Political Values and UFO Research and Neo- Pagan, Witchy Ways

In January I posted about "political values and ufo research."  I wondered how it is that some researchers who delve into the realm of the strange, are politically conservative. I find that a strange juxtaposition. I also find it strange that most on the left (as am I) mock the strange. As I've commented before, as much as I like Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, John Oliver, etc. when it comes to anything suggesting the anomalous, from UFOs to Sasquatch, it's time for smug dismissals of what is clearly perceived as superstitious paranoia -- and no doubt perpetuated by ignorant right wing bozos. I also find that a strange juxtaposition, as well as disappointing.


Today I came across someone on Twitter who follows me. Looking at their profile, they're all about the things I'm also all about. Paganism, magick, witchy ways, etc. Yet they "support Trump." WHAT?!

My relationship with those areas is many faceted. It's personal, intimate, spiritual, emotional, and important. It has to do with many things, including the planet, the planets, our relationship with ourselves, each other, and the other.
Animals. Spirits. And more that I am not wanting to share here. I am no fluff bunny, no naive goody glittery two-shoed fairy wanna be. I know there are things that go bump in the night, forces and energies you do not want to mess with. But my involvement with the poly-theistic/witch/pagan path includes a basic urge to do good. For us, for me, for each other. I assume that is why others also choose this path. But in my personal experience with that community, I've found that there are many who are politically on the right.

(I am aware that these areas, while often combining and sharing elements, are not the same. There is paganism, neo-paganism, magick, Magick, magic, witchcraft, wicca, wiccan -- oh the categories continue, boggle, and create great argument among followers.)

The history of magick is rife with those that would control, of course. (Nazis, for example.)  Maybe it's not so surprising after all.

The USSR Cause for Roswell? - Muddled Disclosures

Supposedly. Could be. In UFO World, anything is possible. Journalist Annie Jacobsen, author of Area 51, acknowledges there's definitely insidious and strange events going on in Area 51 and the UFO realm generally, but it's not aliens. (No, it could never be aliens.) Jacobsen and her book is currently making the mainstream circuit, including a recent appearance on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show. I knew before she came on that Stewart, who I adore, would mock any hint of alien/UFO reality, since it seems to be an affliction of the majority of the liberal-left-hip to sneer at fringe subjects. He didn't disappoint.

Jacobsen's contention is that yes, weirdness abounds but it's not aliens. It's the USSR and Nazi experiments behind the Roswell crash. And so much more, but all of these strange events have been orchestrated by humans. ET has nothing to do it, nor cryptids or vortexes or magick or anything other than human Dr. Evils.

Jacobsen has interesting ideas about what on, but there's no proof. As is admitted by everyone, but that seems to be all right, for Jacobsen is a legitimate journalist and not some tin-foil hat wearing conspiracy theorist:

Still, lack of proof hasn't exactly stopped the book from sparking speculation on the media circuit and on the Web. In the last day, Yahoo! searches skyrocketed 3,000 percent for "area 51 book." And the tome is penned not by a crackpot conspirator, but a respected journalist.

I'm impatient and cynical with this distracting crap, because it's muddled disinfo. (Which is probably an oxymoron.) Jacobsen's story gets attention, while all the other UFO stories, including abduction stories sans Nazi bastards-Dr. Evils-government experiments, continue to go utterly ignored, utterly mocked. Meanwhile, journalists, writers, researchers, scientists -- those "respected journalists" and the like --  who know nothing of the esoteric world yet decide to take a swim in the sparkling waters for a look-see are blind to what they consider nonsense. They come out with one small bit, show it off as the latest in theory, and happily go back to their rational worlds. Everyone thinks something groovy-weird has just been revealed, and all has been solved: including the "nonsense" of UFOs. Because, as has just been proven, no such things exist. It was really Russia, or Nazis, or ...

We're not done yet. The fact is, there very well could be some truth to these theories. Nick Redfern's book Bodysnatchers in the Desert  brought explored the idea of human experiments and manipulations as the cause for Roswell. MILABS are a very real possibility, and some UFO witnesses and researchers have been writing about this for a long time. Ironically, among UFO researchers, the MILAB "conspiracy" doesn't get much attention.

It's not that Jacobsen's story couldn't be true, or, some of it could be true...it's that once again, our attention from the reality of the UFO phenomena is trivialized and further pushed out to the edges. UFOs, the mainstream continues to insist, are entertaining and fun funny, but they're not real.

