August in the Cabinet

[First posted July 2014] - (all photos © Shannon Taggart)

I've finally recovered from my chaotic return to the US from Southern France, apparently at the height of an especially powerful and bothersome Mercury retrograde. International flights were made incredibly difficult by a sudden strike of the French air traffic controller's union. I will be happy if I never see an airport baguette ever again.

I attended several physical mediumship seances at Mont Cabirol, the beautiful 12 century estate near the medieval village of Mirepoix (which had its own Avenue de Victor Hugo - thank you, great-great-great, etc. grandad!) The well-known spirit photographer and lecturer, Shannon Taggarty, was my wonderful traveling companion, and was allowed to take photographs - including infra-red - during the sittings, including a private one where I sat in the cabinet. Shannon has been asked to exhibit some of the very unique photos from these sittings at a special exhibition held by Abraxas Publishers in England this autumn. It is hoped that Shannon will have the opportunity to discuss in detail and at length her amazing work. We had many long discussions about the often baffling and confusing nature of the "magic" of photography, which apparently photographers understand on much deeper levels in terms of time and light than do those of us who are merely looking at the images to see what we can see.

After sitting in complete darkness behind closed curtains for a few minutes, the curtains were opened and this photograph was taken after a very dim red light was switched on. Shannon and the other sitter reported seeing a good deal of what's technically called "transfiguration," which is where Spirit, or the Risen as I say, utilize various energies of the entranced medium to manifest their own faces and forms over that of the medium's. Although I can't see any such forms in this photo, Shannon has much to say from a photographer's viewpoint about odd things going on. The other sitter's descriptions of the forms seen clearly matched a very special friend who had transitioned over 8 years ago and had been trying to reach me in various ways.

Although you might see some strange things here, I share this photo not to illustrate transfiguration, but to provide as contrast to the next one, when infra-red was switched on. (Click on the photo to enlarge.)

Above is a photo taken during the transfiguration sitting. The hands of my etheric body can be seen emerging alongside my physical body's hands. The etheric hands are handling more photoplasm between them, which is seen as a kind of elastic cord. My etheric skull can be seen in the figure to the left, and to the right can be seen Tim's etheric body emerging - his skull and also his hands are engaging with the photoplasmic cord. Photoplasmic "mist" is seen above our shoulders, and more mist also traveling down my lap towards the floor, between the legs. (Click on the photo to see a larger version).

Here I am sitting in the cabinet and very bright light can be visibly seen pouring out and completely obscuring me but for my legs and feet sticking out in their sandals. My colleagues, the resident mediums, believed that this is a  doorway opening from behind/above me to a Summerland. "The Summerland " is a Victorian term for the Other Side, but in my Celtic, non-christian tradition, it's the sphere also sometimes known as "faerie" -  And this is what I believe it is, as I had intentionally gone into the cabinet deliberately with my two Guardians (not Guides) who are of the ancient pre-Celtic race known as Aes Sidhe, who are said to have retreated into the Otherworld or a parallel universe when Ireland was successfully invaded and conquered by the Milesians. The Milesians were from Iberia, and are the present-day Irish people. The Aes Sidhe, who are 8-9 feet tall and present as shining, silvery beings ("The Shining Ones") are not the tiny elementals most people think of as fairies. They are said to have left portals throughout Ireland and Scotland in the many mounds and stone circles that pre-date the Milesians. (Click on the photo to see a larger version).

This outpouring of light did not show up on any of the other many photos Shannon shot at several sittings. Here is the same photo seen through a different-colored filter, and interestingly, none of the spirit-figure details seen above are visible, although the white light from the Summerland portal is still apparent. Also it's clear, when looking at the valance of fabric running across the cabinet, that there is something disturbing the fabric on the left side, as if a breeze is flowing out.

When I was looking at the infra-red photo with a friend, we thought we could see faces of elemental spirits at my feet. But later, when looking again on my own I was very startled to actually see my two cats -- Bridget, who passed over, 15 years ago, and Oolong, 11 years ago, both about 17 years old. The enlarged section is placed at the upper right. Those who have read The Risen book will have read about my relationship with them. Oolong, to the left and the larger of the two, is a seal-point Siamese, her classical dark markings clearly visible on her face and paws, and Bridget is grey with a white chin, chest and paws; she was quite petite and half the size of Oolong. I showed them to my best friend who had known them both well, and he immediately recognized them. Bridget's facial expression is so clear, I can see all kinds of emotion in it.

