Ten years after the release of her groundbreaking 1993 ET contact classic Preparing for Contact: A Metamorphosis of Consciousness, accomplished channel, consciousness researcher, and author Lyssa Royal talks with Frank G. Wilkinson about what she's been up to during the last decade, where she's been in the pursuit of her ET contact work, and the intriguing directions she'll be taking it in the decade to come.

Frank G Wilkinson: It has been ten years since Preparing for Contact: A Metamorphosis of Consciousness was originally published. How has your approach to contact research evolved since that time?

Lyssa: The ten years have given me a great opportunity to retrospectively examine the evolution of the research. The answer to this question could be an article in itself. So briefly, I can summarize by saying that the ten years have given me an opportunity to define what is really important in the contact research and to really, truly understand that the “goal” is not necessary open, face-to-face contact—however paradoxical that may sound! The goal and the ramifications of this research are actually much more broad, imaginative, liberating, and thought-provoking than I could ever have theorized ten years ago. What I was theorizing about ten years ago I had not yet experienced. In the past ten years, I have experienced much of what I theorized about in 1993 and I can safely say that one cannot understand fully without personal experience. Isn’t it amazing, however, that “experiencers” are not considered to be a valuable part of contact research in the mainstream? Another paradox.

Anyway, to put it simply, my approach to contact research has changed in a few fundamental areas. One is that we are less focused on “physical, tangible” contact that can be “proven”. The whole idea of “proving” something that many people already doubt is ludicrous, and it is an uphill battle. Those of us seriously involved in this research already accept the reality of contact so let’s move on from there. In that sense then, our contact research has changed from being externally focused to being much more internally focused – meaning that we have given a lot of importance to personal and group contact experiences and studied how they have not only affected but evolved the contactee. We’ve been less focused on the “hardware” of contact and in being distracted by light shows in the sky. It has been very exciting!

Another area in which we’ve delved more deeply is the power of group energy. As we’ve developed more and more ways to deepen the harmony of the contact teams, we’ve seen more and more significant contacts happen. This is something that my Pleiadian contact Sasha told us was important in the early 1990s. But we didn’t have the tools or the deep understanding of what she meant. Now we do, and we are finding that, as always, she has pointed us in the right direction.

FGW: I understand you are now hard at work on a sequel to Preparing for Contact. How is that project going? What challenges do you face in bringing such a sequel to fruition? Can you guess when the new book might become available to readers?

Lyssa: I have learned a long time ago that books are born when they want to be born. All the pushing and forcing to get them done just doesn’t work. So, while I am actively working on the book, I am also allowing the natural evolution of the project to lead me so that it isn’t “born” prematurely.

The biggest challenge I am facing is because the book will summarize three phases of my research: 1994-1996, 1997-2000, and 2001-current. Each phase represents a huge leap in understanding from the previous one. Right now [in 2003], even though I have meticulous reports from my work in 1994-1996, it is very hard to return to the mindset I held at that time in order to present that research accurately. It is actually a very good exercise, because it is showing me just how much the research has evolved.

In terms of timing, my aim is to have the book published in the first half of 2004. But we shall see if the Universe will support this aim! [The book was not published because the evolution of the work continued. 'Someday' it will be published!]

FGW: In the last few years, you have been heavily involved in managing the Flower of Life Research organization. What is Flower of Life? What is Sacred Geometry? How have these concepts affected your personal ET contact work?

Lyssa: Answering this question could also take several pages! To put it simply, I married Ronald Holt in 1995, and at the time he was a facilitator for a workshop called “The Flower of Life". When I met Ron I hadn’t ever heard of Flower of Life (“FOL”) so I took Ron’s workshop. and learned what it was all about. Basically, FOL explores the templates of creation that are expressed in our reality through what we call “sacred geometry.” (Examples of sacred geometry include the platonic solids, and the FOL symbol, which is found on temples all over the world). It also teaches a 17-breath meditation called the “merkaba meditation” which is a tool that many people use for their personal evolution.

Since I was always looking for a “common ground” upon which humans and extraterrestrials could meet, I realized that sacred geometry was representative of a universal language that expresses the consciousness of the user. Through what I learned in the FOL workshop and my interactions with Ron, I realized that I needed to use some of the principles of sacred geometry and universal languages (like mathematics) in my contact research. My research from 1996-2000 uses those principles, with some remarkable results.

This led to the third phase of research from 2001 to the present, in which the focus is the building of a unity field for the purpose of creating a “generator” that can uplift the human consciousness to a level at which we might be able to “meet” other universal consciousness. This goes way beyond “ETs” and moves us into areas of interdimensional consciousness of varying types. The line becomes blurred as to what is “extraterrestrial.” To build these unity fields, we have been using even more advanced sacred geometrical principles as well as using the merkaba meditation as a tool to entrain a group to achieve a unified frequency.

