In Defense of David Icke Jim Keith's recent polemic against David Icke's writings contains a curious mixture of vindictiveness,self righteousness and trenchant opportunism as well. The vindictiveness is evident his resorting to name slurring towards the end of his piece (Icke's name is pronounced eye-cke and not the ick of disgust as Keith insinuates). The self righteousness and opportunism is evident in the little wayside plugola at the end of Keith's diatribe to promote his own conspiracy books, as if these are the rational antidotes to Icke's overt reptoidal delusions. All of this is curious to me because I interviewed Mr. Keith for Pulse magazine last year and he told me point blank that what he thought was a grey alien stood by his bed back in the 70's while he was sleeping. (It is all on tape if anyone wants to hear it). He rationalized the e.t. visit as being some kind of e.l.f. (extremely low frequency) 'tweaking' from the local police department designed to scare the hippies at the commune he was staying at with a hologram of an alien. Why is his perception any less absurd than Icke's vision of reptoids in the fourth dimension? I trust that he will clarify this matter for us someday.

The poet Rainer Maria Rilke once said: "We must assume our existence as broadly as we in any way can; everything, even the unheard of must be possible in it. This is, at bottom, the only courage that is demanded of us: to have courage for the most strange, the most inexplicable."

In the world of conspiracy it is essential that we regard the unheard, the inexplicable as possible. That is why I find much of Icke's work so appealing and useful in spite of the questionable nature of some of the information he conveys. One always risks falling off the cusp of rationality into the vortex of delusion and paranoia when venturing into something so seemingly radical as reptoidal control of the planet earth. But it is a risk that must be taken if we are to evolve our perceptions and responses to the powers that try to control us. We must regard these possibilities using a multidimensional consciousness and not try either to prove or disprove them in archaic Aristotelian terms. In regard to the reptoids, I must confess that being a highly intuitive person, I sensed some kind of cold blooded, scaly presence behind such horrific events as Columbine and Oklahoma City. Whether this is a projection of the limbic/reptoidal part of my brain in response to the tragedy or not really doesn't matter in the long run. It is how these perceptions and experiences are worked with in order to alleviate fear, maintain healthy connections with others and have the ability to go out into the world without constricting. Mythological responses to the world we live in have been and are currently being used for similar beneficial purposes. At times I regard Icke's views metaphorically and at other times quite literally, especially when I'm dealing with some issue of power that is effecting my life, whether it be that of a personal or institutional nature. Did anyone see the picture of Madeline Albright on the cover of Time awhile back? She looked like a goddamned snarling reptile!! (also the little blurb for Star Wars in the upper right depicted a reptoidal looking creature in such an unassumingly subliminal way). It seemed to be both a literal depiction and a metaphorical innuendo all in one!

I do agree with some of what Keith says about Icke's tendency to lump things together in haphazard fashion. I think this has more to do with the author's sense of urgency and haste to get the message out than anything else. It is really our responsibility to discern and then constructively integrate the wealth of information David and others have offered up to us in whatever way we can. How about staging plays depicting Reptoids in three piece suits calling the shots on the Kennedy Assassination? It seems to me that the birth of a conspiracy Vaudeville may be an inevitable response to the ongoing arguments over the credibility of the many theories now floating around. Move over Broadway. Adios Andrew Lloyd Weber. Humor has always been and will be the best apotropaic to ward off negativity in its many forms. (thanks to Mr. Sterling for his well timed humor breaks which punctuate the consistently distressing Konformist e-mailings!!!) Why waste time trying to prove or disprove things?

I think it was Einstein that said that true genius is found in the ability to hold conflicting ideas simultaneously in ones mind. I suggest developing such an ability when reading any conspiracy book whether it be Icke's, Bill Cooper's or Keith's. I think we need more genius combined with creativity and imagination when addressing the conspiracy world, to looks at things, like Rilke suggests, multi-facetedly instead of trying to literalize the death out of a very fascinating and compelling genre.

Jaye C. Beldo is an intuitive counselor, spiritual anarchist and writer. He has been published in FATE, Dream Network, ONN, Green Egg, Pulse Magazine and others.