense" standpoint I sharply distrust those that "go into a trance" to garner information from that other side, as I think that all the rest of those that are present have to go on is their word, with all the human inaccuracy and personal bias entailed.

In short, I tend to not believe them; and I'm sure there are others that feel the same.

I note a tendency to adopt a superior attitude that suggests distortion of the messages to establish a controlling tone over those that the messages are conveyed to. In other words, a "power trip".

That "other side" is much more complicated than this world, differing in many respects from this world, and among the differences are the ability to make direct mind-to-mind contact, called telepathy.

The language is different; they have concepts we don't have; they can and do communicate by thoughts that contain whole concepts as a single word; and the way the single word is "phrased" results in a completely different meaning to the word.

The so-called "tone" of any mental contact is quite difficult to describe. It is a subtle shading or nuance given to the word. For an example: We can say "oh", and it is just that, as in "oh, well".

Or we can say "Oh?", with a rising inflection that denotes surprise, or disgust regarding the information we have received. This ability exists in a much higher degree in that other world.

While there are those that say that other side does not exist, I say, from my own experience, it does. It is not necessarily the concept of "Heaven", complete with "Angels", but another thing entirely.

The concept of "Heaven", the said "streets of gold", the "Heavenly choirs" and all the rest of that was simply a concept made up by the church to coerce the members into believing that this church had all the answers.

No church ever had! And no church ever will!

These centuries-old practices were started to offer the congregation supposed relief from the day-to-day drudgery that was their lot in this world (partially brought about by that very same church, and the demand by that church for contributions)!

This was to support and buttress the church dogma by repetition.

The notion of unlimited riches was the ideal the peasant classes could aspire to, the idea of food without working, the idea of moving from place to place without effort, and all it cost was contributing to the church, professing beliefs, and the rest was automatic. In my own mind, it just ain't so!

To those that fear these other-worldly beings, ("ghost tales") I say:

Stop and think. You have loved ones that have passed over to that side, perhaps your own mother or father, an aunt or uncle, a friend, or a beloved grandparent.

If that loved one was your mother, and should she suddenly appear to you in the middle of the night, what possible reason do you have to fear her?

What conceivable kind of diabolical mechanism transformed her from a kind and loving being, into some dreaded monster that was intent on your destruction?

The answer is: There isn't any!

She is still the same kind, loving being she was -- just on another plane of existence!

In the case of your father, you may think that he is still harboring a grudge from some long past incident; but if we look at all the evidence written about this type of scene, the incidents where ANY parent "came back" to punish a child are damned few and far between!

And one might add that even then the very report is subject to doubt!

Sometimes it's a case of: "Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story"!

That punishment largely existed in the mind of the earthly person. It is a manifestation of some form of guilt, either real or imagined.

All the scary tales of various kinds of harm befalling those that "saw a ghost" can be traced to the reaction of the person that saw the "ghost".

Tales of various ghostly apparitions have been written about for centuries, embellished by many tellers of the tale.

And if you take a common sense look at the tale, you find that the fright in the incident is the real culprit.

If you "see a ghost", and run off a high cliff, that was not the fault of the "ghost", it was your own reaction to fear!

>From the very volume of reports about this phenomena, ordinary common sense says that we can assume that they do in fact have some grounds in reality!

Yes, some are made-up, but some are real. Quoting a comparison I saw some time ago about this whole area of metaphysical happenings and their validity:

"If there were one tenth the evidence that the Golden Gate Bridge was unsafe for traffic, it would be closed in an hour!"/p>

In common with others that have written about this field, I also offer that there are divisions among those that are on that "other side".

Just as there are those that "have it all together", those that seem to be rather "loosely connected", and those that "haven't got a clue" over here, I offer that:

Just because they have passed on to another plane they are still of that same classification.

Being "dead" does not make them have some sort of "Divine Wisdom"!

If they were smart over here, they are smart over there! If they were "less than fully competent" in the mental department over here, they are the same over there.

If they "handled the truth rather loosely" over here, the same can be said for them over there; but they are under some sort of constraint to not indulge in some of the more egregious falsehoods they did.

The same ego we have, they have; and what we are given to understand here from that other plane is filtered through the mind of the person that receives it, (subject to their own bias) and it was put into their mind by a spirit that may not have the complete truth themselves!

And subject to their own bias!

