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Passport to the Cosmos
Passport to the Cosmos: Human Transformation and Alien Encounters.
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Published October 1, 2008
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About the author
John E. Mack
29 books111 followersAmerican psychiatrist, writer, and professor at Harvard Medical School.
He was a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer, and a leading authority on the spiritual or transformational effects of alleged alien abduction experiences.
He was a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer, and a leading authority on the spiritual or transformational effects of alleged alien abduction experiences.
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May 21, 2024
MACK’S FOLLOW-UP TO HIS FIRST BOOK ABOUT THE ‘ABDUCTION EXPERIENCE’
John Edward Mack (1929-2004) was an American psychiatrist, and writer, who was the Head of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School from 1977 until his death in 2004. In 1977, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his book on T.E. Lawrence, ‘A Prince of Our Disorder.’
He wrote in the Preface to this 1999 book, “During the nearly ten years that I have studied the alien abduction phenomenon, its potential implications have continued to broaden and deepen… I am not in this book seeking to establish the material reality of the alien abduction phenomenon, that is, people’s reports of being taken by humanoid beings into some sort of enclosure where a variety of procedures and communications are said to take place. Rather, I am more concerned with the meaning of those experiences for the so-called abductees and for humankind more generally. In that sense this book is not simply about abductions but has to do with what such anomalous experiences and related phenomena can tell us about ourselves and our evolving knowledge of the nature of reality… My own approach has been largely that of a clinician, allowing the abduction experiencers to tell their stories without initial judgments or interpretations, knowing that there is always time to assess the messenger and the message later.”
He explains in the first chapter, “The orientation and ideology of the investigator, and the questions he or she asks or does not ask, will determine to some degree that data can be enabled or allowed to come forth and will affect profoundly the interpretation of the experiences. Furthermore, abductees select consciously and unconsciously to whom they turn to tell their stories. And… the phenomenon itself seems to change and evolve according to the stage of level of consciousness of the experiencer and the facilitator with whom he or she is working. But… it does nevertheless seem possible to distinguish certain essential elements… The emphasis will be more upon the informational and transformative aspects than in my 1994 book ‘Abduction.’ Whether this is because the phenomenon itself has changed or my orientation toward it has evolved---or both---is not altogether clear to me.” (Pg. 13-14)
He outlines, “First are the now-familiar elements of the abduction experience itself… the experiencers undergo a variety of medical- or surgical-like examinations and procedures, which are more or less traumatic… The second important dimension of the abduction phenomenon is the transmission of information from the beings to the experiencers… The communication occurs through telepathic transmission… The third dimension of the abduction phenomenon might variously defined as ‘consciousness expanding,’ ‘growth engendering,’ or ‘spiritual.’” (Pg. 14-17)
He acknowledges, “it has been difficult to obtain data that would satisfy the scientific community that something extraterrestrial or otherwise strange has taken place… Good, even spectacular photos and videos exist, but somehow doubt and uncertainty seem inevitably to arise as to their authenticity, even within the UFO community itself… Skin lesions have been repeatedly documented, yet it is almost impossible to prove that they are UFO or abduction related. No alien pregnancy has ever, to my knowledge, been convincingly documented by physical examination or pregnancy testing. Implants when studied may turn out to be of conventional terrestrial or foreign-body nature… or when they do seem to be truly strange, their ‘pedigree’ … cannot be established with certainty. There a smattering of reports of people said to be missing by relatives and friends … at the time of an abduction… But just as often… a person has not gone anywhere while they were experiencing an abduction… this would hardly satisfy the desire for proof and scientific affirmation that ufologists have been seeking.” (Pg. 27)
