Aliens, deities, divas, ghosts and pixies have all been names ascribed to these beings. Whether they actually exist or not is still a matter of debate, but certain methods for seeing them have been handed down to us from history and other cultures that allow us to decide for ourselves.



* Method 1: Hair from a bier, or foot of a seer.

Robert Kirk, minister of Aberfolye in Scotland and a seventh son supposedly possessed of the second sight, tells us that the correct method for gaining the sight is to tie a tether of hair which has bound a corpse to a bier around your waist in a helix. Then you either look through a knot of fir or your own legs until a funeral advances and the people cross two marches.

Apart from being fairly complicated, this technique carries a caveat: should the wind change direction while the hair tether is around your waist, you will be in peril of your life. Nightmare.

Another, less dangerous method suggested by Kirk is to look over the right shoulder of somebody who already has the sight, while he or she places their hand on your head and their left foot on yours. This is only a temporary glimpse, but can be a shock for anyone who tries it as the creatures come running at you from all directions. As Kirk himself was supposedly stolen away by elves later on in his life, his warnings are to be taken seriously.

Never mind, though; there are friendly pixies too:

* Method 2: Take a trip to Brazil

You will need to head to the ayahuasca churches of Brazil if you want to give this one a try, because only there is ayahuasca legal. The principal ingredient in ayahuasca is DMT, which is naturally occuring in small doses in every human body, and it is this chemical that allows the user to commune with non-corporeal entities (or pixies, as I call them).

Many cases are reported by DMT and ayahuasca users of meeting with beings who resemble the modern-day greys, or aliens, and these encounters are usually pleasant, and on amicable terms. Terrance McKenna called these creatures "self-transforming machine elves" or Tykes, and it is claimed that two-way communication is possible with these entities only after repeated DMT use.

DMT itself, while a strong psychedelic, seems to have none of the deleterious effects associated with LSD and the like. As with any kind of mind-altering substance, though, bad trips are not unknown, so it should only be taken under supervision in a safe, legal environment.

* Method 3: Place the tears of a dying man into your own eyes.

I learned of this technique from a Tibetan Buddhist monk I met in northern India, but I've never tried it. Presumably a dying woman would work too, but the monk's English was limited and he died not long after, so I never got the chance to find out more. He warned that you must have a very strong heart if you wish to try this, as the effects are irreversible and last for life.

Of course, many other techniques exist, including meditation and lucid dreaming, but I chose these methods because they have endured through many generations and come from a variety of cultures. The easiest technique that I know of for seeing a pixie is to dress like one and look in the mirror, which is exactly what I do on a daily basis. That way you know your pixie is always friendly, and everyone you meet gets to see one too. Yay!

Copyright Owen Webb, 2008