[Title of book] The XUAL Community: From Earliest Articles of
Association To Its Last Days
[Section] Chapter Three What did they want or need, A utopia for all seasons. And make members of the human race Into worshippers without reason. (~The ballad of Kilmatogh, 1984.) What was the aim that brought the members of the XUAL Community together? What was their intended mission? According to the evidence that remains, Cassin's plan was to make an experimental utopian society. He had spent the better part of two decades wandering around the continent as an unemployed psychologist and came back to Ireland to found an experimental research community with a strong cultish disposition. We know from Cassin's bio-affidavit a sort of 'evidence of character' legal document that just before returning to Ireland he'd spent time in Freiburg, Germany, working for the IGPP as a lab assistant. The IGPP or Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health (trans. from the German) concentrated on systematic and interdisciplinary research of anomalous human phenomena, such as altered states of consciousness; supernatural experiences; and mind-matter interactions. It's now a world leader in parapsychological research. (more info here: http://www.igpp.de/german/welcome_EN.html) This institution inspired Cassin to form his own version of it in Ireland. Though not exactly the same as the IGPP and probably without any knowledge or assistance from them, Cassin formed his group and advertised its presence in various quasi-scientific magazines of the time. In his recruitment drive for new members he 16
[Title of book] The XUAL Community: From Earliest Articles of
Association To Its Last Days looked for people who had a scientific background or who graduated with a scientific degree (preferably a degree in psychology, which was very rare at the time, because psychology was only in its infancy in Ireland). The application form issued to prospective members was a daunting eleven pages long, requesting information on the applicant's college degrees (along with evidence), work experience (along with evidence), and statements that he or she was not refused membership of a scientific research group in the past and had no criminal record. Signatures of the applicant's supervisors and employers on the application form were also needed for verification purposes. These measures served to filer out those who were not suitable and those who were keen on joining and met the criteria or ideals of the new Community. Why did Cassin want scientists to join his group and how did they use their scientific training after joining it? This, actually, is one of the hardest questions for us to answer. Plenty of rumours abound if one listens to the locals, but one interview given with a mother of a member of the XUAL Community stated this: Well, everything Cassin did was a secret. On the outside he gathered a few followers to start the community with the aim of performing scientific experiments. But on the inside he wasn't, how should I say it? Not a.... grounded person. His areas of study went beyond anything the rest of his community had any desire to tamper with: the lower planes, the underworld, the demonic realm. (Unpublished interview conducted by Dan Coburn for the Leitrim Gazette, 1991.)
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[Title of book] The XUAL Community: From Earliest Articles of
Association To Its Last Days But we need not rely on gossip and hearsay, when we have written evidence of the experiments they conducted from Cassin himself. In an article written in 1975 for Destiny Magazine titled 'Extended Human Capacities: How does consciousness interact with the physical world?', Cassin has this to say: Atomic physicists discovered that atoms are made up of vortices of energy that are constantly spinning and vibrating. Physical matter, at its tiniest observable level, is energy, and human consciousness is connected to it, human consciousness can influence its behaviour and even re-structure it. Some of the experiments we have conducted have proven this. I want to make it clear that our intention of conducting these experiments is to demonstrate that thoughts, intentions, prayer and other units of consciousness can directly influence our physical material world. Consciousness can be a big factor in creating change on the planet. Sending thoughts of love, healing intent, prayer, good intention, and more can have a powerful influence on what you are directing those feelings towards. Our XUAL Community research program investigates the 'psychophysical interconnectness' of states of consciousness: including intuition; presentiment; intention and attention's effects on the physical world, including inanimate and living organisms; and human capacities extending beyond the conventional boundaries of space and time. By studying these phenomena, we seek a more comprehensive understanding of reality; the relationship between subjective and objective states; the nature of 18
[Title of book] The XUAL Community: From Earliest Articles of
Association To Its Last Days consciousness and the self, and the fabric of space and time. Most of this work is conducted in our community base. (Destiny Magazine, Spring Issue, 1975.) It's clear from the extract above that Cassin's plan for his Community was utopian and to some degree their experiments were meant to be beneficial. In a document that has emerged (that was originally encrypted), it details experiments which became less and less salubrious as time went on, until the last experiment was positively demonic: Shaman State: Psychophysiology of Spiritual Transmission Principal Investigator(s): Malcolm Cassin Co-investigator(s): Annmarie Cummings Program Areas: Extended Human Capacities Project Year Started: 1981 Status: Terminated Related Topics: States of Consciousness, Transformative Practises, Parapsychology, Subtle Energies Keywords: spiritual transmission, parasympathy, psychotropic drugs, possession Description: The Shaman experiments were conducted to objectively test the physiological correlates of spiritual transmission in both transmitters and recipients, and to explore the influence of spiritual teacher and susceptibility of the recipient under controlled laboratory conditions. Our aim was to find notable similarities in the subjectively reported instances of spiritual transmission across cultures, across spiritual traditions, and across reports that have been documented in occult literature for centuries. Participants used psychotropic drugs to gain heightened states of 19
[Title of book] The XUAL Community: From Earliest Articles of
Association To Its Last Days consciousness and its effects reported range in valence and intensity, but appear to involve arousal of the parasympathetic nervous system (hyper activation of the limbic system) such as observed during a manic or psychotic episode. These effects often occur in the context of several environmental cues, and therefore could be in large part attributed to a kind of placebo or expectancy effect, but this explanation is limited by the fact that there are many subjective reports of this phenomenon by people with apparently no prior expectancy or spiritual orientation. (Encrypted file 'secretexperiment.txt', author unknown, date unknown.) However philanthropic the ideals initially were, the outcome of these experiments would eventually prove to be disastrous for the small pioneer Community. In another news article printed in the Leitrim Gazette (but later recalled from circulation) the Community in Kilmatogh was becoming aggressive voicing anti-authority sentiments: From as early as 1980, members of the Kilmatogh community began to voice anti-government sentiments and had numerous brushes with the law. It wasn't until May 13th 1981, that a confrontation finally arose between its members at their barricaded compound and an armed Garda unit. No shots were fired but relations continued to deteriorate between members and the authorities. (Fiona Doyle, Leitrim Gazette article, Saturday 18th of September, 1982.) What was it that turned these people into aggressive, anti-social pariahs? Was it their experiments or was it something else entirely? 20
[Title of book] The XUAL Community: From Earliest Articles of
Association To Its Last Days Through the course of our research for this book we have uncovered a bizarre history of the site chosen by Cassin himself for his experimental Community: Kilmatogh bog. The bog has been the source of terrifying legends that inspired fear, madness, death and possibly murder dating back many thousands of years. Is the bog haunted? Perhaps there is something wrong with the water or some disease that still lingers there from ancient times? In any case, anyone who dares enter the site takes their sanity and lives into their own hands. In the next chapter we will look at the sinister legends surrounding Kilmatogh bog, and the archaeological excavation that discovered a startling structure from prehistory.