 Welcome to Paranormality Magazine. Each week, Paranormality Magazine explores all 40 subjects from phantoms to UFOs, and every cryptid creature in between. Each week, you are treated to a collection of well-researched and investigated stories, interviews and reports on cutting-edge paranormal projects and topics they know you crave. And here in the podcast, I share stories from the magazine to give you just a taste of what you receive in every issue. I'm Darren Marlar and this is Paranormality Magazine. A lot of people interested in ghost hunting read Paranormality Magazine. Many contribute to it, including Elaine Kelly, who had an investigation at the Shakespeare Tavern, Durham's oldest inn. Here's what she wrote. My name is Elaine Kelly and I'm the lead investigator for Spectre Detectors, one of the northeast of England's most hard-working team of paranormal investigators. We work extremely hard to bring you evidence of the spirit world, watching and listening to hours of footage from each investigation. As a team, we have been investigating for 12 years and have visited some amazing buildings in England and Scotland. This article is about our investigation at the Shakespeare Tavern at Durham, which is said to be one of the oldest and most haunted inns within the city. The name, Durham, comes from the Old English word for hill, dun, and the Norse word for island, Holm. The legend of the Dun Cow and the Milkmaid also contributes to the naming of this country town and Dun Cow Lane is said to be one of the first streets in the original city. The legend follows the journey of a group of Lindisfarne monks carrying the body of the Anglo-Saxon saint Cuthbert in 995 AD. During a ghost walk at Durham, we investigated the passage that goes along the side of the Shakespeare Tavern. We were aware of children being made to work as prostitutes and we did a portal session. We heard a girl's voice. The portal said, Emily, and talked about many murders. We were close to where the first-ever jail was in the city, so it could have been referring to that. We were aware of a very large man who made these ladies work. We picked up the name William. As we were stood there, my hand started to get sore and it looked like there was a W scratched into my skin. I asked if I could take a photo and caught an EVP saying no. As Shayno was recording on the handy can, we caught a figure watching us in the distance. I had sent them photographic evidence of what we had caught in the alley at the side of the tavern and asked if we could investigate to feature it in our next book about Durham. They said that they'd allow it and the date was arranged. So after ten years of trying, we were allowed access to the oldest, most haunted pub in Durham City. We met Michelle and Chloe outside and they led us up the alley to the side of the tavern and in through the side door. You could feel the energy as soon as you entered the building and you could feel the layers of energy. None of us had been in before so after a little chat about what would happen during the evening, we made our way upstairs to the second floor. I set up a handy can pointing towards the door because this is where George had said a lot of activity happened. Michelle also opened the door at the bottom of the stairs that led to the top floor. We couldn't investigate up there because it's where the office is but she did allow us to investigate the landing and staircase. I realized instantly that I had made an error in not bringing the whole kit as it was bigger than I thought but we only had a few hours to investigate it and I didn't want to waste time setting it up. We all settled down in what is now the gin bar and started the investigation. Firstly, we sat in the quiet to see what we were picking up. We used our mediumship to see if we could link with spirits before using any equipment. Shayna was aware of the name Howard and felt that he would sit with people to get free drinks but people didn't seem to mind. As she was telling this to us, we caught a man groaning on the voice recorder. We also caught thuds coming from the floor above. I asked if he was there and if he would tap on something. Then there were a couple of thuds caught on the voice recorder. I reassured him that we didn't mean him any harm and came with total respect. I started to get a sore throat and asked Howard if he had a problem with this throat as did Shayna. I felt that a lady had been badly treated and was battered. I asked if they would talk to me if I put the portal on. Shayna felt that someone had sold their wife as a prostitute. I agreed that whoever this lady was was also sold for prostitution. I felt like a punching bag and Shayna wondered if that was why I had a problem with my ear outside. Michelle said that this floor was supposed to have been a brothel so that figured. I then asked Howard if he badly beat her and Bev saw a shadow move out of the landing and block out the light on the floor. Michelle heard a bang on the landing and we caught an EVP of a laugh on our recordings. I then started getting a watery mouth and I know that usually means that I'm picking up on a poisoning. I went out to the landing and Chloe said that she saw a tall, thin shadow move across the upstairs door and block the light from the kitchen. We did hear a girl humming and luckily it was caught on the voice recordings. Bev saw a shadow