The other day, Rigorous Intuition put together a really interesting post about the UFO encounter of Brazilian soldier Jose Antonio Da Silva (as reported in Jacques Vallee’s Dimensions). Da Silva’s story begins:

Jose Antonio da Silva had left his home in Belo Horizonte and taken a bus to Bebedouro to go fishing the evening before. At about midnight he reached the banks of a small lagoon and set up his tent and fished for a while without success. The next day, at about 3 p.m. he became aware of figures moving around behind him. He heard a deep sound like a groan, then was struck in the legs by a “burst of fire” coming from a form partly hidden by bushes. Seized with cramp and feeling a numbness in his legs, he knelt down. A beam of light, greenish in the middle and reddish on the edges, had hit him. In a matter of seconds he was seized under the armpits by masked two four-foot-tall humanoid beings, who wore shining clothes and aluminum colored helmets with facemasks.

After taking him back to their ship, which takes off etc, the entities present Da Silva with continue weirdness. From the RI article:

Vallee writes that “Jose Antonio found himself in a large quandrangular room, thirty by forty feet, about fifteen feet away from a robust dwarf who stared at him ‘with apparent satisfaction.’ The dwarf was extremely hairy.”

The Humanoid Sightings Database has a further description of the dwarf:

[…] he had long reddish hair and a beard that flowed to his waist. He was strongly built, and his skin was pale; he had large round, green eyes and a big nose, and his mouth appeared toothless, “like a fish’s.”

Jumping back to the RI article, the account continues:

Other similar beings entered Da Silva’s field of vision, until about 15 filled the room. The three walls he could see had neither doors nor windows, appeared to be made of stone, and were adorned with frescos of animals, including a jaguar, monkey, giraffe and elephant, as well as paintings of vehicles and houses. “To his left,” writes Vallee, “was a low shelf with the corpses of four men.” At one point he was given “something to drink out of a cubical stone glass, and the cavity containing a dark green liquid was in the shape of an inverted pyramid,” which restored his energy and seemed, somehow, to aid communication.

The principal dwarf began gesturing to Da Silva, in a manner which the soldier interpreted as a request that he be their guide in the human world. He gestured his refusal, and began to nervously finger his rosary.

At which point, the dwarf dude gets pissed off and grabs the rosary from Da Silva. Then all the assembled dwarves pass it around to inspect it. Just then, a Christ-like figure appears to Da Silva and delivers to him a secret message which is not to be revealed to anyone. After that, the dwarves get even more irritated and return Da Silva to Earth according to the manner in which they took him.

This is a pretty weird, story, right? Since it mixes together elements of not only UFO encounters, but also mythological/fantasy stuff with Christian religion. In that original article, Jeff explores the possibility of UFO’s as being somehow similar to religious experience, which I think is an extremely interesting concept and would like to explore further.

Our first stop in doing so will be the late great psychologist, Carl Jung. If you’ve ever read any of Jung’s books (which are extremely dense and sometimes difficult to get through) you’ll be familiar with Jung’s techniques of dream analysis. Most of his scholarly works are framed around relating dream accounts of his patients, and then symbolically deconstructing them for their underlying meaning. He also regularly pulls in the vast sweep of religious and mythological history to highlight and amplify the content of the dreams.

Immediately upon reading the UFO account of Da Silva, I was reminded of these dream descriptions. The substance of this (and many) alien encounters is extremely similar to the type of symbolism and psychic events which we encounter regularly in dreams. In particular, I was also reminded of a mythological being which Jung describes in his book Symbols of Transformation (and elsewhere, I’m sure). He calls them “Cabiri” although I have also seen the following spellings: cabir, cabari, kabiri, kabeiroi, and kebeiroi.

Essentially, the cabiri are weird little dwarf men. They were originally Phrygian (in Asia Minor) chthonic (underworld) and fertility deities who were imported into Greek mythology. They had mystery cults which celebrated them (closely related to the Eleusinian mysteries), and they were associated with Hephaestus (the Roman smith-god Vulcan).

