Did this information convince me that I was an alien who had come here to serve as a wanderer? No. That is, not only that. It was a series of things that accumulated until I became of the settled opinion that, on some level, this information about me was correct. One set of data was the love of and continued attendance in the meditation group that first began channeling allegedly ET messages in Louisville in 1962. My response to this ET material has always been very positive: I resonate to it. Another set of information was embodied in the two men, Don Elkins and Jim McCarty, who from the first time I met each of them, fascinated me and called to me. I have always felt it was part of my personal path to focus on and follow my relationships. There was from the start a comfort, kinship and familiarity in my relationships with them that was uncanny. Both of these men were deeply interested in spiritual seeking and the UFO story, and in working with them, the collaborations revolved through many years and projects around the ET messages and material about being a wanderer. The information from those of Ra merely confirmed, not convinced. I was already convinced. As an ET wanderer, then, to all of those ET wanderers and walk-ins who experience themselves as coming from elsewhere, I welcome you home. That is, I welcome you to the home atmosphere of knowing who you are, and in what large company you are. I welcome you to the mission on Earth.

There is another large group of people on planet Earth who are just as much wanderers as the ET contingent. These are the Earth natives who have begun to awaken to their metaphysical identity, as citizens of eternity and creatures of infinite nature and existence. Once the seeker awakens, native to Earth or not, she has become a wanderer among the people of Earth, forever a spiritual outsider. The ET and Earth native wanderers are identical in their nature, their mission, and the challenges facing them. Both groups have taken Earth bodies and incarnations. They have accepted the rules of Earth life. They shall only leave this life for higher densities by graduating within the ways of Earth graduation. And they share a most powerful and central mission for the people and the planet, Earth. I am also a wanderer in this larger sense, and I feel that anyone who has been drawn to this book is such a wanderer.

Through the decades since 1962, when I initially became aware of ET contact personally, I have thought much about what a wanderer really is. I have come to feel that the symptoms of being a wanderer are also those which begin to occur when any of us, of whatever previous density or home, awakens from the cultural and planetary dream of outer physical “reality” to an awareness of her metaphysical identity as a citizen of eternity and infinity. I believe there are many millions of mature spiritual beings who are Earth natives, who are in potentially final incarnations and working towards harvest with the same degree of seriousness as any awakened ET wanderer. Basically, at this point in our planet’s evolution, all awakened or activated spiritual seekers are wanderers. Almost all teenagers going through puberty are wanderers. The situation for a wanderer following Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Taoist or any other religious or metaphysical system of thought is the same as that of someone who has identified herself as a wanderer in the UFO sense, coming from another planet to this one. Whether Earth native or ET, the wanderer has left the world of physical and worldly things behind, and he no longer fits the pattern or profile of a normal human being, according to our cultural yardsticks. When I use the term, wanderer, in this handbook, I am referring to all awakened spiritual beings who know themselves to be citizens of eternity and bound by higher ideals than those of our Earth and culture, who know themselves to be ethical beings desiring to pursue the evolution of their spirits in a metaphysical sense, who know themselves to be on a mission to serve during this present lifetime and moment.

The clearest definition of a wanderer comes from the pages of The Law Of One, Book I:

Questioner: Who are wanderers? Where do they come from?

Ra: I am Ra. Imagine, if you will, the sands of your shores. As countless as the grains of sand are the sources of intelligent infinity. When a social memory complex has achieved its complete understanding of its desire, it may conclude that its desire is service to others with the distortion towards reaching their hand, figuratively, to any entities who call for aid. These entities whom you may call the Brothers and Sisters of Sorrow move toward this calling of sorrow. These entities are from all reaches of the infinite creation and are bound together by the desire to serve in this distortion.

Questioner: How many of them are incarnate on Earth now?

Ra: I am Ra. The number is approximate due to an heavy influx of those birthed at this time due to an intensive need to lighten the planetary vibration and thus aid in harvest. The number approaches sixty-five million.

Questioner: Are most of these from the fourth density? Or what density do they come from?

