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Joe Fisher: Author Of 'Hungry Ghosts'

AnonyJ

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I couldn't find a thread specific to this author and journalist, but please move this if it fits into a thread!

I remember reading Mr Fisher's account of New Age channelling and his quest to identify in recent history many of the 'spirits' that came through the channeller "Hungry Ghosts" (1990). He found many of the entities that seemed to come through could be almost-but-not-quite tied down to a real physical existence, the most promising being an RAF pilot from WWII. He went on to tie his experiences to the legend of the Tibetan Pretas or hungry ghosts, in that these 'ghosts' seemed to crave and encourage physical and earthly pleasures even though they were dead.

I have found out he went on to revisit the subject in "The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts: A Riveting Investigation Into Channeling and Spirit Guides" (2001) but I have not read it so don't know if this was simply a reissue of his earlier work after he died in 2001.

What does appear to be certain is that he was profoundly affected by his experiences and that they may have, along with other personal problems, led to his suicide in 2001.

I remember after reading the original Hungry Ghosts in the mid-90s, I felt that there was definitely room for caution when dealing with paranormal communication and still feel this now!

Does anyone have any deeper/better insights into his works and life? I still feel sad about, and for, the guy when I occasionally come across his name in the library or online.

From The Anomalist: https://www.anomalist.com/milestones/fisher.html

"Joe Fisher, 53, author of The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts, died on Wednesday, May 9, 2001, by jumping off a limestone cliff at Elora Gorge, near his hometown of Fergus, Ontario, Canada. A variety of personal problems, including a growing list of unpaid bills for the writer, appeared to have pushed him over the edge. In one of his last communications with his editor-in-chief, Patrick Huyghe at Paraview Books, Fisher noted that the spirits were still after him for having written his final book. " [Loren Coleman ]
 
The 2nd book (Siren Call...) was a reissue of the earlier one, with Fisher adding an extra chapter detailing his experiences since the publication of the original book (mainly negative experiences stirred up by his prior communications with the "other side"). While these perceived experiences probably were a factor in his depression/suicide, I don't know how much of what he was being tormented by was objective, albeit paranormal, reality and how much may have been a symptom of undiagnosed mental illness.
 
Yeah, I read this book - knowing Joe committed suicide after, it was a difficult read. A guy desperately in search of something (for something read resolution / relief from some psychological problem).. and being slowly - agonisingly frustrated and tormented.

I remember it starts with him frequently visiting a medium who ‘channeled’ the ghost of an Egyptian woman claiming to be his wife in a previous life.
This ghost ‘affair’ led to the breakdown of his ‘real’ marriage. :(
 
It's been a few months on this thread but I just finished the reading "The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts," so I'm going to give it a nudge. I heard about this book on the Mysterious Universe podcast and had to read it. I ended up obtaining a copy and basically couldn't put it down. First off, here's a very brief wiki on Joe Fisher. Having read the book, read the wiki, and even perused amazon comments, if there's anything I can kind of surmise, it's that:
  1. Joe Fisher strikes me as having been an extremely insightful and intelligent man. You really can't help but adore the guy as you read his novel. There's a picture of him in Greece in which he just looks incredibly boyish and charming.
  2. In being so intelligent and analytical, this may have had the inadvertent effect of leaving him spiritually hungry. If there's anything that kind of made me pause throughout the book was just how Joe really became so pulled in with the so called "spirit guides" whereas others (ie his girlfriend Rachel) seemed to question the utility behind it all, or expressed a bit more skepticism. Like a cult, there's kind of a sense that these "guides" might prey on the vulnerable. Again, the great thing about Joe is that he readily admits as much about himself.
  3. Lastly, in the narrative one gets a sense from Joe that when he was led down one dead end after another, that he profoundly suffers a major heartbreak over it. It took a toll on him and he lost faith that his book was even worth publishing (it was the publishers who assured him there was value to be had in it).
  4. It's easy to make the connection that his suicide could be linked to his torment from the spirits. But the truth is that there's simply no documentation of that anywhere and indeed he lived for sometime after the book's release, even to see another edition come out. In the book itself he states that he eventually moved on, left the whole New Age medium world behind, met a woman, and got on with his life. It's really such a tragedy to have lost such a jewel of a man.
While there are dead ends in his searching, just as amazingly there's a lot of things that are actually very much confirmed. It's as if the spirits tease their audience with enough truth to lure you in only to have the trail drop off a cliff when arriving to main points. It's not that he disproves guides as a hoax, but rather that he confirms they're real beings, but with very questionable motives. What amazed me was just how much access Joe obtained to mediums, and how much detailed information the spirits were willing to offer up. The book ends with him sharing a letter from one of his readers that has haunted me weeks later after having put the book down.

