From personal recollections of childhood activities, army training, and research experiences for The Monroe Institute, F. Holmes “Skip” Atwater writes of his unique lifespan-a “spirit journey”-and of the guidance that has assisted him in fascinating chapters of learning, remote viewing (RV) training, research, and personal exploration. Examples of personal belief and choice as guideposts and markers help to identify one man’s “exploration of reality through personal experience.” Beginning with a childhood “filled with extraordinary spiritual experiences that led me to a military career as a clairvoyant counterspy,” Atwater describes instances of spirit guidance throughout his lifetime and how “everyday life is a mere reflection of spirit experienced as an intention to become aware of All That Is.” In Part One, “Child, Soldier, Counterspy,” the author first becomes aware of a kind of “night school,” the out-of-body experience. With this awareness comes a knowing that he was always guided by a sense of self greater than the physical body and by the acceptance and realization of “a spiritual existence beyond our perception of the physical.” In his “normal” childhood, Atwater vividly remembers occasions when Guidance manifested, and his mother’s words, “You will always be taken care of, ” resonated at life-changing moments. His intuitive explorations extended into the teenage years as he diagnosed mechanical problems with his 1940 Chevy using innate remote viewing abilities. Atwater joined the army in 1968, volunteering for Army Intelligence based on a knowing that “This is what I am here for.” Everything already learned and accepted became the basis for another step on life’s path. At Army Intelligence School, he learned questioning methods that would be useful with remote viewers and in research at The Monroe Institute. He soon realized that his “inquisitive nature” was useful with extraordinary intelligence-collection methods, which would later lead to military remote viewing protocols. He continued on course, “coincidentally” being in an office to respond to a teletype message requesting names of special agents interested in training to be electronic-surveillance technicians. Skip discovered that he could expand his awareness to include an entire structure (including hostile bugs, cameras, or wiretaps) and search within the awareness of himself as the structure. After finishing his college degree in the army, Atwater was sent to South Korea. There, he learned teaching methods and audiovisual presentation techniques and was recommended to Officer Candidate School (OCS). Guidance assisted again by providing just the right individuals and opportunities. The safe in his new office in Fort Meade, Maryland, contained classified Soviet parapsychology documents and remote viewing reports that indicated concern over possible Soviet superiority in these fields. As an experienced counterintelligence special agent, he wondered if the information was truthful and if the experiments could be replicated. He presented the idea of training army personnel with security clearances as remote viewers. The mission was approved, and the program to be known as STARGATE was born. Of the planning, screening, and interviewing for potential remote viewers, Atwater commented, “It seemed that everything that had happened in my life up to this point had been preparing me for what was happening now.” He learned that inducing special states of consciousness with a sound technology called Hemi-Sync could facilitate the remote viewers’ training. After his first encounter with Robert Monroe and Hemi-Sync in 1977, Atwater recommended Hemi-Sync training. As operations and training officer of STARGATE, Atwater also began to see the relevance of remote viewing to consciousness exploration applications. Skip retired from the army in 1987 and continued his quest (Part Two, “Scientist, Explorer, Spiritual ‘I’”) at The Monroe Institute with scientific inquiry into how Hemi-Sync sounds alter brain activity and consciousness. He designed computer programs that simplified the process of mixing binaural-beat patterns and registered the entrainment of the brain-wave state during Hemi-Sync sessions. Atwater also utilized Hemi-Sync to develop his own consciousness, in the laboratory and in residential programs. There, he found answers that further convinced him that a greater spiritual reality existed beyond the confines of the physical body. In natural, unpretentious language, Atwater places his professional transitions in the context of his personal spiritual legacy, providing first-hand reporting of synchronistic guidance and how the spiritual infuses every life event. The CD included with the book is an information bonanza that includes: the basic RV workshop, detailed U.S. Army Intelligence RV teaching methods, a report on UFO bases, audio-with text transcripts-of eight RV sessions (including Joe McMoneagle’s “Remote Viewing Mars”), full-text Hemi-Sync research papers, four declassified documents, and a personal photo album. Captain of My Ship, Master of My Soul is an enriching reading and learning experience. Don’t miss it! Reviewed by Carol Taylor

[Note: F. Holmes “Skip” Atwater will be training the first Remote Viewing Practicum at The Monroe Institute, September 28-October 4, 2002.]
Captain of My Ship, Master of My Soul: Living with Guidance, by F. Holmes Atwater, Hampton Roads Publishing Co., 2001.

