My Paranormal Initiation

 My spiritual path and 'paranormal initiation' included two occasions when I witnessed bushes inexplicably go up in flames on the hillside outside my condo in 1994.  This photo showing me with one of the two clumps of burned bushes is from a sequence of photos taken in the vicinity of my home in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.  I was 39 years old when this photo was taken in 1996.  During this period, I was transcribing interviews and audio journals recorded on microcassettes for a case study book published in January 1997.  (photographer: Timothy Fielding)
  

Our individual perceptions of life are influenced by one's self-awareness and health, career and financial circumstances, relationships with other people, the news media, Pop culture, and what each of us has learned about 'reality.'  This past week I had the idea that my own case of paranormal initiation should again be the subject for a blog article and immediately there were noticeable some curious synchronicities affirming the thought.  This article is intended to inform readers about some aspects of what happened during the summer of 1995 when I experienced the expansion of my consciousness about the nature of life. 

The annals of transcendental communication chronicle diverse anomalous phenomena that has been experienced by people worldwide throughout the ages.  A predominant lesson is the reality of spiritual Oneness — there is a shared aspect of our subconscious and superconscious minds beyond the individuality of each personality (oneself) as a singular consciousness 'unit.'  One's relationship and interaction with one's 'guides' are orchestrated by 'God' and the omnipresent 'Christ' Force.  Articles at this blog have chronicled many paranormal cases offering transcendental communication transcripts instructing that our relationships with our 'guides' outlast any single lifetime or 'incarnation.'  Each of us has a unique perspective of life and we each have a divine 'spark' of the Universal Source/Creator Whom has never ceased gifting humanity with phenomenal manifestations among chosen experiencers or 'channels' to provide data with the potential of expanding the metaphysical understanding of all.

In addition to blog articles, my precise circumstances are chronicled in the documentary-style case study Testament (1997) and a follow-up book of interview and journal transcripts that may be read at testament.org.  Based on my documented experiences, my strange life path seems to make me an ideal person to understand the choices made and manifested by all manner of 'chosen ones,' such as so-called 'psychics,' 'channelers,' 'mediums' and 'contactees.'  I've read numerous case study books and observed dozens if not hundreds of channeling videos featuring such channelers as Ray Brown, JZ Knight, Jach Pursel, and Kevin Ryerson; and I have no difficulty at all understanding the perspectives of such contemporary 'paranormal people' as Rubens Faria, 'John of God,' Ryuho Okawa, Paul Selig, etc.

An example of incidents that puzzled me prior to the life-changing events that commenced in 1995 are the times when I would awaken from being asleep upon feeling what seemed like someone having grabbed my leg.  At that time, I'd assumed it was some manner of singular recurring muscle spasm; however, when this happened to me after I came back from researching a 'talking poltergeist' case in rural Oklahoma where the predominant manifesting entity was known as 'Michael,' the 'grab' happened again and was immediately recognizable as one of the ways 'Michael' had been participating in my life before I'd even learned about the Oklahoma case.  Many cases of transcendental communication have in common the affirmation of the importance of having the knowledge of spiritual 'Oneness' with each human being on Earth having intermediary 'spirit guides' or 'guardian angels.'

In my case, my guides seem to interact with me in the ways deemed appropriate to my particular purpose in life.  Beyond the daily displays of synchronistic messages and symbols, there are occasional physical manifestations such as a tap on one leg to indicate 'Yes' or on the other to indicate 'No' (or to indicate some vague warning that usually makes me rethink what I'm doing and change some aspect of my current plans).  The 'Yes'/'No' indications seldom happen when I would like some question answered so I've always known that I have no control about when this phenomenon occurs.  On even rarer occasions, the word "No" is somehow able to be voiced through my gastrointestinal fluids.  All of these conditions have inspired considerable contemplation for me over the past 23 years.

Above is a photo of the Echo Park condominium complex on Clinton Street where I was living when my spiritual awakening occurred following the trip to Oklahoma.  Below is a view from the other side of the lake showing the location of the two clumps of burnt bushes.  My condo was the fourth from left, second and third floors.  I was astounded when the hillside was cleared the week after these photos were taken.  I moved to a Santa Monica beachfront highrise apartment in September 1996.  Throughout the media, one sees how often journalists seem to favor reporting about only the familiar subjects to which they are accustomed.  Over the years, the American presidency has been the dominant focus of media news coverage while attention to metaphysical topics has dwindled and coverage of paranormal phenomena is usually oriented to superstitions or skepticism. 

