Communion

«This is the story of one man's attempt to deal with a shattering assault from the unknown.» — apertura del Prelude.

«It is a true story, as true as I know how to describe it.» — declara el estatuto del relato, y lo acota a lo que sabe describir.

«To all appearances I have had an elaborate personal encounter with intelligent nonhuman beings.» — la reserva *to all appearances* es del propio autor.

«This book is about forming a new relationship with the unknown.» — portadilla, firmada WHITLEY STRIEBER.

«Seeming encounters with nonhuman beings are not new; they have a history dating back thousands of years.» — afirma continuidad histórica del encuentro.

«It seems to me that it seeks the very depth of the soul; it seeks communion.» — cierre del Prelude: la glosa fundacional del título.

«Communion is as wide as all the knowledge of both partners, as deep as their whole souls.» — definición operativa en el capítulo final.

«To participate truly in this experience, we must marry the unknown.» — el registro es nupcial, no sacramental.

«Out of communion there emerges transformation.» — enlaza el título con la transformación.

«I am not a candidate for conversion to any new religion that involves belief in benevolent space brothers» — rechaza la conversión.

«If we are dealing with a new system of beliefs on its way to becoming fixed into religious dogma» — En la misma página describe el fenómeno como matriz de una religión en formación.

«True agnosticism is a very active mental state, a sort of eager unknowing.» — nombra así el estado que reclama para quien pasó por la experiencia.

«I do not have it in me to be a believer. Nor can I be a true skeptic» — declara no decidirse ni por la creencia ni por el escepticismo.

Lista seis marcos posibles y no elige entre ellos: otro planeta, la propia Tierra, otra dimensión, viaje en el tiempo, el interior de nosotros, un efecto natural.

«Perhaps the visitors are the gods. Maybe they created us.» — lo plantea como pregunta, no como tesis.

«In our universe, their reality may depend on our belief. Thus the corridor into our world could in a very true sense be through our own minds.» — declara no excluyentes la lectura externa y la mental.

«Maybe I have located these symbols in the visitor material simply because they are so central to my own life.» — la reserva con que él mismo presenta todo su material simbólico.

«My historical survey has found that the core experience of seeing flying disks and small figures goes back a long, long time.» — es lo que afirma sin reserva.

«I loved Christ and Mary especially, and used to pray with great fervor whenever I was trapped into going to church.» — consigna su formación católica de infancia.

«I had been reading some sermons of the thirteenth-century mystical philosopher Meister Eckhart» — Añade que ese estudio hubo de abandonarse.

«Transformation for a Zen monk, a Moslem sufi, a Catholic, or a Jehovah's Witness is the same: It is a matter of delivering one's self into the possession of God.» — iguala las vías de transformación por su término.

«I spent fifteen years involved with the Gurdjieff Foundation» — Adjudica a Gurdjieff y a Ouspensky la tríada como clave de lectura.

«the Hindu sages have given the wonderful name maya, which P. D. Ouspensky in his more utilitarian interpretation described simply as» — «identification», en la lectura que atribuye a Ouspensky.

«The triangle was the symbol of the ancient Triune goddess» — Lo enlaza con la Trinidad cristiana.

«The central effort of my life has been the fulfillment of the triad, the creation of the eagle within me.» — declara la tríada como su propio programa, no como enseñanza recibida.

«I suggest that the Major Arcana reveal a hidden symbolic coherence of great purity that has more to do with order than chance» — lee el tarot como orden simbólico y no como adivinación.

«the feminine is viewed as a cup, the masculine as what is poured into it» — lo adjudica a la imaginería del tarot y al relato evangélico de Caná; la frase arranca al pie de la p. 225 y cierra en la 226.

«To understand the riddle of the Sphinx is to know how to begin one's walk along the ancient way» — de ahí pasa al «pathless path».

«The flying Sphinx is a triad rendered in yet a fourth dimension of reality: a triangular solid, a pyramid, known in esoteric thought as the living eternal.» — única página donde la obra usa la palabra *esoteric*.

«Three Ways was one name of the Roman goddess Hecate» — con las ofrendas en la encrucijada.

«Trefuilngid is known as the Triple Bearer of the Triple Key, which is the same appellation given Shiva, Astarte, and Ishtar, three ancient manifestations of the Triune Goddess.» — equipara las tres bajo la Diosa Triple.

«Babylonian scriptures call Ishtar the Light of the World, Opener of the Womb, Leader of Armies, Lawgiver, Forgiver of Sins.» — la serie de títulos, tal como la da la obra.

«The Latin word for owl is strix» — Adjudica a la lechuza la sabiduría de Ishtar, la «Eve-Goddess» mesopotámica.

«I wondered if there was any relationship between my experience and the mystic walk of the shaman, or the night ride of the witch.» — plantea el paralelo como pregunta.