Carol Taylor M.S. has been a teacher and a librarian to readers of all ages and has been with The Monroe Institute since 1995 as Information Coordinator and lately as an Outreach trainer.

Hemi-Sync® is a registered trademark of Interstate Industries, Inc.

© 2002 by The Monroe Institute

Brian Snellgrove, from London, England, has authored two books on the aura and the chakras. He works as a counselor and healer and does his own version of remote viewing for commercial ventures. He attended the June 2003 REMOTE VIEWING PRACTICUM, back-to-back with the GATEWAY VOYAGE®, on the recommendation of a friend whom he had "happened" to meet in Cyprus only two weeks earlier. The registrar warned him that the only space available was downstairs "below the kitchen where you can hear people's feet." Undaunted, Brian came anyway and wrote this account of his visit.

I arrived a couple of days early to acclimatize and to visit downtown Charlottesville and take a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway with its ever-changing weather, pristine beauty, and serenity. I checked in my car at the airport and sat down to wait for my ride. Before long, there were eight of us, and we were driven in a comfortable van to The Monroe Institute for the GATEWAY VOYAGE. About twenty people arrived within the space of four hours, and no time was lost in making introductions and figuring out who was who.

When the REMOTE VIEWING PRACTICUM started, any doubts that the subject matter would fill the allotted time soon disappeared. I saw that we were going to have difficulty covering all the subject categories, never mind going into them in depth. It also rapidly became clear that we were here to learn the ground rules-not to become remote viewers. We were informed that it took one of the world's outstanding remote viewers, Joseph McMoneagle, three years to achieve a 50 percent success rate. Joe revealed an unexpected side when he said that the ego must be controlled via meditation. He told us he does three Zen mediations per day plus three remote viewings per day, "even though I do not need to."

Among many interesting topics of discussion were the difference between remote viewing (RV) and out-of-body experiences (OBEs), the importance of breathing and relaxation, and how intention controls perception. Hemi-Sync® tapes were used throughout the week to educe the correct mind-set-shifting awareness from the left to the right brain. We learned that two million people have listened to the Monroe tapes, and I was amused to see a sticker on the flip-chart board that read, "Think cosmically; act personally."

We heard how the term "remote viewing" had been developed and the five disciplines needed to satisfy the RV protocol. Three people are required: the viewer, the monitor, and a judge who does not participate in the RV experiment and does not meet the other parties prior to judging. We participated in exercises that taught us to tease out the facts of the matter and to distinguish remote-viewed images from the left-brain constructions our minds create to "fill in the conceptual gaps." We also learned to give ourselves permission to obtain information in a random and untidy fashion. Intuition does not work to order!

On Wednesday, we engaged in our major double-blind study for the week. We divided into groups of three and went off to various private corners to take turns being the viewer, monitor, and judge. Although a 9:00 A.M. to 10:30 P.M. day sounds long, it is difficult to see how the requisite quantity of information could have been conveyed in any shorter time. The last evening was spent watching a videotape of Joe McMoneagle's remote viewing exploits in Japan, where his success has made him a national star. No wonder James Randi-a magician who specializes in debunking paranormal abilities--avoids him!

In conclusion, here are some of the comments made by participants:

"An enlightening experience, wonderful gift, good teachers. I received much more than I expected. I feel relaxed and on track." -Brenda from Brooklyn, New York

"It is fascinating how I can get on the background of my eyes the indications of an object independent of its location in the universe and in time that I have chosen through my mind." -René from Switzerland

"To use remote viewing for the first time was so easy that it was scary. Then I discovered how much more complex and nontrivial it is, and how many subtle control dials should be properly aligned. What I really liked is that I did not have to drop everything I was doing before just to learn it. I could just take many elements I was taught by Skip, select ones that work for me the best, and then integrate them with my own methods. I will continue working and improving remote viewing for the rest of my life. I will use it for problem resolution, to plan and implement changes, and to get better control of my life events." -Edwin from New Jersey

"I have attended six other TMI classes over the past seven years, and the remote viewing class taught by Skip Atwater and Carol Sabick was one of the best classes I have attended. The discussions regarding our concept of time and space were fantastic, and the various remote viewing sessions we did were amazing. Strongly recommend this course for those of you who are ready to take it to the next level. Buckle your seatbelts and get ready for one heck of a ride." -Martin from New Mexico

[I have invited Skip Atwater to come to London to spread the word and give a day-long seminar in early 2004. It's about time England heard more about what is going on.]

