Supernatural

1. Prehistoric Cave Art Reveals the Dawn of Supernatural Belief

The cave paintings are rightly famous for their realistic images of Ice Age mammals. Much less well known is the fact that numerous supernatural and chimerical beings, often half human, half animal, are also depicted.

Ancient art's mystery. The sophisticated cave art of the Upper Paleolithic, appearing suddenly around 35,000 years ago, marks a profound shift in human behavior. While depicting familiar animals, a significant portion features therianthropes – hybrid human-animal figures – which have no basis in physical reality. These are the earliest clear depictions of supernatural beings.

Beyond hunting magic. Early theories suggested the art was for hunting magic, but this is contradicted by the prevalence of non-hunted animals and mythical creatures. The presence of these supernatural beings points to a nascent belief system extending beyond the material world, indicating the birth of religion and symbolic thought.

A sudden revolution. This artistic and symbolic explosion is part of the "greatest riddle of archaeology" – the rapid emergence of fully modern human behavior after millions of years of relative stasis. The art suggests a new way of perceiving reality, one that includes non-physical realms and entities, fundamentally changing our ancestors' relationship with the world.

2. Altered States of Consciousness Unlock Other Realities

According to this theory prehistoric rock and cave art around the world expresses mankind’s first and oldest notions of the supernatural, of the “soul”, and of realms of existence beyond death – notions that took shape in “altered states of consciousness” most likely brought on by the consumption of psychoactive plants.

The neuropsychological theory. Professor David Lewis-Williams proposes that the art of the painted caves depicts visions experienced in altered states of consciousness (ASCs). These states, induced by psychoactive plants, rhythmic dancing, sensory deprivation, or other stressors, are a universal human neurological capacity.

Accessing the visionary. ASCs reliably produce hallucinations, starting with geometric patterns (entoptic phenomena) and progressing to complex iconic images, including animals and therianthropes. Lewis-Williams argues that these visions were interpreted as encounters with a supernatural realm, forming the basis of early religious beliefs.

Personal exploration. The author's own experiences with hallucinogens like Ibogaine, Ayahuasca, and Psilocybin confirmed the profound reality-altering power of these substances. These plant-induced visions felt like genuine portals to other dimensions, populated by intelligent, non-physical beings, lending credence to the idea that early humans could have been similarly convinced.

3. Shamanic Visions Provide a Universal Map of the Spirit World

In hunter-gatherer societies, such work is typically not the responsibility of all people but only of the shamans – those ritual specialists who are able to make the perilous journey to the hallucinatory otherworld and return with healing knowledge.

Shamans as explorers. Across diverse cultures, shamans are specialists in entering ASCs to navigate a perceived spirit world. They act as intermediaries, seeking knowledge, healing, and guidance from supernatural inhabitants for their communities.

Consistent experiences. Despite vast geographical and cultural separation, shamans report remarkably similar experiences:

• Journeys to sky, underworld, or underwater realms.
• Encounters with spirit guides, often in animal or therianthropic form.
• Receiving practical knowledge (healing, plant properties, hunting).
• Undergoing painful initiatory ordeals.

Mapping the unseen. The consistency of these reports, from Amazonian vegetalistas to Kalahari bushmen, suggests a shared landscape of the non-ordinary. This "map" of the spirit world, accessed through ASCs, appears to be a universal feature of human consciousness, regardless of cultural context.

4. Fairies, Spirits, and Aliens Manifest the Same Phenomenon

The modern, global belief in flying saucers and their occupants is identical to the earlier belief in the fairy faith. The entities described as the pilots of the craft are indistinguishable from the elves, sylphs and lutins of the Middle Ages.

A consistent pattern. A deep structural similarity links seemingly disparate phenomena across history: shamanic spirit encounters, European fairy lore, and modern UFO abductions. Despite cultural differences in interpretation (spirits, fairies, aliens), the core experiences are strikingly alike.

