News Update

It has been a very busy few weeks since my last posting. I have been asked to write a couple of magazine articles. These will be appearing in two magazines either side of the world. One will be found in 'The Researcher', the magazine of the Merseyside Anomalies Research association (MARA) and can be found in local newsagents and from their website (www.mara.org.uk). The second article will be in the 'New Dawn' magazine published in Australia. This will be available in new Zealand and Australia or via their website www.newdawn.com

For those of you on the West Coast of the USA I will be interviewed by KUCI Radio station of Orange County, California. This will take place from Midnight on Friday 13th July into Saturday morning 14th July, finishing at 1 am. Note that this is UK (BST) time not Californian time. For those outside this area the interview can be heard on www.kuci.org I am told that the programme will be available later on a podcast.

More Radio Interviews

I was interviewed by Silk fm in Macclesfield yesterday. The interviewer, Andy Clewes, made some very perceptive points about deja vu and the Daemon. These I plan to follow up in the next week or so but they yet again contribute to the theory in a positive way.

As you will be aware I am on BBC Radio Manchester on Sunday 27th and I will now also be 'on-air' at BBC Radio Lancashire at 10:30 pm on Tuesday 29th of May. I will be appearing on the Carole Turner Show and I should be on for about an hour. If you wish to listen on-line the link is http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/local_radio/. As with all BBC programmes it will be available under the 'listen again' button.

News Update

Hi folks,

In February I received a very curious email from Australia. It was from a family in Western Australia. They told me that earlier that day there had been a knock on their door. On answereing it they were surprised to see a Buddhist monk standing in front of them. He was very apologetic and said that he had walked many miles from his monastery and they were the first house he had found. He asked if they had a computer. They responded that they had. He then asked if they could send an email to a person in England (i.e. me!). The email asked for my home address which on receipt they were to send to The Bodhinyana Monastery in Serpentine, W.A.

Two months ago I received a letter from the monk. He explained that he had, quite by chance, come across my article in the 'International Journal of Near-Death Studies'. He said that its contents had fascinated him. He said that my ideas were of some significance to Buddhism and it was of mutual interest that we meet. He told me that he would be in England in May.

We have now been in telephone contact and I have been invited to meet with him and the Abbott at the Gitavivaka Monastery in Warwickshire. I am really looking foward to this and I am fascinated to know exactly what I am going to be told. On the back of the invite to the Sufi Monastery in Northern Cyprus it seems that my mind is going to be opened along various paths.

You may also be interested to know that I have a date and time for my interview with BBC Radio Manchester. It will be at 0800 am (British Time) on Sunday the 27th May. This can be listened to live on-line at http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/local_radio/. Then click on the 'listen live' button on the right-hand side. If you miss it it will be available under 'listen again' which is the next button. The show is 'Sunday Breakfast' and I will be interviewed by Mark Edwardson.

Update

The last few weeks have seen me traveling across the country doing bookshop signings and library lectures. I also did a presentation at The Psychic Showcase at Derby University. I have presented the theory to over a 1,000 people in the last month with numbers increasing each time I talk. This is really good news because it means that more people are becoming aware of the theory of 'Cheating The Ferryman'. Many of those I spoke to have shown interest in this blogsite. For them a big welcome with the request that if you are interested I would be pleased to have your opinions, positive or negative.

I have recently done a talk for an orginisation known as The Merseyside Anomolies Research Association. These guys do a good deal of interesting work. Check out their website on www.mara.org. Indeed they have invited me to do another lecture for them at Widnes Library on Wednesday 30th May at 1930.

During my short tour of the East Midlands last weekend I was interviewed by BBC Radio Derby. I was only on for about five minutes but if you are interested the section can be heard again at

http://www.bbc.co.uk/derby/faith/index.shtml.

Click on 'listen again' and another window will open. At the moment this should open at the right programme. If not you are looking for the Nicholas Henshall broadcast on Radio Derby Sun 06 May - 0600. You can then go forward in 15 minute and 5 minute jumps. My bit is just after the 1 hour 10 minute section and finishes at 1 hour 15 minutes.

BBC Radio Manchester, BBC Southern Counties Radio and BBC Radio Merseyside have also approached me with regards to doing some interviews. I will let you know how these develop.

The number of responses I am now receiving from TLErs around the world is amazing. I now have some absolutely fascinating information regarding Daemon-Eidolon interfaces. many of this involve amazing evidence of Daemonic Precognition. Please keep these communications coming.

New Book Deal

My publisher has just been in touch to say that they wish to publish my second book Daemon Of Creativity and want to discuss with me options for the third book. This is good news. I will be going down to London to see them in May to finalise the deal. They are involved at present on foreign language rights for ITLAD. So for they have secured a Dutch language deal and they are hoping for a few more.

I have just returned from a short lecture tour of Devon. We had an excellent response with over 100 people hearing me talk over the three venues. I have been invited back later in the Summer to do some more. The Wigan Festival talk on Tuesday was also very well attended and the audience response was simply fantastic.

BBC Southern Counties Radio have also been in touch about me doing an interview. Again good news as I used to live in that area (Horsham) and still have many friends in the South East.

Next week I am talking at the Paranormal Week '07 Festival at Halton Lea in Cheshire. This could be a very interesting event because unlike the library talks the audience will be aware of many of the ideas and theories that I discuss.

The interview on LBC went really well. What was scheduled as a one hour chat and phon-in turned into a three hour marathon with the phone lines jammed with callers trying to get through. The level of discussion was of a higher level than last time and some very interesting ideas were put forward.

The podcast of the interview is now available for download in MP3 format. If you are interested I suggest you log on to

http://lbc.audioagain.com/

and look up the Adrian Allen Show section (click on his name on the left hand side. The show in question was the 6th April one.

I am interested to hear your thoughts on this.

Tony (logged on as Doppelganger)

Fascinating book equalled by blog contributors

Although I have read many, this is the first time I have ever posted anything on a blog so ask in advance for forbearance with regard to content, protocol and length.

The subject matter of Anthony Peake's book resonated with me in many, many ways, hence my deciding to 'come out of the closet' and contribute to this blog, although it doesn't contain chapter and verse, hope it is of interest.

It may, or may not be, of relevance but I was born with a full facial caul, which I still have to this day and as far back as I remember I have always had spontaneous precognitive ability. If it can be believed and if it is actually of any consequence whatsoever (I don't know), my credentials aren't too shabby. My Scottish Grandfather was the seventh son of the seventh son & my English Grandmother had truly exceptional gifts of precognition which were evidently delivered daily on a parochial basis and were always accurate.

Anthony's book is surprising on so many levels as it deals with a multitude of facets concerning our existence but it also explains the hypothesis of second sight in a plausible manner which cannot be ignored. This has certainly made me stop, think, and revisit my belief system which I've built up around my experiences of witnessing events which have been predominantly of global interest. I have always thought I was witnessing the future, four to six months before it happened, when in fact, I now have to seriously consider that it is equally as plausible that what I'm witnessing is a memory of events that have transpired in my recent manifestation of a what is, in effect, a perpetual ground hog day.

As some of the other bloggers indicate in their postings, I cannot claim to have ever been aware of, seen or spoken with spirit or a spirit guide, a guardian angel, or any other kind of apparition or entity - but I would welcome such an experience and have tried unsuccessfully to communicate with my higher self.