 

I’m not gifted as a psychic medium continuously hearing clairvoyant messages and/or seeing clairvoyant images; however, following my return from my trip to Oklahoma and recognizing the Angelic guidance in my life, I discovered while listening to my research interview tape recordings there were 'spirit messages' that hadn't been audible when the conversations occurred.  I would later learn that there have been many researchers of this phenomena known as 'EVP.'  When for comparison I listened to some of my old interview tape recordings made during my professional career and continued to hear instances of EVP, I began to realize the vast extent of this phenomena as an aspect of the omnipresent external and physically internal Force involved with all of humanity.

As became usual when I listened to tapes, EVP utterances were continuously noticeable and consisted of diverse vocal characteristics and cadences.  I often used the foot pedal of my transcribing machine to replay the sections of tape with EVP.  While transcribing the tapes, I found that in addition to 'spirit messages' there were a wide range of unattributed sounds.  After years of transcribing work, I recognized that there were few limits to how recorded spirit utterances can be characterized.  Some are so clear that they can sound like an ordinary human voice while others can consist of parts of words or sound like fragmentary jargon — perhaps a phrase lacking at least one syllable.  The messages are usually of momentary duration.

Listening to the ‘spirit messages’ including word fragments interspersed with the interview commentary, I noticed there were many occasions when what sounded like a word attributed as a spirit message would be followed with one of the interview participants saying the same word, myself included.  As I gained experience transcribing the audio tape recordings, my comprehension expanded concerning the implications, breadth and complexity of EVP (and Instrumental Transcommunication or 'ITC').

While working on the Testament manuscript, along with the array of spirit vocalizations on the tapes were a myriad unattributed sounds.  I began keeping a glossary of symbols used in the transcript.  When it eventually came time to publish the documentary-style collection of interviews and journals that I thought would be the best way of bringing forth my astonishing experiences, I was concerned that prospective readers could be discouraged from purchasing the book due to the inclusion of the spirit messages and unattributed sound symbols yet I felt that this was the only way to provide an accurate transcript.  Once when I began deleting some of the EVP words from the transcript, there was the spirit message "DON'T CHANGE IT."  I now refer to the paperback first edition of Testament as 'the hieroglyphic edition' as I decided not to include the symbols in the free Internet edition of the book. 

One of the first things that happened back in the summer of 1995 was for the Angel/Guides to wean me away from the pastime of watching television and movies.  When I turned on the TV it would soon go off.  I understood that 'Michael' didn't want me watching television although there were times when it would come on just long enough to present a 'message' and then go off again.

One aspect of my case is discovering my birth surname as deriving from the House of Russell (1, 2) associated with 'the first race of ancestry.'  As previously mentioned — In my case, the lore of ancient Sumer and Egypt has always interested me.  In the 1980s I read books by Zecharia Sitchin, who presented his analysis of what could be learned from artifacts of ancient civilizations.  In 1995 when my 'Mark Russell Bell' pseudonym was channeled to me through a surprised friend, soon thereafter I again considered some of Sitchen's information about the individual who is today known as 'Bel-Marduk.'  Clay tablets about Bel-Marduk found in the ruins of Ashur and Nineveh had been transcribed and translated by Heinrich Zimmern.  Sitchin wrote in The Wars of Gods and Men (1985) about "Marduk or Bel ('The Lord') . . . [being] confined in The Mountain . . ."  I noticed parallels with events in my own life as I had been employed by Paramount Pictures—the corporate entertainment company with the Mountain logo—prior to realizing the necessity of becoming a metaphysical author.  The possibility of having lived a previous life as Bel-Marduk seemed to be confirmed when I found an Egyptian-style antique pendant presenting a profile view of someone who looked just like me.  This was the only time in my life when anything like this had ever happened to me.  The likeness presented a profile view of a face very similar to what I remember seeing in the mirror every day throughout my younger years.

This photo of me was taken by my twin brother Mike during a London vacation when I was in my 20s.  The inset image is of the item sold to me as a "round silver pin" that I discovered at a Sunset Boulevard antique store near my home in Echo Park.

Sitchin also reported that Heinrich Zimmern "created quite a stir in theological circles" when he announced his interpretation of the Ashur text at a lecture in September 1921. "The reason was that he interpreted it as a pre-Christian Mysterium dealing with the death and resurrection of a god, and thus an earlier Christ tale."

