Ecology of Souls: A New Mythology of Death \u0026 the ParanormalVols. One \u0026 Two by Joshua Cutchin

Ecology of Souls: A New Mythology of Death \u0026 the ParanormalVols. One \u0026 Two Reviews

• 
  Morgan

  Cutchin's Ecology of Souls is a fascinating in depth look at the connections between a range of phenomena, from UFOs/aliens, to NDEs, to fairies. The book carefully explores each topic providing enough depth for a reader to become familiar with the ideas but also offering food for thought which allows readers to draw their own conclusions from the evidence provided. Having read Cutchin's previous works, Trojan Feast and Thieves in the Night, I found this one very much inline with those works and admire the author's ability to explain and connect various anomalies and folk beliefs into a cohesive whole. I do recommend people read both volumes and the companion book which contains the footnotes and a 120+ bibliography in order to fully appreciate the content and the material being presented.
• 
  Colleen Chesebro

  It took me a month to read Ecology of Souls: A New Mythology of Death & the Paranormal – Volume One & Two. The print version of this two book series is 1,405 pages. I read the two books as a Kindle Unlimited download. Many thanks to the author for making this book available on KU.
  
  If you write about faeries, the paranormal, aliens, UFO’s, cryptids, monsters, the Otherworld, death, psychopomps, altered states of consciousness, magic, witches, folklore, Jungian Archetypes, Reincarnation, shamanism, or mythology, these are the books for you!
  
  My Recommendation:
  
  This was a massive read! It took me a month to devour. But there is so much in this book that made sense to me. I’m buying my own Kindle copy of the books, because if you write paranormal fiction or poetry, this is a book to use for reference, again and again!
  
  Let’s start with the first word I had to look up: psychopomp.
  
  A psychopomp is a being, possibly a god or a person acting as a shaman, who guides the spirits of the dead to the afterlife or the otherworld. Think of a psychopomp as a soul gatherer…
  
  Now, find the threads of connection from psychopomps to faeries, UFOs, cryptids, ghosts, spirits, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, etc. Do I have your interest?
  
  Cutchin has compiled thousands of occurrences of near-death experiences, faery encounters, and otherworldly experiences that connect these phenomena to death and the afterlife.
  
  The correlations are believable, even if some data comes from folktales. The questions to ask yourself is how much truth was buried within the myths? How much of the truth was misinterpreted? How come we didn’t connect the dots sooner?
  
  The section that compared faery encounters to modern day alien encounters opened my eyes to another interpretation. Faeries have long been associated with the Otherworld and death. I’d never looked at an alien encounter in the same way. After reading this book, I can see the connections. I’m a believer.
  
  I own Whitley Strieber’s best-selling series Communion, Transformation, and Breakthrough, which all chronicles his experiences with UFOs and abduction. Cutchins draws on Strieber’s experiences and knowledge often.
  
  Now, after all these years since the Communion books were first published, Strieber contends that these experiences have something to do with death. They connect to the liminal—the Veil between the worlds where the aliens act as psychopomps, inviting us to cross over into the unknown.
  
  In fact, Cutchins points out, if you look at the alien portrayed on the cover of Communion, you will see an image similar to the descriptions of faeries found in Celtic mythology. Those large, black eyes are often described in faery encounters.
  
  This is a diverse study of paranormal phenomena, and how death and our consciousness are all connected. The books are much more than just witness accounts. Included is a separate volume to cover all the citations and references.
  
  Read the books and draw your own conclusions.
• 
  Neil Rushton

  Ecology of Souls is a monumental work. Joshua Cutchin has pulled together many strands of traditional and modern folklore, UFOlogy and philosophy to produce a book that digs deep into the mythology of paranormal activity, while always linking it to the common thread of our most pressing concern: death. It is expansive, ranging over nearly 1500 pages in two volumes, with a separate volume of source references, which guide the reader towards a wealth of data on all the subject matters discussed. The first volume is primarily concerned with the faerie phenomenon, explaining why the concept of death is at the heart of so many of the traditional belief systems and how it might inform our modern conceptualisation of what faeries are. The second volume turns towards aliens, and how this particular paranormal subject is linked deeply with the faerie phenomenon, and ultimately with consciousness and death. The book draws heavily on the works of Terence McKenna (the title is taken from McKenna’s description of the entities experienced under the influence of DMT) and Carl Jung, and manages to clarify much of their, sometimes, ambiguous writings into a satisfying, holistic assessment of why death is at the heart of so much paranormal activity, producing a work that is truly a new mythology. Thoroughly recommended.
• 
  George Kanakaris

  'Ecology of Souls' explores the idea/concept that aliens, bigfoot, near death experiences, elves, psychedelics, ghosts are related.
  It's hard to elaborate on this, but be aware that the author has done extensive research.
  There's only one problem : Cutchin draws on Whitley Strieber’s experiences , writings and knowledge quite often.
  I am a sceptic on Strieber .Why? Because he was a fantasy writer who suddenly became an expert on alien abductions.
  Some of his claims :
  'Strieber had involvement in a secret school from August-October 1952 at Randolph Air Force Base, where military personnel “utilized something called a Skinner Box” to enhance his learning abilities.'
  'Strieber accessed a previous incarnation spent in ancient Rome as tutor to Gaius Octavius, future emperor Caesar Augustus.'
  'Kobolds are the ones who control the movement of souls.' And so on...
  Finally, I can recommend this excellent podcast where the writer is a frequent guest :
  https://www.wheredidtheroadgo.com/
• 
  Felix Delong

  This is a deep dive into what can be only dubbed a universal human mythos, transcending from ancient gods and spirits, through fairies, ghosts, possessions and demons into UFOs, greys and Pleiadians.
  One can easily assume that given the sheer volume of material collected, there has to be something about it that is true. For me, however, the only part that is true is that humans are afraid to die and our brains can give us some serious trips in order to deal with the idea.
  I have yet to be persuaded that any of the phenomena exist outside the heads of people experiencing them.
  But damn, now I know so much about fairies I will be guest of honour at any party.
  My only problem with the book is that it is so damn huge... on the other hand, it goes through literally everything you wanted to know about the paranormal phenomena but were afraid to ask.
• 
  Rudolf Stark

  Amazing books and an essential read in this field. Not much more to say.