«there are the kobolds, dwarfs who stalked the mines of medieval Germany and gave their name to the mineral cobalt» — abre el capítulo histórico por los enanos de las minas.

«the parishioners of the Church of St. Kinarius heard a noise on the roof» — el episodio de Cloera, Irlanda, y el ancla en el alero.

«As counterpropaganda, the sylphs kidnapped people and took them to their airy abode» — bajo Carlomagno y Luis el Piadoso, y a los devueltos se los quemó.

«the Milanese mathematician Jerome Cardan found himself involved in a visitor encounter» — lo data en 1491 y añade que la doctrina allí referida es «an eleventh-century Arabic idea».

«mankind has had a sexual relationship with the fairies, the sylphs, the incubi, the succubi, and the denizens of the night from the very beginning of time.» — pone el encuentro en serie con el hada y el íncubo.

«In a treatise called On Little Demons, Incubi and Succubi, written by Father Ludovicus Maria Sinistrari de Ameno» — lo cita como fuente documental del argumento histórico.

«IF WHITLEY STRIEBER ISN'T FIBBING IN HIS NEW BOOK COMMUNION» — blurb de *The Nation* en la contracubierta; sigue «THEN IT MUST BE ACCOUNTED THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK OF THE YEAR, OF THE DECADE. OF THE CENTURY...».

«Thus begins the most astonishing true-life odyssey ever recorded» — fórmula del editor en la contracubierta, no declaración del autor.

«The assistance of the physicians and scientists who have advised me does not imply that they support my conclusions» — salvaguarda impresa por el propio libro en los agradecimientos; es la línea que impide contar a los médicos nombrados como avales de la tesis.

Los agradecimientos nombran a Donald F. Klein, MD (New York State Psychiatric Institute), al Dr. Robert Naiman, al Dr. John Gliedman, al Dr. David Webb, al Dr. Brian O'Leary, al Dr. Bruce Maccabee, a David M. Jacobs (Temple University) y a Budd Hopkins.

«I have examined Whitley Strieber and found that he is not suffering from a psychosis.» — declaración firmada por Donald F. Klein, MD, en el Apéndice I. Voz de Klein, no del autor.

«He appears to me to have adapted very well to life at a high level of uncertainty.» — cierre de la misma declaración de Klein.

El Apéndice II reproduce el resultado del polígrafo del 31 de octubre de 1986; el ítem 13 queda evaluado «possibly untrue», y el comentario que sigue entre paréntesis es del propio Strieber.

«The concrete world has slipped through the meshes of the scientific net.» — epígrafe de Alfred North Whitehead, *Modes of Thought*, al frente del Prelude. Los otros epígrafes son de Dante (*Inferno* I, p. 10), William Blake (p. 70) y Walt Whitman (p. 86); son citas elegidas por el autor, no doctrina suya.

El material de Betty Andreasson que la obra interpreta en las pp. 228–233 procede de *The Andreasson Affair*, de Raymond E. Fowler, y la obra lo declara.

*Passport to Magonia*, de Jacques Vallée, se cita una sola vez, con el pie de imprenta tal como lo trae el texto: «(Chicago: Refinery, 1969)».

«Believe it. Or don't believe it. But read it — for this gripping story will move you like no other... will fascinate you, terrify you, and alter the way you experience your world.» — cierre de la contracubierta: el editor suspende la cuestión de la creencia y vende el efecto sobre el lector.

«I would especially like to thank Budd Hopkins, who has sacrificed an enormous amount of time and effort — often approaching the heroic — for myself and those like me who have been dragged to the edge of reality.» — en los agradecimientos, sitúa a Hopkins como quien acompaña a los afectados, no como autoridad que valide la tesis.

«Dr. Bruce Maccabee, research physicist with the United States Navy, read my manuscript for its physics content, but any errors in this area remain my own.» — el reparto de responsabilidad que la obra imprime para cada asesor: leyeron el manuscrito, los errores quedan del autor.

«My wife reports that my personality deteriorated dramatically over the following weeks.» — el cambio de carácter se apoya en el testimonio de su esposa, referido por él.

«Next I spoke to Jacques Sandulescu on the phone. This is a transcript of that conversation.» — la obra declara la naturaleza del material que sigue: transcripción telefónica, no relato del autor.

«Jacques: "The light! I was sleeping, all of a sudden something woke me up. I saw the room was full of light. Bright, like daylight. Not like the moon. I thought we overslept. I look at my watch, it says four-thirty. Then I hear you through the door, saying it's OK. The light is gone, so I go back to sleep."» — voz de Jacques Sandulescu en la transcripción; describe luz de día a las cuatro y media y no menciona visitantes.

«She reports: "It was a bang. Then I heard the scurry of little feet running across your bedroom upstairs.» — voz de Annie Gottlieb, citada por el autor; ella atribuye después esos ruidos a los gatos.

