The Hidden Universe: An Investigation into Non-Human Intelligences

I always find Anthony Peake's books to be well written, concise and with some interesting ideas. The latest topic for Peake's thoughts are egregores: seemingly otherworldly "occult" entities/beings. Such egregores may be a manifestation of our unconscious psyche or perhaps they are other dimensional beings or even extra-terrestrial beings? A primary focus for Peake is the manifestation of so-called grey aliens or "greys," strange creatures with big black almond-shaped eyes, slit mouths and short grey bodies. Peake tells us from personal experience that his mother once saw one of these "greys" and he sites examples where "greys" have been seen and depicted throughout human civilisation. Peake also discusses other manifestations of egregores described in the form of elves, spirits, fairies, goblins, angels, demons, extraterrestrial aliens, looking at how these egregores have ties with both occult and religious philosophy.Peake also looks at the use of hallucinogens such as DMT and he speculates that the pineal gland is the possible site of the endogenous production of DMT in the brain. Peake suggests that pineal gland may act as the "third eye" that enables us to see beyond the everyday reality he calls the "Kenoma" and into the other dimensional, occult or hidden worlds he calls the "Pleroma." It is from this Plemora that egregores can be said to manifest in our reality. As a side note: I recently read a short online article by Ahmad Yousef at McMaster University, he speculates that conscious dreams may be generated from faster-then-light tachyon particles being signalled to the brain. Could the Pineal Gland function as the receptor for these tachyons in the same way that our retinae function as receptors for ordinary photons? Just a crazy thought.Toward the end of the book Peake speculates on how certain theories of quantum mechanics suggest that the universe may fundamentally be "information" or even mind, rather than physical matter. Quoting physicist Archibald Wheelers idea of "it from bit," Peake seems to suggest that egregores may manifest as real things, that is, the "it" from the pure information of the mind or mind-like universe, the so-called information "bit." Of course, information as used by physicist is the rather dry notion of information as "bits" sent physically across some communication channel, where as egregores are not merely the manifestations of informational bits, but manifestations that can have often significant meaning to those who encounter them. I would contend that current information science is a long way from understanding both meaning and consciousness.The question of whether egregores are as a real as the things we experience in the "Kemora," our seemingly everyday reality, or whether they a manifestation of our unconscious or perhaps a manifestation from a greater reality raises deep metaphysical questions about the nature of consciousness, space and time and reality. Questions about UFOs, aliens, consciousness and reality as "virtual world simulations" seems to be very popular at the moment, especially on the internet. Yet, as this book shows, such ideas may be in some sense as old as human thought. Do such ideas point to a just a psychic manifestation of human-kind's yearning for, or even a fear of, some reality lying beyond themselves, or do they rather point to very real ontological reality that exists beyond our everyday world?

I discovered Anthony Peake’s book “The Hidden Universe” in my research on paranormal topics. Do our dreams portend the future? Do dreams allow us to pierce the veil of time and space? Why do we have precognitions, or as they are more commonly known, hunches? And why does mainstream science simply ignore what it cannot explain? “The Hidden Universe” provides a brief, but informative history on the fascinating work of John Dee, WY Evan-Wentz, Jacque Valle, and other esoteric writers. Extending from this historical context, Peake investigates the many kinds of neurotypical “illnesses” people experience, such as migraines, autism, and Alzheimer’s, which can expand their spectrum of reality. Peake coined the term “Huxleyian spectrum” to describe the often-hidden realm of reality that some people gain access to, sometimes through illnesses, sometimes through visions, near death experiences or dreams. What makes this book even more compelling is Peake’s discovery of the work of Myron Dyal. As a child, Dyal fell into a deep coma. After that coma, Dyal experienced intense hallucinations. These hallucinations became the raw materials from which Dyal then began to paint. Having no previous experience in painting, Dyal was able to raise the level of his skill to paint the visions he saw in his mind. Peake explores how Dyal’s visions allow him access to a larger spectrum of reality. As I read further into “The Hidden Universe” I kept discovering topics and elements in my own book “Falling from Trees.” It seemed as if I’d read Peak’s book in the future so I could write “Falling from Trees” in the past. Sounds crazy? The synchronicities were so uncanny I wrote to Peake, asking him which book to read next. A huge fan of Philip K. Dick (PKD), Peake suggested I read “A Life of Philip K. Dick.” Reading Peake’s excellent PKD book, I shared stories with him about living in Berkeley, California, walking on the same streets as PKD. Again, it seemed like I’d had those experiences in the future. Reading Peake’s work opened my spectrum of reality, helping me to dispense with strict demarcations of past and future. To consider time as being more of a lake then a river. Continuing my reading of Peake’s work, I then picked up “Opening the Doors of Perception.” Exploring the notion of “the scale of transcendence” Peake shows in this book how esoteric teachings and mystic traditions have attempted to enlarge our potential perception of reality. Peake’s writings are essential to anyone interested in the nexus between the philosophy of mind, quantum science, the science of the mind, Indigenous wisdom, and esotericism. His work is highly recommended.

