Captain of My Ship, Master of My Soul: Living with Guidance

Have you ever looked back, awestruck at the infinite number of seemingly random choices and events that led you to where you are—and more importantly, who you are?In this Book, F. Holmes “Skip” Atwater—who, as an Army lieutenant, took the initiative that resulted in the creation of the remote viewing intelligence program now known as STAR GATE—looks at the “coincidences” that led him from childhood out-of-body explorations to army counter-intelligence operations to sessions with consciousness pioneer Robert A. Monroe. The result is a fascinating look at the way spiritual guidance works in our lives.This extended, new edition of his book includes extensive online resources that can be accessed through a website connected to the book:declassified government documents on remote viewing programsaudio recordings of actual remote viewing sessions, incl. the remote viewing of Mars by Joe McMoneagleslide presentations on remote viewing workshopsaudio recordings of Atwater's altered-state explorations at The Monroe Institute“I had a few minutes yesterday and picked up Captain of My Ship, Master of My Soul ... started reading ... and now I’ve finished it! A deep spiritual quest—one we can all go on—in the midst of creating a secret psychic spy program for the government? That’s what you’ll learn about, and be inspired by, in this fascinating autobiography. This is a must-read for anyone interested in ESP, remote viewing, or the way spirit can be found in modern life.”(Charles T. Tart, Ph.D., Institute of Transpersonal Psychology)It is tempting to think that if Skip hadn’t been in the right place at the right time, remote viewing as an operational intelligence discipline might never have been tried. [...] The behind-the-scenes forces that were at work coalesced around him; he gathered people who had the talent needed to make the whole thing work (no one could have done it alone, and Skip would be the first to admit he shares credit with many others); and he eagerly turned to his assigned mission.Here is where the preparation part came in. In the field of the paranormal, it is easy to get carried away, to start “believing too much,” to grow egotistical and a little megalomaniacal. It has happened to lots of folks and is not a pretty sight. Where someone else might have been irresistibly tempted to sky off into fantasy, chasing down phantoms and imagining powers that were not real, Skip’s life experiences came together to help him resist that temptation and act as a speed brake to keep himself and the rest of us under control. He served both as ground and anchor. We speculated on some pretty wild things while assigned to be official government remote viewers. And some pretty wild things happened. But Skip kept us honest. Though he was willing to experiment—carefully—he also knew the value of strict protocols and the importance of keeping us planted firmly in the here-and-now when we were doing real-world projects that involved mentally going elsewhere or elsewhen. Today, Skip remains unassuming to a fault. He bears no resemblance to the self-promoters and media hogs of the “pop” remote-viewing culture—folks who had a much smaller role to play in the remote-viewing saga than did Skip, yet who try all the harder to grab the limelight for themselves.Skip’s story is unassuming, too—which is not to say it isn’t exciting, thoughtful, and mind-expanding. But he doesn’t go out of his way to toot his own horn, and he presents incredible things in a gentle way that will no doubt be lost on those who are jaded by the chaotic, sound-bite sensationalism of media excess—those who have forgotten how to slow down long enough to think. The rest of us will find Skip’s book a breath of fresh air, and a doorway to an endless universe of nothing but possibility—the human mind.(Paul H. Smith, Ph.D., retired army intelligence officer, remote viewer) Read more