Circular Madness

CIRCULAR MADNESS: THE DESCENT OF CEREOLOGY

      Rosemary Ellen Guiley

 (Editor's note:  The following article was first published by FATE

Magazine in the January, 1994 issue, under Rosemary Ellen Guiley's column, "The New Millennium,"

The phenomenon known as crop circles--mysterious circles and symbols etched into grain and grass by allegedly unknown agents-- has fallen onto hard times. What once seemed like one of the greatest genuine mysteries of modern times has been sabotaged by trickery and misdirected "research."  In the past year, so much information and allegations about human hoaxing has come out that many believers have turned to skeptics.  What is worse, some of the fault for all the turmoil can be laid at the doorstep of the leading spokespersons in the field. But there is still some gold among the dross.  I myself am more skeptical of the authenticity of the complex formations than I was a year ago, but I remain open-minded on the matter. Regardless of who or what is making them, crop circles can play a role in the expansion of our spiritual consciousness--if we allow ourselves to see the field for the stalks.    Click read more.

The picture is from temperarytemples. and was taken at Wayland's Smithy, Oxfordshire, 9th August 2005

 Briefly, the situation is this: circular impressions in wheat and other crops began attracting attention in England a little over a decade ago.  The circles were precise, often beautifully swirled, with the crop relatively undamaged and continuing to grow. They would show up suddenly, seemingly overnight, and no one knew who--or what—was making them.  In 1990, pictograms began to appear.  These are elaborate symbols that seem to be some form of language that remains incomprehensible.  That they appeared overnight, and were of enormous size and precision, indicated to many that human beings could not possibly be responsible for making them. The beauty, mystery and art of pictograms struck a chord in human consciousness.  Dowsers found all sorts of energies in formations.  People reported strange psycho-physical effects, even quasi-mystical experiences of enlightenment.  Artists were inspired.  Associations were made between UFOs and crop circles, creating the speculation that the formations are messages from extraterrestrials.  Mediums channelled ETs and also devas (spirits who govern the elements and nature). Up until 1991, even into 1992, crop circles generated a heady aura of excitement.  It was at the apex of that excitement, in 1991, that I made plans to establish the Center of North American Crop Circle Studies as a nonprofit, educational organization whose purpose was to aid researchers and disseminate information to the public.  Little did I know how unwelcome this effort would be to some of the very researchers who were constantly crying for assistance, and pledging themselves to pursuit of the truth. Following revelations of hoaxing that grabbed international headlines in late 1991, the field of cereology--the study of crop circles—began a descent into disarray and darkness.  The claims by the hoaxers—two elderly English gentlemen who have gone down in cereal history as "Doug 'n' Dave," seemed outlandish, though they were readily believed by a good portion of the public at large. It is plausible that Doug and Dave did make numerous crop circles, including some pictograms.  Nonetheless, the true believers of cereology branded the two as minions in an "official" and "organized" disinformation campaign--from the "dark forces," no less--intended to discredit crop circles and those who research them.  Certainly, there are things about the Doug and Dave story that raise suspicion.  We may never know the real story. After Doug and Dave, other hoaxing claims were made.  If one accepts the claims at face value, it seems that there have been quite a few hoaxers at work at night in the fields of England. In 1992, a hoaxing contest, organized by the Centre for Crop Circle Studies, the linchpin of cereology in England, allowed people to demonstrate their crop circle-making art.  Some of it was quite impressive.  The second-place winner, a young American named Jim Schnabel, went on later to claim credit for the most complex formation of 1992, and to publish a book, Round in Circles, about the personalities and behind-the-scenes paranoia in cereology.  In 1993, he gave a daytime demonstration of his skill to a largely hostile audience of circle buffs, many of whom still refused to believe that human beings could execute pictograms. Human beings can execute pictograms, and do them well.  The question is, how many of the pictograms recorded to date are human-engineered?  Some former circles believers now feel that all of the pictograms have been made by people. And what of the pictograms that have appeared in Canada and the U.S., and elsewhere?  Some have been determined to be human-made, but others remain of uncertain origin.  No one knows the answers. Nor can science help us out much yet.  To date, no scientific work has yielded a sure-fire method of determining the so-called authenticity of crop circles. There have been some interesting findings, such as evidence showing cellular changes in the plants, increased seed germination rates, and also electromagnetic and electrostatic anomalies.  