A Snapshot of APP Fest 2017
This was quite a different
APP Fest from the previous two, as I try to convey here…
There will be forthcoming notes on the talks and the Conference, which was not recorded so as to have full focus in the room on the presentations, without tech issues, etc.
There will be forthcoming notes on the talks and the Conference, which was not recorded so as to have full focus in the room on the presentations, without tech issues, etc.
Jeff Mishlove, a prominent parapsychologist, gave the first talk, on “Paradigms and Paradoxes”. He cited the many ways the word “paradigm” is now used, overused one should say. Then discussed Thomas Kuhn’s famous “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”, about paradigm shifts in science. We are going through such a shift now, many believe, and Jeff’s opinion is that it will take “1000 years” till a new one about the nature of the universe and humankind surpasses our present heavily materialist one.
It would be too much to say
that this conference represents a “paradigm shift” for APP so of course I won’t
say that. However, the flavor of the “significant displacement” that took place
is perhaps best represented by Janet Mitchell’s presentation.
Janet Mitchell, Ph.D., did
research with Ingo Swann at the American Society of Psychical Research (ASPR)
in the 1970’s. Her talk was titled, “Spiritual Revolution of Ingo Swann and
Others”. On the one hand she is a hard-nosed scientist interested in approaching
psi from a physics standpoint and on the other hand she considers us humans to
be, fundamentally, spirits which inhabit a body. The spirit is the enduring and
larger entity. Her first book was “Out-of-Body Experiences – A Handbook”. Our
selves are much larger than most of us generally understand and not knowing our
full and true nature has been instrumental in leading to the unfortunate state
which the world is in.
The themes of our nature as
humans, of consciousness, of other entities and forces in the universe took
place at many of the meals and side discussions. Quite a few people related
their experiences of unusual happenings, spirits or other entities being
present at some point in their lives, and the same with that bugaboo of the
field, aliens and UFO’s. One participant works closely with Steven Greer in his
efforts at “disclosure”. Others cited having seen a UFO and/or creatures of
unknown provenance.
I gave a presentation on Ingo
Swann’s unpublished writings and the titles of the ms convey Ingo’s interest in
these matters: “The Agony and Ecstasy of the Signs of the Zodiac”, “My 2000
Years of Reincarnation”, “Anacalypsis: A Psychic Autobiography”, and “The
Emerald Kingdom”, which is about our psi abilities.
John Alexander presented
numerous slides about his and his wife’s visits with Shamans in many countries
and the viewpoints they have about the nonphysical and physical worlds. He
believes that remote viewing, Near-Death Experiences, psychokinesis, UFO’s,
Shamanism, and cryptozoology are all related.
Steve Braude presented, “The
Amazing Case of Patience Worth: A Paranormal Literary Mystery”, about a
discarnate being who manifested and through a Ouija board wrote copious amounts
of extraordinary literary material, both prose and poems.
Some may lament remote
viewing being associated with these topics (‘the other world of spiritual
beings’ and UAP’s (Unexplained Aerial Phenomena) and indeed there was gross ‘distortion
of the field’ from early (post 1995) unsubstantiated and reckless promotion of
the connection with remote viewing. However, as this conference showed, there has
long been a very strong connection based on experience between RV and the
UFO/alien field, as well as ‘spiritual dimensions’ and discarnate beings. Marty Rosenblatt, the
‘prime mover’ of APP, said he has long resisted the association with UFO’s and
RV, said recent conferences have
broadened his perspective.
And oh yes, not to forget the
sporting events which we remote viewed using binary ARV? With two events to go
at the time I flew home, Marty’s predictions for APP, based on the sessions of
all present, were 4 hits and 3 misses. Based on my own sessions, I had 3 hits,
2 misses, and 1 pass. One of our successful predictions was the winner of a
horse race, with 7 horses in it, so not a binary prediction. Extra credit for
that but a small payoff because the horse was among the favorites.
Finally, the spoon bending
party. In the past many a spoon has been bent at these events. However, this
time just one spoon, I believe but also one metal bar was bent. This was done
by Nancy Dutertre, a former attorney who has developed her psychic talents and
abilities. She is “The Skeptical Psychic”.
In synch with how this conference played out, her latest book is titled
“How to Talk to an Alien”.