Further complicated by the bias we, the listeners, ourselves have!

Between all three, what do we believe?

There is a gradation in the quality of those on that other side, ranging from extreme positive ability to utter degradation. Some are almost Godlike in their abilities, able to offer sound practical advice on your conduct, and you will easily grow to rely on them.

We will discuss the "others" later in this text.

There are books by the dozen on the market that purport to contain these messages, complete with who they were, what they did, and the claims of the authors boggle the mind.

I would remind you of this myth-defeating fact:

IF!:

That particular spirit does have the ability claimed by the author of that book, then: Where is the "new" symphony, the "new" works of William Shakespeare, the "new" statue by Michelangelo, and all the rest of our works coming from the various arts we call "gifted"?

Sadly, there is none.

One might venture that those spirits were fully capable as they inhabited bodies of flesh, but the spark that drove them to create here in this world seems to be lacking in them "over there".

Further: One might offer that the drive to create is, in some fashion, linked to sex or a simple creative drive that is rooted in the physical being.

And since sex is either non-existent over there, or limited in scope compared to anything we know, this difference might be the answer to this lack.

It is reported by some that there is sex on that other plane; but over there, it is the complete combining of two people, not the fragmented frenzied coupling we know here. I have not experienced this phenomena, but others claim they have.

In the various books about the messages given to the mediums here, we are treated to a reiteration of the same kind of ideas those spirits had over here, and in many cases mingled with a variation of a religious belief that may just have taken place in the mind of the person writing the book.

This trait does not invalidate their abilities; it draws our mind's attention to the actual facts of the situation.

We -- -those that listen to the tellers of these tales, allow our minds to turn to mud and drip down the back of our throats, swallowing hook-line-and-sinker the fiction they tell.

Consider this for a moment:

If we assume that this world is a training ground, a boot camp, some sort of basic training, we see that while we would like all the help we can get, if we are handed other-worldly advice, we learn nothing.

We start by tending to not believe it, as it does not pamper our predetermined ideas, plus:

No one ever benefited from well-meaning help that aided for the moment, but did not prepare the person for the real test of life. For example:

We can give a child the answers to a mathematics test, and the child will pass with flying colors, to fail miserably the next time! In that case, we did that child no favor; it still does not know how math works!

The same can be said of advice we get from that other world. Should we utilize any advice we get, we may succeed for the moment, but we can not be assured that we will succeed the next time.

In addition, we rapidly start to develop a dependency on that help, tending to becoming "captured" by that aid, and not being able to function without it! In that case, we did ourselves no favor.

Dependency is one of the pressing problems our society faces today.

The gradations of those on that other side include some that are of the very finest kind we can imagine, and those that seemingly have not progressed far enough up some hierarchy of intellectual ability to be able to function as humans.

Some of these other worldly beings seem to be of quite limited intelligence, incapable of serious thought, child-like in the extreme, trapped in a repetitive action cycle, but not essentially capable of acts of malice or vindictiveness. The term "simple-minded" applies.

Among the tales of "ghosts" there are the tales of the ghosts that seemed to be bent on destruction, causing trouble of varying degrees, and being accused of causing the deaths of humans.

Any serious search of the circumstances around one of these tales typically results in evidence that there was more to the tale than was told.

"He saw a ghost and died"! The facts are as told, but they may have neglected to tell you that he had a bad heart!

In that set of circumstances, seeing a traffic accident would also have had the same result! The "ghost" had little or nothing to do with it!

There are tales of those that were taken over by an "evil spirit", a "devil", a "demon", and on and on. When you hear one of these horror tales:

-- ask what the state of mind of the person was BEFORE the incident!

In the majority of the cases they were "not too tightly wrapped" in the first place! Yes, you can be "taken over", but NOT without your full permission.

Ruling by the "consent of the governed" is just that; YOU give the ruling person your permission to rule you!

If enough peasants revolt, the ruling king is thrown out!

Human free will is inviolable, and it can be set aside only by your relinquishing or giving up your responsibility for your own control, along with the lack of a well formed idea about just what free will is.

No one takes over without your permission, outright or implied. If you agree to let a person take over management of a country, a state, or your own free will, that's one thing; but by refusing to defend your country, state, or free will, that's implied consent.

I had to develop an ability to discriminate what type of being I was "talking" to. You must do the same. Just as there are all kinds in this world, there are all kinds in that world.