I'm extremely private, lacking in imagination and too much of a pragmatist, so perhaps the involuntary and spontaneous 'happenings' to which I am privileged suit me. They are completely random and dependent on the frequency of events transpiring which are, by their very nature, globally newsworthy and significant. I don't get to see everything major that is going to happen and the periods between can be erratic, ranging in frequency at the shorter end from being one or two years apart but, thankfully, usually they are more likely to be between four and six years - so I can manage to get over one before another comes.

They have a certain stamp of authenticity and apart from one recent instance, are unmistakable and can't be confused with normal dreams or, if I'm awake when it comes, aberrations of the mind. The recent experience I mentioned was difficult because it was incrementally imparted to me and the whole 'picture' developed in my head as layers with the moving image getting stronger over a couple of months. Also, a couple of months before this event came to be, I was getting out of bed and saw a few seconds of a single 'video clip' of what transpired to be related to the incremental picture I was receiving and was, in fact, a concurrent/simultaneous incident. This was a first and created a dilemma, although I knew exactly where this was going to take place, at the time, I didn't know if it was to be two single instances or one event. Regardless, my pragmatic side fully kicked in and I couldn't allow myself to conceive of anything happening on the scale of what was about to take place be it singly or one at a time.

As is usual with all these happenings there is always something of a spiritual element. I'm usually watching me watching whatever it is happening - Out of Body Experience (OBE). When the event has taken place, I turn in the direction of (whatever) and feel the faintest puff of air. In a nano second I feel the molecules of everything that has been destroyed either going round me or through me (have never been able to decide which). In those atoms/molecules or whatever they are, somehow, I can discern that which is the building, the craft (aircraft, boat etc), the ground and the people. Physically, I feel very sick and in pain. No matter in which language they speak, although I don't see them, neither could I identify them, I 'hear' and understand the voices of children, men and women, distressed, crying out in disbelief and grief asking each other what has happened and enquiring of each other where they are.

In the process of going through me or round me, when they get behind me, there is always the same response, that is, someone will shout gleefully to those behind that they know where they are and as they follow they too are immediately aware of their surroundings and they encourage the rest to follow. I'm left devastated and alone feeling a great sense of loss as if I'd lost every friend I ever knew - and they go on without me.

I became aware that of those who had lost friends and relatives at the times I have witnessed these events, I was conceivably the last person to have contact with their loved ones somewhere between this life and whatever is next. It is for this reason, out of respect for those gone and those left, with genuine respect to any reader, I'm not out to titillate nor will I sensationalise the events by naming them.

There are many other incredible things which are manifested when I see/hear/or know, things. Quite recently, a time frame was given to me in the form of a large bushy tree to the right of a building where an event that was thought by many to be almost an inconceivable, took place. The exceptionally bushy tree was higher than the building and was in an advanced state of maturity with very distinctive, plumish coloured leaves, I know nothing of trees or their development but, to me, it indicated it was in the middle of summer.

This is how the above was manifested, it was about 4am, I was sleeping and had an OBE. I saw the event as a Super 8 film, while I was witnessing it, I was 'in' a house opposite the building and tall tree previously mentioned, all the windows in that house blew in just as if it was an actual event in real time. On the first anniversary following the disaster, I travelled abroad to the place where it had happened and saw that there was indeed a tall bushy tree. I was surprised to find that it was, in fact, three fir trees in extremely close proximity to each other. Being fir trees they have no leaves, being deciduous they are the same all year round. The 'tree' I 'saw' in my OBE was in fact a 'clock' which not only gave the season but indicated the time in that season. At the actual site of this event, the house I was 'in' during my OBE didn't exist. It has become my experience that sometimes I am placed in somewhere where I am less likely to be uncomfortable and therefore less likely to wake up or let my pragmatic mind interfere with the proceedings.

In the previous example, for the first time in my life, in an experiment to see if loss of life could be minimised, I faxed an authority that would directly be affected and who also definitely had a vested interest in knowing what was about to happen. I asked them not to reply to me as it was for their information only. This fax was sent four them months beforehand....and again on the morning of the event, where I asked them to inform any business partners to tell them of what I believed was truly imminent (although I felt the time was near I was, however, unable to give the specific date).

It made no difference. It would have made no difference even if I'd pleaded with the individuals concerned not to undertake what they were going to do that day, they would have done it anyway. I wouldn't blame them, I'd find it hard to believe such a proposition when I'd been planning and looking forward to doing something for a year or two and there was no evidence whatsoever to support such a hypothesis.

Regrettable though the above was in every way, another disaster followed which, owing to its scale, completely eclipsed it. As in the simultaneous event mentioned earlier, in much the same way as the one above, people have to do what they have to do and there is no precedent for putting your life on hold on the whim of a complete stranger who claims to know differently.

I've now tried giving a warning, didn't like it, don't see the value, and have reverted to my previous stance i.e. keeping things to myself entirely, or, if I thought fit, to tell my immediate family who are well used to my wishes of them not publicising anything.

I'm somewhat advancing in years and if I'd wanted to publicise myself I'd have done so long before as I've never sought fame or enrichment from my gift. The world has its own order and, even were it possible, no matter the circumstances, it is not for me to be judgemental in any way and interfere with the balance.

Regardless, it must be said the rationale is that, when I see things, they have already happened and it's just a question of time before it becomes everyone else's reality, there's isn't anything that can be done to change it, whatever eventually transpires simply enters the public domain at a slightly later time i.e. the two realities are unified.

I'm sure there are those with parallel experiences but for those who do not have these experiences I trust this small snippet has been informative and of interest.

Interview on LBC Radio

I was interviewed on LBC radio in November last year. This went really well and I am pleased to say that I have been invited back to be interviewed and take part in a phone-in. For those of you in the UK and Europe the time is quite ant-social. The programme will start at 0100 (am!!!) on the morning of Friday 6th April. The programme is the Adrian Allen Show.

The webcast can be picked up on:

http://www.lbc.co.uk/Article.asp?id=26153

If you can join in it will be great to hear from you.

Possible empirical 'proof' of The Ferryman Thesis

There have been some interesting developments on not only actual verifiable proof of the existence of the Daemon exactly as described in my book, but that this being has indisputable precognitive abilities. What makes this particularly important with regard to my theory is that my information source has diagnosed Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. I cannot say any more on this breaking news at the moment but say that I am excited is a massive understatement.

I am also writing the first chapter of my next book when I stumbled across this quotation by Plato (from Phaedo 107d):

'For after death, as they say the daemon of each individual, to whom he belonged in life, leads him to a certain place in which the dead are gathered together, whence after judgement has been given they pass into the world below, following the guide, who is appointed to conduct them from this world to the other: and when they have received their due and remained their time, another guide brings them back again after many revolutions of ages.'

Is this not a description of my process of Cheating The Ferryman as outlined in ITLAD?

Plato describes the Daemon taking the role of The Being Of Light as described in the NDE literature. This being then has some form of judgemental process (the Panoramic Past-Life Review?) then 'another guide brings them back'. I am also fascinated by Plato's use of the term 'after many revolutions of ages'. This to me sounds suspiciously like a description of the Eternal Return. After all what does a revolution do but return to its point of start?

