UFOs and the Holy Grail - the Transformational Journey
Sheryl Gottschall ©

The UFO quest, for many, is a life changing experience. Until we take up the quest it often remains unidentified as the potential tool for transformation that it is. Some people are drawn to the UFO phenomenon while looking for answers to what they observed in the sky or what it was they had a close encounter with. Others just have an insatiable curiosity about it they find difficult to quell. Following or chasing UFOs is a definite adventure, one hard to turn away from once embarked upon. Wherever we are on our journey into this enigmatic phenomenon, there are usually signposts along the way that help us identify our location as we blaze the UFO trail.

The Entry Point

As we begin our quest we are drawn to its entry point. Advancing through the UFO “gate” can be likened to an initiation. Here the phrase “many are called but few answer” is embodied as we subconsciously recognise that we will be challenged about everything we once believed if we answer that call, so it is only natural that people hesitate to pass through the entry point. An overwhelming deterrent is often the fear of criticism as we wonder how foolish or crazy we may look if we develop an active interest in something that most are still unwilling to take seriously. Loss of social standing and the feelings of isolation that come with it are nothing to be sneezed at and only the ignorant, contrary or brave may be willing to face that loss. People perch precariously on the “will I or won’t I” question at the entry point. They usually fail to recognise they have everything to gain here as they leave behind old outworn ideas. Instead they focus on what they will lose, perhaps reminding them of the pain of past experiences when they were not with the “in-crowd”.

Some linger near the entry point afraid to go on, confronted by what appears to be the paranormal, occult and out and out strange. Here we are often exposed to the awesome open spaces of our own mind still left to be explored and can find ourselves frozen in our tracks with that recognition.

Others faced with the unknown are subconsciously aware they cannot deal with it and immediately go into denial about the existence of UFOs and all that may imply. This is where we see the profuse wellsprings of sceptics pouring forth into society. An apparent lack of curiosity can be a good defence too. Abraham Maslow once said - a fear of knowing is very deeply a fear of doing. Knowledge carries responsibility. Somewhere at the entry point we know that if we pursue our newly acquired interest, this Holy Grail, nothing will ever be quite the same, so some can turn away and forget they ever thought, saw or experienced anything to do with UFOs.

For those who persist, they have to overcome a pervasive cultural bias against those who seek truth and then act upon it. They can pause and feel thrilled by what the UFO phenomenon has to offer them, a new way of thinking, doing and being, yet they too can be hesitant taking the next step. As we come to realise later in our quest, the entry point into UFOs is much more than just an excursion into a wild and untamed subject. In the beginning we often had no idea that we had only caught a glimpse of the coming main attraction.

Exploration

Warily or enthusiastically, having sensed there is something of great value worth finding in the subject of UFOs that far outweighs our fears, we take the next step towards seeking it. No matter how small, it is significant as we continue. Here we can have what is termed a "deliberate letting go", a loosening of our grip on our old ways of thinking, acting and being. Some may undergo a complete pendulum swing, renouncing all of their old ideas. Others will have a gradual letting go as they carefully sift and weigh up the new information they are discovering.

The transformative nature of our enquiry into the UFO subject begins to simmer underground like a hot mud pool, but we cannot see it and are impatient for action. We want the UFOs to land, we want the governments to tell us the truth, but above all we want great change to happen on the planet. Little do most know it is the change within themselves they are yearning for. Some become eager procelytisers or evangelists, exploring channeling, conspiracies, government cover-up, abductions and contact. Once we do this we stumble across a new isolation created by the metamorphosis we are now undergoing. We may not be able to explain fully or coherently what is happening to us but just be aware of the changes we are undergoing. The inner revolution may take some time to manifest but we sense that it is happening.

We begin to feel different to others if we aren’t feeling that way already, and we see life with a different perspective. Our family and friends don't understand us when we talk about our new views, heck, we don't fully understand them ourselves. We can find ourselves shocked by what comes out of our own mouth at times! Eventually we realise that although we are on a quest, not everyone is taking the same path, and the same path does not necessarily work for everyone. We also have the realisation that although we climb all over the UFO mystery we just never seem to solve it, so we do the next best thing - we inhabit it.

Integration

Now we think, eat, breathe the UFO mystery. Just like a jail sentence, the questers become the "lifers". Here we are required to "face up" to the changes our quest has created. We now have another look at our lifestyle, career direction, relationships, goals and values. There is the birth of the new self in an old culture, but there are new friends, new possibilities and new rewards. For most we fine tune our interest as we refine, test and shake down our new ideas while simultaneously expanding them.

Many begin to explore other subjects they had no former interest in. They may look into philosophy, quantum physics, psychology, alternative health, new science, new thought. Here we discover that our original interest opened a doorway into a much more expansive way of existence. We have a change of attitude from “some things matter” - to “everything matters”. We are overhauled, turned inside out and rebuilt anew by this strange subject. We not only have different thoughts and entertain broader concepts, but our values and priorities have evolved.

Being Of Service In The World

Having undergone the previous stages of the UFO quest we now recognise how priceless a tool it can be and the transformation it has brought about in our lives. But now the great social implications become apparent as we discover that we not only want to share this tool with others, but that this needs to be done. Unlike the earlier evangelists this is done not with those who are neither ripe nor interested, but with those who are hungry for it. We cannot change the people who are not ready for it but we can help along those who are hungry for those changes to occur, thus compounding the ripple effect of change brought about by extraterrestrial consciousness in our society. But how does one go about performing the role of a change artist in our culture with UFOs as a tool?

It is in this phase of our journey that we must embody the changes we have undergone whilst on the UFO trek. We now begin to live what we have learnt through our personal transformation. We begin to walk our talk. We are truly in the world but not of it, yet we really don’t mind now. We are happy to be different and usually quite thankful for it. We are living what we hope the world will become, demonstrating a new way of being. We cannot change those who do not want this new way of life where we look at the stars and refer to them as home, but we can assist and guide those who want to share that expanded understanding and call them family.

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