A Bit of Rethinking: Aliester Crowley and LAM

I've been re-thinking my opinions on "the grays," alien abductions and hypnosis and the larger question of ET and UFOs. I still think some UFOs and aliens are literal beings from other planets. It's straightforward: they have technology, they live on the Moon, or Mars, or whatever. They manipulate us and have been doing so for eons. Yep, I'm all about Ancient Astronauts. However, much is going on that suggests other, and more... not just the much flung about phrase "inter-dimensional" but entities encountered on the astral level, the line blurring between religious doctrine and beliefs and non-human entities, myths, mysticism and our own participation that remain mostly secretive even to ourselves.

In part, reading Nick Redfern's exciting and ---  as usual with Redfern, controversial and daring perspectives on subjects -- book Final Events and the Secret Government Group on Demonic UFOs and the Afterlife has caused me to take another look at Aliester Crowley's  "LAM."  In this 1996  article by  Ian Blake for Excluded Middle, (Aliester Crowley and LAM) Blake writes, about hypnosis and memory in the context of abduction/alien events:

Before we allow ourselves to be convinced however, it is worth taking into account John Rimmer's observation that the witness in this case, "one of a number investigated by Budd Hopkins, had no conscious memory of an abduction before the investigation." The phrase I have underlined is important, not least because the Lam procedure also involves a form of hypnosis, albeit self-administered and -regulated. Rimmer adds that "the UFO abduction as a distinct phenomenon exists as a result of the process of hypnotic regression." And again: "...to a very great extent the evidence for alien abductions stands or falls on the reliability of memories recalled through regression, and the techniques of hypnosis themselves."

Very interesting. (Of course, Rimmer, et al are skeptics in the end.)

Of our participation, even while we often forget or are unaware of that participation in these events, Blake writes:

In real terms most accounts gained under hypnosis are so vague and imprecise as to be virtually worthless. The sensible reaction to them must inevitably be that they contain a certain amount of "confabulated" material, expressing the repressed desires of the unconscious mind. Hilary Evans seems to be referring to something of this sort in Visions * Apparitions * Alien Visitors when he asks, "Are we to suppose that, subconsciously, all the witnesses...were unconsciously seeking their encounter? And in that case do we have to suppose that every UFO percipient is also responding to some subconscious motivation?" I suspect so -- at least as a broad percept. I suspect furthermore, just as the vampires of eighteenth century Hungary were unable to cross a threshold uninvited, so the UFO entities of contemporary folklore are bound by a similar constraint. Having given the matter careful consideration, I am forced reluctantly to conclude that they too are unable to cross the threshold of human experience without first being "invited" in some way.

That last sentence: "Having given the matter careful consideration, I am forced reluctantly to conclude that they too are unable to cross the threshold of human experience without first being "invited" in some way" is very intriguing.

Interesting points about the use of hypnosis to retrieve memories of alien encounters. Revisiting the issue of hypnosis in UFO research is a positive that's come from Emma Woods story of her sessions with David Jacobs and Carol Rainey's experiences with Budd Hopkins.

 Richelle Hawks discusses LAM and the image of the gray in her excellent  UFO Digest article Yabba Dabble Doo; How Aleister Crowley Introduced the Iconic Gray Alien.
Hawks notes that Whitley Strieber, who is often credited with bringing this now popular culture alien iconic image to our awareness, doesn't think the grays are literal space-men:

Many might be surprised to learn that Strieber himself doesn't (or didn't) necessarily adhere to the nuts and bolts theory, or even that the entities are necessarily aliens. In a Barnes and Noble Author's chat transcript, dated April 12, 1997, he makes these following curious statements: "Is there such a thing as 'grays?' I don't know." " I don't know what the 'visitors' are." And, "I assume aliens are the answer when we don't know what's going on."

Ideas about how UFOs/aliens intersect with esoteric systems and religious presentations of "demons" aren't specific to Crowley or new to UFO research.  Remaining open to this arena and how it might apply to UFOs/aliens; revisiting these concepts often reveals a new path or two for us to follow in our journey.

Related posts: 
Regan Lee for Speculative Realms: Female Abductee Madonna Complex: A Gender-Identified Blame Game