Shared characteristics:

• Abduction to other realms (sky, underground, underwater).
• Encounters with small humanoids with large heads/eyes.
• Shape-shifting abilities, often appearing as animals or therianthropes.
• Ability to pass through solid objects.
• Associated with strange lights or vehicles (flying discs, coaches, etc.).

Cultural interpretation. The specific form these entities and their vehicles take appears to be filtered through the cultural lens of the experiencer. A medieval European might see a fairy coach, while a modern American sees a flying saucer, but the underlying phenomenon of abduction by non-human entities remains constant.

5. Supernatural Entities Seek Human Reproduction and Hybridization

Abductees experience being impregnated by the alien beings and later having an alien-human . . . pregnancy removed. They see the little fetuses being put into containers on the ships, and during subsequent abductions may see incubators where the hybrid babies are being raised . . .

A pervasive theme. A surprising and consistent element across spirit, fairy, and alien lore is an intense interest in human reproduction and the creation of hybrid offspring. This is not a minor detail but a central focus of many reported encounters.

Shared reproductive motifs:

• Sexual encounters between humans and non-human entities.
• Creation of hybrid babies (spirit-human, fairy-human, alien-human).
• Use of human wetnurses or caregivers for these hybrids.
• Descriptions of hybrids as sickly, pale, large-headed, or monstrous (like changelings).

Strengthening the stock? Explanations within the lore often suggest the non-human entities seek to "strengthen their race" or gain some form of physical permanence by mingling their essence with human DNA. This implies a perceived deficiency in their own non-physical state.

6. The "Wounded Man" Symbolizes Visionary Ordeals and Rebirth

The neuropsychological and ethnographic evidence that I have adduced strongly suggests that, in these subterranean images, we have an ancient and unusually explicit expression of a complex shamanic experience that is informed by altered states of consciousness.

A universal motif. The enigmatic "wounded man" figures in Upper Paleolithic cave art, pierced by spears or arrows, are paralleled by similar depictions in South African rock art and accounts of shamanic initiatory ordeals worldwide. These figures are often therianthropic or appear to float weightlessly.

Painful hallucinations. Lewis-Williams links these images to painful somatic hallucinations experienced in deep trance states, such as tingling, pricking, or stabbing sensations. Shamans interpret these as attacks or surgical procedures by spirits.

Initiation and transformation. Beyond mere pain, the wounded man symbolizes the shaman's ritual death and rebirth in the spirit world, a necessary step to gain supernatural power and knowledge. This theme of painful transformation is also echoed in the bizarre surgical procedures reported by modern UFO abductees.

7. DMT Offers Direct Access to Non-Ordinary Realms and Beings

DMT provides regular, repeated, and reliable access to “other” channels. The other planes of existence are always there. In fact, they are right here, transmitting all the time!

The spirit molecule. N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), an endogenous psychedelic found in the human brain and many plants, reliably induces intense, short-duration altered states of consciousness. Rick Strassman's research showed that injected DMT consistently leads subjects to experience complex, interactive visions.

Consistent encounters. A striking finding was the commonality of experiences among Strassman's volunteers, including encounters with non-material beings often described as "entities," "beings," "aliens," or "elves." These encounters frequently occurred in technological or nursery-like settings.

Pre-dating publicity. Crucially, similar reports of encounters with dwarf-like, non-human entities were documented in scientific DMT trials in the 1950s, before UFO abductions received widespread publicity. This suggests the DMT experience is not merely a reflection of popular culture but accesses a deeper, consistent layer of reality or consciousness.

8. DNA May Contain Intelligent Messages from Ancient Sources

DNA and the cell-based life it codes for are an extremely sophisticated technology that far surpasses our present understanding and that was initially developed elsewhere than on earth – which it radically transformed on its arrival some four billion years ago.

Beyond chance. The immense complexity and rapid appearance of DNA on Earth led Francis Crick, co-discoverer of its structure, to propose "directed panspermia" – that life was seeded here by an alien civilization. This suggests DNA is an ancient, non-terrestrial technology.