A few findings in 1991 of unusual radioactivity in circle soil samples were not borne out by tests done in 1992 by Project Argus, an international scientific effort led by Michael Chorost of North Carolina.  The significant results, however, have not yet provided any baseline by which crop circles can be evaluated. Chorost did not pursue another scientific project in 1993. However, other Americans stepped in: John Burke of Long Island, Nancy Talbott of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Dr. W. C. Levengood of Grass Lake, Michigan.  Levengood is well-known to circle buffs as the leading plant biophysicist, who has tested plant samples for years.  In their lab report released last fall, they cited significant findings of changes in the bract tissue--the thin membrane that surrounds the crop seeds-- that affects the electrical conductivity crossing the membrane.  Such changes were not noted in circles known to be made by humans, some of which were made by the researchers themselves.  "There is a real phenomenon taking place," Burke (one of the saner voices in cereology) told me in urging me not to close the door on pictograms. In addition, electrostatic and electromagnetic findings recorded on site in England last summer provided further evidence of changes that seem to be present in "real" circles as opposed to those known to be made by people.  A full report is in preparation, and may be issued by the time of this column. Despite the promises shown by that research, the 1993 crop circle season was not as good as previous years, with fewer formations and more evidence of human beings at work.  That, plus the other allegations of human activity, and a rising level of conspiracy paranoia, have persuaded many circle enthusiasts to leave the field. Membership in the Centre for Crop Circle Studies has dropped by at least 50 percent, to around 500. Michael Green, the chairman, is leaving his post in March, citing other interests and noting that circles have consumed a great deal of his own time and money.  With Green's departure, and dropping membership, bets are on that the CCCS is likely to fold. Ironically, some of the CCCS's keenest members are in its new chapters in the United States. Another major departure from the field came last year with the sale of The Cerealogist (English spelling), the leading publication in the field.  The Cerealogist had begun life as the official journal of the CCCS, but its principals, John Michell and Richard Adams, went independent.  As editor, Michell offered a voice of reason in cereology, giving space to believers and skeptics alike.  The new owners are George Wingfield and John Haddington (an earl and the patron of the CCCS).  Meanwhile, cereology remains plagued by fear and paranoia. Researchers who in the past have declared circles genuine or not are afraid to do so now, in the event that they will authenticate something later to be exposed as a hoax. Charges fly back and forth that various people are guilty of hoarding data, passing misinformation or disinformation,  exploiting circles for money, or of being CIA agents.  I myself have been falsely accused of being a CIA agent, and of setting up an organization to pass disinformation.  That anyone could believe such nonsense seemed preposterous, but this libel has been passed around with seriousness.  The juvenile behavior I have encountered astonishes me.  In all the years I have spent working in the paranormal--and I have walked down some strange alleys--I have never experienced anything such as I have found on the part of some cereologists. People who call themselves vampires have behaved with more decency than some >From the beginning, crop circles seem to have been a secondary interest to some of the major players in the field. For example: One of Michael Green's dominant interests is communicating with devic energies. Green, a man who has a high opinion of himself, conducts rituals in which various energies are released to alter human consciousness.  In 1989, he conducted a great rite on Silbury Hill, an ancient manmade hill in Wiltshire county (and in an area where there are many crop circles and luminous anomalies believed to be UFOs). According to Green, the rite freed Gaian energy that resulted in a tremendous shift in human consciousness across Europe and throughout the world, for later that year, the Berlin Wall came down, and the Communist empire began to come apart.  Green is a member of the Sirius Group, a small circle, some of whose members believe they are reincarnated Atlanteans whose purpose is to uplift human consciousness.  Toward that end, they do a great deal of channelling.  In 1991, Green stated to the Sirius Group that the formation of the Centre for Crop Circle Studies, and his appointment as chairman of it, would provide a good focus and vehicle for communication with the devic forces, and thus would help promulgate the principles and role of the Sirius Group throughout the world.  Which has come first under his direction of the CCCS--crop circles or the deva agenda?  