This book is divided into 3 Parts. If you're a Materialist-Reductionist Behaviorist who simply wants to 'cut to the chase' - go straight to Part III which deals with the Science behind the investigation into non-corporeal Beings. The first two Parts deal with the cultural and anecdotal history of encounters with Beings from . . . . someplace else. The History in this book is pretty detailed showing that the Author did his homework and extensive research. I believe I did find a typo error. On page 122 an encounter a British University Lecturer had in 1976 is described. Then on page 123 this Lecturer is described as meeting an Iranian Islamic Scholar in 1977 to describe the incident of '3 years earlier'. To fully grasp the Biology, Neuro-Science and Physics behind other Universes in Part III - it is helpful to have read "The Case Against Reality" by Cognitive Scientist Donald Hoffman. Finally, Anthony Peake is fair to Materialist-Reductionists and gives them credit where credit is due. But he also points out that the evidence is overwhelming as to the existence of what he terms Egregorials and we have to go beyond the current Scientific Paradigm to understand them.

Anthony Peake 's books are real treasures. Highly recommend to any truth seeker. Extremely well researched and full of insights!

この本は、副題にもあるように古今東西多種多様な「非人類知性」なるもの全て「Egregorial」という一言の造語で表現し、それらの謎、正体について論じる試みです。パート１は、歴史以前〜古代文明〜中世と主に西洋の歴史の流れに沿って探り、パート２では、妖精、オカルト、宗教、心霊（幽霊）、エイリアン（アブダクション）等のカテゴリー別に語られます（チャネリングについて一切触れられていないのがちょっと不可解）。ここまでは単にEgregorialって何？という問いに対する表面的な説明に過ぎない上、情報として既知のものが多いため、特に興味を引くほどのものはありませんが、推理小説の伏線の様な効果はあります。一方、短い最終パート３の特に１１章はおそらくこの本の肝で、最新の科学的知見によって解明されつつある驚くべき見解から、かなりきわどい仮説まで飛びだし、Egregorialの正体、人間の意識、異次元など、あと一歩で解明できるのでは、と読者に思わせるところまで迫ります。その中でまさに謎の核心にあると想定されているのがDMTという物質で、所謂サイケデリックドラッグとして悪名高いこのアルカロイドが、実は人間の脳にレセプターを持つ、歴とした神経伝達物質である事、また脳の中心にあって古来より第三の眼、あるいは魂の居場所と言われてきた松果体がこの分子の生成に密接に関連している事など、興味は尽きません。こういった話は、M・ハーナー、J・ナーバイ、D・ルーク、R・ストラスマン、G・ハンコック、T・マッケンナ、W・ストリーバーあたりの名を見てピンと来る人向けと言えるのかも知れません（実際これらの名前は本の中で言及されています）が、ほんのさわりだけの紹介なため、そこら辺の予備知識のある人にとっては食い足りない感があるでしょう。エピローグで最終結論を××××（ネタバレ防止のため伏せ字）に持っていくのも、例に挙げているN・スティーブンスンの小説や映画マトリックスのように少々カビ臭く、割と強引かなと感じました。私としては、いっそのこと前半のパート１、２は短くして１１章のテーマを徹底的に論じて欲しかったなと（もちろんこれは個人的な希望で、一冊の本の構成として破綻している訳ではありません）。近頃、この国でもようやくR・ストラスマンの有名な著作が翻訳されたのを機に、今後このジャンルの翻訳出版にも期待したいところです（原書読むのは結構手間と時間かかるので、、、汗）。

