by Marie Harbon
We both stood still and looked around carefully, unsure what we were searching for. Tahra spotted something in the trees, so I turned to where her ‘finger’ was pointing and found a host of serpents coiled around the trunks. I saw long and short ones, two headed ones, winged serpents, and some with very short legs. All of them were brilliant in colour: scarlet red, turquoise, jade green, yellow as the noon sun, or orange as the sun set. It occurred to me that these were the serpent beings I’d encountered in my lucid dream, the one in which they discussed the machine and The First Time with me. We moved over to their position and observed their movements. They were aware of our existence on their planet.
“You came here by virtue of the machine,” one or more of them said, it was difficult to pick out an individual voice.
“Yes,” I stated, “I built a machine to help consciousness reach the stars. Are you the ones who helped me do this?”
They flowed around the tree trunks like energy.
“The serpents who helped you reside in this realm,” they said.
“Can I find them here?” I asked, keen to tap them for any knowledge they possessed that could help me in my quest.
“If you so wish,” they said.
“I seek knowledge, the wisdom of the Gods.”
“Like many before you. Now you have the machine you can visit many realms,” they responded.
“That’s what I hope. Are there many other worlds?”
“Yes, but they are all very, very different. The frequencies are the key,” they told me.
I pondered what they’d imparted. How could the frequencies be the key to visiting many realms, as they put it? Then the answer became clear. Before I had time to respond to their hint, I felt myself being pulled back into my body, a sensation like releasing the tension on an elastic band. In less than a moment, I sat back in the machine, opening my physical eyes as the field powered down. I wished I’d set the machine to run another five minutes.
Tahra looked over at me, relieved the experience had been a positive one and we climbed out of the machine, moving over to the corner, where camera stood. I switched it on to record our thoughts on the experience.
“I’m on a high,” I stated, looking directly into the lens of the camera. “All I can think about is the next trip. We achieved something so…profound today.”
“The most important thing achieved today was the machine’s ability to project Paul’s consciousness,” Tahra added. She turned to me and asked, “Do you realise what this means for OOBE?”
I’d almost overlooked the obvious, the ramifications were enormous.
“It means anyone can do this,” I stated, heart pounding. “7.8 hertz unties the binding of consciousness to the brain matter, to the physical form.”
Tahra sighed.
“I feel obsolete,” she said.
“We wouldn’t have got OOBE off the ground if it weren’t for you,” I said, forgetting we were on camera. “Plus, the machine extracted my consciousness from my body, I couldn’t travel anywhere without you.”
She shrugged.
“I guess so.”
“This also means we’re looking at non-psychic recruitment much earlier than I’d anticipated,” I said, on turning back to face the camera. “If I can do it, there’s no reason why a group of people off the street couldn’t do this. Of course, they wouldn’t be ordinary people off the street, they’d need to be psychologically strong and grounded, and undergo rigorous testing.”
“I can help,” Tahra stated, “I can be their guide.”
I squeezed her hand.
“We’re in this together,” I reassured her. “You need to tow them, like you did with me. Without you, they’d be bouncing around inside the machine.”
Despite the new impetus in the project, all I could think about was our next journey in the machine and on meeting the serpents, I realised how to direct the outcome of the journey in terms of the destination. With so much exploration to do, I realised how difficult it would be for me to stand aside and watch Tahra be the sole voyager. However, as project manager, I needed to remain objective despite the fact we could now share the project in every way. What would I learn from these extra-terrestrial beings? Where would Project OOBE take us?
***
Although I craved another journey with Tahra, I allowed a forty eight hour break in which to get us both assessed medically. Everything checked out fine and if anything, I felt invigorated, cleansed, and inspired. I thought of the next trip; do we pay the serpent world another visit, or do we seek to create a travel guide for the worlds that we could reach with the machine? Tahra opted for the latter and I was inclined to agree, as I wanted to experiment with the combination of frequencies and their amplitude, to propel consciousness further and further afield. I knew that, if I so desired, I could visit the serpent realm again and Tahra would be the necessary tow, if I asked nicely.
First, I made just a small adjustment to the frequencies, that is, I replaced one of the harmonics to see what result this would produce. Setting the system up on autopilot again, I attached us to the monitoring devices and we both sat inside the machine, hearing the vibrations as the field powered up. I wasn’t nervous anymore, why be afraid? The paralysis of my physical body didn’t alarm me anymore, and I separated from my body within moments. The power of 7.8 threw me towards another land, as our world faded out to be replaced by another.
We found ourselves in a very different land to the serpent realm, as it seemed quite arid. I saw a great expanse of semi-desert, and a series of outcrops of rock reminiscent of Death Valley, in which there appeared to be a number of grand looking caves. These caves looked worth exploring at some point. The colours of this world were quite neutral: ochre and gold sand, and rock with dark contrasts formed by the hardy plants that populated the landscape. The taupe sky looked quite insipid, cloudless yet with a pallid subdued light, source unknown.