figure at the doorway. It looked like someone had gone to enter the room but changed their mind as she only saw the feet. It was like they were coming from the bottom floor and then stepped back. Both Shayna and I felt a pain in the neck at the same time and thought we were picking up on a hanging. We made our way to the landing of the top floor. Chloe said that there was a cold spot exactly where she was standing. Shayna was picking up on illegal abortions and she felt that someone was touching her back very gently. We started to hear noises downstairs. I decided to take some photos before we went back downstairs. Michelle said that when we heard the jangling of the keys she left the keys in the lock at the bottom of the stairs but she said that they would have had to give them a good shove for us to hear them. I said that if I had brought the CCTV and covered every area we might have caught them. We made our way back downstairs. Michelle moved the keys to see if they sounded the same as what we had heard. To make the sound you had to lift the bottom key but it did sound the same. We moved into the kitchen area and Shayna felt off-balance and I had my bottom touched. I also felt that I had been whacked above my eye on the forehead. Michelle said one of the members of the staff had also been touched in there. We made our way into the back bar. Michelle told us that the sewing machine stand moves on its own at times and the dog won't go in there. The room at the back seemed to be a secret room. They knocked through it when the renovations were done. As I was walking in I felt I was grabbed by the ankle. As I was telling the group what had happened there was a breath caught on handicap and an EVP saying get off me. I started to have a look at the photos I had taken. I had caught a very strange light anomaly that was sat on the table. It looked like a child. We talked about it looking like a baby. Shayna talked about illegal abortions and if it was after 12 weeks it would look like a baby. We wondered where they would have put the babies once terminated and Michelle said that she thought they went into the alley. Michelle thought it was called Blood Alley or Butchers Alley as the blood from the Butchers used to be thrown in the alleyway. I did some calling out asking for spirits to use everyone's energy and draw close. I picked up on yet another poisoning as my mouth was watering. Michelle went really hot and felt sick. I asked her if she wanted to move. Shayna felt that the ladies were starving. I thought that if Shayna thought that that they were starved that might explain my watery mouth. Shayna felt that when the ladies weren't in use anymore that they'd be put in here and left. I took some photos and caught an extra face on one of the photos. We decided to have a quick break as we had been going for nearly two hours. Michelle felt funny still and I said that she should step out of the room. As we were preparing to leave, I felt like I'd received a smack around the head again. I was panning around quickly with the handicam and caught a man's face on film. We made our way down to the cellar. As we entered the cellar, I saw a shadow figure block out the light on the back wall. Michelle asked if it was a rat but it wasn't. It was a person. I popped up to get some fresh batteries for the equipment and as I went to come back down the cellar steps, the door at the top slammed on me. Michelle said that it shouldn't have done that as it was held back by a chair. I could smell antiseptic but no one else could. Michelle heard a thud coming from upstairs and it was caught on voice recorder. I asked Bev if she was touching me but she wasn't. Something was touching my bra strap at the back and I said that they could pack it in. It touched me again and I moved. Chloe said that she stood there before and got touched. I was taking some photos in the cellar. Shayna had a sharp pain in her stomach and Chloe said it was maybe an abortion pain. There was a loud thud coming from upstairs and Michelle went to check that she had locked the door. I joked about them leaving me alone in the cellar and I was touched again and maybe jump and I practically ran out of the cellar. There were two really loud thuds upstairs. We made our way back upstairs and thought we would end the investigation there. Michelle wondered if there'd be anything caught on CCTV. It had gone very quiet and the energy had dropped. It had been a very long investigation but it was well worth the wait and we were amazed by how active it was. This article came with several photos from the investigation. If you'd like to see them you can find them in the July 2023 edition of Paranormality Magazine. The phrase glitch in the matrix was first coined in the 1999 film The Matrix which posited the idea that humanity is living in a giant computer simulation. Over the years glitch in the matrix has become shorthand for an example of an unusual occurrence that cannot logically be explained and it happens so often that Paranormality Magazine has dedicated a section of their publication to it. Here's one of their recent stories from the August 2023 edition. From Redditor Wii U. This happened this afternoon and I'm still super weirded out. I have yet to find a single plausible explanation to what went on. My husband and I live in a small work-in-progress cabin in the woods on an acreage in