A number of years back I had the bad judgement to purchase a book by Anthony Peake; something to do with daemons and eternal life. It was hilariously bad so I vowed never to buy another book by him. Unfortunately I failed to check the author of this particular book and hey presto, more of the same.'The same' being re-shuffled wiki entries, a handful of anecdotes (most of which I've read previously) and regurgitation of a few famous and highly dubious 'paranormal' cases (presented without any critical analysis whatsoever), all rounded off by a poorly understood and broadly irrelevant excursion into the realm of quantum physics. He even cited the Scole experiment as evidence for disembodied entities. Scole, seriously, where the mediums controlled the entire process and banned SPR members from bringing infra-red cameras into the pitch dark room because infra-red 'hurts the spirits'. A long time ago I outlined my misgivings to Montague Keen (Scole investigator) and whilst he was a personable chap, his desperation to believe irrespective of the evidence was off the charts.Mr Peake strikes me as an author who, somewhere down the line, researched a niche in which he could make an impact and settled on the paranormal. There is no sense in his work of a genuine interest or a quest for the truth or indeed any in-depth knowledge of related topics, just a cherry-picked selection of paranormal staples shoe-horned into an argument to support his latest hare-brained idea.However, I'll say this for it: this is one of the few books that can change a reader's mindset. If you were a believer when you started, odds are you'll be reconsidering by the time you finish.

Every time I read one of Peake's books I learn something new and I find his books are pabulum for the soul.In this one, he looks at non-human intelligence and how they interact with us. This is the story that those in control of humanity have tried and failed to suppress over the past 500 years here in the occident. People across space and time have had interactions with these entities who are known collectively in esoterica as the Egregores, in Islam, they are the Djinn and in Gnosticism, they are the Archons. They are watching us, some argue they are guiding us and others that they manipulate and control us.I won't give away how Peake thinks what is going on you need to buy the book and read it for yourself it's very intriguing and as always well elucidated in his unique and simple style in which he is able to explain difficult concepts simply.

This is an excellent investigation into ‘hidden intelligences’ in our world. As with Anthony Peake’s previous books, it is rich in new perspectives on a range of metaphysical subject matter, but always grounded in deep research and a fluency of explanation. It covers a broad range of phenomena from the occupants of UFOs to faeries and entities encountered during altered states of consciousness. The first three chapters give a detailed overview of the historic and cultural context, ranging from prehistory to Antiquity to the Middle Ages. The meat of the book is in the middle section, where the different types of non-human intelligences are investigated. This covers some of the main practitioners of occultism, such as Crowley and John Dee, as well as an epistemological description of faeries, ghosts, aliens, religious visions, mystical experiences, et al. Peake’s terminology for the entities is always clear and illuminating, and he coins the name ‘egregorial’ to describe the ontology of the various beings who appear to have had access to the physical world for thousands of years. The final three chapters discuss the methods by which humans can interact with ‘egregorials’. This moves from shamanism to psychedelics and includes an insightful and meticulously written investigation into what quantum physics might bring to the table of understanding. In summary, this book uses scientific methodology to get under the skin of what would usually be termed psi phenomena, while consistently breaking free of the materialist/reductionist worldview, which will deny the possibility of these phenomena existing. It’s beautifully written, well-referenced and should appeal to anyone looking to gain a deeper understanding of what non-human intelligent entities might be and how human consciousness interacts with them. Thoroughly recommended.