The best fringe science books that’ll blow your mind

Far Journeys is a profound and unusual book. The story in which Robert Monroe, who was a radio executive, finds himself having spontaneous out-of-body experiences sometimes reads like science fiction. Yet it is his honest account. Dedicated to an exploration of human consciousness, he later founded a nonprofit called The Monroe Institute, which pioneered research into changing brainwaves using only binaural sounds. Monroe kept pushing the envelope with his explorations, learning to explore places beyond our world that most have only dreamed of; and it’s given me such great inspiration for my stories. It also blew my mind and helped me make sense when I had my own glimpses of the energetic realm that he describes here. This is technically his second book, but I feel it’s even better to start here.

When I read Journey of Souls for the first time, I was blown away at how compatible Michael’s findings were with the conclusions Robert Monroe reached during his hundreds of out-of-body experiences. Using a special hypnosis technique, Michael Newton was able to reach any memory of his subject, and over a long period of time, he was able to piece together a remarkably consistent picture of what can happen to us after we die and why we return. This is also remarkably consistent with most eastern spiritual perspectives. This book contains a series of transcripts with 29 patients, and it totally changed how I think about existence after death.

This is probably the most esoteric and strange of my picks, but it also lines up with the conclusions that the other two books offer. In short, this is a channeled work that offers a coherent picture of how life evolved in the galaxy. Now I won’t say that I believe everything in this book literally, but I have found it to be a powerful and expansive perspective when thinking about my own personal evolution and how it relates to the growth of our entire galaxy. From answering the questions about intelligent life beyond our planet, to how a galaxy grows, to what it means for the future of Earth, this book is a trip.

One of the more thought-provoking books on fringe science that I’ve ever read. I won’t say I necessarily believe everything that David talks about here, but he makes a compelling case that DNA information could be transmitted as a wave, that life is abundant in the galaxy, and technology once existed that we lost eons ago. It’s a wild ride, and you may be able to spot an idea it inspired in my book.

I have to include this book because, just as it was for the original Star Wars film, it was a direct inspiration for my first novel. To be a good writer, you have to be aware of the existing patterns and how it relates to the collective unconscious. And Joseph Campbell dedicated his life to understanding the impact of storytelling and mythology and how it relates to the growth of civilization. If you’ve never read this book, it may just blow your mind. It is a bit long though, so you may want to find an audiobook version.