From My Viewpoint

Each morning when I come to my office, before turning on the light, I look out the window in front of my desk. Since it is always early, daylight is far away and the world, my part of it, is still dark. I look at the dark water which glistens from the lights on boat docks surrounding the large creek on which our home is situated.

In those few moments I have many thoughts. First, I send out a silent prayer that this will be a good day for all I love in this world and the next. Then, I echo William James’ thought, “I will act as if what I do makes a difference.” All too easily we can decide that we are helpless to affect our world in even the smallest way. Discouragement for many, has become a chronic curse. Few of us are like Don Quixote who found his pleasure in tilting at windmills. Instead of trying to fight the windmills, which could be said to represent the world, we should perhaps look at our world, our individual personal world on a microcosmic level. That we can affect for better or worse, and that is one of my thoughts as I look out of my office window so early each day.

That thought leads to the next, to a parapsychological conference I attended two months ago. Little was said about the possibility of postmortem survival which didn’t surprise me. To a certain extent, I have never felt the survival issue belonged to the field of psi phenomena, but rather in its own separate category. The electronic voice was mentioned when a psychiatrist asked a noted parapsychologist and college professor who was lecturing, what his opinion was of them. Dr. X replied that he thought most people played their tapes over 100 times and then became convinced there was something there. For the few faint things he had heard on demonstration tapes, he felt they were put there by psychokinesis from the taper. When I spoke to him privately the next day and asked when he had last listened to a voice tape he replied, “Oh, years ago.” After I told him the phenomena has changed, in some ways radically, in the last ten years, he said he would like to hear a recent tape. A composite tape of forward and reverse voices was sent the following week of voices different tapers have sent me. In the covering letter, I again pointed out to Dr. X that the voices we record today cannot be compared with earlier voices. “Something intelligent is making progress,” I wrote, “and that should cause even the most skeptical to give some thought to this phenomena.”

The new moon, hiding in its own shadow, reflects brightly in the water in front of me. This brings to mind what Viktor Frankl, the psychiatrist wrote: “A higher dimension is simply a more inclusive dimension.” Yes, the dimensions, the worlds are there but, like the moon before me, we are unable to see them. In time either in this world or later, we will see more clearly. The sun will rise and we will stop fumbling in the dark.

As I reach to turn on my light, I think of the words by the poet, G. Appolinaire:

“Come to the edge, he said.
They said: We are afraid.
Come to the edge, he said.
They came.
He pushed them.. .and they flew.”

Let us not be afraid of the darkness, real or symbolic. Let us not be afraid to fly.

A Tribute

Our dear friend and associate, Mercedes Shepanek, made her transition on November 6.

She was one of our closest collaborators, always supportive, having joined the AA-EVP when it was founded in May 1982. From the beginning, she was the State Coordinator for Virginia and contributed something to each issue of our newsletter. Her approach to the electronic voice phenomena was extremely intelligent and she demonstrated, at all times, good common sense in her own efforts in the field and with those with whom she came in contact. Without fail, she continued to encourage others who wanted to learn more about the taped voices, spending much time in correspondence and on the phone answering requests for help. A number of you met Mercedes at our national conferences and took part in the workshops she taught. The week following the last conference held in August 1985, she entered the hospital with cancer. From then on she was never well and, at the end, was eager to go on to be with her loved ones.

I remember when I first met Mercedes about seven years ago. She had been taping for five years and brought some of her tapes and several friends to my home. We listened to each other’s tapes and she expressed her firm conviction that we survived bodily death with memory and consciousness intact. As she said then, “I have my suitcase packed and am ready to go whenever it’s time.” Her faith never wavered and in my final conversation with her two weeks before her death, she said, “I’m looking forward to going. It will be a new adventure. Let’s stay in touch.”

Ten days before she died, Mercedes received a letter from my daughter, Becky, who had met Mercedes at our conferences. Becky loved Mercedes and wanted to tell her this before it was too late. It is one of the last letters Mercedes received and I am quoting from it because I feel it may help everyone who has lost, and will lose someone they love, in the future.

“Dear Mercedes,

… Since the age of twelve, I’ve pondered upon the infinite mystery of life. In twenty years of searching, I’ve come to the conclusion that death is just as mysterious as life. Heaven and earth are linked together by every passing moment. Life is full of many initiations … Death is also an initiation; a rite of passage, so to speak. The Soul is an altar upon which God has laid his wisdom and love. In the infinite mind and heart of God, we all come home at last, only to realize that coming home is yet another beginning. Each of us represents a prayer in the vision of eternity’s dream. In that vision we are born forever. … I will joyfully carry the memory of you as I go forward into my destiny. Please send your prayers down to us, and we will send ours up to you. We all look forward to seeing you again, when we finally come home, too. Bless you, and in much love, Becky Estep”

Mercedes has moved beyond our horizon, but a horizon is only the limit of our sight. She has traveled over that horizon and is happy in the world of someplace else.