A couple weeks later, I was again startled to see that there are two human faces appearing just between my two sandaled feet - a man to the left, and a woman with blond hair in a 60's hair-style to the right (Enlargement on upper left). I'm not yet sure exactly who they are, but strongly sense they are transitioned family members -- the man may be my maternal grandfather and the woman is his daughter --  my Aunt Carolyn, who passed at the age of 58 about 8 years ago from a brain tumor, and with whom I had a special relationship as she was close to me in age. Here is a link to a blog about her as she was transitioning, and one about after her passage, where I met her and she shared her fascinating experience about her illness and transition. (Click on the photo to see a larger version).

However, that being said, I can also see yet more faces transparently projected over the human ones! One is a family dog that transitioned many years ago, and other, 2 kittens that I can't identify. I don't know how to graphically show this layered dimensionality to anyone else, but perhaps more sensitive viewers may be able to see what I mean. I've often written how Spirit will try to compress as much data as possible into the smallest space - what Tim and I've called "infospheres" - and this is a good example of such information compression.

In the meantime, other faces may become more obvious as I continue to study the photo.

Readers might recall that The Scole Group's initial work culminated in the discovery and opening of an inter-dimensional portal, through which terrestrial humans, the Risen, and other beings could physically pass. It had to be shut down after it was discovered a malevolent being from our future had also discovered it and was trying to appropriate it for negative purposes. The work is now being continued under the auspices of The Norfolk Group.

One significance of the photo above is that here and elsewhere, such portals to other dimensions -- not just to where many of us think of as "The Afterlife" -- are increasingly opening up. I have been hearing quiet reports from various sitting circles that their guides are speaking of such inter-dimensional doorways more and more, and expect to hear more about it as we move forward in exploration.

I would like to add my great thanks to my dear and gracious friends at Mont Cabirol who had arranged for this monumental experience of my life. Many other powerful things happened to me while there, which I cannot share at this time, but perhaps will be able to at some point in the future.

From The Archives: The Lullaby of the Dream Body

(First posted January 31, 2006)

[I've been gonging for the past several days, which in this case has indicated that several recently transitioned persons are trying to speak to me, which sounds like bells to me when not in an altered adaptive state. I'd like to gong them sometimes. In order to attend to their requests, and continue to function on my everyday level, my consciousness is "comparmentalized" to enable function on several levels of vibration. To this end, note that the following is entranced discernment as assisted by the Risen and by Krishnamurti and my contribution is minimal. I've been assured that the material will be related to the previously mentioned curmudgio so that I can discuss it later if I want. It seems that they want to put that discussion on hold for a bit.]

The act and stance of giving can be seen to be the emergent point from where healing aspects (energies) flow. "Energy" is presented here in a parenthetical way because, in spite of its very common usage in all mental/physical/spiritual earthly aspects, there really is no such "thing"—it's an "aspect" or "an appearance from a specific vantage point." In other words, energy is a useful fiction. (That should stir up something in anyone's cosmic soup-of the day!)

The subject of healing is an apparent major component of the experience of grief—that is, suffering—within this manifested world, but not always realized because of the apparent complexity of grief, and of suffering in general. "Act" is used here to suggest movement, and "stance" is used here to suggest an assumed posture. One is movement (through perceived space-time) and while the other is non-movement, it is often perceived as movement —which is a delusion. Delusion is a deception of the simulate self-mind (ego-mindself); freedom of movement is of the Self.

"Apparent" is used here because the grief experience has been codified on earth due to collective and individual expectations which are all fear-based, and all fear is based on a belief in death. Although "apparent" is meant as "easily seen," easily is what the simulate self promotes, and seen is what it connotes. Although in its mind "seen" implies the present, notice that it's the past tense of see. Therefore, a belief is structured that holds that seen = see, i.e., past = present—which is a connotation of "memory." A belief in death is a delusion that, because the illusion of death being real is held before us like a hypnotist gently swaying his shiny pocket watch back and forth before us, we fall into a waking sleep and therefore we dream our memories, while the Real World (awakened awareness) moves in its vast, profound and wondrous depths around us, and as we move within It.

