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Telling spooky stories has long been a favorite pastime of young people -almost becoming a right of passage at sleepovers, pajama parties or campouts. Face to face, around a campfire or in a dimly lit room, exchanging bizarre and mysterious tales of strange phenomena that defy explanation -raises Goosebumps and an excitement of what might exist beyond the world we think we know -in the world of the unknown. Throughout time, pre-teens and teenagers have reported seeing or experiencing strange and often frightening things such as elves, fairies, witches, ghosts and goblins, unicorns, angels, demons, monsters or UFOs. And certainly many have talked about having imaginary playmates when they were younger. Some researchers claim that in certain phenomena, teenagers may unknowingly draw these strange experiences to themselves as a result of the hormonal changes in their bodies and emotions-associated with puberty. They say a type of psychokinesis, (mind over matter) responsible for certain poltergeist activity, such as the tipping of furniture, slamming of doors, or items thrown across the room-could in fact, be precipitated by the biochemical aspects of puberty in pre-teens or teens. Others claim that these are valid and real experiences, but without explanation. Yet others dismiss such as fantasy and attribute it to the "playful imaginations" of the innocence of youth -that will eventually be transmuted into the logic and sensibility of their maturing minds. However, many adults have experienced these same inexplicable occurrences, and then often remember similar ones from their youth. Regardless, interest in the paranormal or the world of the unexplained is growing exponentially, and perhaps fastest -among teens and pre-teens and the young. In my own youth, I found myself often gazing at the starry heavens above and exploring the vast mysteries of the infinite universe that such a miraculous vision inspired. Those billions and billions of stars provoked within me a curiosity of the more profound, seemingly -unanswerable questions of life itself. Those questions always were of the foremost importance in my mind and heart and became the driving force for my life's quest and all of my undertakings -through to the present time. Through my various endeavors in medicine, theology, as a crisis counselor, family counselor and founder of a holistic school and research foundation, I have not only encountered many thousands who have confided in me of their "other-worldly" encounters, but have experienced many myself. My vast research has opened up some rather interesting links and exciting discoveries that reveal some startling things to consider: What was once considered fantasy and make-believe has been gathering considerable momentum among serious scientists and researchers as just quite possibly being real after all! It may actually turn out to be that the openness and innocence of youth might provide us with a window to other worlds that the maturation process shuts down or closes. The world of the unknown or unseen could turn out to be the more real and even prove to be the source of the world of the seen! Behind every man-made creation -there was first a thought, a hunch or an intuition -that was first invisible. Scientists like Dr. Oscar Morphis, Dr. William Tiller, of Stanford, Dr. Harold Saxton-Burr of Yale and others, tell us that we are immersed in a sea of energy, of which most is invisible. Normally, we are only able to perceive 1/10th of 1% of all the energy that surrounds us! That is a whole lot of world we do not see! Micro-waves, infra-red, radio, television and many forms of energy -of varied frequencies -power much of what we use in the world everyday, yet remain invisible without special instrumentation to detect them. Many scientists tell us that there is NO proof that consciousness itself ends at death, yet a great deal of mounting evidence that it continues. There is growing evidence from science that life is a continuing process and that consciousness does not die with the body. Dr. William Tiller, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University tell us that new energy fields exist that are completely different from those known to us through conventional science. These energies function in different dimensions from the physical space-time frame, which means at some level of the universe, Dr. Tiller says, we are all inter-connected…to each other and to all things. Time, space and matter are all interchangeable-not constant or confining -as we previously thought. Dr. Tiller believes there may be universes beyond our universe-of more subtle kinds of matter, so there is no end to the reach of our being. He postulates that humanity might be experiencing a "biological transformation" to another sensory system. There are also those skeptics, such as the "Amazing Randi", of the James Randi Educational Foundation and Michael Shermer, Editor in Chief of Skeptic Magazine, as well as many others, who claim there is no concrete evidence to prove the existence of any paranormal phenomena. Then there is CSICOP -an organization set up to carefully explore whether there is trickery or deception involved in paranormal claims and occurrences. We need this end of the spectrum as well. However, we may be on the edge of some breakthrough discoveries through the efforts of other mainstream scientists. Dean Radin, Ph.D., of UNLV's Cognitive Research Division says: "Groups such as the CRD are conducting respectable experiments and producing statistically significant results. Professor Brian Josephson, oversees the Mind Matter Unification Project-Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, at the prestigious Cambridge University in England. Professor Josephson says that evidence for the paranormal and other subtle phenomena is accumulating-and the task of explaining them presents an interesting challenge. That being said, my intention in writing this book is not to prove or to disprove anything, but to share many incredible stories that have been given to me personally. Some sent through letters or e-mail by readers of my books, others are from those I have counseled or those who have: participated in the ongoing research, filled out the Steiger Questionnaire, attended lectures and/or workshops and some have been sent by fellow researchers and associates. Although all of those that have shared their stories claim them to be true accounts, some people wish to remain anonymous. In these cases, their names and places have been changed to give them that privacy. Face To Face With The Unknown is divided into 7 (seven) sections, where the categories are: ESP and Psychic Phenomenon, Ghosts, Angels, Life After Death, Very Strange Creatures, UFOs, and Crop Circles. There are fabulous-deeply moving and inspiring stories, as well as "spooky" stories. I have included several "classics" I felt needed to be included and integrated 'just enough research' amongst the stories, in each area-to hopefully-provoke and stimulate thought and questions-in the minds of you, the reader. As a disclaimer, I wish to make it clear that "telling ghost stories" is one thing -but "summoning ghosts" is quite another! I do not advocate such practices of "summoning spirits" and in fact, caution all against it. There are those wise teachers and counselors throughout the ages that say these things -should they occur naturally, is one thing, but give careful counsel not to encourage the expression of the "dark side of the force". But, I believe we must care to think about the unthinkable things, because when things become unthinkable -thinking stops and action becomes mindless. So, consider that the Universe is vast, deep and profound-and is much more complex than any clear scientific certainty yet discovered. Thomas Berry expressed it like this: "The universe cannot be seen as a collection of objects, but as a community of subjects." You are a part of this vast and wonderful community. Explore its wonders. Contemplate its mysteries! I hope you find Face To Face With The Unknown stimulating, exciting and that it will kindle or renew…a spark within you…of the grandeur, beauty and continuity of all life and give you hope that the essence of life itself-continues beyond the confines of the world as we know it!!! Sherry Hansen Steiger Meet Brad | Meet Sherry | Book List | Links | Photo Album | Questionnaire | The S Files | Home |