Outstanding Taped Messages Wanted

There are many occasions when it is desirable that I play a demonstration tape for others. These times range from lectures, personal appearances on radio and television, people coming to my home to learn more about the phenomena, and tapes I send to people, such as Dr. X mentioned in my editorial. It is more effective if such tapes have a sampling of messages received by different tapers, rather than just my own. I would like to make one master composite tape to use at such times. For all active tapers, please send to me, no later than March 1, five or six of your clearest and loudest messages. I will choose from these and put all of them on one tape. You will be given full credit on the tape for the messages used. Thank you!

The above diagram shows the antenna I am now using with my recordings. The idea for it appeared in the German VTF Journal dated October 1986, and was kindly translated for me by AA-EVP member, Hans Hleckmann of Pennsylvania.

Herbert Spirik, Vienna, reported how he had built it. “The five pointed star antenna should (have) a 21.65” diameter circle, while the wire length between star points should be 20.66.”

For normal use 60 windings is ideal from starting point A across five star points to end point E. One complete winding has a wire length of 5X 0.525=2.625 meter (103”). Total wire length requires about 517 feet of 26 gauge copper insulated or enameled wire. The finished antenna has a measured induction of 5.7 millihenry.”

I have connected the antenna wire from the antenna to the External Antenna in the back of my Patrolman 60 radio. I have another jack going from the Headphone of the Patrolman to the Auxiliary outlet in the back of the amplifier. Nothing is heard directly through the radio, but instead everything comes over the wall speaker. At times the EVP message is loud enough to be heard as it is given, permitting me to respond immediately.

VTF Journal Translation Continued

Hans also translated various presentations given at the VTF conference in Fulda, Germany, which was held in May 1986. Hans Berger from Vienna spoke about the thoroughness with which the EVP phenomena were investigated in Vienna. He cautioned that we should not expect miracles in our research. It is wrong to assume para voices happen outside natural laws. One of these assumptions says para voices are not physically measurable. The voices are, in fact, measurable. It is the origin and means of the impingement we cannot measure.

In a translation from an earlier VTF Journal, which Hans sent to me, it was reported that in May, The Hague, Netherlands, held a large Parapsychology Fair. Over 10,000 advanced tickets were sold. During the three day event, 130 lectures were given in ten rooms seating 400 people each. The crowds were so large that the doors had to be closed for most of the speakers. Several EVP lectures were attended by 1,400 people.

We are grateful to Hans for his excellent translations. They give us many ideas to use in our own work, and also keep us abreast of what our colleagues are doing in Europe.

A Visit to Italy

Rosalba Harris, AA-EVP member PA, attended the Italian Association for the Study of Psychophony (AISP) conference, the end of October. She reports that many topics, besides EVP, were discussed during the three day conference. On Friday, there were 300 people present and on Saturday, there were 500 in attendance.

Several days before the conference started Rosalba visited Marcello Bacci of Grosseto, Italy (mentioned in the Fall Newsletter). During the recording, Rosalba requested that her sister, Liliana, speak to her. Several clear messages were returned in Italian as well as English, a language which Liliana spoke fluently. Rosalba said that although she wasn’t sure it was Liliana, she didn’t exclude it.

The tape Rosalba sent me from the recording was very impressive. Bacci uses short wave set at 7.2 MHz as a sound source. The voices have a ripple-like quality to them. The groups which work with Bacci and his close friend, Capitani, always close their communication for the day by singing. A number of voices sing and it is the most beautiful singing I have heard from another dimension. No one has been able to interpret the singing which has been studied by musicologists. They all agree it is unlike anything they have ever heard.

Chronovisor

Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) one of the greatest electronic geniuses and inventors that ever lived, predicted before his death that someday a device would be invented that would permit the world to ‘look back’ at history. This was based on the concept that all events imprint themselves into energy which cannot be lost but continue to vibrate indefinitely in space. He pre-named this device ‘Cosmovision.’

In a recent letter from Dr. Ernst Senkowski, AA-EVP member, West Germany, he wrote that this may now have been done. He enclosed with his letter, a translation and comments about an article that appeared in the October issue of the Italian magazine, Oggi.