Here are some images of cabiri (kabeiroi) which remain from painted pottery.

1. Flute player in for a surprise
2. Odysseus as a Kabeiroi visiting Circe who will turn him into an animal
3. A kabeiroi encountering a huge snake

As underworld deities, the cabiri were associated with metallurgy, specifically ironworking. They were said to work with Hephaestus at his anvil and forge crafting all manner of metallic objects. An ancient source relates that some of these were chariots:

[…] their eyes flashed out their own natural sparks, which came from the red smoky flame of their father Hephaistos. They rode in a car of adamant; a pair of colts beat the dust with rattling hooves of brass, and they sent out a dry whinnying from their throats. These father Hephaistos had made with his inimitable art, breathing defiant fire between their teeth […]

Erich Von Daniken was the original fan of looking at historic accounts of weird magical “chariots” as being possible UFO’s. Switching gears, another website focusing on the history of homosexuality in religion and mythology also has some fascinating information about the cabiri (check out that first image I linked to above if you’re wondering why the cabiri were associated with homosexuality):

Connected with the worship of Vulcan, the KABIRI were sometimes portrayed as dwarfs with a hammer, short aprons, and a radiated head, like a halo or a visible kirlean aura of electromagnetic particles. As vulcans with hammers, the KABIRI are thus dated from the earliest days of metallurgy and fire, placing them at the dawn of the Bronze Age, c. 4500 B.C. During this time, the blacksmith was considered a magician, and the transformation into a bird in flight was but another of their callings. […]

“Smiths and shamans are from the same nest,” also declares a Yakut proverb from early North America, cited by the mythologist Mircea Eliade. These first shamans became the itinerant blacksmiths, who in later mythic lore appeared as dangerous wizards producing “immortal thunderbolt matter” made from crude rock. Miracle of miracles, it was “analogous to that of spiritual, whereby the individual learns to identify himself with his own immortal part.”

Going back to the Da Silva experience for a moment, you’ll recall that he was “struck in the legs by a ‘burst of fire‘” - which could possibly be similar to the “thunderbolt” which the cabiri are said to have been in touch with. Reviewing the list of similarities so far, we have: (1) weird metal craft, (2) bursts of fire, (3) shamanic trances, altered states of consciousness, and the Eleusinian mysteries. This is getting rather strange… Let’s see what else we can find, shall we?

Oddly enough, we also encounter the curious notion that the cabiri (who are metal-workers) are also thought to have been patron deities protecting sailors. As far as I can put together, ancient Greek ships were made more or less exclusively of wood, so where did the metallurgist cabiri acquire this nautical association? The history of Greek mythology is extremely complex, as it consists of many overlapping syncretic cultures. But I did track down this account from Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian around sometime about 50 BC. This is from the story of Jason and the Argonauts:

There came on a great storm and the chieftains [Argonauts] had given up hope of being saved, when Orpheus, they say, who was the only one on ship-board who had ever been initiated in the mysteries of the deities of Samothrake [the Kabeiroi], offered to these deities prayers for their salvation. And immediately the wind died down and two stars fell over the heads of the Dioskouroi, and the whole company was amazed at the marvel which had taken place and concluded that they had been rescued from their perils by an act of providence of the gods. For this reason, the story of this reversal of fortune for the Argonauts has been handed down to succeeding generations, and sailors when caught in storms always direct their prayers to the deities of Samothrake and attribute the appearance of the two stars to the epiphany of the Dioskouroi.

Orpheus, of course, is closely tied to the Eleusinian mysteries. The Dioscuri are the twins Castor and Pollux. Jung seems to suggest that the Dioscuri were originally thought to have been members of the cabiri. Similarly, he also says that Odysseus seems to have been considered by some to be a member of this race as well. One of the images linked above features him wearing something close to the typical hat of the cabiri, the pileus.

