Crop Circles

Crop circles are one of the most profound and mysterious phenomena of the modern age. Are they a communication from extra-terrestrials? Evidence of other dimensions or a catalyst to advancing our way of thinking?

Governments have discussed them and then sought to confuse and misinform the populace through their control and manipulation of the popular media.

The military have endangered life and safety in order to investigate and monitor crop formations, yet they deny involvement.

Hollywood has sought to manipulate the truth and credibility of scientific evidence and facts, yet film goers become ever more intrigued.

Hoaxers have sought to deceive, confuse and muddy research waters, in the same way that computer virus writers seek attention and attempt to contaminate data.

Some crop circles are hoaxed. Some are not.

Doppelganger

The term has, in the vernacular, come to refer to any double or look-alike of a person, most commonly in reference to a so-called evil twin, or to bilocation. Alternatively, the word is used to describe a phenomenon where you catch your own image out of the corner of your eye. In some traditions, seeing one's own doppelganger is an omen of death. A doppelganger seen by friends or relatives of a person may sometimes bring bad luck, or indicate an approaching illness or health problem.

The doppelgangers of folklore cast no shadow, and have no reflection in a mirror or in water. They are supposed to provide advice to the person they shadow, but this advice can be misleading or malicious. They can also, in rare instances, plant ideas in their victim's mind or appear before friends and relatives, causing confusion. In many cases once someone has viewed his own doppelganger he is doomed to be haunted by images of his ghostly counter-part. Other folklore says that when a person's doppleganger is seen, the person him/herself will die shortly. It is considered unlucky to try to communicate with such a doppleganger.


Famous Reports of the Doppelganger Phenomenon

* Emilie Sagee was a schoolteacher in the nineteenth century whose doppelganger's public appearances were recorded by Robert Dale Owen after being reported to him by Julie von Guldenstubbe.

* Guy de Maupassant recorded his own doppelganger experiences in his story Lui ( The light continent). It is sometimes claimed that Percy Bysshe Shelley, English atheist and poet, met his doppelganger foreboding his own death. However, Shelley met this "doppelganger" in a dream, not in real life.

* John Donne, the English metaphysical poet, apparently met his wife's doppelganger in Paris, foreboding the death of his yet unborn daughter.

* Abraham Lincoln told his wife that he saw two faces of himself in a mirror soon after being elected president, one deathly pale. His wife believed this to mean he would be elected to a second term but would not survive (Sandburg, 195).

* Rosalyn Greene claims that the doppelganger phenomenon, via bilocation, is responsible for reports of werewolves and other shapeshifters.

* Richard Rossi, the maverick minister and Hollywood filmmaker, allegedly told police a man who resembled him attacked his wife. According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, he allegedly speculated the mysterious incident was a Satanic counterattack because of his work as an exorcist. Rossi stood trial for the assault, resulting in a hung jury, partially because both Rossi's wife and an eyewitness named John Fair confirmed the story.

* Gustav Weler was a double of Adolf Hitler

Doppelgangers appear in a variety of science fiction and fantasy works, in which they are a type of shapeshifter that mimics a particular person or species for some typically nefarious reason.

A temporal doppelganger is any version of oneself one may meet during time travel. It is an exact likeness of one at a specific time in one's history (or future). Meetings with oneself may occur when one version of oneself travels backwards through the timestream and encounters a younger version of oneself, or when two or more of the same person from different timestreams travel to the same moment in their futures.

Are Vampires Real?

INTEREST IN THE vampire mythos is at an all-time high. The recent enthusiasm for this blood-sucking immortal began perhaps with the highly popular Anne Rice novel, Interview with the Vampire published in 1976, and which she followed up with several more books about the vampire world she created. Movies and television capitalized on this popularity with such offerings as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Lost Boys, Francis Ford Coppola's film version of Dracula, Underworld, and the Tom Cruise-Brad Pitt film adaptation of Interview with the Vampire.

The genre is more popular than ever thanks to TV's True Blood and Vampire Diaries, and especially the enormous success of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series of novels, which also are getting the Hollywood treatment.

When a phenomenon like this creeps into our mass consciousness - you can barely turn around without bumping into vampire-related media - some people begin to think it's real. Or they want it to be real because they so enjoy the fantasy. So what about it? Are there real vampires?


THE SUPERNATURAL VAMPIRE

The question of whether vampires are real or not depends on the definition. If by vampire we mean the supernatural creature who is practically immortal, has fangs through which he or she can suck blood, has an aversion to sunlight, can shapeshift into other creatures, fears garlic and crosses, and can even fly... then we have to say no, such a creature does not exist. At least there's no good evidence that it exists. Such a creature is a fabrication of novels, TV shows and movies.

If we dispense with the supernatural attributes, however, there are people who call themselves vampires of one kind or another.


LIFESTYLE VAMPIRES

Largely due to the influence of vampires in the media, there is now a subculture of vampirism, the members of which seek to mimic the lifestyle of their fictional heroes (or antiheroes). There is some overlap with the Goth community, both of which seem to seek empowerment in the dark, mysterious side of things. The lifestyle vampires typically dress in black and other accouterments of the "vampire aesthetic" and favor a goth music genre. According to one website, these lifestylers take this on "not just as something to do at clubs, but as part of their total lifestyle, and who form alternative extended families modeled on the covens, clans, etc. found in some vampire fiction and role-playing games."