On October 18/19, a congress on border sciences was held at Lake Garda in Italy. Padre Pellegrino Ernetti, a member of the Roman Catholic Order of Benedictines and teaching Archaic Music in Venice, broke his long-held silence. He publicly reported his experiments which, along with a group of physicists, resulted in the construction of Chronovisors, which permits reception of pictures and sounds of events from the past.

The instruments necessary to receive these events consist of three elements: A series of antennas formed out of different alloys linked in a chain to be able to receive all or nearly all the different qualities of the electromagnetic and non-electromagnetic waves existing in space. The second group is built from devices reconstructing that which is searched for in space and selecting the pictures and voices always at the ‘speed of light.’ Finally, a third group that will reproduce the images and sounds similar to a TV set.

Padre Ernetti reported on some of their successes dating back to the 1950s. Some of the early pictures and sounds received were from the ancient days of Rome.

Ernst commented that the validity of the concept of storage of events on the basis of energy conservation is doubtful. He wrote, “… energy—according to the best of physical knowledge will not keep its form indefinitely in our system…. In a general sense the process could be understood as a special form of psychic-technical (electromagnetic-etheric) access to a ‘Cosmic Memory’ (‘Akasha’), or to a metaphoric ‘Information space’ outside or ‘above’ space time in ‘higher dimensions.’ “Ernst is trying to contact Padre Ernetti directly, and it is hoped he will have additional information to share in the future.

News from and About Members

Roy Bauer, Canada, has written several times since our Fall Newsletter. In his first letter, he wrote how much he enjoyed the newsletter and that it not only encouraged him to continue taping during the times his attempts to record voices have failed, but gives him many new ideas to use for experimenting. In his second letter, Roy wrote that he has taped many unusual voices, although most of them occurred when he was experimenting and not sitting down for a regular session. The majority of his loud tonal voices have come through when he was using a combination of both pre-recorded white noise and human voices. At present he is experimenting with computer and electronic synthesized sound.

Robert Camburn, PA, wonders if any AA-EVP member has a better, more realistic term than “dead” or “deceased” for spirit entities. “Departed” is more acceptable, but still not accurate since “they” tell us they are still here and haven’t gone anywhere. Robert says the words “discarnate” and “disembodied” are available but he isn’t very fond of either.

Can you help Robert (all of us) find a better word? Send your ideas to me and I will publish them in our Spring Newsletter.

Michael Engebretson, WI, has been taping voices for two years and is still “amazed” that such a thing is possible. Michael, who is an electronics technician, has a background in physics. Quoting from the October letter, “I came across an article in the January ‘84 issue of Science Digest about Kaluza-Klein theories. It states that what we experience as the electromagnetic field is the result of a gravitational disturbance in another dimension. If this theory is correct, it could be that our voice entities are somehow affecting their gravitational field to produce an electromagnetic disturbance in our dimension that can be picked-up by the radio, microphone or directly by transistor circuit.”

Michael enclosed with the letter, the first page from the above mentioned article: “Exploring Other Realities-The Eleventh Dimension” by Paul Davies. You may want to check your library for a copy.

There have been times when I (and I’m sure others) have taped messages which showed the unseen had no idea what they were saying was being recorded on this side. If the theory is correct about our experiences being caused by a gravitational disturbance in another dimension, (and I suspect this may be especially true with psi experiences) it could help explain how some voice communications come through “accidentally” and not by deliberate intent as I feel most messages do.

Stefan Horavth, OH, sent me several articles. In the one article, a microcomputer circuit called a Zeta Noise Blocker, was shown next to a penny. The microcomputer is about one/sixth the penny’s size. The circuit, which was recently introduced to the hearing aid industry, helps hearing devices to discriminate speech from background noise. I called Intellitec of Northbrook, IL, who manufactures it for information. I hope to be able to incorporate it, somehow, into my recording system.

Letter Received

A letter, and several articles and pictures from German magazines, have been received from Fidelio Koberle, editor of the German VTF Journal. Koberle referred to our Spring Newsletter that showed two pictures Klaus Schreiber felt he had received from the other side through his TV. Picture 2, he believed, was his daughter, Karin. Koberle wrote this was not the case, but instead was a picture of a young skater from a TV program. He enclosed a photograph taken by Rainer Holbe from the same video-tape and published in the German Magazine, “Neue Revue,” which shows the skater. Both pictures are similar. It is felt that in the Schreiber picture, he photographed an image that had drifted from a station and thought he had Karin. Koberle did not question picture 1, which seemed to show Schreiber’s mother. He feels television picture phenomena is possible.

