Note: The following exercises are not instructions for finding ghost whispers or any other non-proximate phenomena. Rather, it is hoped that this material will function as hints on how to look for those voices.
These instructions are hints on “how” to look, not “where” to look.
“Where” to look is left to the seeker. There are many places where one can find non-proximate voices. One such place is using the Super Beacon. However, there are many other places as well.
Safety Hint: Look for these voices in a where that is ritualized, non-ordinary, intentional, segmented from your normal routine, with a clear beginning and end.
Why call it non-proximate voices instead of ghost whispers?
Are the voices bleed-through seeping in from one parallel universe to another?
Are the voices echo of past lives or precognition of conversations yet to happen?
Perhaps the voices are ghost whispers?
Or, maybe they are pieces of telepathic communication?
Could one be taping into bits of audio memory?
Indeed what if the voices are the murmuring of guardian angels or Greek muses?
And then again they could be snippets of dreams running below the surface of your awareness.
Of course, there is also the possibility that they come from hopeful thinking, delusions, or even encouraging words from a loved one sitting by your bedside, holding your hand, talking to you because the doctor suggested it was helpful for relatives to talk to a comatose patient?
There are lots and lots and lots of different possibilities. Since these instructions are clues on “how” to look, they should be useful for pretty much any of the above phenomena.
Exercises That May Help
Why give exercises? I find the best way to give clues about “how to look” for these voices without making assumptions about where they come from is to present a series exercises and table-top demos.
Humming a Song
Gently press your lips together and hum a song, any song – provided you actually know the words. Sometimes people will hum along to a song because they do not know the words. Not in this case. Only hum a song for which you know the words. If you only know the words for one verse, then only hum that verse. You can hum the same verse over and over again if you like.
As you hum the song, make an effort to hear the enunciated words in the humming.
An example of the application of this method: Listening to a waterfall. The sound of the waterfall can be listened to as if listening to humming of a song.
Hum a Book Aloud
Use the same basic instructions as in “Humming a Song”. Only in this case the source material is not a half-remembered song. Rather, it is paragraphs from a book.
An example of the application of this method: Same as the above… or. Listening to someone vacuum the carpet. The sound of the vacuum going back and forth over the carpet fibers can be listened to as if listening to humming of phrases from a book.
(Hint for group work: if you have the chance to work with others try this. Hhave one person do the humming of the song or humming of a book aloud while the rest of the group listen. The listeners can try to determine what is being said. Working with a song is a good start – because it will give people a better chance at guessing correctly. Working with paragraphs from a book is a good follow-up. When people correctly hear words hummed from a book, they are catching the words not guessing the song based on the melody.)
A Window Screen
Find a window screen or door screen that you can work with.
Focus on the screen. Notice that you can’t perceive much about what’s outside when focused on the screen.
Look through the screen, focusing on the yard outside. Notice that the screens becomes fairly invisible and the yard comes into focus as you look through (or past) the screen.
Go back and forth between focusing on the screen and focusing through/past the screen. Do this for some time. Five or ten minutes should be good.
An example of the application of this method: Listening to static from a crystal radio. Consider the static to be akin to the screen. Focus your audio attention through (or past) the static (screen) looking to hear that which is past the screen.
Shadow Show
Find a place where it is possible to observe shadows cast by moving people, animals, vehicles, mobile sculptures, or pretty much any object that both casts a shadow and is in flux. A dancer or kinetic sculpture could be ideal.
Sit so that you can watch the shadow(s) without seeing the original elements that are casting the shadow.
As you watch the shadows do the following:
- Appreciate the whole of the backdrop that is the canvas for the shadow. If the canvas is a brick wall then appreciate the brick wall in its entirety. Don’t let the relative dark and light caused by the shadow break your awareness of the brick wall as a full thing.
- Notice how the canvas is divided into two types of area – canvas with less light, and canvas with more light. Don’t see this as shadow and non-shadow. See it as brighter canvas and darker canvas. (Brick wall, sidewalk, whatever).
- Notice how the movement of darkness on the canvas corresponds to the movement of the prime element which is casting the shadow – this could be the dancer or the child’s swing set, whatever you have selected.
- Notice how the shadow’s movement tells you enough of the tale that you can decipher what is happening.
Run through the above points three or more times during a sitting. You might want to do several sittings.
An example of the application of this method: Listening to static from a crystal radio. Gaze with your audio attention at the static. Look for a part of the static which corresponds to shadow, and a part of the static that corresponds to non-shadow. Watch the shadow with your audio attention. Pay heed to the movement of the shadow in the static. Piece together a snapshot of the voice that may be creating that moving shadow on the static and what it might be saying.
Mimic
Watch the “Lucille Ball and Harpo Marx – I Love Lucy – Mirror Sketch”. You can find this (until it is taken down) on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4YZKGpe-D0
Lucy is not Harpo. But, during the sketch Lucy mimics Harpo very well. So, by watching Lucy one could see a slightly distorted rendition of Harpo.
Watch the sketch again. This time try to ignore Harpo’s image and concentrate on “getting a picture” of Harpo through the mimicry of Lucy.