As chronicled in Testament, I found myself faced with making sense of the 'talking poltergeist' cases that I had studied for a planned book.  The incident of a nail materializing and bouncing off my head during my Oklahoma expedition later became one of the symbolic aspects of my life that resulted with my discovering what I call 'the Michael Pattern' and 'the Bell Pattern.' 

While bringing to publication the case study Testament, I realized the events I'd experienced made me a symbolic 'everyman' to convey the message of how every person should become a 'Christed One' (or spiritually aware) and personally responsible for one's decisions in life.  Such messages are also conveyed in some of the blog articles about channeling cases.  I've previously commented: “Readers will find that the experiences documented in my book correlate with many of the messages of so-called ‘channeled’ transcendental communication.   I found myself called upon to become an embodiment of some of these teachings.”

In retrospect, it might be seen as fortunate that the print version of my book Testament wasn't a bestseller upon publication in 1997; as I then might not ever have had the time to learn about the diverse cases of paranormal phenomena and transcendental communication that have been reported in articles of this blog.  The free Internet edition of the book became available later the same year.

Blog articles for readers interested in examples of paranormal initiations include:

"Case Study: Uri by Andrija Puharich"

"'Gef': A Modern Sphinx as an Esoteric Lesson about Oneness"

"Anomalous Phenomena: A Forrest J Ackerman Pattern"

"A Flying Saucer Contactee's Poetic Phase"

"'Poltergeist' Phenomena: Parallels, Patterns, Puzzles"

"Tapping the Force: Leslie Flint Recordings and Links"

"Five Videos for People Who Don't Yet Know about Authentic 'Channeling'"

"Expanded Consciousness Is Possible for Everyone"

"TV Contact with the Other Side Documentary Now Available on You Tube"

Blog articles about my own path of spiritual discovery include:

"Some Reflections about Channeling and the Creative Process"

"Adventures in Synchronicity"

"Remembering Mickey Rooney"

"Zecharia Sitchin and Bel-Marduk"

"Other Incidents of My Unusual Spiritual Awakening"

"My News Release: 'Paranormal Case Study 20th Anniversary — Testament by Mark Russell Bell'"

"Of Prophecies and Patterns"

 

 

10/26/24 Update: When I began publishing a journal blog on January 23, 2021, I had no idea that an entire new phase of transcendental communication experiences would eventually occur for me.  The onset and continuation of this phase is documented in journal entries.  Prior to the phase, there were occasional (disembodied) voice manifestations and then abruptly the new 'phase' of life commenced for me in 2022 with continuous intermittent interaction involving diverse solar plexus as well as psychic (?) or audible ('voice hearing') voice manifestations.  (articles incl. 1, 2, 3, 4)  The externalized voices include 'solar plexus' words coming from this area of my body; and there are utterances and occasional short sentences that seem to be coming from the upper left.  I first thought they were 'psychic' or 'in my head' until discovering when taking a bath that the voices were muffled whenever my ears were submerged.  ("YOU GOT IT")  ("OH" [SP])  ("OH" [SP subdued])  Some blog articles about the subject of voice hearing are "Hearing Voices: A Common Human Experience", "A Wounded Journalist's Battlefield Experience of 'Voice Hearing'", "Another Piece to the Puzzle of my Contemporary Mysterium" and "The Maureen Puddy Case".  The essential emotional state and sentiment being expressed and occasionally verbatim is "I HATE IT" (evidently concerning diverse aspects of the present state of earthly societies).  Other words that are heard—frequently enough that they have no implication whatsoever—when I'm thinking of nothing in particular are "HURRY," "GOOD LUCK" and "YOU GOT IT."  During somber moments such as when I'm resting, there will be heard solar plexus phrases: the piteous and desperate "DO YOU LOVE ME?" alternating with the crazed "I HATE YOU."  ("OKAY")

 

The description for my journal blog website is: "These journal entries are intended to chronicle daily interactions with my personal 'guide/s in Oneness'/'Guardian Angel' as representing 'The God Force' ('Michael' or 'M') manifesting continuously around me in diverse and unlimited ways.  When I began writing journal entries in early 2021, I had no idea that this was going to provide a personal documentary account of the shocking emergence of the 'God Alter Ego' usually called 'The Devil.'  Each living organism is an individual aspect of 'M.'"  ("OH" [S.P.])