Ra: I am Ra. Few there are of fourth density. The largest number of wanderers, as you call them, are of the sixth density. The desire to serve must be distorted towards a great deal of purity of mind and what you may call foolhardiness or bravery.

The Confederation of Planets in the Service of the Infinite Creator is a title that entities contacting our research group have long used as an identification and description of themselves. Those of Ra are allegedly from within the sixth density of our creation. Earth is moving at this time from third to fourth density, so these Confederation sources are ahead of our evolutionary position by two or three cycles of growth. Those of Q’uo are a principle made up of several group entities within this Confederation, including those of sixth-density Ra, fifth-density Latwii and fourth-density sources such as Oxal and Hatonn. The Q’uo principle was set up by the sources involved in order to speak with our group after Don Elkins died and direct contact with those of Ra became impractical and unsafe for us. This Q’uo source describes the situation we are currently experiencing on planet Earth:

Now, at this particular time many who may call themselves wanderers are awakening to their spiritual identity. As the awakening occurs there arises within the seeker a great hunger to know more, to find ways to serve, to become comfortable with this state of consciousness that is so completely different from that round of work and play that is not reflected upon. The routines may be precisely the same but the viewpoint has changed. And once awakened, the seeker cannot return to sleep but must live awake within the incarnation.

Note that the Q’uo group does not define wanderers as ETs on Earth but as those awakening to their true identity as spiritual beings. This “sleep” that the Q’uo describe is simply the state of living as a person in a culture, living up to the behavioral standards of consensus “reality.” In that sleep, it appears that the physical world is all that is real, and the goals of the worldly personality, such as ambitions in careers and marriage, the gaining of happiness, money, power and influence, and simply being well liked and fitting in, are the goals worthy of pursuit. Whether we have awakened from that consensus “reality” in a way that makes us feel we are new to this planet, or one that casts our situation in the wandering pilgrim patterns of religion, myth or philosophy, the simple situation is that we have awakened, and we will not be able to go back to that cozy nest we may have enjoyed prior to awakening. We are now on a journey that will last throughout our present incarnation. This journey is one which is taken not in the physical world primarily, but in the metaphysical world. There is a shifting of universes that is profound. Those of Ra described it as shifting to time/space or metaphysical coordinates from space/time or physical coordinates. Whatever of physical wandering we may do, it is the metaphysical journey that needs attention, since the discomforts of this journey can only make sense, and lend themselves to being worked with and ameliorated, from that stance within the metaphysical “reality” we have now awakened to face. Here the Q’uo describe this:

When the term, wanderer, is used, the basic meaning of this word is of one who is traveling without reference to a specific goal or destination. There is, implicit in this term, a feeling or an emotional/mental mindset of aloneness, restlessness, shared solitude and indifferent scenery. The winds blow cold and harshly for the wanderer. The sun beats down mercilessly. Few there are who use that term who feel that it is desirable to be a wandering spirit. All of the third-density instinct is towards putting down the roots, securing the home and protecting the home and family. The wanderer is uprooted when gazed at in the cultural context that you enjoy upon your sphere. Therefore, it is natural that this term be chosen as descriptive of those who have come into the Earth’s sphere of influence and incarnated to become as one with all citizens of your Earth.

But if this journey is so difficult, why did we ever undertake it? Those of Q’uo state:

You are here to bring light to a dark world. It is as simple as that. The purpose for which wanderers incarnated is all one: to love, and to love, and to love, and to love. You will be hurt, broken, humiliated and defeated in the course of a life in faith. It runs directly counter to the culture in which you live to do things for an ideal reason, to focus upon the Creator which is unseen rather than all of the phenomena, all of the gadgetry, all of the amusements that are so delightful upon the surface of life in your density. Be aware that even in those situations you may choose to be of service by moving constantly in an awareness of the love and the light of the one infinite Creator. But also, and most of all, be aware, we ask each, that non-dramatic service is as vital as dramatic service, just as the mouth of an entity speaks many things, but would not be able to function without each and every other organ of the physical vehicle, which must be kept in some sort of balance in order that one may manifest any gifts whatsoever.

