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Ecology of Souls: A New Mythology of Death & the Paranormal - Vols. One & Two
*** The Ecology of Souls eBook contains both Volume One and Volume Two. ***
Volume
We live our entire lives knowing that death awaits us. The hopeful believe—they insist—that some part of us endures after we make our final transition. Their convictions are corroborated by eyewitnesses who swear to have seen spirits of the dead haunting the living... and even appearing during alien abductions.
Is the UFO mystery reaching out to us from beyond the stars... or from beyond the grave?
This staggering implication demands not only scrutiny of the UFO phenomenon but nearly every unexplained mystery haunting us today. In this first of two volumes, Joshua Cutchin takes readers on a methodical journey through ancient traditions to lay the crucial foundation for a new mythology of death and the paranormal.
Welcome to the ecology of souls.
Volume
From altered states of consciousness and hauntings to ancient civilizations and UFOs, paranormal phenomena seem to share a common suite of attributes. But why do these disparate fields have so much in common?
The answer may have been hiding in plain death, the greatest mystery of all, binds together the entirety of the supernatural.
Drawing upon a wealth of supporting evidence from his first entry, Joshua Cutchin concludes Ecology of Souls with an exploration of how death manifests both across the UFO phenomenon as well as in sightings of cryptids, those animals whose very existence conventional science denies. A shocking possibility reveals that supposed "extraterrestrials" may be more invested in souls than spaceships... and, in fact, may not be so alien after all.
PRAISE FOR ECOLOGY OF SOULS
“Those of us who work in these strangest of folklores work with conjectures, not certainties, with intuitions, not conclusions. Still, there are particularly gifted writers whom I profoundly trust to guide me. Joshua Cutchin is among them. Here are yet two more big books from him on a global comparison that many of us have made but no one has pursued to the literal ends of the earth, as he has here—that between the world of the dead and the world of the UFO. Please read these books. And please recognize that when we can only speak of these glowing presences as ‘threats’ in the sky, we might as well be trying to shoot down souls. Good luck with that.”
— Jeffrey J. Kripal, J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Religion, Associate Dean of the School of Humanities, Rice University
“In Ecology of Souls, Joshua Cutchin makes the case for an ecological perspective on the paranormal, with the processes of death and dying seen as essential clues for unravelling its mysteries. Paranormal entities of all different kinds are conceived as psychopomps performing ancient cosmic functions—ushering souls in their transition to the other side. By applying comparative methods—examining patterns across different cultural and folkloric traditions, and exploring commonalities between experiential narratives—Cutchin builds an argument for the centrality of death in all manner of paranormal experiences. This book is a bold and innovative contribution to Fortean research and scholarship, and a kaleidoscopic expedition into the wilds of the paranormal ecosystem.”
— Jack Hunter, PhD, editor of Greening the Exploring the Ecology of Extraordinary Experience
“In a world where there are an infinite amount of questions, Joshua Cutchin has some of the answers
Volume
We live our entire lives knowing that death awaits us. The hopeful believe—they insist—that some part of us endures after we make our final transition. Their convictions are corroborated by eyewitnesses who swear to have seen spirits of the dead haunting the living... and even appearing during alien abductions.
Is the UFO mystery reaching out to us from beyond the stars... or from beyond the grave?
This staggering implication demands not only scrutiny of the UFO phenomenon but nearly every unexplained mystery haunting us today. In this first of two volumes, Joshua Cutchin takes readers on a methodical journey through ancient traditions to lay the crucial foundation for a new mythology of death and the paranormal.
Welcome to the ecology of souls.
Volume
From altered states of consciousness and hauntings to ancient civilizations and UFOs, paranormal phenomena seem to share a common suite of attributes. But why do these disparate fields have so much in common?
The answer may have been hiding in plain death, the greatest mystery of all, binds together the entirety of the supernatural.
Drawing upon a wealth of supporting evidence from his first entry, Joshua Cutchin concludes Ecology of Souls with an exploration of how death manifests both across the UFO phenomenon as well as in sightings of cryptids, those animals whose very existence conventional science denies. A shocking possibility reveals that supposed "extraterrestrials" may be more invested in souls than spaceships... and, in fact, may not be so alien after all.
