Not metaphorically - LITERALLY!

The cave

Okay - this just happened and I haven’t made any attempt to process or interpret anything, but here goes...

I was up early this morning and my cabin was cold so I put on warm clothes. Sitting at my desk I had a funny feeling under my sweater, right near my left nipple, right at my heart level. It felt like electricity, like an intermittent vibration. I thought that a fly or a mosquito was under my shirt fluttering it's tiny wings against my skin. Like "bzzzzzzzz!"

I've never in my life felt anything like it, and I reached up under my sweater to see it there was something itchy caught inside my shirt. Nothing, but something was definitely odd.

Then, I sent a note (thru facebook) to a guy who I met at a UFO conference, and minutes later he replies to me in a phone call. We talk for almost two hours (imagine that).

At a certain point during the phone call he tells me one of his experiences, a scary story. He said he was alone in his bedroom and suddenly, everything shifts and he's was trapped in a cave. It's wet and the floor is lumpy and cold. He tells me the details and he insists it’s REAL and not a dream. There some sort of projected fear, and he feels that he's being tortured. The story culminates with a GIANT predator lizard confronting him with threats of death.

Okay, crazy story, easy to dismiss as a dream or delusion, right? BUT - for the five minutes while he tells me this cave story - the electric buzzing under my sweater is basically switched ON. The very real sensation stays on for the whole story, and switches off when he’s done.

This was intense, someone shares a fantastically strange experience - AND I FEEL IT AT A HEART LEVEL. Not metaphorically - LITERALLY!!!!

Hows that!

Also, this guy has a lot of profound UFO related stuff in his life, but he doesn’t have many scary stories, he’s had almost exclusively wonderful loving experiences, and he says he’s told almost nobody about the experience in the cave. He went on to speculate that he feels such bliss during meditation that maybe his nice vibes pissed off the big evil predator lizard.

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Lemme try to better describe the electric buzzing sensation. It felt like a toy Barbie cell phone set on vibrate was set lightly on the skin of my left part of my chest.

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parallel psychic experiences

In the last few months I've experienced some form of exacting psychic knowledge, I had a sense of absolute knowing that was palpable, and I when made the effort to check what I was feeling, and it was confirmed. I simply KNEW something that I shouldn’t have known.

Here’s an example, and I am going to avoid a few details because it involves someone else. I saw a very tiny profile image of a smiling woman on a facebook page, and without knowing why, I simply stated to myself, “This person is 48 years old and a psychic.”

The internet being what it is, it took just a few mouse clicks to get an email address for this person, and a phone number. And, sure enough, she was 48 years old and a psychic. We spoke on the phone for almost an hour, and there were a few other details in her life that were extremely interesting to me (and I’ll leave it at that).

Here’s another experience that, strangely, also involves facebook. In November of last year I contacted Jake Kotze through facebook to ask if he would do an interview. A few seconds after sending him the note, the phone rang and it was a friend from my youth calling to ask about our impending 30 year high school reunion. We spoke for a few minutes, and then she said she had to go. I went back to my desk, and saw that Jake had replied to my request (saying yes) and at that moment I knew, without question, that Jakes birthday was March 17th, (a quick check proved I was correct) and this was the same birthday as the person who I had just spoken to on the phone, but 20 years earlier.

Even though there wasn't anything overtly profound bout these two little events, these were exacting psychic hits, and I cannot state this clearly enough, I absolutely KNEW these facts in a way that was clear and unambiguous.

There are psychics out there who may see this as old hat, but this is something entirely new to me, and I gotta say it's a little overwhelming. All I can do is proceed forward, and hope that these skills can get put to some good use.

parallel psychics

I just got off the phone with Marla Frees. We had a very lovely conversation where she explained that she felt compelled to call me because she needed to share something.

She struggled a little to articulate what it was exactly, but she said I was supposed to be working (or promoting?) my illustration (or creative) skills. She felt it was an important time for me, and I needed to play self-promoter, she felt inspired to tell me this stuff.