On top of this, deep work must be done with the human ego to allow these types of contacts to occur. We’ve continued with that work as well, and our results have been immensely gratifying and encouraging!

FGW: This month (March, 2003) you will be leading a workshop in Mexico entitled "Initiating Contact." What main concepts do you explore in such a workshop? Can you share any contact experiences that have occurred at or resulted from your workshops?

Lyssa: Since 1993 I have been teaching a workshop called “Preparing for Contact.” The “Initiating Contact” workshop represents the evolution of the earlier workshop. There are lots of concepts explored in this workshop, and some of them are known from the book Preparing for Contact. Themes such as understanding the true nature of contact and how the human consciousness processes it are always an underlying thread in my work. My scholastic background is in Psychology and so I am always infinitely curious about the inner workings of the human consciousness. We also explore basic ideas of how to begin the generation of a unified field using various types of methodologies including sacred geometry, meditation, guided visualization and other experimental techniques.

The experiences we’ve had from this work are too numerous to name here, but many will be recounted in the new book. The most recent “tangible” experience occurred in August of 2002 in Mexico. We were conducting a teacher training for Flower of Life, and many of the participants had done contact work with me in the past. On one late night we decided to play around and experiment. I channeled, and brought through a technique of creating a unified field and connecting with universal consciousness that was so profound for most of us that we were speechless. The experience alone (without any “external” validation) was worth it. The group went to bed. Around 4:00 am about five of them were “called” to go outside and they witnessed a very blatant “UFO” experience that changed them forever. While these five were witnessing the light acrobatics in the sky, another participant was asleep in his room and dreaming that he was on board a UFO, flying over the retreat center above them in real time. You can imagine that the next morning, we heard quite a few amazing stories!

I do have to say here that my work is not for the curious. If people who have not done internal preparatory work come to my workshops or participate in this research, they are often disappointed. The contact people have (or don’t have) is always connected to their inner consciousness state. As time goes on, this proves itself to me in a myriad of ways. This means that if any of us want to reconnect with the greater Universe out there, we first have to go inside ourselves and do the inner work that is necessary. Shamans have known this for millennia, and this is one of the reasons why the reality of the experience will never be validated through a dry science that does not include consciousness in part of its equation.

FGW: Your "Inititiating Contact" workshop is primarily for Flower of Life graduates -- how is the Merkaba meditation used in ET contact work, and how important is it for making successful contact?

Lyssa: The merkaba meditation is only a tool and there are many others. There is not one “magic button” that will guarantee contact. Since Ron and I are so surrounded by FOL these days, why not use the tool that is available to us? Within the pool of FOL facilitators and graduates, there are a number of people who have done the ego clearing work necessary to take themselves to deep levels of contact work. They are a resource that helps us take this work to deeper levels.

For this particular workshop in Mexico, we wanted to utilize the pool of FOL practitioners so that we can experiment with creating the unified fields that those trained in FOL are able to generate. However, there will be future workshops that are open to anyone, too. Knowing the FOL information and techniques isn’t a prerequisite for contact work – but we’ve found that it helps.

FGW: What's your view on the possibility of eventual widespread, open Human/ET contact? Will it ever occur? Any ideas on when? How might such an event come about? What impact would it have on Humanity?

Lyssa: I do think it is an inevitability, but I can honestly say that I don’t have any idea when it will happen. I feel that it cannot happen until the collective mass consciousness of humanity is ready. Who will say when we are ready? From a sociological point of view, it would have to be those ETs who first openly contact us. If the situation was reversed and we were contacting a remote tribe in the jungle, we would (hopefully!) wait for the right moment so that we could do as little damage as possible. I don’t know if there will ever be a “perfect” moment, especially in a world so full of separation and fear.

Those who are familiar with my work know that underlying all of it is the notion that we are all inextricably connected. What one group of people does affects the whole. With this in mind, I firmly believe that the contact work we (and other groups) are doing is helping to pave the way for the eventual “big event”. The work we are all doing is softening the rigid paradigms that have held this experience at a distance thus far.

Then again, it is quite possible that “it” may never happen the way we expect. Perhaps we will all just keep growing and evolving to the point where a gradual change in belief system happens and before we know it, life on other worlds is an accepted fact for everyone. Then when they do interact with us, it turns out to be no big deal!

A very wise channeled ET once said, “True contact will not happen until we first make contact with each other, and ourselves.” If that is the case, then we might have a long wait!