Lifestyle vampires make no claims of supernatural powers. And it would be unfair to dismiss them as people who just like to play at Halloween year-round. They take their lifestyle quite seriously as it fulfills for them some inner, even spiritual need.


SANGUINE VAMPIRES

The sanguine (meaning bloody or blood-red) vampires may belong to the lifestyle groups mentioned above, but take the fantasy one step further by actually drinking human blood. They typically will not drink a glass of the stuff as one would a glass of wine, for example, but usually will add a few drops to some other liquid for drinking. On occasion, a sanguine vampire will feed directly from a volunteer or "donor" by making a small cut and sucking up a small trickle of blood.

Some of these sanguine vampires claim an actual need to ingest human blood. The human body does not digest blood very well, and there seems to be no physiological condition that would account for such a need. If the craving is present, then, it is almost certainly psychological in nature or simply a choice.


PSYCHIC VAMPIRES

Psychic vampires, some of whom might also adopt the vampire lifestyle described above, claim that they have a need to feed off the energy of other people. According to The Psychic Vampire Resource and Support Pages, pranic vampires, as they are sometimes called, are people "who by reason of a condition of their spirit, need to obtain vital energy from outside sources. They are unable to generate their own energy, and often times don't have the best capacity to store the energy they do have." The website even has a section of psychic "feeding techniques."

Again, in the spirit of "keeping it real," we have to question whether this is a genuine phenomenon. By the same token, we've all been around people who seem to drain the energy from a room when they enter, and they get off on it. It could be argued that the effect is strictly psychological... but then that's why they call it psychic vampirism.


THE PSYCHOPATHIC VAMPIRE

If drinking human blood qualifies one as being a vampire, then several serial killers deserve the label. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Peter Kürten, known as "The Vampire of Düsseldorf," committed as many as nine murders and seven attempted murders. He achieved sexual arousal with the sight of his victims' blood and was said to have even ingested it. Richard Trenton Chase was dubbed "The Vampire of Sacramento" after he murdered six people and drank their blood.

Obviously, these "vampires" are criminally insane. Ironically, however, their murderous compulsions and ghoulish practices make them more like the demonic vampires of literary tradition than the other "vampires" described here.

Sunken City off Cuba

In May 2001, an exciting discovery was made by Advanced Digital Communications (ADC), a Canadian company that was mapping the ocean bottom of Cuba's territorial waters. Sonar readings revealed something unexpected and quite amazing 2,200 feet down: stones laid out in a geometric pattern that looked very much like the ruins of a city. "What we have here is a mystery," said Paul Weinzweig, of ADC. "Nature couldn't have built anything so symmetrical. This isn't natural, but we don't know what it is." A great sunken city? It must be Atlantis, was the immediate suggestion of many enthusiasts. National Geographic showed a great deal of interest in the site and was involved in subsequent investigations. In 2003, a minisub dove down to explore the structures. Paulina Zelitsky of ADC said they saw a structure that "looks like it could have been a large urban center. However, it would be totally irresponsible to say what it was before we have evidence." Further explorations are forthcoming.

More information: Probe Into Cuba's Possible Sunken City Advances

How To Use a Ouija Board

A Ouija board can be an interesting experience. Some believe it is a doorway to another world and warn against its use, but most people see it as a harmless diversion, especially if it's not taken too seriously. Here are some guidelines.



Here's How:

1. It takes two to Ouija. Usually one person is not able to work the Ouija. Get a friend to use it with you. A male and female is usually recommended.

2. Timing. Most practitioners suggest using the board at night when, they say, less interference is in the atmosphere.

3. Create some atmosphere. The Ouija is more fun if you darken the room and light some candles. Turn off the TV and any music to minimize distractions.

4. Have a seat. The two users should sit facing each other, with knees touching if possible, with the board on their laps. Don't use a table.

5. Decide on a questioner or medium. Even though both people can ask questions -- or anyone else in the room can -- only one of the users should be the medium (the one to formally ask questions of the board).

6. Place your fingers on the planchette. You and your partner should place the fingers of both hands very lightly on the planchette, or pointer.

7. Move it. Purposely move the planchette around in a circle on the board for a moment or two to get it 'warmed up.'

8. Attitude. Don't let the board control the session. The medium should begin by announcing that the session will only allow an experience that is positive or toward a higher good and that negative energies are not welcome.

9. Begin simply. Start with a simple question, one that requires a yes or no answer.

10. Be patient. You might not begin to get answers right away. Give the board a chance to 'warm up.'

11. Be polite. When the board starts working, thank the board or entities for showing up and communicating with you.

12. Don't ask stupid questions. Avoid questions such as, 'When am I going to die?' If the board answers, 'in 6 months,' you might just worry about it needlessly.

13. Don't ask for physical signs. Many experienced users warn against asking for physical signs that the 'spirit' is real or present.

14. Don't believe everything the board tells you. Just as with any other source of information, don't accept whatever the board says to be the truth or accurate.

15. Close the board. This is an important step. When you're done with your session, slide the planchette to 'GOODBYE' and remove your hands.


Tips:

1. Have someone write down the answers. Sometimes the letters spell out very quickly and it's difficult to keep track of what's being said. A third person with paper and pen can write down the message as it comes.

2. Play sober. You'll get better results if you haven't been drinking or smoking.

3. Maintain control. If the board starts giving rude, vulgar, obscene or otherwise disagreeable responses, break off the session immediately by closing the board.