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  Theory

ATransC Survival Hypothesis

by Tom Butler

This article is part of the presentation given at the Academy of Spirituality and Paranormal Studies 2007 conference.

It was also published in the Summer 2007 AA-EVP NewsJournal
Updated October 2009

 

Abstract

A person’s personality is in a symbiotic relationship with the physical body. This relationship enables the normally etheric point of view to inhabit the physical aspect of reality. The purpose of this is to enable the personality to have experiences in the physical venue with the expectation of gaining understanding about the operation of reality given the constraints of the physical venue.

The personality is separate from the physical body, and when the physical body is no longer able to sustain life, the personality is no longer able to inhabit the physical. Personality returns its focus of attention to the etheric in a process referred to as “death,” “dying,” or more correctly, “transition.”

The transition is to an energetic aspect of reality that is reported to be a place for assessment and gathering of understanding before entering into a new venue for further experiences and learning. At least while in this intermediate stage, the personality is able to communicate with personalities still in the physical.

The Survival Hypothesis is concerned with the relationship of personality to physical, transition, the nature of the greater reality and the mechanisms of trans-etheric influence.

 

General

Continued existence of personality after "death" of the physical body is described by the Survival Hypothesis, which is intended to order the evidence into a cosmology and resulting predictions which can be experimentally tested. By examining the accumulating evidence, it is becoming clear that the Hypothesis is largely testable, and that it is substantially proven by the existing evidence. What remains is the need for more research to better evaluate the available evidence and to explore the implications of the Hypothesis.

 

When considered with data from other forms of trans-etheric influences, Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC) can provide a great deal of information about the nature of reality. ITC is considered a set of energy-dependent phenomena that includes paranormal manipulation of audio energy (Electronic Voice Phenomena or EVP), manipulation of optical energy to produce faces and other recognizable features and production of text messages. Energy repeatedly appears as a limiting factor, and so, the hypothesis is defined from that perspective. The term, "etheric" is used in this document to describe all that is not physical.

 

Property: There is a greater reality of which the physical universe is an aspect.

  • Etheric energy appears to be governed by rules that are responsive to the influence of intent. A fundamental notion of metaphysics is that we create reality. The process for that creation is turning attention to an imagined result with the intention that it will be so. Thus, the ability to create is a function of the person’s ability to imagine, hold attention and express intention. According to the Hypothesis, energy is more responsive to intention in the etheric than it is in the physical.

  • Physical energy is a differentiated form of etheric energy. Virtually all of the evidence indicates that the personality of a person (referred to here as "Self") is native to etheric reality, and is only in the physical as a visitor. Also, there is a difference in character between the energy forming Self and energy forming the physical body. Consequently, the Hypothesis postulates that energy here is derived from energy there.

  • There is an interface between the physical and etheric that requires a change in energy to cross. The relationship of an ocean to the atmosphere is a good illustration for this point. There is a substantial change in the characteristic of the environment as one moves from the air (etheric) into water (physical). Also, for a person (Self) to inhabit the water for an extended time, it is necessary to be in a dive suit (the physical body)

  • Spatial relationships in the etheric may be more akin to fractal geometry than to Cartesian space. The notions of "up or down" and "finer or coarser," are useful for conversation but not accurate for describing spatial relationships in etheric reality. The better view might be movement by changing perspective or attitude.1 Consequently, linear measuring devices may be useless for mapping etheric space. Instead, worldview and ability to manage energy to determine location may need to be considered.

  • The character of the energy forming reality appears to change over a continuum as:

Physical

  • Physical energy: Electromagnetic energy; electricity.

  • Subtle energy: Vitality; auric; biofield; contact field. The intent is to describe the subtle energy required for physical manifestations of etheric influences. The Hypothesis holds that the influence must be supported by energy that is compatible with the physical. Experimental evidence supports the existence of this energy,2 but it is unclear as to how it relates to the assumed physical-to-etheric interface.

Etheric

  • Near-locale: ITC contact apparently originates from this region which is apparently energetically "close" to the physical. The near-locale includes:

    • Near-physical: Residual energy hauntings; apparitions; out-of-body experiencers.

    • Transitional venue: A place to become oriented before moving on to a new venue for learning. The "hospital" in which people become accustomed to not being physically and mentally impaired exists here.

    • Local heavens: Regions of existence based on worldview which appear to be Self's attempt to hold to the familiar for a time. For instance, a person might report having Christmas dinner with discarnate family at grandma's house.

  • A range of "heavens" or venues for experience: A person eventually leaves this locale for what is apparently a new lifetime in a different venue for learning. Considering the evidence for reincarnation, this new venue may be the physical, but it may also be a different aspect of reality entirely. The objective evidence is inconclusive. All that is clear is that contacts say they must "go on" and stop communicating. One contact described "going on" as dying into a new lifetime.3

Property: The person is the channel through which trans-etheric influences are enabled.