One main aspect of our manifested dream world is that it gives us grief—a giving which is not healing—and which the ego-mind interprets as suffering. "Suffering" is defined by the Risen as "(increasingly) complex and persistent forms of (physical and mental) pain and fear, leaving us to feel helpless, hopeless, and demoralized, which together comprise the experience of earthly suffering."(p. 5) A key word here is "form," as in the imaginal process of the dream.

There are as many answers as there are questions when it comes to approaches to healing within our active and static forms of manifestation. Often, asking questions leads to more questions. Perhaps it's knowing when to stop questioning. As Yoda suggested, "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." Yoda is a personified, symbolic example of an awakened consciousness within the sea of dreams. To those asleep, the world seems chaotic, uncontrollable, and trying is only stirring the soup. Doing is containing the soup (perhaps by drinking it) and even changing the soup, as in-formed by one's imaginal ability. The very key word here is "no" or "negation" as K. has sometimes suggested, which, when merged with his concept of "choiceless awareness" allows Self to emerge from the veils of self. Somewhere in my journals is a discourse K. delivered to me over several days on choiceless awareness, and I'll try to remember to look for it to perhaps present here another time.

Recall the only words of A Course In Miracles which it (correctly) says are the only words worth recalling:

"This course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way:
Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God." (Introduction, ACIM)

This is simplicity itself, so close the book, and stop reading. Bring attention to the realization that this statement is presented in language of the present—which is the experience of Presence. Yet the complexity of healing has also been previously noted above, because of the nature of the world system of the simulate self. Negation of unreality is the key to the door of Self whereupon the door is no longer seen, unless and until one returns to unreality—or the dream.

Once the feeling of Self is felt—which is an experiential understanding that this is an authentic feeling, for it is the corridor to the door as well—there is then a catalyzing process that parallels the atomic-quantum-astral-etheric process mentioned a few posts ago. There is now a receptive state that enables That-Which-Is-Of Higher-Vibration (Self) to "descend" and enter into that-which-is-of-lower-vibration (self). The higher cannot be found within the lower—remember salt and water?—the lower can only be prepared to receive the higher. The arrival of the higher into the lower accomplishes negation of the felt experience of lower selfdom—or neutralizing or negating it—and achieves the appearance of divinity as uniquely expressed through individualized Self. This is healing.

However, because of the very realness of the way terrestrial humans believe they experience space and time, there is almost always an experience of delay between the arrival of the divine experience and the reappearance of wholeness (health.) The delay can be minutes, hours, days, or longer. "Reappearance" because, as noted somewhere in The Risen, aspects of reality, including a state of wholeness, are not discovered but uncovered.

Sometimes the healing is heralded by strange events of synchronicity, sometimes by an increase in the discomfort/pain as it moves toward resolution—depending on the personal belief system and its strength.

Or course, this all looks good on paper. Most of us are used to instant gratification as learned through the use of medications and giving in to addictive behaviours. The usual reactions of anger, frustration, disappointment, fear, and worry to the delay process will disengage one from the process. I'm reporting this kind of healing method to you from my own personal experience as it has evolved over many years. It didn't arrive overnight, but over years. It's easy to read about it. Because I've individualized it, it might not resonate for others in the same way, or at all. Take what's needed, focus the attention on what feels right. Your imaginal abilities will then engage to manifest your own individualized healing approaches. As always, ask for assistance from your internal world resources—guides, transitioned relatives and friends, the Risen.

When healing of any kind is needed—physical, emotional, mental—we can start with what we have and where we are, which is our physically experienced, material body. This body is also the dream body, for it is our vehicle of expression (movement) within the dream of manifestation. We think it's real; yet we don't remember what "real" is because we don't know we are asleep. When we begin to awaken within the dream, the approach to healing will change quite dramatically.

Recognize that the dream body we inhabit, and any area of the body, especially when isolated by any kind of trauma, will develop a temporary awareness—short and/or long term—meaning that a leg can carry a memory of physical trauma for months, or the lower back for years, for example. The result is that the body part experiences isolation from the whole body, and has a need to be reconnected. Isolation causes fear, which the simulate self-mind seizes upon to further capitalize and promote its agenda of survival by engendering yet more fear. This ultimately, and often quickly, backfires and we have a situation where the isolated area is like an animal in a trap chewing its leg off to escape.

