NEGATIVE ENTITIES PT.3 Any path that teaches you to disengage your rational mind is extremely dangerous. Logic and rationality are very important, and are a gift from Usen'. Anything that shortcircuits the faculties of intellect and critical thought is very dangerous. "Turn off your mind/Relax and float downstream..."* is a tempting proposition, but also a dangerous one. This not only opens you up for possible possession, but also to domination from fellow human beings too. Read the text files archived in MINDWASH.ARC for further information on cults and how they use mind control techniques. I believe I can speak from experience on the subject of thought control, for I have survived both Scientology and Born-Again Christianity and can attest to the fact that the things Dick Sutphen talks about in the file are totally true. The alpha state, which can be extremely perilous when used in mind control, is also the state that the shaman uses in their travels through Non-Ordinary Reality. The difference is that shamanic training teaches an individual how to enter the Shamanic State of Consciousness in an aware manner, and to maintain total control of yourself within it. One practice that is useful in cultivating this ability is lucid (aware) dreaming. Brett Hallett, a student of the Cherokee Medicine Path, gave me this method to retain awareness in the Dreamtime: Look at your hands or your feet while you are in the dream. If you can, looking at your reflection in a shiny surface like water, or a mirror, or highly polished stone is even better. It takes exertion of Will to do this but it does work very well. Another helpful thing to use when learning lucid dreaming techniques is affirmations. One good one is this. "I will remain aware and in control in the Dreamtime. When I wake up, I will remember all that I see. So shall it be." Go to sleep with this either on your mind or on your lips. Another practice that cultivates awareness in the Alpha state are the Harner shamanic exercises. The book "The Way Of The Shaman" details a few of Dr. Harner's methods, and so does the text file SHAMAN.TXT. In summation, there are some very important things to remember regarding any sort of occult practice and the reality of negative entities. 1.) Do NOT open yourself to entities other than your Power Animal, which is your "lower" self, which doesn't necessarily mean inferior but just more instinctual and a source of the primal power that makes a shaman do things; and your Inner Shaman (Inner Teacher, Inner Wizard) which is also known as the Guardian Angel, which is the personification of your "higher" or spiritual self. One can have several Power Animals (the more you get, the higher the level of shamanic power) but only ONE Inner Shaman. The Inner Shaman must be gotten through the journey to the Upper World, and no other way. A Power Animal can be dreamt about, or seen in glimpses of the Non-Ordinary Reality one sometimes gets after some training, but unless you take the Upper World journey and meet your Inner Shaman there, there is a good chance this entity identifying itself as your Teacher is in truth an earthbound or worse. 2.)Any spiritual discipline which teaches you to reject rational thought and/or refers to logical, critical thought as "maya" or illusion is dangerous, especially when it is also taught that one must give allegiance to a "spiritual master" or a group. 3.) Do NOT try channeling even in a dabbling sort of way, or even consult a channel. The information a fake channeler will give you is entirely useless, and your'e throwing money away on a fraud anyway. The information an authentic channeled entitiy may give you will be untrustworthy, and possibly even HARMFUL. 4.) Learn a way of warding yourself from attack or possession by earthbounds or gan'n. Do NOT show fear or even THINK fearful thoughts when confronted by malevolent entities. 5.) Practice lucid dreaming and travel in the Upper and Lower Worlds. 6.) Do NOT allow yourself under any circumstances to be hypnotized. I hope this series has been thought-provoking and helpful, and perhaps even sanity-saving for you. Books with further information that I recommend are Psychic Self-Defense, by Dion Fortune, and The Way Of The Shaman, by Michael Harner. Enju! Michelle Chihacou Klein-Hass Shaman's Soup BBS