PRAISE FOR ECOLOGY OF SOULS
“Those of us who work in these strangest of folklores work with conjectures, not certainties, with intuitions, not conclusions. Still, there are particularly gifted writers whom I profoundly trust to guide me. Joshua Cutchin is among them. Here are yet two more big books from him on a global comparison that many of us have made but no one has pursued to the literal ends of the earth, as he has here—that between the world of the dead and the world of the UFO. Please read these books. And please recognize that when we can only speak of these glowing presences as ‘threats’ in the sky, we might as well be trying to shoot down souls. Good luck with that.”
— Jeffrey J. Kripal, J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Religion, Associate Dean of the School of Humanities, Rice University
“In Ecology of Souls, Joshua Cutchin makes the case for an ecological perspective on the paranormal, with the processes of death and dying seen as essential clues for unravelling its mysteries. Paranormal entities of all different kinds are conceived as psychopomps performing ancient cosmic functions—ushering souls in their transition to the other side. By applying comparative methods—examining patterns across different cultural and folkloric traditions, and exploring commonalities between experiential narratives—Cutchin builds an argument for the centrality of death in all manner of paranormal experiences. This book is a bold and innovative contribution to Fortean research and scholarship, and a kaleidoscopic expedition into the wilds of the paranormal ecosystem.”
— Jack Hunter, PhD, editor of Greening the Exploring the Ecology of Extraordinary Experience
“In a world where there are an infinite amount of questions, Joshua Cutchin has some of the answers
1405 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 7, 2022
79 people are currently reading
223 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 2, 2023
Cutchin's Ecology of Souls is a fascinating in depth look at the connections between a range of phenomena, from UFOs/aliens, to NDEs, to fairies. The book carefully explores each topic providing enough depth for a reader to become familiar with the ideas but also offering food for thought which allows readers to draw their own conclusions from the evidence provided. Having read Cutchin's previous works, Trojan Feast and Thieves in the Night, I found this one very much inline with those works and admire the author's ability to explain and connect various anomalies and folk beliefs into a cohesive whole. I do recommend people read both volumes and the companion book which contains the footnotes and a 120+ bibliography in order to fully appreciate the content and the material being presented.
January 22, 2023
Ecology of Souls is a monumental work. Joshua Cutchin has pulled together many strands of traditional and modern folklore, UFOlogy and philosophy to produce a book that digs deep into the mythology of paranormal activity, while always linking it to the common thread of our most pressing concern: death. It is expansive, ranging over nearly 1500 pages in two volumes, with a separate volume of source references, which guide the reader towards a wealth of data on all the subject matters discussed. The first volume is primarily concerned with the faerie phenomenon, explaining why the concept of death is at the heart of so many of the traditional belief systems and how it might inform our modern conceptualisation of what faeries are. The second volume turns towards aliens, and how this particular paranormal subject is linked deeply with the faerie phenomenon, and ultimately with consciousness and death. The book draws heavily on the works of Terence McKenna (the title is taken from McKenna’s description of the entities experienced under the influence of DMT) and Carl Jung, and manages to clarify much of their, sometimes, ambiguous writings into a satisfying, holistic assessment of why death is at the heart of so much paranormal activity, producing a work that is truly a new mythology. Thoroughly recommended.
January 27, 2023
It took me a month to read Ecology of Souls: A New Mythology of Death & the Paranormal – Volume One & Two. The print version of this two book series is 1,405 pages. I read the two books as a Kindle Unlimited download. Many thanks to the author for making this book available on KU.
If you write about faeries, the paranormal, aliens, UFO’s, cryptids, monsters, the Otherworld, death, psychopomps, altered states of consciousness, magic, witches, folklore, Jungian Archetypes, Reincarnation, shamanism, or mythology, these are the books for you!
My Recommendation:
This was a massive read! It took me a month to devour. But there is so much in this book that made sense to me. I’m buying my own Kindle copy of the books, because if you write paranormal fiction or poetry, this is a book to use for reference, again and again!
Let’s start with the first word I had to look up: psychopomp.
