• AP Magazine

    An alternative way to explore and explain the mysteries of our world. "Published since 1985, online since 2001."

  • 1

An Exclusive Interview with Rosemary Ellen Guiley:



The Djinn, Shadow People, Alien Abductions, The Ghost Box, and John Keel



By: Brent Raynes




Rosemary Ellen Guiley is an acclaimed and prolific author with numerous books under her belt – and she’ll no doubt be belting out many more yet! She’s the author of such noteworthy and thought-provoking works as The Encyclopedia of Demons & Demonology, The Encyclopedia of Angels, Monsters of West Virginia, Encyclopedia of Vampires and Werewolves, The Vengeful Djinn: Unveilng the Hidden Agendas of Genies, co-authored with Philip Imbrogno, The Encyclopedia of Saints, to name but a few. Her range of knowledge and insight into the realm of the paranormal is truly impressive and far reaching. She has some great websites that readers will want to check out also. Go to: www.visionaryliving.com; www.djinnuniverse.com.



Brent Raynes: You travel widely, you've written numerous books on the paranormal, you have worked as (I believe) a contributing editor for FATE magazine. You're obviously a busy gal!

To begin with, can you tell us a little about yourself, beginning with how you became interested in the paranormal and what you feel have been some of your major accomplishments in the field?

Rosemary Ellen Guiley: Like many people in this field, I became interested in the paranormal in childhood. There were a variety of influences: paranormal experiences; an intense interest in astronomy; a voracious reading habit that focused on the paranormal, occult, horror, science fiction, mythology, and mystery; dissatisfaction with the “answers” provided by organized religions; and a desire to explore and experience the Unknown.

My work focuses on the how and why of extraordinary experiences ranging from the mystical to the fearful. The paranormal has always existed for me, so I have no need to “prove” it. You believe in it or you don’t, and it’s usually an experience that makes you a believer, no matter what science and religion have to say about it. I look for patterns of experiences throughout history that illuminate what we are experiencing today. In particular, I have helped to introduce Westerners to the Djinn, supernatural beings who are active in all our paranormal experiences, and to the presence of interdimensional portals, thin spots between dimensions. The books I have written have provided explanations of all kinds of paranormal topics, experiences and phenomena. Brent Raynes: In your studies, you came to identify the supernatural beings of the Moslem religion, known as the Djinn, as actual earth-based intelligent beings who live in a nearby parallel dimension to us and who often engage in deceptive activities. In fact, you feel that they are shape-shifters, as tradition claims, and that they (the Djinn) are likely responsible for a good number of what we call "alien abductions."

Can you share how you arrived at this observation and what are some of the major points you feel should be made on this subject? Rosemary Ellen Guiley: I just followed the threads of my research and fit puzzle pieces together, to mix a couple of metaphors. Shadow People led me to both ETs and the Djinn, and the evidence for both Shadow People and the Djinn is present in abduction literature going back decades.

We need to reexamine abduction experiences, as well as most (if not all) of our paranormal experiences to take into account players (Djinn) who have been operating below our radar. I cannot say that the Djinn account for everything, but I believe them to be playing major roles, and for purposes we have yet to uncover.

Brent Raynes: You have even used a device commonly referred to by paranormal investigators as the ghost box to try and communicate with the Djinn. Do you feel you've been successful, and isn't that something considered a little risky by Moslems and others? Rosemary Ellen Guiley: I cannot speak for the opinions of others on ghost boxes. I have gotten numerous communications from entities who identify themselves as Djinn. Are they who they say they are? Proving so is difficult if not impossible. That applies across the board to all communicators, including the dead.

Brent Raynes: You mentioned during our recent radio program that you feel that you may have communicated with the late John Keel - I believe, in of all places, Point Pleasant,West Virginia. Can you share with us details of what transpired?

Rosemary Ellen Guiley: It was during ghost box sessions conducted with a group of researchers. We all meet up in Pt. Pleasant several times a year. We asked “John” for some personal opinions, and I’ll leave it at that.

Brent Raynes: You truly believe that the ghost box is a device that does allow one to communicate with intelligences from another dimension, correct? You have even heard people's first and last names - including your own as I recall?

Rosemary Ellen Guiley: I have heard my own name (first only, first and last, and first, middle and last) as well as the names (first, first and last) of other researchers present at various sessions. I consider the ghost box an intriguing device that delivers communications that are hard to explain naturally. However, I readily acknowledge that it is a controversial and unpredictable device. As with all tools for spirit communications, the natural mediumistic ability of users and others present can influence results. Living humans are the biggest wild card of all when it comes to spirit communications.

Brent Raynes: You mentioned during our show that you also are working toward evolving - as are others - videotaping procedures whereby their images may be captured in addition to their voices.

Rosemary Ellen Guiley: There are many researchers all over the globe who are, and have been, researching the reliable transmission of images of the afterlife and other-dimensional realities. Like voice communications, the images are difficult to prove, but are often hard to explain away. There have been formal forensics done on some images to match them to images of people who have died. Some of this research is described in Talking to the Dead.

I have yet to undertake any formal image research of my own. It’s on the list!

How is that coming along now, or is it yet?

Brent Raynes: You personally knew John Keel, and my impression is that your own studies were probably influenced quite a bit by his investigations and research. Can you tell us a little about what meeting John Keel was like for you, major areas that you came to agree with him on, and any areas where you may have parted company?

Rosemary Ellen Guiley: Meeting John was like meeting other professionals in field – if you’re out doing your work, you are going to have interaction with many others involved in the same pursuits. I attended many of his Fortean meetings when he had them in New York City, and we also got together for dinner in Manhattan periodically. We both participated in other Fortean events and conferences. My favorite photo of John is one I took of him standing in front of Stonehenge during a crop circle excursion in England.

John’s perspective on the paranormal was way ahead of others, and he influenced the research of many people. He zeroed in on the Trickster element, and on “ultraterrestrials,” beings who come from other dimensions rather than our reality or other planets. He understood the interconnectedness of phenomena, something I also saw very early in my own work. However, John opined that we are just being manipulated by some cosmic Trickster force, and that paranormal phenomena are generated in order to spawn certain beliefs, and to keep us endlessly chasing our tails in circles. I do believe we are often manipulated, but I believe in a cosmic order that transcends that to wholeness and balance.

Brent Raynes: Who else in the field of paranormal studies have influenced you also?

Rosemary Ellen Guiley: I have to rephrase the question to, “Who else has influenced your thinking?” Not all of them are in the paranormal. The nine encyclopedias alone required extensive reading in many disciplines. Literally thousands of sources have gone into my work over the years. I have had a deep appreciation of many streams of thought. I cover so many topics that I would have to list influential people in every one of them.

Brent Raynes: What directions do you hope to see manifest in the future of this field?

Rosemary Ellen Guiley: I would like to see researchers in various subfields of the paranormal give themselves a broader education on what’s going on in other subfields. The paranormal is not a pie chart of neat little slices. Data and evidence bleed from one area into another.

Brent Raynes: To a new comer, what advice might you impart?

Rosemary Ellen Guiley: Look for natural explanations first. Establish a daily practice of meditation and embrace your natural psychic ability. The paranormal is largely a subjective psychic experience. Read and study to gain a foundation of knowledge.


Friday, March 29, 2024