A hidden language. Research by Eugene Stanley and others found that non-coding "junk" DNA, which makes up 90-97% of our genome, exhibits the mathematical properties of a structured language, unlike coding DNA. This suggests it may contain a message.

Accessing the code. Ayahuasca and DMT users, including scientists and the author, have reported visions featuring DNA structures and receiving information about genetics or other complex subjects. This supports the idea that hallucinogens might "retune" consciousness to access information encoded within our own DNA, perhaps left by the "clever entities" who created it.

9. Major Religions Are Rooted in Shamanic, Visionary Experiences

All our knowledge of the supernatural derives de facto from the statements made by religious visionaries and ecstatics, i.e. prophets and shamans . . . Priests only administrate the ecclesia established on this supernatural basis . . .

Founders as shamans. The origins of major world religions can be traced to the supernatural encounters and revelations of charismatic founders, who functioned as shamans. Figures like Moses, Muhammad, Mani, and St. Paul experienced visions, heard voices, and received divine messages.

Shamanic vestiges. Even in modern, bureaucratized religions, shamanic elements persist:

• Cults of saints performing healing miracles (like St. Sebastian's piercing).
• Visions of supernatural beings (like Bernadette Soubirous's "Lady in white").
• Sacred sites associated with healing springs and perceived portals (like Lourdes).
• Symbolism echoing visionary experiences (like Ezekiel's wheels or serpent motifs).

Ancient drug use. Evidence suggests psychoactive plants played a role in ancient religious practices:

• The Eleusinian Mysteries in Greece likely used ergot-derived hallucinogens.
• Ancient Indian Vedic texts describe the visionary soma (likely fly agaric).
• Ancient Maya and Aztecs used mushrooms, water lilies, and other psychedelics.
• Ancient Egyptians used water lilies, mandrake, and opium in rituals.

These practices provided direct access to the visionary experiences that formed the bedrock of religious belief, a connection often lost in modern religious institutions.

10. The Brain as a Receiver Challenges Materialist Science

Our normal waking consciousness, rational consciousness as we call it, is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness very different.

Beyond the reducing valve. Thinkers like William James and Aldous Huxley proposed that the brain acts as a "reducing valve," filtering out most of reality to provide a limited, utilitarian perception. Hallucinogens and other techniques bypass this filter, revealing other forms of consciousness and potentially other realities.

A different paradigm. This "receiver" model suggests that visions in ASCs are not mere fabrications of the brain but perceptions of genuinely existing, normally invisible realms or dimensions. The brain's chemistry and structure determine what frequencies of reality it can tune into.

Challenging orthodoxy. This view directly contradicts the materialist scientific paradigm, which insists that only the physical world is real and that consciousness is solely a product of brain activity. The consistency and complexity of universal hallucinations pose a significant challenge to this reductionist stance.

11. Universal Hallucinations Defy Conventional Explanation

It seems to me completely obvious that when people from all times and places consistently and reliably report the same non-real experiences – especially experiences as extraordinary and distinctive as those typically associated with spirits, fairies, and aliens – then it is not good enough to say that all the eyewitness are “mad” or deluded.

The problem of commonality. Conventional science struggles to explain why complex hallucinations, beyond simple geometric patterns, exhibit such striking commonalities across diverse individuals, cultures, and historical periods. Theories based on memory and cultural conditioning fail to account for shared motifs like therianthropes, hybrid babies, or specific entity types.

Hard-wiring paradox. The idea that these complex images are "hard-wired" into the brain faces evolutionary paradoxes. Why would natural selection favor the development of intricate neural blueprints for "non-real" experiences, especially in early life forms lacking complex brains?

An evolving phenomenon. The observed changes and developments within the pattern of supernatural encounters over time (e.g., the shift from changelings to hybrid babies, the evolution of "vehicles") further complicate purely internal, static "hard-wired" explanations. This suggests an interaction with something dynamic and external to the individual human mind.

Last updated: June 1, 2025