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“Minister, Activist, Mystic”: A Review of Enlightenment by Rev. Michael J. S. Carter

 (Pisgah Press, 2023). ISBN: 978-1-942016-81-6 Amongst the masses of every generation, there are those who possess such a strong Vision, clear Voice, and dedication to the betterment of humankind that they rise above the noise with a message of Hope, Love, and Enlightenment to which we all should pay attention. Reverend Michael J. S. Carter, who shepherds a flock of Unitarian Universalists (UUs) in western North Carolina, is one of those rare individuals who possess both strength of Conviction and depth of Humility. If you watch the History Channel’s Ancient Aliens , you may have seen Rev. Carter. He is easy to spot—a rare African American voice in the world of UFOlogy and the paranormal. Having an actor’s training (he has led many intersecting, cumulatively synergistic lives), Rev. Carter has a pleasant voice, soothing cadence, and commanding presence. He knows of what he speaks. I first met my Reverend Brother several years ago, through a mutual colleague in UFOlogy. I have

“The Advantages of Authenticity”: A Review of You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up: Stories of a Badass Life by Stephanie Geller

  (Precocity Press, 2024). ISBN: 979-8-9892043-7-3 From Waffle House waitress to millionaire investment professional (achieved by the age of 40), Stephanie Geller is a modern success story. Throughout this series of anecdotes that travel back and forth through time, grouped thematically with section titles such as “Work Hard, Play Hard” and “Not Everyone Gets a Trophy,” Geller proves that Authenticity is key and, if you prefer high heels, your footwear never has to change as you go from rags to riches. From its short, sharp, whimsically rendered sentences to its road-less-traveled humor and celebrations of victory in loss, You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up: Stories of a Badass Life is proof positive that how we choose to live and tell our story truly matters. There are divorces, deaths, and more than a few debacles in both her childhood and adulthood (with an adolescence that plays as pure cinematic 1980s teen dramedy). Through it all, Geller is never afraid to embark on the Hero’s Jour

“ETs Among Us”: A Review of Earth’s Galactic History: And Its Extraterrestrial Connection by Constance Victoria Briggs

   (Adventures Unlimited Press, 2024). ISBN: 978-1-948803-62-5 Over the past several years, through the publication and positive reviews of her Encyclopedia of Moon Mysteries and The Moon’s Galactic History , Constance Victoria Briggs has become a leading authority on the subject of visitations to Earth and the Moon by extraterrestrials. There are two reasons for her ascendancy into this well-deserved, hard-earned position. First, Briggs does exhaustive amounts of research, structuring her books like PhD dissertations (the structural design of MGH and EGH is similar). Second, she remains a hopeful but very staunch skeptic. She is primarily a reporter. She presents the facts and lets the reader do with them what they will, without gloss. In this way, she is like Dr. Michael Salla and Paul Blake Nelson. Although she traverses the same landscapes as the Ancient Alien crowd (one of whom, David Childress, is her publisher), Briggs is the Joe Friday of the bunch: “Just the facts.” In

“Clearing Past Hurts for a Healthier, Happier Now”: A Review of Soul Healing: Breaking the Chains of Past Life Influence by Carole Serene Borgens and the Divine Spirit Wisdom Source, Pax

  (Waterside Productions, 2023). ISBN: 978-1-960583-84-0 A few years ago, I reviewed Do Unto Earth: It’s Not Too Late , by Penelope Jean Hayes with Carole Serene Borgens, Channeler (2020). Borgens channels a being named Pax, the Divine Wisdom Source—who was the uncredited author of roughly half the text of that book, which dealt with such pressing subjects as climate change, fossil fuels, and the future survival of humankind. My wife is a psychic medium, energy healer, and certified past life regressionist and hypnotist who channels information in much the same way as Borgens, so I accept that Pax is providing this information. In addition to witnessing my wife’s automatic writing, I’ve been studying channeling for more than a decade, from the lens of both a paranormal investigator applying numerous tools for evaluation and as a lifelong actor and acting teacher/director with three decades of professional experience. Watching a channeler who is allowing a higher being to speak throug

“Diner Physics”: A Review of The Diner at the Dawn of the Universe by David Bonn

   (prepublication version, 2023). An echo of the Absurdist English tradition, The Diner at the Dawn of the Universe is 1984 meets Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy , with a hint of Terry Pratchett and Robert Anton Wilson. Existing in an un-time at a 20th-century Americana diner of the mind (to borrow from Ferlinghetti), this fast-paced juke-ramble unfolds in a dystopian/symmetrian universe, somewhere between “the itch and the scratch.” Think Kerouac’s On the Road , Bukowski’s “Nirvana,” and apropos episodes of The Twilight Zone , and you are nearly there, with entropy and quanta juicing up the jazz. Our protagonist is Dave, who came to work at this patina-of-entropy diner and wound up running the show when the owner/caretaker stepped out and never returned. Don’t feel bad for Dave—the food is served by replicators, ala The Jetsons and Star Trek . Note the name Dave. Names are simple here… there are Dick and Jane. Names are all that’s simple… A quarter of the way into it, we

“This Is Not a Myth, Part 1”: A Review of Enuma Elish: The Original Text With Brief Commentary by Ken Goudsward

  “This Is Not a Myth, Part 1”: A Review of Enuma Elish: The Original Text With Brief Commentary by Ken Goudsward (Dimensionfold Publishing, 2021). ISBN: 978-1-989940-39-6 Several weeks ago, I wrote a review of The Atrahasis Epic , which is actually the sequel to Enuma Elish . Although there are subtle differences in how certain peoples and events are portrayed between the two creation stories, there is an overall coherent picture of ancient exopolitics, computer engineering, and impressive biotech. Some background to start us off. Enuma Elish , which comes to us from Mesopotamia, is also called The Seven Tablets of Creation and is translated as “When on High.” Goudsward, an accomplished systems analyst and researcher (and author in his own right), uses a translation by W. G. Lambert as his basis for his groundbreaking commentary. Goudsward gives us all the tools we need to engage with and understand this complicated work. He gives us a cast of characters at the onset and a summ

“This Is Not a Myth, Part 2”: A Review of The Atrahasis Epic: A Sumerian Tale of Irrigation, Floods, & the Creation of Man by Ken Goudsward

  (Dimensionfold Publishing, 2023). ISBN: 978-1-989940-84-6 As part of my decades-long research into both mythology and UFOlogy, I have long been interested in the Mesopotamian creation and flood stories, including the cultures of the Mesopotamian region—the Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians, and Akkadians that set them into stone. The theories of Zecharia Sitchin are particularly appealing, related as they are to The Epic of Gilgamesh and the idea of interstellar travelers called the Annunaki coming to Earth and being mistaken for gods. Instinctually, this has always felt “right” to me. As I have come to know the polymath Ken Goudsward over the past six months, I have an ever-increasing appreciation and respect for his scholarship and theories. He is a serious, dedicated researcher and author who tells it as he sees it, as demonstrated in his commentary for his book with Barbara M. DeLong, Before Roswell: The Secret History of UFOs , a reference guide I use at least once a week.