Humans tend to equate the presence of light as "Good", and blackness as "Bad". In my own case, this is totally untrue!

To clarify your own thinking, I would suggest that you adopt the attitude of "Goodness is as Goodness does!" React to one of "them" in accord with how they treat you. If you are well treated, treat them well; if they indulge in some less-than-desirable act, snub them. Cut them dead.

There have been occasions when I felt that I had been handled badly by a being that was brightly illuminated, and on the other hand, I was warmly thanked for something I had done by a being that was so black it seemed to soak up light.

I was honestly puzzled by the thanks, and I asked "For what"? She "said" "For ????, and ?????" as though I should know what she was talking about.

The words used were a kind of bird-like twittering in a language we know nothing about. I had no idea what I had done; I still don't, or why I was being thanked.

I have given that type of entity the designation used in TV transmission work, where a segment of the bottom of the screen in your picture contains a portion of data that acts as a control system that tells the set how to display the picture, and the TV technicians call this "Blacker than black".

The entity was black, not the kind of black we regularly see, but of a shade of black that seemed to actually soak up light. As it does, the outlines of the entity are quite difficult to see.

If we can assume anything from this, we should assume that we must take them on an individual basis, just like humans.

I find that the degree of illumination has little to do with their merit, or lack of merit. Plus, to me, we humans are composed of both "dark" and "light" traits, and we should assume that those on that other side are the same. One of the oldest religious sayings we have is:

"As it is above, so it is below". This world is mirrored up there, that world is mirrored here. Good/bad here, good/bad there.

This being that warmly thanked me (there were overtones of it being female) was seemingly involved in a process wherein it moved from the plane of existence where I could view it into another. I can only write what I got an impression of; and I have seen that moving from one to another plane before.

One of the things that you will note: there is no "up", "down", "right side up", there is only toward you and away from you.

To my human mind, it just seems to "go around a corner" that is not there. It exists from the "toward you" nearest point, backwards or "away" from you; and then it has a point where it blurs the view in what we could call a transition point; and then the rest of the entity enters that corner, or other space, and is lost to view.

The old writings speak of gates, in the sense of that location being an opening into that other plane. What better name? The name doors also applies, portals, or doorways if you prefer. Whatever the name, the function is the same.

That area allows travel from this plane to another. Further in this vein, one might speculate that they possess this ability to create, (if that applies) these openings at will, regardless of where they happen to be. One also might speculate that this ability is dependent on some gradation of proficiency they gain as they continue to exist.

I will not endorse the limited view that there is only one other plane of existence, ie: "Heaven". In the diversity of creation we find, this would be seriously "short-changing" those on that other side. I contend that the number of other universes, "parallel" if you will, are quite vast, numbering into millions.

Each can be quite different, some so close to ours that they vary only in a minute degree. Others can be so different that we are instantly aware that humans have no business there.

There's no "keep off" sign; we "just know" we don't belong there.

The human concept of time is also a severe limitation, one that SOME of those on that other side are not limited by. An analogy that you may easily understood is to compare time to a book. Each division of time is a page in that book, minutes, hours, days, weeks, and years.

Visualize that book as extremely thick, and the spine or binding of that book is quite flexible. No covers, the first "page" is a sheet, the last "page" is a sheet.

If we take that book and open it so far that the first page is tightly against the last page, we have created a circular form. Further refine this form by assuming that the center "binding" becomes small enough to disappear, leaving only the basic form.

By starting at the center of this form, any page on that form becomes available by simply entering that form at that page. This is the only way I can convey that time is not the constraint it is said to be.

One might suppose that this ability to traverse time is reserved for those that have shown that they can be trusted to allow the events of that time to proceed as they have done, since tampering with past events is by far best reserved for those that have far more guidance than we poor humans.

To quote the old analogy, suppose you went back in time and killed your father before you were conceived? The accepted answer is that you would never have existed, therefore you could not have gone back, and your action could not have taken place!

To subvert this series of events, supposing that one could actually traverse time, a simple substitution of fathers is an obvious answer.

In the case of artifacts that one might bring forward in time, the existence of these objects at some future date poses no problem; we have many articles that have existed for ages. Simple continuing existence is accepted fact.

In the case of artifacts that one might bring back from some future date, this poses the problem of how that article could affect the civilization we live in. Whole books have been written about this scenario.

