RETURN TO LOCH NESS
The myth of "Nessie" can be seen as one of the "classical"
myths known to modern people, despite the fact that the legend was really
born just 70 years ago. In the 70's and 80's scientific and less scientific
hunts for the mystic monster produced little evidence of her (or his)
existence and many lost faith in the legend. It became one of the "X
files" with just the most dedicated believers still craving more
investigations and personal sightings. And, apparently, some sightings
really have been made all the way to the present day.
Does the Loch Ness monster exist? This is like asking, "Do UFOs exist?" UFO stands for "Unidentified Flying Object" and in that sense they certainly exist. What does NESSIE stand for? Is it "Non-physical or Ethereal Submarine Serpent Identified Emotionally"? According to many sightings, Nessie really could fit a description like this and as such it surely does exist. It is the materialistic worldview that demands a more concrete definition for such sightings: If an animal or object does not exist physically, it does not exist at all. Physical existence on the other hand must be proven with hard physical evidence. With the lack of such physical evidence, the object in question cannot be considered real, no matter how many sightings are made and no matter how credible the witnesses.
An artistic rendering of the creature, based on its presumed
resemblance to the extinct Plesiosaur
(Martin Keitel, 2004. Click on the image to enlarge)
Entitling this article "Return
to Loch Ness" does not mean my return to the lake (I've only been
there this once), but a return to a magical myth that has not disappeared
anywhere, although not much has been heard about it recently. When it
comes to the question of Nessie's existence, the answer to me, based on
my experience, is rather clear. For anybody who reads my story and believes
it to be true, will understand my point although not necessarily share
my conclusions. I will not provide any physical evidence to convince a
hard-core materialist, but I do have a concrete photograph to support
an experience that is otherwise more spiritual in nature.
Glen Nevis mountain range near Fort William, 18 Aug
I'll start by shortly describing my route to the lake. I flew from Stockholm, Sweden to Glasgow on Tuesday night, 17 August 2004. After spending the night at the airport, I took a train to Fort William, located at the Southern part of the Great Glen fracture, of which Loch Ness is a part. This small town is just a little bit north of the majestic Glencoe area with the highest Scottish mountains. There I hired a high quality mountain bike and on the next day, 19 Aug, I started pedaling towards Invergarry.
Taking a pause somewhere between Fort William and Invergarry
Loch Lochy (click on the image to enlarge)
The weather was gray and after ten miles or so, when the road was following Loch Lochy, it started raining. For this reason I was not able to get the best out of the fantastic mountain scenery surrounding this lake, quite matching or even surpassing the area of Loch Ness. Despite my rain cloak I was rather wet by the time I got to Invergarry around 16.30, so I had to stop at a local self-catering hostel for the rest of the evening. It was a very nice tidy place, and I didn't mind getting a chance to dry myself.
Here I am in the woods of Invergarry, where I found lots of blueberries.
In
the night, before going to bed, I decided to engage myself in a small
meditation, just to connect to the Loch Ness myth. I had no big expectations,
actually believing the monster was rather a ghostly reflection of things
past rather than an actual physical being. So I expressed a wish to gain
any insight or guidance to help me understand what the myth was all about,
preferably in the form of some sort of an experience. I expected to receive
some ideas in my dreams during the following night, but instead I received
a vision almost instantly. It was not anything profound, but yet rather
tangible.
In front of me I had a view
to a very large lake that extended beyond my vision to the left and right.
The view was from a high angle, as if I was sitting on the top of a mountain.
Running vertically across the sky and over the lake was a bright and broad
pillar of light, accompanied by much smaller vertical strips on both sides.
This was all. It was supposed to be somehow related to the Loch Ness monster,
but I had no idea how.
During the night I woke up feeling very sick. I went to the bathroom and very quickly and effectively got rid of the contents of my stomach and bowels. I then returned to bed and soon found myself haunted by some strange night terrors. As I was lying there on the bed, aware of experiencing that surreal state between sleeping and being awake, I saw a dark shadow of a large serpent-like creature moving behind the rear end of my bed. It's wavy movements brought it to my right side and then, unable to escape or protect myself, I saw and felt it entering me through my chest.
This made me shiver and grasp
for air, as the energy of the dark creature was extremely strong and threatening.
I instantly visualized a white light to protect me and hopefully chase
the demon away. But despite my previous success with this method, the
creature stayed. Instead of panicking, I suddenly found myself quite calm
and assured the apparition was not going to harm me. And indeed it did
no such thing and I slept the rest of the night in peace.