© 2003 by The Monroe Institute

Katie Letcher Lyle is the author of fifteen books, and her short fiction has appeared in many magazines. A writer, teacher, folksinger, and speaker, she taught for twenty-five years at Southern Seminary College. Since 1983, she has taught more than 120 Elderhostels at several Virginia colleges. Katie has been active in organizations that serve the handicapped and currently serves as a board member and a volunteer for the Rockbridge Area Hospice. For eleven years, she has actively explored psychic functioning by participating in Monroe Institute residential programs. Her latest adventure is described below.

From September 28 to October 4, 2002, twenty-three explorers participated in the first REMOTE VIEWING PRACTICUM to be held at The Monroe Institute. This is a different sort of program than the others at Monroe, yet its aim remains the same, at least in part: to prove to us that we are more than our physical bodies. Remote viewing (RV) is what might be called task-oriented psychic functioning. At the end of the week, Skip Atwater, our leader, calculated that our success rate in the "for the record" trials was such that there was only a one in a thousand chance of repeating it in another session. Skip pointed out that in baseball, if you get a hit 30 percent of the time, you can make a lot of money. This astonishing result will become part of an ongoing statistical study to determine what we had seemed to prove-Hemi-Sync® enhances remote viewing. When Joseph McMoneagle was developing his skills, Robert Monroe created special tapes to help him go into "remote-viewing mode."

Remote viewing is seemingly sending your perception away from your resting body to a "target" location or person, and reporting on what you can see, hear, sense, experience, or know about that target. During the 1970s of the last century, it was proven beyond doubt that remote viewing was within the range of human behaviors for some-and perhaps all-people. In response to Soviet experiments behind the Iron Curtain, our government began funding and training remote viewers and using remote-viewing programs, with a success rate ranging from 50 to 80 percent accuracy. The disparity in accuracy reflected differing judging and scoring systems. Hemi-Sync at the levels of RV 10, 12, 15, and 21 enabled us, the participants, to psychically connect time after time with our assigned targets. In RV 10 energy, you realize that you are more than physical. In RV 12 energy, information seems to flow in from wherever you aim your attention. In RV 15, time and space cease to be limitations. We know this after attending the GATEWAY VOYAGE® and other programs at The Monroe Institute, but these states of awareness take on new and very specific meanings in remote viewing.

There were tapes each day, usually one or two. The rest of the time was devoted to learning to acquire and describe distant targets-while scrupulously documenting our success according to a seven-point system. In remote viewing, there are at least three participants: the viewer, the monitor, and the judge. We practiced being all three, thus learning the problems inherent in each role and how to overcome them. We put in long days, amid much joy, discussion, argument, good food, and congenial companionship. The five steps in the remote-viewing process: turning inward, relaxing, listening, becoming aware, and reporting were also practiced. Time after time, we demonstrated to our delight that we could all seemingly travel to distant targets successfully.

At week's end, I believe not one of us left The Monroe Institute doubting that human beings have the ability to "go" to targets without leaving their bodies and to return with accurate information. Skip Atwater spent many years as an operations and training officer for the U.S. Army Intelligence remote-viewing surveillance program. Watching videotapes from remote-viewing conventions each evening enhanced our work as remote viewers. Our "housemother" was Carol Sabick, whose calmly humorous demeanor and psychic sensitivity added greatly to our experiences.

Perhaps I am overly analytical, but I am still working to overcome my own residual doubt about psychic functioning, despite spending twenty weeks over the last eleven years at The Monroe Institute doing every program offered. More than any other program (and I've done LIFELINE™ five times!) the REMOTE VIEWING PRACTICUM served to convince me that my "hits" could not have been guesses; that I do indeed share with others the ability to transcend space and time and my body. For what it's worth, here is how I would "explain" remote viewing. We are all-knowing, all-the-time, but that knowing of everything-past, present, and future-is kept firmly below the conscious level as we navigate through our earthly lives. Remote viewing is a dipping below the line of consciousness into that infinite pool of information and pulling up into conscious thought whatever it is that we are seeking.

© 2003 by The Monroe Institute