Post from Myron Dyal

My experience of my “Daemon” began shortly after I had been in a coma for two months and upon awaking my memory of all things that preceded the coma were gone! I had no family, no moorings, nothing that would, or even could support the notion that I was of this world; and I had epilepsy!! It was at that time that my spirit guide, (I called it Charon) came into my life and made it known to me that it would always be with me. Charon has taken me places that were, and are so vast that they are inexpressible in normal human terms. Through out my life my memory of travels with Charon is vivid and intact, while my extraverted life experiences are vague, and have in most cases been entirely erased from memory. Our creation of reality is tenuous at best and must be supported minute, by minute by familiar, and reinforced objects that tie us to what we optimistically call the “real” world. Almost from the beginning of my post “lapsarian” existence I selected other objects, places, sounds, and experiences to circumnavigate my inner universes. My TLE continuously channeled energy into my unconscious mind shattering the barriers that keeps others from fully experiencing their inner realities. The inner path has no boundaries or limitations on what can, or should be available to the ego, the difficulty is expanding your “ego” consciousness to accept all the vastness that is out there just waiting to be discovered. The problem as Shakespeare so aptly put it is “not in our stars, but in ourselves”!! Posted by myrondyal to Anthony Peake's Cheating The Ferryman Blog Page at 16 March 2007 22:44

Flanagan's Apple on Second Life

The Second Life link continues to be really interesting. If you go onto it and search out Flanagan's Apple in the virtual simulation on Matthew Street in Liverpool you may find something you recognise. Go into the bar and look at the poster to the left of the bar as you look at it from the entrance. Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. It is the cover of my book. But it gets better. Seek me out - my SL name is DAEMON BOHM - and we can have not only a chat but I can give you a free teeshirt that your Avatar can wear whilst in Second Life. And what a natty little teeshirt it is. On the front is my website and on the back is a picture of my bookcover. You can then become a walking bill-board!!

If I can get enough interest I will set up a Second Life Group to discuss areas of mutual interest in a face-to-face (or pixel to pixel) situation.

Reflections..!

Hi Anthony,

I've been meaning to post for some time now having read your book recently and thoroughly enjoyed it.

For me it was interesting that an odd series of events had lead me to reading your book when ordinarily I might so easily have passed it by. In fact I had come to the opinion independently a matter of weeks before reading your book that coincidences may well not be meaningless and needless to say this is a central theme of ITLAD. It is interesting the number of people both on this blog and in day-to-day life who remark on such moments.

I note also your mention of Second Life - this is a game I am familiar with but have not yet played and was a reflection of existence that I was keen to mention when I did get round to posting. So you've pipped me!

I suppose, for me, the beauty of life is the not knowing. Nothing can ever be definate. I tend to describe extisence as a hall of mirrors. Each persaon is the product of their DNA + their experiences. DNA is unique to each individual as is each individual's set of experiences. DNA, therefore, is like a unique distorted mirror that reflects a unique set of experiences. Each person, therefore, can be seen as a unique and subjective reflection of what it is to exist. And suddenly Bill Hicks springs to mind..! "...all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration … that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There's no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we're the imagination of ourselves..."

Religion, for me, is nothing more than a manifestation of faith so I tend to deal only with the 'simple faith' in discussion. It is generally projected that atheism can never be fully proved. Likewise, a proof of a 'life after death' may also be impossible to attain even if there is truth in it. If fact if there were any truth in a life after death then one of the main points of life might well be the certainty of these two uncertainties! In essence, we are forced to live our lives without the benefit of 100% certainty and therefore base our decisions and actions on something other than a deity, i.e. ourselves.

I was chatting last night to a good friend of mine - a staunch atheist - who was hung up on the absurdity of a idea of a third-party 'God' whom one might have to live upto. This, for him, was a crux of his atheistic views - views which instill quite a fear into him, "and rightly so," he said.

For my part I countered that firstly I agreed with his views on a third party 'God'. It is difficult to live up to something/someone you have never met. I proposed, however, that any God need not be a third party - given that everything on the quantum level is essentially the same, he would likely be a part of a God. As a part of everything, one can never be a part of nothing.

I went on say that, although I felt his fear of oblivion was understandable, it was essentially irrational. One could not experience oblivion nor could it judge. A God of which one is a part, however, raises the possibility of having to live up to yourself after you die. One can always argue that living upto an unfamiliar third-party God is flawed from the outset. Living upto yourself, however, can not only be very difficult in life, but could prove a very tough experience during death! "Here's what know you could have done, this is what you chose to do.."

We are are harshest critics and our strongest champions because we have values created in our minds through our DNA and our experiences of what is right and wrong. Sometimes we dissapoint ourselves in our actions; sometimes we surpass ourselves - but again, this must be subjective.

If there is a God, I project that we are likely part of it, it will essentially be ourselves and if anyone is wondering whether they are doing the right or wrong things in life I suggest that they already know! Fortunately, however, if Anthony's theory holds weight in its basis, we may well all get the chance to rectify our wrongs!

Stuart

Second Life

This shows how much of an internet junkie I have become. Has anybody heard of the website Second Life? (www.secondlife.com) If you have not then you are probably missing the singularly most influential cultural phenomenon of the moment. It is a virtual world that literally millions of people are building within the web itself. Indeed in the last 60 days 1,594,592 people have created an 'avatar' in this virtual-world and are living out a literal 'second-life'. People are building houses and opening up businesses - real businesses that are making money. This world even has its own currency - The Linden. You can walk (or fly) anywhere you want and the people you see are real people sitting in front of their computer - some on the other side of the world. You interact as you would in the real world. You can talk, swop things etc. I joined it a few months back but only went back on the day before yesterday. I know that one of our group (Robin) is a member because we met in SL (as it is known). Now that more and more of my 'Real World' friends are on SL I have started to log on again. Now for those of you interested one 'resident' is building a replica of Liverpool city centre. This is so like the real thing as to be weird. But what has just blown me away is that this morning a friend emailed me and said that I should 'teleport' myself on SL to an Irish Bar called Flanagan's Apple in this virtual Liverpool. I did so and up on the wall is a poster of showing my book cover. How wild is that!!!
I have just received a communication from the bar 'owner' and she says that I can use this bar for virtual, on-line real-time meetings. I plan to set up a Group and see what happens. It would be great if some of you joined me. SL is totally free - all you will lose is your time. Just check out the site and see what you think.
What is particularly interesting about all this is it is so Gnostic in its implications. It is a clear example of how reality can be seen as an elaborate illusion. Wander about in SL for a few hours - chat to people and make friends and believe me its starts to feel very very real. Pure Philip K Dick!!