Again, the particulars are difficult to sort out since there’s a lot of overlap, but we have a historical connection between the cabiri and sailing. Odysseus, in fact, went on a perilous sea journey that lasted many many years. This seems especially noteworthy when we look back at the Da Silva UFO account for at least two reasons. First of all, is that Da Silva’s account begins with him going off to the water to fish. Second, the idea of a UFO journeying to another land is very close to a mythological account of a sea journey. Plus, we have this account of “stars” somehow being related to the benevolence of the cabiri.

Combining this with our other account, we’re struck by some very curious symbolic parallels - if nothing else. So what the hell might be going on here? Are the creatures who kidnapped Da Silva the same as these peculiar mythological entities, the cabiri? Or is there some other weird connection happening? A website on chthonic deities may offer us a clue:

Of the Cabiri Jung writes, “…they are eternally striving from the depths to the heights and therefore are always found to be both below and above.”

Where that cryptic quote comes from, I’d certainly like to know. The literal interpretation might be that these beings are underworld deities, but they are trying to come upward into our realm. Possibly in relation to the Da Silva account, this could explain why they wanted to use him as some kind of guide on earth. Immediately, though, this quote also calls to mind the words attributed to the medieval alchemist, Hermes Trismegistus: “As above, so below.” This is the metphysical doctrine that the microcosm mirrors the macrocosm. That is, what is inside us is also somehow mystically outside of us at the same time.

Let’s ignore for a moment that this may be an outwardly real event, and continue looking at this from the lens of Jungian psychoanalysis. I found a website which offers a much more modern example of this prototypical story that Da Silva undergoes - The Wizard of Oz:

Dorothy is an orphan living with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry on a farm in Kansas, U.S.A. She lives in a dull, conservative world where her role is that of a child who has not really begun to discover herself. Suddenly, a cyclone takes her in her farmhouse to a new and strange world where she lands on the Wicked Witch of the East, perhaps a shadow figure symbolizing elements of her unconscious that Dorothy does not accept, and kills her. She has arrived in Oz, the world of the unconscious. A group of dwarf-like creatures greet her with much joy and reverie, but Dorothy does not join in. She is bewildered by the strange occurrences and says she wants to go back to Kansas, her former state of consciousness. She has begun her search for individuation and is already ambivalent. The Good Witch of the North appears and encourages her to begin her search for self-discovery through the guise of seeking Emerald City and the Wizard who resides there. She takes the ruby shoes of the dead witch, and, with the encouragement of the Good Witch but the curses of a new shadow figure - the Wicked Witch of the West, she begins to follow the yellow brick road that will lead to the Wizard and individuation. The reappearance of a shadow in the second witch seems to symbolize the continual presence of the personal unconscious. Thus she leaves the immature childish dwarfs behind as she begins her search for self-understanding.

Let’s compare the similarities between this and Da Silva. In this description, Dorothy lives in a “dull, conservative world”. Da Silva too is described as a “soldier” which could be interpreted as being a very rigid, perhaps overly constrictive lifestyle psychically. Both are whisked away to a strange new world with Dwarf-like entities who want them to join in with magical activities. Both refuse. Both are then confronted with a wholly-good figure who helps them get home - in Da Silva’s case the Christ-like apparition, and in Dorothy’s the Good Witch. The dead Wicked Witch could also be seen as a parallel to the corpses which Da Silva sees on board the alien craft.

Wait, so first I try to tell you that Da Silva probably encountered modern-day variants of creatures who were first described in myth? But now I’m taking that all back by saying that Da Silva’s UFO event was essentially no different from a fictional story? Well, I don’t think any of these need to be exclusive of each other. That was where I was going with the “as above, so below” quote. Things which may seem to exist outside of us also exist inside of us, and vice versa.