A psychopomp is a being, possibly a god or a person acting as a shaman, who guides the spirits of the dead to the afterlife or the otherworld. Think of a psychopomp as a soul gatherer…
Now, find the threads of connection from psychopomps to faeries, UFOs, cryptids, ghosts, spirits, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, etc. Do I have your interest?
Cutchin has compiled thousands of occurrences of near-death experiences, faery encounters, and otherworldly experiences that connect these phenomena to death and the afterlife.
The correlations are believable, even if some data comes from folktales. The questions to ask yourself is how much truth was buried within the myths? How much of the truth was misinterpreted? How come we didn’t connect the dots sooner?
The section that compared faery encounters to modern day alien encounters opened my eyes to another interpretation. Faeries have long been associated with the Otherworld and death. I’d never looked at an alien encounter in the same way. After reading this book, I can see the connections. I’m a believer.
I own Whitley Strieber’s best-selling series Communion, Transformation, and Breakthrough, which all chronicles his experiences with UFOs and abduction. Cutchins draws on Strieber’s experiences and knowledge often.
Now, after all these years since the Communion books were first published, Strieber contends that these experiences have something to do with death. They connect to the liminal—the Veil between the worlds where the aliens act as psychopomps, inviting us to cross over into the unknown.
In fact, Cutchins points out, if you look at the alien portrayed on the cover of Communion, you will see an image similar to the descriptions of faeries found in Celtic mythology. Those large, black eyes are often described in faery encounters.
This is a diverse study of paranormal phenomena, and how death and our consciousness are all connected. The books are much more than just witness accounts. Included is a separate volume to cover all the citations and references.
Read the books and draw your own conclusions.
If you write about faeries, the paranormal, aliens, UFO’s, cryptids, monsters, the Otherworld, death, psychopomps, altered states of consciousness, magic, witches, folklore, Jungian Archetypes, Reincarnation, shamanism, or mythology, these are the books for you!
My Recommendation:
This was a massive read! It took me a month to devour. But there is so much in this book that made sense to me. I’m buying my own Kindle copy of the books, because if you write paranormal fiction or poetry, this is a book to use for reference, again and again!
Let’s start with the first word I had to look up: psychopomp.
A psychopomp is a being, possibly a god or a person acting as a shaman, who guides the spirits of the dead to the afterlife or the otherworld. Think of a psychopomp as a soul gatherer…
Now, find the threads of connection from psychopomps to faeries, UFOs, cryptids, ghosts, spirits, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, etc. Do I have your interest?
Cutchin has compiled thousands of occurrences of near-death experiences, faery encounters, and otherworldly experiences that connect these phenomena to death and the afterlife.
The correlations are believable, even if some data comes from folktales. The questions to ask yourself is how much truth was buried within the myths? How much of the truth was misinterpreted? How come we didn’t connect the dots sooner?
The section that compared faery encounters to modern day alien encounters opened my eyes to another interpretation. Faeries have long been associated with the Otherworld and death. I’d never looked at an alien encounter in the same way. After reading this book, I can see the connections. I’m a believer.
I own Whitley Strieber’s best-selling series Communion, Transformation, and Breakthrough, which all chronicles his experiences with UFOs and abduction. Cutchins draws on Strieber’s experiences and knowledge often.
Now, after all these years since the Communion books were first published, Strieber contends that these experiences have something to do with death. They connect to the liminal—the Veil between the worlds where the aliens act as psychopomps, inviting us to cross over into the unknown.
In fact, Cutchins points out, if you look at the alien portrayed on the cover of Communion, you will see an image similar to the descriptions of faeries found in Celtic mythology. Those large, black eyes are often described in faery encounters.
This is a diverse study of paranormal phenomena, and how death and our consciousness are all connected. The books are much more than just witness accounts. Included is a separate volume to cover all the citations and references.
Read the books and draw your own conclusions.
March 10, 2023
'Ecology of Souls' explores the idea/concept that aliens, bigfoot, near death experiences, elves, psychedelics, ghosts are related.
It's hard to elaborate on this, but be aware that the author has done extensive research.
There's only one problem : Cutchin draws on Whitley Strieber’s experiences , writings and knowledge quite often.
I am a sceptic on Strieber .Why? Because he was a fantasy writer who suddenly became an expert on alien abductions.