An example of the application of this method: Listening to static from a crystal radio. Allow as how the static is not the voice. However, for whatever reason, the static is mimicking the voice. As you listen to the static mimicking the voice try to make the leap to hearing the voice directly.
Two Radios
For this exercise/demo you can use two or more actual old time ratios; or, with a desktop computer you could open several tabs in your browser. At the moment you can find all of the X Minus One science fiction vintage radio plays on youtube. Just search on X Minus One you’ll see a bunch of references come up.
Start a couple radio shows playing at the same time.
Listen to the combined audio of the two radio shows playing at once. Try to pick out and follow a single voice in the mix.
In the beginning it works pretty well to have the volume of both plays at the same level. Later you may wish to lower the volume of the play containing the voice you are following. It is possible to lower the volume of that voice to a whisper and still pick it out of the cacophony.
An example of the application of this method: Listening to a voice transmission buried under and in-between a common AM radio broadcast.
Distance
Find a situation where you can listen to a conversation from a distance. Ideally there will only be the one conversation in the distance – not a competing conversation nearby.
This can be arranged in parks, shopping malls, or super markets. Or, if you can’t find a situation that doesn’t make you appear as a weirdo stalker, it is possible to set this up using equipment at home.
Stream a radio play on a device – such as a smart phone or desktop – and walk some distance away. Use a combination of volume control on the device and distance to create a situation in which the conversation if barely audible.
Listen to this conversation (radio play) making efforts to get that which is being said. This may or may not involve the conversation becoming more verbally distinct.
An example of the application of this method: Listening for a voice transmission nestled in the silence of a crystal radio broadcast.
Bouncing Ball Cafe
Unless you are old as dirt or have a very eclectic background you are most likely unfamiliar with the “following the bouncing ball” sing along songs. The concept of “following the bouncing ball” was developed at Fleischer Studios in the 1920s. The device of a ball bouncing all the printed lyrics of a song was used to convey the rhythm of the song.
It is possible to find several such cartoons on youtube. Just search for “follow the bouncing ball song” in the youtube search bar.
Watch one such video. As you watch the video, get the idea that the words are lighting up as the ball touches them – getting brighter or more evident. Go through several videos with this notion in mind.
This is all by way of preparation. Now that you have this experience as background, visit a cafe, or simulate a situation similar to a cafe. Make sure it is a busy cafe with chattering people – dozens of conversations scattered about the place engaged in many different conversations. Some relaxed, some animated, some quiet, and some loud.
As you sit in the cafe, allow your audio attention to diffuse. Rather than automatically parsing the sound to preserve the integrity of each conversation, allow the conversations to blend and meld.
Now follow the “bouncing ball” as it highlights words and/or phrases stitching together a conversation from the scrambled alphabet soup of the cafe.
As mentioned already, it is possible to simulate this situation through computers and other devices. This could be an occasion when the multiple X Minus One radio shows playing together can come in handy.
Something to consider: multiple conversations are not necessary for this to work. It just happens to be a little more difficult to snatch words from a single conversation. The apparent sense of the conversation gets in the way of snatching highlighted words.
An example of the application of this method: Listening to any stream of one or more voices. This could be those apparently in the head, those apparently coming from the environment, or those apparently coming from elsewhere.
Going on the Hunt
There are many different situations in which you can use these techniques to hunt for non-proximate voices. In fact some of the exercises given above can also work as hunting spots. However, we’d like to recommend two prime situations: 1) Super Beacon with Ghost Hunting Kit, 2) Super Beacon without kit.
Yes, it is true that you can use the Super Beacon to hunt for non-proximate voices with or without the Ghost Hunting Kit. So, why use the Ghost Hunting Kit? In my guesstimation the prime reason for using the Ghost Hunting Kit is because it makes satisfying the safety hints so easy to implement.
Just to remind you, the safety hint from the beginning of this little ebook was: Look for these voices in a where that is ritualized, non-ordinary, intentional, segmented from your normal routine, with a clear beginning and end.
When you use the Ghost Hunting Kit the process is definitely ritualized, non-ordinary, intentional, segmented from your normal routine, with a clear beginning and end. The process of using the kit makes this easy and natural.
That said, it is still possible to use the Super Beacon without the Ghost Hunting Kit to hunt for non-proximate voices. It can work very well indeed. However, in this case it will be on you to satisfy the safety precautions.
For example, if you use a fan to generate grey noise as a hunting ground, then use a special fan for this. Find yourself an antique desk fan that is used for no other purpose.
If you use a specially found source of sound (such as NASA Space Sounds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MmWeZHsQzs or Sound of the Sun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZQcLJjpdrI) then the deliberate access of these youtube videos becomes the vehicle for implementing the safety precautions.
Another option is to sit with the Super Beacon and use the natural ambiance as your hunting ground for non-proximate (ghost) voices. If you choose to use this method then it is on you to incorporate ritual, costume, accessories, and procedure to put in place these safety measures. If you have had the good fortune of taking the Labyrinth Readers Course, then you already know one very simple and effective method. Just follow a similar procedure as you would for doing a reading. Only in this case, you might say something along the lines of “The intention of this session is to (statement of your goal)” rather than “This reading is addressed to the being of …..” Get the idea?