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    An alternative way to explore and explain the mysteries of our world. "Published since 1985, online since 2001."

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Book Reviews Perceptions Magazine, November 2021










Time Travel:
The Science and Science Fiction
By Nick Redfern

Visible Ink Press
43311 Joy Rd., #414
Canton, MI 48187-2075
2022, 352 pages, Paperback, U.S. $19.95
ISBN: 1-57859-723-9
www.visibleinkpress.com

Review by Bent Raynes

Nick Redfern, the prolific, full-time British author transplant to Texas, the writer of more than 50 books on a full spectrum of high-strange phenomena, ranging from UFOs, Men in Black [and Women in Black too], Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, government conspiracies and more, this time brings us a very comprehensive perspective on virtually everything known or knowable on time travel, in both science fiction and science related fact, though the facts are presently quite speculative and it can be challenging at times to completely separate the two with genuine precision.

I was a little surprised when I couldn’t find any mention of the late Marc Davenport and his book Visitors From Time (1992-94), which even had blurbs from such noted icons in the field as John Keel, Whitley Strieber, Raymond E. Fowler and Dr. R. Leo Sprinkle. However, there’s certainly a very extensive range of information here that Redfern tackles on this thought-provoking subject and while it isn’t my intention to insinuate any sort of neglect on Davenport’s absence in Redfern’s book, as someone who read his book, interviewed him, met him in person, and respected his work, I felt it would have been negligent of me if I hadn’t included mention of his noteworthy contribution to this controversial and intriguing subject as well.

Now with that out of the way, there’s plenty of fascinating and first-rate material that Redfern introduces to his reading audience that I need to now address. And, alas, where should one begin. Each reviewer will be inclined to select their favorite parts, of which there are many. One of mine was the one where Andrew Collins [who I’ve also had the distinct pleasure of meeting and respect fully] and a couple of his colleagues once spent a week in Scotland investigating the Nessie mystery. It was at this time that they came upon a local story of a young man and woman who had gone riding a horse and trap down to the south shores of Loch Ness and were never seen again. Foul play was suspected. Then, more than a hundred years later, a young man and woman arrived at a local almshouse and asked the priest there if they could have shelter for the night. The priest naturally obliged but couldn’t help but notice the confused and dazed state of the couple, who curiously weren’t even able to explain where they were from. Plus, and get this, the priest also noticed how the couple were dressed in clothing that was popular a century or so earlier. After a couple of days, the couple walked outside and were never seen again. A time slip, Redfern wonders?

In chapter 27, Redfern devotes a whole section on very strange phenomena at the Loch, a section he entitled The Loch Ness Doorways. There was the incident where renowned Nessie hunter Ted Holiday was involved in an exorcism of the beasts of the Loch, which he came to feel were from a supernatural realm, and how soon afterwards he had a very strange encounter with an apparitional MIB-type being, that he approached very closely, that then impossibly disappeared, and how exactly a year later, at exactly the same location of his MIB encounter, he suffered a near fatal heart attack.

In addition to the tantalizing inferences that cases just cited from this book make, the theoretical sciences for example of the Einstein-Rosen bridge, a hypothetical region of warped space-time where tunnels [commonly called wormholes] may allow us shortcuts across distant points in space. But as Stephen Hawking pointed out, in describing the scenario of a spaceship circling a black hole, “The ship and its crew would be traveling through time. Imagine they circled the black hole for five of their years. Ten years would pass elsewhere. When they got home, everyone on Earth would have aged five years more than they had.” While Redfern explores the admittedly unconfirmed fringe tales of time travel research at the Montauk Air Force Station in New York and the wild and ever popular “Philadelphia Experiment,” he does reference more authenticated and respected sources like astrophysicist Eric W. Davis who believes that time travel may be possible, and who is mentioned in a document released from the Air Force under the Freedom of Information Act where Davis prepared a document entitled “The Teleportation Physics Study” for the Air Force Research Laboratory, implying in his report that “anomalous teleportation has been scientifically investigated and separately documented by the Department of Defense.”

And, of course, Redfern’s book delves into the imagination stretching world of science fiction and its treatment of the subject of time travel, from the BBC’s undoubtedly most famous time traveler Doctor Who, to H. G. Wells’s 1895 classic The Time Machine, and many other fictional portrayals of time travel. With lavish illustrations and photographs, abundant and thought-provoking content, with a healthy bibliography and an index, this book may just inspire and launch you the reader into your own time travel research…and possible adventures?


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The Path of Freemasonry:
The Crafty A Spiritual Practice
By Mark Stavish

Inner Traditions
One Park Street
Rochester, Vermont 05767
2007, 2021, 272 pages, 6 x 9, U.S. $19.99
20 b&w illustrations
www.InnerTraditions.com

Reviewed by Brent Raynes

The author, Mark Stavish, is a recognized authority on Western spiritual traditions. He’s authored some 26 books, published in 9 languages. His previous writings include such books as The Path of Alchemy and Egregore’s. He founded and is the director of the Institute for Hermetic Studies and the Louis Claude de St. Martin Fund, and maintains a blog called VOXHERMES. He’s appeared on numerous radio shows, television, as well as in print media, including the New York Times.

The Path of Freemasonry is designed to be a practical guide that provides spiritual lessons and rituals of Freemasonry. Stavish wrote it for anyone interested, Masons and non-Masons, men and women alike, detailing the rich history and meaning of Freemasonry and its symbols. He draws upon esoteric doctrines that include Qabala, alchemy, sacred geometry, John Dee’s angelic magic, and more, providing simple practices like dreamwork, journaling, meditation prayer and knowledge of sacred architecture that helps the reader to apply this ancient spiritual wisdom and guidance in their own lives.


Thursday, March 28, 2024