Survival Hypothesis Explained

by Tom Butler

This article is part of the presentation given at the Academy of Spirituality and Paranormal Studies 2007 conference.

It was also published in the Summer 2007 AA-EVP NewsJournal

The study of life after death is described by the Survival Hypothesis, which is intended to order the evidence into a cosmology and resulting predictions which can be experimentally tested. By examining the accumulating evidence, it is becoming clear that the Hypothesis is largely testable, and that it is substantially proven by the existing evidence. What remains is the need for more research to better evaluate the available evidence and to explore the implications of the Hypothesis.

Since my field is Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC) which includes Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP), I will focus on the objective data these phenomena provide. When examined along with data from other forms of trans-etheric influences, ITC can tell us a great deal about the nature of reality. As you read this hypothesis, you will see that we consider ITC as a set of energy-dependent phenomena. Energy repeatedly appears as a limiting factor, and so, the hypothesis is defined from that perspective. The term, "etheric" is used in this document to describe all that is not physical.

• Etheric energy appears to be governed by rules that are responsive to the influence of intent. A fundamental notion of metaphysics is that we create reality. The process for that creation is turning attention to an imagined result with the intention that it will be so. Thus, the ability to create is a function of the person’s ability to imagine, hold attention and express intention. According to the Hypothesis, energy is more responsive to intention in the etheric than it is in the physical.

• Physical energy is a differentiated form of etheric energy. Virtually all of the evidence indicates that the personality of a person (referred to here as "Self") is native to etheric reality, and is only in the physical as a visitor. Also, there is a difference in character between the energy forming Self and energy forming the physical body. Consequently, the Hypothesis postulates that energy here is derived from energy there.

• There is an interface between the physical and etheric that requires a change in energy to cross. The relationship of an ocean to the atmosphere is a good illustration for this point. There is a substantial change in the characteristic of the environment as one moves from the air (etheric) into water (physical). Also, for a person (Self) to inhabit the water for an extended time, it is necessary to be in a dive suit (the physical body).

• Spatial relationships in the etheric may be more akin to fractal geometry than to Cartesian space. The notions of "up-down," "finer-coarser," are useful for conversation but not accurate for describing spatial relationships in etheric reality. The better view might be movement by changing perspective or attitude.¹ Consequently, linear measuring devices may be useless for mapping etheric space. Instead, worldview and ability to manage energy to determine location may need to be considered.

• The character of the energy forming reality appears to change over a continuum as:

Physical

• Physical energy: Electromagnetic energy; electricity.

• Subtle energy: Vitality; auric; biofield; contact field. The intent is to describe the subtle energy required for physical manifestations of etheric influences. The Hypothesis holds that the influence must be supported by energy that is compatible with the physical. Experimental evidence supports the existence of this energy,² but it is unclear as to how it relates to the assumed physical-to-etheric interface.

Etheric

• Near-locale: Residual energy hauntings; apparently stuck entities; out-of-body experiencers.

• A range of "heavens" or venues for experience: Consider the model of quantum levels in physics, in which each quantum is distinguished by a naturally stable but energetically different state. The physical universe would be our local quantum level and there would be another stable level with different energy characteristics. We know that the ITC communicators see themselves in a place of local heavens, which are dependent on the expectations of the newly-transitioned person. Rather than levels, something like fractal attractors may be more correct.¹

• Inaccessible for etheric-to-physical influence: Some people never make contact via mediumship or ITC. Also, there are accounts of a person having to "go on," and soon thereafter no longer making contact.³

• Worldview tends to filter experiences. ITC contacts tend to be consistent with the expectations of the experiencer. A characteristic of EVP is that they are in a language the experimenter or an interested observer understands.(3 page 204) A concern for the safety of "spirit contact" can sometimes produce fearful results, confirming the reason for that concern.^{4, page 95}

• Influences are energy-limited and the ability of the person to "gather" the energy is a factor for what is experienced by whom. The ability to manage subtle energy can be developed but some people naturally excel at it. In Spiritualism, a physical medium is thought to "gather" ectoplasmic energy from sitters to form a voice box for direct-voice phenomena.⁵

• Energy appears to "stick" and remain over time. Thus, experiences may be influenced by environment. A physical medium sometimes sits in a cabinet to contain the energy. The indication is that haunted locations are haunted because the energy required for the haunting activity is available due to long-time human occupancy and/or the expression of extreme emotions. We have recorded EVP in supposedly haunted places that were clearly initiated by our usual etheric contacts.⁶ Also, psychometry depends on residual, subtle energy.

• Physical time and distance do not influence results. In the 4Cell EVP Demonstration⁷ the Communicating Entity is required to receive a request from the Sender in one part of the world, and deliver the message to the Receiver in another part of the world. This is done without apparent time or distance constraints.

• The Self has an etheric aspect, which is its "true" nature. This, and the existence of an etheric aspect of reality, are the fundamental concepts of the Hypothesis. A Self is born into the physical and returns to the etheric when the physical body dies. In this hypothesis, the "arrow of creation" points from the etheric to the physical.⁸ The etheric communicators in EVP and mediumship usually do not have a physical body, and therefore depend on people in the flesh to enable etheric-to-physical influences.

• Self’s point of view shifts from the physical body to its etheric aspect when the physical body dies, or during sleep. A change in point of view is probably the best way to describe death.¹ There have been successful experiments in which EVP have clearly been initiated by a sleeping person, which offers further evidence that Self is independent of the physical body, except for the purpose of being in the physical.⁹

• The "survived" Self is able to remain energetically close to the physical for a time, but eventually moves to an aspect of reality energetically "out of range" for contact. This is probably a corollary of the concept above concerning the different characteristics of energy.

• Axiom: An entity must be energetically in agreement with the aspect of reality it will inhabit. It is not clear how "agreement" is achieved, but it apparently depends on Self’s ability to manage energy, and that seems to be a function of how well Self understands the natural processes controlling that energy.

  • Discarnate entities cannot exist in the physical or independently cause an influence in the physical.

  • Cooperation of an incarnate Self is required for trans-etheric influence.

• Groups of entities work together to influence the physical. The Big Circle is a group of friends and family members now on the other side who help people with EVP, grief and presumably daily living.^{10, page 107} Channeled entities often describe themselves as a group entity. We have learned to behave as if a group of unseen friends are helping us. The EVP, "Big Circle," recorded by Martha Copeland illustrates the reason for this. In it, her daughter Cathy is clearly heard saying "Big Circle" just as Martha asks for help with her father’s operation.¹¹

• No evidence of anything "demonic," but plenty of people behaving badly. We sometimes find Self with an evil state of mind, but there is no evidence of anything like a demon. Rather than concluding there is demonic activity, look at whether or not an experiencer has the expectation of evil and is capable of a psychosomatic response. People "allow" energy with characteristics that fulfill their expectations to come to them via etheric-to-physical influences.

• It is apparently possible to be "stuck" in the near locale for such reasons as fear of judgment, religious training or expectations. What we do and think matters, and can determine how we do on the other side. For instance, the belief that suicide is a sin appears to be a local custom, but fear of judgment because the person committed suicide is sometimes the reason for an earthbound entity. It is important to teach people what to realistically expect upon transition.

• There is a life review from the perspective of those we influence. The EVP, "Review our lives,"¹¹ was in answer to the 4Cell EVP Demonstration⁷ question, "What happens to us when we die?" Near-Death experiencers also report a life review. The evidence seems to suggest that the life review is our judgment, and that we are the judges.

1. Butler, Tom, Cosmology of Imaginary Space, http://ethericreality.aaevp.com/Essays/essays10_imaginary_space.htm, 21 April 2007.

2. Radin, Dean, Entangled Minds, 2006, Pocket Books, New York, ISBN-13:978-1-4165-1677-4.

3. Monroe Institute, The Explorer Series Audio Tapes, Tape 6, Miranon: Levels and Planes of Existence, Monroe Institute.

4. Butler, Tom and Lisa, There is No Death and There are No Dead, 2004, AA-EVP Publishing, ISBN-0-9727493-0-6.

5. Flint, Leslie, www.freewebs.com/afterlife/flint/ 19 April 2007

6. Butler, Tom and Lisa, EVP example: Paolo Presi, Alexander MacRae, 2004, http://aaevp.com/examples/examples_voice11.htm, 20 April 2006.

7. Butler, Tom and Lisa, 4Cell EVP Demonstration, 2006, AA-EVP, http://aaevp.com/articles/articles_about_4cell_experiment.htm, 20 April 2007.

8. Butler, Tom, Seeing Both Sides: The Arrow of Creation is at the Center of the Dispute Concerning the Validity of EVP, AA-EVP, http://aaevp.com/articles/articles_about_itc.htm

9. Butler. Tom and Lisa, Recording The Thoughts of The Living?, AA-EVP NewsJournal, Spring 2001, Experiment – Recording the Living, AA-EVP NewsJournal, Summer 2001.

10. Copeland, Martha, I’m Still Here, AA-EVP Publishing, Reno, NV, 2005, ISBN: 0-9727493-1-4, www.evpcommunications.com, 22 April 2007.

11. Copeland, Martha, EVP example: Big Circle, AA-EVP, http://aaevp.com/new_and_updates/forever_family_evp_examples.html, 20 April 2007.

12. Morrison, Shell, EVP example: Review our lives, AA-EVP, http://aaevp.com/new_and_updates/forever_family_evp_examples.html, 20 April 2007.

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