«I wish to add that Budd Hopkins was present at both of these sessions, recording them. He was allowed to ask questions, but only at the end of each session, and it was understood that his questions would be few. They are identified with his name in the transcripts. All other questions were put by Dr. Klein.» — el protocolo con que la obra declara haber producido las transcripciones y cómo distinguir en ellas quién pregunta.

«[This is an actual transcript of my first hypnosis. Nothing has been left out. This is what happened when my memories were examined under hypnotic regression.» — el estatuto que la obra reclama para el material transcrito, en corchetes del propio autor.

«Budd Hopkins responded. "It's often like this. Beginning moments are the worst. And after that, it gets easier."» — voz de Hopkins dentro de la transcripción, encuadrando la reacción del sujeto como habitual.

«Budd Hopkins: "What about the Hynek book? I think there's a drawing in that.» — voz de Hopkins en la transcripción, buscando una fuente impresa previa para la imagen descrita.

«It's also possible that it's something quite inexplicable that you're trying to hang something on, to give it some shape or form.» — el entrevistador propone que la figura sea forma prestada a algo inexplicable; el sujeto la acepta como posible.

«It is very unusual to do this, especially from a deep trance like the one Dr. Klein had induced.» — la obra consigna como excepcional la salida espontánea del trance.

«"That occurs in hypnosis. We have these spontaneous age shifts. Frequently what will happen is that somebody will under hypnosis see something they've seen before, or something like it, and age shift will occur."» — el hipnotizador ofrece dentro de la sesión una explicación técnica del salto a 1957, y la obra la conserva.

«But when I brought up Einstein with my mother, she said, "We are Catholic. Catholics are absolutist.» — voz de su madre, citada por el autor dentro del relato de su formación religiosa.

«The man was given the instructions during an abduction experience during the fifties, and claims that he was told that he wouldn't remember a thing until 1985, when he suddenly found his mind full of richly detailed plans.» — relato de un tercero que la obra transmite marcándolo como *claims*, no como hecho.

«Budd Hopkins had wanted me to cover this incident first, before any further hypnosis, because of its similarity to one of the most common abduction scenarios.» — el criterio de Hopkins al ordenar las sesiones, consignado por el autor.

«(Note: When people are asked at random to draw the first figure that enters their minds, 30 percent will draw a triangle. Nobody knows why this is the» — nota del autor intercalada en la transcripción; la frase cierra en la repetición de plana del troceo.

«Budd Hopkins suggested that I get an artist to render the image.» — la iniciativa del retrato de la cubierta viene de Hopkins, no del autor.

«Ted Jacobs tried especially hard to capture that elusive quality, and succeeded brilliantly — although the final result, on the cover of this book, is a bit more human than was actually the case.» — el autor declara que la ilustración de la cubierta humaniza algo la figura que describió.

«Anne said, "Well, it was a quiet night," and proceeded to make a beautiful breakfast while I sat and stared.» — la voz de su esposa a la mañana siguiente, que el autor deja sin conciliar con su relato.

«Rather than suggest to her in any way that we thought this might be the case, Dr. Naiman began with that night without telling her why.» — el protocolo declarado de las sesiones de Anne, conducidas por Naiman y no por Klein.

«Dr. Naiman: "First we want to concentrate on July thirtieth, 1985. You were with your son?"» — encabezamiento de la transcripción de Anne Strieber, con Robert Naiman como hipnotizador y la fecha de la sesión declarada.

«Well, it's hard being all alone all day with a .kid and I'm tired at night. and I'm not usually the one who puts him to bed. And I'm not as good at reading stories as Whitley is, and I don't look forward when Whitley's gone to putting him to bed.» — voz de Anne bajo hipnosis: lo que recupera de la noche del 30 de julio es rutina doméstica, no visitantes.

«Because of this procedure we are going through now, we may be loosening up some memories that will not emerge until you're out of the trance.» — el hipnotizador anuncia dentro de la sesión que los recuerdos pueden aparecer después de ella.

«But it's very possible that after I take you out of the trance, between now and the end of the weekend something will come to you about the thirtieth.» — continuación de esa sugestión, que el libro conserva sin comentarla.

«It wasn't a peaceful eight, but don't remember why.» — voz de Anne: afirma la inquietud de la noche y niega el contenido; *eight* por *night* es de la capa de texto.

«I don't know what the calendar says, but I get the sense that there was a new moon that night.» — voz de Anne sobre la oscuridad de esa noche, con el dato dado como sensación.

«If the roof's on fire you'd see the roof all lit up.» — voz de Anne bajo hipnosis, oponiendo al relato del incendio lo que ella no vio.

«He gets nightmares sometimes. But he sounded especially frightened.» — voz de Anne sobre el grito de su hijo: distingue la pesadilla habitual de ese terror.