To put it in other terms: Da Silva “went fishing” - he went out and secluded himself in the wilderness. While sitting by the water, one of the symbolic elements of the cabiri, he somehow accidentally managed to invoke them. This could either mean that he “went fishing” in the depths of the unconscious mind, and was encountered by mythological figures who have lingered there throughout all history - or it could mean that he physically encountered these entities. Or… it could mean both of these things happened.

Jung developed the idea of synchronicity as a force which somehow mysterious connects interior psychic events with exterior physical events. He also believed there was a “psychoid” level of the human being which was essentially the interface between mind and matter. Perhaps Da Silva managed to somehow cross this threshold while awake. That is, perhaps he spontaneously went into a trance. Not surprisingly, we also found above that the kabiri were associated with going into shamanic trances, and occult initiation rites similar to the Eleusinian and Orphic mysteries.

Rigorous Intution touched on something similar in his original article on Da Silva:

Jacquess Vallee notes how closely Jose Antonio Da Silva’s experience mirrors an occult initiation ceremony:

1. The candidate is confronted by members of the occult group wearing a special costume.
2. He is blindfolded.
3. He is led by the arm through a rough and difficult route.
4. He is taken into a specially designed chamber with no windows and placed in such a way that he can only see part of it.
5. He is brought in to the presence of a “Master.”
6. He is given a test and made to answer questions.
7. He is shown a variety of symbols designed to remind him of death.
8. The situation suggests that he may not survive the ordeal.
9. He is given ritual food or drink.
10. He is blindfolded again and led outside.

Jeff also has an excellent follow-up article which explores the notion that through ritual magick and/or psychedelic drug use, people sometimes manage to “break on through the other side” (Jung’s psychoid threshold?), where they sometimes encounter strange mythical beings.

I know that by this point the second we start talking about crossing psychic thresholds, people automatically assume then that UFO, trance and mythological experiences must then be totally subjective, completely interior events. This dualist idea that something is either only physical or only mental of course is one of the greatest myths in our society today. Though most people believe it, it’s very difficult to prove by experience. Conversely, if you try to prove the connectedness of inner and outer events, just remember back to a time you were in a bad mood. I bet your body felt different. Maybe queasy, maybe anxious, maybe hot. I bet everybody you encountered suddenly seemed annoying or unpleasant, or else helped soothed you back into a calm interior state. Going back to UFO encounters, Jeff also writes:

[…] here’s the one uncomfortable fact about UFOs that we can speak with confidence: they should be hallucinations, but too often, they are not. They leave behind traces of themselves in our reality: bizarre radar returns, singed vegetation, multiple and independent witnesses, burns and pricks on the flesh of abductees. And yet the signature of encounters is a logic which appears to us absurd, or perhaps archaic to our modern minds. Perhaps it would have made more sense to our ancestors, who recounted many similar visitations.

This in turn reminds me of a very good Terence McKenna quote. In case you’re not familiar with his work, McKenna was a huge advocate of psychedelic mushroom use. On that and other drugs, he also reported encounters with a variety of entities:

Now in the era before science scientists liked to say people were more epistemologically naive… what they mean by that is they didn’t have a clear understanding of the division between the inside and the outside, between what we imagine and what actually is, but if you live long enough I think you discover what we imagine and what actually is, are very close to the same thing.

To the hardcore binary-driven rational materialist, this probably sounds like total bunk. Either it is or it isn’t - it can’t be both! In response, I’d simply ask: Why not? If you can feel bad internally, and this manifests as a stomach ache, who’s to say an extremely intense internal experience can’t result in an encounter with mythical creatures? Except for maybe the last century (if that even), the vastness of human religious, spiritual and imaginative tradition asserts the absolute connectedness of the inner and outer realms. Taking this viewpoint to not only religious phenomena, but also UFO and other paranormal phenomena actually helps us to make some sort of sense out of some things which otherwise leave us confused and freaked out. But now we can equip ourselves with the knowledge of our ancestors to help us deal with whatever truly weird shit that our minds and the universe may have in store for us.

As above, so below.