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REVIEWS rare, and our in-house astrologer Richard "acceptance" to the inexplicable, for there is Giles notes that in the last 50 years there no such thing as absolute certainty. have been 20 multi-planet conjunctions in Lo! is a hotch-potch of weird and wonder- the one zodiac sign, and that the 5/5/2000 ful stories, mostly gleaned from newspapers, line-up, over 26 degrees, is very wide. magazines and scientific journals over Statistically, it's only a matter of time before —_ decades of library research, interspersed a catastrophe strikes, but how on Earth can with humorous, outrageous comments and we prepare for such a worst-case scenario? —_his own tall stories about the nature of the physical universe and attempts by 'intelli- LO! gent’ life to come to terms with it. by Charles Hoy Fort Readers unfamiliar with Fort will not only Publisher: John Brown Publishing, be amazed at his accounts of heavenly bod- London, UK, 1996 (first published 1931) ies, fireballs, poltergeists, sea monsters, ISBN: 1-870870-891 (320pp s/c) falling frogs, space aliens, and more, but Price: AUD$25.00; AUD$30.00 airmail to ow he delivers them. This is classic NZ; STG£9.99; USD$22.00 Forteana, admirably demonstrating the clos- Available: Aust/NZ—Fortean Times, 5/9 est Charles Fort would go to defining reali- Palm Avenue, Bribie Island, Qld 4507, ty: a world based on humour. Australia, fax +61 (0)7 3408 6205; UK— Fortean Times, ph 01789 490215; USA— = FUTURE MEMORY Fortean Times, ph (516) 627 3836. by P. M. H. Atwater Publisher: Birch Lane Press, USA, 1996 ISBN: 1-55972-320-3 (300pp h/c} Price: AUD$40.00; STG£7.99; USD$19.95; CAN$27.95 Available: Aust—Cameron Books, ph (047) 587676; UK—Bookshops; USA/ Canada—Carol Publishing Group, NY. lhe expression "flash forward" was coined in the 1980s to describe how some survivors of near-death experiences (NDEs) were found to be able to tap into the future and pre-live an event, exactly as it occurred, before it actually manifested in physical reality. Author Phyllis Atwater, who has written several books on NDEs and has herself been through three such experiences, believes the term should be redefined as "future memory phenomenon", for it is not only reported by people who have ‘died’ and lived to tell the tale. For her new book, Future Memory, 5 i | Atwater has amassed and analysed the body ers sy in =; of testimony on this little understood but RASTIC UT) OF FORTCAR FECKOAEAA | very real phenomenon (at least it is for those who experience it). harles Fort (1874-1932), the prolific Moreover, she presents a reasoned argu- American collector of reports on strange ment for how "brain shifts" such as future phenomena, was one of history's true icono- remembrances are aspects of higher brain clasts and sceptics. His third book, Lo! (first development, allowing newer and richer sets published in 1931 and just re-released in a of abilities and talents to be activated. The major revised edition), is a fine place to start upshot of this is that it is possible for us to for those who have not yet encountered learn how to cause future memory states as a Fort's incisive wit and wisdom. way of kickstarting our higher brain abili- His words were his greatest weapon, and ties—and Atwater suggests ways that we he used them with intense delight in his might be able to achieve this. attacks on establishment thinking, whether Future Memory is really an adventure into religious or scientific. He castigated scien- the labyrinth of the mind and all its work- tists, especially astronomers, for dismissing, | ings. Atwater challenges us to break the discrediting and suppressing evidence they bounds of our perceptions, to synthesise the could not explain, while espousing theories most visionary physics and metaphysics in they were unable to prove. Fort refused to an attempt to understand the essence of believe in any explanations; only to give human spirit and consciousness. rare, and our in-house astrologer Richard Giles notes that in the last 50 years there have been 20 multi-planet conjunctions in the one zodiac sign, and that the 5/5/2000 line-up, over 26 degrees, is very wide. Statistically, it's only a matter of time before a catastrophe strikes, but how on Earth can we prepare for such a worst-case scenario? LO! by Charles Hoy Fort Publisher: John Brown Publishing, London, UK, 1996 (first published 1931) ISBN: 1-870870-891 (320pp s/c) Price: AUD$25.00; AUD$30.00 airmail to NZ; STG£9.99; USD$22.00 Available: Aust/NZ—Fortean Times, 5/9 Palm Avenue, Bribie Island, Qld 4507, Australia, fax +61 (0)7 3408 6205; UK— Fortean Times, ph 01789 490215; USA— Fortean Times, ph (516) 627 3836. i Fa aie. SLATIC ATR) PF FOR TCAN harles Fort (1874-1932), the prolific American collector of reports on strange phenomena, was one of history's true icono- clasts and sceptics. His third book, Lo! (first published in 1931 and just re-released in a major revised edition), is a fine place to start for those who have not yet encountered Fort's incisive wit and wisdom. His words were his greatest weapon, and he used them with intense delight in his attacks on establishment thinking, whether religious or scientific. He castigated scien- tists, especially astronomers, for dismissing, discrediting and suppressing evidence they could not explain, while espousing theories they were unable to prove. Fort refused to believe in any explanations; only to give NEXUS - 81 AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 1997