He notes, “Since the first publication of ‘Abduction’ in 1994, I have continued to work intensively with individuals who contact me … because they suspect that they may have had an abduction encounter. This population is self-selected by virtue of the fact that by now my general orientation toward the abduction phenomenon is fairly well known. First, I do not consider that abduction reports necessarily reflect a literal, physical taking of the human body … nor do I look upon experiencers as victims, although I strive to be empathic in relation to the pain and trauma that they may have undergone. Also, it is known that in my work I have come to regard the phenomenon not merely as a negative and cruel intrusion, which it can be, but also as one that can bring about new understanding of ourselves and our identity in the cosmos.” (Pg. 30-31)
He continues, “Although I write about some forty of the more than 200 people I have interviewed in the past nine years, I draw particularly heavily on the experiences of a few individuals whom I have gotten to know well enough to be able to explore their stories in some depth… In some cases I have changed minor details in order to protect the confidentiality of the experiencers or those close to them without, I hope, altering the important elements of the stories.” (Pg. 41)
He states, “In summary it seems increasingly clear that light and other energy manifestations are fundamental aspects not only of UFO activity but also of virtually every part of the abduction experience. Even telepathic communication is felt by the experiencers to be related to subtle forms of energy. Light and certain sounds may be associated with intense subjective and observable vibratory phenomena, whose apparent energies may reach extraordinary levels of intensity.” (Pg. 83)
He recounts, “One effect of the encounters is to leave abductees with a sense of the interdependence of living things and the delicate balance of nature. Those who have read my earlier book, ‘Abduction,’ will recall the case of Catherine, who was shown on a screen beautiful and varied scenes of nature. When asked by the beings if she ‘understood,’ she realized that ‘everything’s connected, one cannot exist without the other.’” (Pg. 110)
He also notes, “Somewhat to my surprise, spiders appear not infrequently among the images of abductees. Spiders are associated with complex symbolism, representing variously the hub of the web of all creation, the sun and its rays, the Great Mother or moon goddess, the spinners of destiny, and the forces of birth and death. They are also perceived by many people as curiously loathsome and frightening.” (Pg. 150)
Later, he adds, “My work with Bernardo, Sequoyah, Credo, and other indigenous people has been especially helpful in enabling me to see that the abduction phenomenon is not simply an American or Western story. Although there are obvious differences, especially in the way various cultures interpret the experiences, some of the features of these shamans’ encounters are familiar to students of the abduction phenomenon in the West. Credo’s abduction in particular contains most of the familiar or ‘classic’ traumatic, intrusive, and sexual elements.” (Pg. 216)
He recounts, “Whitley Strieber spoke with me of experiences similar to Isabel’s. ‘The sexual part of my relationship [with the beings] has been very complex and very rich and very difficult at times because I’m a married man. I’ve taken marriage vows, which I believe in. To an extent this aspect of it has been thrust on me, and it’s not something I’ve been able to control. If it had been under my control, I would have felt very guilty.’ There is a specific alien female with whom he feels mated. ‘It’s like having a second wife with whom I have a secret relationship… The physical dynamic is different in the sense that the sensation of intercourse moves through your whole body, and you become totally devoted to it for longer than I do in normal intercourse.’” (Pg. 270)
Not as pathbreaking as his book ‘Abduction,’ this book will still be of keen interest to those studying the alien abduction phenomenon.
John Edward Mack (1929-2004) was an American psychiatrist, and writer, who was the Head of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School from 1977 until his death in 2004. In 1977, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his book on T.E. Lawrence, ‘A Prince of Our Disorder.’
He wrote in the Preface to this 1999 book, “During the nearly ten years that I have studied the alien abduction phenomenon, its potential implications have continued to broaden and deepen… I am not in this book seeking to establish the material reality of the alien abduction phenomenon, that is, people’s reports of being taken by humanoid beings into some sort of enclosure where a variety of procedures and communications are said to take place. Rather, I am more concerned with the meaning of those experiences for the so-called abductees and for humankind more generally. In that sense this book is not simply about abductions but has to do with what such anomalous experiences and related phenomena can tell us about ourselves and our evolving knowledge of the nature of reality… My own approach has been largely that of a clinician, allowing the abduction experiencers to tell their stories without initial judgments or interpretations, knowing that there is always time to assess the messenger and the message later.”