Flood the body with the choiceless awareness of I AM. This saturation can be directed into a specific body part, or generalized into all body parts. If this seems too ambiguous or woo-woo, flood the body and the affected part with feelings of love—nonjudgmental acceptance. This is your child, and approach and treat it as your child.

Eckhart Tolle's first book, The Power of Now, has some exceptionally clear discussion about this awareness and its healing aspects. (Unfortunately, his second new book falls very flat, clearly written by others, and was a waste of his time, so don't waste your money. Borrow it from the library.)

To reconnect the ailing body part, talk to it. Use any language that offers quiet compassion and sympathy and promises unfailing support and love. Ask it to come back and join the rest of the body, which loves and needs it, and is itself unwhole without it. This communication will most likely need to take place many, many times a day and over several days and even weeks. If the trauma, expressed as illness, pain, discomfort, numbness, etc., is entrenched enough in its isolation—often exacerbated further by miscommunication in the form of heavy medications, legal and otherwise, or neglect/abuse, deliberate and otherwise—the affected body area may have dissociated significantly so that it cannot hear or sense our reaching out to it. Here, "dissociated" means one can no longer feel it, for communication has been numbed out, and the part is disconnected. It needs to be plugged back in.

The approach to the body part may have to be like slowly making friends with a feral animal, gaining trust and acceptance. You are calling this abandoned, hurting child back into its parental arms—you. This takes time. Our current culture prefers "saving" time by other quick methods of relief that are essentially unloving acts, and the body area, as informed by the wisdom of innocence, will respond, in time, by continuing to waste away. The body part can talk back. It might take a while, so it needs coaxed and coddled—sing it a lullaby The response may be in the form of a sensory experience, inner pictures and sounds, perhaps memories and even words. Be quiet and listen; ask what it needs.Often the body part has been trying to get your attention, perhaps by moving itself in certain ways, and of which you've not been aware. Arny and Amy Mindell are psychologists who have uncovered a powerful form of therapy for the dream body called Process Oriented Psychology. Arny's books are especially useful in accessing the body's wisdom, and it's clear he and Amy are both intimately engaging with the imaginal.

I've seen back pain dissolve, sinus issues resolve, infections clear, and internal systems order re-establish itself. Psychologically, peace, serenity, and non-fear arise. Outer events will mirror the inner state. Unsolvable situations with resolve. Crystalized anger will soften and dissipate. Paralyzed emotional and physical states will release. Eventually, perhaps even quickly, pain will disappear for short periods of time, and then may return. Diligence in the form of a committed relationship will be in order. This approach works for any relationship—with a hurting body part, with self and with others. On a higher order, long-distance healing can be achieved. This is nothing new and was expressed to a new art form in New Thought thinking, exemplified by Emmett Fox and others. New Thought is a form of imaginalism. It could be said to be prayer.

Next: Another method which might be called "do, not try." K. referred to it as "negation." It can be preceded by the above approach of flooding the material form with I AM Self Awareness, or not. It is akin to New Thought approaches but is on a very different level of the imaginal realms typically experienced by average persons on the terrestrial vibration levels.

The Stuff of Dreams

What follows is a dream-discourse written in trance after waking up from a particularly intense night of traveling in the astral:

I cannot speak for everyone, but I do know there are those of us who have lives during the time our terrestrial body sleeps that are so far beyond the pale existence of the terrestrial experience that it is truly impossible to speak or write of those lives in any terrestrial language, save, perhaps, art.

Those who think that they know their dreams, and understand them, and can speak and write of them—in any way—are in the unconscious clutches of the ego-mind, and are being used by its mentality. The ego-mind cannot travel beyond the terrestrial state of embodiment into the astral, where Authentic Self lives—and loves—in such intense, often frenzied and fierce, yet exquisitely fiery and tender ways, that the life of a still-embodied person on the earth can be said without doubt to be the actual dream.Thus all the millennia of written and oral tradition, sacred and secular texts, which claim to have understood the mysteries of what are labeled as “dream lives” and “dream symbols and interpretations” add up to mere delusions of the ego-mind—it is speaking of itself and the lives of its own simulate personalities while in captivity on the Earth, and not of the vast truth which it cannot claim, which is Authentic Self’s immortal existence outside time and space.

