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Communion #3
Breakthrough: The Next Step
Since his first encounters with alien beings, the author of Communion has been led by these visitors on an astounding journey of revelation and reveals his vast knowledge of the wonders of life and the almost totally unexplored experience we call death. Reprint.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
56 people are currently reading
304 people want to read
About the author
Whitley Strieber
149 books1,247 followersAmerican writer best known for his novels The Wolfen,The Hunger and Warday and for Communion, a non-fiction description of his experiences with apparent alien contact. He has recently made significant advances in understanding this phenomenon, and has published his new discoveries in Solving the Communion Enigma.
Strieber also co-authored The Coming Global Superstorm with Art Bell, which inspired the blockbuster film about sudden climate change, The Day After Tomorrow.
His book The Afterlife Revolution written with his deceased wife Anne, is a record of what is considered to be one of the most powerful instances of afterlife communication ever recorded.
Strieber also co-authored The Coming Global Superstorm with Art Bell, which inspired the blockbuster film about sudden climate change, The Day After Tomorrow.
His book The Afterlife Revolution written with his deceased wife Anne, is a record of what is considered to be one of the most powerful instances of afterlife communication ever recorded.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 21, 2024
STRIEBER RETURNS TO THE UFO/VISITORS PHENOMENON, AFTER A BREAK
Louis Whitley Strieber (born 1945) is an American writer originally known for his horror novels (e.g., ‘The Wolfen,’ ‘The Hunger’), but since his 1987 book ‘Communion,’ has become considered as a UFO ‘contactee.’ He continues to write both fiction and nonfiction.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1995 book, “In December 1985, I found myself swept up in the tide of contact. I had a series of encounters that seemed to me to be almost undeniably real, with strange, fierce, and quite amazing creatures who did not appear to bear any reference to earthly life. When I wrote about these experiences in my 1987 book ‘Communion,’ I was astonished as much as at the public response as I was at the stridency of the rejection and denial that the book met with in the media…. When I withdrew from public life in 1989, I left saying that I would not return until I had something truly new to say. Also in that year, I got strikingly convincing proof that the visitors were real… It provides reasonable assurance that the visitors are real to those who need this to go forward. But it doesn’t simply flatten the case of the skeptics… I said little about the proof when it appeared, because it suggested so many unpredictable consequences… But suddenly, I would no longer deny that somebody was out there, and they did not appear to be human at all.” (Pg. 4)
He continues, “I finally decided to move ahead, but cautiously. It has been six years, but the questions I posed have been adequately addressed under the rigorous conditions that I demanded: nothing counted unless there were multiple witnesses… Given what I have learned under these conditions, I feel that I can say that contact with the visitors is safe, though extremely challenging. I feel that their coming is a call to change. My most accurate speculation about them during my years of public life was probably that they might be what the force of evolution looks like when it applies itself to a conscious mind.” (Pg. 5)
He adds, “With regard to religion, I found my own faith [he is Catholic] and understanding immeasurably enhanced; indeed, contact with the visitors will inevitably lead us to rediscover the richness of all our religions. It will lead to a new foundation, and I cannot imagine that they would challenge or deny any expression of faith. far from it.” (Pg. 7)
He recounts, “I could … hear a certain sound that I identified with the machines of the visitors. This sound had been mentioned, now and again, by me early correspondents, but it [has]… not been described in any publication of which I am aware… It is not the sort of science-fictional humming or whirring described in the popular literature.” (Pg. 17-18)
He recalls, “I had met Dora when she was exploring the ideas of the Gurdjieff Foundation in the early eighties… she struck me immediately with her accurate grasp of the material and her intelligent, skeptical approach… she was no UFO believer, but … Her insights had always been uncannily accurate… In fact, two of the key insights in this book are Dora’s: the one … about the possibility that an actual, physical transformation of the body could be involved, and another about the key to resolving the fear.” (Pg. 42)