The Dichotomy of Psychiatry and Neurology

The dichotomy of psychiatry and neurology with respect to TLE (Temporal Lobe Epilepsy), the most common form of epilepsy, should lean toward the path of neurology as the psychiatric symptoms are so very secondary. Epileptic focal points in the temporal lobe have been found in those with diagnoses such as schitzophrenia, bi-polar disorder, autism and the like. This is SOLID proof that that these psychiatric diagnoses are of neurological origin. Keep in mind that we all are, in essence, our brains. Why do you think those diagnosed with schitzo-effective disorder (schitzophrenia) etc. are practically "cured" when they begin treatment with an anti-convulsant, which unfortunately, is most often thought of as a treatment for whole brain epilepsy? Because their psychiatric symptoms are being stopped in their tracks, if you will, rather than masked with symptom cover-ups such as Lithium, Zyprexa, Seroquel, etc. The last two are classified as atypical antipsychotics therefore cary much stigma. Psychiatric diagnoses result in patients being improperly medicated as they only treat SYMPTOMS. TLE is classified as a physical disability, while bi-polar, etc. are classified as mental disabilities. Does not everyone suffering psychiatric symptoms deserve being classified with a disorder that is neurological in origin therefore "physical" rather than the ever so stigmatic, dare I say, diagnosis of "crazy?" "Meat before Metaphysics"; diagnosis and treatment of the root of the disorder is KEY.

Reincarnation v Eternal Return

Hello Tony and Titas Rivas

Asking if anybody had heard that Prof Stevenson had died was my first contribution to the blog. Thanks to Titas Rivas for answering my question as to what he will come back as. Although I asked it very much tongue in cheek it sparked a very interesting response from Titas.
I fully agree that Prof Stevenson will go down as one of the most significant contributors to the great questions of life.
I am not sure where I stand on the Reincarnation v Eternal Return debate. I have several problems with reincarnation although I do admit that every time I finished a Stevenson book my doubts were certainly lessened.
My own experience of my young son telling me one day in an unusual serious voice that "we do this all over again" could I suppose be evidence for either theory.

Doppelganger

Just a quick point. I have noticed that I have been posting blogs as both myself a Doppelganger. The observant among you (which I guess will be everybody) will have realised that this person is indeed me. I had planned to set up a kind of Socratic dialogue on some ot the issues but this was for the future. However the last few times I have logged on my computer has put me on as Doppelganger and not as Anthony Peake. Hope this has not caused too much confusion.
Tony

Ian Stevenson

Welcome Titus.

Firstly I am honoured and really pleased to see you joining in with the discussions on this website. As you are an internationally respected expert on NDE it is great to have you on board. By the way you may also be interested to know that my publisher has just successfuly completed negotiation rights for a Dutch language edition of ITLAD.

Secondly thanks also for your interesting question on the fascinating work of Professor Stevenson. I have read most of his work and I find it both fascinating and compelling.

Indeed it is comments/ questions like yours that made me start this blog site in the first place. As somebody who continually questions everything around me I know I do not have all the answers. All I know is that as far as I am concerned there is considerable scientific evidence to support my conclusions - and after all I only made those conclusions from that evidence and that my conclusions are a 'theory', nothing more.

Having read his books and made extensive notes on them I would like to make a considered response. Aas I am a little short on time today this will be in the next few days.

Best Wishes - Tony

Reincarnation vs. eternal return

Hi Anthony,

Let me take this opportunity to contribute a first post to your blog.

In my view, Ian Stevenson is one of the main psychical researchers of the last two centuries. I'm looking forward to the day he will be recognised as a scientific giant on a fairly general scale.

Now, what intrigues me is how his work could possibly be reconciled with your own theories? For instance, if I understand your theory rightly, the question what he will come back as, should be answered: as a baby called Ian Stevenson born in October 1918 in Montreal. Your theory and real reincarnation simply seem totally incompatible.

If I'm right about this, I wonder how you would explain Stevenson's better cases, including paranormal information, an emotional identification with the claimed past life, a paranormal skill, and birthmarks or birth defect. As I try to make clear in my SPR-lecture Past Life Interpretations: We need all of them , there are certain cases for which real reincarnation seems to be the best explanation. Do you agree? But if you do, would that not undermine your own theory?

Best wishes,

Titus Rivas

Prof Ian Stevenson

Has anybody seen that Prof Ian Stevenson died in February. I read many of his books and papers on reincarnation. What always came across was the way he presented his views as a clear scientific study. If you want a good example of how a book on a paranormal subject (even if your not sure or dont believe) should be written then read "Where reincarnation and biology intersect". I wonder what he will come back as?.

Schizophrenia

Hi, Just a quick point. I note that Bloggerhead and Its Cool To Care are having a very interesting exchange under the above heading. By all means continue there if you wish but as you are both entitled to place a blog like this one you could make your comments and thoughts slightly more public.

In response to Bloggerhead's observation regarding the Tibetan Book of The Dead and Shamanism she will be pleased to know that I will be discussing the implications of this fascinating belief system with regard to The Ferryman Thesis in some detail in my planned third book. Indeed I am working my way through the Mercea Eliade book Shamanism at the moment.

Also the Tibetan Book of the Dead (or Bardo Throdrol) will feature in my next book in relation to the writings of Philip K Dick.

I totally agree with Bloggerhead that both these systems have massive similarities with my theory and I thank her for pointing this out.

Philip K Dick

I am really excited this morning. I am in the process of writing a chapter of my new book The Daemon Of Creativity. Central to this book will be that certain creative people are motivated and guided by their Daemon. I will argue that this is why many writers, artists, poets etc seem to show signs of temporal lobe epilepsy and even schizophrenia. The chapter is on the American Science Fiction writer Philip K Dick. This guy lived a life in which he experienced almost all the elements of the Ferryman Thesis - he was a living example of how credible the theory is. However one thing that I have only been able to get from secondary sources is that he was able to see the future - and these are questionable and open to interpretation. Well today, and quite by chance, I have found a series of letters that PKD wrote to a pen pal in 1974 on a really obscure personal website set up by the lady in question herself. I have most of the biographies of Dick and I regularly check out most of the websites on him and I have never heard of these letters. They seem virtually unknown. Imagine my excitement when I came across a zeroxed copy of one particular type-written letter that he sent to her on May 9th 1974. This date is very important because Dick had just encountered his Daemon in mid March of that year (he called it various names including AI, Sophia and VALIS). The letter is not that unusual but there is a hand-written note at the bottom that reads "P.S. What really scares me most, Claudia, is that I can often recall the future." Now what excites me about this is not just that he claims to see the future but his use of words (and Phil Dick was always very specific about his word use). He says that he 'recall(s) the future'. This implies that he senses that this is a re-experience of an already lived event. If you have read my first book you will be aware that this idea is absolutely central to my theory. We are all living our lives again in an inwardly generated illusion. Deja Vu (Vecu) is a short-term remembering of the last time you lived this moment. I argue that those with TLE and schizophrenia have uncontrolled access to these 'memories' and that is why they experience regular deja vu and precognitive feelings. It has long been argued that PKD had TLE and he himself claimed that he had been diagnosed as a schizophrenic. I rest my case!

Yet More Talks

Suddenly I am finding that the world and his wife are interested in me doing talks and lectures. Not that I am in any way complaining. What started off as a week long visit to my father- in-law's place in Mid-Devon (Zeal Monachorum) has turned into another book-signing and library talks fiesta. For anybody that is interested I will be at Exmouth Library at 7:30 pm on Tuesday 10th of April, Barnstaple library on Wednesday 11th April at 7:30 pm, at Waterstones Bookshop in Exeter at 5:30 on April 12th (my 53rd birthday!!), and at Oakhampton Library at 7:30 on Monday the 16th of April.