When an Authentic Self returns to the terrestrial body, when it awakens—which is really falling back asleep — very rarely can It bring any awareness of from where and when It came. Even those tiny wisps of vibrations that echo scant information of Its astral lives, adventures, and lovers, are unable to be retained for more than a few breaths. Instead, ones' awareness of the Authentic Self falls back into a deep slumber, as the ego-mind regains control of the body-mind. The ego-mind is clever and skilled enough to sample and analyze the dissolving wisps before they vanish, and it is with these after-tastes that the ego-mind reconstructs what it thinks are the dramas of its sleep, which it calls “dreams.” Some ego-minds profess to study them, and label them as “not real” but as proof of the depths and complexities of what it imagines as its own real psychological intelligence and evolved and shining talents. Conversely, others also profess to study them and arrive at the same conclusions, while claiming beliefs that the dreams are “real” and evidence higher spiritual aspects, communications, and messages from divinities and demons, as well as interactions with other embodied and even disembodied personalities.

But the ego-mind cannot and never will be able to leave its actual confines, because neither it nor its confines are real, but rather a short-lived and fragile bubble of energy borrowed from the loosest elements of earth and air that comprise the terrestrial body. It is also this bubble of ego-mind’s dreams that Authentic Self re-enters and then proceeds forward in its terrestrial life, unaware in any way of the spectacular, astoundingly beautiful life of reality that awaits Its return to the higher astral realms. Instead, It allows ego-mind to daze and dazzle It by beliefs about dreams, lulled deeper into a day-slumber, where It usually will remain unconscious until the body and the ego-mind finally fall away, and transition toward the Risen Lands begins.

Binky Apport 2022 - update: 2026

 APPORT REPORT - 2022! - 2026 Update

   Odd synchronicities had begun occurring while watching an old 1982 movie, "Still of The Night" late yesterday evening -- as they pertain to very personal experiences that would be only meaningful to me, I'll just say that it was as if Spirit was attempting to communicate to me via the film and my connections within it. I'm sure many reading this will understand what I mean about the atmosphere becoming "charged".

   While watching the movie, Wishy & Broshy, my two young siamese fur kids, were playing in their cat tunnel - a collapsible 4 ft. long fabric structure they love to run in and out of or hide in. Wishy had been playing with his favourite "binky" -- a small, weird pinkish fake fur ball with googly eyes,  given to him as a good luck gift from the household he had been born into and who had passed him and his brother on to me (Fiona had also come from the same place, almost 17 years ago). I'm assuming Wishy had taken his  beloved binky into the tunnel, which was on the floor in front of the couch I was resting on. 

   Shortly after midnight, there was an odd sudden sound, like a small light bulb blowing out, and a very brief, dim light glowing on and off from within the tunnel. Wishy let out a sound of terror and shot out of the tunnel and into another room, but quickly came back, while keeping his distance. His fur was completely extended out, as if some kind of static electricity had puffed him out, and his tail, normally thin and smooth, was also puffed out to an unbelievable fluffy way - I've seen photos of cats who have this reaction when frightened, but this is the first time I've seen it in person. 

      I was able to coax him onto my lap and crooned and soothed him back to a more calm state for about 5 minutes. In the meantime, Broshy and Fiona were still there, but keeping their distance from the tunnel and looking at it apprehensively. Remembering the odd sound and light, and worried that maybe there was something harmful like broken glass that had somehow found its way in there, I knelt down and looked into it, and the photo shown here is what I found - a duplicate binky (on the right), looking very clean and almost new when compared to the old dusty one that had been played with for over 2 years.

Photo by August Goforth

   So I have to wonder if Spirit utilized the little tunnel as a kind of cabinet? Aloysius (aka Wishy) is truly a very strange, fey creature who seems more like a bird or faery than a cat - maybe he's developing his own mediumistic abilities?

   What a wonderful gift to begin a new year, a funny message from Spirit saying, "Don't worry, just find your binky, play and be happy!" 