Atlantic Canada with two parrots, a rabbit, a senior citizen cat, and two absolutely rambunctious dogs. My husband just can't say no to something fluffy that is in need of a home. Cleaning up after this zoo is quite the daily effort. As I was going about my chores today I decided to toss the dogs outside for a while so I could suck up the previous day's layer of dog fluff without them declaring war on our vacuum machine as their hatred for the vacuum is quite passionate. Once the dogs were outside and merrily jumping around in the mud puddles I got to work on the floors. I did a really thorough vacuum job today even getting on my hands and knees to suck up the fluffies that were nesting underneath the tables and furniture. After I wrapped up the chores I went to go retrieve the dogs. The dog run is accessible by a doggy door that is off of a room that's completely separate from the room I was cleaning. As I already mentioned the cabin is a work-in-progress and entirely unfinished and the room at the doggy door is the newest room to be added onto the build and is even more unfinished than the rest. I entered into this room and shut and latched the door behind me as I knew that the soggy dog's stampede was going to be fierce. I planned on letting the pooches dry off in that separate room while I went to town to run a couple errands. I opened the doggy door and the two canines bounded into the room and began to shake and pounce and play with all their doggly enthusiasm. They were soaked and muddy and seemingly more than content to hang out in this room so I undid the latch on the door that led to the main room and carefully opened it a crack just enough to squeeze my body through so that the dogs could not follow after me. I closed the door behind me and latched it shut, picked up the water bowl and reached for some toys so that I could toss them into the side room to keep the dogs entertained while I was gone. As soon as I entered the main room and looked down, however, I absolutely froze. There were fresh, muddy paw prints on the floor that I had just cleaned. I could still hear the dogs bouncing around on the other side of the door in the room I had locked them into. They did not follow me and yet here I was looking at fresh, muddy paw prints that were not here a moment ago. Perhaps there was mud on the bottom of my flip flops and I had made the prints myself. I lifted my feet one at a time and the bottoms of my flip flops were totally clean. The prints were not from me. Then I lifted my gaze and was horrified to see that the paw prints continued all down the length of the room from the kitchen to the front door of the cabin where they suddenly stopped as though a muddy dog had taken a single run through the length of the room and then completely vanished. The prints only went in the one direction. There were no smudges of mud or backwards prints to indicate a muddy dog changing direction in any way. Just a straight line of fresh, wet, muddy prints and then nothing. They weren't there moments before. My dogs had not entered the room and were still locked up in another room. There were no other creatures in this room and no possible entrances for rogue invaders. I have no explanation. I don't understand. I feel like I'm either losing my mind entirely or else in an alternate timeline one of the dogs slips past me into the cleaned room and runs down the floor and somehow the timelines bled together for a moment. Just long enough for alternate dimension dog to leave the muddy paw prints and then vanish back into his own timeline. Want more paranormality? Subscribe to Paranormality magazine and each month get it delivered digitally or via mail in our print version. Paranormality magazine is a collaborative endeavor featuring works from people like you who have a passion for all things mysterious and unexplained. Our goal is the pursuit of knowledge gathering captivating stories from our own team of writers researchers and investigators as well as from writers such as yourself. Each monthly issue also includes a list of paranormal, horror, UFO and cryptozoology events around the country, incredible paranormal themed artwork, articles and writing sent in from our readers, suggested books and podcasts to consume and more. Visit ParanormalityMag.com and subscribe today for as little as $3.99 a month. That's ParanormalityMag.com ParanormalityMag.com It may be surprising, but the first several thousand years of human history are more connected than you would think. Stories of giants, monsters, massive wars and beings from the sky, almost every culture has these stories and they are even eerily familiar. Why? How? When? Brandon Wills from Paranormality magazine brings us the story of the web of the ancient world. There isn't a culture that has existed on earth that didn't have a creation story. The Greeks believed that before time there was nothing and they called it chaos. Then out of the darkness our planet was born. Gaia and from her came other gods. Gaia was also said to have given birth to monsters, like the Cyclops-esque monsters called Hecatencarys, the 100-handed ones which were later banished to Tartarus by Uranus, one of the original gods. Now does that sound familiar to any of you? From the Book of Genesis, in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters and God said let there be light and there was light and God