You may also be interested to know that my friend the American artist Myron Conan Dyal will be having his first book launched on Barnes@Nobles website on April 28, 2007. It is over a 100 pages of his art in full colour. The title of the book is: "Primordial Images of a Modern Mystic". You will recall that Myron has TLE and his art is influenced by both this and by his Daemon, 'Charon'. Check this out if you get the chance. Real life Daemon-influenced art and yet more proof of my Daemon-Eidolon Dyad.

Sunday's Radio Interview

The interview on Sunday went very well indeed. As well as meeting up with the DJ Chris Youngman I was also on the show with a guy called Graham. It is unusual to get on with somebody so well on first meeting but we seemed to find a lot of common-ground before we went 'on-air'. We talked about Birkenhead in the 1960's, under-age drinking in the Three Stags (now I know a lot of people will relate to that one) and Tranmere Rovers great day at Wembley. The radio progreamme was fine and we found a good deal of common -ground to talk about. They are a great bunch of people at 7 Waves radio so please check them out. Their website is www.7waves.co.uk so all you exiled Wirralians check them out.

I have even more book signings and talks set up. It seems that Ferryman is now bursting out of its North West enclave into The Midlands. On May 4th I will be at Derby Central Library from 1230 pm to 16:45 then my wife Penny and I will be rushing off to a book signing at Borders in Leicester. The next day we will be back in Derby for an all-day Psychic Fair run by Vision Magazine (www.visionmagazine.uk.com). This will be from 0930 onwards at The Atrium, Derby University. I have booked a table and will be sitting there until late afternoon.If anybody out there is around please pop in and say hi.

Radio Interview Sunday 18th February - www.7waves.com

For those of you who may be interested I will be involved in a live radio discussion on Sunday 18th February at 1100 (GMT). If you live in the Merseyside area you can tune into the broadcast on 87.7fm. For those outside of the area the programme will go out as a webcast and can be accessed at www.7waves.co.uk . On my computer the link to the Windows Media Player did not work so I suggest you click on the Quicktime icon. The radio station is, suprisingly enough, 7th Wave. Given the day and the time I am informed by my interviewer (Chris Youngman) that the discussion will be from a spiritual rather than scientific viewpoint so please don't expect any 'hard' science as such but more metaphysics and philosophy.

My book has also been reviewed in Nexus magazine (Vol.14, No2) for February March 2007. This is available now in the UK, Australasia and Europe and will be published in the USA and Canada in March. The review can be found on page 67. In my opinion this is the best precis of the theory I have seen. As Nexus has a print-run of 94,000 copies world-wide (including 28,000 in the USA and Canada) I am hoping that this will assist in getting the book and its theory better known.

Synchronicity - Anarch Peak

For those who have read the book and indeed those who have not but have heard me speak you will be very aware that one great interest of mine is synchronicity. If my theory is correct then significant coincidences can be explained by either daemonic influence or else the coincidence is brought about because the subject 'remembers' something from the past-life re-run, a memory or recognition that is triggered by the familiarity of the circumstances or scene being perceived. I am also of the opinion that things you may have done in your past are, in some way, influenced by future knowledge.

When I first started researching the book I became fascinated by the work of science-fiction writer Philip K Dick. Looking back now I have no idea why this came about. I sometimes read SF but I had read none of his work. I was more into Philip Jose Farmer and Ray Bradbury. Indeed I became pre-occupied with both him and his writings when I discovered some amazing links between the Ferryman Thesis and the actual events that took place in Dick's life. Indeed I suggest that after reading my book you take time to read his novels VALIS and UBIK. The similarities are amazing.

I am now researching my second book and PKD is one of the main subjects. I have always wondered if in my previous life I read a good deal of his stuff and his experiences were subliminally responsible for the theory. Well yesterday I found another synchronicity that made me very excited. In one of his earlier novels, Counter Clock World one of the main characters is somebody called Anarch Peak - sometimes just known as A Peak. Now this guy - and this is were it gets creepy - Peak is said to have discovered that death and time are illusions, as is reality. Could it be that an earlier version of me read this story and was intrigued enough to continue reading the rest of PKD's writings and in doing so the seeds of ITLAD and CTF sown for a future version of me to reap?

Now tell me if I am placing significance where it is not but I do find this really weird ......

Heswall Library Talk

On Saturday I did a talk and book signing at Heswall library on The Wirral. Over 40 people braved the snowy conditions to turn up and contribute to a very enjoyable afternoon (well from my part anyway - I cannot speak for the audience). As with Birkenhead the week before I had some fascinating discussions with people afterwards. What is continuing to amaze me is how much anecdotal evidence there is to support the Ferryman Thesis. I was given personal examples from precognition to Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and deja vu to The Daemon. I am now really quite excited about how this material will be used in my third book. I really feel that we are discovering together something very profound.

In all my one-to-one chats at the end of my lectures there is one constant theme - that lots of people have really strange and interesting experiences but they feel that the cannot discuss it with others for fear of ridicule. Now here is an idea. Why don't we set up an interest group that can meet on a regular basis to discuss these experiences in an open, friendly, and non-judgemental forum? If there is interest I am sure that I could set something up on the Wirral.

I think this small group idea would work really well because then we could have a collective exchange of ideas. Who knows, maybe we could form The Ferryman Society. Let me know what you think?

Obviously this invite goes out to all the individuals who have spoken to me after my library book signings, bookshop signings or have contacted me on the website.

Finally some more dates have been placed upon my talks schedule. I will be doing a signing and talk at Borders in Speke on Saturday 10th March at 2:00pm, at Borders in Stockport at 6:00pm on Saturday 17th March, Leigh Civic Centre at 7:30pm on Tuesday 17th April I am back at Borders Cheshire Oaks on Saturday 21st April at 2:00pm and 4:00pm, at Halton Library, Runcorn on Tuesday 24th April at 7:00pm and Borders York at 2:00pm and 4:00pm.

Enthusiasm

After my talk on Saturday one of the audience came up to me and said that what came across strongly was my enthusiasm for my subject. For some peculiar reason the thought leapt into my mind that I should check that word up in the dictionary. Why this was I have no idea but these days I am allowing myself to listen more to my 'inner voice' so when I got back home I checked this commonly used word out.

It came as no surprise that there was a 'hidden agenda'. The word comes from the Greek word enthousiasmos meaning inspiration or possession by a divine presence (termed afflatus in Greek). This is exactly the kind of linguistic support I need for the whole Daemon-Eidolon Dyad theory. That we are sometimes 'taken over' by enthusiasm is because maybe our Daemon is being more active in our life.

This reminds me of another word that seems to have daemonic connotations - inkling. In the first version of ITLAD I had a footnote about this interesting little word. I explained that it is believed to be of Middle English origin and derives from the word inkle which is to utter in an undertone. The implication is that another ‘voice’ is heard by the observer, a voice that speaks in a whisper and warns of events to come. And who may be the whisperer in this context?