FGW: The UFO community seems rather starkly divided on the validity of channeling as a means for making contact with extraterrestrials. How would you respond to critics of channeling as an effective contact medium?

To be honest, there is no response that will be accepted by critics, so instead I base my work on channeling material that helps people think for themselves and open doors that perhaps may not otherwise be opened. My driving motivation is that I want answers to my own questions, and I am my own worst critic! If channeling can provide new perspectives, anyone with an ounce of wisdom will realize that it must be considered as a valid tool.

Our history is filled with skeptics saying things like, “Humans cannot harness flight” or “the Earth is flat,” etc., and so a disbelief in the validity of channeling might one day become an acceptance of a phenomenon that has been around since the dawn of time. Paranormal phenomena cannot be accepted with a closed mind and heart. Eventually science and spirituality will come full circle again and return to the ancient truth that they are one and the same. Until then, discernment is still a valuable skill!

We have to be sure not to throw the baby out with the bath water. There have been some channels and psychics who have given the whole phenomenon a bad name. If one has a truly open mind, one will examine each case separately, find what is of value to him/her, and discard the rest. In this way we can build a foundation of personal truth that each of us can respect.

FGW: Two common questions I receive in my work are, "How do you know a channeled entity claiming to be an ET is really an ET?" and "Why do ETs seem obsessed with spirituality?" meaning, I think, "Where's the hardware? Where's the math and science and technology NASA and SETI and other scientific programs expect contact to be all about?" From you personal experience and perspective, how would you answer these questions?

Lyssa: Your questions are very thought provoking and could stimulate a very long answer on my part! Firstly, how do I know if a channeled entity is really an ET? Well, does it really matter? There is a theory that all entities who are channeled are just aspects of the channel on other levels of existence. There are other theories that channeled entities are just aspects of the inner psyche of the channel. We could drive ourselves crazy with analyzing this. Instead, I suggest to people that they listen to the content – really listen. Is it judgmental, biased, polarized or manipulative? If that is the case, then chances are that whoever is speaking is not who they say they are, or the channel’s psyche is affecting the clarity of the message. Is the message uplifting, informative, mind-expanding? In that case, the value is evident. In our society we have come to look at the packaging in order to judge value. Names, titles, origins are not important. The content is of utmost importance.

I am reminded of a funny metaphor I once heard. Imagine going to a very high Buddhist monk who obviously has a lot to teach you. As you go in to have a private audience, you become preoccupied with validating his credentials to the point where nothing he says is heard. We have been taught that packaging is more important than content! When we focus on the packaging, it insures that our ego never has to grow beyond its current definitions – which is exactly what many of us wish to create in order to feel safe.

The second question you asked as to why ETs seem so obsessed with spirituality is really a question of perspective. In our 3D world, science and spirituality are two entirely separate ideas. (In fact, in our world we rarely know what “spirituality” is – we instead lump it together with religion, which is very different!) But in a reality where a species has evolved their planet harmoniously through the perils of warfare and space travel, science and spirituality are joined hand-in-hand. We are beginning to see this now with the expansion of our understanding of quantum physics. One of the reasons why we haven’t gotten farther is because we have not yet added the variable of consciousness in with our scientific understanding. This insures that science and spirituality are kept separate. As soon as we bring in the variable of consciousness, science and spirituality have merged. At that point, “hardware” becomes trivial and such a small part of the entire issue.

NASA, SETI, and other “scientific” attempts at space travel or ET contact have not entered the common ground where all life interacts – the arena of consciousness. Thus, their success will be limited until that time that they bridge the gap between science and spirituality by embracing consciousness as a vital part of the equation.

FGW: What's next for you and your personal ET contact work?

Lyssa: The next phase of my work is infinitely fascinating and exciting and I can already see the limitless possibilities. My contact teams and I have begun doing contact work virtually through the internet. We have just begun this in January 2003 and it will be written about extensively in the next book. The initial experiences have exceeded my expectations and we have found that when we work remotely through the internet with team members in several countries, the group harmonics seem to be even more amplified than when we are in person in just one location. So far we have done this through the internet with team members in Germany, Canada, USA, and Mexico simultaneously. The research continues but it is too new right now for me to comment further. Stay tuned!

For more information about Lyssa’s work, see her web site at www.lyssaroyal.com.

Lyssa Royal is an internationally known author and channel. Her books, published in seven languages worldwide, include: Millennium: Tools for the Coming Changes, Preparing for Contact, Visitors from Within, and the classic book The Prism of Lyra. Lyssa has served as the Arizona coordinator for the Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence (CSETI) and has conducted field research into the contact phenomenon around the world in Japan, Australia, Canada, Germany, England, South Africa, Mexico, Peru, and the USA.