He explains, “From the publication or ‘Communion’ in 1987 until September 1994, I received 139,914 letters… Eighty percent of the letters reflect either positive encounters or encounters where the visitors seemed neutral. Sixty percent mention fear. Twenty percent report negative encounters… In all these years, we have received eighty-two pieces of critical mail, including three letters containing threats. Eight out of ten of the critical letters were from people with religious objections to the idea of the visitors.” (Pg. 102-103)
He laments, “In general, the press has responded to this outpouring of witnesses with the same dismissive approach as the scientific community and the government. For the most part, the witnesses are ignored or---if they should dare make public claims---ridiculed. I have experienced much persecution because of my public stance, including orchestrated harassment… Other witnesses report a similar pattern.” (Pg. 111)
He recalls, “I had always believed, tacitly, that the soul was real. But belief is belief; it becomes another and much more urgent matter when something is tangible. At the time, I was reading the Bible to understand the origins of human consciousness, which I feel is recorded in the story of Eden. My interest in physics stemmed from my increasing sense that the visitors might regard what we identify as religion and science as a single discipline.” (Pg. 141-142) Later, he adds, “To take the Bible as literal fact, I’d always assumed, is to deny its real truth, to place the arrogance of belief higher than the subtle message of the divine. I began to see the early narrative of the Bible in a completely new light, as a story that at once expressed the truth of creation in a simple and straightforward way but also resonated with meanings so deep that they seemed to transcend the very words that expressed them. The Word is not a brain-blasting roar of authority, but a creative involving whisper.” (Pg. 155)
He states, “I saw beyond good and evil, thanks to Michael [Talbot, an author] and I saw that my attempt to classify the visitors as one or the other was just an illusion and was the reason they had withdrawn from me. I realized that the visitors viewed good and evil as tools of the soul.” (Pg. 179)
He concludes, “it is also true that the emergence of the visitors is an organized, coherent process that is moving according to a schedule… Until we begin to see them in an accurate manner, they obviously cannot come into meaningful relationship with us… But all this is changing. The fact that they have offered proof of their reality---however gingerly it has been presented---suggests that we are making progress. What concerns me now is that the important elements of the society that are so deeply committed to denial will be unable to adjust when it becomes untenable.” (Pg. 277)
I’m largely a UFO skeptic, but Strieber seems more ‘sincere’ than many others are. At any rate, this book will be of great interest for those studying UFOs, ‘alien abductions,’ etc.
Louis Whitley Strieber (born 1945) is an American writer originally known for his horror novels (e.g., ‘The Wolfen,’ ‘The Hunger’), but since his 1987 book ‘Communion,’ has become considered as a UFO ‘contactee.’ He continues to write both fiction and nonfiction.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1995 book, “In December 1985, I found myself swept up in the tide of contact. I had a series of encounters that seemed to me to be almost undeniably real, with strange, fierce, and quite amazing creatures who did not appear to bear any reference to earthly life. When I wrote about these experiences in my 1987 book ‘Communion,’ I was astonished as much as at the public response as I was at the stridency of the rejection and denial that the book met with in the media…. When I withdrew from public life in 1989, I left saying that I would not return until I had something truly new to say. Also in that year, I got strikingly convincing proof that the visitors were real… It provides reasonable assurance that the visitors are real to those who need this to go forward. But it doesn’t simply flatten the case of the skeptics… I said little about the proof when it appeared, because it suggested so many unpredictable consequences… But suddenly, I would no longer deny that somebody was out there, and they did not appear to be human at all.” (Pg. 4)
He continues, “I finally decided to move ahead, but cautiously. It has been six years, but the questions I posed have been adequately addressed under the rigorous conditions that I demanded: nothing counted unless there were multiple witnesses… Given what I have learned under these conditions, I feel that I can say that contact with the visitors is safe, though extremely challenging. I feel that their coming is a call to change. My most accurate speculation about them during my years of public life was probably that they might be what the force of evolution looks like when it applies itself to a conscious mind.” (Pg. 5)
He adds, “With regard to religion, I found my own faith [he is Catholic] and understanding immeasurably enhanced; indeed, contact with the visitors will inevitably lead us to rediscover the richness of all our religions. It will lead to a new foundation, and I cannot imagine that they would challenge or deny any expression of faith. far from it.” (Pg. 7)
