Hypnotic Growth, Exploration and Healing for Mind, Body, Spirit and Beyond Brooklyn Center, MN 763-257-7334 e-mail: craig@craigrlang.com
November/December 2008 - What Happens Next... I recently finished writing up my notes from follow-up interviews with a number experiencers I’ve met over the last several years. I wrote about several of them in The Cosmic Bridge, documenting how a person's encounter experiences constitute a form of relationship with the phenomenon. More recently, I've been interested to learn what has happened since. How has each person's relationship evolved during their lives? Over time, how has each person come to terms with the presence of the Visitors? So far, the results have been consistent, interesting, and in some ways, surprising. So read on... This is only the humble beginnings of a long endeavor. To date, I've re-interviewed only a fraction of those I have worked with over the last ten-plus years - I have a lot more work to do. Yet nearly universally, I have found that the relationship does indeed evolve. Like all aspects of life, each person’s experiences seem to pass through distinct stages. To some degree they appear consistent, suggesting that there is a lifecycle to a person's “career” as an experiencer. When I first meet someone has had encounter(s), it is often because they have had a frightening or puzzling experience. These unexplained influences may bring challenge and chaos to their lives. They may have had a lifelong history of strange events, but only recently become aware of a UFO connection, and this awareness often hits them like a ton of bricks. The result can range from powerful curiosity to overwhelming fear. While under it all lies an unfulfilled need for answers - and eventually, reconciliation. This time-period in the experiencer's life, I will refer to as the crisis stage. Toward the end of each interview, I have asked each experiencer what pearls of wisdom they had for people going through this crisis stage. More than one told me that the first and most important thing is to get a handle on the fear. One can do this in any number of ways, including counseling, hypnotherapy - or just talking with a (very) trusted friend. Yet in the end, fear turns out to be the biggest enemy of the experiencer. The next thing, many told me, is to begin to rebuild one's shattered reality. For most people, it is necessary to have some form of mental model of their world. In short, the world needs to make sense, if only temporarily, until a yet-clearer picture emerges. Somehow, the experiencer needs to rebuild their reality in a way that can incorporate their encounters. The third thing experiencers have told me – It is important to discern whether there might be a lesson in one’s encounters. Several have described how the Visitors seemed to be trying to convey the message that they have free will, and more mental power than they ever imagined. Others have described various gifts – psychic abilities, healing talents, sophisticated mathematical or esoteric knowledge, new levels of spiritual awareness, etc. The phenomenon appears to be a mixed bag, and the positive side of encounters can contain many such advances. However, if there are gifts lessons inherent in one’s encounters, how do they fit in with one’s own beliefs? Many of the perceptions and events that come with the UFO encounter challenge our discernment. The Visitors often tell lies, offering visions and prophecies that seldom if ever come true. Each person needs to use his/her own discernment. How does what the aliens tell you square with your own personal beliefs?. Often, many experiencers say that, once they come to terms with the phenomenon, they in some way become transformed. While the crisis stage may be painful, many ultimately find themselves looking back upon it favorably. Whitley Strieber, among others, speaks of an initiatory aspect to this phase, a challenge that leads to a higher level of awareness. It can be a driver for growth, and in the end, the result is often positive. . Once resolution has occurred, several experiencers have indicated that the phenomenon has become far less visible in their life. Many effects, such as paranormal fallout and psychic sensitivity, may continue unabated. Yet actual visitor encounters appear to fade away to almost nothing. Those experiencers who have also had other types of extraordinary events in their lives say that close encounters become just one more anomaly - taking their place in the larger pantheon of the extraordinary.. Each experiencer needs to decide how to resolve their relationship with the Visitors. I often ask an experiencer what they would like that relationship to be. Do they want to come to terms with it, incorporating it into their lives? Do they want to shut it out entirely? Do they want to fight it, deny it, or form some other relationship altogether? Most I have talked with to date have chosen the first path - incorporating it into their lives. In addition, a few readers will doubt that a positive "coming to terms" response is likely – or even possible. Some have described their experiences as far more negative. Yet many have described them ultimately as positive – all things considered. . While eventual acceptance appears to be the theme, I have noted a number of interesting variations. At least one person indicated that he was not interested in talking to me, as he was not an abductee - even though in the past, he had described various Visitor encounters. Several others have described themselves as contactees, or similar (positive – not abductees), while others have described overwhelmingly negative experiences. Yet, in all cases, the evolution of the person’s encounters through phases appears to be there. In cases where present-day interaction is benevolent, events in the past may have varied tremendously perhaps being considerably less positive. Still, in nearly every case, the effect was some form of profound growth, spiritual or otherwise.. In summary, there are many forms of interaction and many stages to the phenomenal lifecycle. But in most cases, there appears to be a pattern - stages progressing from pre-awareness, to crisis, to resolution, to acceptance and finally, to growth and learning. And for some, this might be the biggest lesson of all. Perhaps interaction with the Visitors is just one more means of fostering growth and awakening.. Like other extraordinary events, the Visitor experience challenges us, shattering our reality. Like any challenge, it forces us to cope, to rebuild and renew, an opportunity to grow stronger. For some, this might even be a gift. For after the darkness comes the light – it is the gift of what happens next.
Bio: Craig R.
Lang is a field investigator with Mutual UFO Network, and is a certified
clinical hypnotherapist with the
National Guild
of Hypnotists. He
lives in
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