TLE Artist & Synchronicity

In the course of my research into creativity I have discovered an American artist by the named of Myron. This guy's work is really interesting. Slightly similar to H.R. Giger (the Austrian conceptual artist who was responsible for the design of the creatures and sets of the film Alien). I came across Myron because he considers that the driving force in his creative vision is his temporal lobe epilepsy. He and I are now in contact and after checking out my website he came back to me to say that he can really relate to my theory, particularly the Daemon-Eidolon Dyad. However what really stunned me was not only that his Daemon regularly communicates with him but also what this Daemon is called - Charon. This is so synchronistic as to be disturbing. Those of you that know me well know that the original book title was to be Cheating The Ferryman. A central character in this scenario is, of course, the mythical ferryman who takes the dead souls across The River Acheron (or Styx). The Ancient Greeks had a name for this being, they called him Charon. Those of you who have attended any of my library talks will know that I spend a good deal of time explaining why I called the book Cheating The Ferryman, and in doing so I have three or four slides showing various images of this ferryman. The name Charon, for some subliminal reason, has been central to my book since its inception - and now I find that the first real daemon that I may be able to communicate directly with has the same name (Myron/Charon is happy for me to discuss with him/them in detail their 'relationship').

Now if my whole theory is correct then this was bound to happen. My 'memory' of my past-life will contain the name Charon and, for some strange reason - maybe simply a temporal joke - my own Daemon had me reference Charon right from the start. Total 'pandemonium' isn't it!?

Paul,

I am very interested in the similarities between what you are doing as a management trainer and my theory of what I term the 'Daemon-Eidolon Dyad'. Indeed I can really take on board the concept of 'the Working Self' as a model of memory. Now if the Working Self' is just a variation on my Daemon then we have some very interesting outcomes. As you rightly say this being, with its knowledge of both future as well as past events, can adapt the behaviour of its eidolon to take one particular course or another and in doing so flip that consciousness from one Everett Universe to another - in a similar way to that described by Jorge Luis Borges describes in his wonderful short-story 'The Garden Of The Forking Paths'. One could argue that this change in future-outcome almost acts in the same way as mutations do in evolution. A 'temporal mutation' will start a new personal time-line of experience that will, in turn bring about many new consequences (as shown in the film 'Sliding Doors').

Now your point that the Daemon is fallible is an interesting one. However it may be argued that the Daemon knows far in advance what the outcome of any choice will be. These choices may initially seem wrong but when viewed at a distance may assist avoiding a bigger problem awaiting in the further future. I keep thinking of that advert showing the skinhead chasing the older man down the street - I think is was for the Guardian newspaper - the implication being that you have to have the whole picture to make a valid judgement. Our Daemon has the whole picture. Does this make sense?

The Amateur Philosophy Society

Anthony,

Many thanks for your invitation to join your blog.

I have been interested in the phenomena you call Daemon for many years now and have been used to calling it the voice of the 'Higher Mind'. This term is used to describe the inner reosurce we go to for advice and help when faced with difficult decisions or traumatic situations. Just for clarity I am a Leadership Consultant and have studied Psychology [cognitive] for many years now.

What interests me about this faculty of taking advice, or ignoring it, from somewhere or someone inside our own consciousness is that it links directly to what congnitive psychologists call the 'Working Self'. This is a model of memory that includes a central executive, short term and long term memory. The working self is described as almost the 'doorman' that lets certain information in and out of long term memory and as such shapes our sence of self based on past experience.

My question is, what if the working self not only controlled past experiences coming to the surface of our consciousness through recall and recognition, but also controlled our future memory? This working self is explained in an evolutionary light as being the arbiter of selecting memories for recall that will help us achieve our goal state.

However, it is fallible and this can be demonstrated through 'flash bulb' memories that can occuer in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD]. How could we open up an unsupervised door to our memory of the future?

JMK, thanks for your interesting 'fable'. In style it reminded me of Godel, Escher, Bach - An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter. Indeed this wonderful book opened up my mind to the concepts of the infinite regress that I discuss in the last chapter of ITLAD (Is There Life After Death) and as a central concept of the whole CTF (Cheat The Ferryman) idea. Indeed I also thought that it reminded me of the film version of Jerzy Kosinski's novel Being There. You will recall that in this, his last film, Peter Sellers plays the role of a gardener called Chance who makes very simple but seemingly meaningful statements about philosophy etc.
I personally really enjoyed reading your story and it most certainly made me think.

On Saturday I gave a lecture at Birkenhead Library. May I thank the forty or so people who turned up and contributed to a very interesting afternoon. I would also like to thank the library staff for their help and assistance (and, in some cases, involvement in the debate). Next week I am at Heswall library and I am hoping for a similar turn-out.

This week I am going to be busy writing the first chapter of my new book, The Daemon Of Creativity. All the research and notes have been completed and now I have to get down and become 'creative' myself. I hope that my Daemon is ready to assist me!

A Theory of Nothing...

A THEORY OF NOTHING!

Thanks for inviting me to your blog. You may recall I’m the freelance writer who contacted you after reading your excellent book. You may also recall me mentioning this theory I’d come up with. The original version was rather rough so I’ve attempted to polish it up a little. I must stress here and now that I’m not putting it forward as a serious scientific theory. It’s from a satirical book I’m working on and is merely intended as a bit of fun. Being human and therefore fallible, it will contain certain flaws and therefore be open to criticism. I suppose the only consolation is that my critics are also fallible, so their contributions will likewise be flawed. However, knowing my luck, they’ll probably be less flawed than mine. Anyway, here goes...

During a science documentary, a female TV presenter called Juneberry tells Stephen Hawking that her gardener, a man called Bert, had come up with a Theory of Absolutely Everything...

HAWKING: A Theory of Absolutely Everything?

JUNEBERRY: Yes, it’s based on absolutely nothing.

HAWKING: A Theory of Absolutely Everything based on absolutely nothing.

JUNEBERRY: That’s right. Apparently, he was considering the concept of Absolute Nothingness, as gardeners are often wont to do. He called this AN. It was composed, (if that were possible) of nothing to the power of nothing. He added a jocular note and asked me to imagine the inside of George Bush’s head. If I cared to think about it I would see that Absolute Nothingness cannot exist because there’s nothing there to exist. According to Bert, in a state of Absolute Nothingness there can be no form of existence whatsoever. Even to say that AN exists is a contradiction in terms.

She paused, but Hawking said nothing. He was just staring at her.

JUNEBERRY: So, if AN cannot exist, then its opposite – Absolutely Everything – must. According to Bert, Absolutely Everything or AE, is a state of existence that contains everything that can exist. I asked him about unicorns. They don’t exist. Bert responded by telling me that AE included everything real and imagined. Unicorns may not exist in the real world, but they do in the imaginary one. He pointed out that they also exist in drawings and animated cartoons. Absolute non-existence, he said, refers to something that does not exist in the real or the imaginary world. Could I think of such a thing? It was clearly a trick question and I said I couldn’t because as soon as I did it would exist. There you go, he said.

Hawking was still staring at her. He seemed mesmerised.

JUNEBERRY: Bert told me that the proof AE exists is in the pudding. We are the pudding. He also said that AE is infinite. And, because he knew mathematicians and philosophers liked to quibble about the definition of this term, he decided to save them a lot of hot air. He said his infinity, was infinity to the power of infinity. That’s pretty big, I said. Wrong, he said. This infinity has absolutely no size at all. According to Bert, infinity is both the largest thing there can ever be and the smallest. Like quantum particles, it exists in two states at the same time. In other words, said Bert, if there were an infinite number of universes out there they could, theoretically, fit inside the pocket of my jeans. However, in order to do so, the pocket of my jeans would need to be larger than infinity. This would make my jeans very big indeed. Not to mention, I laughed, the person inside them. Maybe I should go to Weightwatchers?