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Not long after this, I received an email from my friend, Oresnikov Maxim, of St. Petersburg, Russia -- an avid investigator of such numinous events. He let me know that he had added our event to a subReddit called "Poltergeist Search".  The main Reddit is called "r/Glitches_Pictures" and contains a veritable treasure storehouse of "glitches" as O. calls them. He describes his work: "I document visual evidences of 'glitches' hidden reality for the future researches. No one has a clue where these apports came from, how and why. This is like scientific approach to cataloging evidences: all posts has contact links to real authors and quotes their stories, all posts has real-shoot pics."

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Udate: March 2026

The Pinky Binky Twins are still with us! Here's a photo I took of them today.

In the old photo, it's easy to tell which was the original played-with binky and the fresh new apport-binky.

In this most recent photo, alas - Since Aloysius and Ambrosius have inherited them, I can't tell the difference!

Once in a Blue Moon

[First Posted 8/20/12}

Those who are familiar with our book know about Tim's physical materializations, which occurred intermittently over a period of about a decade. Because most of the manifestations were accomplished through ectoplasm, and because of its volatile nature, and and involves harvesting subtance from one's human body, the experience often left me feeling quite unwell, so it was not something I actively encouraged. Eventually, as Tim moved into much higher spirit geographies, the materializations decreased, and have not happened until recently.

In recent years, a new energy has been explored by Spirit, which has been dubbed "photoplasm" -- it appears to use light as the energy for materializing into tangible substance, rather than taking certain chemicals from one's body to mix with other spirit substances to create ectoplasm. This makes it much safer to use, and possibly more versatile, as the ongoing materializations at the Felix Experimental Group have been increasingly revealing.

About three weeks ago, while in a deep sleep, I was awakened by what felt to be an unusual movement under the covers. Fiona and McHenry, my two siamese, often sleep between my feet or even on them, like little sandbags, and I'm completely familiar with all our movements as we shift to different positions throughout the night. Even so, they're so highly sensitive that sometimes just the movement of my toe can startle them and make them jump out of bed.

This time, however, they barely roused, as this odd movement continued.  It's very difficult to describe, especially because it didn't last very long, and I was struggling to fully awaken. Perhaps if I just describe what happened one might get the idea. My bedroom is usually quite dark, but it was just around the time of the 1st full moon of August, and the drapes were open to one side, letting the moonlight in to illuminate the bed. (August of 2012 actually has two full moons: August 2nd and August 31st, the latter known as a "blue moon.") I wonder about the significance, if any, of this, but Tim hasn't offered anything by way of explanation.

As I was trying to pull myself up to a sitting position, I simultaneously saw a hand come out from under the sheet on my right side! It moved so smoothly that I was reminded of the way a balloon inflates. As it emerged, the sheet itself seemed to move of its own accord back toward the bottom of the bed, revealing that the hand was part of a very long arm. The entire limb seemed a little thin for its size, and a little too long, but otherwise was a normal human adult right hand and arm, and more bony than muscular, with very long fingers. It might have been the moonlight, but the arm also seemed slightly luminescent.

The length of time it took to emerge was only a long second or two, and the hand reached out to touch and embrace my own right hand. By then, the cats had awakened, and while not afraid, seemed annoyed and matter-of-factly jumped off the bed.  The hand's grip was very strong and firm, and at once I recognized it as Tim.  I fell back onto the pillow, our hands firmly clasped together. All his personality and character were conveyed to me in his grasp, and I was almost overwhelmed by the love his fingers conveyed.  I could even feel "I miss you" in his fingers. I felt no fear, only happiness.  Alas, it was not to last for long. With one final squeeze of "I love you" it vanished, leaving me to ask the silent night, "Now what?" It seems like it all lasted only a minute.

Nothing has happened since, but I'm ready for more, especially as this seemed to be a photoplasmic event, and I suffered no ill effects, other than a slightly aching heart. I hope it doesn't happen only once in a blue moon.

A friend commented on how exciting this must have been.  It always sounds exciting to me, too, when I hear of such a thing happening to someone else. But when I experienced it this time, I felt and feel mostly a deep reassurance that all is well, for it's like the hand of God has reached out through his creations to remind us that we are the heirs of irreversible immortality, and can and should rest in this divine knowledge.

(This event occurred in August 2012 - there were actually 2 blue moons recorded that month!)

No Time For Fear

 [First posted 11/9/21]

There is no power (or Source) outside myself. 

There is no room for fearful thoughts, I turn away from them and they do not exist.

I am an immortal being so therefore there is no time. 