saw the light that it was good and God divided the light from the darkness and God called the light day and the darkness he called night and the evening and the morning were the first day. Let's take it a bit further back then ancient Greece and take a look at the Sumerians. Parts of their myth have yet to be found, but we know that their gods, An, and Leel, Enki, and Ninhursanga created a nice comfortable world for humans and then helped them found the earliest cities of Eridu, Batibira, Larik, Sipar, and Shurapak. Then for reasons not thoroughly specified, they decided to not save humans from a massive flood. A king named Zayud-Sura learns of this plot. In an Akkadian version of the story called the Atrahasis Epic Era, known in Sumerian as Enki, who was the god of the waters, warns the hero, Atrahasis, and gives him instructions on how to build an ark. You heard me right, an ark. In what's been found in the Sumerian version, Enki warns Zerosuda, the king of Shurapak, and provides him also with instructions for an ark. The flood raged for seven days and nights, then the storm subsides, and the sun, Utu in Sumerian, awakens and Zerosudra opens a window, then sacrifices an ox and a sheep. An, and then Leel then gives him with breath eternal for preserving the animals and the seed of mankind. Let's jump over to another epic from the Sumerians that also speaks of a flood. The first and earliest epic known to mankind, the Epic of Gilgamesh, tablet nine found in Nineveh, says that Gilgamesh was leaked a spoiler of the upcoming flood by Eya, or Enki, in the city of Shurapak. Eya also tells this story to Napishtim. Eya demanded that he deconstruct his house and build a boat from the pieces to keep living beings in. The Anunnaki gods lift up the earth with thunder as the storm raged. Everything went black and the land shattered like a clay pot. The gods were frightened at the storm and fled back to heaven. The flood lasted six days and nights, flattening the land. On the seventh day, the storm began slowing down. After everything had died down, all humans had turned into clay. Utu Napishtim stuck his head from the boat and felt fresh air for the first time in those seven days. He searched across the waters and found a speck of dry land which was named Mount Nimush. He released a dove that flew away but returned to him. Then he released a swallow which also came back. He then released a raven who did not come back and that was when he decided it was safe to release the animals. We probably don't need to mention the correlations that these last stories had to Noah, but isn't it eerie? Now, according to the Bible, God was trying to rid the world of sin, later said to also include the Nephilim. Could the gods of the Sumerians be the storied Nephilim since we just read about them fleeing from it? There's evidence of massive floods that happen on a regular basis in the fertile Crescent area of the world, so much so that the Tigris and Euphrates have changed course many times over history. We also know that historical figures are known by different names in other cultures, so Utu Napishtim and Ziasudra be the same as Noah. We also can't ignore the mention of the Anunnaki and the ancient alien connection, or aliens involved. Almost all cultures have stories about beings from the sky bestowing knowledge to humans. The Bible even mentions a serpent convincing Eve to eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Life. Could this be a metaphor? Let's explore the Anunnaki a bit more. This was a pantheon in the Sumerian mythos which included An and Leel, Ea or Enki, Ninharag, Sin or Nanna, Shemash or Utu, and Ishtar or Inanna. And Leels regarded as the most powerful of all these, as he was the god of air who separated heaven and earth. According to a Babylonian story, Marduk was over 600 Anunnaki and commanded 300 to reside in heaven and the other 300 to reside on earth. The overall duty of the Anunnaki was to be over the fates of mortal people. However, if you believe the ancient alien theory, you may believe that the Anunnaki came from another planet that happened to pass close by the earth thousands of years ago and enslaved humanity to mine gold. Then they zipped away after they had enough, or that they were reptilians who brought knowledge to humankind and are still roaming the streets today. There are dozens of books on this subject and Ron probably owns most of them, so ask Kim if you want to borrow one. Another odd correlation these cultures had was their belief in monsters. Almost every culture on earth has stories about dragons and giants. Why? Were these just misidentified fossils? It would be entirely possible that these were just confused ancient people who were terrified of monstrous fossils that they found while digging for minerals. There have been hundreds of accounts of giant fossils found across the world. Then something happens and they are lost or destroyed without a picture being taken. It has been so common that the Smithsonian has even been involved, but later they deny ever possessing them. Why? Is this a conspiracy to alter history to their liking? Or is this to just hide information that would abruptly shift our understanding of evolution? Or were they just misidentified by earlier archaeologists? But there are some odd mentions of this. The Bible mentions giants, Greek mythology mentions it, Sumerian mythology