Three days ago Anya Briggs called me and shared almost the exact same thing. Let me add that she called right while I was drawing the graphic novel image that I posted under the headline: the creative process.

Neither of them could quite express exactly what they were feeling, and they searched for phrases to try and put their psychic impressions into words. Basically, they said the same thing, and in the same unsettled way. These two women are both forthright and very clear speakers, and both had difficulty articulating their thoughts during the phone calls. Both spoke in a sort of an awkward halting way that was very distinct.

Please know, from my direct experiences both Anya and Marla are very powerful psychics.

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Links for Anya and Marla.

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This is the illustration I was drawing when Anya Briggs called me on the phone to tell me I needed to pursue some sort of creative project. This was pretty much the very first pen-to-paper sketch for a graphic novel idea.

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dove, angel or mothman?

A curious Rorschach Test as seen in a simple portrait photo.

The image of Mac Tonnies in the side-bar at the left has generated a little bit of chatter by the readers. Does the shadow of his glasses look like something? I used photoshop to help visually isolate the shadow, as seen on the right (above).

Christopher Knowles (ever the mythologyst) chimed in by simply stating: A Phoenix.

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the creative process (and inspiration)

First RUFF / color study for comic book idea. Double click for a HI-rez image.

Mac Tonnies spoke to me on 1-11-11. This communication was straightforward and succinct, albeit indirect. I heard his strong clear voice telling me (very nicely) to get off my sorry ass and produce a graphic novel.

This creative prodding came thru in a recent essay, it was a heartfelt piece about Mac Tonnies, synchronicity, the creative process and life. The article was published in The Atlantic by a friend of Mac's named Rita J. King.

The same day I read her piece, I sat at the desk, and began drawing and writing. I've had a fictional story brewing in my the recesses of my head for about a year, and as of now, the pen and paper have met. I'm posting this rough illustration as an overt way to publicly announcing my intention. I feel like I know my own work habits, and by declaring this stuff here, I'm a lot less likely to let this project slip away and never get done.

Thank you Rita and Mac!

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Another image as color study and overall style, added 3/31/2011

this whole blog, read in order

Shortly before the Christmas season (I don't remember the exact day) I had what I've been calling a nice thought. This was nothing more than an idea popping into my head. I thought to myself, I would really love to have someone go through and read all my blog postings, one-by-one in order. Hopefully someone with a fresh perspective could give me a little bit of feedback. But mostly, I just wanna know if I've lost my mind.

Maybe I should have a contest? The first person to read the whole thing could win a gift certificate for ice cream!

Then, just a few days later (or hours later? I can't really figure it out) I received a very nice comment on the winter solstice, from someone calling himself Brizdaz. And, he really did go through and read every post! His summation was entirely complimentary! So, from his feedback, both funny and insightful, I feel reassured that I'm not insane. And, curiously, his very first comment to me (see bellow) was inspired by owls.

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Brizdaz wrote:

Mike,

This is the first time I have read your blog and I find it truly fascinating, so I've decided to start right at the beginning and work my way through ... The first post I read on this blog was "Owl on a Cold Winter's Night" ... then I started scrolling down, and thought, where do I start - the answer - at the beginning, of course.

So I went right back and started scrolling up. So far,I'm as far as the "Owls at Sunset" post, and a thought entered my head that maybe owls are some sort of alien/hybrid cross also, and maybe they can work as a type of alien messenger or drone type creature for aliens to watch us from afar? They do appear otherworldly compared to most birds.

Just a thought, and love the blog.

(PLEASE NOTE: the comment above is slightly edited for brevity)

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Text added Jan. 27, 2011:

Presently FOUR people have chimed in and told me that they have read every post on this blog. To Mark, Red Pill Junkie, Lucretia Heart and Brizdaz; I thank you from the deepest part of my being, I appreciate your support (and patience) enormously!

swapping stories about high strangeness

Just so y'know, there is a two hour long audio conversation between Gia Scott and myself on THE DAWN OF SHADES. We talk about the overlapping of synchronicities and the UFO contact phenomenon.