She wondered if the electronic voice were programmed to laugh. But there was no sound from Hawking.

JUNEBERRY: Then Bert explained that within AE, time exists. However, it is composed of two parts: there is infinite time that can be described as an infinite state of “now” and finite time. Of course, he said, the two are linked because finite time stretches to infinity. This, he said, throws up an interesting philosophical point. Within AE everything that can happen has already happened. Within the infinite now we have already lived our present lives and any future ones we may have. There, cried Bert, goes our free will! Is nothing sacred? Is this making any sense to you?

HAWKING: It’s all very interesting. He’s your gardener, you say?

JUNEBERRY: That’s right.

HAWKING: Do go on.

JUNEBERRY: It was at this point that Bert, (a simple man of the soil with very little formal education), began to ponder the nature of AE. He decided that in order for AS to exist it would require an awareness of its existence. After all, there would be no discernable difference between a state of Absolute Nothingness and a state of Absolutely Everything in which absolutely nothing is aware that there is something there. I was about to ask him to repeat this, but the warbling of a Blackbird had momentarily distracted him.

HAWKING: The warbling of a Blackbird.

JUNEBERRY: Yes. It was on a tree nearby. Fortunately, said Bert, one of the things that had to exist within AE was consciousness. It was when he began to think of consciousness as a form of energy that everything clicked into place. What if AE was composed of consciousness itself? An Absolute Consciousness, or AC.

HAWKING: This gardener of yours seems to have a very vivid imagination.

JUNEBERRY: Yes. So Bert asked, how is AC aware of itself? (He preferred the term “awareness” rather than “observation” because the latter implies something than can be seen. Unless, joked Bert, AC came in the shape of an infinitely large eye!) The answer, he said, was obvious. Because AC contains absolutely everything that can exist, it must contain living creatures. Each of these creatures would be conscious and this consciousness comes from AC. I must have looked sceptical because he asked me to imagine a power station pumping out electricity. The electricity is separated into small packages that are used by a particular appliance – like his lawn mower. It may look like the lawn mower has its own individual source of electric power, but that’s an illusion. In the same way, each organic sensory organ takes a small portion of Absolute Consciousness. He told me that the impression that his consciousness is totally independent of mine is a similar illusion. Given the limitations of the brain, most of it is separate, but it all springs from the same source. The bits that aren’t separate might explain telepathy.

HAWKING: I imagine the Paranormal Research Society will be delighted to hear that.

JUNEBERRY: By now I was convinced that Bert needed help. The colloquial expression, “nutty as a fruitcake” sprang to mind. Bert asked me to think of AC as a reality generator. It acts like a simulator except that it creates actual reality rather than a simulation of it. In fact, it creates every type of reality that can exist. Actually, he said, that’s not strictly true. Being infinite means that AC has already created them. The universe we inhabit is just one of the realities created by AC. Of course, said Bert, there’s a downside.

HAWKING: There always is. Take me - I have the best brain the world, yet I’m stuck in this bloody wheelchair.

JUNEBERRY: The downside is that absolutely everything must also include destruction as well as construction. Bad luck as well as good luck. Evil as well as good. Disease as well as health. And the element of chance. Actually, he said, that’s a paradox. Chance being created by certainty. If chance had been created by chance then it might not exist. But, if its creation was certain, then we have a contradiction in terms. I didn’t have a chance to ponder this because Bert continued with his thesis. This, he said, means that some of the organisms AC inhabits will have a happy life and others won’t. For example, he said, you could be the wife of a Taliban in Afghanistan instead of a middle-class TV presenter in London. It is pure chance that determines what creature each portion of consciousness inhabits. You could even have been a winkle on Blackpool beach. I told him that even a winkle would have been preferable to a Taliban’s wife. He then went on to say that there were numerous other realities. He didn’t know how many, but they would cover all possible realities. These realities, he said, were like parallel universes. Some of them would contain every possible permutation of myself and every other creature on earth. Others would contain life forms totally alien to ourselves. Some would be living in other universes. Indeed, he said, all possible universes have been created and exist out there. I asked him what had triggered these ideas and he told me it was dreams.’

HAWKING: Dreams?

JUNEBERRY: Yes, it had all come to him whilst he was thinking about dreams. As one tends to do, he said, when pottering about amongst the weeds. He realised that what he sees when he’s awake lies outside his head. So, what about when we dream? Where do we see those images? We see them inside our heads, I said. This seemed to amuse him. He said that if I was right, then we must be able to see inside our brains. He added that his mate Chalky must have been looking at something else when that clot formed – the one that killed him. He then asked me how big my dreams were. I was puzzled. All right, he said. Last night he had a dream that he was standing outside this large Victorian house. So how big was this dream image? It couldn’t have been the same size as a real Victorian house because that wouldn’t have fitted inside his head. I responded by telling him that the house wasn’t real.

HAWKING: Good for you.

JUNEBERRY: Very well, he said. Real in what sense? Was I saying dreams have no physical reality? Yes, I said. In that case, he replied, what are they composed of? Was I suggesting they’re composed of nothing? They’re composed of memories, I said. In that case, he said, what are memories composed of? Surely they must have a physical composition because if they were composed of nothing, they wouldn’t exist. Of course, I had to admit that I didn’t know what dreams or memories were composed of. Of course, he conjectured, one-way around this problem would be if our dreams appeared in another dimension. Maybe one of these parallel realities. Maybe he could work on that problem whilst watering the Delphiniums. By this time I was beginning to regret employing this particular man. I asked him if all gardeners were like him. He told me that a few of his mates were into cosmology. Others were dabbling in subjects like philosophy and medicine.

HAWKING: Perhaps they’re trying to put people like me out of business.

JUNEBERRY: He then told me that various theories had been formulated as to why we dream.

HAWKING: Yes they have. But no doubt he had his own.

JUNEBERRY: Yes. He told me to remember that we all belong to the same consciousness. In the same way that the electricity used by the lawn mower belongs to all the electricity that exists. Dreams, he said, were the clue. According to Bert, when we dream we are merely tapping into all the other realities created by AC. For example, he said, he once had a dream that he was flying on a magic carpet. Who’s to know, he said, that there isn’t a reality out there where science is imaginary and magic is real. Actually, he said, the very fact that he was able to imagine this reality means it must exist. Once again, he said, there was a downside. Nightmares. What about that dream, I said, where you find yourself naked in the middle of the road. He said he hadn’t heard of that one. I told him I thought everyone had experienced that. I proposed a theory of my own. Perhaps some dreams belonged in a sort of imaginary reality – a reality that can only exist in the imagination.

HAWKING: What did he say to that?