also mentions it, and practically every other ancient culture across the globe has stories about them. But did you know that Josephus Flavius mentioned giants? Yes, he did. Here is a quote from Josephus, quote, For which reason they removed their camp to Hebron and when they had taken it they slew all the inhabitants. There were till then left the race of giants who had bodies so large and countenances so entirely different from other men that they were surprising to the site and terrible to the hearing. The bones of these men are still shown to this very day, unlike to any credible relations of other men. Now they gave this city to the Levites as an extraordinary reward, unquote. Josephus mentioned giants several times in his writings, but these were just second hand accounts. He himself does not say that he witnessed these himself, but he explains these as a history. You can come to your own conclusion there. But there is another quote from Josephus, quote, For many angels of God, this notion that the fallen angels were in some sense the fathers of the old giants was the constant opinion of antiquity. For many angels of God accompanied with women and begat sons that proved unjust and despisers of all that was good on account of the confidence they had in their own strength. For the tradition is that these men did what resembled the acts of those whom the Grecians called giants, unquote. This is where Josephus himself attempted to connect the dots. There are even connections of giants to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. How? Well, let's jump back to Goliath. Josephus surmises that Goliath was actually six feet nine inches, which is still very tall for those times. But the KJV Bible claims he was nine feet nine inches. Some scholars take Josephus as being more accurate and that the Bible was just mistranslated and miscalculated. Now jumping to the hill where Jesus was crucified, it is known as Golgotha. Some scholars believe that Golgotha is a combination of Goliath and the name of his home city of Gath. Goliath of Gath. Golgotha. Some even say that his name was Gol in Philistine. Then they combined that with Gath. Gol of Gath. Goliath. It's the same idea, either way you take it. They claim that the hill is where the decapitated skull of Goliath was buried by David after the fact. This could be looked at as symbolic of Jesus doing his greatest miracle right on top of a descendant of the greatest ancient biblical atrocity of angels mixing with humanity. Now back to Sumerian connections to the Bible. Abram, later known as Abraham, is said in the Bible to be a descendant of Noah and from the city of Ur, the capital city of the Sumerians. He probably grew up knowing and experiencing the culture of the bustling city. Ur sits in the area where the Bible mentions the Garden of Eden as being located. We now know that Ur was one, if not the, first city in the world. Was this one of the first places that the descendants of Cain went? Or was that a metaphor for these sinful Sumerians? Is Ur one of the first places inhabited after the Great Flood mentioned by all these ancient cultures? One thing is for sure. The Sumerians laid the groundwork for many world cultures that came after them, including passing along their religion. The ancient Jews would clash with their predecessors, the Elamites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, etc. and thus would also assist with the rise of the Grecian city-states by trading of goods, knowledge, and religion. There are so many theories about what Gobekle Tepe was used for. No one really knows for certain because this site is much, much older than written language as we know. The site is approximately 11,000 years old or was built around 9,000 BC which would make it about 6,000 years old than Stonehenge and the earliest form of writing. That would mean that we are closer to the time of the first Sumerian writings than the Gobekle Tepe site is to the first Sumerian writings. I say currently because those figures could change and have changed occasionally. The tallest T-shaped stone found at the site is 16 feet tall and weighs approximately 20 tons. How did they manage this with literal stone age technology? Theories abound as to why the ancients built this place. Some believe it is the oldest temple in the world. Some believe that this is to commemorate the flood mentioned in the Bible and the Sumerian stories. And some believe it is there to mark a cataclysmic event such as the Younger Dryas. There are as many proposed and debated theories as Stonehenge. The Younger Dryas was a sudden cooling period that occurred approximately 13,000 to 11,000 years ago. This period caused global temperatures to drop on average of 14 degrees Fahrenheit and lasted for over 1400 years. There are many theories as to the cause but we know the effects caused the extinction of the giant animals of the Ice Age and possibly ended the Clovis period of Native Americans. Could the ancients who built Gobekli Tepe have experienced this and thought they survived in near earth-ending times and built this to appease their gods? The asteroid theory for the cause has been supposedly debunked but there is mounting evidence suggesting this could be true. In ice cores they have found evidence of burning which would be associated with massive wildfires that would happen after such a disaster. In