One-click download HERE.

audio conversation with Kim Carlsberg

During our conversation, Kim says, “When you are opened up, you are opened to everything." That simple statement says a lot.

This was decidedly NOT an interview, instead it was a perfectly enjoyable conversation, seemingly without any framework or direction. But, I feel like we covered more ideas more deeply than we ever could have in a standard interview format. Plus a curious synchro-weirdness sneaks into our conversation at the 1:11:11 time count (more below on that).

One-click download HERE.

1 hour and 55 minutes of audio

Kim is the author of Beyond My Wildest Dreams, with illustrations by Darryl Anka. This book details her life experiences in a diary format with the UFO abduction phenomenon.

She is also the editor of a recent published book titled The Art of Close Encounters which features illustrations and first hand experiences by UFO contactees, along with artwork that depicts their memories.

Kim has been busy doing a lot of interviews lately, I feel like she allowed herself to dig a little deeper on this podcast. I am profoundly honored that she shared a wider breadth of her experiences with me. I’ll add that I shared a lot too.

This interview seems to focus a lot on channeling, a topic that fascinates me. I know that plenty of folks will dismiss this topic with outright contempt, but I feel that it’s important. I’ll also add that there is still that little kid in me, and if everybody says to ignore channeling, I wanna look at it even more deeply.

I will occasionally make reference to late night cable TV documentaries on the abduction experience, and how these can’t truly tell a story with any depth. Well, Kim has been a part of exactly these (somewhat cheesy) documentaries. And here’s an example, and it’s interesting. The production is sort of overly sensationalized, with the moody lighting and scary music. But the actual content of what the abductees say, and how it is explained by the narrator seems pretty even keeled. The info is quite solid; if "Joe Normal" was to watch this, he would be presented with an accurate but simplistic foundation of the abduction phenomenon.

The clip below is from some point in the early 90's. It features Kim (as always) speaking her truth to the world.

Myself and Kim at the 2011 OpenMinds conference in Arizona.

But - there is a lot more going on under the surface. Perhaps the documentary format will never be able to properly depict the complexity and depth of these experiences.

Also: There is a weird synchronicity, caught during the recoding, where we both greet our pal Phil out loud and simultaneously.

television documentary from the late 1990s

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Addendum:

The one question that I regrettably did NOT ask was, what is David Hasselhoff REALLY like?

Ubber thespian Mr. Hasselhoff reading Budd Hopkins' MISSING TIME during a quiet moment on the set of Bay Watch. Photo by Kim Carlsberg.

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Synchro-grooviness:

There was a VERY odd coincidence during the recording involving both of us shouting "Phil?" at the pretty much the same moment. When we realize what happened, we both laugh. Our laughter happens at the 1:11:11 time count.

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And more tiny oddities:

See the image below, this is a screen image with yellow highlighting added by me. This was on my screen this morning, and I realized that there were two references to 1:11:11 and each was a different context, a date and a time-count. These were just a few inches apart, and the synchro-weirdness made me take note. This is a tiny thing, but it is a clue none the less.

Image from this blog, about synchronicities, with synchronicities.

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Rita wrote, "I don't have time." Mac replied, "Find the time."

I just found a superior article about Mac, HERE, written by his friend Rita J. King. This is a follow up to the New York Times piece, published in the recent Atlantic. The author shares heartfelt synchronicity that touches on life and death.

She also articulates and the deep creative enthusiasm that defined my friend Mac.

In a funny way, I feel that this short article is speaking directly to me, I am hearing Mac's strong clear voice telling me (very nicely) to get off my sorry ass and produce a graphic novel.

audio conversation with Dr. Leo Sprinkle

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PLEASE NOTE:

The audio has been revised and improved. (as of Dec. 17, 2011)

Leo Sprinkle photographed in Wyoming with Mac Tonnies.

