From: empiress	Date: November 20th, 2002 11:03 pm (UTC)		(Link)
	Proposal of a Third Model

This is an interesting essay!

First, I think it would be helpful to distinguish between experiences that could be termed "supernatural" which would include all spiritual experiences, ghosts, and the UFO/alien phenomon and distinguish those from "conspiracy theorists." Conspiracy theorists ought to have a category of their own because their perspective is not due so much to particular experiences they have had as much as it is simply to their own opinions and interpretations of otherwise ordinary events. They are quite different from the other categories listed this essay.

That being said, I would like to propose another "model" that takes into account all "supernatural" experiences people have as valid. This position avoids the extremes of either dismissing all supernatural experiences as fakes or only accepting one's personal supernatural experiences as authentic. This model holds that it is quite reasonable to validate and affirm every non-psychotic person's personal experiences as being true and authentic experiences that have actually occurred. Under this model, the question no longer becomes: "Did this really happen?" but rather, "how can we understand this experience?"

First, we can validate a multitude of experiences from reincarnation, to the experience of ghosts, to the experience of aliens, to the experience of local spirits, etc. We are all experiencing -something-, but we are -naming- the experience different things. For example, every religion in the world has a belief in both good and bad spirits, from animists to Muslims to Buddhists to Christians. We have different names for these spirits, but our experiences are all be real and authentic. What a Muslim may call a jinn a Hindu calls an asura and a Christian calls a demon. What a UFO follower may term an alien may be an angel or a demon to another. What one person calls a ghost is termed an ancestral spirit in the east and a disembodied soul in the west. A Christian mystic goes into a meditative trance and experiences an overwhelming bliss that they define as having "become one with the Divine." A Buddhist or Hindu who goes into a similar trance calls it having "become one with the Universe." Likewise, all world religions aknowledge that there are supernatural powers akin to magic, but again, they all have different terms and understandings of such powers from shamanism to witchcraft. All these "supernatural" experiences can be valid and affirmed with the simple recognition that only the terms have changed.

In this model, even the material atheist's experiences are "valid" as simply different. Materialists have no category for the spiritual realm and so, like others, their understanding is merely unique. What is ironic is that the only type of person that must deny all supernatural experiences is the materialist. Likewise, anyone who denies all personal experiences but their own is in a similarly problematic position. Both of these extremes are not only arrogant and narrow in scope, but they discount the overwhelming testimony of humanity throughout history, race, and culture in favor of their own current and limited experiences. I believe a third model by which we validate the human experiences of all people is desperately needed in our broken and war-torn world.

From: ex_suspirior336	Date: November 23rd, 2002 03:34 am (UTC)		(Link)

Well, I understand you are a Satanist(?) I may be mistaken. For this reason I am hesitant to write any opinions herein, because I know Satanists have this credo about avoiding making opinions which are unnecessary or beside the point, BUT, you did write in your entry to leave comments, so, you asked for it:

Those are all very well-written essays and I agree with most of the ideas to be found within them, however, there are also opposing viewpoints regarding the idea of the human soul which I find just as valid and thought-provoking.

(Some of the opposing viewpoints I have read come from some researchers who believe the soul is actually what controls the brain and the body, but, you've probably already read about this).

---

You may also want to question, if there really is no such emotion as "love," then what is the entire point of forming relationships? Why even have them?!

On the other hand, I sort of agree that love may be mostly chemically induced, at least partially(?), and for that reason, I find the entire idea of relationships, marriage, and having children laugheable.

I sort of go from one extreme thought to another...

Then again, when I read some of the writings by Empress about love(above), I felt she had something worthwhile to say as well, even though she didn't mention any chemical reactions in her essays.

It's hard to say. Science cannot offer us all the answers, and neither can the spiritual.

From: katminnaar	Date: December 10th, 2002 11:50 am (UTC)		(Link)

I'll read it when I get time and get back to you, 'kay? :)

From: (Anonymous)	Date: November 25th, 2003 05:18 am (UTC)		(Link)
SLEEP PARALYSIS

EVER SINCE I WAS A YOUNG CHILD I USED WAKE UP PARALYZED FROM HEAD TO FOOT. THIS EXPERIENCE SEEMED TO LAST FOR AGES POSSIBLY 10 MINS OR MORE. I WAS TOTALLY AWARE OF MY SURROUNDING THE ONLY THING I COULD MOVE WERE MY EYES. I HAD A STRANGE FEELING OF FURRINESS ON MY TONGUE WHICH WAS A PLEASANT FEELING. SOMETIMES I FELT AS THOUGH I WAS FLOATING. HOWEVER THESE EXPERIENCES NEVER FRIGHTENED ME BUT I DID SOMETIMES FEEL SLIGHTLY UNCOMFORTABLE AND A LITTLE CLAUSTROPHOBIC. I THINK THIS ALL STARTED WHEN I WAS ABOUT 5 OR SIX AND STOPPED WHEN MY PARENTS MOVED COUNTRY WHEN I WAS NINE. 2 YEARS AGO A FRIEND OF MINE DIED IN A SERIOUS CAR ACCIDENT WHICH REALLY TRAUMATIZED ME THIS IS THE TIME WHEN MY SLEEP PARALYSIS STARTED AGAIN BUT IT SEEMED TO BE MORE VICIOUS AND FRIGHTENING. THE FIRST TIME I WOKE UP AWARE OF MY SURROUNDING AND FEELING TOTALLY AWAKE BUT COULD NOT MOVE SPEAK OR DO ANYTHING EXCEPT MOVING MY EYES. I KNEW WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO ME BUT FELT VERY UNEASY. I TRIED TO FIGHT IT AND EVENTUALLY WON. THIS FELT LIKE TRYING TO MOVE THROUGH VERY THICK TREACLE. MY CHEST FELT AS THOUGH SOMEONE WAS SITTING ON ME THIS SEEMED TO LAST FOREVER AND HAPPENED 4-5 TIMES OVER THE SPACE OF 3 WEEKS. AT ONE STAGE TRYING TO FIGHT IT MADE ME SO TIRED I CLOSED MY EYES TO REST BUT SUDDENLY FELT MY BODY WEAKEN AND FELT THE PARALYSIS COVER MY BODY. I HAVNT HAD THIS EXPERIENCE SINCE AND IM VERY CONFUSED AT WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME. IS THERE ANY CHANCE THIS IS PARANORMAL OR WHETHER I NEED TO SEE A SPEACIALIST FOR ANY UNDERLYING PROBLEMS