What if you brought back a weapon that was so superior to ours that we could not counter it? or what if you brought back a book that showed the written history of the world as it actually happened, and among the facts were your date of death? There are endless possibili- ties.

To sum up: This aspect of life in that plane is so loaded with possibilities that any speculation about it may be grossly over-simplified or so over-speculated about that it is fruitless to go on.

Among those on that other plane are those that (from some flaw in their character) wish to cause humans trouble. These are the ones that all the so-called horror stories come from.

Some are content or seemingly so, to just "bug" us; and some set out to cause real trouble. To a degree, this depends on the amount of negativity they have accumulated, and the intellectual level they have.

Here I offer that this trait of being negative seems to be a learned mode. I cannot subscribe to the theory that this was "born in them". I think it is learned by their duration experiences, and aided by a reluctance to learn on their part.

We have no word for their existence; it isn't life as we know it; we can't say they were born, as we know the term; we have only words we use to denote continuing existence, hence my use of the word duration.

We have those in this human life that seem to relish not learning, preferring to remain indifferent to the very end. They prefer vindictiveness to any other mode of conduct; they seem to like inflicting pain on others; and they carry this trait to that other side.

I find that to those that may have been subject to contact with this type of personality, virtually to a single individual, they are cowards when it comes down to the bottom line. A show of force, a display of militant defense of ourselves, usually sends then running.

I said it takes courage in the metaphysical field, and with these types, it is mandatory! A bully is a bully, either "here" or "there".

I have been told by others of the attempt to take over the body of a sleeper when they were traveling in that other plane; and the person stopped astral traveling because of this.

They adopted a method of protection as the means to prevent this in the future. Since methods like this are peculiarly individual, I can't offer a generic method. In addition, it will depend on your religious belief system.

Many suggest the symbol of the cross; some suggest the five-pointed star; some the six-pointed "Star of David". If you hold with the religions these symbolize, you should get the degree of protection you wish.

I have found that the simple assertion that a human's will is the strongest single thing we have at our disposal does the trick.

There are those that may have their feathers ruffled by this statement, but I have paraphrased the 23rd Psalm to:

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow, I shall fear no evil, because I'm the meanest SOB in that valley!"

While it is crudely stated, (and may offend some!) the essence behind it states that I have no fear of those that I meet on that other side. You must develop this attitude also.

Hopefully, I have met and defeated the worst "black beast" we know -- myself!

The perspectives of your own personality that you discover over there are the real enemy, not some fancied horror you have imagined.

Magic and magical beliefs offer that you must "cross the abyss", and those that have not really thought about it feel that it represents some horror straight out of the worst nightmare. It isn't! It's your own mind and the dark corners in it!

This life is a sort of "boot camp", a training ground; and part of that training is facing yourself.

Once you have faced the very worst part of yourself, all the rest of the so-called terrors of that other side are scaled down to objective size.

In some cases, the entity that seems bent on causing trouble may be one of the type that is labeled an "old spirit", having gone through a number of lifetimes, although sometimes having never been in physical body.

It is in the case of those that have never been in bodies that it appears the highest level of negativity tends to exist. In some few cases, they are the so-called "evil" entities (that are magnified by the teller of the tales) into supposed "devils", "demons", "dvil spirits", and all the other frightful names out of history.

There is some type of agreement between all of them that some acts of conduct are acceptable, some are not. There is a limitation on what they may do, and what they may not do. I feel that human free will is one thing they must accept; but there are those either "here" or "there" that attempt to subvert this to their own ends.

How this agreement was brought about, and how it is controlled we are unaware of. I have formed some ideas as to how it came about, but insofar as I know, there never has been any record of exactly what took place.

All these spirits must conform to the rules set down by others on that other side to control that vast arena of conflicting egos and ideas.

Without human empowerment to "take over", or the failure of the human to implement defense of their free will, then, and only then, can these negative entities create acts of malice to distress and harass humans.

Humans being in ignorance of having this power of free will seems to be the "loophole" the negative entities use.

We have the right of choice to be either "good" or "bad", to conform to the laws and rules of society, or to flout those same rules and laws.

Over many centuries the tellers of the tales stress that "joining up" with the negative side gives power to those that join, power to bend the world to their will, coerce others to do their bidding, order others around, rule the world, and all the rest of the egotistic crap some humans crave.