If Jacobsen's contentions somehow prove to be valid, (and/or Redfern's, etc.) that is horrifying, and the world needs to know. But what will happen in that event is that the many will accept that as the explanation for all of "it." Once again, we go back to clean dichotomies, something both the mainstream and many within UFOlgy are guilty of enacting.  It has to be this theory or that theory,  it's all aliens or it's all human psychopaths.

As I said, I'm impatient with this mainstream UFO denying stuff, but Nick Redfern has a calmer take on Jacobsen's book, giving us a bit of  background and data that is helpful, even if it does push us further down the rabbit hole. (Once you've fallen in, you just keep falling...:) You can read his review here.

Ideas

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.—Aristotle

I lifted this quote from Lisa Shiel's Bigfoot Quest blog. I like this quote, and think it's important in any area,includng the UFO and esoteric realm. How else are we to get anywhere if we don't allow ourselves to consider other ideas, perspectives?

Along these lines (well, to me, after all I'm a Pisces so I think a bit off kilter) is what Tim Binnall said in his interview on the Blue Rose Report podcast recently. He said, of UFO studies and theories and choosing a "side" to be on, that:
"There aren't any sides, it's a circle." I probably have that wrong, but that's the gist.

I can delve into Reptilians and Nazi gnomes living inside the earth without literally "believing" in such things. Or explore the Contactee movement without believing that Adamski, Fry, etc. really rode in a spaceship to Venus, or over the United States. That's not to say they were lying - and here's where this idea of entertaining ideas comes in. It's not always such an easy dichotomy when it comes to this arena: either or, black white, literal or not, etc.

So many are still stuck on nuts and bolts vs. the mystical, the ETH vs. anything else. Roswell as the great answer to the puzzle.

Speaking of Roswell (I know,I'm sorry) there are those who expect the answer as a salvation to the UFO enigma, and those who believe that, since Roswell is "dead" all of UFOlogy are dead. More of that either or stuff.

Binnall, in his interview, also stressed the importance of getting the views of international UFO researchers. Lesley (Debris Field, Beyond the Dial, Grey Matters) has done a lot towards gathering international research resources for our benefit. U.S. research and studies in this context needs the perspective of not only international researchers but multi cultural and minority researchers from within the states as well.

At the risk of sounding annoyingly multicultural p.c., I'll say it anyway: the views about UFOs and the paranormal our society has as a whole are held and supported (controlled) by the white dominant paradigm. (As is everything.) When it comes to the paranormal, to UFOs, to the weird in general, our infrastructure does its job: denies, and decompartmentalizes.

Most of this is a given in any culture, and due to the Trickster at work. Divide, invert, juxtapose, hide. And expecting it all to change suddenly because we've now included other views is like the naive expectations of the exopolitics people.

But it can't hurt. Anyway, what's the goal here? To change "them," or to change us?

Vivacious exchange of information and ideas doesn't mean, or guarantee, agreement. That's not the point. It might turn out I think a particular culture's mindset regarding UFOs is ridiculous, or pig headed, or weird. So what?

As the man said, we can entertain these ideas without accepting them. At least we've been exposed to new views.

Raelian Swastika Update

Update on the Raelians and their swastika fetish: Greg Bishop on UFOMystic has a good piece on this: Raelians Revive Swastika Symbol.

Raelians and Their New/Old Symbol

Once upon a time, the Raelians of UFO Land (by the way, their term and name for proposed park/city/compound; I just picked up and used the phrase) had the swastika as their official symbol. Oh, it wasn't just a swastika, for it was artfully entwined with the Star of David. Naturally, this upset a lot of people, both inside and outside of UFO Land. And so, the Raelians did away with their symbol, and redesigned it. The new design was more of a Lotus flower type design. Throughout the Land, and elsewhere, people sighed a sigh of relief, and all was well.

But now, the Raelians have gone back to their offensive ways, and brought back the swastika-Star of David emblem.

Many of us realise that the "original" swatiska was a sign of peace, harmony, and had nothing to do with Nazis, anti-Semities, or Jew haters. But we all know what happened next.

And so, given this context, one would think that the Raelians would get a clue. But alas, they cannot.

The Raelians like to clone things, and say they have a cloned human baby or two around the place. And this is a reason why, combined with their new/old symbol harkening back to Nazism, the whole thing makes a lot of us here in UFO Land nervous.