Editing William R. Ferguson (section)

== Early life ==
William R. Ferguson{{efn|Name sometimes given as William A. Ferguson.{{sfn|Melton|2009|p=783}}{{sfn|Clark|2001|p=357}}{{sfn|Lewis|2000|p=91}}}} was born on July 23, 1900.<ref name="Ferguson1954">{{Cite book |last=Ferguson |first=William |title=My Trip to Mars |publisher=[[The Cosmic Circle of Fellowship]] |year=1954 |publication-place=Chicago |language=en-US |page=1}}</ref> He had one sister.<ref name="ChicagoTribune1967">{{Cite news |date=1967-06-23 |title=Death Notices: Ferguson |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-death-notices-ferguson/172407537/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |page=16 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |issue=174 |issn=1085-6706}}</ref> He was a [[mail carrier]] and another time a [[taxi]] driver.{{sfn|Clark|2001|p=357}}<ref name="ChicagoDailyTribune1950d" /> He had five children with his wife, Marie.<ref name="Ferguson1954" /><ref name="ChicagoTribune1967" /> Ferguson taught himself a technique of relaxation which he called "absolute relaxation", and wrote a 1937 book entitled ''Relax First'' which set out this practice. He taught this technique to others.{{sfn|Clark|2001|p=357}}{{sfn|Hogan|2016|p=295}}  

Ferguson claimed that through this technique of "absolute relaxation", he was able to travel to other dimensions.{{sfn|Hogan|2016|p=295}} Ferguson claimed that while he was in one of these states of absolute relaxation, on July 9, 1938, his body became charged with energy, and that he was then transported to the seventh dimension, where he stayed for two hours, resulting in his soul being "illuminated". He claimed that his body was incorporeal upon his return, but that he soon regained his physical form.{{sfn|Clark|2001|p=357}} A week after this, he claimed that he was moved to the "center of creation", now experiencing the sixth dimension, and witnessed creation through "pure intelligent energy" moving through a "cube of pure universal substance".{{sfn|Clark|2001|pp=357–358}}