This book should be an absolute must read for anyone whose entering into the world of channeling and mediums in order to either think twice in such involvement or disspel any vulnerabilities or naivete.
 
I agree with your last paragraph Alsino . . . BUT . .

Many years ago, I was reading Robert Monroe’s book ‘Journeys out of the Body’ (how to astral travel ) and halfway through the book I was able to follow his clear instructions and effortlessly and joyfully duplicate the experiments and suggestions that he recommended to successfully astrally project.

Eagerly I continued with the book, but unfortunately, it continued with warnings and cautions and scary stories of what could go wrong. This frightened me and made me hesitant and cautious, and found it impossible to leave my body again.
I wish I’d been left to explore without fear.
 
It's as if the spirits tease their audience with enough truth to lure you in only to have the trail drop off a cliff when arriving to main points. It's not that he disproves guides as a hoax, but rather that he confirms they're real beings, but with very questionable motives.
This certainly hits very much home with me after my experience in 1999 , when I got royally screwed by the spirits and their questionable motives. Quite why I got (precised) 25th November 2004 important/ meeting someone in early 2000/ getting married/ initials SBJL important/ 47 important/going to be a death, I don't know. Why couldn't they have just said "watch out Pete -you're going to meet someone spectacular next year. She'll have the initials SBJL , she'll want to marry you, but don't do it because she's going to die on 25th November 2004 age 47. I've questioned their motives on and off for the past 20 years and never come up with a definitive answer. Questionable indeed.
 
So sorry to read that PeteS. Truly awful.

It’s like they dispassionately dispense info - no fucks given
Often 50% correct 50% false - so you can only observe it in retrospect
 
I agree with your last paragraph Alsino . . . BUT . .

Many years ago, I was reading Robert Monroe’s book ‘Journeys out of the Body’ (how to astral travel ) and halfway through the book I was able to follow his clear instructions and effortlessly and joyfully duplicate the experiments and suggestions that he recommended to successfully astrally project.

Eagerly I continued with the book, but unfortunately, it continued with warnings and cautions and scary stories of what could go wrong. This frightened me and made me hesitant and cautious, and found it impossible to leave my body again.
I wish I’d been left to explore without fear.

I read a book on astral travel as well. As much as I'm fascinated by the forteana and mysterious, I've always kept one leg tethered onto the earth, I also tend to be naturally a bit distrusting, so I never achieved lift off. :( It certainly sounds like a magical experience.

Also, I really found a great deal of pleasure reading the Seth books. Seth dispensed a lot of great insights and information and the Seth spirit just seemed so matter-of-fact, detached and down-to-business in its fluid dictation. For me I found it really helpful at a certain time of my life. Maybe when channeling spirits if things can just be kept impersonal and philosphical? Perhaps the channeling groups can just keep questions impersonal while maintaining an informative context? Not sure if that's realistic or not, but that's my initial thought. I suppose that's why I like Tarot and iChing. They're a gentle divination that leaves ample room for interpretation without being too invasive. I also don't get addicted or pulled into those mediums either.
 
It's a great book and should be required reading for anyone thinking of dabbling with the the so called other side

Of course the old shamans etc knew all this and they went through elaborate preparations, because they knew they would be entering the world of the trickster where things are never quite as they seem
 
This thread should be pinned at the top of the forum, JF more or less proved what the ancient societies knew, that what lies beyond us is not some benevolent race who want to assist human beings, but a dark trickster like energy

Although one part of me feels that it's kind of like the behind the scenes power of existence, in that it has to be there but we don't need to be looking at it and indeed it does not really wan us looking at it either so it erects all kinds of barriers but if you push through the barriers and get close it can get quite nasty

So unless you are an adept keep well away
 
In light of this discussion, I looked at some pages on the 'Trickster' figure; it's a far deeper and more interesting subject than I'd assumed.

'Many native traditions held clowns and tricksters as essential to any contact with the sacred. People could not pray until they had laughed, because laughter opens and frees from rigid preconception. Humans had to have tricksters within the most sacred ceremonies for fear that they forget the sacred comes through upset, reversal, surprise. The trickster in most native traditions is essential to creation, to birth.'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickster
 
This thread should be pinned at the top of the forum, JF more or less proved what the ancient societies knew, that what lies beyond us is not some benevolent race who want to assist human beings, but a dark trickster like energy

Although one part of me feels that it's kind of like the behind the scenes power of existence, in that it has to be there but we don't need to be looking at it and indeed it does not really wan us looking at it either so it erects all kinds of barriers but if you push through the barriers and get close it can get quite nasty

So unless you are an adept keep well away
When you mean what lies beyond is that after life, alien life or the whole shaman/DMT thing...are all them linked.
 