Some of his claims :
'Strieber had involvement in a secret school from August-October 1952 at Randolph Air Force Base, where military personnel “utilized something called a Skinner Box” to enhance his learning abilities.'
'Strieber accessed a previous incarnation spent in ancient Rome as tutor to Gaius Octavius, future emperor Caesar Augustus.'
'Kobolds are the ones who control the movement of souls.' And so on...
Finally, I can recommend this excellent podcast where the writer is a frequent guest :https://www.wheredidtheroadgo.com/
It's hard to elaborate on this, but be aware that the author has done extensive research.
There's only one problem : Cutchin draws on Whitley Strieber’s experiences , writings and knowledge quite often.
I am a sceptic on Strieber .Why? Because he was a fantasy writer who suddenly became an expert on alien abductions.
Some of his claims :
'Strieber had involvement in a secret school from August-October 1952 at Randolph Air Force Base, where military personnel “utilized something called a Skinner Box” to enhance his learning abilities.'
'Strieber accessed a previous incarnation spent in ancient Rome as tutor to Gaius Octavius, future emperor Caesar Augustus.'
'Kobolds are the ones who control the movement of souls.' And so on...
Finally, I can recommend this excellent podcast where the writer is a frequent guest :https://www.wheredidtheroadgo.com/
March 26, 2024
I finished this around 3 am this morning ( insomnia) and sat until dawn, wrapped in a blanket, thinking it all over. It's so good, and so important, so relevant and so very essential, that I thought there would be thousands, upon thousands of reviews. I don't know why they are not that many, possibly, people have not discovered this authors books? Where did this author come from anyway? Until a month ago, I'd never heard of him and now, he's my all time favourite non fiction author. I'm fussy with non fiction, I like to feel in awe of someones mind, and I like information I don't already know, which is difficult now because I read and learn so much. For me, this was a masterpiece. I couldn't turn the pages quickly enough. It's put together perfectly, and written perfectly. As with the authors other books, I'm going to read them all, and then reread them at a slower pace. It left me in awe, the possibilities, the wonder, the understanding. Amazing.
October 31, 2022
This is a deep dive into what can be only dubbed a universal human mythos, transcending from ancient gods and spirits, through fairies, ghosts, possessions and demons into UFOs, greys and Pleiadians.
One can easily assume that given the sheer volume of material collected, there has to be something about it that is true. For me, however, the only part that is true is that humans are afraid to die and our brains can give us some serious trips in order to deal with the idea.
I have yet to be persuaded that any of the phenomena exist outside the heads of people experiencing them.
But damn, now I know so much about fairies I will be guest of honour at any party.
My only problem with the book is that it is so damn huge... on the other hand, it goes through literally everything you wanted to know about the paranormal phenomena but were afraid to ask.
One can easily assume that given the sheer volume of material collected, there has to be something about it that is true. For me, however, the only part that is true is that humans are afraid to die and our brains can give us some serious trips in order to deal with the idea.
I have yet to be persuaded that any of the phenomena exist outside the heads of people experiencing them.
But damn, now I know so much about fairies I will be guest of honour at any party.
My only problem with the book is that it is so damn huge... on the other hand, it goes through literally everything you wanted to know about the paranormal phenomena but were afraid to ask.
January 23, 2023
Wonderful survey of UFOs, death, afterlife, and beyond. Many cases discussed. Veteran readers of UFOs, paranormal etc will genuinely get new insights and balanced speculation. Really a mind blowing ride. I really enjoyed this book.
Cutchin's vast survey, mastery of the paranormal, and skepticism balanced with speculation on the unknown.
Comparable to John Keel and Caverns, Cauldrons, and Concealed Creatures: A Study of Subterranean Mysteries in History, Folklore, and Myth by Wm. Michael Mott.
Cutchin's vast survey, mastery of the paranormal, and skepticism balanced with speculation on the unknown.
Comparable to John Keel and Caverns, Cauldrons, and Concealed Creatures: A Study of Subterranean Mysteries in History, Folklore, and Myth by Wm. Michael Mott.
February 12, 2023
Amazing books and an essential read in this field. Not much more to say.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews