K. Marvin Bruce

  “What’s matter made of?” “Atoms.   Protons, neutrons, electrons.” “And what are they made of?” “Well, the protons and neutrons are made of quarks.   Electrons are energy.” “And what are quarks made of?” “Depends on the theory.” Calum nodded.   “String theory, which looks pretty promising, says energy.   Strings of vibrating energy.   If that’s correct, everything is energy.” “I’m with you.” “There are many sources of energy, of course.   Fossil fuels, natural processes like winds and waves, solar and nuclear.   All of them derive from the sun, ultimately.   All living beings require energy.   We get it from eating.   We expend it by exercising.   I’m sure Lindsey won’t mind if I discuss sexual energy.” Terah flushed and put his hand to his face.   He was glad he’d decided not to shave his beard. “The orgone, or life force, was first explored by Wilhelm Reich in the 1930s.   The main work was carried on by his student Charles Kelley.   Surely you’ve noticed the considerable energy rel

  The aliens in his room had to have been hypnagogic hallucinations.   Terah would say nothing about them.   He couldn’t even envision himself mouthing the words.   Long years of doling out the ridicule response to the idea didn’t dissipate, even when he himself had experienced their presence.   Already his observation of the wee people in the woods had evolved to a lucid dream state brought on by deprivation.   The supernatural wasn’t real. “So what do you know about this pandemic?”   It seemed a safer topic. “It’s a new strain of the Spanish Influenza.   There’s no vaccine yet.   Some are classifying it as a ‘superbug’ because it evolves so fast.   The belief in isolationism kept many Americans from thinking it could spread here, but inevitably it did.   Now, slowly, they’ve begun to take measures to isolate individuals.   You’ve been avoiding populations at the right time, it seems.” “Doesn’t the science involved here complicate your worldview?”   The question was out before Terah c

  It was like Stonehenge.   Terah found himself in shock.   After everything he’d experienced, he’d not been prepared for this.   “Stone circles,” Calum said on their short walk through the woods to the clearing, “have an ancient pedigree.   Stonehenge and Avebury are the most famous, but you find them all over the world.   Up in the Orkney Islands the Ring of Brodgar is in impressive sight, standing out alone on Stenness.   People don’t hear about it because it takes considerable effort to get there, but once you’ve seen it—felt it—you’ll know that these stone circles were numinous places.   We don’t know why they built them, but the put considerable resources into doing so. “Or think of Göbekli Tepe.   At least ten millennia old, and fine work indeed.   And it was built in Turkey before agriculture even developed.   There are stone circles in Israel.   In northwest France.   They’re likely to be found in other locations as well.   I knew that when I finally had a place of my own, I w

  Terah awoke with a scream.   His own.   Or it would’ve been, had any sound emerged.   He was paralyzed on the comfortable bed.   His opened eyes could move, however, and he saw in the dim light, other people.   Small people.   Incongruous in the modern room with Medieval touches.   Although he’d had no interest in the paranormal back in his teaching days, he had no trouble recognizing aliens.   The word “greys” even echoed in his mind.   They were all around the bed, regarding him with their wrap-around eyes.   Their skinny bodies seemed to be covered with tight-fitting clothing and their bulbous heads were enormous.   Their long fingers reached for him and he couldn’t move. He hadn’t drawn the drapes and milky moonlight spilled over the scene.   He wasn’t levitating.   He wasn’t aboard some spaceship.   He was in a house—a place almost as foreign as a flying saucer these days—but a house with occult appurtenances.   Worse yet, he didn’t even believe in space aliens. As spindly finge

  “Library!” Terah ejaculated as Calum showed him in.   “I’ve never seen so many books in a private collection.   And I was once invited to a book review editor’s house.” “Wait’ll you get a look at the titles,” Lindsey said.   “I think you’ll begin to see how it all fits.” Calum added, “You’re free to read anything while you’re here.   I wouldn’t presume to teach someone with a Ph.D. in religious studies, but you’re welcome to join Lindsey is the continuation of her training.   Now that she’s here, it’s time to advance her tutorials.   Especially since all my other seminars are on hiatus.” Terah was still in shock from the euphoria that books standing together brings, but he’d always been suspicious of those who didn’t hold advanced degrees who’d set themselves up as teachers.   He had known more than his share of inadequate professors too, however.   The process of earning a doctorate changed forever the way you thought, if it was done right.   Was it possible for an individual to do

  “My name is Calum Nymet.   All of this,” he motioned around him, “was made possible by the good luck of being in the correct place at a fortuitous time.   No, I was not to the manor born.   In fact, I was reared in humble circumstances and worked my way through an education.   Being a commodities trader was only a day job, although a very lucrative one.   I was able to retire by forty-five and begun following my real passion, which was truly tapping human potential.   Perhaps you’ve heard of Esalen? “No matter.   Human potential doesn’t dismiss science, but it does not accept scientism.   Science, you see, is a method of learning about the world.   It’s extremely effective.   The human brain, however, has evolved, like all animal brains, for survival, not for finding all the answers.   Think of it—our species has survived by reasoning based on our five senses.   Those senses pick up stimuli that help us avoid danger and find food, shelter, and the ability to procreate.   Sorry, I did