Colin Andrews, one of the leading spokespersons on circles, has made the most out of circle fame.  This has caused some jealousies and resentments among his peers.  He is one of the very few persons working in cereology fulltime--a tough field in which to earn a living.  It's rather like working a one-trick pony, so it comes as no surprise that he has branched off into ufology as well. There is no doubt that Andrews is passionately interested in the crop circle mystery, but his desire to be top dog in the field has led to some stormy relationships with his peers.  Apparently, there is not enough crop circle limelight to go around for everyone, and researchers who threaten his position are often given short shrift.  Andrews's message is a dark one.  The crop circles are telling us that we are ten seconds to midnight--no, eight seconds according to his recent talks--in which we shall extinguish ourselves or the planet or both through the accumulation of our environmental follies. Andrews treats skepticism about the circles as heresy.  One gets the impression that to be anything other than a true believer and firmly in his camp is to be an enemy, one of the dark forces.  Indeed, Andrews has for years talked about being under "psychic attack" and harassment by the organized dark forces. He once took a psychic around with him on his lecture tours to fend off such negative energies.  "For every step we take up the ladder toward light, peace and honesty,  we get a countermove from the darker forces," Andrews said in a talk delivered in October 1993. This remark was directed chiefly at the release of a skeptical television film that endeavored to show that people have made the pictograms.  Andrews should realize that the truth--whatever truth is being sought--cannot be found by squelching opposing voices. Truth prevails.  It stands up to attacks.  If Andrews wants to find the truth about circles, he should welcome the critics, knowing that their arguments will not hold up.  To attempt to discredit opposition by smearing it as evil is the stuff of cults and inquisitions.  In both of those, there is no room for free thinking, for making up one's own mind.  Andrews likes to invoke science as one of the allies of cereology.  Any scientist knows that in testing hypotheses in the quest for truth, one must we willing to surrender prior beliefs, prejudices and even hopes in the face of data.  In crop circles, as in any other field, we must consider all possibilities, hear all voices.  Another leading spokesperson, George Wingfield, came into cereology with an already intense interest in UFOs and conspiracy.  To his credit, Wingfield was one of the few who pursued the holes in the Doug and Dave story.  However, his pursuit of conspiracy at all costs has led him to find agents of the CIA and Opus Dei, a Catholic organization, under every rock, and has alienated many of his supporters.  He is busy pointing fingers at alleged conspirators, and has caused a great deal of turmoil by setting people against each other.  If a disinformation campaign exists, one can only wonder who the real perpetrators are.  As for the involvement of humans in making crop formations, I do not believe that this negates or diminishes the phenomenon as a whole.  I have always said that human consciousness is the most important element in crop circles.  We are, whether we realize it or not,  participating in them regardless of what other nonhuman agencies may be involved.  The patterns look so familiar to us because they come out of our collective unconscious.  Andrew Collins, an English psychic investigator, wrote an excellent article on the role of humans in circles, which was published in issue number seven of The Cerealogist, edited by John Michell.  Collins points out that some of the people making circles feel they are participating in something truly divine-- that they are answering Spirit back with their own inspired creations, that they are under the guidance of ETs, devas or other spirits who wish certain patterns made, or that they are trying to accomplish some spiritual purpose by releasing magical energies in the making of circles.  To negate crop circles because human beings might make them is to do ourselves a great disservice in terms of our consciousness, our creativity, and our ability to connect with something greater than ourselves.  One of the reasons I became so involved in crop circle research myself was my own experiences of feeling an expansion of consciousness when I looked at photos of pictograms.  I found I was one of countless persons who felt that way.  I have called crop circles "consciousness expanders."  I still feel that way. The patterns seem to act like mandalas evoking changes in consciousness when contemplated or meditated upon.  I believe that we should certainly continue research to ascertain whether or not crop circles are made by nonhuman agencies.  But I also believe that we are shortchanging the benefits of this phenomenon if we do not devote more attention to how people react to them, and how they are transformed by them. Human art has changed as a result of crop circles and that in itself is something worthy of study.