Mac wrote: The blur is almost certainly the result of paranormal forces! ;-)

I am perfectly honored to have shared two hours in recorded conversation with Dr. Leo Sprinkle. This man's biography reads like a checklist of every major event in the modern era of UFO research. He is now 80 years old and at the top of his game. And, after a half century of looking into the UFO phenomenon, he is still open minded and optimistic. I envy his child-like outlook in a realm full of deception and terrifying first hand accounts.

One-click download HERE.

2 hours and 1 minute long

During this interview Leo says: "The map ain't necessarily the territory." That short phrase sums up a lot of our conversation as well as my personal challenges around the UFO phenomenon.

Leo shares his own abduction memories (or in his case induction). And the interview culminates with Leo channeling from his guides as a way to help me better understand a recent experience of my own.

Let me also say that Leo and I look like each other. We are both tall, trim and bald. We both have unusually big eyes too. But, he talks in a calm composed way and I talk fast with frenetic mumbling.

His book SOUL SAMPLES is essential reading, and it gives you an insight into Leo's ideas and methods. Here's an essay about the book.

I also highly recommend this interview on THE PARACAST with David Biedny.

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Mac Tonnies featured in the New York Times

This upcoming Sunday, there will be an article in the New York Times magazine titled: Cyberspace When You’re Dead By ROB WALKER. It features a long section on Mac Tonnies and the impact of his passing as seen on the internet.

I received an email about this article from Mac's mother Dana, and I read it within seconds of posting a photo of Mac and Leo Srpinkle (with a funny tag-line) and that was part of the essay above. The sychronicities continue.

Leo Sprinkle photographed in Wyoming with Mac Tonnies.

Mac wrote: The blur is almost certainly the result of paranormal forces! ;-)

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Here is an excerpt from the New York Times article:

The last entry on Posthuman Blues was titled “Tritptych #15,” a set of three images with no text. The first comment to this post came from an anonymous reader, wondering why Tonnies had not updated the blog or tweeted for two days. Some similar comments followed, and then this: “Mac Tonnies passed away earlier in the week. Our condolences are with his family and friends in this time of grief.” The author of that comment was also anonymous. After a rapid back-and-forth about whether this startling news was true and some details of the circumstances, that post’s comment section transformed into a remarkable mix of tributes, grieving and commiseration. You can still read all this today, in a thread that runs to more than 250 comments.

“It was a very strange feeling,” Dana Tonnies, Mac’s mother, told me, describing how she and her husband became aware of the swirl of activity attaching to her son’s online self. “I had no control over what was being said about him, almost immediately.” Dana and Bob Tonnies were close to their only son — in fact they had coffee with him, in a regular Sunday ritual, the morning before he died — but they had little contact with his digital self. Sometimes he would show them his online writing, but he had to do so by literally putting his laptop in front of them. The Tonnies did not read blogs. In fact they did not own a computer.

In the months after their son’s death, Dana and Bob went about the difficult business of organizing his papers (letters, e-mail printouts, story drafts) and deciding which of his belongings to keep (like his thousand or so books) or to give to his friends (his leather jacket, his three watches). This painful process took awhile, and they were not really focused on his blog or Flickr account and the like. They also inherited their son’s computer and have since learned how to navigate it and the Internet. But by then, their son’s online circle had already taken action.

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Follow-up from Mike C:

Let me add that I now have Mac's leather jacket, it is a deeply treasured gift from his family.

Over the last year I have used this blog to share some deeply personal stories about my friendship with Mac, and they are collected HERE.

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More info added on 1 / 11 / 11 :

A superior article about Mac, HERE, written by his friend Rita J. King, published in the recent Atlantic. The author shares heartfelt synchronicites and the deep creative enthusiasm that defined my friend Mac.

This inspired it's own post, and a personal challenge.