JUNEBERRY: He told me that reality exists in the eye of the beholder. He asked me if I’d ever taken LSD. I said no. He said if I did I would experience a different kind of reality. He then asked me if the dream that I was naked seemed real. I said it was all too bloody real. He said it meant that, for the duration of the dream, you entered a different reality. A parallel reality. Chemical substances can send you into a parallel reality. So can mental illness. I decided to make another joke. I told him I hoped Absolute Consciousness never took LSD or we’d all be in trouble. Worse still, what would happen if this AC of his became a paranoid schizophrenic? Bert asked me if I was trying to extract a certain bodily fluid. Consciousness, he said, is a form of energy. Although it can never be destroyed, it can be affected by other things. Like LSD. Perhaps in a parallel reality consciousness is not affected by anything. But it is in our parallel reality. All right, I said. What if I didn’t like this parallel reality? How do I get out? Take LSD, he said. Or kill yourself. He explained that one parallel reality was always the strongest. And that’s the one we’re stuck in. What about when we die, I asked.

HAWKING: I’d be interested to hear what he said.

JUNEBERRY: There’s good news, and there’s bad news.

HAWKING: Give me the good news first.

JUNEBERRY: The good news is that because consciousness is a form of energy it cannot be destroyed.

HAWKING: Is that it?

JUNEBERRY: Yes.

HAWKING: Then what’s the bad news?

JUNEBERRY: The bad news is that once your consciousness is free of the brain it returns to AC. You become absolute consciousness. Bert added that this is great news for the various religions. Clearly, they would consider AC to be God. This means that after you die you become God. No Big Judgement Day. No awkward questions to be answered. So Hitler, I said, became God. Yes, said Bert. But minus the personality of Hitler. Because of the law that nothing can cease to exist in its entirety – although parts of it can – Hitler’s personality was passed on to some other unfortunate. AC has no personality. It is neither good nor evil. Powerful or powerless. It is all these things. You may be lucky, said Bert. You may be one of those consciousnesses that gets reincarnated in this parallel reality and retain some of your past memory. Or you may be reincarnated and not remember a thing. Or you may end up in another parallel reality. All I can say is that when you die one of the things that could happen to you will happen to you. It’s all up to chance.

HAWKING: Not much comfort there.

JUNEBERRY: I know. That’s when he told me not to lose hope. What I wanted to know was, did the “I” exist? What’s that? I asked. He told me to imagine someone who was suffering from total amnesia. Although their memories had gone, one thing remained. Their awareness of self. The “I.” So I asked him if that remains. He said it was a little more complicated. There was only one “I” and it belonged to Absolute Consciousness. However, whilst we inhabit a physical body we all shared it. His “I” was exactly the same as my “I.” The only things that separated the two were our memories and our physical bodies. Take those away and there would be no difference. When and if we inhabited another physical body then our personal “I” returns.

HAWKING: That’s a relief. For a moment there I thought I might be a gonner.

JUNEBERRY: He finished by saying that some people might find his Theory too simple. He stressed that it was simple because he himself was a simple man. Indeed, his Theory is Ultimately Simple. In other words, there is nothing simpler than this. It is the Bottom Line. The theory about the existence of Absolutely Everything should be used as a starting point for cosmology. Bert reckons it makes better sense than saying nothing existed before the Big Bang. This way, the Big Bang becomes a product of AS. He said that better brains than his can take it from there.

HAWKING: That was nice of him.

JUNEBERRY: Bert wanted me to ask you if there was any scientific law that prevents the existence of an Absolute Consciousness. If there is no scientific law, then he must assume that his theory could be true. Not that it matters. He said has far more important things to worry about. Like those damned dandelions that keep springing up on the lawn. So, what d’you think of that, Mr Hawking? Mr Hawking? Are you all right? Your machine seems to be making some funny sounds...

Reviewing the comments

I have noticed that if you hit the comments tab after each message a new window opens. On first view it seems that this contains a blank form that allows you to add your own comment. As such it does not seem to contain the previous comments. However if you tab up in the window you will find the comments there.

Schizophrenia

Hi Ruth,

Thanks for the post. I am glad that you enjoyed my talk in Switzerland. I am sure that given more time the group would have debated the issues raised for many hours.

I am intrigued by your son's reaction as the plane descended. Could it be that it was something to do with the change in altitude bringing about a change in blood pressure in his cranium? My Father-In-Law has a similar problem. He has a trapped air-pocket in one of his teeth. When the air expands as a plane climbs it presses on a nerve and causes great pain. However as I understand it this happens as the plane ascends not descends.

Your comment regarding the film 'A Beautiful Mind' had me grab my copy of the book of the same name by Sylvia Nasar. I have to read this as part of my research for my next book. I had planned to read it on our little Greek island retreat (Halki for anybody who is interested) this summer. However your comments have fascinated me so I will bring it forward. I note Art's question about the temporal lobe focus and I am interested as to his opinions on this.

In early November I visited an organisation called The Hearing Voices Network and had an interesting chat with a young gentleman who, I presume, 'suffered' from schizophrenia. He simply amazed me at his level of knowledge and his analytical abilities. You will recall in my talk
I mentioned the 'Tower Analogy' of Australian schizophrenic physicist Raynor Johnson. The actual Raynor quote is as follows::

“We are each rather like a prisoner in a round tower permitted to look out through five slits in the wall at the landscape outside. It is presumptuous to suppose that we can perceive the whole of the landscape through these slits – although I think there is good evidence that the prisoner can sometimes have a glimpse out the top!”

My young friend was in total agreement with this saying that he felt that he 'sensed' the real nature of reality whereas we are 'protected' by the inhibitory nature of 'normal' conscious experience.

Does this bear any resemblance to what your son reports?

My First Blog.

Welcome to my blog. I am hoping that this will bring about an interesting and healthy debate regarding my theory on Near-Death Experience. This is open to anybody but I suggest that it would be helpful if you have read the book (full details on my website - http://www.anthonypeake.com/).

You may also find an interview with me in Beyond magazine issue 3 will will be available in newsagents and the major high street shops like W H Smiths until mid February 2007. Check out details on http://www.beyondthemagazine.com/current.html

I have just spent a fascinating weekend in Switzerland. I was invited to speak at The Western Switzerland Group of The Scientific And Medical Network. The lecture went down very well with the audience - I attempted to explain the quantum physics and neurology behind the Ferryman Thesis - and we had an interesting afternoon discussing the implications. It was fascinating talking through these issues with such luminaries as Dr. Arthur Funkhouser (recognised as one of the world's leading experts in Deja Vu - or as he prefers to call it, the 'Deja Phenomenon') and Evelyn Elsaesser-Valarino, author Talking With Angel and co-author with Dr. Kenneth Ring of Lessons From The Light - What We Can Learn From The Near Death Experience. If you have any interest in Deja Vu or Near-Death Experience check out the writings of these two world-famous authorities. Evelyn's website is http://www.elsaesser-valarino.com/
An example of Art Funkhouser's work can be found on http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~mdlee/dejavu.htm and http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=264&cn=0

I am now back on the Wirral in the North West of England. I will be spending the rest of the week working on a sample chapter of my book-in-progress. Entitled The Daemon of Creativity this will apply the Ferryman Thesis to the experiences of famous (and some less famous) writers, artists, poets, scientists and statesmen - particularly those who 'suffered' from temporal lobe epilepsy.

I will also be lecturing this coming Saturday 9rd February 2007 at Birkenhead Central Library. Check out my website for future venues.

Watch this space for further news.