An interesting excerpt from J.E. McTeer's memoir in which a local spiritual worker expresses concern over the influence that the moon landing will have on the spiritual evolution of the world - considering the role of people associated with NASA in the development of psychic studies in the later half of the 20th century (particularly Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell in founding the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) and supporting the development of the SRI programs in applied psychism - and NASA physicist Tom Campbell who worked closely with the The Monroe Institute) there's some nice mytho-poetic resonance here: "Dr. Eagle (P.H. Washington) came into prominence as a witch doctor after the death of Dr. Buzzard. He is dead now, but for many years he was very much in the limelight as a news item. Whenever anything distressed him, he would call me in to help him solve the problem. One day Dr. Eagle called me on the telephone. His voice was very agitated, "Can you come to my house? I've got to see you," he said. "Yes, I'll be there," I answered. On arriving I found him waiting on the porch. "Let's go to my room where we can talk privately." He came right to the point. "You know the moon controls the spirits and makes the tide rise and fall; people go crazy on the full moon, and that's when the magic is the strongest. Now I hear that people have landed on the moon. I saw the pictures on TV, but I still think it was a trick camera they used. Man don't dare land on the moon with the spirits. What do you think?" I thought hard. This was truly a disturbing happening, for the moon was the abode of the astral spirits whom the witch doctor called for aid. If man desecrated it by his presence, what impact would it have on the witch doctor's power to invoke this aid? I did not want to lose face with Dr. Eagle, for I was a member of his fraternity. I said, "I saw the pictures too, let's just see what happens. Time will tell." Dr. Eagle said, "I don't think they landed, but if they did...watch out. Their minds can't stand it. They are in deep trouble from now on." Yes, the astronauts landed on the moon, and I cannot help but think how prophetic Dr. Eagle's prediction was. Practically every one who participated in the landing underwent a change of personality. There is nothing more frightening to the human mind than the unknown." - J.E. McTeer, Fifty Years as a Low Country Witch Doctor, pgs. 42-43 (Beaufort Book Co., 1976)