He recounts, “I could … hear a certain sound that I identified with the machines of the visitors. This sound had been mentioned, now and again, by me early correspondents, but it [has]… not been described in any publication of which I am aware… It is not the sort of science-fictional humming or whirring described in the popular literature.” (Pg. 17-18)
He recalls, “I had met Dora when she was exploring the ideas of the Gurdjieff Foundation in the early eighties… she struck me immediately with her accurate grasp of the material and her intelligent, skeptical approach… she was no UFO believer, but … Her insights had always been uncannily accurate… In fact, two of the key insights in this book are Dora’s: the one … about the possibility that an actual, physical transformation of the body could be involved, and another about the key to resolving the fear.” (Pg. 42)
He explains, “From the publication or ‘Communion’ in 1987 until September 1994, I received 139,914 letters… Eighty percent of the letters reflect either positive encounters or encounters where the visitors seemed neutral. Sixty percent mention fear. Twenty percent report negative encounters… In all these years, we have received eighty-two pieces of critical mail, including three letters containing threats. Eight out of ten of the critical letters were from people with religious objections to the idea of the visitors.” (Pg. 102-103)
He laments, “In general, the press has responded to this outpouring of witnesses with the same dismissive approach as the scientific community and the government. For the most part, the witnesses are ignored or---if they should dare make public claims---ridiculed. I have experienced much persecution because of my public stance, including orchestrated harassment… Other witnesses report a similar pattern.” (Pg. 111)
He recalls, “I had always believed, tacitly, that the soul was real. But belief is belief; it becomes another and much more urgent matter when something is tangible. At the time, I was reading the Bible to understand the origins of human consciousness, which I feel is recorded in the story of Eden. My interest in physics stemmed from my increasing sense that the visitors might regard what we identify as religion and science as a single discipline.” (Pg. 141-142) Later, he adds, “To take the Bible as literal fact, I’d always assumed, is to deny its real truth, to place the arrogance of belief higher than the subtle message of the divine. I began to see the early narrative of the Bible in a completely new light, as a story that at once expressed the truth of creation in a simple and straightforward way but also resonated with meanings so deep that they seemed to transcend the very words that expressed them. The Word is not a brain-blasting roar of authority, but a creative involving whisper.” (Pg. 155)
He states, “I saw beyond good and evil, thanks to Michael [Talbot, an author] and I saw that my attempt to classify the visitors as one or the other was just an illusion and was the reason they had withdrawn from me. I realized that the visitors viewed good and evil as tools of the soul.” (Pg. 179)
He concludes, “it is also true that the emergence of the visitors is an organized, coherent process that is moving according to a schedule… Until we begin to see them in an accurate manner, they obviously cannot come into meaningful relationship with us… But all this is changing. The fact that they have offered proof of their reality---however gingerly it has been presented---suggests that we are making progress. What concerns me now is that the important elements of the society that are so deeply committed to denial will be unable to adjust when it becomes untenable.” (Pg. 277)
I’m largely a UFO skeptic, but Strieber seems more ‘sincere’ than many others are. At any rate, this book will be of great interest for those studying UFOs, ‘alien abductions,’ etc.
September 24, 2019
Whitley Strieber continues to examine his contact with the beings he calls "the visitors." He maintains his position that these are not merely extraterrestrial aliens, rather highly evolved beings with the ability to access levels of reality beyond what we can currently perceive. Although many of his past encounters have been terrifying and unsettling, here Strieber makes his peace with the visitors, and comes to believe that they are trying to usher the reluctant human race into a new level of consciousness, bypassing the hidebound conservative institutions of human government and science. From the perspective of cynical 2019, it all seems sort of quaint and new-agey. Considering that in the years since this was written, things like global climate change, pollution, terrorism and war have gone from bad to worse, maybe the visitors should step it up a bit and bring on that enlightenment, we could really use it right about now.
