Book Reviews Perceptions Magazine, July 2023
Catching the Ascension Wave:
Everything You Need to Know about the Coming Great Awakening
By Bob Frissell
Inner Traditions
Bear & Company
One Park Street
Rochester, Vermont 05767
2023, 288 pages, 6 x 9 Paperback, US $20.00
15 b&w illustrations
ISBN: 978-1-59143-455-9
Reviewed by Brent Raynes
The author of Catching the Ascension Wave, Bob Frissell, is the founder of the Breath Alchemy Technique, has taught breathwork for over thirty-five years, is a senior student of Leonard Orr in rebirthing and Drunvalo Melchizedek in the Flower of Life. He’s the author of several books, including the bestseller Nothing in This Book Is True, But It’s Exactly How Things Are.
Hmmm. While I’m not so sure I agree 100% that this book nails this stuff down, I do always strive to keep something of an open mind, so maybe, maybe not. Maybe it’s like his best seller, nothing true but that’s how it is. I’m not sure how to incorporate this talk of a Galactic Super Wave composed of higher dimensional energy that can lead humanity to transformative higher states of consciousness. Did I miss this in some edition of Science Digest? Nonetheless, the author does share with the reader a variety of exercises, tools, and techniques that you the reader can try and utilize in gaining access to your ‘’Higher Self’’ and hopefully bring about the birth of a new humanity.
Are you game? If so, give it try. It’s all about reality testing and experimental exercises. I’m admittedly skeptical of the Secret Space Program [secrets are hard to prove], the New World Order aspect [not a big fan of conspiracies], and certainly the Venusian and other ET races who supposedly have intervened in our human affairs.
I walk a cautious, where’s the proof tightrope. Of course, to each their own.
I really am open minded and objective, though some might disagree with that. I know some think I explore and ponder some pretty oddball and controversial things. Is this all truly and exactly how things are? Great if it is, I suppose. Read the book and decide for yourself. I’m still cautiously trying to find my way.
The Closest Encounter: The True Story of Calvin Parker
Story: Martin Powell; Artwork: Jason Gleaves
With Calvin Parker, Philip Mantle and Brent Raynes, and based on the book by Calvin Parker
Moonstone Books
Published July 1, 2023
Review by Lee Paqui [UFO Research Queensland]
On October 11 1973, Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker had an encounter with a UFO and its occupants that would change both of their lives forever. It would also change the face of ufology, bringing to the field an entirely different kind of encounter experience at that time – one that was neither nice nor friendly, and was peopled by a type of humanoid being that had not been reported before.
Owing to the extreme publicity that the story generated, the lives of Hickson and Parker were quite literally turned upside down. Hounded by the press, an assortment of UFO researchers and the plain old UFO-curious, both men approached their experience differently – Hickson seemed to accept this as a means of alerting the world to this new and novel danger, while Parker turned himself inward and shunned any kind of attention. It is only in recent years that Calvin Parker has spoken more openly about his story in a bid to both set the record straight, and to perhaps purge himself of years of fear and unexplained memories.
The graphic novel ‘The Closest Encounter: The True Story of Calvin Parker,’ does a great job of visually conveying to the world the events of that night in a format that expresses both the horror and the strangeness of Calvin’s experience. And it works. Jason Gleaves’ artwork is both evocative and expressive, and the use of monochrome very effectively draws the reader into the distant and dreamlike world of the 1970s. The limited colour palette also serves to tone down the lurid quality that is inescapable with such an event, something that a full colour scheme would have inadvertently accentuated. The use of first-person voice in the captioning takes us right into the heart of young Calvin’s psyche as he navigates not only the trauma of the event itself, but also the disruptive aftermath and how it affected the rest of his life. ‘The Closest Encounter: The True Story of Calvin Parker’ is an unexpectedly moving reading experience thanks to the careful consideration of the author and the artist, and thanks also to the honesty of Calvin as he tells his tale so many years after the event.
This graphic novel is no mere re-hash of the Pascagoula encounter, it is an exploration and a revelation as Parker reveals more about what took place inside the spaceship. He also provides information about the occupants that has not been previously described, the details of which have been carefully crafted by the artist into an accurate visual form. Parker also goes into detail about what happened when the encounter was first reported to the police and the Air Force, as well as his meetings with Dr J. Allen Hynek and Budd Hopkins, and the hypnosis sessions that he later undertook.The story follows Calvin’s journey through to more recent times, exploring other encounters he has had and even his decision to finally speak out, thanks to the urging of his wife and British UFO researcher Philip Mantle. ‘The Closest Encounter: The True Story of Calvin Parker’ is a mesmerising and thought-provoking presentation of the inexplicable, and a moving glimpse into the inner workings of Calvin Parker at that fateful time in his life. It was a stroke of genius to present this story in a graphic novel format so that readers could not only ‘see’ the events as they played out, but could also be drawn emotionally into a very unique story. I loved it.
OUT NOW BY MOONSTONE BOOKS
https://moonstonebooks.com/