When you mean what lies beyond is that after life, alien life or the whole shaman/DMT thing...are all them linked.
I would say what lies beyond the veil that separates the known from the unknown, beyond the direct material universe, however you may wish to describe it. As I look out of my window beyond the building opposite, I see the bare tops of the trees beyond, and am aware that from there the woodland extends, if you know the landscape, for about 10 miles essentially unbroken, except by the odd road or small field. On a stormy day, it seems like the shores of the wild wood are crashing against civilization and howling spirits inhabit the trees. But what lies beyond isn't just that mythological landscape that my mind populates with beings from folklore and forteana - it can intrude without invitation into our homes and workplaces, like when I glimpsed the hem of a trailing skirt disappear around a corner where no-one could be, or when a screw clutched firmly in my closed fist abruptly vanished, or when something shouted at me from across an empty church.
 
I would say what lies beyond the veil that separates the known from the unknown, beyond the direct material universe, however you may wish to describe it. As I look out of my window beyond the building opposite, I see the bare tops of the trees beyond, and am aware that from there the woodland extends, if you know the landscape, for about 10 miles essentially unbroken, except by the odd road or small field. On a stormy day, it seems like the shores of the wild wood are crashing against civilization and howling spirits inhabit the trees. But what lies beyond isn't just that mythological landscape that my mind populates with beings from folklore and forteana - it can intrude without invitation into our homes and workplaces, like when I glimpsed the hem of a trailing skirt disappear around a corner where no-one could be, or when a screw clutched firmly in my closed fist abruptly vanished, or when something shouted at me from across an empty church.
Thanks that just about encapsulates it that's why I love this subject

But I am wise enough to know to look and don't touch so to speak there is more than enough evidence to say it's dangerous to get very deeply involved
 
In light of this discussion, I looked at some pages on the 'Trickster' figure; it's a far deeper and more interesting subject than I'd assumed.

'Many native traditions held clowns and tricksters as essential to any contact with the sacred. People could not pray until they had laughed, because laughter opens and frees from rigid preconception. Humans had to have tricksters within the most sacred ceremonies for fear that they forget the sacred comes through upset, reversal, surprise. The trickster in most native traditions is essential to creation, to birth.'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickster
Your post reminded me of this book, which I just plucked off of my shelves to peruse:
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We live in a very strange world, to me the paranormal is like a background energy to life, it just gets on with whatever it has to do, growing trees and plants etc, it seems to hold humans in particular distain (you can kind of see why) and every chance it gets it will play tricks and lead people up blind allies it loves setting the narrative no matter how bizarre I give you Black Panthers in the Bucolic English countryside or flying saucers throwing out objects that turn out to be ordinary earthly origin things the list is endless, we can't nail it down it's like nailing blancmange to wall, and we never will be able to, just observe from a safe distance and don't be taken in, and whatever you do don't try and communicate with it! As the late Joe Fisher found out
 
We live in a very strange world, to me the paranormal is like a background energy to life, it just gets on with whatever it has to do, growing trees and plants etc, it seems to hold humans in particular distain (you can kind of see why) and every chance it gets it will play tricks and lead people up blind allies it loves setting the narrative no matter how bizarre I give you Black Panthers in the Bucolic English countryside or flying saucers throwing out objects that turn out to be ordinary earthly origin things the list is endless, we can't nail it down it's like nailing blancmange to wall, and we never will be able to, just observe from a safe distance and don't be taken in, and whatever you do don't try and communicate with it! As the late Joe Fisher found out
Good post :)
 
We live in a very strange world, to me the paranormal is like a background energy to life, it just gets on with whatever it has to do, growing trees and plants etc, it seems to hold humans in particular distain (you can kind of see why) and every chance it gets it will play tricks and lead people up blind allies it loves setting the narrative no matter how bizarre I give you Black Panthers in the Bucolic English countryside or flying saucers throwing out objects that turn out to be ordinary earthly origin things the list is endless, we can't nail it down it's like nailing blancmange to wall, and we never will be able to, just observe from a safe distance and don't be taken in, and whatever you do don't try and communicate with it! As the late Joe Fisher found out
So it's not a good idea to be shouting up the universe's arse! as I often do then?
 
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