fact, it is estimated that 10% of earth's grasslands and forests burned due to this. There are other theories like a volcano in modern-day Germany did erupt around this time and the effects most likely could have spread to modern-day Turkey. The flood theory is most popular among biblical literalists. The supposed site of Mount Erarat is not that far away. According to Google Maps it is approximately a 16-hour walk between the two sites. Does the flood theory have any merit? That would be up to you and your religious leanings, really. Did the world really flood completely? This argument has come up for decades and I would recommend just deciding this with your own convictions. Perhaps there was a cataclysmic event that did happen in their time but we have not discovered the evidence for it yet. In the end, we may never know for sure because there are no writings that even mention this place or its purpose. Gobekli Tepe is much larger than most people are aware of. There are 16 other rings across the 22-acre site but Gobekli Tepe is just one that measures around one acre. When it was first excavated in the 1960s, it was dismissed by the University of Chicago and Istanbul University anthropologists and concluded it was just a medieval cemetery. It wasn't until the 1990s that scientists took a closer look and discovered how astonishingly old it really is. In Turkish, Gobekli Tepe translates to Belly Hill because of the gently rolling hill it is situated on, perhaps making it the world's first church on a hill. It is estimated that it would have taken hundreds of people to assemble the structures, essentially an entire community. But why? Scientists say there is little to no evidence of people living close to the area for thousands of years so it had to be a place of gathering. Here comes another why, which this place has many. The site is full of carvings of deadly animals but not that of game. The mayor of Sunlurfa was quoted recently saying that he believes the site was built by aliens. The ancient alien theorists have pointed to this site as the oldest indication of alien human contact. One image from the site suggests an alien gifting something to humankind and a possible alien vehicle hovering above it. Some also claim the humanoid depicted in the image could not be human due to the clothing, which is similarly described in alien abductions. We may never truly know the answers to all these questions but the one thing that most people do agree on is that the site depicts some sort of very early religion. Perhaps this site could be evidence of the origin for many of the area's cultures. In 2019, excavations began at a newly discovered site nearby and it was determined to be even older. Carahan Tepe, as it was dubbed, has been theorized to be 11,400 years old, which would make it older than we believe agriculture was. But could this discovery move that timeline further back? Evidence of farm vegetation and signs that people lived at that site year round for 1500 years could possibly do so. There are also dozens of other Tepe's nearby, many of which have not been thoroughly excavated. The ones that have been found show signs that there was a similar culture going on at the time. There are stone pillars placed in circular patterns and depictions of animals and people are carved into them. Some people even think that some of the bird depictions could be that of the famed bird man from South America. If that is true, then how did that information get passed all the way there? Back in 2012, archaeologists proposed that they found evidence that Neanderthals built boats to get around on the Mediterranean. This was determined after stone tools created by them were found on distant islands, which could only have been done so by sea travel. Carbon dating determined some to have been placed 100,000 years ago. Is it possible that early humans were also sailing and managed to find their way to South America, spreading their cultures and religious beliefs along the way? In closing, it is obvious that these early creation myths have commonalities. Is there an older culture and the truth lies within Gubecle Tepe and the surrounding sites? How far back in time would that culture have existed? Will we ever find a definite answer? While we are on the topic of history, when you dream about ancient civilizations, what does it mean? Well, it could be a reflection of various factors, such as your interest in history, a desire for adventure, or subconscious thoughts and memories. Here are a few possible interpretations, although it is important to note that dreams are highly personal and can have unique meanings for each individual. Exploring the past. Dreaming about ancient civilizations may indicate a curiosity or fascination with history and the desire to explore the past. It could reflect your interest in learning about different cultures, traditions, or ways of life. Connecting to ancestral roots. Dreams of ancient civilizations could signify a longing to connect with your cultural or ancestral heritage. It might be a subconscious expression of your desire to understand your roots or a call to explore your identity. Symbolic meaning. Ancient civilizations often carry symbolic associations, such as wisdom, mystery, or power. Dreaming about them could reflect your own personal journey of self-discovery, growth, or the need to tap into your