Best of ‘86

Carol Barron, MA State Coordinator, wrote that she had asked if the voice speaking was from space or spirit. The entity replied, “It’s the man spirit … Spirit in space.” Carol said, “Somehow those seven words summed up a lot. Perhaps there is little or no distinction and spirit can be anywhere.”

Clara Laughlin, VA, wrote that she is encouraged by the taped messages she receives in which the unseen assure her they will eventually come through her TV. At times, she seems to see printed words and letters. On another occasion she and Virginia Bates (AA-EVP member VA) were talking on the phone when someone whispered to them. She asked about this later during a taping and her husband, Tom, replied, “On the telephone I’m allowed to whisper.” Most messages are received on the reverse side of her tapes.

Tina Laurent, Wales, wrote that recently she taped the interesting, puzzling message, “They’ve brought you down in doubles.” Another time someone said, “Come in Tina. Hello Tina. Help is with us. This must be quick Tina. Is she going?” Tina tapes messages on both sides of her tapes.

David Lothamer, CA State Coordinator, said in a phone call that one message that meant a great deal to him this year was, “You will not die,” which was of excellent quality. All of David’s messages are heard on the forward side of his tapes.

Dan McKee, IL State Coordinator, also gave his report over the telephone. He gets many messages in which the word “opposite” is heard. In March a clear voice said, “I see the man opposite. They all want to hear you better.” Another time someone said, “To use you mean a shell with a man. Live you know it.” In reply to Dan’s question as to whether they have bodies like us, a voice answered, “The earth scale one would be the tenth of us.” This was followed with, “I doubt that I’m visible.” All messages were on the reverse side of his tapes. Dan feels reverse messages are clearer and of more interest than what is heard on the forward side of tapes.

ESP Research Associates Foundation

“A thousand memories flood my mind as I begin this last and final newsletter,” Harold Sherman wrote in his November-December newsletter. After many years of publishing a bi-monthly newsletter, Harold feels, at the age of eighty-nine, that it is time to let go. Since its start, it has brought hope and news of research and activities in the field of psi phenomena to thousands of people. Harold’s middle name could be “integrity” for he has always stood for the highest standards in all areas of psi. It is with sadness that we see him end his newsletter, but the good he has accomplished over the years, the positive influence he has had, will continue indefinitely.

The Dead are Alive

Harold Sherman recently sent me a new copy of The Dead Are Alive. It was originally published in 1981, and was an immediate success. Now, Fawcett, a leading publisher, has brought Harold’s book out in paperback. If you have not already read the book, you will want to do so. It is a fascinating book which offers many instances of evidence for postmortem survival. There are two chapters about the electronic voice phenomena. One is by Raymond Cass of England. The other, Chapter 4, “Spirit Messages On Tape” I was privileged to write.

Back Issues of Newsletter Available

In Roy Bauer’s second letter, he asked if it would be possible to buy back issues of the newsletter. Since he had not joined the AA-EVP until December 1985, he was missing the first thirteen. When I assured him that I had extra copies of all newsletters, Roy promptly sent me a check to cover the thirteen issues.

If anyone else would like to order back issues, just let me know which ones you want. Since they are published quarterly, with this issue there are a total of twenty. Cost: $1 each which includes postage. U.S. Funds.

Dimensions of Consciousness Conference

We are continuing to plan for our third national conference to be held August 7-9, 1987, at the Holiday Inn-Inner Harbor, Baltimore. One woman in New York called after our Summer Newsletter and said she is coming. A man in New Jersey wrote that he had reserved those days as vacation time from work. We are planning new features; exciting workshops with a unique twist! Several State Coordinators have written, or called, and said, “You can count on me to help.” Excellent lecturers, leaders in their field will speak. If you haven’t already marked your calendar, do so now! There will be more details in our Spring NEWS. You won’t want to miss those three wonderful August days.

Egyptian Odyssey II

The tentative date for our second EVP workshop on location tour of Egypt, is planned for October 2-18. That will place us in Cairo, at the foot of the Pyramids and Sphinx under a full moon! Lynn Gardner, who will again be co-hosting the trip with me, will be at our national conference to help prepare those who plan to go with us for this experience of a lifetime.

Odds And Ends

Many people, not wanting to miss a single issue of our newsletter, have asked how they can tell when their membership will expire. The mailing label of your newsletter envelope shows the month your membership ends. Some individuals send their fee early and are given credit for this. For those who don’t, you will receive a reminder the month before your due date.

Deadline for the Spring NEWS is March 7. Please send your news to me by then. Thank you!

Always my best Wishes, Sarah Estep