The desire and models for direct, two-way contact with the otherworld is likely as old as we human beings. Anciently, there are ancestor cults, mushroom cults and shamanistic societies and the like. More historically recently, there are various forms and manners of occultism, Spiritualism, and very recently, the pop-culture phenomenon of ghost hunting.In another article, Gender, Heroes, and the Social Dynamics of Ghost Hunting, I pointed out the quite masculine, almost steroidal aura within this developing paradigm of neo-spiritualism that is ghost hunting. The terminologies, accoutrements, and overall effect are very militia-derived, and in general, I argue that the ghost hunt can be viewed as a postmodern, interactive version of the classic androcentric Hero Journey myth.Within the ghost hunting, paranormal world, there is a quickly developing trend. Many individuals and groups are developing 'boxes'-that is, technological communication devices for spirit contact.
This general idea of building devices for two-way spirit contact is certainly far from new. Many such techno devices have been constructed, using whatever array of machinery has been available, beginning in the middle of the 19th century with photography, then later with phonographs, electricity, radio, vacuum tubes, television, computers, etc. Using combinations, manipulations, modulations, and variations of all these devices, sometimes even with the intervention of spirit helpers; there have been some famous spirit machines developed. Notably, there is Thomas Edison's never completed spirit device of the early 20th century, then Metascience Foundation's controversial Spiricom high strangeness in the 1980s. And now, with what is perhaps the father of the modern spirit communication machine, there is "Frank's Box." The machine was developed by an apparently eccentric Frank Sumption, and used extensively by paranormalist Christopher Moon.Said to be inspired by an article in a October 1995 issue of Popular Electronics Magazine, entitled Ghost Voices, with the coverblurb, "Are the dead trying to communicate with us through electronic means?
Try these experiments ad see for yourself." Well, Frank did.Although according to Christopher Moon's Haunted Times Magazine website, Sumption is no longer interested in affiliation with ghost groups. Despite his withdrawal, the legacy of Frank's Box is thriving. There are now dozens, perhaps more, similar two-way spirit communication devices around. And interestingly, within the overwhelming masculine-driven and creative enterprising nature of these various boxes, there seems to be, at least on the surface, a sense of camaraderie and healthy competition involved. This is opposed to what could perhaps otherwise be expected in a passionate realm of the ghost world, where the established notions (whether welcomed or not) of the religious world are co-mingled. A conclusion I drew upon investigating and writing about the Spiricom device fits here too-these guys just really, really want to perfect the device, so that real time, two-way communication with the spirit world can finally be established. It is becoming the Holy Grail of ghost hunting. And rightly so, perhaps. Should undeniable, scientifically testable, verifiable, (whatever this should mean to the masses and larger culture…I am well aware that many are convinced this is already the case.) contact with the spirit world actually be made, the ramifications of that and its final outcome are mind boggling indeed.
There may even be models already set up to account for such a tremendous change. This last almost half century long millennial-apocalyptal-harmonic-aquarian-new-age-dawning hubristic hubbub could have been anticipating such a contact and exploration of this other dimension. Like the quickly adopted Y2K millennialism, we are now seeing much of the same endgame-2012 dynamics involving the Mayan calendar. There is example after example of philosophical speculations about what is looming in the near future-it just seems that something is going to happen. Over a decade ago, the phantastical Terence McKenna asserted this looming feature casting a shadow backwards over history could be the advent of time travel, effectively literally ending what is commonly held to be history itself. Time travel can generally be (perhaps reductively or naively, albeit) thought of as the exploration of a different dimension--fairly what is assumed to be involved with direct communication with the spirit world.
by www.thesupernaturalworld.co.uk
This general idea of building devices for two-way spirit contact is certainly far from new. Many such techno devices have been constructed, using whatever array of machinery has been available, beginning in the middle of the 19th century with photography, then later with phonographs, electricity, radio, vacuum tubes, television, computers, etc. Using combinations, manipulations, modulations, and variations of all these devices, sometimes even with the intervention of spirit helpers; there have been some famous spirit machines developed. Notably, there is Thomas Edison's never completed spirit device of the early 20th century, then Metascience Foundation's controversial Spiricom high strangeness in the 1980s. And now, with what is perhaps the father of the modern spirit communication machine, there is "Frank's Box." The machine was developed by an apparently eccentric Frank Sumption, and used extensively by paranormalist Christopher Moon.Said to be inspired by an article in a October 1995 issue of Popular Electronics Magazine, entitled Ghost Voices, with the coverblurb, "Are the dead trying to communicate with us through electronic means?
Try these experiments ad see for yourself." Well, Frank did.Although according to Christopher Moon's Haunted Times Magazine website, Sumption is no longer interested in affiliation with ghost groups. Despite his withdrawal, the legacy of Frank's Box is thriving. There are now dozens, perhaps more, similar two-way spirit communication devices around. And interestingly, within the overwhelming masculine-driven and creative enterprising nature of these various boxes, there seems to be, at least on the surface, a sense of camaraderie and healthy competition involved. This is opposed to what could perhaps otherwise be expected in a passionate realm of the ghost world, where the established notions (whether welcomed or not) of the religious world are co-mingled. A conclusion I drew upon investigating and writing about the Spiricom device fits here too-these guys just really, really want to perfect the device, so that real time, two-way communication with the spirit world can finally be established. It is becoming the Holy Grail of ghost hunting. And rightly so, perhaps. Should undeniable, scientifically testable, verifiable, (whatever this should mean to the masses and larger culture…I am well aware that many are convinced this is already the case.) contact with the spirit world actually be made, the ramifications of that and its final outcome are mind boggling indeed.
There may even be models already set up to account for such a tremendous change. This last almost half century long millennial-apocalyptal-harmonic-aquarian-new-age-dawning hubristic hubbub could have been anticipating such a contact and exploration of this other dimension. Like the quickly adopted Y2K millennialism, we are now seeing much of the same endgame-2012 dynamics involving the Mayan calendar. There is example after example of philosophical speculations about what is looming in the near future-it just seems that something is going to happen. Over a decade ago, the phantastical Terence McKenna asserted this looming feature casting a shadow backwards over history could be the advent of time travel, effectively literally ending what is commonly held to be history itself. Time travel can generally be (perhaps reductively or naively, albeit) thought of as the exploration of a different dimension--fairly what is assumed to be involved with direct communication with the spirit world.
by www.thesupernaturalworld.co.uk
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