In this handbook, I will share my own story and portions of those of many others who have written to me concerning their journeys as wanderers, and I will share the viewpoint of so-called extraterrestrial group sources belonging to the putative “Confederation of Planets in the Service of the Infinite Creator,” hereinafter referred to simply as “Confederation,” as we look first at the situation itself, and then at pitfalls of the path and how we may work with this situation. We’ll take up tools of the path such as meditation, prayer, devotion and teaching, and explore our main mission here on Earth, and other gifts we may be here to offer as well. This is also a primer on living a devotional life while busy in the world. There are wonderful books on living reclusively. This is not one of them. This is a manual and thought book for busy people, for those who do not have the luxury of leisure, but must occupy themselves, for the most part, with doing chores and accomplishing duties in order to pay the bills for shelter and food, or to fulfill a felt service even if financially independent. It is a book of connections and sharing, offered for the large number of awakened and awakening spirits who have found themselves becoming “strangers in a strange land.” It is our hope that here may be found resources of real use to us in our everyday life and devotions.

A word about the sources I will be quoting: they are of two kinds. The first kind is quotations taken from letters to me. Since 1976, L/L Research and Schiffer Publications have published several books either written or channeled by me or groups including me, on UFOs, wanderers, channeling and other aspects of this general metaphysical area of research. These books have, for decades, prompted reader mail. I have chosen quotations from some of the more recent of these letters. There are about 200 correspondents whose thoughts I have quoted as sources. Each of the writers who has agreed to be a source in this handbook has chosen what level of privacy she wishes, so some sources will be noted under their real names and even URLs or e-mail addresses; some will be cited by an alias-name they have chosen; and many will be represented by my three digit number code-name, which they prefer over another word as an alias. In every case, however they have chosen to be cited, these are real people telling their authentic stories.

The second kind of source is channeled material. I have been a channel for Confederation sources for twenty-six years. Almost all of the channeling quoted in this book is from my own conscious (or trance for the Ra only) channeling work; all is excerpted from our archive of L/L Research meditation meetings. I use these quotations in addition to my own discussion because I personally have gained so much from hearing their voice, and feel strongly that these Confederation sources have substantially aided me in my own wanderer’s journey. I enjoy their dispassionate and non-emotive choices of words as I have been able to enjoy and use few other sources. To be able to share these helpful voices is a blessing to me. I hope that whether this handbook is simply read straight through, used as an I Ching or to look up subjects of particular interest, you may find their words to be a unique and sturdy comfort, giving strength and good help.

If a few of these words at first appear a bit hard to grasp, please make use of the Glossary at the end of the handbook, in which the words which most readers find challenging or questionable as to exact meaning are defined. I feel the slightly unusual terminology is very helpful in attempting to talk about mystery-specific topics, and worth the slight learning curve.

Of course, my story and lots of my opinion is also a part of this handbook. I have strong feelings concerning the way to live life on Earth in order to maximize the positive potentials of this estate. I will share these, knowing that they are opinion, not expecting any to take my thoughts as dogma, but just as helpful possibilities for consideration. My feeling is that, once we wanderers awaken, we are in a tough situation as long as we try to make the world’s way work for us. Once we reorient ourselves to the universe of the metaphysical world into which we have awakened, where thoughts are things and intentions are much more important than manifestation, we will be able to create some humor, lightness and peace in our personal world. We will find it easier to enjoy this time we have on Earth. And we can far better start to work consciously on what we are here now to do, for we all do, as wanderers, have a task and mission before us.

It is snowing as I finish this Foreword and prepare to start Chapter One. The Earth sleeps, the plants root down and prepare for spring. The time of flowering is a promise yet to come. The time for our planet to flower also approaches. Metaphysically speaking, we look forward to a harvest, of planet Earth and of her peoples. What is our main mission here, as wanderers? We are here to breathe the air, to meet the moment with an open and flowing heart. We are here to allow infinite love to pass through us and out into the Earth planes. If we are meeting this moment with a happy heart, we are already fully doing the main job we came here to do. It sounds simple. It is the hardest thing we will ever try to do: that is, to be our deepest, truest self, that self that DOES meet this moment with a heart open and loving.