  • Worldview tends to filter experiences: ITC contacts tend to be consistent with the expectations of the experiencer. A characteristic of EVP is that they are in a language the experimenter or an interested observer understands.4 page 204 A concern for the safety of "spirit contact" can sometimes produce fearful results, confirming the reason for that concern.4, page 95

  • The deeper the trance, the less influence from the medium: A mental medium depends on a mind-to-mind exchange of information in the etheric and then must translate the etheric information into physical terms via his or her library of words and images. A deep-trance medium is believed to all his or her personality to "step aside" so that the personality of the communicating entity may assume temporary control of the physical body. The result is that a mental medium (little or no trance) tends to color the message based on persona experience while the trance medium will tend to deliver messages more as they were intended. Mental mediums are not expected to speak a language they do not know but a trance medium may because the message is coming directly from the discarnate speaker.

  • Influences are energy-limited and the ability of the person to "gather" the energy is a factor for what is experienced by whom: The ability to manage subtle energy can be developed but some people naturally excel at it. In Spiritualism, a physical medium is thought to "gather" ectoplasmic energy from sitters to form a voice box for direct-voice phenomena.5

  • Energy appears to "stick" and remain over time. Thus, experiences may be influenced by environment: A physical medium sometimes sits in a cabinet to contain the energy. The indication is that haunted locations are haunted because the energy required for the haunting activity is available due to long-time human occupancy and/or the expression of extreme emotions. We have recorded EVP in supposedly haunted places that were clearly initiated by our usual etheric contacts.6 Also, psychometry depends on residual, subtle energy.

  • Physical time and distance do not influence results: In the 4Cell EVP Demonstration7 the Communicating Entity is required to receive a request from the Sender in one part of the world, and deliver the message to the Receiver in another part of the world. This is done without apparent time or distance constraints.

Property: Etheric-to-physical influences are initiated by intelligence outside of the experiencer.

  • The Self has an etheric aspect, which is its "true" nature: This, and the existence of an etheric aspect of reality, are the fundamental concepts of the Hypothesis. A Self is born into the physical and returns to the etheric when the physical body dies. In this hypothesis, the "arrow of creation" points from the etheric to the physical.8 The etheric communicators in EVP and mediumship usually do not have a physical body, and therefore depend on people in the flesh to enable etheric-to-physical influences.

  • Self’s point of view shifts from the physical body to its etheric aspect when the physical body dies, or during sleep: A change in point of view is probably the best way to describe death.1 There have been successful experiments in which EVP have clearly been initiated by a sleeping person, which offers further evidence that Self is independent of the physical body, except for the purpose of being in the physical.9

  • The "survived" Self is able to remain energetically close to the physical for a time, but eventually moves to an aspect of reality energetically "out of range" for contact: This is probably a corollary of the concept above concerning the different characteristics of energy.

  • Axiom: An entity must be energetically in agreement with the aspect of reality it will inhabit: It is not clear how "agreement" is achieved, but it apparently depends on Self’s ability to manage energy, and that seems to be a function of how well Self understands the natural processes controlling that energy. We describe the understanding of the principles governing the operation of reality and living in accordance with those principles a spirituality and the measure of how well a person understands this as spiritual maturity.

    • Discarnate entities cannot exist in the physical or independently cause an influence in the physical.

    • Cooperation of an incarnate Self is required for trans-etheric influence.

Lessons Learned

  • Groups of entities work together to influence the physical: The Big Circle is a group of friends and family members now on the other side who help people with EVP, grief and presumably daily living.10, page 107 Channeled entities often describe themselves as a group entity. We have learned to behave as if a group of unseen friends are helping us. The EVP, "Big Circle," recorded by Martha Copeland illustrates the reason for this. In it, her daughter Cathy is clearly heard saying "Big Circle" just as Martha asks for help with her father’s operation.11

  • No evidence of anything "demonic," but plenty of people behaving badly: We sometimes find Self with an evil state of mind, but there is no evidence of anything like a demon. Rather than concluding there is demonic activity, look at whether or not an experiencer has the expectation of evil and is capable of a psychosomatic response. People "allow" energy with characteristics that fulfill their expectations to come to them via trans-etheric influences.

  • It is apparently possible to be "stuck" in the near locale for such reasons as fear of judgment, religious training or expectations: What we do and think matters, and can determine how we do on the other side. For instance, the belief that suicide is a sin appears to be a local custom, but fear of judgment because the person committed suicide is sometimes the reason for an entity to avoid judgment by staying "close" to the physical. It is important to teach people what to realistically expect upon transition.

  • There is a life review from the perspective of those we influence: The EVP, "Review our lives,"11 was in answer to the 4Cell EVP Demonstration7 question, "What happens to us when we die?" Near-Death experiencers also report a life review. The evidence seems to suggest that the life review is our judgment, and that we are the judges.

