Underground Knowledge — A discussion group discussion

I’ve been intrigued for years by the phenomenon known as channeling. I first became aware of this activity back in the 1970s with the publication of The Seth Material by Jane Roberts. The next popular channeler to hit the scene was J.Z. Knight, channeling the entity named Ramtha. Then came Lee Carroll’s Kryon. Soon there was Sheldon Nidle and the Galactic Federation of Light, Barbara Marciniac with the Pleiadians and Phyllis Schlemmer’s Council of Nine. Many more have followed in their wake, perhaps numbering in the hundreds just in America alone, although most of them are not as well known.

I’ve attended four channeling sessions, by four different channelers, out of curiosity. What intrigued me about all of them, and about all channelers in general, is that it’s virtually impossible to know if they’re really channeling or if they’re faking it. Any rational person would tend to think even those who are not consciously faking it are in any case probably victims of some sort of dissociative personality disorder, or some kind of temporary psychological break from reality during which time they experience audio hallucinations. So I decided to see if any serious research had been done on this phenomenon by qualified behavioral scientists. To my surprise I found there has been some work done in this area of research.

I won’t bother to go into the details of that research now. Much of it has been summarized here:

http://bit.ly/9Bw5TB

The bottom line is that a number of explanations have been proposed from the results of the research. All of the explanations, of course, are based on the psychological and psychiatric data accumulated over the past hundred years or so. On the other hand, some of the research is based on more current science such as quantum mechanics. For example, the work of renowned theoretical physicist, David Bohm, is mentioned in the material on the page linked above. His idea of the “implicate and explicate” order, or realms of reality, was never really intended to explain the phenomenon of channeling.

Nevertheless, it does provide a basis for such an explanation that gets beyond the more conventional explanations derived from psychology and psychiatry. In fact, Bohm's idea (based in quantum physics) of how reality is structured (and there are several others in the field of quantum mechanics who tend to agree with his hypotheses) eventually boils down to something very similar to the explanations of channeling that are provided by the channeled entities themselves. In simplified terms, it often goes something like this:

There is but One Source and we (along with the channeled entities themselves) are all part of that One Source. Therefore, there is always a natural channel of communication available between us, them (the channeled entities) and the One Source. But it occurred to me that there just might be yet another explanation for the channeling phenomenon. Let’s call it the Simulated Reality Hypothesis or SRH.

(If this piques your curiosity, please see the rest of the article on my blog. http://garyvaltenuta.blogspot.com/201... and let me know what you think. Thanks!

Gary wrote: "I’ve been intrigued for years by the phenomenon known as channeling. I first became aware of this activity back in the 1970s with the publication of The Seth Material by Jane Roberts. The next popu..."

Hi Gary.
Fascinating, as I like you never would have guessed there had been scientific research done on channeling.
I've seen a couple of the (self-proclaimed) alien channels live Bashar and P'taah. But like you also, it's hard to know what to make of the whole phenomenon as on the one hand it seems ludicrous and on the other hand they talk really fast when answering questions which would be make them the best actors in the world if faking it.
It could be accessing their subconscious minds as it strikes me channels are basically putting themselves into a hypnotic state and so they can access free flow of information not usually accessible.
But still, it's a big mystery.

James wrote: "Gary wrote: "I’ve been intrigued for years by the phenomenon known as channeling. I first became aware of this activity back in the 1970s with the publication of The Seth Material by Jane Roberts. ..."

Hey James,
Thanks for the comment. I agree, the fact that some of them can come up with rather detailed responses to questions is something that makes one wonder. On the other hand, I know some people are just really good at on-the-spot improvisation. For example, if you've ever seen the TV show "Whose Line Is It, Anyway" then you've seen how those improv experts can even make up an entire song, complete with rhyming lyrics, on the spot when they didn't even know what sort of song structure or rhythm they'd be tasked with or even what topic the song would have to be about.

Indeed, it is a mystery. :-)

Gary wrote: "I agree, the fact that some of them can come up with rather detailed responses to questions is something that makes one wonder. On the other hand, I know some people are just really good at on-the-spot improvisation. For example, if you've ever seen the TV show "Whose Line Is It, Anyway" then you've seen how those improv experts can even make up an entire song, complete with rhyming lyrics, on the spot when they didn't even know what sort of song structure or rhythm they'd be tasked with or even what topic the song would have to be about..."

Good point, Gary. I also know a lot of people great at improvising.
Then again, keep in mind there have been a lot of reports indicating certain aspects of Whose Line Is It, Anyway are not totally improvisational - especially the musical secion of the show. And also, those are seasoned performers who are among the best improvisational actors in the world.

Of course, the channelers, if fakers/charlatans, are only ever talking about the same subject so that would make improvising it easier. But still, most or all channels would be non-actors, so it's a big stretch.

I'd say it's more likely that if they are not channeling other beings, they are delusional rather than consciously tricking others. This theory would suggest they are simply channeling a deep part of their conscious/unconscious mind and wrongly believe it's an entity.

I'm not saying I necessarily believe that scenario of course. It remains a mystery for me also.

Good points, James. Maybe the only people who know for sure are the channelers. But then, as you said, it's also possible that some of them "believe" whole-heartedly that they're channeling off-world entities when, in fact, they may simply be accessing some deep part of their own subconscious mind.

How to Understand Clairvoyance, Channeling, Mediums, Mediumship & Lightworkers

Hey. Hoping this is still an active thread as this is a topic that has occupied me for many years now.

My mentor and gf have channelled a lot of info for me and I have friends who also channel. I just saw a video of one of them. I know she has watched a lot of Bashar and now channels herself. It's almost like watching a copy of Bashar. I know that she is fully convinced that she channeling an external autonomous intelligence, which may be the case of course.

However, seeing such striking resemblance with her great example from when she started this path, does make me wonder. It could also be she has been able to model him, and now is just like him, while actually she is tapping deep into her subconscious where all this info of the infinite hours of material of Bashar she has watched and listened to.

This could be a sound explanation. But hey, I don't know anything. But I am super curious

It's a mystery, Daan. I don't think channelers are by and large are debunkable. But that doesn't mean they are not delusional or else hypnotizing themselves into believing...The truth could also be quite complex in that channelers could be channelling through something like their "higher self" or "oversoul" (some overarching beyond beyond one's Earthly self)...

I'm on the fence with the whole thing.

Jane Roberts - Seth On The Inner Senses, What They Are And How To Use Them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTs0Y...

“First, you must try to understand the nature of reality. To some small extent I have begun to explain this in the Seth Material. The five hundred and some-odd sessions we have barely represent an outline, but they are enough to start with. The ideas, in themselves, will make you think. I have told you that there are Inner Senses as well as physical ones. These will enable you to perceive reality as it exists independently of the physical world. You must learn to recognize, develop, and use these Inner Senses."