May 31, 2012
I've already heard and read a lot about Mr. Whitley Strieber for years specially on books and Coast to Coast AM (specially) with Art Bell. But actually this is my very first book of Whitley Strieber and I liked it. It is a must read for every UFOlogist just like me. He shared a lot of things about his strange and sometimes creepy encounters with those Grey Aliens and he also disclosed some informations about the government denials regarding the real incident on Roswell, New Mexico. I will definitely get and read those other books of Whitley Strieber.
February 21, 2025
I read the two previous books in what might be called the Communion series. When I read the eponymous first work I came upon a very critical review of it by Samuel Delany in The Nation magazine. His claim was that it was fiction. To get a sense of the matter I went ahead and read several of Strieber's sf and horror novels, seeing the cinematic versions of Wolfen and The Hunger as well. Since then I've listened to several interviews with Strieber.
Strieber comes across as earnest and sincere, but not very disciplined. He tells stories, mostly of his own experiences of 'the visitors'. He doesn't much provide more than personal anecdotes, however, very occasionally claiming additional witnesses. There are no footnotes referencing sources. Distinctions between the objective and the subjective, between lucid dreams, sleep paralysis, hallucination and fantasy are not clearly drawn. His own views of the whole matter, meanwhile, have evolved quite a bit, the visitors seen more as benign herein than in previous books.
His enterprise is therefore rather slipshod and not very convincing. Still, some of the stories are intriguing...
Strieber comes across as earnest and sincere, but not very disciplined. He tells stories, mostly of his own experiences of 'the visitors'. He doesn't much provide more than personal anecdotes, however, very occasionally claiming additional witnesses. There are no footnotes referencing sources. Distinctions between the objective and the subjective, between lucid dreams, sleep paralysis, hallucination and fantasy are not clearly drawn. His own views of the whole matter, meanwhile, have evolved quite a bit, the visitors seen more as benign herein than in previous books.
His enterprise is therefore rather slipshod and not very convincing. Still, some of the stories are intriguing...
June 27, 2024
Breakthrough
Whitly Strieber
Strieber points out how the government, the scientists, and the press are involved in a coverup and why. Whether by claiming the visitors don’t exist, or if they do, they are an invasive force, or if they don’t, they are a hoax. Through threats financial ruin or public ridicule, individuals have been forced into silence.
Consequently the visitors have turned from revealing themselves to the authorities and are concentrating on individual civilians. And lately, children. Too many people have seen the evidence to be convinced the visitors don’t exist.
As Streiber becomes more familiar with the visitors, he sees them as a broad spectrum of good and bad, just as humans exist on the same type of spectrum. He also becomes aware that as much as we fear them, they fear us. He yearns for the continued presence of the visitors, because of the benefits. In their own way they are trying to tell us how to be more loving, compassionate, and caring for the sake of our own survival.
Whitly Strieber
Strieber points out how the government, the scientists, and the press are involved in a coverup and why. Whether by claiming the visitors don’t exist, or if they do, they are an invasive force, or if they don’t, they are a hoax. Through threats financial ruin or public ridicule, individuals have been forced into silence.
Consequently the visitors have turned from revealing themselves to the authorities and are concentrating on individual civilians. And lately, children. Too many people have seen the evidence to be convinced the visitors don’t exist.
As Streiber becomes more familiar with the visitors, he sees them as a broad spectrum of good and bad, just as humans exist on the same type of spectrum. He also becomes aware that as much as we fear them, they fear us. He yearns for the continued presence of the visitors, because of the benefits. In their own way they are trying to tell us how to be more loving, compassionate, and caring for the sake of our own survival.
December 20, 2023
This is a fascinating book, whether or not you entertain the thought that "others" may be visiting, even living among us. It raises some deep questions about who we are, about what our real boundaries are, and how we may answer those questions. I read ALL of the Communion books as they came out, years ago. It was past time to revisit them.
August 11, 2018
Brutally shit
April 18, 2021
Read in 1995. Strieber recounts his alien encounters over the years. This guy doesn't quit.
Read
February 5, 2024Although I found Mr. Strieber's books to contain interesting stories, at some point I heard him speak in person and to me he was not a credible person.