And so there is no time for fear, anxiety, worry and doubt, now and forever now. 

There is only the experience of my being forever here and now.

Klex of the I Ching – L’Été 2025

 

(Above are just 5 of over 100 "I Ching Klex" as manifested and painted by August Goforth & Hermann Rorschach [See Note: 1 below].  His original "10 Blots" can be seen in the Footnotes at the end of this posting.)

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This posting is an extension of the current and ongoing art project between Hermann Rorschach and myself – the link to the gallery of our images at the Risen Gallery of Dreams can be found HERE.

This gallery presentation is the first of what may be a 4-part series, as guided by the 4 Seasons. Thus, this first one is called “Klex of the I Ching – L’Été 2025”.

Other previous painting projects manifested with certain individuals, including Boris Pasternak and William Hurt, can be found HERE. (Once there, scroll down a bit to locate their works called "Spirit Artifacts").

Originally I was only working alone, exploring the possibility of expressing the Rune Stones in some kind of painterly manner. Somehow, in the ways of mediumship and art that are and most likely will always be inexplicable, Hermann was drawn to the energies I was projecting whilst handling the Runes and various art materials to see what might be done. Of course I was quite excited and opened up the gateway for his continued contact, which has since become a more established and steady portal between us.

However, it soon became clear that in spite of having transitioned 103 years ago, he was still essentially confused and scattered about his actual transition. Later this lack of expected clarity was explained by the basic lack in his earthly beliefs, understanding and experience of The Afterlife. It was also eventually revealed that his sudden appearance in my art studio was not random, but part of a sophisticated, ongoing campaign to awaken him to the spiritual clarity that is the birthright of us all into the Realms of Spirit. Such campaigns are usually known as “spirit rescues” and by my acknowledgement and willingness to engage with him and his unfolding transmutation, was onboarded to the ”rescue team.”

After I did a lot of research on his life, greatly aided by Damion Searls’ book “The Inkblots”,  "Hermann Rorschach's Psychodiagnostics - Newly Translated & Annotated 100th Anniversary Edition: (Hogrefe Publishing Corp) and also several hard-to-find writings by his wife, began to reach my own clarity as to his current state of mind and how to assist his continued spiritual enlightenment. It took more than an earthly month of time for him to finally come to an understanding that he was not in a dream state, nor drugged in some way, nor in a medical coma of some kind. This same month also gave me time to establish the fact that while on earth, he gave very little thought or exploration into the possibility of life after death — not that he wouldn’t have been able to do so with the well-known brilliance and energy he was known to have brought to his psychiatric practice and for the immense love for his wife and two children — but he was far too focused on and satisfied with life in the present. Also, he was just at the beginning of the career he chose over instead becoming an artist, and so was not prepared for his sudden transition at the age of 37 from a burst appendix — the symptoms of which he had purposely ignored, choosing instead to focus on the needs of his patients, until it was too late.

[“Synchronistically” I was also able to locate and acquire an original set of the 10 inkblots, which are supposedly not ever allowed to be obtained by anyone other than certified specialists. I myself am certified and licensed in the US as a trained psychotherapist of many years, but even that doesn’t qualify me to own and use them. However, as it so often happens in the mediumistic, spiritual matters that manifest in my life, and as part of the orchestration that brought Hermann and I together, also brought an unexpected resource of a particular collector/hoarder’s basement. And lo, they found their way into my hands for study and a deepening understanding of our artistic collaboration. At the time of my online searching, I wasn’t able to even find viable reproductions of them, so at some possible blurry risk, I am including the images of the 10 original blots here in  this blog posting (see below). The Reader is encouraged to study these and compare them with those Hermann and I have manifested.]

At first I assumed that our work with the Runes would be part of his development, but as he achieved more and more clarity and his brilliant mind was able to grasp and accept the complex reality of what was happening between us, he began to resist the Runes, as they didn’t interest him. He had been aware of them while on earth, and had even explored them briefly when developing his “blots”. But he had actually and secretly been drawn to the I Ching system, which was hardly known or recognized in the West/Europe, and most certainly would not have been acceptable on a professional level of a doctor of Western Medicine. [See Note: 1 below] The translated text did not achieve broader cultural influence until after Richard Wilhelm’s German translation in 1923, (a year after Hermann transitioned) which coincided with increased Western interest through figures such as Carl Jung, who wrote the very excellent forward to Wilhelm’s translation — highly recommended!).

