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What Science Can and Can't Say About Spirits
W. C. Gough & R.L. Shacklett
Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Conference on the Study of Shamanism and Alternate Modes of Healing, Santa Sabina Center, San Rafael, CA, Sept. 4-6, 1999. (Also published as a three part series in The Journal of Religion and Psychical Research, July & October 2000, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp.124-132 & No. 4, pp.208-217, and January 2001, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp.48-57.
ABSTRACT
Part I:
In this three part series of articles the authors develop an expanded model of universal connectiveness that includes spirit in a scientific framework. Part I will first cover the unexpected personal experiences of the authors while working on the paper. It will then discuss the goal of the paper and the authors strategy for achieving that goal. The authors will address the question of why mainline science has painstakingly avoided this subject. Next will be an overview of the research evidence that the spirit world exists and why there might be a continuity of life after death. Part I will conclude with examples of the possible nature of the astral plane and its implications for science.
Part II:
Part II will briefly summarize the original model of the authors which assumes that the creation process flows from a phase of reality that is pure potential yet spaceless and timeless. These concepts were discussed in detail in a three part JRPR series published in 1993. The authors will then expand upon the original model and present their hypothesis for the existence of multiple three-dimensional spaces and times that are co-existent and interpenetrating. The process for human feedback between levels will be described. A rational for a finite number of levels -- seven -- will be given. Part II will conclude with a discussion of how the creative energy/information source which originates outside of space and time manifests the patterns at the seven different levels.
Part III:
Part III will begin with a discussion of the coupling between each level. This leads to an understanding of how the metaphysical "bodies" are linked via interpenetrating patterns. The degree of feedback represents the level of consciousness for the "kingdoms" of the physical world. Humans have a high degree of feedback potential which is known as "free will". The model is then applied to address the issue of "dark matter" or "missing mass" -- one of the biggest mysteries in cosmological science. The paper concludes with a review of the model's assumptions and what science can't say either because of diverging views or because the issues are not being addressed at all. Part III includes a complete list of references for the entire paper.
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