References

  1. Butler, Tom, Cosmology of Imaginary Space, atransc.org/theory/concepts_imaginary_numbers.htm, Reviewed January 2010.

  2. Radin, Dean, Entangled Minds, 2006, Pocket Books, New York, ISBN-13:978-1-4165-1677-4.

  3. Monroe Institute, The Explorer Series Audio Tapes, Tape 6, Miranon: Levels and Planes of Existence, Monroe Institute.

  4. Butler, Tom and Lisa, There is No Death and There are No Dead, 2004, AA-EVP Publishing, ISBN-0-9727493-0-6.

  5. Flint, Leslie, www.freewebs.com/afterlife/flint/ 19 April 2007

  6. Butler, Tom and Lisa, EVP example: Paolo Presi, Alexander MacRae, 2004, atransc.org/examples/evpexamples_butler2.htm, Reviewed  January 2010.

  7. Butler, Tom and Lisa, 4Cell EVP Demonstration, 2006, Association TransCommunication, atransc.org/journal/4cell_experiment.htm, Reviewed January 2010.

  8. Butler, Tom, Seeing Both Sides: The Arrow of Creation is at the Center of the Dispute Concerning the Validity of EVP, AA-EVP, atransc.org/theory/seeing_both_sides.htm Reviewed January 2010

  9. Butler. Tom and Lisa, Recording The Thoughts of The Living?, ATransC NewsJournal, Spring 2001, Experiment – Recording the Living, AtransC NewsJournal, Summer 2001, atransc.org/articles/recording_thoughts_of_living.htm. January 2010

  10. Copeland, Martha, I’m Still Here, AA-EVP Publishing, Reno, NV, 2005, ISBN: 0-9727493-1-4, evpcommunications.com, 22 April 2007.

  11. Copeland, Martha, EVP example: Big Circle, AA-EVP, atransc.org/examples/forever_family_evp_examples.html, 20 April 2007.

  12. Morrison, Shell, EVP example: Review our lives, AA-EVP, atransc.org/examples/forever_family_evp_examples.html, 20 April 2007.

Overview of the Survival Hypothesis

This working hypothesis may be summarized as:

  1. There is an aspect of reality that is not yet defined by physical science. This aspect is referred to by the ATransC as "the etheric aspect of reality," or simply, "the etheric."

  2. Entities exist in the etheric. Evidence indicates that there are the following types of entities:

  • Self that has survived physical death. When a person transitions out of the body at the time of death, the person as Self, apparently continue to exist in the etheric aspect of reality. These discarnate Selves appear to reside on many levels of existence. They also represent many different levels of spiritual maturity.

  • Entities who are Self but who have not experienced physical existence. Perhaps these are people who evolved in other levels or dimensions of reality.

  • Entities who are Self, but who are focused on the operation of reality, rather than experiencing reality. In more popular terms, these are devic entities or angels.

  • Entities who may actually be Self existing in other parts of physical reality, but who have learned to transition in and out of nonphysical reality at will. (Could these be extraterrestrials?)

  1. There is an energetic difference between physical and the etheric aspect of reality. Bridging this difference is not a trivial task.

  2. Objects in the etheric, including things, emotions and ideas, must somehow energetically agree with the level of reality that they are to occupy.

  3. The ITC practitioner provides the necessary circumstances with technology and by "gathering" energy used by the entity to communicate. By "gathering energy," it is meant that there is a form of energy that is a product of life processes probably best described as "auric or biofield energy," and that this energy naturally accumulates, bounded by physical objects. As such, any place that has had long-time human occupancy and/or the expression of extreme emotion is apt to have ample energy of the kind necessary for etheric to physical influences to occur.

  4. The ITC practitioner is an etheric Self in a symbiotic relationship with its physical body. The Self-physical body entanglement, that occurs at the time of birth, allows the etheric Self to be energetically in agreement with the physical aspect of reality. It is this "embodiment" that allows the EVP experimenter to bring the etheric object of reality--probably as an image or gestalt "thought ball"--into the physical.

  5. The ITC practitioner must supply the vocabulary and library of image/concepts used by the communicating entity, thus explaining why the EVP is in a language understood by the experimenter or an interested witness.

To paraphrase this hypothesis, ITC practitioner know they are communicating with some form of intelligence. Different experimenters report contact with different types of entities. The experimenter uses technology, yet there is also considerable evidence that the experimenter is an important part of the "circuit." In other words, if long-dead Uncle John is to communicate, he must find a way to bring his thoughts/words into physical substance. That channel of communication is provided by the experimenter and the electronic equipment. Exactly how this is accomplished is not clear; however, mediumship and the ability to record have been shown to be learned abilities. The attitude and desire of the individual is central to this experience. See EVP Formation and Physical Processes Involved in Trans-etheric Influences

 

 

  

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