X-Message-Number: 5082
Date:  Tue, 31 Oct 95 13:58:47 
From: Steve Bridge <>
Subject: News of the Dead

To CryoNet
>From Steve Bridge
October 31, 1995

     On this particular day, I thought I would pass along two news stories
from the weird world of death.

I.   You may remember tales of people using tape recorders to record the
"voices of ghosts" as evidence of the supernatural realm.  Now they are
using computers to receive these messages.  Mark Macy, owner of Continuing
Life Research in Boulder CO, has dedicated his life to "improving
communications between the earthplane and the spirit world."

     Most of the researchers use IBM PC's in DOS format, because it is too
difficult for the spirits "to affect the computer the way they like when
they have to go through Windows."  Well, I can certainly understand
*that*.

     One of the inventors of the field, Konstantine Raudive, who died in
1974, carried his interests into the other plane and regularly leaves
phone messages and computer messages for the researchers (even when their
computers are, gasp, turned off!).

     There are some potential cryonics uses here, since Macy says that
someday people may be able to use a more advanced electronic device to
contact friends who have died.  We have a lot of questions to ask some of
our patients.  But maybe it wouldn't work for cryonicists, since this
"Instrumental Transcommunication" or "ITC" will only work when "the
vibrations of those present are in complete harmony and when their aims
and intentions are pure."

II.  The other story is more combative.  In Winslow, AZ, some cremated
remains have the community in an uproar.  It seems that a high school
student brought her mother's ashes in a heart-shaped box to show to a
friend.  She got careless and some of the ashes spilled on the floor.
This freaked out many of the other students, about half of whom are Navajo
or Hopi Indians, which have strong taboos about death.  They refused to
return to the school.

     So two tribal medicine men were brought in to perform traditional
cleansing ceremonies.  Unfortunately, these ceremonies freaked out the
*evangelical Christians* who attend the school, and several children said
they felt that they had been "witched."  So now several ministers want to
hold prayer ceremonies to remove the evil effects of the *Indian*
ceremonies -- which could remove the *protection* of the Indian ceremonies
from the Indian point of view.

     Get out your banjos -- it's dueling exorcisms!

     Aren't you glad you're not part of the school administration trying
to deal with this one?  The school principal (tap-dancing as fast as he
could) stated that the situation did not appear to be covered by the
student handbook or by other school policy.  I'll bet not.


Happy Halloween!

Steve Bridge


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