He explains in the first chapter, “The orientation and ideology of the investigator, and the questions he or she asks or does not ask, will determine to some degree that data can be enabled or allowed to come forth and will affect profoundly the interpretation of the experiences. Furthermore, abductees select consciously and unconsciously to whom they turn to tell their stories. And… the phenomenon itself seems to change and evolve according to the stage of level of consciousness of the experiencer and the facilitator with whom he or she is working. But… it does nevertheless seem possible to distinguish certain essential elements… The emphasis will be more upon the informational and transformative aspects than in my 1994 book ‘Abduction.’ Whether this is because the phenomenon itself has changed or my orientation toward it has evolved---or both---is not altogether clear to me.” (Pg. 13-14)
He outlines, “First are the now-familiar elements of the abduction experience itself… the experiencers undergo a variety of medical- or surgical-like examinations and procedures, which are more or less traumatic… The second important dimension of the abduction phenomenon is the transmission of information from the beings to the experiencers… The communication occurs through telepathic transmission… The third dimension of the abduction phenomenon might variously defined as ‘consciousness expanding,’ ‘growth engendering,’ or ‘spiritual.’” (Pg. 14-17)
He acknowledges, “it has been difficult to obtain data that would satisfy the scientific community that something extraterrestrial or otherwise strange has taken place… Good, even spectacular photos and videos exist, but somehow doubt and uncertainty seem inevitably to arise as to their authenticity, even within the UFO community itself… Skin lesions have been repeatedly documented, yet it is almost impossible to prove that they are UFO or abduction related. No alien pregnancy has ever, to my knowledge, been convincingly documented by physical examination or pregnancy testing. Implants when studied may turn out to be of conventional terrestrial or foreign-body nature… or when they do seem to be truly strange, their ‘pedigree’ … cannot be established with certainty. There a smattering of reports of people said to be missing by relatives and friends … at the time of an abduction… But just as often… a person has not gone anywhere while they were experiencing an abduction… this would hardly satisfy the desire for proof and scientific affirmation that ufologists have been seeking.” (Pg. 27)
He notes, “Since the first publication of ‘Abduction’ in 1994, I have continued to work intensively with individuals who contact me … because they suspect that they may have had an abduction encounter. This population is self-selected by virtue of the fact that by now my general orientation toward the abduction phenomenon is fairly well known. First, I do not consider that abduction reports necessarily reflect a literal, physical taking of the human body … nor do I look upon experiencers as victims, although I strive to be empathic in relation to the pain and trauma that they may have undergone. Also, it is known that in my work I have come to regard the phenomenon not merely as a negative and cruel intrusion, which it can be, but also as one that can bring about new understanding of ourselves and our identity in the cosmos.” (Pg. 30-31)
He continues, “Although I write about some forty of the more than 200 people I have interviewed in the past nine years, I draw particularly heavily on the experiences of a few individuals whom I have gotten to know well enough to be able to explore their stories in some depth… In some cases I have changed minor details in order to protect the confidentiality of the experiencers or those close to them without, I hope, altering the important elements of the stories.” (Pg. 41)
He states, “In summary it seems increasingly clear that light and other energy manifestations are fundamental aspects not only of UFO activity but also of virtually every part of the abduction experience. Even telepathic communication is felt by the experiencers to be related to subtle forms of energy. Light and certain sounds may be associated with intense subjective and observable vibratory phenomena, whose apparent energies may reach extraordinary levels of intensity.” (Pg. 83)
He recounts, “One effect of the encounters is to leave abductees with a sense of the interdependence of living things and the delicate balance of nature. Those who have read my earlier book, ‘Abduction,’ will recall the case of Catherine, who was shown on a screen beautiful and varied scenes of nature. When asked by the beings if she ‘understood,’ she realized that ‘everything’s connected, one cannot exist without the other.’” (Pg. 110)
He also notes, “Somewhat to my surprise, spiders appear not infrequently among the images of abductees. Spiders are associated with complex symbolism, representing variously the hub of the web of all creation, the sun and its rays, the Great Mother or moon goddess, the spinners of destiny, and the forces of birth and death. They are also perceived by many people as curiously loathsome and frightening.” (Pg. 150)
Later, he adds, “My work with Bernardo, Sequoyah, Credo, and other indigenous people has been especially helpful in enabling me to see that the abduction phenomenon is not simply an American or Western story. Although there are obvious differences, especially in the way various cultures interpret the experiences, some of the features of these shamans’ encounters are familiar to students of the abduction phenomenon in the West. Credo’s abduction in particular contains most of the familiar or ‘classic’ traumatic, intrusive, and sexual elements.” (Pg. 216)
He recounts, “Whitley Strieber spoke with me of experiences similar to Isabel’s. ‘The sexual part of my relationship [with the beings] has been very complex and very rich and very difficult at times because I’m a married man. I’ve taken marriage vows, which I believe in. To an extent this aspect of it has been thrust on me, and it’s not something I’ve been able to control. If it had been under my control, I would have felt very guilty.’ There is a specific alien female with whom he feels mated. ‘It’s like having a second wife with whom I have a secret relationship… The physical dynamic is different in the sense that the sensation of intercourse moves through your whole body, and you become totally devoted to it for longer than I do in normal intercourse.’” (Pg. 270)
Not as pathbreaking as his book ‘Abduction,’ this book will still be of keen interest to those studying the alien abduction phenomenon.
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