I focused my consciousness at a point in the distance and drifted towards it, while Tahra moved to a point a little further away, beside a huge, gnarled tree that looked as it were petrified wood. I found myself within a circle of dry shrubs, the branches of which were spindly, curving around and twisting in on themselves. They were formed by an ebony shade of what looked like petrified wood, covered by some kind of shimmering substance. On closer inspection, I found the shimmering substance to be a swarm of silvery ants, oozing out of a small hole in the base of the shrubs.
I moved over to Tahra, who seemed transfixed by a strange looking creature. At first, I thought it was a capuchin monkey, although it looked slightly smaller and appeared to have the tail of a rat and the fur of a yellow tinted polar bear. However, what made this creature appear so strange was its face. It had a human visage on the body of a simian, with startling blue eyes, a thin nose and lips, plus ears high on its head. Even though we didn’t present a physical body, it sensed our presence and screeched loudly, jumping off the tree then scuttling away into the distance. We watched it scurry across the floor of the desert.
It led our gaze towards the horizon, where we spotted a most amazing sight. I focused my consciousness on a point nearer to them, to gain a better view, and saw a large herd of mammoth-like creatures. Like our erstwhile simian friend, they were hybrids of animals from our world. While not quite as hairy, their fur was darker and shorter, but they bore tusks and a trunk much like our mammoths had done. Their body shape resembled a triceratops, they carried an extra horn at the front, and dragged a long tail behind like that of a stegosaurus, with a clump of spikes at the end. They weren’t interested in us and ambled on by, minding their own business.
From our viewpoint, we surveyed a huge plain, stretching out to what seemed like infinity. There were no mountains or valleys to break it up, as it was flat like the East of England with the climate of Southern Spain. In the distance, we saw creatures that looked like golden gorillas crossed with the genes of a sloth and a sabre toothed tiger. They walked on their knuckles but had slimmer
limbs than a gorilla, and they had long, protruding fangs. Momentarily, they stopped to listen to something, then pounded heavily on the ground before continuing on their way.
I began to wonder if there were any sentient beings here with which we could communicate. At that point, something walked over to us, as if it had heard my thoughts. Tahra had already seen it, another bizarre hybrid comprising the head of an ibis and the body of a man. He was tall, standing over six feet at least, holding a long staff in his hands and he wore some kind of minimal padded armour. Tahra held his attention.
“Welcome traveller,” he spoke, “it is good to greet human beings again.”
“You know us?” Tahra said.
“There has been a long standing friendship between therianthropes and humans,” he explained, “but there has also been a long absence. Welcome back.”
“Where is the therianthrope’s planet?” I asked, hoping for some direct answers in this realm. “What galaxy are we in?”
Our therianthrope friend looked thoughtful then answered.
“You have not travelled any distance in the physical sense,” he corrected. “You have shifted your perspective, your reality. You are in the same locality, yet at a deeper level of creation. Both of you are beginning to perceive reality, to peel away the layers of the structure of the Monad.”
His explanation dumbfounded me. I wasn’t sure whether to feel disappointed as we hadn’t travelled anywhere, or curious about what exactly we were exploring.
“What’s the Monad?” Tahra asked, figuring it was significant.
He showed respect for her question.
“It cannot be explained, it must be experienced to be comprehended. This understanding is the true quest of every sentient being. In time, we will share all our knowledge with humanity. For now, simply be and let us watch the light rise on the dawn of a new day.”
He crouched on the arid ground, staking his staff in the sand-like substance and used it to support himself. We sat next to him, cross-legged, and looked to the sky but quickly realised we were looking in the wrong place. An explosion of golden light projected from the ground. Separate rays reached towards the pallid sky, extending finger like beams that illuminated the heavens, turning everything a vibrant shade of yellow. It looked intensely beautiful, as if the land were communicating with the sky. I didn’t want to leave this place.
The therianthrope world faded as the field automatically powered down, and the interior of the machine came into focus again. It took a few moments for our brains to recalibrate, and eventually I moved over to the camera to record some comments for the visual diary.
“Well, I think that world deserves another visit. These journeys are addictive,” I said.
“I’m so glad that I can share them with you,” Tahra added.
I proceeded to give a description of the world we’d just visited and added a final comment.
“I’ve just realised something though,” I concluded. “He spoke of a shift in perception, in reality. We haven’t travelled through space, we’ve discovered other dimensions of reality. We’re not astronauts, we’re…shamans.”
***
Tahra returned to The Institute the next day, still feeling euphoric after the previous day’s journey. She wondered how she’d be able to concentrate during the mundane tests and contracts she had to fulfil there. Paul said he’d follow, as he wanted to discuss the next stage of the project with Max and the residents. The trip to the therianthrope world had left him surging with positive energy, it gave the world around him a subtle glow.
Luckily, he found Max in the office at The Institute and Paul caught him reading a newspaper, with a cup of coffee at his side. He looked up as Paul tapped on the door and entered, pleasantly surprised to see him.
“To what do I owe the honour of your visit?” Max queried.
“An update and a request,” Paul answered.
Tahra appeared from behind Paul, and he noted a wistful expression flicker across Max’s face. She stopped herself from putting an arm around Paul, holding Max’s gaze while attempting to keep her own expression neutral. It created an odd tension in the air, and Tahra popped the thick membrane stifling the atmosphere.
