This was my response to someone else who brought up the notion of parasitic entities.
Global wrote:
I'll give you my best guess for what it's worth. It's something you hear people talk about a lot in terms of them wanting you to come and return so badly. I think there is a mutual exchange that goes on. It's not necessarily parasitic (though some darker entities may more likely be), but you get something out of it and they get something out of it. I believe in ecology, it's known as mutualism. From the exchange, we (can) receive euphoria, lessons, demonstrations, unique opportunities, spiritual and/or mystical experiences, beautiful visions, etc...
So now the question becomes (the crux of your question) what do they get out of it? Here's what I think: Hyperspace and all its components (including entities) appear to me as energetic phenomena. They are affected by vibration (light, sound, buzzing, etc...) and by attention. The energies of hyperspace and attention are directly linked. Where you put your attention shifts where energy accumulates. As energy accumulates in a certain region of hyperspace (be it upon an entity or otherwise) that part of hyperspace is given both the ability to work its hyperspatial magic in addition to "developing" or making more sophisticated the locus of your focus. People often talk about how the entities will beg for their attention, and the reason could well be that it is something that they thrive off, and not necessarily in a sinister way. As beings of energy their own capacities may flourish most highly when our attention nourishes them.
Also
arcologist wrote:Or perhaps they just represent manifestations of different parts of the brain as interpreted by the conscious train of thought. Thus, the phenomenon of entities intruding into reality could just be those normally unconscious parts of the brain revealing themselves to the conscious self.
Are the implications of this idea consistent with our current understanding of neuroscience and how psychedelics affect the brain?
I am less inclined to believe that entities are unconscious parts of the brain. When you deal with ones that are rather abstract or even anthropomorphized or animals, it could be easy to argue that they're merely unconscious parts of the brain being projected outward for the observation of the conscious self, but then when you take into account Hindu or Egyptian deities in their respective ancient Hindu or Egyptian settings respectively (i.e. temples in the appropriate styles) then IMO it reduces the liklihood that they're simply projections of unconscious parts of the brain.
"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind" - Albert Einstein
"The Mighty One appears, the horizon shines. Atum appears on the smell of his censing, the Sunshine- god has risen in the sky, the Mansion of the pyramidion is in joy and all its inmates are assembled, a voice calls out within the shrine, shouting reverberates around the Netherworld." - Egyptian Book of the Dead
"Man fears time, but time fears the Pyramids" - 9th century Arab proverb