And so after I finally understood what he was trying to convey to me, and ceased trying to force him to concentrate on the Runes, he was able to break through my resistance and the project which would become “Klex of the I Ching – L’Été 2025” began!

It took us about 2 months of exploring various materials — paper, paint, ink, specialized pencils, and wax — as well as techniques in folding the many and various kinds of paper — as well as producing hundreds of failures — that we turned away from all other already-established processes for making basic ink-blots (and there are many) and finally developed our own successful and reliable protocol. The Klex on view at the Risen Gallery of Dreams are all on only one or two particular kinds of watercolour paper, applying water-based inks (over 120 different kinds and colours so far) and manipulating those inks in certain ways onto paper that has been folded in certain ways. Many of the inks are complex formulae, instilled with all kind of metallic shimmering and sheening, as well as shading substances. The original “Rorschach Blots” are 9 9/16ths X 6 5/8ths inches in size – a size that took Hermann and the publishers ages to arrive at for some unknown reason. Our images are mainly 7 X 10 inches, with a few at 6 X 9 inches.

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NOTES:

(1) Hermann Rorschach (1884–1922) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst best known for creating the Rorschach inkblot test, a projective psychological test designed to analyze personality and unconscious thoughts. Originally interested in art, influenced by his painter father, Rorschach combined his artistic background with medical science, graduating in medicine from the University of Zurich in 1909. He began experimenting with inkblots as a diagnostic tool while still a student, fascinated by how different people interpreted ambiguous shapes. After working in Swiss psychiatric hospitals, he published his foundational book, Psychodiagnostik, in 1921, detailing the use of 10 inkblots to assess mental health. He died prematurely at 37, but his inkblot test has remained widely used in psychology, psychiatry, and related fields to understand personality and diagnose mental illness.

Hermann Rorschach created his inkblots by combining his interest in art and psychology. Some scholars assume he was inspired by a childhood game called Klecksography, where inkblots were made and stories created about them, and that he refined this playful technique into a scientific tool. Jung and even Thoreau, among many others had played with inkblots in those days.

However, Damion Searls, in his book “The Inkblots”, a very good biography of Rorschach, feels that “Klex” (the German name for “inkblot” was the nickname given to Hermann when he was at the elite, 6-year Gymnasium, an academic high school, by his fellow students. It was standard for the young men to give each other a nickname, and in his case, “Klex” did not mean “inkblot” but that he was known to be very good with pen and ink, and who drew quickly and well. (There are archived examples of the charming but very sophisticated drawings and paintings, as well as highly-sophisticated puppets he made for his children.)

Later, on, in his psychiatric practice, rather than simple random inkblots, Rorschach carefully crafted each blot with symmetrical contours meant to evoke specific yet ambiguous images. Between 1917 and 1920, he experimented with over forty inkblots on psychiatric patients and observed how those with different mental disorders, especially schizophrenia, responded variably.

Rorschach selected fifteen blots for their diagnostic potential and later reduced them to ten for publication due to practical constraints. These ten cards include both black-and-white and colored symmetrical inkblots designed to provoke a wide range of perceptions around animals, humans, objects, or abstract shapes. The test works by encouraging individuals to project their unconscious thoughts onto these ambiguous images, revealing insights into their personality and cognitive functioning. The process involves showing each blot to a subject and recording their spontaneous interpretations, which are later analyzed to detect patterns associated with different psychological conditions.

(2) The I Ching, also known as the "Book of Changes," is an ancient Chinese divination text dating back over 3,000 years. It functions both as a philosophical system and a tool for guidance, describing the fundamental principles of reality and the dynamics of change through the interaction of complementary forces called yin and yang. The core of the I Ching consists of 64 hexagrams—figures made of six stacked lines that are either broken (yin) or solid (yang)—each representing different states or processes of change. Traditionally, divination is performed by casting yarrow stalks or coins to generate a hexagram, which is then interpreted through the text's verses and commentaries to provide insight and advice on various life situations. The I Ching has had a profound influence on Chinese philosophy, including Taoism and Confucianism, serving as both an oracle and a deep ethical guide.

The Original "Rorschach Blots":

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