inner potential. Archtypal imagery. The imagery of ancient civilizations may be archetypal, representing certain universal themes and ideas. These dreams could be tapping into collective human experiences and the shared symbols and meanings associated with ancient cultures. Past life connections. Some individuals interpret dreams of ancient civilizations as a connection to past lives or reincarnation. This perspective suggests that the dream is a glimpse into a previous existence where you may have lived during ancient times. It is essential to consider the context of the dream, your own emotions, and the specific details surrounding the ancient civilization depicted in your dream. By reflecting on these elements and considering your personal associations, you can gain a deeper understanding of the dream's meaning and its potential relevance to your waking life. In our last Paranormality Magazine podcast episode, we talked about the Forty in Society's Charles Fort, the society being named after that man. But we also mentioned quite often Theodore Dreiser, and we look a little more closely at him this time. Theodore Dreiser was a prolific American writer known for his gritty, realistic novels that explored the darker side of human nature and the complexities of social and economic systems. His work, which often confronted taboo subjects and challenged prevailing moral and social norms, made him a controversial figure in early 20th century literature. However, beyond his literary achievements, Dreiser's life took an intriguing turn when he became the first president of the Forty in Society, an organization dedicated to the study of anomalous phenomena in collaboration with the enigmatic researcher Charles Fort. Theodore was born August 27, 1871 in Terre Haute, Indiana, into a large German-American family. His upbringing was marked by financial struggles and personal hardships, experiences that would later inform his writing. After a brief stint at Indiana University, Dreiser moved to Chicago, where he worked as a journalist for various newspapers, gaining first-hand exposure to the harsh realities of urban life. These experiences would form the foundation of his literary career. Dreiser's breakthrough novel, Sister Kerry, published in 1900, caused a stir with its frank portrayal of a young woman's rise in society through her relationships with men. The novel defied prevailing moral standards and was met with controversy and censorship. However, it marked Dreiser as a writer unafraid to explore human desires, ambitions, and the consequences of social expectations. In 1902, Dreiser published his second major work, Jenny Gerhardt, another unflinching examination of a young woman's life choices in the face of societal constraints. Despite facing obstacles from publishers and moral watchdogs, Dreiser's reputation as a prominent writer continued to grow, earning him a place among the leading literary figures of the time. The Forty Inn Society, named after the American researcher Charles Fort, was established in 1931 as a platform for investigating and documenting unexplained phenomena, anomalies, and scientific heresies. Fort himself was a maverick figure who compiled an extensive collection of reports on strange occurrences from UFO sightings to poltergeists and strange rains of fish. Deeply intrigued by Fort's work, Dreiser became an ardent supporter of his research. The two men shared a fascination for the unconventional and a belief that the boundaries of human knowledge should be pushed further. In 1932, Dreiser was elected as the first president of the Forty Inn Society, a role he would hold until his death in 1945. Dreiser's involvement with the Forty Inn Society allowed him to engage with a community of like-minded individuals who sought to challenge mainstream scientific and cultural dogmas. Through his presidency, Dreiser further propagated Fort's ideas and expanded the reach of the Society, attracting a diverse group of intellectuals, scientists, and artists who shared a common interest in the unknown. Theodore Dreiser was a literary trailblazer whose work broke new ground in the early 20th century American literature. His realistic and often controversial novels provided a stark portrayal of society and challenged prevailing norms. However, Dreiser's life took an unexpected turn when he became the first president of the Forty Inn Society, a testament to his enduring curiosity and his eagerness to explore the unexplained. Through his involvement with the Society and his collaboration with Charles Fort, Dreiser left a lasting legacy that extended beyond his acclaimed literary contributions, inspiring generations to embrace the mysteries that lie beyond the boundaries of conventional knowledge. Thanks for listening to Paranormality Magazine. Get more information about the magazine and subscribe to our monthly publication at ParanormalityMag.com or click the link in the show description. And if you're a researcher or investigator, send us your stories. We might feature you in our next issue. If you have a Paranormal Podcast, you can add it to our website so our readers can find your show. And artists, if you'd like your work to be featured in our magazine or on our back cover, contact us. Again, our website is ParanormalityMag.com. I'm Darren Marlar and I'll have more Paranormal for you next time from Paranormality Magazine.