“We’ve made fantastic progress with the machine,” she declared. “Already, we’ve discovered two new worlds.”
Max folded his newspaper neatly and placed it on the desk.
“Have you documented these journeys for the record?” he asked.
“We’re in the process of doing so,” Paul interjected, “with a cine camera and a written journal.”
“Do you want to know what worlds we discovered?” Tahra enquired.
Max found her enthusiasm infective.
“Yes, please tell me.”
“In our first trip, we discovered the serpent realm, which is beautiful and vibrant, a world of forest and streams. Following this, we visited the therianthrope world, where the sun shines from the ground and illuminates the sky. It was full of hybrid creatures, and we met a bird headed man.”
On hearing this, Max looked thoughtful, as if her words had triggered a memory. However, he said nothing about it and finally asked a question.
“We?” he questioned. “You said, ‘we met…’. What do you mean by that?”
Tahra hadn’t realised she’d used the personal plural, was she giving too much away?
“I went there too,” Paul interjected. “She towed my consciousness and took me along for the ride.”
“Towed you?” Max repeated.
“Tahra is a guide, she can take you with her provided your consciousness can detach from your body.”
Max looked thoughtful but worried about something too, like he had a burning question to ask, but suppressed it.
“You do realise what this means, don’t you?” Paul continued, unable to read his reaction. Receiving no response, he filled in the blanks. “It means non-remote viewers can use the machine successfully with the aid of a guide. This is what you wanted, to show viability of the project.”
Max remained quiet and Paul began to feel a little irritated.
“And there’s something else,” Paul added. “Entities in both worlds have mentioned the acquisition of knowledge through making visits to these realms.”
Max raised his eyebrows now, snapping out of his silence.
“What kind of knowledge?”
“Medicine, technology…secrets of the universe, anything we need to know I guess.”
Max appeared to mentally chew what Paul had just said. Medicine, technology…all to the highest bidder….
“What do you want from me?” he asked, more and more intrigued by the OOBE project, which now proved to be a real dark horse.
Paul prepared to lay his cards on the table.
“I want to incorporate the residents of The Institute into the programme, and I want an additional six non-psychic recruits, making a total of twelve travellers, excluding Tahra who will be their guide. The non-psychics need to be psychologically stable, with an open mind and a strong constitution.”
Max smiled, admiring his directness and vision.
“I can find you ordinary members of the public. I’ll send you twenty people and you can select the six best candidates from them. I can also arrange suitable remuneration for the successful candidates.”
“And the residents of The Institute?”
Max sustained the suspense just a little longer.
“I’ll call them down and you can address them. It’s up to you to enthuse and recruit them.”
Paul made a little celebratory fist and nodded thanks to Max. He and Tahra temporarily took command of the sitting room, arranging the chairs in a semi circle. Ten minutes later, Emilie, Sakie, Oscar, George, Peter, and Beth appeared. They looked a little older, several years on, but not ravaged by time at all. Emilie, the telepath, looked more confident and her fair hair had been cut into a sleek bob in the style of Twiggy. She had abandoned below the knee dresses in favour of wide leg jeans and
a tunic, which accentuated her slim figure.
Sakie, the electromagnetic extraordinaire, no longer looked like a teenager, presenting a flattering bobbed hairstyle in the style of Mary Quant, and sporting a mini dress with a block pattern in primary colours. Oscar had gained a little weight, making him appear quite jolly and his afro hair had grown outwards.
George, the other remote viewer, still looked like the classic English gentleman and neither had his dress sense changed either. One of the mediums, Peter, looked more athletic, as if he were training for the Olympics, while Beth had slimmed down somewhat, looking quite svelte with a sleek beehive, full skirt, and jacket with a mandarin collar, Nehru style.
Everyone exchanged greetings and hugs, delighted to reunite then the six of them took a seat, looking at Paul and Tahra with expectant eyes. Max slipped in the doorway and stood by to watch over the proceedings. All Paul had to do now was pitch his idea.
He cleared his throat and began.
“It’s great to see you all again, feels like old times, eh?”
There were a few chuckles from his audience, which helped him relax more and feel less nervous.
“Well, the reason I’ve brought you all together is to reveal exactly what I’ve – sorry, we’ve been working on,” he looked over at Tahra, “to attempt to persuade you to join the programme.”
He appeared to have grabbed their attention, so proceeded.
“You’re probably aware that Tahra has been drafted onto an experiment I simply call Project OOBE, which stands for Out of Body Experiment. My first intention was to use remote viewing as a form of space travel, to transcend the need for a physical body, which is vulnerable to the extreme environment of space itself.”
Word had spread about the basic objectives of the project, but he needed to lead in effectively.
“We concentrated on homing Tahra’s remote viewing for detail skills, then we worked our way through all the planets of the solar system. I transcribed Tahra’s description of what she saw, and an artist used this to create some impressions of the planets. Photos from a recent NASA flyby of Mars correlate with our findings. Before long, we reached the edge of the solar system and at that point, I realised we needed to take it further, even though our previous research had not been extensively validated.”