January 18, 2025
A deeper examination into Whitley’s experiences as well as those around him. Holds up very well.
September 29, 2008
Review ratings will vary wildly for this book. Some will approach it because they want the excitement of a sci-fi adventure and be disappointed. The thrill with this book comes from the author's ability and determination to probe his experiences and perceptions no matter how unusual or bizarre they are.
No-one can ever know for sure whether another person has had an experience or not, but even if it is pure fiction, it reveals much about trends in our collective psyche and so does the whole UFO / visitor phenomenon. Such things arise because something in the collective psyche is expressed through it and needs it. Not everything in life is explainable or known to science and Governments and the media (including authors!) don't always tell the truth.
What remains, when you weave through all of that, is an entertaining tale that continues on from the unsettling and thought-provokiing 'Communion', and slightly more new-agey sequel 'Transformation'. Strieber shifts effortlessly from greater affirmation and sureness about the benevolence of his encounters to tackling his raw fears head-on in the pitch black of night and also unpicks a few threads that just may reveal political conspiracy to contain what is at the very least a significant psychological phenomenon.
Writing as a very down-to-earth and pragmatic someone who has had a few experiences that were utterly real and fell well and truly outside the box that we like to think is our safe, rational scientific world, I think the book is quite fascinating if fiction, and utterly compelling if true. Whether Whitley is continuing a project about a psychological trend through the eyes of a fictional self, or whether he is utterly sincere does not matter. I was gripped.
No-one can ever know for sure whether another person has had an experience or not, but even if it is pure fiction, it reveals much about trends in our collective psyche and so does the whole UFO / visitor phenomenon. Such things arise because something in the collective psyche is expressed through it and needs it. Not everything in life is explainable or known to science and Governments and the media (including authors!) don't always tell the truth.
What remains, when you weave through all of that, is an entertaining tale that continues on from the unsettling and thought-provokiing 'Communion', and slightly more new-agey sequel 'Transformation'. Strieber shifts effortlessly from greater affirmation and sureness about the benevolence of his encounters to tackling his raw fears head-on in the pitch black of night and also unpicks a few threads that just may reveal political conspiracy to contain what is at the very least a significant psychological phenomenon.
Writing as a very down-to-earth and pragmatic someone who has had a few experiences that were utterly real and fell well and truly outside the box that we like to think is our safe, rational scientific world, I think the book is quite fascinating if fiction, and utterly compelling if true. Whether Whitley is continuing a project about a psychological trend through the eyes of a fictional self, or whether he is utterly sincere does not matter. I was gripped.
May 18, 2015
Whenever Whitley Strieber publishes a book about his further adventures with his space friends, he receives bags of mail from various loons who have all of a sudden remembered having the *exact* same experiences as he describes in his books! This is obvious proof that the 'Visitors' are reading Strieber's books and are tailoring their abduction methods to match his descriptions. As a message. There is no possible alternate explanation to this phenomenon, so shut up. The Visitors don't like your questions!
February 7, 2012
This is a second reading for me. Strieber continues with his experiences with the visitors, as he calls them and the psychological trials and tribulations he goes through as they are happening. He makes some tentative conclusions that are interesting and possibly mind altering. He says that his mind has certainly been altered since first remembering what has been going on with himself and his family.
March 30, 2015
I love Whitley and his struggle with alien abduction was brilliantly told in Communion and Transformation. This book tells of his resolve and his constant struggle to accept the situation.
Once he has become "comfortable" with himself he is able to see the benefits of the experience.
Thoughtful and well written account
Once he has become "comfortable" with himself he is able to see the benefits of the experience.
Thoughtful and well written account
September 10, 2016
i had a really hard time reading this book. I read most of it, but gave up with 20 pages left. I think that Mr. Strieber is way too intelligent for me. LOL! I love his books, especially his novels, and I think I'll leave the alien books alone for a while. I was totally engrossed at times, then couldn't get through it, found myself re-reading over and over. Not for me. Sorry.
October 7, 2015
Whitley's experiences and insights are pretty amazing. I was really surprised to see how much of the Key was actually presented here first.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews